//------------------------------//
// Anon 
// Story: Friends From New Places 
// by pinkiemyster2 
//------------------------------//

	Anon was walking towards the bar, mentally reminding himself the choices of his friends. Maragrita for Jason, apple ale for Mary, normal beer for Jack, Taylor wanted a screwdriver, and nothing for Lily... Or was it vodka for Lily and nothing for Jason? I should've written it down.
Reaching the bar, Anon made the order and tried to carry the five drinks back to the booth. Barely able to hold them all, Anon turned around only to nearly drop all of the drinks as he almost ran straight into Mary. "Need a hand?" Nodding, Anon handed her a couple of the drinks. After a quick look through his choices, Mary asked, "Where's my cocktail?"
Anon winced as if he had been punched. "I knew I forgot something...,"
With a roll of her eyes, Mary said, "And I knew that I should've gotten the drinks, c'mon let's get these back to the booth,"
Anon followed behind as Mary led them through the thick crowd of the night club. This was the first time any of them had ever been to a night club, except for Jason who had apparantly been everywhere and done everything. It was a special night after all, it's not every day you graduate college. College, some of the best, yet at the same time worst, years of your life.
With the booth in sight, Anon cracked a smile. Let's see who else's drink I messed up. They stepped up to the booth and set the drinks down, noticing the stares of the others. "What?" Anon asked with a confused look on his face.
"So, no cocktail, no apple ale, and no whiskey?" Jack asked with an odd look stretched over his face.
Anon cracked a smile and sat down next to Lily, rubbing the back of his neck the whole way. "Yeah... I kind of forgot what most of you ordered,"
Jason just smiled and reached for his drink, "Whatever, I got my beer so that's all that matters to me," He popped it open and chugged half of the bottle.
"Well it's great to see that one person got what they wanted," Taylor noted. "Oh wait, so did you and Lily,"
Anon sighed and said, "Actually I didn't get what I wanted so that I would have a better chance at guessing what you guys wanted, and Lily would've gotten what she wanted anyway! She didn't want anything!"
Taylor just grabbed one of the drinks and began to drink, "I was just kidding,"
Mary looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "No you weren't," She deadpanned.
Taylor set down her drink and stared back at her. "And how, exactly, do you know that?"
Mary put her hand up to her chin in thought. "Hmm, it could have something to do with the fact that I'm your sister and I know you better than anyone else," Taylor sighed and continued her drink. Mary chuckled and grabbed a drink of her own.
Lily smiled to herself, tapped Anon on the shoulder, and ushered him closer. "Sometimes it's fun just to sit back and watch what happens between everyone," she whispered to him.
Anon looked at the scene unfolding before him. Mary and Taylor were "fighting" with each other, while Jack and Jason were "chatting" about whether or not whiskey is better than beer. It didn't matter how hard Jack tried, arguing with Jason was like playing volleyball with a hornet's nest. Nobody ever wins, it just makes you look like an idiot. Anon grinned and turned back to Lily. "Yeah," he began, "it is kinda funny,"
The rest of the night was pretty uneventful. The six of them talked, danced, and even got to meet some other "friends"; but other than that, nothing much happened. They didn't drink much, except for Anon that is. He usually didn't drink unless something was bothering him, and he refused to tell the others, or even let them worry about what it was. He tried to keep the night going on as best he could, which unfortunately meant drinking drink after drink to get them to stop bothering him about what was troubling him. Kind of ironic isn't it?
Anon didn't remember much after Lily and Jack left. That wasn't particularly good news for him, since Lily was the one who brought him to the club. Anon was saving up for a car, but wasn't quite there yet. He did remember that since Lily had left, he had no way to get home other than to walk. He couldn't call a cab because he had spent all of his money buying drinks. After walking out of the club, Anon couldn't remember a thing about what happened that night. Not even one of the best things that could've happened to him could get him to remember anything.
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The bright light of the sun beat down on his eyes. Enough to make Anon grunt and throw his pillow over his head. Which only managed to cause his head to feel as though it had been run through a brick wall. Yay,he thought to himself as he made his way into a sitting position, I get to deal with a hangover all morning long.
He barely managed to open his eyes against the blinding light. His vision was blurry and he was able to make out the faint blur of his door. He looked down to see a white blob on the floor. Must've knocked my pillow down when I got up. he convinced himself. He reached down to pick it up only to find that his head was completely against that action. With a grunt, he told himself that he would do it later when he felt better.
Barely managing to stand, let alone walk, he made his way out into his hallway. With every step dealing a crushing blow to his head, he stumbled his way into the kitchen. He fumbled around on top of the refrigerator until he found what he was looking for. Good, I still have some aspirin left. He then managed to get to his cabinet where he grabbed his bag of coffee and start a pot of it.
