Chapter Fourteen - And Now For Something Unexpected
The talk with the colt went by fast. The little foal asked questions in rapid succession, getting some of the simple things down for his paper about who he was as a person, his likes and dislikes, and about his time being around them. Anon made sure to word things very carefully when answering, lest things are misinterpreted for any reason; he didn’t want to leave things to chance.
Just as it was getting dark, Anon returned to the house from his walk. Looking at the building, he saw quite a bit of it was torn apart with none of the construction workers around. The inside of the house was empty as far as he could see, likely put in some kind of storage unit. Or at least, he hoped that was the case.
Lyra and Bon Bon were sitting in front of the house, talking to one another until they spotted Anon walking up to them.
“Hey, Anon!” Lyra said, getting up from the ground. He waved back at her walking up to him with a few suitcases. “I’ve already got your stuff packed. We’re not allowed to sleep in the house until it’s fixed up, something about it not being safe. Can you believe that?”
“Oh nooo, how could they,” Anon said in a monotonous voice that Bon Bon giggled at.
“So until the place is good to go for us, we’ll be staying at someone else’s place!”
The two ponies walk past Anon, headed down the street. Anon picked up his suitcase, following them. “Where are we staying at?” he asked.
“Octavia’s,” Bon Bon answered. Anon frowned at the answer. “I asked her when I was out in town and she said there wouldn’t be any problems.”
“There weren’t any other solutions?”
“We only had three options: It was Octavia’s, Twilight’s, or Applejacks.” The last two were choices that he didn’t care much for at all, for various reasons. “Other ponies aren’t prepared to have you at their places for three weeks plus, or however long until the house is finished.”
“Three weeks?” That sounded surprisingly fast to Anon.
“Yeah, I know right! It would have been done faster but I talked to the princess about some things our house could do with on improvements.”
“Hopefully we’ll get some stronger walls and shatter-proof glass,” Bon Bon said with a small smile aimed at Lyra.
“It’s not my fault windows can’t withstand the awesomeness that is me,” Lyra said, head held high.
Taking no time arriving at Octavia and Vinyl’s home, Lyra gave the door a knock, sounding off a wapa-wapa-wapa sound with each hit. She let out a cough, giving a nervous chuckle from her knocking.
Bon Bon and Anon looked to one another, and then back at Lyra, shaking their heads.
It didn’t take long for someone to come to the door, opening up and revealing Vinyl. “Hey there, how can I—” Pausing, she stared at Lyra, then to Bon Bon, then turned her gaze up to Anon’s face. She then dropped to the ground, grabbing Lyra’s front legs. “I’M SOOOOOWWWRRRYYYY!!! I SWEAR I DIDN’T MEAN TO ALMOSTKINDANOTSUREBUTMAYBEKILL ANOOOOOWWWNNN!!!”
Lyra’s narrowed her eyes down, thinning her lips at the rave pony. “Even after this afternoon, I think we need to further talk about what is and is not acceptable to put inside his body. But we’re not here for you, specifically.”
“…So you’re not here to rip me to shreds for giving him hash and potentially hurting him in the process?”
“No, I wasn’t originally. Though we might take some time tonight to talk about that.”
Vinyl’s smile looked forced, letting out a stilted chuckle. “Well, come in, relax, and let’s forget about everything that has happened in the past!”
Vinyl hopped back in the house, right before letting out a squeak, being levitated in the air by Lyra. She gave Lyra a sad look, hoping that would get her out of what’s to come.
“The puppy-eyed look works better if you’re not wearing those goggles of yours,” Lyra said with a frown.
“…Crap,” Vinyl squeaked out, being brought in by Lyra.
Following them, the two passed by Octavia and straight into a bedroom in the back. Octavia shook her head, turning to the other two. “Come in and take a seat, I’m not sure how long this will take with Lyra.”
“Could be a while,” Bon Bon commented, taking a seat. “So what’s this about hash that for some reason Anon didn’t tell us about?”
Anon let out a sigh as he sat beside Bon Bon. Octavia took a seat on a chair across from them. “Vinyl thought it would be a good idea to give him some of the stuff in her baked goods last night. The results were anything but pleasant from what I imagine he went through, or if he could remember any of it.”
Bon Bon rose an eyebrow at that. “Hash doesn’t make others forget things.”
“It did for him, for some reason or another. He went out in the town, acting very abnormally from what I picked up amongst the partygoers last night. Anon here found himself in the Everfree at Zecora’s of all places. I still think it’s affecting him in some ways, and who knows what giving that hash to him could have done.”
The candy mare hummed at that. “That’s not good. Hopefully, Lyra doesn’t tear into Vinyl that badly. She seemed to have gotten most of it out of her, tying Vinyl to that flag pole.”
“Lyra wouldn’t do anything too aggressive, right?” Anon asked. “I get she can get out of ha— hoof at times, but she never seemed the overly violent type to me.”
“She really isn’t,” Bon Bon answered. “Lyra may play it up, but she wouldn’t go out of her way to cause harm. The problem is she never really had a lot of control over her magic, which is quite scary at times.”
“It’s why she stuck with enchantments in her work.”
“True, much easier to control.”
Octavia continued, “I’m not sure if it was explained to you Anon, but Lyra was attending a specially gifted class of magic users when she was young, even attended beside Twilight. She was never greatly gifted in the knowledge aspect of things, definitely not on the range that Twilight is, but, she has a massive amount of power that she has trouble controlling.”
“If she had better control, it’s likely she could have applied in any job and get it without any problem at all,” Bon Bon added in. “I’m convinced that her magic is partially the reason she’s working for Celestia in the first place.”
A massive bang could be felt throughout the house, followed by what Anon would describe as a round of cartoonish sounding screams and clangs. Octavia ignored this as she started to serve tea to them. Bon Bon also ignored it, sipping on her drink.
