Anon's Detour

by NeonDF

Chapter 9

Anon stood in place, nursing his hand and shivering slightly. The intimidating mare, whoever she was, has left, but not before turning his smartphone – the only means of communication – into a charred piece of plastic. His right hand ached, the seared spots on the skin began turning an angry red. Most annoying was the lavender mare who has seemingly forgot about his existence and was energetically poking her snout into the cooling remains, occasionally taking a whiff of the noxious fumes and recoiling with a snort.

Cursing under his breath, Anon left the scene and went down the stairs, where he saw the lizard creature from before shelving some books. Paying it no mind the human entered the kitchen, moved to the sink, turned on the tap and shoved his hand under the stream.

The cool water soothed the pain somewhat, the phantom burning sensation subsiding to an unpleasant tingle. Relishing the feeling, Anon let his mind wander back to what has just happened. For starters, who was that mare? She came in like she owed the place, yet left almost immediately. It seemed like she tried to talk to him, but the sounds she produced were unlike any language Anon has ever heard. Not that he heard many: his foreign language knowledge was limited to a collection of random phrases he found on the internet and a bit of Spanish. Not much, but enough to tell a cabrón to vete a la mierda.

But setting aside the language problem, why did she fry his phone? Did it react to her power somehow? Seems unlikely: it was fine at first, and nothing like that has happened earlier when the lavender mare did the same.

Was it a warning? Behave, or else? Well, unlike any verbal warning, this one required no translation and certainly carried the point across. Could it do the same to him? Just… microwave his insides, or whatever that was?

His hands started shaking, his breaths coming in short and irregular. What if she knew what a smartphone was? What if she deliberately destroyed it, to prevent him from attempting communication with the outside world? Perhaps this place was a secret, one he could not tell anyone about. But then, why keep him alive?

But what if they wanted him alive? What if his presence in this alien town was not a coincidence, but a direct result of some insidious planning? But there’s no way they could’ve guessed he would decide to take a walk through the park that day, or even find the right way through the forest. Unless… these weren’t his decision, and the necessary thoughts were somehow suggested to him.

Anon felt lightheaded. His mind was abuzz with questions and possibilities, the thoughts spinning in circles and looping back into each other, suggesting darker and darker explanations that made less and less sense. At one point, his vision began to go black. Overwhelmed, the human took in a deep breath and let out a roar.

“Rrraaaargh!”

It helped. For a moment, he could think somewhat clearly.

There was a loud thump from the main chamber, and a few seconds later the lizard creature poked its head through the doorway. It took a cautious look around, then watched for a few seconds as the human motionlessly stood bent over the sink, his hands and head shoved under the cold water, then promptly tilted its head and disappeared out of sight.

---

Fifteen minutes later Anon was half-sitting on the counter, drying his head off with the towel. He calmed down considerably, the panic replaced with the feeling of emptiness and a strong desire to get back home as soon as possible, lock himself in for a few days and forget about this ordeal altogether.

Unfortunately, proceeding with the original plan of using GPS was impossible with the destruction of the smartphone. He was not about to risk rooting through the house and further upsetting the white pony, so there was only one option left: going outside, finding a road out of town and following it until he happens on a car or a proper human settlement. Hopefully his presence here was just an enormous coincidence, and he wouldn’t be barred from leaving the town. Or even this building.

He idly noted it was getting darker outside, but the kitchen remained well-lit despite the lack a ceiling lamp. A quick look over the room revealed there was a light switch near the entrance, but he couldn’t see where the light was coming from. Another neat trick of the interior.

Crumpling the towel and leaving it in a wet pile near the sink, Anon pushed off of the counter and took a couple unsteady steps. A thought crossed his mind to root through the fridge and find something for the trip ahead, but the resurfaced memory of tortured smartphone immediately quelled the hunger. It was better if he left as soon as possible and put on as much distance from this place as he could, and agitating the locals even further wouldn’t help. Besides, finding his way once the darkness settled in would be next to impossible.

Walking out of the kitchen, Anon was relieved to find the main chamber empty. Whether he was allowed to leave or not did not matter if he could do it quickly and quietly.

Keeping an eye on the stairway, Anon carefully made his way towards the exit door. The floor was made from a solid piece of wood, so it did not creak under his weight, and by taking it slow he could keep each step soft and silent. He reached the door with no issues and grabbed the knob, giving it an experimental twist. The mechanism let out a click, and with a gentle push the door swung open. Not believing his luck, Anon gave a last glance at the staircase, and finding it empty ducked down and went through the doorway, slowly closing the door behind.