He started the faucet and immediately winced as though the noise was literally beating against his eardrums. After filling a coffee mug full of water, he shut off the faucet. He both mentally and physically prepped himself for what was sure to hurt him. He tossed his head back, threw the pills into his mouth, and immediately followed with the water. Setting the mug down on the counter, he noticed that his head didn't hurt nearly as bad as he thought it would. He also noticed that his vision was beginning to clear up, quickly too. What brand did I buy? I need more of this stuff!
He went into the living room and took a seat in his chair. It always was a comfortable chair, especially when Anon was hungover. After waiting a few minutes, Anon got up and went into the kitchen, much to his body's resistance. He poured some of the coffee into his mug and, not really wanting to put effort into adding milk or creamer to it, began to drink it. The hot, bitter liquid both singed and soothed his throat.
After he finished his mug of coffee, he started towards the bathroom. He was walking down the hallway when he kicked something and nearly dropped to the floor. He winced in pain as his hands wrapped around his foot and he turned around to see what he kicked. His face went from pain to confusion as he saw what appeared to be an old skateboard, one he had never seen before, in the middle of the hallway. He hardly had time to be confused though, as he heard what sounded like movement coming from his room. He grabbed the closest thing to a weapon he could find, which just so happened to be the skateboard. He reared it up to possibly bring back down on whoever, or whatever, was in his room.
Slowly, Anon crept towards his doorway, the sound now having stopped. His hand reached towards the slightly open door and placed itself on the wooden surface. He carefully pushed open the door, not entirely sure this was the smartest thing to do, especially right at that moment. As soon as he was able to, Anon peeked around the corner to see what was going on, but he couldn't see anything.
With a puzzled look on his face, he opened the door the rest of the way and stepped in. Lowering the skateboard, he looked around the room and didn't see much out of place. He saw his desk with his computer sitting on top of it, paper and pencils around his laptop in organized chaos. His face only became more scrunched as he began to question his hearing. Looking down at the floor, he noticed his pillow beside his bed. He kneeled and reached towards it, now able to since his migraine had nearly gone away. As he grew closer, however, he noticed that it looked like it was covered in fur. He also saw that it looked like it was growing purple hair, which seemed to be very messily styled. "What the...?" For a moment he didn't want to mess with it, but eventually he managed to work up the courage to touch whatever the thing was so he continued to reach his hand down towards it's white fur.
When his hand made contact, he felt the warmth that seemed to be coming from it. He quickly pulled his hand back as he felt it shiver under his touch. He watched in shock as the white creature began to turn to face him. Noticing that it also had hooves and a horn, his mind played the first thought that made it's way into his head, Rarity. But this can't be... right? His thoughts were interrupted as the creature continued to move. I guess I'm about to find out.
Anon watched, with more interest than fear, as the unicorn squinted its eyes at the light before slowly peeking an eye open. Her face quickly relaxed as she saw Anon. She closed her eyes and let out a yawn. Does she know me or something? Anon thought it was a little strange that she wasn't as nearly shocked to see him as he was to see her. "Good morning, dear."
That really threw Anon off, how could she be so calm around him? "Um... R-Ra-Rari-ty?"
She got to her hooves and began to stretch, looking at him with a blank face. "Yes?" She was obviously comfortable around him.
"H-how did... Wh-what... D-did we...?"
Rarity stopped stretching and raised and eyebrow at him. "Honestly, is that the first thought that comes to your head? No, we did not have sex, if that is indeed what you are implying."
Anon's face went blank, he rubbed the back of his neck with his, now, free hand. He looked down in slight confusion. "Why was that one of the first things in my head? Wait," He turned back to Rarity, who was continuing to stretch. "h-how did you get here?"
Rarity finished stretching and turned to face him. "You don't remember? You were intoxicated, darling. I was forced to bring you here, and that was a lot of effort. I am not by any means a strong pony, and, no offense darling, but you aren't as light as you look."
Anon was still lost. "Well, as that may be, it doesn't really answer my question. How did you get here? To my world?"
Rarity, again, raised her eyebrow. "And just how did you discover that I wasn't from this world?"
Anon raised a finger as if to speak, but stopped. Maybe I shouldn't tell her about the show just yet. He lowered his finger and looked at her. "Um... as far as I'm concerned, in this world there are no unicorns. Let alone talking ones with purple hair."
Rarity turned her head to look at her mane. Running a hoof through it, she grimaced. "That reminds me, you wouldn't happen to have a place where a lady could bathe, would you?"
