Over one's shoulder
This sinking pit in Anon’s stomach hasn’t let up. Celestia and him walk side by side towards where Bonbon set up the candy stand but he can’t help but scan the area for anything out of the ordinary. Maybe it had something to do with what Blossom vaguely warned him about, or maybe he’s still on the fence about the announcement. He doesn’t know why, but his body is shouting at him to keep his guard up.
“Is everything alright?”
Anon’s eyes snap over to Celestia as his nerves settle. Looking into her eyes brings some clarity to his mind. Why is he worrying about nothing? Celestia is here, he’s safe.
“I just feel as if something about today is off.” He answers honestly before returning his gaze to the crowd as he looks about. “I don’t think it has anything to do with the announcement.”
“There’s nothing to worry about,” Celestia assures him. “Just try to concentrate on what’s important.”
Anon takes a deep breath to clear his thoughts. Focus on what’s important? Well, he has to admit that the ponies appear to be acting normally after the announcement. Of course, many of them briefly look their way, mumble a few things, then return to whatever it was they were doing. They are respecting Celestia’s wish for privacy, and despite a few nobles who turn their nose up at Anon, things are civil.
“I’m surprised there aren’t any paparazzi around covering our story,” Anon remarks.
Celestia can tell that Anon is still on edge, but she can understand why. He’s never been one for crowds and there are so many ponies around them that even she is unnerved, but being by her side is keeping him calm.
“There are plenty of distractions because of the festival. I’m sure once things settle, they will be out in force to pry into our private lives.” She nuzzles him. “Nevertheless, that in time will pass and we’ll be left to our own devices.”
“Makes sense.”
The stand where Bonbon and Lyra set up is within view, and from afar Anon can already see the start of a line forming. On his approach, he notices a chef’s hat bobbing up and down behind the counter before it heads into the back, which he can assume is Little Dipper. There’s Lyra at the register taking orders, but Bonbon is nowhere in sight. Lyra is the first to notice Anon but immediately averts her gaze.
Things will be awkward with her for some time, so he walks past without a word and toward the back. Parting a cloth divider, he finds a small mobile kitchen in place, on the off chance that everything is sold. Only a few ponies are working today, Little Dipper, Butter Hooves, and Spoony. They give Anon a salute, to which he waves before walking towards a small desk tucked away in the corner where Bonbon sits.
“So, how are things going?” He asks.
Bonbon sets down her paperwork and looks up at Anon with an enormous smile before launching herself out of her seat and up into his arms.
“I heard the announcement! Congratulations!”
This shouldn’t surprise him, but even so, they have business to conduct right now. He sets her down on her hooves and brushes off some fur that she left behind.
“Thank you. Back on topic. How are things going?”
“No, no, no. You’re not going to gloss over the fact that you’re dating the princess.” Bonbon returns to her seat before motioning Anon over to the other side of the table. “Tell me all about it.”
A defeated sigh leaves him before he takes his seat across from Bonbon, Celestia sitting beside him.
“Remember that cake we were baking?”
“Of course.”
“Well, one thing led to another and Celestia told me how she felt. I already knew I liked her, so after some convincing, we started dating.”
“It makes sense that you two were into each other.” Bonbon looks over to the Princess. “I’m happy for you. I’m sure it’s tough being the ruler and all.”
“Being the ruler makes any relationship complicated with creatures of this land. Thankfully, Anon has never treated me in such a way. I believe this is why we’ve grown so close and why I want no one but him in my life.” Anon rubs the back of his neck as his face reddens. He hates when Celestia talks like this. “I’d also like to apologize for having to put my hoof down with your significant other,” Celestia adds. “Granting the circumstances, I could no longer allow what’s been happening between her and Anon.”
Bonbon’s ears pin back. So that’s why Lyra has been acting so strange lately.
“I should be the one apologizing.” Bonbon looks to her hooves in shame. “I couldn’t get her under control and now this is how things have turned out. Though,” When Bonbon looks up at Celestia, she appears relieved. “Having Anon officially dating is a load off my withers.”
“Be that as it may, I was perhaps a bit too aggressive.”
“It’s understandable.” Bonbon looks over to Anon. “Things are slow right now, but the festival has just started. It won’t be long before things start picking up. We’ve got it covered here, so have fun for once.”
Anon wants to offer some help but knows that ultimately this is a losing battle. Not to mention she has plenty of qualified ponies to lend her a hoof and he still has some things to take care of with Celestia.
“I know when I’m not welcome here.” Anon relents as he gets up and walks towards the front, giving Bonbon a wave. “I’ll see you later.”
“See you later!” Bonbon waves back as they exit the stand and back into the crowd.
“So, Fancy Pants?” Anon asks Celestia.
“Yes. He should be at the information booth. It shouldn’t take too long to speak with him. Then after that, we can walk around and enjoy some games.”
“You sure we can afford to do that?”
Celestia giggles. “Your friend was right. It’s a slow start but once things move, any chance to enjoy ourselves will pass.”
Anon can’t deny that. So with that settled, the both of them make their way over to the information booth.
“I’ve got two griffs missing and I can’t find them.” An older griffon says to Twilight. “We all came on the same train, so those knuckleheads are probably off in the crowd.”
“Understood. I will mobilize a small regiment of the guard to search for them. There is still plenty of time before the start of the athletic event, but they may miss out on some time stretching.”
“A pulled hamstring would serve them right.” He growls. “Thanks for the help. Let me know when you find them.”
“Will do!” Twilight walks over to a nearby guard. “I have two missing griffins.” She hoofs him a piece of parchment detailing the two. “Here are their names and descriptions. Please have my brother send out a small group to bring them here. They’re probably just goofing off.”
The guard gives her a brief nod before walking off. Twilight looks over her tasks to ensure everything is in order. Thankfully, the major events aren’t starting for a few hours, as to let ponies enjoy the festivities before finding a place to relax and enjoying the various trials. So far all the teams have been prepared and are doing their stretches to warm up.
Not to mention many of the event preppers have everything ready to swiftly move set pieces around. The first event is a standard relay race, so there’s not much to worry about other than making sure all the teams are ready. After that though is the weights competition, so moving all those bars into place will prove challenging. Of course, there’s also a magic casting event, which requires protection for the crowd in case of any errant spells.
Then there’s the biggest event: The flying race. Many species will compete, and there are plenty of obstacles for them during flight. For all these events, Twilight has medics on standby. While unlikely, any injuries will need to be addressed promptly. Twilight wipes the sweat from her brow. This is exhausting but fun! Being able to focus on something else is a breath of fresh air.
Taking a step into the stadium, she looks over the crowd in the distance. Once things get started, she’ll need to move over to the crowd side and make sure ponies make it into the stadium without issue.
“Twilight, we have a problem. One of the moving crew threw out his back. We need somepony to replace him.”
Twilight smiles as she turns to face the mare. “I can easily move whatever is needed now, then we can concentrate on getting a replacement.”
“So what have you been up to?” Sweetie Belle asks Spike.
The Crusaders and Spike stand in the crowd while Pinkie, AJ, and Fluttershy talk amongst themselves about what they should do first.
“Just a few things around the castle.” He remarks while glancing at the various games. “How about you three? Still trying to find your cutie marks?”
“Not really.” Scootaloo comes in. “Rarity has been busy lately, so we’ve been helping Sweetie Belle around her house.”
“But we’re still making a list of what we plan to do once Rarity is done.” Apple Bloom adds.
Ever since he learned the truth about Ponyville, Spike has taken a lot of time to think about his friends. How he plays a part in their lives and how much they mean to him. The innocent visor was lifted away, and Spike realized that his love for Rarity was just a farce. While he knows Rarity can be very generous, he can’t deny her cruelty as well. She knew he liked her, and yet she strung him along for her benefit.
So while he worries about her, a part of him is still upset by what she did to him.
“Spike?” Scootaloo whispers to him, looking over her withers at the others for a moment, making sure only he and the other Crusaders can hear her.
“Yeah?”
“Do you know what’s happened in Ponyville?”
Spike’s eyes widen a bit before he calms himself. It shouldn’t be a huge surprise that the Crusaders may have heard some stuff about what happened, but he’ll prod them a bit to make sure.
“What do you mean?”
Apple Bloom moves closer to Spike too.
“The day you and Twilight left, Applejack was hurt pretty bad and no pony would tell me why. Even after that, Applejack just kept telling me it was nothing to worry about.”
“It’s the same with my sister.” Sweetie Belle confirms. “After that day, she fell into this project and won’t leave her room.”
“I also haven’t seen Rainbow Dash in a long time.” Scootloo’s wings droop. “And all the fillies and colts at school keep saying that the elements did something wrong. Is that why Rainbow is gone?”
Spike isn’t sure how to respond to this. Then, he recalls what Anon told him the night he learned the truth. He can either allow the Crusaders to remain ignorant or he can tell them the truth. Spike does something he’s only seen Twilight and Anon do; he puts on a fake smile.
“Oh, that stuff? It’s nothing. We’ve just got a lot of stuff to do for the Princess.”
The Crusaders visibly relax as their smiles come back.
“Really?” Sweetie Belle asks.
“Of course. I know it’s tough right now and it will take some time, but everything will go back to normal.”
Scootaloo walks over and elbows Apple Bloom. “See! It’s just Element stuff!”
“I guess we were worried over nothing.”
The entire mood of the group has lifted considerably and while Spike feels sick to his stomach that he lied to them, he also can’t deny that ruining this day would’ve been worse.
“So when are you and Twilight coming home?” Sweetie Belle asks.
“Home?”
“Yeah! To the library!” Scootaloo comes in.
Despite the churning in his stomach, Spike continues to smile.
“Twilight and I are still busy with a few things, but I’m sure we’ll be back home in no time!”
Everyone here is filled with laughter and cheer. There are so many things to do that it’s enough to make a pony’s head spin. Where there is so much happiness all around, Pinkie can only focus on Spike. A shiver running up her spine as he gives the crusaders a smile that reminds her of Anon when he’s hiding his emotions. She couldn’t help but hear their conversation, but she didn’t expect to see this.
“Maybe we should get the girls worn out before eating?” AJ puts her two cents in.
“That may be the best idea. Then after we can head over to the main events.” Fluttershy adds.
“Still, what should we do first? There’s so much to choose from.”
“What do you think, Pinkie?”
Pinkie breaks from her thoughts as she looks over at Fluttershy and AJ.
“Well, why not something we’re familiar with first?”
Pinkie points over to a ‘bobbing for apples’ stand where plenty of ponies are giving their all to grab one.
“A small snack couldn’t hurt.” AJ nods in agreement.
“Sounds good to me.” Fluttershy walks over to the Crusaders and Spike. “Let’s try bobbing for apples first.”
“That’ll be easy!” Scootaloo announces as they walk over to the stand.
Pinkie sidles up close to Spike before leaning close and whispering to him.
“Hey, Spike. Do you mind if I talk to you real quick?”
He jumps in surprise before looking up at Pinkie. It’s strange, but he gets the sense that Pinkie isn’t herself, even though her smile looks as normal as it usually does.
“Ok.”
Pinkie leads Spike away from the others without a word, but Fluttershy gives a sidelong glance before returning her attention to the others as they wait in line. Once Pinkie leads Spike to a more secluded place, she pauses in thought on how to approach this subject.
“Are you alright, Pinkie?” Spike asks. “You’re not acting like yourself.”
Pinkie lets out a long sigh. “Was it that obvious?”
“Kinda.” Spike twiddles his claws. “I’ve been getting better at reading ponies recently.”
Pinkie can tell just by looking at Spike that he’s not the same drake she knew. Just the way he speaks is enough to tell her he’s done a lot of growing up since last she saw him. Though she can only guess it was out of necessity due to whatever’s been going on.
“When did you learn about Ponyville?” Pinkie asks.
He is surprised that Pinkie knew, but the sad look she’s giving him is exactly the one Anon had the night Spike learned the truth.
“After Anon’s party,” he answers. “Luna told me and then a lot of stuff happened.”
Pinkie kneels. “I’d like to hear about it if it’s not too much trouble.”
“Um, sure, but why?”
“A lot is going on that I don’t understand, and I’d like to know as much as I can before making my decision.”
“Decision about what?”
“Can you keep a secret?” Spike nods. “I want Anon to help me get my friends back on their hooves.”
“I don’t know how my story will help, but I’ll try.”
Pinkie gives him a smile and pat on the head. This information will hopefully give Pinkie a good idea of what’s happening and how she’ll approach Anon with this subject. After learning that Anon is dating the Princess, Pinkie is hesitant in adding more pressure to him. While she wants to help her friends, she doesn’t want to lose Anon either.