Anon let out a sigh, also taking a sip on his drink, hoping the following weeks wouldn’t be too stressful on him.
Another thump could be felt, this one shaking the walls quite violently. Bon Bon frowned, setting her drink down.
“I should probably go up and check on them. Lyra shouldn’t do anything too violent, but I’m afraid of us being homeless once again.”
“A proper fear to have, concerning Lyra,” Octavia remarked as Bon Bon walked off. Preparing to take another sip, Octavia observed Anon, staring down at his cup. “Is there something wrong with the tea?”
“Hmm? No, it’s fine. I just had this odd thought from this morning, concerning a comment you made.”
“Is it about the herb I wanted to acquire? Rest assured, you have nothing to worry about me slipping them to you in any manner.”
He laughed, “No I don’t think I would need to worry about you. It was more about you observing my attitude toward things.”
“Ah, your lackadaisical mood. I hope it hadn’t gotten you into any trouble, the prior night.”
“No, it’s also not that. It’s my whole attitude toward things here in this world. Something feels off, and it’s only now that I’m here with you, remembering those words, that it’s dawning on me. Everything that’s been going on, and how I’ve been reacting to it all doesn’t make sense.”
He placed his cup down, looking aside. “I like to think of myself as calm and collected, but being transported to another world like this should have had me or anyone else off the walls. Hell, I’m certain I would have run for the hills at least once or tried something out of sheer panic of the situation.
“I mentioned how I thought I was kidnapped for the first month or so, and even with being transported from place to place between Twilight or Applejack, I hadn’t had any strong emotions. I’ve just been going with the flow and even convinced myself it was for the best. But something right now is telling me that doesn’t feel right, like I’m being muted.”
Octavia hummed, taking a sip of her tea. “I’m not sure how to tell if there even is anything wrong with you. Perhaps this is just you adapting to a new situation. Or maybe you didn’t know yourself as well as you did.”
“That feels like complete hogwash. I was one of a handful of people that led a large group of people, taking charge of environmental disasters and trying to push for better standards with things like pollution. There wasn’t much I wouldn’t do so long as it meant forwarding my goals. Well, save for acts of terrorism or hurting people, I'd never stoop so low. I mean, dear Lord, I jumped on a bloody missile for goodness’ sake.”
Bending down, he placed his shoulders on his knees, cradling his head inside his hands. “So why have I been so passive this whole time?”
“Anon, I do hope this isn’t you leading up to a reason so you can have more hash. It’s not exactly cheap.”
“I want nothing to do with that stuff ever again,” he said, tilting his head up.
“So you say.” Octavia finished her drink, placing the cup down. “Joking beside, I’m not sure if transporting here in our world is affecting your actions. Perhaps our magic is doing something we are unaware of. And maybe you’re having difficulty feeling in control of your life as it is, which is understandable.”
“Do you have any idea what I could do? I’m just, I don’t know what to do.”
“I’ll try and talk to Lyra about this, maybe she’ll have some kind of idea. I’m not exactly well educated on the manners of magic or the mind. I know certain creatures and beings act well beyond what would be in the norm to ensure their own survival, and perhaps your mind is simply reacting to all this, and trying to keep you from making a mess of things before you can take stock of the situation.”
“Perhaps,” Anon muttered, uncertain.
“Regardless, in my own opinion, it sounds like you’re just in need of a relaxing period. It’s been a very stressful few months for you and you’re far away from home. As much as we see you as an alien, sometimes we forget that you’re not very accustomed to our cultures, people, lands, and who knows what else. We’re the aliens in your eyes, and that’s something we can all work on trying to remember.”
He sat back up, thinking over her words. “That does make some sense. I haven’t really been communicating about my feelings or what I’m going through.”
“Open up and talk to somepony, and you might find yourself in a better place afterward. Talk to us when you need to let it out. We’re here for you.”
Anon chuckled, “It does feel good just letting this off.”
“I have my own personal adviser I vent on from time to time.” The walls shook once again, a horn sounded out, followed by cymbals. “You should lay down for now. I’ll go check up on them while you get some rest.”
“Right. And thanks, you know, for listening.”
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
It took some time for Anon to fall asleep on the couch, his new resting spot for the foreseeable future. Bon Bon was bunking with Octavia, leaving Vinyl with Lyra. From what he could tell the next day, the two made up for Vinyl’s idiotic decision. He could barely tell anything even happened yesterday with how they acted the next morning.
The five of them were currently sitting at the dining room table, enjoying their omelets. It was unfortunate that they were daffodil omelets, leaving Anon having to pick all the flowers out of it with a disgusted look.
“Ah shoot, I’m sorry,” Vinyl said, rubbing her head. “I didn’t know you didn’t like flowers in your food.”
“It’s fine,” he said, even though it wasn’t. “I can’t eat this kind of stuff or some other things as I hope you’re aware of.”
She let out a nervous chuckle at that. “So nothing like hay?” she asked.
“No, I can’t.”
“That really sucks.”
‘No, it doesn’t. Hay is nasty, no matter how many flavors Lyra tried to have me try out.’
“So Vinyl, how’s your music going?” Bon Bon asked, trying to incite some conversation. “I haven’t heard much about it so I’d like to know. It can’t be easy for you since it’s not exactly typical.”
“There’s a lot I’ve got to consider when trying to make this stuff. But thanks to good ol’ Anon here, a lot of those difficulties are a thing of the past!”
“Oh?”
“Yeah! He lent me his music box after we got it up and running and I’ve been listening to it whenever I can get the chance! There are so many ideas buzzing around up in here—” She poked her head, “—that it’s almost overwhelming! I’ve even got a small list of bands to try out later for an upcoming concert I have this month on the border of the dog lands and Ponyville. Need to hire some additional musicians to make this work, but I’m having so much fun!”
“There must be a lot to go through, from what I already heard on his music box. What’s the concert name?”