The outside did not change over the last few hours. There were still the same rural houses with thatched roofs, neat lawns and no markings, but the locals have vacated the streets. He stepped from the porch and onto the trampled ground and had a look around. There were no discernible roads, road signs and any other landmarks except for the tree-house he just came out of.

Now that he took it all in, outwardly the town had a surprisingly medieval theme to it. Hand-carved shutters on windows, brick chimneys poking from thatched roofs. Thatched roofs, in this day and age? There’s no way that was real, there must be a metallic or a shingled slope underneath. But if it looked like a medieval town, was it built like one? He knew history enough to recall people used to settle near rivers and on trade paths. If he got back to the main square, there was bound to be a major road there. He could have entered the town through one such road, come to think of it.

With no better idea in mind, Anon turned in the direction of where he recalled the main square was and set off at a fast pace.

Twenty minutes later, he had to strain his eyes to see anything. The twilight descended much faster than he expected, and there still was no main square in sight. The houses looked eerily similar, so it was next to impossible to orient himself on the way back. There was an occasional oddball of a building like the one that looked like a carousel, and he was quite sure he would’ve remembered that one. With that, Anon realized he was completely lost.

The sun has long since hidden beneath the horizon, and the full moon was leisurely rising on the east. The air was ripe with chirping of crickets and an occasional trill of a late bird, and the grass on the lawns was gently swaying under the warm breeze. Once in a while the wind would pick up and rustle the trees, but not loud enough to drown out the soft footsteps. The quiet idyll was broken up only by an occasional barking and a distant howl coming from the far-off forest.

The human was aimlessly wandering the streets, having abandoned all pretense of following some set direction. He could only hope he would stumble on something useful, as he was sure he wouldn’t be able to return to the tree building even if he wanted. Despite the darkness, the empty streets and the unfamiliarity of the town Anon felt surprisingly at ease. Maybe it was exhaustion catching up to him, or the fresh air doing wonders for his frayed nerves, but Anon could for the moment forget about what has happened during the day. He could even forget the fact he was lost, and pretend he was just taking a stroll through some exotic town for sightseeing or relaxation.

His wanderings eventually brought him to what he suspected was a park. It was a heavily forested area fenced off with a forged palisade, the tops of the steel rods curving in on each other in floral patterns. There was an opening in the middle, beyond which laid a gravel path that led further in and featured an occasional bench. The treetops no doubt provided a pleasant shade during the day, but now they were obscuring what little light came from the moon and the stars, making it hard to see anything further in.

Anon was about to turn right and try his luck following the fence, but then his eyes adjusted and he noticed something bright in that darkness. There, some distance away, the path led to a relatively well-lit opening, and straining his eyes further Anon could even make out something rectangular. Something that looked like a billboard.

Recalling that billboards in parks often have maps and other useful info for guests, Anon decided to investigate. Even if it would be a bust, he could always backtrack and follow the fence afterwards.

It didn’t take long for him to cross the dark section and come out into the clearing. It turned out to be not just a mere clearing, but an actual lake shore, with the billboard standing on the clear strip of land between the water and the tree line. The gravel path split up and followed the shore in both directions, forming a scenic route for as long as the eye could see, with an occasional bench for sightseeing or the elderly.

Over the opposite bank, the full moon stood proudly in the skies, surrounded by a multitude of stars, and illuminated the entire land with its gentle white light. The lake was quite modest, so Anon could easily discern the forested area and some reeds across the waters. He couldn’t shake the feeling there was something off over there.

He kept looking, feeling as if he was missing something, some small detail. There was nothing but trees and reeds, and however he strained his eyes they remained as is. Shrugging off the feeling, Anon turned his attention to the billboard.

The billboard turned out to be not what he expected. There wasn’t any tourist-friendly schematic or writing proclaiming what park it was or what the nearest landmarks were. Instead, the billboard featured a highly detailed topographical map of the region. It was on the shaded side of the board and done in small print, but after some eye straining he quickly found the dark blob indicating the lake and an off-color patch indicating the town.

Further examination revealed the gravel path he just followed, denoted by a thin line. One end of it met the lake, split in two and encircled it, connecting to similar thin lines on occasion. The other end met the “town” area, which was just a light blob sprinkled with dark dots and rectangles. No streets, no order, just an assortment of buildings. It made no sense, but was quite fitting, as the town itself made no sense.

Fighting off the beginnings of headache, Anon moved his gaze further. There, approximately in the center of the town, was a somewhat clear spot. That must’ve been the main square he was aiming for. A twisting line was going through the town near the square, one end meeting the lake not far from where he currently was. That definitely was a river or a stream.

There were various squiggles all over the map he couldn’t interpret, but what grabbed his attention were a few thick lines starting near the supposed town square and going outwards, through the town borders and beyond. Roads. Exactly what he was looking for.

Unfortunately, the poor lightning coupled with small print were beginning to take their toll. The longer Anon stared into the map the less he could make out, and eventually had to stop for a break. Massaging his eyes over the closed eyelids, Anon stumbled to a nearby bench and took a seat, then leaned back, opened his eyes again and relaxed them, focusing on the far objects for a change.

It was the same tranquil lake as before. There was the tree line on the far shore, and a patch of reeds. The landscape was illuminated by the full moon that cast its reflection upon the lake. The moonlight formed a glittering trail on the surface, which caught Anon’s gaze and guided it up, and up, towards the starry sky above.

The skies were particularly crisp that night. Even the ubiquitous light pollution receded, letting the smallest star or a streak of color stand out against the infinite background. The normal darkness was gone, the entire swathes of black sky were tinted with yellow, red, blue and green strands of nebulas that stretched across the firmaments, curled on themselves and merged into each other. The usual band of Milky Way was absent, and the stars seemed much closer, the white, blue and yellow sparks shining brightly and forming entirely new constellations in place of the familiar ones.

The centerpiece was the moon. With its prominent craters and marines gone it looked almost pristine, as if the ancient worn and beaten satellite was replaced by a young stellar companion. There could still be seen some off-color splotches and thin crater rims, but overall the surface was much cleaner and brighter, making the silver disc stand out on the surreal color palette that was the night sky.

Anon was startled from his trance by a soft rustling to his right. Turning his head, he saw the familiar pony standing nearby, her lavender coat almost gray in the dim light, her ever inquisitive eyes trained on him.

“How did you…”

He started, before realizing he won’t understand the reply either way. Letting out a sigh, the human just turned away, draped his arms over the back of the bench and let his gaze wander back to the alien moon high above.

“I’m not getting home anytime soon, am I?”

There was no answer. Not that he expected one.

Something scrambled onto the bench, producing a soft tremor and prompting another glance.

The pony was now sitting on her haunches next to him, her snout pointing upwards, her gaze fixed on the stars. This up close, he could see the individual strands of her blue mane falling down on her shoulders, disturbed only by an occasional gust of the wind. Her entire body was covered with the same soft lavender fuzz as the muzzle, and he noticed her eyelids were framed by long eyelashes. Her giant purple eyes were focused somewhere up and far, far away, and he could see the same moon as above reflecting in the twin orbs.

The warm breeze was picking up in strength, rustling the trees as if trying to overwhelm the deafening chirping of crickets. The gusts of wind produced small ripples over the surface of the lake, breaking up reflections from stars and nebulae and mixing the fragments into a kaleidoscope of heavenly colors. Somewhere in there, between the waves, was a reflection of Earth.

Comments

[NeonDF]

Added Adventure tag, it seemed to me as the only genre tag that fits, and the lack of one felt a bit awkward. Touched upon description as well. This time the chapter is twice the usual size, I'm getting hang of this writing thing.

11513487
Oh, definitely.
>something never seen before and that should’ve been enough to set off Twilight’s curiosity
It definitely did, but she can't just mouth off the god-empress of ponykind, can she?

11513716
Would be awkward for an ambassador to hide away from the species he was sent to meet under a rug in some shack.

[Booster Spice]

Be intresting if Twilight tries to do any chemical analysis on the remains, theres combustion products in there that would get that placed declared a a disaster area under some regulations.

In fact, I wonder if certain small flakes would be reactively irritating or non consumable to even Spike.

[StarzGecko]

Earth 🌎 is somewhere… you got this Anon! You’ll make it back home. Also, poor Anon for getting hurt but also Twilight shouldn’t be smelling a melted phone… that’s dangerous.

Can’t wait for what the next chapter brings

[PuzzleMaster98]

I feel really bad for anon.

And I must admit, surprised to see an anon story with no romance of any sort.

Interesting, to say the least.

[DMDash71]

That last paragraph, and the very last line were extremely evocative and a rarity in fanfiction. Very well done.