Anon was taken off guard by her question. Pointing towards the hallway, he told her, "Right out the door on the right. Don't think you're off the hook yet though. I still want to know what, exactly, happened last night," Anon paused for a moment as he thought. "And... I also want to know how you can be so comfortable around me."
Rarity trotted towards the door, only turning to respond when she reached it. She smiled at him and said, "Of course, darling! It's just that I simply cannot go any further without a proper shower." And with that, she trotted down the hallway and into the bathroom.
Anon waited until he heard the bathroom door close before he stood up to leave the room. "And I simply cannot last another second of this without another cup of coffee..."
---------------
Anon sat in the living room, chin resting on his hands. How long does it take for her to take a shower? I know I take long showers, but this is ridiculous! He looked up at the clock he kept on the wall. "An hour," He whispered to himself, "It's been an entire hour."
His brow furrowed as he narrowed his gaze at the T.V. It was still early in the morning, so there wasn't anything that he enjoyed on it, but he had grabbed the remote and turned it on earlier, despite that fact. For the time being, he was watching the news; even though he never really paid any attention to what they were saying unless it was important.
Upon hearing the water shut off, he turned his attention towards the hallway, expecting to see Rarity walk out any minute. After a couple of minutes of waiting, he heard the door to the bathroom open and hoofsteps on the carpet. Out came Rarity, mane wrapped up in a towel. "Have a nice shower?" Anon asked in a sarcastic tone, one he was used to using.
"Oh, I did!" Rarity said matter-of-factly, not catching the sarcasm in his voice. "I just love your shower head!" She sighed before saying, "Especially the massage setting."
Anon shoved any thoughts about it out of his head before saying, "Right, so let's just get to it. What happened last night? I want to know every detail... I didn't do anything too... stupid, did I?"
Rarity took a seat on the couch across from the chair Anon was sitting in. "Oh no, even if you had I wouldn't hold any of it against you. You had a lot to drink, am I correct?"
Anon's hand shot to the back of his neck. "Uh... yeah. I'm dealing with... something right now."
Rarity went from fixing her tail to looking at Anon with a solemn expression across her face. "You... um... wouldn't want to talk about it... would you?"
Anon immediately looked at her as if to deny her, but then looked down in thought. Maybe it would do some good to get this off my chest, talk about it with someone. But, not with her. Maybe with one of my friends, but... who knows more about friendship than one of the stars of Friendship is Magic? "Uh... no... thank you though."
Rarity akwardly went back to styling her tail. "Alright dear, but I suppose you just want to hear about last night, correct?"
Anon smirked a little at the change of subject. "Yes, please. What happened? And how come you're so calm around me? A creature from another universe?"
Rarity smiled, "One at a time darling, please. I suppose I should start with when I first... um... arrived in your world."
Anon nodded, "Right, that would be a nice place to start with."
"Well alright then," Rarity began as she stopped fixing her tail, "I have no memory of what happened before I got here. I do, however, remember trying to help Twilight, a good friend of mine, do... something. And that's all I can remember before I came here, helping Twilight."
Anon thought for a moment, Okay, so Rarity was helping Twilight, probably with a spell that went wrong or something from the sound of it. "Alright, so then you remember coming to this world next right?"
Rarity nodded, "Yes, I woke up in a dark, disgusting alleyway. I began to walk out of it, thinking I was still in Ponyville, the town I live in, but when I saw the... creatures, I started to panic. I ran back into the alley and hid there for the next few days."
Anon's eyes went wide. "Wait, you hid in an alleyway for days?"
Rarity frowned, "Yes, four days to be exact. Not my proudest moments, but nonetheless, it happened."
"What did you eat?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
Rarity shuddered and said, "I would prefer it if we didn't bring it up, both metaphorically and quite literally."
Anon pushed those thoughts out of his head. "Alright then... go on."
"Right," Rarity began,"like I said, I stayed in the alley for four days. I'm sure I would've stayed there for much longer if I had not seen you in your... predicament."
"Wait," Anon interrupted, "so what made you come out to help me? If you were so afraid of all of the other people, what made you leave the "safety" of the alley to help me?"
Rarity put her hoof up to her chin in thought. "You know... I'm not quite sure of that myself. I just saw that you needed a helping hoof, so I helped. I suppose that after seeing all of the other-- people was it?-- I had gotten somewhat used to them. And then seeing one of them in need of help... I'm not quite sure what came over me."
Anon smirked, "I'm glad whatever came over you did. I never got to properly thank you for that, though. So, thanks."
Rarity waved a hoof at him. "Think nothing of it, darling. It just isn't in me to not help somepony in need."
Anon chuckled a little at that. "Well, thanks anyway."
Rarity smiled at him, then looked up in thought. "Now where was I? Ah yes, I was helping you home--"
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"Um, do you need help, darling?" Rarity slowly walked up to Anon. She saw that he was leaning up against a nearby building, nearly falling to the ground, and thought that she should help him somehow.
Anon barely looked back at the voice, upon not seeing anyone he said, "Hello? -hic- Who'sh there?"
Rarity squinted at the strange creature. Perhaps he isn't... himself at the moment "Down here," Anon looked down to see the white unicorn, who had an awkward smile on her face. "Yes, would you like some help?" Rarity repeated.
Anon looked away and waved a hand at her. "No, no. -hic- I've got it," he said before taking a step and falling to the ground. Anon started to laugh, "That wash -hic- fun."
Rarity sighed. I surely cannot just leave him here. Looking at him, she knew that she would never be able to carry him, she might not even be able to support him as he walked home. Upon seeing him try to stand, and falling flat on the ground, she looked around for anything that could possibly help. Looking down the alleyway that she had come out of, she caught sight of an old skateboard. Using her magic, she brought it over to where the two of them were at. Upon closer examination, she saw that it was rusty, and very old. Hopefully it will hold until I get him home. She told him to get on and he did so, barely, but he did. "Alright now darling, where is it that you live?"
Anon was barely able to look up, let alone point, towards an intersection. "Turn right at shat -hic- crossing. Then, keep going till you shee-"
"Specifics, darling," Rarity interrupted as she pulled the skateboard into the alleyway, "I can't very well walk around in plain sight. Who knows how everypony will react if they see me. We'll have to make your way home through... untraditional means."
Looking back at her, Anon started to laugh. "Yeah, they would -hic- freak outh if they shaw you."
Rarity began to ask him what he meant, but stopped when she remembered that he was drunk and probably didn't even know what was going on. Instead she just said, "Alright darling, what's your address?" as she reached the end of the alley.
Anon thought about it for a moment before saying, "6th something, in room 206 of a aparchment building."
Rarity rolled her eyes and looked at a nearby street sign. "So we were on Main Street, and this street is 6th street-"
"That'sh it!" Anon yelled at the top of his lungs. "That'sh my street!"
Rarity shushed him before he could attract any unwanted attention. She then quietly told him to keep his voice down. "Now darling, which building do you live in?"
Anon looked up and looked over the buildings before pointing to one about a block away. "That one," he managed to say, "thash my -hic- billing."
"Wonderful," Rarity said sarcastically. She looked around to see if anyone was around. Seeing no one, she trotted down the sidewalk, pulling Anon along with her magic. She was forced to hide behind a shrub after a close-call with a truck, but managed to make it to the building without being spotted. She looked through the glass of the door to see if anyone was inside, luckily, no one was. After pushing on the door, she realized that it was locked. "Do you have a key?"
Anon looked up at the door and then back down at Rarity. "You gotta push thath buthon and thell Mish Baker -hic- to let ush in," He pointed towards a wall that had a panel of about twenty buttons on it. "Number 205, she'sh my neighbor. She alwaysh let'sh me in."
Rarity looked up at the button he pointed to. "She cannot see us, can she?"
Anon frowned and shook his head. "No, Mr. -hic- Joshton ish too sheap to inshtall a new camera."
Rarity used her magic to press the button. After a couple of seconds of waiting, they heard a tired and irritated voice through the speaker. "Yes, yes, who is it?"
Rarity opened her mouth to speak but was cutt off by Anon, "Hi Mish Baker! It's Anon! Can you leth ush in?"
Rarity facehoofed. Ms. Baker began to talk again, "Us? Who's there with you?"
Rarity spoke up before Anon had a chance to, "Hello, Ms. Baker. Sorry about Anon, my name is Rarity. I was just going to help him up to his room."
Rarity waited for the woman's response but instead got a buzzing noise. She heard a click at the door and pushed on it. Sure enough, it opened. The buzz stopped as she pulled Anon through the door and walked through herself. She quickly, but quietly, trotted towards the elevator and pressed the up button.
They waited for the elevator for what seemed like ages, until finally, it arrived. The door opened and, luckily, no one was inside. Rarity walked in and pulled Anon in afterwards, asking him what floor he lived on. He responded by pointing to the button with the number two on it.
Rarity pressed the button and the doors closed. Anon tried to stand using the handrails on the walls of the elevator. Rarity readied herself to catch him, just in case he fell. He managed to make it to his feet and he turned to look at Rarity, "You alwaysh were my favorite mane sixsh."
