Friendship: the Gathering

by Arcanum -Phantasy

Ch.1 First Contact

A dull, throbbing pain in the back of his head awakened Anon, his whole world spinning as he let out a groan. Had he been drinking last night? No, this wasn't that kind of pain. Close, but not the same. Cracking open his eyes a bit, he quickly shut them again with a hiss. The brief glance he got and the familiar feel of his couch's cushions told him that he was in his living room. That brought a small sigh of relief out of him, but also made him question why he was in the living room instead of his bedroom.

He exclusively watched videos on his phone, so there was no TV for him to pass out in front of here. He didn't remember brining his Switch or DS out here at any point, but he supposed there was a chance that he slept through a video on his phone. It wouldn't be the first time, but that probably meant that the device was going to be pretty low on battery now.

Fuck me, he thought, forcing himself into sitting up.

A soft gasp made him freeze.

Anon may not have been the most observant of people, but he sure as hell knew that he lived alone. Unless Jinx had found a way to make human sounds, there was a good chance there was someone else in the room with him. Slowly, he reached for the pocket knife he kept clipped to his rear pocket as he opened his eyes.

Sitting across from him was the same strange creature he had saw earlier, her lips pulled down into a worried frown. His heart sank into his gut, memories of what happened before he fainted jumping to the forefront of his mind. The creature didn't have a chance to say anything before he staggered to his feet and drew his weapon. The creature immediately put her arms up, eyes wide with shock as they alternated between him and the blade pointed at her.

"Wh-Who or what the fuck are you?" he growled, fighting past his throbbing head.

"P-Pinkie Pie," she stammered. "M-My name is Pinkie Pie. And you?"

"None of your god damn business," he growled. "What the hell are you doing in my house?"

"I-I-I saw your house and wanted to welcome you to town," Pinkie Pie explained, tears starting to build in her eyes. "Y-Y-You passed out at the door, so I th-thought I would help."

He refused to break eye-contact with her, ready to strike the second she tried anything. At the same time, he looked for any kind of tells in case she was lying. After a few tense minutes of this, he couldn't get any other kind of readings off of her beyond how afraid of him she was. With a sigh, he folded up and pocketed his weapon before he reclaimed his seat.

"Alright," he sighed, interlocking his fingers together onto his lap. "Sorry for all of that. I've never seen anything like you and it was a bit...much."

"I-It's okay," Pinkie softly smiled, wiping away her tears. "I'm sorry I scared you."

"I'll live," Anon snorted. "Now, first things first. Where the hell am I?"

***

The next couple of hours were interesting to say the least.

Apparently, he was now on a world called Equis, a world largely populated by anthropomorphic magical creatures. More specifically, his house had ended up in a town called Ponyville, a small hamlet set in the heart of Equestria. As if to further match the theme, a vast majority of the country was populated by humanoid equines collectively called Ponies. In total, there were three types or Tribes of Ponies, each built to use their magic differently based on their anatomy. These were Earth Ponies, Unicorns, and Pegasi. Earth Ponies were apparently stronger and much more durable than the other two tribes with magic better suited for agriculture or construction. Pegasi had wings and could manipulate the weather, even possessing the ability to build entire cities out of clouds and walk on them. Unicorns were the most physically feeble of the three tribes, but had magic that was a lot more varied in terms of use. There were some limits, but Pinkie didn't know enough about the specifics to give Anon the full scope.

While they were talking, they had at some point moved from the living room to the dinning room, a pitcher of cranberry juice and two full glasses not far from their reach. Anon's face was hard to read, but at least it didn't hold the burning animosity from before. Pinkie was a completely different story, the woman, or mare as she had clarified at some point, was practically bursting with energy. There were a few times during their conversation Anon needed to remind her to breathe, especially when her face started to turn blue. While her good mood was infectious, the constant blast of energy and noise she gave off was starting to take its toll on him. He wanted to know more about his situation, sure, but it was still a lot to take in all at once.

He could already feel his anxiety starting to catch up with him.

Out of habit, he gathered up all of the cards he left on the table earlier and started to shuffle. Like a smoker taking a puff, the action eased his growing tension with each shuffle. Pinkie quickly noticed, staring at the cards with open intrigue and a raised brow. The sudden interest dimmed his zen slightly, pulling the cards closer to himself away from the staring mare.

"What are those?" she asked, pointing at the stack in his hands.

"Magic the Gathering cards," he responded guardedly. "It's a game from my world."

"Really?!" she gasped. "Can I play?!"

Anon didn't really know how to answer that. Sure, he had helped people get into the game and even guided new players into building their first real decks, but those cases involved the other person having their own cards. He had hundreds of decks stored in his study, each ready to destroy a player any number of ways. They were also extremely expensive. So much so that he almost never used some of them unless he had at least three copies of everything in them. The fact that he was in a situation that made replacing any part of them impossible only added to his reservations.

"I'd....rather you didn't," he sighed, reaching for the deck box. "My cards mean a lot to me and I don't like other people messing with them."

"Oh, okay," she wilted, leaning back in her seat.

Anon's hand froze halfway towards the box. The mare's dejected demeanor made him feel like he had just kicked a puppy. Looking back on how he had treated her so far hadn't helped much either. Even after he had her at knifepoint, she answered all of his questions without even a hint of spite. It was only fair that he at least returned the favor in some way.