“I’m gonna call it Human Music. Use Anon’s people’s music and give everyone a taste of it. Octavia is going to help me with this as well, trying out some lightning instruments.”
Octavia blushed, twirling a fork around her plate. “I did agree to help, yes. Trying to widen one’s horizon, as one would say.”
Vinyl bumped Octavia’s shoulder. “Don’t be like that, you’ll be very important. Oh! I nearly forgot to mention it’ll be themed to dogs and ponies. Your box is so great at finding different kinds of music like that.”
A frown appeared on his face, uncertain about what bands she was referring to. “Just who, exactly, are you going to play?”
The fork scratched Vinyl’s chin as she thought about the question. “There’s so many to choose from, but I was going to have it somewhat themed by the band names to lands around. I had Temple of the Dog and Three Dog Night for the dog lands. For us, I saw Band of Horses and My Chemical Romance, the latter because well, friendship! Very popular mantra in these lands and all, and what better friendship than the romantic kind.”
“Vinyl,” Anon started, “did you perchance listen to any of these bands?”
“Hmmm, no? Not yet, but I mean it should be fine.”
“I’d recommend listening to them before you make a final decision on this.”
“I still got a month to do this, giving me plenty of time to go over all this.” Octavia glared at Vinyl, the latter having stuffed a mouthful of food in her mouth. “What?”
“You already made the fliers didn’t you?”
“...Maybe?”
Anon facepalmed. “Well, have fun with that one.”
Vinyl looked confused, shoveling more food in her mouth. “It’ll be fine, I can turn anything into gold. I already have this music set up in my studio to see what I have to work with. Loads of fun to be had there. Even got some electric drums tweaked to your people’s, that one was a tricky one to do.”
“Aww,” Lyra groaned out, “I want to listen to Anon’s music too!”
Vinyl grinned, “Just come over to my studio after you’re done eating!”
“I really, really, really want to… but I’m supposed to be at the construction site for the day.”
Vinyl tsked hearing that, eating the rest of her toast before answering. “Shame to hear, maybe you can listen to my sounds some other time.”
“What about you, Octavia?” Anon asked, trying to join in on the conversation. “I mean, do you have any plans for today?”
She looked over to the side at some music cases before turning back to Anon. “I suppose I’ll be working with Vinyl for most of the day－”
“Which is going to be totally radicalesome!” Vinyl interrupted, a large smile beaming at her.
Octavia slumped in her chair, “Sure, right.” Vinyl laughed before going back to her food.
“What about you, Anon?” Lyra asked. “Anything planned for your day?”
“No, not really. I don’t need to work today so my day’s blank.”
He had thought of some simple plans that didn’t involve staying at the house, such as another walk through the town, or possibly meeting some other ponies.
“Well,” Bon Bon said, “if you don’t mind, my day’s pretty empty as well. You can come along with me if you’d like.”
Anon thought that out of all the ponies, Bon Bon was the one not likely to get into any hectic situations. And he was interested in seeing what she had in mind for the day.
“You know what? Sure, I can go along with that.”
Bon Bon smiled, finishing her meal at a faster pace. Anon was still picking through his omelet, trying to get the flowers out as he ate.
In no time, everyone finished their meals, all except for Anon who was the last one sitting there as the others went to get ready for their days. Vinyl came back in with a new plate, placing it down beside his current one.
“Dude, I could’ve just made you another one if you asked sooner.”
“Thank you,” Anon replied, right before he started picking at the new omelet.
“There are no flowers in that one.” He stared at her for a few seconds. “Or grass.” He continued staring. “Or anything else that Lyra told me you couldn’t eat.” Still, he stared. “OR hash! Sheesh, I said I wouldn’t do that again without your permission!”
Grabbing his previous plate, Vinyl made a showing of being upset before smirking just as she left the room. Finding the new omelet not to be disgusting, he wolfed it down as fast as he could, not wanting to keep Bon Bon waiting on him.
A quick shower and some clean clothes later, Anon was nearly ready for the day. He grabbed a bag, filled with anything he thought he may need, just in case, concerning the ponies. Walking into the living room, Bon Bon was currently talking to Octavia.
Letting out a small cough, the two turn to him. “I’m ready to leave when you are. Did Lyra already leave?”
“She left ten minutes ago, something about wanting to see if she can ride the wrecking ball. I don’t know why they’d need one for the house, but knowing her, she’ll try to get them to tear down something with that thing so she can ride that thing. I’ll talk to you later, Octavia.”
“I suppose I should go off and start on… whatever it is I’m doing with this thing,” she said, looking at one of her instruments covered in wires.
The two of them headed out the house to the town center, Anon following behind Bon Bon. It was a fairly okay day with it not being too chilly or windy.
“What exactly do you have planned for today?”
“I don’t really have anything in particular set up. Since the major candy holiday is over, everypony is stocked up on sweets. I usually have some time off during then, so I typically take that time to relax and do whatever I want.”
“…So why are we out here then?”
“Do you really want to find out what those two had planned back at the house?”
“No, not really.”
Bon Bon smiled, “I just wanted to roam around Ponyville for a while. I figured with me you could take a small break from Lyra’s exploits and maybe… want to spend some time out here with me instead?”
That didn’t sound too unappealing to him. “Yeah, that sounds good. What’s our first stop on the Bon Bon train?”
“The first thing was to pick up a basket from a food stand. I thought a lovely picnic would be good with how the weather is going.”
“It’s likely better than anything I could plan for the day.”
It didn’t take Bon Bon very long to peruse through the various stands, finding what she wanted: a perfectly packed picnic purchasable. It was pretty cheap Anon thought to himself, even coming along with a blanket to sit down on.
“Hmf-kah, gut dew halp wheet dew vhasket?
Taking the basket from Bon Bon’s mouth, she smacked her lips, walking beside Anon away from the stands.
“Thanks.”
“Gotta love having hands, eh?”
