Chapter Twenty-Three - Pesky Piping Ponies
“Okay. I give up.”
Bon Bon placed a marker in the book she was on, looking over at Anon on the bed. “You give up on trying to sleep?”
A squeakish humming was heard from Bella Belle, sitting beside Bon Bon. “You give up on avoiding my sisters love?”
“You give up on the meaning of life?”
“You give up on avoiding all the fun we’ve been having?”
“You two know what it is.”
“But I want to hear it out loud.”
Bella Belle nodded her head. “It’s good for you to open up, Mr. Anon the alien! Ah, Sweetie, I’m still not getting this equation here in the assignment.”
“Look at the examples on page two ninety-four, right there.”
“I’ve spent the last three days keeping my eyes out on every single individual I could, preventing incidents, and keeping us out of trouble like I’ve been doing in Ponyville.”
“Which you have done a surprisingly good job at,” Bon Bon nodded.
“You’ve also missed out on a lot of the festivities,” Bella Belle noted, chewing on a small pencil eraser nub. “It’s not as much fun doing Winter Wrap-Up if everyone isn’t working together.”
“That’s what I’m getting at. I’ve done nothing but deprive myself of what little enjoyment I could have been having, keeping things calm and organized and from snowballing into a bigger mess than it could have been. I’m tired of this mindless work. I can’t keep doing it.”
Anon sat up, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Sure, it helped a lot of things, but it’s boring and exhausting. I don’t even think half the time I’m doing a good enough job, not without some kind of wiki to look up all the different ways things could go wrong. Why can’t you ponies have invented the internet?”
“First off Anon, I don’t know what a wiki is or what you’re referring to other than your weird power－”
“It’s not a power.”
“Second, and I know you really don’t like this idea about you not being the center of attention－”
“You’re reinterpreting my words again. All I was saying was that we’re not the focus of attention to whatever forces that are in control of your world. We’re side characters to the main plot, which I should have seen was revolving around Twilight Sparkle and her group of friends. That’s not to say we don’t have parts in it, or that we can’t have adventures of our own. Stories just love to have side projects for spin-offs or new series or something, even having a way to tie into the main plot organically.
“But that’s beside the point. We’re some kind of catalyst in the future for a lead up to something that Momus created. It’s going to have a twist baddie, Twilight will come in to save the day, and then something happens to me and you and Lyra. I’m… I guess I’m just scared that I’m not in control, knowing full well something will happen.”
“That’s just how life is. We know things will have its twists and turns, regardless of how well we can predict it. Please try not to stress out yourself over things. We can talk it out whenever you want.”
Bella Belle flipped her book closed with a giggle, “Finished my work for college! Thanks for the help, Sweetie.”
Bon Bon turned to her sister, “You really should do your work somewhere that isn’t in this guest room.”
“Nah, I like it here. So cozy.” She turned to Anon. “I still don’t understand your powers or why it needs to be a secret, but I don’t get why you need to fix all these ‘problems’ or worrying about things for your maybe future. Isn’t it more fun to just… embrace it? So what if this ‘plot’ thingy-ma-hoozit is doing things or might be working us toward some end goal. Magic is magic, and our lives are chaotic at times.”
“Which is ironic, as your whole life philosophy revolves around harmony.”
“It’s not much fun living a dull, plain life if things don’t spice it up.” Bella Belle jumped from her stack of books to the ground, making her way out of the room. “I don’t agree with that Discord fellow on how he does things, but he is right about everyone needing some form of chaos around us. I can’t think of anything more miserable than playing everything safe. Just think of all the adventures you could have been having! We still have one last day of Winter Wrap-Up so you better make the best of it.”
Walking out of the room, Anon stared at the door, taking her words in. Bon Bon got up from her chair to Anon. “Bella has a… well, she－”
“She’s right.” Anon sighed. “I should try to be a part of everything instead of being such a worrywart. I guess some of my past fears about all this magic kind of crept back up. Having a sense of control of things pushed me to this.”
“Will that mean you’ll try to enjoy things with us instead of moping around or being paranoid about potential hazards?”
“I’ll do my best to keep things on the down-low, but don’t expect me to not butt in things from time to time.”
“As long as you try, that’s all anyone can ask for. It hasn’t been a fun past few days with you watching your side every few minutes for whatever it is you’re looking for.”
“Misplaced items that look set up, odd conversations that imply certain things to come, and et cetera. Really, your world is a disgusting hodgepodge of a serial story and a gag cartoon. Not fun watching out for, especially without an online guide.”
“So don’t watch out for it. Just let things come.” She shook her head, turning away. “I should probably let you finally go to bed. Sorry that my sister uses this room for her studies.”
