As days turned to months, Twilight quickly realized something about humans: They age much faster than ponies. It has only been a few years, and yet her little Anon has doubled in height. He now towers over not just his old friends from school, but her as well. Heck, he's probably got an inch or two on Princess Celestia at this point.
Now in his late teens, Anon has started to grow into a young man. He no longer attends school, instead focusing his time on work and research. For the former, he got a job not too long ago as a laborer here in Ponyville. While his legs may not be as strong as a pony's, his large stature and overall endurance make him more productive than an entire team of stallions. For the latter, he spends much of his off-time studying magic and magical theory with Twilight's student, Starlight Glimmer.
...Oh, right. A lot has happened since the Canterlot wedding.
Aside from the usual antics (friendship problems, villains attacking Equestria, etc), a few noteworthy events have occurred that have shaken up both Twilight and Anon's lives. First, Twilight became an alicorn princess. Anon found the change fascinating, and it only further piqued his curiosity about the world of magic. Indeed, had he not witnessed what is essentially his mother figure transform into a powerful alicorn, he may not have decided to pursue his interest in magic at all.
Second, the Golden Oak Library was destroyed, and the pair (along with Spike) moved into the freshly grown Castle of Friendship. That was a major adjustment for Anon. For whatever reason, the large space inside the castle made him uneasy. Although he eventually grew more comfortable in his new home, that general sense of unease never quite left him.
Finally, Twilight and the other Elements of Harmony got into an altercation with Starlight Glimmer, a highly talented unicorn with a troubled past. However, the magic of friendship allowed her to find a better way (as it always does), and Twilight decided to take her under her wing as a pupil, much like Celestia had done with her.
To Twilight's surprise, Starlight and Anon hit it off very well. While Starlight has an innate talent for magic, Anon is... pretty much exactly the opposite. In fact, he is exactly the opposite. As time went on, Twilight made yet another realization about him. Even though she did so very rarely, she was finding that her spells were having less and less of an affect on him. It eventually got to the point where her telekinesis couldn't hold him still. In fact, it wouldn't even hinder him. Further testing showed that his body resists most forms of magic, and it takes a very strong source to actually do anything to him. Sure, if she were to blast him with all she had, it would probably hurt. However, that's still very impressive.
And due to the fact that the constant magical aura coming off of him has never gone away, it only raises even more questions.
Regardless, this hasn't stopped his fascination with magical principles. He engages in rigorous study on an almost daily basis, driven by nothing but his own insatiable curiosity. He once told Twilight that he dreams of being able to invent spells that can help Equestria as a whole, even if he can't actually perform those spells himself. Having Starlight (an extremely gifted unicorn that's more than willing to engage in some less-than-safe experimentation with just as much enthusiasm) nearby really gave him the push he needed to start seriously pursuing that dream.
Now, Anon and Starlight sit side-by-side in the Castle of Friendship's library. Starlight skims through a book of spells while Anon writes down several diagrams and runes on a piece of parchment. Even for a mare like Starlight, a lot of what he is writing is going right over her head.
"What is that, Anon? I thought you were working on refining teleportation techniques?"
"I was, but I'm trying something different now."
"Oh?" Starlight leans into Anon, causing a slight blush to form on his face. She looks down at his notes, doing her best to decipher it. "...Spatial displacement?"
"Yeah. It's still just a theoretical thing right now, though."
"And?"
"...And?"
"What's your theory?"
Anon blinks, taking a moment to figure out how to say what he wants to say.
"Well, it might be easiest to think about it like the inverse of teleportation as we know it. As you are more than aware, teleportation spells work by forming a magical connection between yourself and your intended destination. Then, using a combination of your own magic and the magic floating around in the air, you bring yourself through the space between your start position and end position almost instantaneously, even passing through objects to do so."
"Right. That's pretty simple stuff as far as magical theory is concerned."
"Sure. But I'm trying to see if the opposite is true."
"The opposite?"
"Well, let's say you wanted to achieve the same end. You want to get from Point A to Point B. As you know, greater distances require more magic to teleport between, and too great of distances are simply unfeasible, even for, say, Princess Celestia. So, what if Point B is an unfathomably huge distance away from Point A, but you still need to get there in an instant?"
"You couldn't, not without a huge external source of magic."
"Right. But the only external source of magic that's always readily available is the magic floating around in the air, which is minuscule compared to what you would need."
"So, what are you proposing?"
"We change the process entirely. Rather than use magic to make a connection between Point A and Point B so you can cross the distance between them, what if you could remove the distance entirely? Instead of bringing yourself to Point B, you bring Point B to you?"
"I mean, it's a fascinating idea, but how would that even work?"
"I'm still working on that part. Heh, if only you could squish the space together like a piece of paper."
"Even if you could, this sounds like it would be extraordinarily dangerous in practice."
"Probably, but that's why further research is needed. I'm onto something, I know it."
"..." As Anon stares longingly at his own notes, he fails to notice Starlight looking at him with concern. "...Anon?"
"Hm?"
"This is... I'm sorry for asking this, but... this is because of your home, isn't it?"
Anon's expression darkens for just a moment, but he quickly perks up and gives Starlight a grin.
"This type of magic would help Equestria as a whole, don't get me wrong. But... yeah. If there isn't any known way to send me back to my parents, then I'll just have to make one."
After a moment, Starlight returns his smile.
"Then I'll be with you every step of the way."
"Haha, thanks, Glim."
"Well then." Starlight closes her book and places it to the side before giving Anon her full attention. "We've been at it for hours. Wanna go get something to eat?"
"Pfft, I'm not even-" Anon is cut off by his stomach loudly grumbling. "Okay maybe I'm a bit peckish."
The two share a laugh as they depart from the library, closing the door behind them as they do so. They fail to notice Twilight, who had been seated just around the corner, listening in on them. Quiet as can be, Twilight flies over to Anon's notes and carefully reads over them.
"...This is incredible," she mumbles. She glances at the now-closed door that Anon and Starlight just walked through before looking back down at the notes. "He's learning this stuff so much faster than anypony I've ever met. And I'm a fast learner!" Twilight smiles to herself before slowly walking out of the library.
"I'm proud of him."
A few months later, Twilight yawns as she enters the library. She magically brings a steaming mug of coffee to her lips. It's quite early in the morning, but she needs to finish filling out some documents by noon for Mayor Mare regarding a recent bugbear attack. However, her tired, half-lidded eyes quickly shoot open. The library is in shambles. Shelves are knocked over, books and papers galore litter the floor... it's as if a tornado went through just this room.
And there, lying in the middle of the room, are Starlight and Anon. They appear uninjured, but they are sound asleep. Starlight sleeps on her stomach, her head resting on a particularly large tome. Meanwhile, Anon lies perpendicular to her, his head resting on her soft purple side. Both of them lightly snore, sleeping peacefully as though they aren't surrounded by the wreckage of what was once her library.
"What in Celestia's name happened here?!"
Twilight's shout quickly wakes the pair up. Anon jumps off of Starlight while she tries to scramble to her hooves as quickly as possible.
"Uhh, h-hi, Twilight. Er, good morning, hehe!" Anon anxiously rubs the back of his head, earning him a glare from his guardian.
"W-we can explain, I swear!" Starlight's voice is anxious and pleading, but Twilight can tell that it is genuine.
Twilight closes her eyes and lets out a sigh.
"Why don't you share the story while you clean up? In the meantime, I'll be sitting over here..." Twilight makes a show of sitting on the ground next to a table that has been split in two, the stools normally found next to it nowhere to be seen. "...Filling out some documents."
"Alright, alright." Anon begins grabbing a few nearby books, unsure of where to start but knowing that he had better start doing something. "It started yesterday evening. I thought I had finally made the breakthrough I was looking for."
"Are you sure about this, Anon?"
"If I was, there wouldn't be any need for a test, now would there?"
"I... don't think that's how the scientific method works."
"Semantics. Now, are you in, or what?"
Starlight glances down at the completed spell outlined on the parchment in her hooves. Anon has been working tirelessly on this spell for months, and she would be lying if she said she wasn't excited to see the results. However, in truth, this spell seems too good to be true at best, and slightly dubious at worst. She sighs before looking back up at Anon.
"I don't know. I'm just... I'm afraid of what might happen to you if this doesn't work."
"Worst case scenario, I get flung into a bookcase."
"Is that why you covered said bookcase in pillows?"
Starlight motions behind her, where an entire bookcase is indeed covered in lightly fluffed up pillows.
"Better than getting a concussion."
"...Alright, fine," Starlight says with a chuckle.
Something about Anon's enthusiasm always manages to rub off on her. The two make a great pair, and she considers him to be one of the better influences in her life following her change of heart.
"Well, I certainly can't cast the spell on myself! I'm ready whenever you are."
"Okay, just give me a sec."
Starlight takes a moment to commit the spell to memory. After a few moments, she nods to herself and plants her hooves onto the ground. Her horn begins to glow, faintly at first, but gradually growing brighter and brighter. To her surprise, it grows even brighter, and streaks of color gather from the air around her and into her horn. Having studied the spell, she knew this was supposed to happen. Anon had somehow devised a way to manually gather magic from the air in great quantities, which was absolutely necessary for the spell's success, but she didn't expect it to actually work!
With a deep breath, the magic suddenly stops collecting. There is a flash, and the room falls completely silent for the briefest of moments. Then, a second flash.
Anon is blasted with an incredible amount of magic. Starlight is pushed back by the sheer force of it, slamming into the wall behind her while still trying to keep her horn aimed squarely at Anon. The room is filled with noise, the air disrupted by the sheer display of power. Bookshelves topple, papers and books and quills and everything in-between go flying, but none prevent Starlight from closing her eyes and finishing the spell.
After what feels like an eternity, the magic finally runs out and the spell concludes. Starlight gasps for air, collapsing to the ground in the process. That spell was unbelievably taxing on her. Slowly, she opens her eyes to see if the spell worked.
Sure enough, Anon is gone.
Excited, Starlight slowly gets back on her hooves. Still panting, she trudges over the mess towards where Anon was just standing, but as she does so, she notices something peculiar. Right where Anon was, there is not just empty space. Instead, a shiny blue octahedron floats in midair. Even in her exhausted state, Starlight can tell that whatever that thing is, it's giving off an insanely strong amount of magic.
She cautiously approaches the floating object, looking at it with confusion and wonder. Feeling cautious, she picks a nearby quill up off of the ground and gives the object a gentle poke. Nothing happens. With a shrug, she places the quill aside and pokes it again, now with her bare hoof. However, as soon as she does so, she gasps in surprise, her vision having suddenly been altered.
No longer is she looking at the interior of the library. Instead, she feels like she is floating in midair. Rolling plains spread out all around her. The midday sun beams down on the landscape, and a gentle breeze blows through the area. And yet, it doesn't feel like she's actually there. It's as if she's looking at the landscape through a foggy window. She certainly can't feel the breeze, at least. She tries to look down at herself, but when she does so, she realizes that she's still holding out her hoof to touch the octahedron. Pulling her hoof back, she suddenly snaps back to what she should be seeing.
"Woah."
Placing her hoof back on the object, her vision once again goes back into the air above the plains. Now with a slightly better understanding of what she's looking at, she tries to move around. Doing so yields no results, as she only ends up moving her real body. However, after some awkward fiddling, she realizes that she can move in this new perspective; she just has to imagine doing it for it to work. She brings herself closer to the grass and sees something that catches her off guard.
"Anon?"
Sure enough, Anon is standing in the grass, looking around himself with wonder. When she says his name, however, he looks around with confusion.
"Starlight? Are you there?"
"I'm right here, Anon."
She lands directly in front of Anon, but he continues to look around himself.
"I don't see you."
"I'm literally right here." Starlight tries to touch him, but she passes right through him. "Woah! I went right through you!"
"Yeah, you're totally invisible to me."
"What is this place?"
