//------------------------------//
// Cat and Mouse 
// Story: Lost in Search for You 
// by RunicTreetops 
//------------------------------//

A train heading to Canterlot rumbles as the late afternoon sun slowly begins its descent beneath the horizon. In a car all their own, Twilight, Starlight, and Anon relax and make small talk as they await their inevitable arrival in Equestria's capital. It has been about a year since the whole pocket dimension thing, and neither Anon nor Starlight have made any attempt at replicating the spell. Anon has instead chosen to focus on increasing the effectiveness of regular teleportation with his studies, though he has made little headway. That is due in part to both he and Starlight having their time suddenly taken up by Twilight's newest project.

"Twilight, remind me again what it is we're looking for, exactly?"

"There are a few ancient Equestrian artifacts stored in the restricted section of the royal library. Princess Celestia trusts me enough to take them off of her hooves so that we can study them in greater detail when the School of Friendship opens."

"Are you sure that's safe?"

"Haha! What, do you not trust me?"

"It's not that I don't trust you, it's that a school headed by yourself is sure to attract a lot of attention. And not all of your students are guaranteed to have the best intentions."

"Oh, Nonny. If I go doubting the motives of our students, I couldn't rightly call myself a good headmare of Equestria's first ever friendship school, now could I?"

"...No, I suppose not."

Anon crosses him arms, choosing to end the conversation there. Twilight can be a bit too trusting of others for her own good, but that's just a part of what makes her such a great pony.

"And what are you looking for, Anon?" Starlight, who is sitting next to Anon, playfully prods at him when she notices that he is about to be lost in thought.

"I don't know, to be honest. Just having an opportunity to look around in the restricted section is motivation enough, I think. Who knows what we might find in there?"

Anon's eyes sparkle with excitement, and Starlight can't help but chuckle at his enthusiasm.

"Please behave yourself, Nonny." Twilight looks at Anon with a playful, though still concerned smile. "You're only going to be allowed in as my guest; you yourself technically don't have a right to go in there. I expect you to keep your hands off of anything I don't directly point out to you. If you want to read something that bad, tell me and I will get permission to remove it."

"Why are the sisters so adamant about that place's security, anyway? I get the general populous, but you're not allowed free reign in there? Aren't you a princess too?"

"Technically I'm allowed to do whatever I want in there, I just don't want to risk upsetting Princess Celestia or Princess Luna. There's a big difference."

Anon huffs and looks away, directing his gaze away from his companions and towards the window.

"Because obviously they always know what's best, right?" 

His words are a mumble, but they're loud enough for Twilight to hear. She squints and opens her mouth to speak, but ultimately chooses to not say anything. She knows perfectly well how Anon feels about the sisters. The night he arrived is practically burned into his memory, and ever since then, both of the princesses have given him the cold shoulder every time he's been in their presence. To be honest, that's the only thing straining her relationship with them as well, especially considering that they still won't tell her why they treat him that way. So, Twilight holds her tongue, and with Starlight feeling too awkward to say anything, the rest of the ride is taken in silence.

Eventually, the train pulls into the Canterlot train station. This seems to perk Anon right up, and he stretches his back as the train finally comes to a stop.

"I've gotta say, I'm not the biggest fan of Canterlot, but I am looking forward to some of the food here."

"Even though you can't eat half of it?" Starlight gives him a playful nudge on his side, and he laughs.

"Part of the fun is figuring out what I can eat!"

The trio exit the train and immediately begin walking to the far side of the city, where Canterlot Castle awaits.





"No means no, Twilight. This is non-negotiable."

The trio stand before the entrance to the library, their path blocked by two members of the Royal Guard and Princess Celestia herself.

"Why not?!"

"I do not feel that he is trustworthy enough to be allowed to see our nation's most sensitive documents."

Celestia glares at Twilight with a determined expression. Twilight boldly returns the glare with an angry expression of her own.

"All these years and he still hasn't earned your trust? He's been here with us every step of the way since he arrived! He's helped us defeat Chrysalis and Tirek! The friendship map has called on him numerous times! He's never done anything untrustworthy!"

"Oh? Are you absolutely positive about that?"

"H-huh?!"

"..." Celestia glances at Anon, her cold gaze sending a shiver down his spine. However, although he says nothing, he does not back away from her stare, doing his best to return it with just as much vigor. "We shall discuss this in the library. Which, might I reiterate, he will not be entering."

Twilight, to the surprise of everyone, lets out an aggravated huff.

"What do you have against him?! Why won't you just tell me the truth?!"

"Twilight, you must-"

"He's my son! You can't just treat him like this!"

Twilight's words are registered by everyone but herself. A surprised blush makes its way to Anon's face, while Celestia and Starlight simply look at Twilight with shock.