"Alright," he sighed, pulling his hand back. "While I don't feel comfortable letting you use my cards, I can at least explain how the game works. Deal?"

"Deal!" she beamed, all gloom gone from her in an instant.

He blinked at her for a moment, then did his best to shake off his mental whiplash as he turned his attention back towards his cards.

Gods I hope not all Ponies are like her, he thought, tiredly sifting through some of the cards in his deck.

***

"So, all of the stuff on these cards are fake in your world?" Pinkie asked, staring down at a few cards set in front of her.

"Not all of them," Anon shrugged, taking a sip of juice. "Humans are real and some of the animals are too. Crazy stuff like dragons, hydras, sea serpents, and gryphons are just myths where I'm from."

"But they look a lot like the ones here!" Pinkie gaped, pointing at a hydra card. "This looks just like the one the royal guard scared back into the Everfree Forest a few months ago! How did people from your world do that?!"

"Hell if I know," he shrugged. "Maybe a few things from this world ended up over there. Makes about as much sense as what's happening right now, anyway."

A small tremble ran through him, his own offhanded comment reminding him of his situation. He took a deep breath to try to steady his nerves, silently hoping that Pinkie hadn't noticed. Of course, the gods of both worlds decided to refuse access to that simple hope.

Are you okay?" she asked, her face heavy with concern.

"Y-Yeah," he forced out, avoiding eye contact with the mare. "Anyway, do you have any other questions?"

Pinkie was about to press, but decided against it at the last second. She could see that he wasn't okay, but with no safe way to proceed, she decided to play along with his act. Looking down at the cards on the table, she let a small smile grace her muzzle as a question came to her.

"Why are the cards different colors?"

Anon blinked at that, then let out a faint groan.

"Right, I guess I forgot to talk about that. You see, in Magic there are five main colors. Each one has a specific play style and philosophy that helps determine how you choose to build your deck and play the game. Red is the color of chaos and emotion and usually relies on a fast and aggressive play style to overwhelm opponents. Green is the color of nature and instinct and uses giant creatures to smash through everything in its way. White is the color of law and order and usually tries to take down threats with military might or the power of faith. Blue is the color of knowledge and technology and usually tries to negate other forms of magic or other indirect ways to take down opponents. Black is the color of power and ambition and will do anything to win even if it means sacrificing others or using underhanded tactics."

"What about these ones?" she asked, pointing at a few cards.

"Those are colorless cards," he explained. "They can be used by any of the other colors and don't really have an identity or philosophy of their own."

"That's so mean!" she gasped.

"Maybe," Anon shrugged. "It does make them the most flexible cards in the game, though. A green card can't do anything in a pure red deck, but a colorless card can be used in any kind of deck. Sounds like a fair trade to me."

"I guess," she frowned, looking legitimately sorry for the cards in question. "It's still mean, though."

Anon shrugged at that.

One of his biggest deck-building challenges was trying to build a purely colorless competitive deck. While he was doing it, it was hard to feel any kind of connection with the cards because of how empty the play style felt. He felt more like a factory worker than a mage when he used it. When he eventually jumped back to his main color, it was a breath of fresh air and a lot more fun.

"So, what color is your favorite?" Pinkie asked, leaning forward with a wide smile.

Anon leaned back from her, then stiffly said, "Green."

"Really?" she blinked, staring down at the hydra card from before.

He nodded, smiling down at the same card.

"I can use each of the other cards just fine, but I've always had a strong connection to green."

Before she could ask anymore questions, Anon put his hand up to silence her and said, "I know this is going to sound rude, but can you please leave now. I mean, I just spent the last couple of hours trying to come to terms with the fact that I'm in a new world and I...really want to be alone now. Okay?"

Pinkie stared at him for a moment, shock and worry clear on her face. She didn't like the idea of leaving the human in such a delicate place, but she also didn't think it was wise to push him too much. Not sure of what else to do, she gave him a reluctant nod and stood up. Letting out a relieved sigh, he guided her towards his front door and opened it for her. He flinched back from the late afternoon sun as the mare passed him.

Fucking sun, he bitterly thought. Eat a fat one.

"It was really really really nice to meet you Anon," Pinkie beamed. "Maybe I can throw you a party later to welcome you to the town!"

"Please don't," he grimaced. "I hate crowds."

"Oh," Pinkie frowned, taken aback from that.

"It was nice to meet you though," he smiled. "Maybe next time, we can do this without me pointing a knife at you."

"Yeah," she giggled. "That would be really nice."

He snorted at that and nodded.

"See you around Pinkie."

"See ya' Anon!" she beamed, waving.

Nodding, he closed the door and let out a relieved sigh. A light mew at his side caught his attention as Jinx walked into view. Bending down, he picked up the hefty cat and made his way back towards the kitchen. Taking a seat at the table, he mindlessly pet Jinx as he frowned at the table.

"Alright Anon, you know your situation, what the fuck are you going to do?"

His eye drifted towards a wooden cabinet with glass doors by the fridge.

"Booze," he flatly stated, gently setting the cat down onto the floor. "Lots of booze."

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[Even Evil Has Standards]

To alcohol! The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems.