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Suffering in Silence1,746 words
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Alt ending for the story42 words

Hope

Twilight POV

Once the train arrived in Ponyville, you headed striaght towards your home. You didn’t even take the time to talk to any of your friend. But, they knew what you had to do. Opening the door to your home, you saw your husband reading to your child.

"And so, she banished her si- Twilight? Welcome home." Your daughter looked up with her bright happy eyes. In that moment, all your troubles melted away. It was funny, you always thought children would cause you more grief than joy. You were never so happy to be proven wrong.

"Hello Flash. Hello Starlight. Did you have fun while I was gone." Flash marked the book while your daughter charged up to you. You barely got the door closed before the little fluff ball almost knocked you over.

"Yeah! Daddy read to me, played games with me, OH! And he gave me a whole lot of cake!" You husband smiled sheepishly at the last remark.

"Not a whole lot. Just a few pieces." You raised an eyebrow but smiled anyway. Little antics like this is the reason you fell for him, even if it was going to make your little Starlight jump on the walls for a few days.

"Mhm, and where is Spike?" Flash looked up at the ceiling for a moment, trying to recall where Spike was.

"I think... he is out with... Sweetie. Yeah, I remember that he left a few hours ago." You leaned down and gave Starlight a squeeze.

"Star, could you go get him for mommy?"

"Sure!" Your daughter took no time running out of the library to go look for your assistant. She was always willing to help you with… well, pretty much everything. Seeing your messenger would be here shortly, you walked upstairs to write letter to Cadance. As soon as you had your quill and ink, you started writing.

"So did you find him?" Flash’s worried voice sounded echoed in the room. It took you a little bit to gather your courage before you started to tell him about what you saw.

"What was left of him. He is a shell of what he was. Tartarus! He was even missing a leg!" He walked over and gave you a hug to keep you from breaking down right there and then. You hung onto him, trying to hold back your tears. "What did we do?" The hug only held back your tears for so long. Soon enough, you were letting them fall on Flash's coat. Your husband could only rub your back and tell you that everything was going to be alright. A few minutes passed by before you could calm yourself. You whispered a thank you in his ear and rewarded him with a quick kiss.

"You know I am always here for you." Flash pulled you in a little tighter.

"I know, but that doesn't mean I don't have to show you my love." You gave him another kiss. Right before you heard the door slam open.

"Mom! I have Spike. Where are you!?" Star was faster than you thought. You didn't even get a chance to show Flash how much you really love him. It would have took your mind off of Anon if nothing else.

"I'm upstairs!" You turned to your husband. "I have to send a letter to Cadence. Maybe she can fix this mess."

Flash left to watch Star, not before stealing one last kiss, while you wrote up a storm. You made sure to give Cadence every detail you could. One quill and long two scrolls later, you were finished. As soon as you rolled them up, Spike was standing behind you, waiting to deliver them.

"You know, Celestia could teach you how to send your own letters by magic." He was right though. It would come in handy more often than not.

"I'm sorry if I interrupted something, Spike, but it was for a good reason." He took he scrolls and enveloped them in flames.

"And that would be." You watched the cloud of magic fly out a window.

"To get Anon back."

After a few letters back and forth, and some complaints from Spike, Cadance decided to meet up with you back in Fillydelphia. It has been four days since you visited Anon, so you hoped that he has cooled off. Flash, however, wasn't too on board with the idea, but you were going either way. He eventually gave in, but you had to promise to stay at home for a while and give him some "adult time" when you got back. It wasn't like you were against that, quite the opposite. Star, being the curious little filly that she was, wanted to go with you, or at least know what was going on. Along with childproofing it, you only had to explain half of what was going on before she let you leave.

After your four day waiting period, you jumped back on the first train that headed towards Fillydelphia. On the train, you were trying to think of different ways to convince Anon to come back. It would be easy to point out everything about his living conditions, but he didn't seem to mind that. Friends and/or family were also out of the question. You couldn't come up with anything that would convince Anon to come back in his state of mind.