“Bah, it’s fine,” Anon said with a wave. “She’s too adorable to say no to.”
“Which is why I think she’d be the perfect person to lead our family business. Who would ever say no to a face like that?”
“What a horrifying thing, having to make a deal with someone like that. Though now that she mentioned it before leaving, I thought Winter Wrap-Up was only one day.”
“It is in Ponyville, but that’s because they’re a smaller locale over there. Here, it’s a huge festivity we have that runs four days. Tomorrow is when we let it all out, so you get some rest so you can enjoy it along with us.”
Bon Bon chuckled, making her way out. It took little time for Anon to fall asleep. Rosie woke him up the next day, telling him about the breakfast that was being prepared and to be ready. Taking a hot shower, he felt it relaxing his muscles and helping wake him up. Once done, he made sure he was clean-shaven and his hair was in order.
“Ready for another day of oddness in magic pony land,” Anon said to himself as he stared at his reflection in a mirror.
Heading downstairs, Anon was expecting a loud spectacle to be occurring, if only from how the past few days were anything to go by. Instead, he was greeted with a cheerful-looking group of ponies, who were full of smiles and being pleasant. Anon could tell they were forcing themselves to be nice, or at least Halas and Lyra were with one another. What he wanted to know was why.
“Morning, Anon!” Lyra said cheerfully with a wave. “You have to try this pumpkin pudding, it’s really good!”
Looking at the table, Anon saw a large assortment of dishes full of pudding of various bright colors. He had a great urge to scream bangarang.
“Regur! Radr raga!” Halas said as Anon took a seat.
“Anon,” Bon Bon said beside him, “my mom wanted to know if you could help her once more.”
“I don’t see why not,” he said, walking over to the conveniently placed empty seat beside Halas.
Sitting down, he looked at Halas who was all smiles for him. Finding that familiar sensation in him, he placed his hand on her side; in seconds, Halas had once more turned into a pony.
She hummed, rubbing forelegs and straightening out her hair before turning to Anon, “Thank you, dearie, it feels so great to be back to myself, even if it’s a temporary solution.”
“Just how did you gain such an odd power?” Eddie asked, eating some strawberries.
“It’s a very long story, though I’m not allowed to get into specifics since the princess ordered me and everyone involved not to.”
“What a pity,” Eddie said. “I would have liked to see if it could be replicated.”
“That would likely be difficult for all you ponies.”
“How so?” Halas asked, sipping on her tea. “It doesn’t seem to affect you or I that badly.”
“As I was explained about your world, everything has magic inside of it. I doubt you can make any spell that could take away magic safely the way I can do it. In fact, the unicorn trainers that I was with already thought of ways to do so, only coming to the conclusion that with their current knowledge, any attempts would likely make the user incapable of using magic ever again.”
“That sounds quite horrible,” Eddie said with a frown.
“It’s not so bad,” Anon said with a small shrug. “I certainly will never be able to do it now, although I wasn’t sure if I could in the first place. But magic can’t be used on me if I wished it, so that’s a good trade-off.”
“I agree that a unicorn would feel devastated with such things, but I right now am feeling perfectly fine!” Halas said, swirling some cream into her cup. “I’d imagine anything other than a unicorn learning that ability would be able to handle it.”
“I don’t know about that,” Bon Bon said, “I recall when he was still learning to control his power he had touched me and I felt slow and sluggish, along with a feeling of dread. Maybe your curse is overriding that at the moment? Letting it take the full brunt of what his power is doing.”
“OR, maybe he’s not using enough of whatever he’s using on her to get that effect!” Everyone looked at Lyra, who was then eating some purple pudding. “I mean, Anon did learn to control his power so it’s probably not at full power. He might need to use more of the stuff to get through it?”
Anon hummed, “I’m not sure if my ability works like that, Lyra.”
“How do you know?” she asked, poking at some black and white striped pudding. “It’s not like the trainers worked out your capabilities with that skill, what with you being the first-ever with this ability in our world.”
“…I suppose that’s true,” Anon said.
“So why not try and push your powers a bit, see how much you can actually get out of it,” Lyra asked, giving Halas a devilish smirk. “Surely Bonnie’s mom won’t care if you do it. Just think of it as helping him!”
“Um—”
“I mean, he is helping at the moment, so it’s the least you could do.”
Halas nervously chuckled, forcing a smile on her before turning to Anon. “She is right, I am quite thankful for all your help and I am doubtful it would affect me too much. I’ve handled worse things than what you’re doing right now.”
“I don’t really need to do this,” Anon said.
“No, no! It’s perfectly fine.”