"..." Celestia finally backs down, breaking her staredown with Twilight. "It seems that leaving him with you was a mistake."

"Excuse me?!"

"We will speak no more of this. Now, come. There is only so much daylight left, and if you want those artifacts, we'd better hurry."

Without another word, Celestia turns and walks into the library. Twilight, continuing her shocking display of defiance towards her mentor, rushes in after her, demanding answers all the while and receiving none. Starlight hesitates, choosing instead to direct her attention towards Anon.

"Hey. Are you okay?"

"..." Anon closes his eyes and tries to compose himself, with only the slightest of sniffles escaping from his nose before doing so. "Yeah. I'm alright." He looks at Starlight and gives her a forced smile. "Go help Twilight. I'm gonna take a walk, I think. It's been a hot minute since I've explored the city."

"Are you sure? Because I can say something to her if you want me to."

"Nah. I don't want to cause any more trouble. Besides, Celestia is right. The moon is starting to rise, meaning Luna is taking over. I can't imagine a cranky Celestia is going to be much help to anyone, hmhm."

"...Okay. Be careful out there, okay?"

"I promise."

The two share a quick hug before Starlight rushes into the library behind the two alicorns. The guards that had been standing to the side promptly close the door and glare at Anon, who innocently raises his hands in the air.

"I get it, I'm going."

As Anon turns to leave, he feels the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. After pausing extremely briefly, he continues to walk as if nothing happened.





Anon walks briskly down the wide Canterlot street. Thanks to the setting sun and the oncoming night, much of the typical Canterlot crowd has cleared out. Anon breathes in the many smells of the city, admiring the ornate architecture and winding, storied streets as he does. While he walks, he never once turns around. 

He briefly stops in front of a shop offering various houseplants. After looking through the front window for just a moment, he enters the store. A few minutes later he walks back out, a freshly bought plant in a small blue pot resting securely in a bag tucked under his arm.

"You look like a... Ms. Philodendron. You'll definitely spruce up Glim's office a bit. Besides, she could probably use some practice. Her gardening skills are... yeesh."

With his purchase made, he continues on his walk, making no effort to acknowledge the nonstop feeling of being watched.





Starlight watches as Twilight and Celestia open a few dusty containers around the library. The whole area is poorly kept. While most surfaces have been dusted, actually moving any items in the restricted section reveals that they are, in fact, still caked in dust due to never being properly taken out of their spots. Many of the items in here probably haven't been touched for hundreds of years at least.

Although the two have stopped bickering, Starlight recognizes that the sudden and unexpected animosity between the alicorns hasn't vanished. When they speak, it's quick and right to the point. On top of that, they seem to never take their eyes off of each other except to double check the status of the artifacts they're retrieving. Meanwhile, although Starlight can skim the titles of the books around her, she isn't permitted to do much more than that. As a result, this trip has ended up being much more boring than she imagined.





Anon sits at an outdoor table in front of a local tea shop and places an order. After a few minutes, the waiter returns to his table with a pot of tea and two cups. Anon thanks the stallion and pours the steaming hot tea into both cups. After doing so, he stands from his seat and walks to the opposite side of the table, choosing instead to face the direction he initially came from. He places the second cup of tea in front of the now-vacant seat and smiles at nothing in particular.

"You can come out, you know. I don't bite. In fact, I ordered you some tea."

He gets no response aside from the breeze.

"Hmhm. I know you probably would have preferred a more private venue, but you weren't exactly going to follow me inside, now were you?"

Still he gets no response, causing him to sigh with a cocky smile on his face.

"Alright, then. I suppose I'll just talk out loud to no one in particular. It's not like you would listen to me anyway, even if you were to share this tea with me..." Anon makes a point of taking a nonchalant sip of his tea before finishing his thought. "...Princess Luna."





Celestia and Twilight suddenly find themselves engaging in a completely different argument. Apparently, one of the artifacts Twilight was hoping to find hasn't been maintained properly, and it has lost some of its magical properties as the years have gone on. In truth, Starlight simply finds the display funny to watch. Choosing to instead just listen to the pair in the background as she continues to skim the titles on display throughout the bookcases, many catch her attention.

Equestria's Founding, First Edition.

Immigration from Zebrat.

The Defeat of Grogar.

All of these books have to be here for a reason, she supposes. Even though she's pretty sure she has a solid understanding of all of these topics, who knows what secrets might be hidden within those pages?

Or maybe this place just gets inspected so infrequently that Princess Celestia hasn't realized that this is all public information in the modern day.

Starlight chuckles to herself as that thought crosses her mind, but her mood swiftly changes as she sees one more book tucked away in a far corner of the library, nestled inconspicuously between two other, much larger books. 

Upon reading its title, she feels her blood run cold.