When the train stopped you hopped out and reserved a room in the nearest hotel. Cadance wouldn't arrive till tomorrow, so you walked around the city. Overall, it was a very industial town. There were more cloud stacks and warehouses than Manehatten and Canterlot combined. You also noticed a lot of ponies were talking about some magic show. You guess it was Trixie's since that was the only show you knew about. You thought about meeting up with her again. However, the only place you could think of to look for her was her coltfriend works, the observatory.

You made a trip to the observatory and looked for a pony named Moonlight. Once there a secretary pointed you to his office. When you opened up the door, you immediately slammed it shut.

"I didn't know Trixie could bend that way.” A few blushing seconds went by before the door opened back up.

"H-hello Twilight. You uh... caught us at a bad time." You both shared an uncomfortable laugh.

"I saw." You and Trixie were blushing like mad. At least you just walked in on it. Trixie was the one “doing it.”

"Yeah... So what are you doing back here?"

"We couldn't get Anon to come back with us. So, I asked my sister-in-law, Cadence, to see if there was any way we could get him to come home. He kept talking about love so who better than the Princess of Love." Trixie looked mildly shocked to see what you were doing for Anon.

"That's... wow. You really want him to go back with you. When is she supposed to get here?"

"You don't even know the half of it. She is supposed to be here tomorrow." Trixie gave a half smile and a nod before she started to fidget like she wanted to ask something.

"Well, if it wouldn't be too much to ask, could I come along when you go to visit him?" You cocked your head sideways, confused by her request. Why would she want to go? You know that Anon gave her that not, but-. Shaking you head, you get rid of any previous thoughts of Trixie. She is a changed mare.

"Umm, sure. You can meet us at the train station around... noon." Trixie gave you a bigger smile, which only confused you more. You had to keep reminding yourself that she probably just wants to make amends by helping you out. Which is in no way bad.

"Thanks." The bonding that was slowly building between you two died that second. You both ended up scuffing your hoofs on the floor and stood awkwardly in the hallway.

"Well, I better get back to..." Trixie pointed back at the door she came out of.

"Oh yeah, I should get going too." You two share a quick hug and go your separate ways. It was nice to see her again. She is defiantly not the same pony who tried to take over Ponyville.

On the way to your hotel, you picked up a random newspaper. If you were going to be away from your library, you were at least going to read something. You got to your hotel without an incident and read the information section of the paper till you fell asleep. When the paper fell on the floor, it revealed an article that you would have been interested in.

Local police bust open an underground fighting ring.

The next day, you met Trixie at the train station. You two sat and chatted about your new lives while you waited on Cadance to show up.

"... and I think you would like her. She loves to meet new ponies," you finished.

"Well, I guess Moonlight and I should take a trip down to Ponyville soon. With the extra bit's I'm making, I'm sure Moonlight could afford to take some time off." You were about to agree with her when you heard a train whistle blow. Coming down the tracks was the Crystal Empire Express. For being over one thousand years old, the train looked more advanced than the Ponyville Express. But that might be because of the crysals and how sleek it looked.When the train pulled up next to the platform, a few guards hopped off the train and stood guard by the door. Once the guards settled down, Cadance stepped onto the platform.

"Cadance!" You waved your hoof in the air, letting her know where you were at. It didn't take long for her to spot you at your table. She turned around and waved off her guards before trotting over to you and Trixie.

"Twilight, it's been too long.” She wrapped her hoofs around your neck and gave you a quick hug before looking over at Trixie. “Who is this?" she asked as she pointed at the nervous blue mare.

"This is Trixie. She wants to help bring Anon back."

"It's nice to meet you Princess." Trixie gave her shakey bow. It wasn't like she met royalty almost every day like you did. Cadance just giggled at her display.

"Oh please. You don't need to bow to me. I have a feeling we will get to know each other." Trixie raised up off the ground.

"Of… of course." Cadence then turned to you, trying to hold back her giggling.

"Shall we get going?"

"Yes, he is this way." You took them up and down many streets till you got to where Anon was shacked up.

"He lives... here?" Cadance looked at you with a sad expression. You respond with a shallow nod. "A-alright then." Cadance cleared her throat.

"Anon, are you in there?" There was no response. "Anon?" Cadance pushed the curtains open and revealed an empty shack. You followed her inside and looked around. He wasn't anywhere inside.

"Guys. I think I found something." You and Cadence looked over at Trixie, who was holding a flier. Looking closer, it read

"Fillydelphia Fighting Ring. Big event. One night only. All of the top fighters coming in all the surrounding cities."

You raise and eyebrow.

"Why would he go there?" Cadance shrugged her shoulders.

"He might want to blow off some steam by seeing some ponies fight." You turn back to Trixie.

"Where is it going to be?"

"Some warehouse near the docks. I can take us there." Trixie trotted out of the shack and down the street, into a shadier part of town.

Trixie took you to an abandoned part of the docks. All the building looked worn and needed to be torn down. Cadence got nervous on the way there and shifted into a regular looking pony.

"I believe it is the next building over.” You followed Trixie around the corner to reveal a large crowd of ponies standing outside.

"That's strange. I didn't figure anypony would be here due to that bust."

"What bust?" You and Cadence looked at Trixie.

"The one in the paper. They busted one on the other side of town. It was in the paper."

"I must have fallen asleep before I saw that."

"It doesn't matter girls. The flier at Anon's... *sigh* home gave this address." All of you walked up to the entrance where a sketch looking pony waited.

"One hundred and fifty bits for three." You were happy to have Cadance with you. She paid the pony and you walked inside. In the middle of the warehouse was a cage like ring and a bloody looking mat.

"Twilight, I don't like the look of this place."

"I don't either. Let's just find Anon and get out of here." All of you walked around the ring a few times but couldn't spot Anon. After giving up, you went towards the exit, only to have it slammed in your face.

"Sorry girls. Once we close up. We stay closed till the end. It helps limit the ponies who like to squeal."

"Oh, alright." You turn back to your friends.

"I guess we should find a seat." Trixie led you to a spot where there were three seats. You sat down in the middle while you listened to the crowd.

"I hear the bear is here tonight."

"No way! He is going to cream the others."

"I don't know man, I heard that the Bull from Detroit is here along with the Mighty Apple from Appleloosa."

"Man, I can't wait for the fights, but I am putting all my money on the bear."

"Pfft whatever man."

Bull, Bear, Apple? You wondered who, or what, they were talking about. The lights dimmed lower and you saw a pony take the stage.

"Good evening fillies and gentlecolts. Tonight we have a special show for you. You have seen him in out tournaments before, but he is looking to climb the ranks again. Heralding from Appleloosa, the one, the only, The Mighty Apple!~"

The crowd went wild around your group. The noise was almost defining. At the entrance to the ring, you saw a burly looking earth pony with an apple cutie mark. He was a few shades darker from Braeburn. Once he got to the center of the ring, you saw that he could rival Big Mac... or even Celestia herself.

"Who's ready to pick some Apples!" Dear Celestia, that was awful. No pony else seemed to mind when the crowd let out another deafening scream. You looked over to Cadance and was surprised that she was also screaming.

"Cadance, what are you doing!? We are supposed to be looking for Anon, not a cheap fight!" Your yelling was barely heard over the crowd.

"This wasn't cheap! It cost me 150 bits to get us in here! The least we can do is have a little fun!" You slumped back in your chair and looked at Trixie. She was also mirroring Cadance. On a better day, you would have joined in, but you were too concerned about Anonymous.

"And the challenger from right here in Fillydelphia. He's strong. He's big. He also stands on one leg. The Bear~"

You got up out of your seat to get a clear view of this "Bear" Limping down the aisle was the man you came here to save. He was just like you left him, with a few differences. First off, he was shirtless. You could tell why they called him the bear. His chest was covered in hair. The wooden leg he was using also looked different. There were a few metal rods holding it together and some joints for movement. He stepped into the ring with the stallion.

"Puny pony stands no chance." That had to of been the worst Stalliongrad accent you have ever heard.The cage door closed and a bell was rung.

The fight was on.

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