Sighing, Anon closed his eyes and looked inside of him. Finding what he needed, he proceeded to push more of his power through his hand into Halas. At first, he let out a trickle, the bare minimum to make his power work. This didn’t feel like much was happening, so he pushed a little more through his hands, slowly building up more and more as he pushed his ability. It was then he started feeling something familiar touching his ability; magic.
Pausing from her drink, Halas’s eyes started to widen, finally feeling something. “Ah, okay. I’m feeling— Yes, I’m not particularly enjoying whatever you’re doing, please stop that.”
Finding it difficult to do, he had to pull his hand off of her. It felt as if his hand was stuck for a second there, like a very strong magnet pulling off of metal. Shaking his hand a few times to get that feeling off of him, Anon realized there was more to learn about his ability and how to control it. Looking back at Halas, it was only then that he had realized his hand was off of her and she hadn’t changed back.
Placing his hand on her once more, he looked relieved nothing bad happened. “So it does look like I can push more into you. I felt your core touching as well, which seems to be past your curse, which is surrounding it… I think?”
“She also didn’t turn back into a bear after you removed your hand,” Lyra noted, fascinated by what was going on. “So your nullification might have a buildup effect. The more you push into something, the longer the ability stays around. That’s interesting.”
“Not sure how that’ll come in handy down the line. That just makes me warier about using this on others. What if something happens like they can’t use magic ever again?”
“It just means you’ll have to learn more about your capabilities,” Bella Belle said, eating some buttered toast.
“Are you alright, honey?” Eddie asked Halas. Anon, examining her, saw she appeared a tad paler than before. “You’re not in too much pain I hope.”
“No dearie, I’m doing just fine, I just didn’t expect that to happen.” She then leaned forward, a hoof over her stomach with clenched teeth. “Ooh, I am a tad queasy in the stomach.”
“Hmm…” Eddie rang a bell beside him, calling for a servant who arrived quickly. “Please, go prepare her bed ready to lie down after she is done eating, and stay by her side should she need anything.”
“Darling, I’m not hurting that badly, just a bit off is all. I should be fine soon enough.”
“Regardless, I don’t want to take risks. Please go and rest.” Eddie looked at Anon, not with anger but more of curiosity. “Don’t think I’m upset with you, I’m just concerned for my wife is all.”
“No, I understand that.”
Eddie then looked off to the side in thought. “I wonder if your ability can be transferred to an object. It would be nice to bypass that curse of hers when you’re not around.”
“We could check that out when we return to Ponyville,” Bon Bon said, sipping on some tea. “So Anon, our plans are to be out in town for the day. Make sure you’re bundled up and to have your coin purse on you.”
“Pouch,” Anon corrected, “coin pouch.”
“It’s called a purse here, stop being silly. And eat some food, it wouldn’t do you good leaving with nothing in your stomach.”
Harrumphing, he grabbed some pieces of bread and something that suspiciously looked like blood sausage. It had a woody taste to it, quite appealing for him.
“So,” Anon started, swallowing his food, turning to Eddie “these two mentioned Winter Wrap-Up would be finishing today.”
“Ah, yes. How peculiar that Princess Celestia wanted the lands to have the snow cleared out earlier than is normally scheduled,” Eddie said, not looking too pleased. “It’s caused some headaches, but it’s nothing I can’t handle.”
“I hear she offered all the kingdoms close by a free service with changing the weather as well,” Halas said, seemingly better than before.
“Yes, I’ve heard those rumors as well,” Eddie said with a nod, “along with continued support throughout the year. I have to assume she’s attempting stronger efforts with better relations with beings outside our lands.”
“The minotaurs lands are worrying to me,” Halas said as she wiped her mouth from her drink. “Something enormous is going on in those lands, and with no news coming out from there, it’s difficult to know what may be happening.”
“We ponies never did have great relations with the minotaur clans, even though we’ve never had any major disputes concerning them,” Eddie said. “Those clans have always preferred their seclusion and find our continuous attempts at interactions and trade an annoyance. Regardless of individuals that may travel, they’re not representable to their clans. I just hope whatever may be happening over there doesn’t spill over into our lands.”
Eddie shook his head, looking at Anon in embarrassment. “I apologize; you were talking about Winter Wrap-Up.”
‘I swear the exposition here is going to kill me.’
“Yes, I just wanted to know more about what it is and how it’s done,” Anon said.
“It’s a fairly simple but important day that we ponies do every year. It’s got some history that relates to when Equestria was formed, but that’s a bit too long for me to explain. If you’re worried about whatever part you’d take in it, it’s not difficult at all. You could even join us at the head of it.”
Bon Bon squealed, smiling at what her father said. “That would be so much fun having him join us!”
“I think it would be good to have him participate,” Halas said. “Not many other beings partake in our wrap-ups, so having you could help show more interrelations with others.”
“Yes, but could someone explain to me what exactly you all do?” Anon asked.
“Hmm?” Eddie hummed. “Ah, we all enjoy a great celebration as we wrap up our winter, removing the snow for another glorious year.”
“It’ll be difficult trying to top last year’s wrap-up,” Lyra said, eating some orange pudding.
“True, but we have Anon here!” Bon Bon said. “Surely it’ll be one of the biggest in Equestria with him!”
“Okay, could someone just tell me what happens during it?” Anon brought up once more.
Anon was getting annoyed not getting a proper answer. Before Anon could attempt at getting it, a bell chimed throughout the building in repeated intervals. Eddie placed down his tea, getting up from his chair.
“It seems our representative has returned. I must be off now for important business. Halas, we should be going, with you taking a proper rest before you’re needed later.”
She looked at him, frowning. “Could I not skip the meetings this one time and spend my day with Anon? I wouldn’t want to miss out on what’s going out in town either. I am a very important part of it, after all! It would be worrisome if I wasn’t there!”
“Not exactly true,” Lyra mumbled.
“After all, I should get to know somepony who’ll be with my daughter!”
Lyra gritted her teeth as Bon Bon simply continued eating her meal. Eddie shook his head at his wife, “They will have to do without your presence this year, honey. You have important work that doesn’t involve being around our guests. Besides, we should leave them to their day, darling. While they may be staying here with us, it’s also their vacation time. Let them enjoy it.”
Halas’s frown deepened, holding onto Anon’s arm, very clear she didn’t want him leaving her vicinity.
“Well be back later on tonight, mom,” Bon Bon said, hoping to ease her mom off of Anon.
The mare-bear sighed, letting go of him and getting up from her seat. Moving from his hand, she immediately turned back into a bear with a pop before walking alongside Eddie as the two moved out of the room.
“Your mom’s a bit too forward,” Anon said, rubbing his arm.
“She just really likes you,” Bon Bon said with a smile that wasn’t all that convincing.
“Gee, I wonder why that is,” Lyra said as she sipped on a smoothie that none of them had noticed being at the table until just then.
“So I noticed that things were much calmer than they were last night,” Anon said as he saw Lyra eating some Polkadot looking pudding. “What’s with the change in demeanor?”
“We had a talk this morning and decided to have them play nice,” Bon Bon said while smiling at Lyra, who Anon noted turned away, her ears flattened down. “We’re vacationing; fighting defeats the purpose for us to enjoy our time together.”
“That’s the same for your mom?”
“Daddy talked to her a bit ago, and as it appears I’d believe she’s also behaving.”
“Alright then,” Anon said. He finished off his toast, wiping the crumbs off him. “So what’s the plan for today?”
“Lyra and I were talking about heading to the park in town for a while before heading off for lunch at a local restaurant.”
“What’s happening at the park?”
“We have some festivities that happen the day of Winter Wrap-Up. It’s the one thing beings other than ponies will be a part of, right before disappearing for the actual celebrations.”
“I wonder why the other beings don’t like your holiday,” Anon said as he finished off his drink and stood up, wiping off any crumbs on him.
“I don’t know why,” Bon Bon said with a shake of her head. “Maybe it’s because of their cultures? Or it’s not something they like to do?”
“Yeah, it’s really weird,” Lyra agreed, finishing off a second smoothie that had appeared out of nowhere much like the first.
“Come on Lyra,” Bon Bon said, getting up herself, “we should head out while it’s still early.”
Lyra gulped the rest of her drink down before slamming the cup on the table and jumping from her seat. Heading back to their rooms, they all started to prepare for their day out in the town. Anon had grabbed his coat and beanie while making sure he had his coin pouch. He didn’t care what anyone said, he wasn’t calling it a purse. Walking out to the foyer, Anon saw the other two with coats on, colored one shade darker than their bodies.
“Come on, Anon!” Lyra said energetically said, ready to leap out the door. “They have ice sculpting going on right now and I want to see who’s going to be the idiot this year to sculpt out a bear!”
“Why would that make them an idiot?” he asked, walking up to them.
“My mom seems to be offended whenever she sees those,” Bon Bon answered as the three of them headed out the door. “She’s normally out on the day for Winter Wrap-Up as a judge for the competitions going on.”
“It’s always entertaining to see which being’s suckered into making a bear. Bonnie’s mom always finds out and goes ballistic.”
The three of them walked down the streets full of different beings, whooping and hollering around. There were a lot of decorative pieces set up around the place, with everyone helping with snow and ice sculptures at every little place they could.