“I wouldn’t know. Hooves seem to have been doing fine for me.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to how you all get along with just having hooves,” Anon said, following Bon Bon down the road.
“It’s not that difficult, we just work with what we have.”
“But how are you even able to hold forks? Or opening doors?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “I dunno. Lots of practice?”
The walk was quite pleasant for the resident alien. It felt very… normal to him, which was saying something. He was used to having something flying at him unexpectedly. If he could ignore that he was walking right by talking, flying, magic ponies, and one toned down the colors, it’d almost feel like home to him.
Nearing the park, Bon Bon was talking about some of the processes she went through on a certain treat she made when her ears started twitching about, right before she turned to the sky. Turning himself, Anon was surprised to see an enormous bird-like creature veering right toward them.
“There goes our simple walk,” Anon mumbled to himself, right as the creatures landed in front of them.
Three of them could be seen, all wearing a strange kind of garment he wasn’t familiar with. Examining them, it didn’t take long for Anon to see that he was face to face with a griffon. They resembled the statues he remembered seeing at the park back home on Earth, though they looked smaller and not quite as menacing.
“Hello there,” one of them spoke out, “I am assuming that you are the Anonymous?”
“Yes. I am he.”
“It is a pleasure to meet you,” the griffon said. “I am Delano, of the griffon kingdom. The two behind me are Auctor,” he said, pointing a clawed digit to a bulky looking one, which nodded his head, “and Miss Jana,” he pointed to the other, arching her eyebrow with a tilt of her head up.
‘At least their genders are fairly obvious. And hey, normal sounding names, how quaint.’
“I apologize if this seems out of the blue with our arrival. We have come from the griffon kingdom, discussing things with Princess Celestia when the topic dealing with you came up. When the talks came to an end, we came directly here to meet you.”
“It’s nice to see the princess is allowing others around this “project” of hers, as she called it. And quite frankly, the pictures of you we were provided don’t do you justice at all,” the one named Jana said, eyeing Anon up and down.
“Okay…”
“So I heard you were good with your digits. Any chance of you working the salon for a session?”
Delano coughed from the female griffon's remark, walking in front of Jana who seemed flustered from being interrupted.
Auctor stepped forward, “I apologize for Miss Jana’s forwardness, ever since she’s heard of you from rumors in our lands, she’s had a strange… fondness toward you.”
“There are rumors going on down there?” Bon Bon asked.
The griffon nodded, “Most just take them are just that, rumors. But a few, like Miss Jana, have taken a great deal of interest in them. I apologize on her behalf.”
Delano and Jana returned, more proper than before, though Jana looked quite miffed. “We really should get going,” Delano said, “we’re due for our return and only meant to give greetings to you.”
Before Anon could question them on that, the three of them took flight, straight up into the clouds and quickly out of sight.
“That was unexpected,” Anon commented. “Do griffons normally come through here?”
“No, not really. We’re not a major attraction to visit for them, that’s more Fillydelphia’s thing.”
“I’m curious why they went out of their way to greet me. It seems like a waste of time.”
Bon Bon hummed to that. “I think they were simply curious. Sounds like the princess had blocked off meetings between you and others until you were settled in. Odd she’d call it a project though. I’ll have to remember to get Lyra and myself to give you some training on their customs, possibly minotaurs as well, just in case you come across any in the future.”
The rest of the walk was quiet for the two as they went to the park. Finding a more secluded area covered by trees, Bon Bon spread out a cloth from the basket for them to sit on before placing the food items for them to eat. Anon, seeing simple sandwiches and wrapped fruits, grabbed a pear, taking a seat.
“I know it’s not meat but it’s better than nothing, right?” Bon Bon said, taking an apple herself.
“I suppose so. I’ve gotten used to this by now.”
“I doubt it’s very enjoyable though. I don’t think I could do it myself, going to an alien world and being unable to eat any hay or things I’m not used to.”
‘Yeah… some chicken would be nice,’ Anon thought, taking a bite of his pear.
“You know, I can probably talk to Lyra about getting your own private fridge for certain food items, like meats.”
Anon held the pear from his mouth, thinking about what she had said. The thought was extremely tempting to him. “How would you two even go about that?”
“It’s really not that difficult. I know of a shop in town that orders meats in small shipments for special orders from Gryphonia. None of their meats are in any form sentient or sapient, so it’s quite ethical. Fluttershy even has a small business on the side, collecting fish for consumption. And then there’s the imitation stuff that is consumed by the more daring crowds around here. Probably a bit cheaper too, though they can get some wild tastes going on with those.”
“That’s certainly a thought to have once the house is done up,” Anon said, his mouth nearly watering at the thought of having some bacon or a steak once again.
Bon Bon, noticing his expression, let out a chuckle as she ate her apple. The two of them made small talk as they ate, sharing with one another about themselves and about their days. It was especially good luck with the weather that day, making things more enjoyable for them.
To Anon, Bon Bon was a huge contrasting change to Lyra or anyone else. Normally he’d be expecting something crazy to happen at least once, but nothing had come up at all throughout the day, disregarding the griffons which in no way she had any fault in.
For him, it was a relaxing day, talking to a candy-loving mare while having a pleasantly dull picnic. And Anon was having a good time of it.
“Anon,” Bon Bon spoke up, “why do you keep looking around the place like that?” It didn’t stop him from keeping an eye out from anything possibly happening. “Are those ponies still stalking you?”
It took a second for Anon to figure out what she meant by that. “No, I think that situation has been resolved, for the most part. Turns out it was just a group of foals and fillies just trying to collect some info on me.”
Anon looked around some more around the area, which made Bon Bon frown. “Then why are you scoping the place out like you’re expecting something to happen?”
“Can you blame me? Most days, something weird happens at least once a day. I’m just not used to how simple of a day this has been so far.”
The pony harrumphed. “See, I knew you being around all this was getting to you. That’s why I thought some time away from everything seemed like the right idea.”
“I thought you said you weren’t planning anything for the day.”
Bon Bon scrunched up her nose, looking away. “Yeah, that’s what I meant; it just turned out like this.” She cleared her throat, waving a hoof around the area. “This is where I personally go for some time by myself to get away from the others. You’re not likely to find much out here, so long as you keep away from the flower sisters over there.”
Looking to where she was pointing at, Anon could see the three flower ponies in their own shade, not noticing the two of them.
“They’re usually the only other ones out here, practicing their floral arrangements in the area. Time to time they’ll freak out over something, but that’s about all you’ll have to worry about here in this area of the park.”
“I think I have a new hiding place.”
Bon Bon smirked hearing that. “So just relax, there’s nothing that should bother you out here.”
The two of them laid around for most of the day, enjoying the peace and quiet the area allowed them. Anon and Bon Bon had a light conversation, mostly with Anon talking about things from his home. During a lull in their talking, the candy mare looked at Anon, trying to say something before looking away with a light cough. To him, it appeared she was trying to gain the courage to ask something uncomfortable.
“Hey, Anon?”
“Hmm?”
“Can I ask you something without you thinking I’m weird about it?”
“A little hard to do when I find every one of you weird to me, but go ahead,” Anon jokingly replied.
Not taking the bait, she let out a small sigh to herself, looking at him with a small blush. “Well, I was a bit curious about, well, just what do you think of us?” Anon looked at her, confused at the question. She realized she needed to be more specific, “I mean do you… find us attractive in any way? Do you think you can find yourself eventually being with one in the future?”
“That’s a bit of an odd question to be asking don’t you think?”
Bon Bon looked down at the ground, playing with her hooves. “I just want to know since I just… want to see you happy here. On the off chance this is permanent with your stay, wouldn’t you want companionship?”
Anon felt a small smile tug at him. “Companionship hasn’t been on my mind as of late. I’ve mostly been trying to adjust to this world.”
“I understand. But if you were given enough time, do you think it’s possible? I know that we’re a different species so there are some things to get over since it’s something you’re not used to, but if you do would you think it’s possible?”
Anon rubbed the back of his neck, “I really don’t know, maybe in the future?” Bon Bon blushed. “Why bring this up out of the blue?”
“I just wanted to know how you felt about us ponies. Most beings here click real easily when it comes to that sort of thing.”
“That’s something for later on though, I’ve only been here for a few months and I’m still trying to come to terms on a lot of things.”
“Later on… okay.” She looked at him, clearing her throat. “Yeah, sorry about the question, I was just curious.”
“It’s fine,” Anon waved off, trying to get comfortable again.
He had a feeling she might bring this up later on from how she looked at him. Being honest with himself, he wasn’t sure if he liked the idea of being with one or not. They did look cute in their own way and could be fun and interesting, but it was difficult to get over the fact they weren’t human.
Laying there, Anon felt content with things at that moment, hands behind his head and eyes closed. Bon Bon had packed the picnic up without his notice and was relaxing right beside him in silence. He felt he’d gladly spend more time with Bon Bon in the future with how the day turned out.
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
A whole month had passed by for Anon. What should have been three weeks turned into four after Lyra got approval to add an extension to the house and adding some things they felt were needed, such as a bathroom his size. Every day that he passed by the house, the place looked more extravagant.
It was the most relaxing month he’s had since being dumped in the magical lands of mythical goofiness. Bon Bon had been with him for a majority of the time instead of Lyra on top of everything. It was strange not seeing so much of Lyra and more of Bon Bon, with their roles being reversed for the time. The sillier of the two were stuck working with the construction workers, something she didn’t enjoy once she realized it meant less being around Anon.
Bon Bon during the month was around him constantly. She was there before work, during lunch, and even after work. That didn’t mean Lyra wasn’t around, but for the majority, he was doing things with the candy mare.
Things fell into a routine with his days, making Anon feel more at home. Some would say it was a drag doing things over and over in a similar fashion, but to the human, it was something he oddly missed back home, not having to deal with things going out of whack every single day.
Wake up, eat, shower, do something with the ponies before heading to work, train in massaging, get out of work, and do something with Bon Bon before heading to his temporary home. It was a nice routine he settled into and hoped it would stay as such for a while longer, though he knew that wouldn’t be once the house finished up.
The last week was a bit hectic once he was declared fully trained and ready for full paying customers. He was booked for a full month by everyone around once word got out.
Having just finished cleaning up, he put away the broom and took off his spa clothing, dumping them in a bin before heading to the front of the shop. Lotus was there, taking stock of the day with Aloe.
“Alright, things are cleaned up in the back. Anything else you two need?”
Lotus sighed, looking at some papers with a frown. “You are done for the day,” she said, waving him off.
“Is there something wrong?” Anon asked, wondering just what had the two wearing similar frowns.
“It is our sister, Vera,” Aloe said, looking at Anon. “Things are not working out well for her and her business, so she asked us about working here as a masseuse once more. Though, that position is filled by you at the moment.”
“We can not blame her for leaving when she did,” Lotus said. “Her heart was in the workings of the hair, not the kneading of the body. While we are still upset about her leaving, she is still our little sister.”
“It is difficult to manage a shop by one’s self and training ponies to properly cut. No digits, you see.”
“I can imagine,” Anon said, trying to imagine a non-unicorn cutting anyone’s hair. “Why don’t you just combine her hair salon with your day spa then? She gets to continue cutting hair, you get an extra service you can provide and more customers coming in. Everyone wins.”
The two blinked at that, mulling it over in their heads. “That seems quite reasonable. Why did we not think of that?”
“We can get them for a haircut and tempt them to stay for a massage afterward! We would just need to clear out the storeroom on the side and extend it. The cost would be negligibly doing it that way.”
“Heck, I’ll even be her first customer,” Anon said, pulling on his ponytail. “I’ve needed a trim for a while anyway.”
The only reason he hadn’t gotten a cut was that the one time he tried to, Vera had shown him images she could give him. Fun fact: Male ponies don’t have a wide selection of hairstyles, typically sticking with either long hair, spiked hair, or no hair at all. The few places that cater to them are fairly expensive as well and in more populated areas.
He refused to get a haircut until she knew some styles that wouldn’t make him look terrible. She had promised to look into practicing on dummies his size, even thinking she could pull in some minotaur customers as not many places catered to them.
As the two continued talking about their sister and her business, Anon slipped his coat and scarf on before heading out. Rarity had him fitted into some clothing similar to his own and designed by her, using something called ‘faux denim’, even though to him it pretty much was denim. The thing was made to mimic how his clothing was stitched, instead of magically melded together like their denim was. It was slightly stiff, as Rarity said she was still working on it, but the clothing was warm all the same and felt good enough to him.
He appreciated her keeping the colors nice and dark, though it didn’t stop her from adding a few gems in certain places. It took some convincing her to not add any to the backside, not wanting to get poked whenever he sat down. Rarity even had a local shoemaker make him some nice, simple boots. It bugged him wondering just why they had a shoemaker, but he didn’t question it too much as he got something out of it.
Currently heading to Bon Bon’s stand, he was in high moods, wondering what simple thing she had cooked up for that day. It was a nice break from Lyra’s silly shenanigans. Speaking of the minty colored mare, he could see her beside Bon Bon, both of them wearing jackets that matched their bodies, discussing something with her. She turned to Anon, giving him a large smile.
“Hey, Anon!”
“Hey back,” he replied.
“Bon Bon was telling me she had something she needed to do so I wanted to spend some time with you!”
Looking to the other pony, he could see she already had things packed up. “Sorry for not mentioning it this morning, I need to talk to some of my suppliers and other candy makers.”
“Are those ponies still giving you flack about those lemonheads and atomic fireballs?” Anon asked. “Yeah, they’re not the norm but it’s still candy.”
When Bon Bon asked about ideas he could give her a few weeks ago, those were the first things he went about recreating.
“No— Well yes, kind of. But this is just business talks, more boring than usual and I doubt you want in on that. Boring is one thing, boring business meetings are something else. They are just the worst.”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
“I guess we’ll hang out some other time then.”
Bon Bon waved them off, taking her bags before heading out. Lyra gave him a big smile. She had a tired appearance on her, but her perky nature kept that at bay.
“Ready to go?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Anon replied.
Giving him a nod, she turned toward the road with Anon following beside her, wondering just what she had planned for him.
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X ~ ~ X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
Lyra felt like she could explode from excitement.
Everything was going great for her. She hadn’t told anyone yet, but the house had just finished that day, which was sooner than expected. They said it would take eight weeks to get it done, but with her constant helping of things, she got it done in four weeks! Sure, telling the others it would be sooner would be a difficult thing to promise, but she felt it could be done.
‘So what if you’re tired from juggling between your work and the house, you got the place all done ahead of schedule! Who’s an awesome mare?’
‘I’m an awesome mare!’ Lyra replied to herself. ‘He’s going to be so surprised to see his new room!’
Lyra had been holding a grin for the entire day with what she had accomplished. It may have the others around her veering away from her vicinity in fear of what that smile meant, but they just didn’t know the greatness she had accomplished!
She just had to bide her time with Anon while the construction ponies moved their tools and vehicles, along with adding the grass back to the ground. Lyra wanted to show him the house, giving the grand tour before winding up in his room with a little present she had for him, delicately placed on his bed with a little bow and everything on it, just to show how much she appreciated him.
A month back, Octavia had spoken to her about Anon being stressed. While Lyra couldn’t visually see this, that didn’t stop her from wanting the best for him. It made her feel bad, being uncertain about how to discern his mental health. He wasn’t from their planet, so of course, he’d have different temperance or ways to react to everything. So, she made sure to keep him from the construction. The spa ponies were talked to, letting him have an easier time with things. And some of the ponies in town also helped whenever they could.
Keeping herself focused on the construction job, that meant someone needed to be with him to make sure he was always with someone. Bon Bon was the biggest help with giving him the rest and relaxation he needed. It irritated her though seeing how close the two had been becoming. Being able to take him to the park, spending time with him during his lunch, and even making candy with him. It was the only thing she regretted about taking the extra work on to get the house done faster.
Lyra was very happy to finally have some quality time with him at that moment. Only, there was a small, teensy, itty-bitty problem with it.
She had no idea what to do.
Lyra only told Bon Bon she wanted to spend some time with him and tell him about the house, but it was all up in the air on any kind of activity she could do. Planning wasn’t her strong suit after all.
The two of them were currently walking down the street, enjoying the briskness in the air. Lyra enjoyed the green jacket Rarity had made for her, coming from some sort of bundle deal involving Anon’s clothing situation a while back. It kept her nice and warm during the colder seasons.
Still walking, Lyra attempted to figure out what exactly she could do with Anon. ‘Maybe you could go on a picnic?’ her inner-voice brought up.
‘No, it’s too cold for that. Besides, that’s more Bon Bon’s thing with him at this point. We need to do something coming from us.’
‘Ah, then ice cream is out of the picture as well. And meeting up with friends to do something defeats the purpose of spending some alone time with him. ‘
‘And it’s too late to do something like hot air balloons or other fun things. Ah, I’m so stupid! Why’d I decide to go on a walk!’
‘You could have gone to a restaurant or something else, but now you’re too far away!’
‘And I can’t turn back now, I’d look really stupid to Anon.’
‘So find something at the park and hope for the best.’
Lyra, nodding her head, made up her mind to find something to do at the park with him. Taking notice of where she was, she just realized they had passed the park.
Hurriedly walking in front of Anon, she turned right past him, nearly tripping him from the suddenness of the action, and helping redirect him back. Confusion could clearly be seen on his face.
“And what was that about?”
“We kind of missed the park, so I went around.”
“Be a little more careful, I nearly tripped over you.”
“Yeah, sorry, I wasn’t thinking straight just then.”
Anon hummed to himself hearing that, right before hugging his coat tighter as a breeze passed through. “So why the park?”
“I thought it would be a nice place to talk and walk.”
Once they arrived in the park entrance, Lyra looked around the area, not seeing many ponies around at the moment. To her surprise, a vendor had set up shop, selling hot food just a ways away. She inwardly sighed in relief, glad to have something out there for them. Walking straight to the pony, Lyra proceeded to examine the images, trying to figure out what she wanted to order.
Anon, walking up, furrowed his brow in confusion, looking at the images himself, “That doesn’t look like Equestrian writing.” He tilted his head. “And those images seem oddly familiar. What exactly is this?”
“Ah, my food wording is of an older dialect of Equestrian that my family has been using for generations! It’s a tradition to use it for us, you see.”
“I wasn’t aware of other dialects,” he said, looking at the food. “Or the kind of food you’re serving.”
“The food is perfectly fine, I assure you.”
“I’m fine with it, glad to see it even. But…” He looked down at Lyra, then directly at the pony. “Isn’t this odd to sell?”
The vendor looked confused at what he heard.
“I’ll take one hotdog, with EXTRA mustard!” Lyra told the vendor.
“Coming right up!” he replied, setting up the food.
Anon scratched his head, shaking it slightly, “Make that two, though put those peppers on mine.” Pulling out money, he gave the bits over to the vendor, something Lyra took notice of.
“You don’t have to pay for me,” she told him with a pout.
“It’s fine, with the extra bits I get with my job it’s not going to hurt my wallet.”
“You mean your coin purse?”
“Yes, my coin pouch.”
Lyra hummed at that. “Well, thanks then!”
‘That sure was nice of him. It almost feels like I’m on a date now!’
The thought of such a thing slapped a red blush on her face. Looking away, she slapped both her cheeks, trying not to freak out realizing what was happening.
Calming herself as much as she could, the two of them grabbed their food and walked off into the park. The food helped to keep them nice and warm in the cold air. With how dark it was, the lamp posts were a great help keeping their path lit up. Once Lyra had finished her own food, she looked up at Anon, who was inspecting his food very closely.
“You should eat that before it gets cold,” Lyra commented.
“Huh? Oh, right. I’m just confused that you have hotdogs.”
Lyra tilted her head, “Yes, and?”
“From where I come from, they’re generally made from leftover trimmings of, well, meat. I’m just trying to figure out how you have them here.”
“OH! Is that it? History lesson time!” Lyra cleared her throat out dramatically. “Approximately seven hundred years ago, groups of ponies, griffons, and minotaurs had their merchants set up trade agreements with one another after ‘the vanishings’, a series of events that forced many other known sentient beings on our planet to disappear or become unable to meet for unknown reasons, though many believe the higher-ups have knowledge about such reasons.”
Looking up, Lyra saw Anon was hooked to whatever she had to say, making her feel quite giddy at the attention.
“After the vanishings, trade agreements were set up to help foster cultural exchanges. It was thought back then that the vanishings happened due to cultures being too secluded from one another. While no evidence is shown that this is, in fact, true and most believe it to be superstitious hogwash, it went on to help provide ideas and cultures of our united beings. It’s how we got such things like hotdogs, which is recorded to come from griffons and their processing methods on meats, though we reworked them for our own dietary needs. The vendor from before likely has old ties to those very agreements with his family.”
“That’s quite a lot to take in, though fascinating all the same,” Anon said. Looking at his hotdog, he took a bite, chewing on it. “It’s a little off, but still comes off like a hotdog to me, and that’s all that counts.”
“Yep, great to eat on the go!”
“Kind of wish I had known about this stuff sooner, I probably would have tried eating from this guy more frequently.”
“I’ll definitely have us coming back for more in the future!”
As the two continued walking, Lyra could see the night sky turning slightly darker, with the stars now twinkling to life. With it only being her and Anon there, she couldn’t feel any happier with how things are. It was quite a pretty sight, seeing the dew flickering from the surrounding lights like a natural light show, lighting their way through an enamored trail. Lyra badly wanted to find a bench to sit down, possibly having Anon hold her for warmth.
‘I really like that idea a lot,’ she thought to herself as her face once more burned red.
The two of them eventually walked to a pond, with flowers bordering all around it. The night sky reflected beautifully on the surface, adding an alluring quality to the scene. If only there was a bench, it’d make things even better for the mare.
“Lyra, why are we all the way out here?”
“Is there something wrong?”
“No, I was just curious as to why we’re out here in the dark. It’s getting a bit cold, don’t you think?”
Looking around, she could not find a single bench to save her life. She turned to Anon, who held his coat close to him. “Sorry, I thought it would be fun to be out here but you’re right, it is getting late.”
The minty mare couldn’t hide the small frown forming on her face. Anon, noticing this, patted her on the head.
“Maybe we can head back and do something at Vinyls? I think I can finally show you that chess game I just got done making. I think you might like that. Different rules from your own, pony version of the thing.”
She reluctantly nodded, upset at the current development. Lyra was feeling something awesome was forming right then. It was just the two of them, out in the moonlit night, standing in a field of flowers. The scene screamed to take chances!
‘Then take it,’ the voice told her.
Lyra paused in her thoughts. ‘Should I? Is it not too early to ask of such things?’
‘Don’t make excuses girl, just pone up and do it!’
Feeling the peer pressure she forced onto herself, Lyra, turned from the pond and straight at Anon. “Hey, Anon?”
“Hmm?” He turned to look down at her.
“Um… what do you, well, think of me?”
Anon blinked at her. “I think you’re a swell mare?” he answered, unsure of what to say.
“No silly,” she giggled, walking closer to him. “I meeean… do you like me?”