Anon stands beside Celestia as she chats with Fancy Pants. He continues to scan the area for anything out of the ordinary but finds nothing. A long and tiring sigh leaves him as he rubs the back of his neck. Being paranoid about nothing is just going to ruin this day Celestia and him have together. He needs to concentrate on something else.
Shifting his gaze, he studies the various games that are on display for everyone to play. A lot of the games look similar to ones from Earth but have been modified for ponies to use. Though what catches his attention is the griffin ran games. These are the same as the ones from Earth, most likely because they can use their talons like hands.
“You look nervous.”
Anon jumps as he finds Spitfire standing beside him. He can’t help the smile on his face.
“Hey, it’s been a while.”
“The life of a Wonderbolt is difficult.” Spitfire gives a fake sob. “Day in and day out, I was forced to train for today.” She looks up at Anon with a grin. “Or something like that.”
“I take it you’ll be judging the contestants?”
“Pretty much. I have an aerial dance before the start of the flying event, but after that, I’ll be monitoring any potential talent to recruit.”
Anon’s brow raises. “Aerial dance?”
“Oh, yeah, this is your first festival. It’s a dance in the sky without magic. It shows how much power and control a pegasus needs in their wings to keep them perfectly leveled in the sky. This year it’s my turn.”
“Sounds impressive.”
“You’ll understand once you see it.” Spitfire’s ears perk up as a tone is heard from a nearby speaker. “They’re calling everyone back in to get ready. Congratulations on dating the princess, by the way.”
“Thanks,” is all Anon can say as Spitfire takes off.
“Have a pleasant chat?”
Anon looks back at Celestia. “Yeah. You good?”
“Everything is going as planned. So, are you ready to enjoy some games?”
“Of course.”
Anon leads the way towards the games, feeling a lot better after having talked to Spitfire. Maybe his nerves were all for nothing?
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id like to see anon just take a paparazzi's camera and throw it in a lake XD
I love such returns after hiastuses, they bring hope.
i love this series
ok, someone saying that at the end is never a good thing.
I've been waiting for a long time for this chapter. Can't wait for the next one.
10742927
A Pinkiepie fox? Sweet Luna, she's already intelligent enough and her having all that, that's just pushing her up to god tier! :P
10742949
She is most cunning!
Man I love this series, its always a treat to see a new chapter, well worth the wait between them.
Awesome to have a new chapter! Hope to read more in the near future.
I got a feeling something's gonna go down in the aerial races.
I got a prediction on what might happen. Keeping it to my self for now
Really there doesn't seem to be any real reason why Anon even should. The other three Elements haven't done anything to esrn forgiveness, and they aren't entitled to it either. I think its best for Anon to just leave Ponyville behind.
10742839
Tempting fate like that... might as well say, "Gosh, it couldn't get any worse."
10743978
We don't support the mother who drowns her children or the mass shooter, right? Obviously an exaggeration but you were downplaying the severity of her actions in your example. Fact is, once an innocent person is involved, all bets are out the window.
Good character development showing through especially for Spike. Thanks for another update to a beloved story.
10742839
Eeeeyuup
10743978
Alright.
Imagine you get tortured by someone. Then one of their friends rolls up to your house questioning why you're so mad about how said someone tortured you. Really, quite a dumb thing to ask, right? You'd definitely be trying to avoid the person who tortured you, and you'd definitely hold a lot of hate for that same person. After all, they friggin tortured you. Why is this case any different?
Regardless of the reason, Twilight tortured Anon (she even states this fact in one of her thoughts). I believe Anon is well within his right to be mad with her for however long he needs/wants to be. Anon is the victim here, not Twilight.
Woo so happy to see an update! Went and binge-re-read the entire trilogy so I would be fully up-to-date on things, and I still think it's one of my most favourite stories on this site.
Hoping for more, but don't be afraid to take your time! We don't need a CyberPunk 2077-esque release of this story...
You have no ideas how upset I am I forgot to put tracking on this story I last read this in 2018
Wow! i though i would never see another chapter, this is great!
... and now, the divide between the adults and you, young drake, is as nothing compared to the divide between you and these three fillies.
You've taken your first steps from being the shielded, towards being the one who shields. In other words: welcome to being the adult, Spike.