There were a few attempts at making something that looked similar to him, he was surprised to see. They were all in a heroic pose, something Anon didn’t agree with at all. There were quite a few creative pieces though. There were ice carriages, a flock of snowbirds, castles, and even a few large murals.
Anon stood in front of one that he particularly liked: ice cream cones that hung upside down that were shaped from ice drippings, hanging off a shop.
“You like those?” Lyra asked.
“Yeah, using what’s already there for your work like that, it’s pretty neat.”
“You should really look at the ones at the park then; those are going to be really awesome!”
“I’m not sure how much better they can get from what I’ve already seen.” Watching all the beings laughing and working on their projects was quite enjoyable for Anon. He wondered what they had planned for the actual celebrations. Speaking of which, Anon turned back to his two friends. “Hey, since I just remembered, you two mind finally telling me more about Winter Wrap-Up?”
“We could tell you more about it, but I think it would be better if you just experienced it without any expectations!” Lyra said.
“Lyra, something is telling me I really should know more about this.”
Lyra huffed, giving him a pout. “It’s not like it’s dangerous or anything, Anon. We’re going to be removing the snow from the place, reawakening the animals on the edge of our city, preparing the land with plants and whatnot, and finally ending it with a large sing out at the end!”
Anon stared at her for a few seconds before returning backing off. “Alright, that doesn’t sound so bad.”
“It really isn’t, Anon,” Bon Bon said. “As holidays go, Winter Wrap-Up is our safest on out of all of them.”
“So long as there’s nothing crazy about it all, I’m good.”
“Nope, nothing crazy at all!” the two said in sync, giving him matching smiles.
It was a little unnerving seeing that. Still, it didn’t sound like it would be bad, and it would be fun seeing things go down. Everything should be fine… right?
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“Whoosie, a pleasure to see you arrive just in time for today,” Eddie said, staring at the pony just entering his study.
“It’s good to be back. All the talks in Canterlot have made me quite worn down, yet excited for the future.”
“Have you talked to Mackerel about our transports?”
Horton took off his jacket before taking a seat directly across from Eddie and his desk. “He seems agreeable with allowing our town as the access point into the Kingdom of Ponyo. It’s quite fortunate we got it; our town can use some more tourism. Los Pegasus gets enough of it already.”
“I was more worried about Merlin’s unicorns,” Eddie said, looking at some papers on his desk. “If you recall, he was proposing to do the transportation work with possibly cheaper labor.”
“Yes, that did come up but Princess Celestia felt that the Ponyonians would feel more comfortable seeing something familiar to the last time we ponies had access to them. The unicorns weren’t on very good terms with the fish last we saw them.” Eddie poured a drink into two glasses, giving one to Horton before slowly drinking his own. “Merlin tried to argue that having his unicorns doing the work would show they have no ill will to our odd brethren in the sea, but I had no difficulties showing we were the better choice in the matter.”
“I can only imagine what would happen if Merlin was the first to meet them.” Eddie took another long drawn out sip from his drink before continuing, “Anything else that came up which might be of interest to me?”
“Yes, there is. While the plan is to have our town being the ones transporting and trading with the Ponyonians, they want to send somepony directly to speak to them throw, as Princess Celestia called it, a unification of all species.”
Eddie was confused hearing that, “What exactly do you mean the unification of all species?”
“Sir, all of the access ways around the world that was previously blocked are now clear for passage. It’s been several hundred years since we’ve had contact with any of them. The princess wants to send a… representative to help bridge things between all of us.”
“A representative?”
“The princess felt someone that was trained with the knowledge of the lands and their species along with their cultures should be the one that we send out. They’d visit the lands and their people, send and collect information, and to help with renewing our friendships between beings.”
“I assume it is her student, that Twilight Sparkle, that will be undertaking this responsibility. It will be interesting to hear what comes of that in the future.” Eddie looked at Horton who was gritting his teeth. “There’s more to this, isn’t there?”
“Twilight Sparkle was deemed too valuable as an Element and doesn’t have the proper training in what is needed. She may be brought with them, but she won’t be heading things. The princess instead presented somepony else that she had tutored but in a different manner than she deemed perfect for the job, seeing as it was her job in the first place. It’s… Lyra Heartstrings.”
He rubbed his temples, feeling what would be an oncoming headache forming. “Sweetie is not going to enjoy hearing that. They’re currently visiting here with her and a friend. Did you know she told us the two were finally together?”
“I wondered if that would ever happen. And if it makes you feel better about the situation, the princess actually wants her and their alien friend to join Lyra on her trips.”
Eddie sputtered out, “W-WHAT?! Why does she want my little girl to go along with them?!”
“Lyra is quite brilliant in her work, knowing the things needed with interacting with the beings, but she has a habit of getting sidetracked and, well… she needs an anchor. Bon Bon is to be that anchor for her. Along with being her bodyguard as well, for obvious reasons.”
“But she shouldn’t be traveling around like that! No, she should stay still in a nice, friendly town like Ponyville! That’s why I agreed with her going there in the first place without any fights, to stop that silly monster-hunting nonsense! There’s no telling what she may encounter out of our lands!”
Horton couldn’t help but feel it ironic, Eddie thinking Ponyville was safe. “Sir, I’m going to have to disagree with you on that. She’s had intense training in dealing with taking down monsters and knows how to stay focused on things. Bon Bon can adapt to whatever is thrown at her very well and is the only one I know of that can keep Lyra from being, well, idiotic on their trip.”
Eddie glowered at Horton, clearly not happy. “I dislike this a lot, Horton.”
“I know, sir.”
Tapping his desk, Eddie thought about his little girl. “I better make today a very special day for her. There must be something I can also help with her on this…” Turning around in his seat, Eddie stared out the window looking out into the town. “Whoosie, I can understand Lyra and my little Sweetie going, but why the human?”
“It’s due to his reputation, along with his alien status.” Eddie turned around, interested in hearing this. “He’s a true alien to our world and is aligned with our ponies. So far that’s been going very well from what we’ve been seeing. On top of that, the rebel event last month made Anon a hero just as popular as the Elements of Harmony with the ponies, but also with other beings as well.”
“Ah, I see. She wants to parade him around like a trophy.”
“Nothing of the sort! She—”
“Horton, you really need to lighten up,” Eddie said with a chuckle. “You’re always so defensive about the princess.” Horton harrumphed at that. “I get what she’s doing. Having the human along, she can showcase his recent accomplishments on top of showing he’s getting along with our people.”
“Along with being a… neutralizer for if things go wrong, she thinks he needs to visit others and see what is out there. He was reported as going stir crazy and depressed, being without any of his kind. On top of that, she’s led some hints to him about some of the lands from ponies around him, hoping to pique his interest in these places.”
The two sipped on their drinks, thinking about the future. “I have a question: has he really done all the things I’ve heard about him? About those rebels?”
Horton coughed, “Some things were… stretched, as to say, but there’s certainly kernels of truth in it. He most assuredly pummeled a great deal of their cast, and with his new powers, he’s not someone I’d ever want to go up against.”
“Interesting.”
A bong rang out, followed by several more. “I think we need to move on with things,” Eddie said. “The final day of Winter Wrap-Up is about to commence soon.”
“Are the stages set up?”
“Yes, with no complications thankfully. Why… Anon himself even volunteered to join us in this.”
Horton had a smile slowly creep on his face. “It’ll be fun seeing him with us.”
“True, true. I’m certain he’ll have fun in it.”
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Anon was not having fun.
He was having such a good day too. After going to the park, they nominated him on the spot as one of the judges for the sculpting. It was interesting walking around with the other judges and examining the creations.
For the snow sculptures, there plenty to see and judge. A vote with the other judges went to a massive caterpillar that was undergoing metamorphosis into a cocoon and then into a butterfly. It was extravagant with the details put into the piece.
He disagreed on a vote the others gave for one involving a minotaur holding a pony, which held a griffon. It was impressive, he agreed, but Anon’s vote went to the miniaturized town of Van Hoover a griffon had made. The amount of work and detail put into it was massive and he felt it deserved his vote. The griffon was quite happy to hear of that, not expecting much from his work.
Afterward, Anon had an enjoyable lunch, eating some local delicacies that involved fish of all things. The two girls were in great spirits, having done a little shopping here and there for clothing. They of course wanted Anon’s opinion on what they bought and had him give his opinion on their choices.
It really was a good time, up until the celebrations started to ramp up. The beginning wasn’t all that bad, watching the ponies starting to shovel certain areas and trying to wake up the animals; that was pretty neat. It wasn’t that bad until the ponies started to sing…
It came out of nowhere, something that quickly built up in volume. Instruments soon joined in, adding to the cacophony of madness that was overwhelming the town. Anon could see why the other beings wanted nothing to do with this; the singing almost got to him, forcing him to join in on their dancing and the chorus of the damned. He had already been informed it could be upwards of an hour, though it could be as long as four or five. The thought of him dancing and singing for that long sent a chill down his spine.
Luckily for him, his ability allowed him to snap out of the horrid magic that engulfed the town, but just barely. Anon ran as hard as he could away from it, but everywhere he turned, it followed him as if searching him out.
At the moment, he was running down an alleyway, hoping to get away from the singing that was attempting to suck him back in. He had barely made it out the last time it crept upon him, he wasn’t sure if he could get out of it if caught up to him again.
“HEY!”
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a griffon yelling at him from a door he had just run past. Turning around, the griffon motioned for him to get in. Hoping to find some refuge, he dove through the door as the griffon slammed it shut.
Sweating heavily and breathing hard, he looked around from where he was laying and saw a group of griffons and minotaurs, along with a few beings he didn’t recognize. And of course, no ponies. Some of them were playing cards, while others were talking to one another. This all stopped once Anon dove into the room, with them all curious about their new arrival.
“I see we meet up once more,” he heard from his side.
Looking over, he could see the familiar face of the minotaur from yesterday. Kamos was smiling down at him, giving him a helping hand up.
Accepting it Anon got pulled up to his feet. “Thanks,” he said, wiping his brow from the accumulated sweat.
“No problem,” he answered. “It was quite funny to see we are experiencing a day of their singing and joyous celebrations just as we arrive in these lands.”
“And this is why I think we should just all avoid these places,” one of Kamos’s hooded friends said with arms crossed.
“It is a learning experience, Thane,” a female sounding minotaur said. “We were sent out to learn more about them and to try and open relations. It would have been a matter of time we would get stuck in something like this.”
“Can I conclude that they are all crazy and we go home?” Thane asked.
“What exactly are you trying to learn from the ponies?” Anon asked, brushing the dust from his clothes.
“I do not think that’s any of your business,” Thane asked, sounding annoyed.
Kamos glared at Thane, “I think you should be nicer to the Rebel Stomper, Thane. You would not want to sully our ties now, would you?”
Thane’s body shook from surprise, his hooded head turned to Anon. “I… I was not aware… I just thought—”
“It does not matter what you may think, there’s never a proper reason to outright be rude to others,” the still unnamed female said. Thane grunted out once the female minotaur bumped him in the side, turning to Anon. “I am sorry about my spoiled apprentice. My name is Thera. We’re simply here to observe and learn more about how they view us, their lands, and their own customs.”
“I do not think any of us expected to be involved in something as crazy as this!” Kamos said, letting out a loud guffaw.
“Neither did I,” Anon said with a sigh. “I wasn’t even informed about this. It’s difficult, learning about the ponies and their… oddness.”
“Does this deter you from them at all?” Kamos asked, genuinely interested.
Anon shook his head, “On the contrary, it just has me wanting to learn more about them. They’re quite friendly and have been nothing but helpful, so I have no doubt they’ll be there when I need them.”
“Yes… they are almost too friendly,” Thane commented.
“Yeah, they can be at times,” Anon agreed. “Coming from where I came from, they’re very, VERY open. But I just take it as a quirk of theirs. I’ve made plenty of friends from the ponies.”
Anon could see Kamos smiling, hearing that. “Then let me be another friendly being to add to that list.” He stuck his hand out. “Let me reintroduce myself more properly. My name is Kamos Fizzleknob, Son of Fizzleknob Clan, and current heir to the newly united lands of Minothesa.”
Thera freaked out, looking at the other beings in the room to see if they had heard; they had, in fact, not. “Should you really be telling him that information?” she asked in a low whisper as the two shook hands.
“We are trying to be friendly and open; hiding such things as who we are would not do well for us.”
Anon raised an eyebrow. “Then why are you cloaked?”
“It is somewhat difficult to walk anywhere without a minotaur or someone else spotting me for who I am at times,” Kamos said. “Before, I was just a chieftain child of the strongest clan, but now with my new role, it is not something I want to be constantly bugged about. It would defeat the purpose of seeing how my own integration into the pony lands and seeing them without any bias.”
“Ah, I think I get what you’re saying.” Anon rubbed the back of his head, looking at the door. “Sucks we all have to be locked in a place like this though. Not much of a place to experience things.”
Thera barked a laugh, “On the contrary! We get to see how the others in these lands handle such things when they come up!”
“Yes, having places designated for this and to hide from is a good idea,” Kamos said. “We may need to set up some things like this ourselves if we ever have them living on our lands.”
“Do ponies not live outside of Equestria?” Anon asked.
“Some do,” Kamos answered, “but never in large amounts. Minotaurs and griffons get agitated when they congregate in too large of a group for… reasons, this being one of the bigger ones.”
“I just say keep them out and we’d all be fine,” Thane said.
Thera thumped Thane’s head with her fist, “Keeping us segregated will do nothing but damage our people. We can not keep holing ourselves off from the rest of the world, especially with all the races coming out of the woodworks, as the saying goes. Even the griffons are doing better from their closer relations to the Equestrians, and they barely cooperate with them as it is!”