"I have no idea. This certainly wasn't my intention when I wrote the spell, though. What's going on on your end?"
"Well, right where you were standing, there's this floating, glow-y octahedron thing, and when I touch it, it's like my consciousness is transported back here. I can stop by just letting go of it, though."
"...Huh."
"Do you have any clue what this might be?"
"...To be honest, I think I might. Though I'm having a hard time believing it."
"Lay it on me."
"You see that mountain over there?"
Anon points to a mountain off in the distance. It's very tall, with an oddly shaped peak.
"Yeah, I see it. What about it?"
"Does it look familiar to you?"
Starlight squints and stares at the mountain before suddenly gasping.
"Is that...?"
"Yup. That's the mountain that Canterlot is built into. But I sure as heck don't see Canterlot."
"I'm... so confused."
"Well, try this on for size. Look at the creek behind me."
Starlight looks past Anon, and sure enough there is indeed a creek.
"Don't tell me."
"Yup. That's the creek that runs through Ponyville."
"But Ponyville isn't here!"
"I know. As far as I can tell, this place is a perfect copy of Equestria. Just... without all the unnatural stuff built onto it."
"What does this mean?"
"I have a theory, but it's probably way out there."
"I'm all ears, Anon."
"Well, to paraphrase a lot, the spell is meant to use the magic in the air to essentially create a magic-based map of sorts. Then, that map is crunched together like a piece of paper, bringing your current position to the place you want to go. The idea is that when you then drop the spell, all of your magic, which is to say all of YOU, is in your desired position, allowing the teleport to complete successfully. But that's not what happened. This is a complete recreation of Equestria; it's a FINISHED 'magical map.'"
"And the octahedron?"
"I can only speculate, but if I had to guess, I miscalculated where the accumulated magic would go. I'm sure you saw just how much magic you gathered, both because of how much was in the air and because of how gosh darn awesome you are." Starlight blushes at the compliment. "But it didn't disperse as it should have. Instead, it condensed into one place. Not sure why it's an octahedron specifically, but if I had to take a guess... I'd say that this is more or less a pocket dimension."
"A POCKET DIMENSION?! Anon, that's a fabled spell that has only existed in theory for centuries!"
"I know. Isn't it exciting?"
"It really is!" Starlight catches herself getting giddy and trotting in place, but a thought suddenly hits her, bringing her back down to reality. "W-wait! How are we going to get you out of there?"
"Yeah, that's the question, isn't it? Before I answer, could you do me a favor? I want to test one more thing."
"You want to test something now?"
"While you're looking at where Ponyville normally is, try to picture Ponyville actually being there as best you can. Really focus on it, and try to get every detail possible."
"O-okay, I guess."
Starlight does exactly that, more or less trying to manifest Ponyville into existence on the empty plain. She feels a bit foolish, but much to her surprise, a shaky outline of Ponyville actually does begin to form. A few moments later, a complete recreation of the small town has appeared in the pocket dimension.
"I knew it."
"What just happened?!"
"Like I said, this place is basically just a magical map recreating Equestria. Since you're still on the outside, you can manipulate that map as you see fit. You can basically control this whole dimension like a god or something."
"That is just... so cool."
"I agree. Now, then." Anon clears his throat and rolls his shoulders. "Let's see if I can't break out of here."
"What are you going to do?"
Anon closes his eyes and begins to focus. Starlight watches him with quiet curiosity. He stays like that for ten... twenty... thirty seconds. Once he reaches about a minute, Starlight opens her mouth to say something, but is interrupted by cracks forming in the air around Anon. Then, even more cracks appear. Slowly but surely, the area around Anon begins to distort, and all at once, there is a popping sound, and Anon is gone.
"Anon? Where did you go?"
Starlight's question is answered when she feels a tap on her shoulder. Letting go of the octahedron, she turns around to see Anon back in the real world, standing behind her with a smile.
"Boo."
"H-how did you do that?!"
"My body resists magic, remember? If the whole pocket dimension is made out of magic, all I have to do is try to get all of the magic off of me, and voila!"