"I do, of course, have plenty of theories about why Equestria's beloved princesses don't like me. And you know what? I really do believe that they have better intentions than just blatant xenophobia."

Anon takes another sip of his tea, glancing at the moon that is now high in the sky above him.

"No, I think they have a reason to hate me. But what could that reason possibly be? What is it about me that they know and I don't? Does it have something to do with my magic resistance? My biology? Maybe it's the magical aura I give off that neither Twilight nor Glim can understand?"

Anon chuckles, feeling thankful that the street is now void of creatures besides himself. Or at least, it appears to be. A cocky smile once again finds its way to his face.

"Or perhaps it's because I'm a 'ticking time bomb?'"

Very briefly, a quiet sound can be heard just a few feet away from the table at which Anon sits. However, he just closes his eyes and continues to smile.

"Don't worry, Twilight didn't disobey you. She never told me a thing. That said, I couldn't exactly sleep well after having just woken up in an alien world, child or otherwise. I'm sure she really did believe I was asleep when she told Applejack and Fluttershy everything that Celestia told her. It's been... food for thought, to say the least."

A cold breeze washes over Anon, but he pays it no mind. He takes one last sip of his tea, emptying his cup before gently placing it back down onto the table next to the still-steaming second cup.

"I wonder what else you know about me?"

Without another word, Anon places some money down onto the table, grabs his recently purchased plant, and begins to walk away. Once again, he never once looks behind him. This time, however, the feeling of being watched disappears.

And unbeknownst to him, a few moments later, a shaky hoof brings a steaming cup of tea to a pair of dark blue lips.





"Alright, that should be everything. Ready to go, Starlight?"

"Y-yes! I mean, yes, Twilight."

Starlight does her best to not look nervous in front of the two alicorns. Twilight raises an eyebrow, but Celestia has already made her way back to the entrance of the library.

"I've prepared rooms for the two of you, as well as Anon. You're all welcome to stay in Canterlot for as long as you like." 

Celestia's typical warm demeanor returned at some point during the several hours the group spent in the library, and that friendliness puts both Twilight and Starlight at ease. However, Starlight whispers to Twilight on their way out of the library.

"Hey, Twilight? Think we could take the first train back home? Like... now, preferably?"

"Hm? Why the rush?"

"I just... I feel like Anon probably wants to go home after earlier."

Twilight ponders Starlight's words for a moment. Even though they're whispering, she knows full well that Celestia's well-trained ears can hear them.

"Uhh, Princess Celestia? I think we're just going to grab Anon and go back home. There's still plenty to set up before the school year starts, after all!"

"...Very well. I wish you all the best."

Celestia turns to look at the pair and gives them a delightfully warm smile. Doing their best to return the sentiment, the two purple mares excuse themselves and exit the castle.

"Starlight?"

"Yeah?"

"What's the real reason you want to leave?"

"I'll... tell you when we're on the train, okay?"

"Well, alright I guess. Er, where is Nonny, anyway?"

"Right over here!"

Twilight looks up, realizing that Anon is approaching them from a nearby alleyway.

"What were you doing over there?"

"Eh, don't worry about it. I just did some light shopping and helped myself to some tea. How did the artifact hunt go?"

The three walk towards the train station in the dark as they talk.

"Some of them aren't in as good of a condition as I would have hoped, but all in all, it was a successful trip."

"That's good to hear at least. What about you, Glim? See anything interesting?"

"M-mostly just a bunch of dusty books that could be in any old library."

"Hah! Sounds like I didn't miss much!"

The three put their conversation on hold as they arrive at the station. They got there just in time, too, and only a few moments later, they once again find themselves alone in a train car.

"By the way, I got you a plant for your office, Glim."

"R-really? That's so thoughtful of you!"

"I named her Ms. Philodendron. Hope that's okay."

"Uhh... thanks?"

The three laugh at the obviously silly name Anon gave the plant on purpose, but Starlight's laugh seems forced. In fact, she's been acting strangely since they left the library, and both Twilight and Anon noticed.

"Okay Starlight, I think it's time you told us what's going on."

Twilight looks at Starlight with a mixture of suspicion and concern.

"R-right. Well... oh dear, there really is no easy way to put this."

"Come on, Glim. Whatever happened, it can't be that bad. What did you do, drop an old book and tear its cover off?"

"..." 

After hesitating for a long, tense moment, Starlight slowly reaches for her saddlebag, which seems suspiciously heavier than it was when they arrived in Canterlot. Wordlessly, she pulls out an old tome, its cover a faded brown leather and its contents seemingly not all that long. However, that is not what is most notable about the tome. Anon and Twilight both gasp as they read the title, which has been carefully stitched into the leather in silver letters. All of the air around them feels as though it has been sucked out of the car as the trio take in the gravity of the words on the book's cover.

The Human Protocol.