“Yeah, I do. Why wouldn’t I?”
Lyra smiled, uncertain if he was getting the point. Either that or he was intentionally not saying.
“So what do you like about me?”
“What I like about you?”
“Yes!” she said with a hop.
He stood there, staring down at her as she continued to smile. “Okay then. I suppose… I like who you are. Although you can be a handful at times, that’s just who you are. You can be fun, interesting, and you always have something to do no matter what.”
“…Go on.”
Anon scratched his head, “Right. You always put your best effort into whatever it is you’re doing, you’re always there for your friends, and… I’d have to say you have a pretty big heart.”
That big heart of hers was thumping around madly as she listened to him. “Do you really mean all of that?”
“Of course I do, it’d be terrible of me to lie to you like that.”
“W-What about my mane? Or, or my cutie mark? Do you like my special talent?”
Bending down, Anon petted her mane down on her neck. It made her shiver, feeling the warmth from his hand.
“Yes, your hair is always soft and fitting on you. Your cutie mark fits perfectly on you, and it’s always fun to hear you play the lyre.” Her smile grew hearing all of this. “What’s with asking me all of this out of the blue?”
It felt like such a perfect moment for her to finally ask about her future with him. Lyra could feel the prickling of tears with how emotional things were getting. She would finally come out and tell him about her feelings.
“Anon…”
Without warning, a sudden flash of light rocketed into the sky. Lyra’s eyes grew as she saw the sparkling scene befitting a romance novel.
‘Wait… why are Anon’s eyes widening like that? Why is he falling? Why does he look like he’s in pain?’
Time slowed down as Lyra stared at Anon, her smile disappearing to one of open shock. The look on his face appeared like he was trying to say something to her as he jolted forward at her.
‘That’s not fireworks,’ Lyra suddenly realized, ‘that’s a spell hitting Anon!’
Anon dropped in a heap, a crackling yellow skittering around his body that appeared to paralyze him. Looking behind him, Lyra could see three ponies sliding out of the shadows, heading directly to the two of them. A raging fire could be felt inside of Lyra seeing what had just happened.
‘How DARE they hurt Anon and screw up this night for me!’
Quickly charging up a spell herself, she threw a massive green beam at them. One of them couldn’t react in time and got slammed directly into their body, forcing them all the way back and into a tree. The other two didn’t react at what had happened to their comrade, making Lyra hesitant.
Of the two remaining, the only unicorn there and likely attacker from before already had a spell charged at Lyra. With how close they were, she couldn’t dodge in time as it slammed into her. She could feel the same paralyzing spell that was currently holding Anon motionless. It wasn’t painful thankfully, but it kept her from being able to move.
“Pick up the alien, now!”
“What about—”
“We don’t have time to get him; he should have dodged the blasted spell! Now hurry up, before anypony comes! They’ll be here soon after seeing the blasts!”
Lyra couldn’t do anything but lay there as the pony beside the unicorn, a massive earth pony, lifted Anon onto his back. The two quickly ran off with Anon, leaving Lyra staring at their retreating forms, tears running down her eyes.
After a few minutes of staring towards empty space, Lyra could see someone running toward her position. Her vision started to grow dim, unable to stay awake. She soon closed her eyes, seeing nothing but darkness.
~End Chapter Fourteen~
Stats
Page generated in 0.089 seconds
Total duration
1,044 users online
1,862,866 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Things just went FUBR. Bet Celestia and Luna are gonna love this. So much for keeping a lid on things.
The concert that Vinyl is gonna do seems interesting.
I also think Lyra is getting a bit joyous of how close Bon Bon is getting to Anon.
That unofficial date ending was really unexpected and Lyra might wanna beat some kidnappers into the ground now too.
Lyr, small tip, never expect anything out of life. Hoping is fine, hoping is good, in fact. Expecting, though, dosen't provide happiness when it goes right, and it is still just as dissapointing when it goes wrong when hoping goes wrong.
Oh no... That is quite bad. Replace quite with very, very bad.
Motherfucker
Damn.
Now I gotta wait for more. You fiend!
Oh no Anon got kidnapped!
Oh shit
well, looks like -puts sunglasses on- Anon was taken. I hope Lyra has a particular set of skills. -takes sunglasses off-
UGGGGGGH Why do this to meeeee
A cliffhanger... damn you heh
HAH! and I was just about to mention, before that bit at the end, that this chapter was kinda boring. Xp
Now I'm REALLY looking forward to the next chapter!
I like the fact that you bring out the underrated parts of the fimfiction lore of the HIE series. Like this quote here, I always find it off that in any character situation that being in another world where everything is different they just adapt to it and then get either hitched or start a harem orgy, in a short time too. while I’m not a fan of romance, I appreciate the unique turns that your writing in this story. Nothing seems to be in a sense “forced/rushed” to get from point A to point B. And for the situations that do make it seem like it is forced, you have a mystery for us to find out in the future. Man I haven’t felt this interest in a story in a while.
My name is Lyra Heartstrings, you stole my husbando, prepare to die.
10129530
Something unexpected... Ninjas!
10130958
No, quite the opposite, my ADHD medicine wore off and I completely forgot that this community hates it when I comment from the perspective of one of my characters or in this case, the narrator character for my stories.
f0.pngfuel.com/png/363/949/the-spanish-inquisition-pony-croolik-inquisition-png-clip-art.png
Oh shit! This is getting good
The story explaining away Anon's submissive attitude with "magic", honestly feels like a cop-out to me. I mean we are 140k words into the story why is this just now coming up. Also he says if he wasn't being muted he would be acting even more like a spineless bitch I mean for Christ sakes when the guy explains how he "should" be acting when he first got teleported you would think that he was on a planet full of Xenomorphs and not just little talking ponies.
maybe you meant this?
*Flak
♫You've been hit by
You've been struck by♫
UNLIMITED POWER