"Well, that's handy!"
"True, but it only works for me."
"Oh. R-right. Wait, so if I were to be the one in the pocket dimension... I would just be stuck there?!"
"Probably."
"You seem really nonchalant about this!"
Anon places a hand on Starlight's shoulder. She looks at him with confusion, but all at once, she realizes what's been going on. Anon's hand is shaking. A lot. And when she looks into his eyes, they too are unfocused and shaking.
He's terrified. From the instant the spell didn't work as intended, he's been trying to hide his fear from her.
He removes his hand from Starlight's shoulder and directs his attention towards the floating octahedron. With a sigh, he grabs it. Starlight watches as he seems to become distant, and she realizes that he's looking into the pocket dimension just as she had. After a few moments, he lets go and turns back to look at her yet again.
"...We can't keep this."
"I think I have to agree. There are too many unknowns about it."
"No, I mean more than that."
"Hm?"
Anon suddenly grabs the octahedron with both hands and in one quick motion slams it onto the ground. The object shatters like glass, and the individual pieces quickly disappear in midair. With the shattering comes an explosion of magic, sending both Anon and Starlight flying. The resulting devastation ruins what little is left of the library, sending the already disturbed items flying around the room all over again. Thankfully, both Anon and Starlight are left unharmed.
When they both regain their bearings, they regroup in the center of the room.
"Probably should have seen that coming. That was a lot of magic to disperse at once."
"You could have at least warned me, you know."
"Sorry, Glim." Anon's eyes quickly dart to the floor, and he immediately sees what he was searching for. Bending down, he picks up the spell that he had finalized just hours before. "Ah, here it is."
"I think it needs a bit more fine-tuning, don't you?"
"...Nah."
With a determined expression, Anon rips the parchment to shreds, much to the shock of Starlight.
"What are you doing?! That's the culmination of MONTHS of work!"
When Anon is done, there is little left but tatters that fall unceremoniously from his hands.
"Work that will inevitably hurt somepony if we keep trying."
"Anon?"
He shakes his head.
"I don't want to accidentally trap anypony in some weird alternate dimension, even if said dimension is a nice place." Anon's gaze falls to the floor once again, and his darkened expression isn't overlooked by Starlight. "I, er... know how that feels."
Starlight immediately pulls Anon into the best hug she can muster. It's a bit awkward considering the height difference, but he appreciates the gesture all the same. The two stay like that for some time, and their fatigue eventually catches up to them. Too exhausted to even bother going back to their rooms, they fall asleep right there on the library floor.
"..."
"...Well?"
Twilight sighs.
"Seriously, it feels like whenever I look away from either of you for two seconds, you go and do the impossible. Endangering your lives in the process, might I add."
"If it makes you feel any better, I don't intend to do that again."
"I know you don't, Nonny." Twilight, who at this point has long finished her paperwork, sets it aside and walks up to her human "son." After letting out an exhausted-sounding breath, she chuckles and gives him a hug. "I do wish you'd stop giving me reasons to worry about you, though."
"Hehe. Sorry, Twilight."
She pulls away from him and looks around at the library. Thanks to Starlight's magic they made significant progress in cleaning up, but the job is still far from over. Twilight turns around and picks her documents back up before slowly trotting towards the door.
"I expect this place to be spotless when I get back this evening!"
Anon and Starlight both groan, but Starlight responds regardless.
"We'll get it done, we promise!"
With a smile and a nod, Twilight departs. Anon and Starlight share a look, wait a moment, glance at the door, glance back at each other, wait yet another moment, and smirk. A flash comes from Starlight's horn, and all at once, the library looks like it was never disturbed in the first place.
"Man, that's a handy spell."
"You can thank me by helping me with my new spell today."
"Hehe, sure, Glim."
Their bond somehow stronger than ever, the unlikely duo practice spells long into the night, though this time enjoying the relative peace that comes with using spells that don't carry the possibility of an eternity trapped in a pocket dimension. Much like Twilight concluded years prior, Starlight realizes that despite everything...
Anon might just turn out okay after all.