Rarity looked up at him with a raised eyebrow and began to ask him what he meant, but was interrupted as the "ding" of the elevator signified that they had arrived at their floor. Anon stumbled his way out of the elevator as Rarity trotted out with the skateboard secured in her magical grip.
Barely managing to, Anon stumbled past a couple of doors to one with the number 206 painted on it. Anon leaned against the wall as he threw his hand into his pocket, fumbling around it for his key. After about a minute or so, Anon pulled it out, before dropping it on the ground. Rarity sighed, took the key in her magic, and put it into the lock. She unlocked the door and walked in, dropping the key on the coffee table and setting the skateboard up against a wall so Anon wouldn't trip himself on it.
She lead him to his room at the back of the apartment. Anon flopped down on his bed and, as Rarity was making her way out of the room, said, "You can shtay here if you wanna," He then drifted off into sleep, barely covered by his blanket.
Rarity looked around the room and saw a blanket lying on the floor next to the bed. Deciding to take him up on his offer, but not wanting to overstay her welcome, she made a makeshift bed beside his mattress on the floor. Eventually, she drifted off into sleep.
---------------
"-and that's just what happened," Rarity concluded as she removed the towel from her head to reveal her long, voilet mane. Since she had no way to style her mane and tail, and Anon had nothing to help with that, she let them flow freely, but Anon could tell she wasn't happy about it. "Now that you're awake and sober, what did you mean about me being your favorite 'mane six'?"
Anon was so suprised, he almost choked on his last bit of coffee. He coughed and gagged, until the hot liquid made its way out of his windpipe, before turning to face Rarity, who seemed worried. He laughed awkardly and cursed his drunk self for not telling her everything. "Um," he began as he set his coffee on the table, "well..."
"Yes?" Rarity ushered.
"There's um... there's a sh-show... about you guys...," Anon mentally braced himself for her reaction, but it never came.
Rarity just sat there, on the couch, staring at Anon. She wasn't sure how she should take the news she was just given. Should she be angry because their privacy was being ignored? Or should she be glad that she had become a star for doing the same things she always did? "Oh...," was all she managed to say.
Anon looked a little worried. He had expected her to go ballistic, but she just sat there. "Rarity? Are you... alright?"
Rarity responded by looking away from him and saying, "Yes, yes, just... confused is all. I'm not quite sure how to take that... What is it about?" She quickly returned her gaze towards him.
"Well," Anon began, rubbing the back of his neck, "it's mostly just about your different lessons in friendship and how you use the powers of friendship to stop villains."
"Oh...," Rarity repeated. "I would like to see it. If that's alright."
Anon smirked, "Why wouldn't it be?" He got up and walked over to his T.V. set, where he had a couple of the DVDs at. He put one into the DVD player and started it up. After the menu was being shown, he glanced at Rarity who was looking at the T.V. with a confused look on her face. She's taking this suprisingly well, Anon thought to himself as he clicked on the "Sisterhooves Social" episode.
Throughout the episode, Anon glanced at Rarity every now and then to see how she was reacting to the show. She turned out to be pretty open-minded about the whole thing. She didn't seem angry, nor did she freak out about it. At the end of the episode, Anon turned to her. "Well? What did you think?" Obviously, he had no idea how to handle the situation.
"Actually," Rarity began as she turned to Anon with a smirk across her face, "I rather enjoyed that."
Anon nodded with a satisfied smile. "That's good, so did that actually happen?"
Rarity laughed, "Yes, it did. Strange, here we're just part of a cartoon."
Anon laughed alongside her. "Right."
Rarity frowned as a thought hit her, "Oh, I suppose I should leave."
Anon looked at her with a furrowed brow as she got up and headed towards the door. "What? Why?"
Rarity turned back towards him as she reached the door. "I really don't want to overstay my welcome, but thank you for showing me that show. And also for letting me stay here and shower, really." She turned back towards the door as she prepared to leave.
Anon didn't want her to go, but he couldn't just let her live here with him. Things were hard enough as they were, but he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he just let her leave to go live in an alleyway again. "Wait," She turned to look at him as he stood and walked over to where she was standing. He kneeled down to her level and looked at her with sincerity in his eyes. "You can stay here, at least until you can get home."
"Oh no," she began as she shook her head, "You've done so much for me already. I couldn't ask you to-"
"Rarity," Anon said as he placed a hand around her shoulder. "I can't let you go back out there. It isn't safe," He smiled at her. "And I won't take 'no' for an answer."
Rarity smiled as her eyes began to fill with tears. She jumped at him and wrapped him in a hug. "Oh, thank you Anon! Thank you so much!"
Anon returned the hug as he told her, "Hey, that's what friends do."