Thane rubbed his head, huffing to the side. “I still don’t like their culture. This singing is no less than torture!”
“We knew of the dangers when coming here, Thane,” Thera said with crossed arms.
“It’s not that bad, just a… cultural oddity of theirs,” Anon said. The three gave Anon looks of disbelief that he had said that with a straight face. “Okay, fine, this live musical of theirs is horrible.”
“Them saying ‘everypony’ is a cultural oddity,” Thane said. “This singing is a cultural nightmare.”
“Now,” Kamos started, “to be fair, this is a rarity for them to have such large celebrations for singing. It happens, what? At least ten times a year. Surely we can prepare for those times.”
Thane grumbled to himself as Thera hummed, “Hmm, true. I remember being in a… sing-a-long in the past, but it was only three of them. It only lasted a few minutes. It was more of an annoyance than anything.”
“And to think the human here has not been a part of a single one since coming here,” Kamos said before laughing out. “The luck this one has!”
“Everyone, hush up!” the griffon from before harshly whispered as the entire building held their collected breaths, standing still. The griffon, holding her head to the door, had the color draining from her face before looking at Anon. “Oh… Oh no,” she whispered to herself.
“What is it, Gloria?” a minotaur nearby whispered to her.
“They’re… they’re singing about… the human…”
The others, with their sharpened ears, could pick up what she said easily. Anon was sadly out of luck from his normal, human hearing. The others slowly moved back from him, moving into a back room without him noticing luckily.
“The song has already claimed him,” the minotaur said, backing away from the door. “He’ll… he’ll take us all with him if he’s caught here!”
The griffon at the door slowly turned to Anon before a thought struck her. “Excuse me, Anon was it?” the griffon said loud enough for him to hear. “I, um… I think someone’s trying to talk to you but I can’t reach the peephole without making too much noise. Could you check it out?”
“Couldn’t you just look yourself?” Anon asked.
“It’s not for me and I wouldn’t want to intrude on anything!”
Maybe it was simple naivete, or perhaps it was him remembering his earlier words with Bon Bon about not looking too into things like before, but Anon just shrugged and walked up to the door. The griffon slowly walked backward before silently scurrying into the backroom with the others. Anon, cautiously, looked through the peephole. There was only one problem here: there wasn’t one.
“…I’ve been snookered,” Anon muttered out just as the door behind him slammed shut.
“We are so very, very, veeeerry sorry!” Anon heard someone screaming through the door.
“Your sacrifice will be remembered!” the voice of Kamos shouted out.
Anon, attempting to turn around to try and get away found the front door slammed open. A mass of pony hooves came through the door, grabbing onto Anon’s back to pull him out with them. He attempted to dislodge the hooves from him, desperately trying to flee. But it was hopeless for him; the ponies had already claimed him.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”
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
Princess Celestia sat at her table, penning a letter that would be sent to Lyra’s house. In it was the next assignment that she would be sending her off to. The princess told the mare in the letter that she could bring along two beings with her on this first trip, though Celestia strongly hinted at her bringing Bon Bon and Anon. She would also send a stack of documents for Lyra to read through about the different beings she would be encountering on her trips and what to prepare for.
Sitting back, the princess had to wonder if Lyra could truly handle it all. The Kingdom of Ponyo, Gryphonia, Minothesa, and Camelot just to name a few were four of the more important nations she needed to secure better ties with. Certain places like Yakiyakistan could be held off until the less traveled lands were addressed. Ponyo was being extremely open with her, and Camelot strongly wanted to have their ‘heroes’ face off against their own. Anon would be integral to all of this, as would Lyra and Bon Bon.
Thinking on the human, she was glad that there was little issue with getting him back from the rebels when they had. While she may have sent off Twilight and her friends to go get them along with Discord, in reality, she had sent two large armies around both bases, just in case anything didn’t go her way. Luna was quite happy that they didn’t question why there were so many chariots in the town when they left. That wouldn’t have been a fun conversation with Twilight to have.
It was quite embarrassing for her to have the first-ever alien foalnapped right under her nose. While Minothesa was quiet on the subject, Gryphonia certainly wasn’t. Her only saving grace was that she ended the entire ordeal within a few days of it happening.
Celestia knew she had a hoofful of work to get through dealing with this all. She still needed to figure out what was happening in Minothesa and needed to work out why the king of Gryphonia was being so aggressive as of late. She had thought long and hard about where she would first send Lyra to while talking to her sister and what her little spies had gathered up.
Ending the letter with a wax seal on the envelope, Princess Celestia worked up a spell before the letter and the documents went out the room in a green slither of mist, to be deposited in Lyra’s house.
“At least she’ll have a few days to relax before she goes out,” Princess Celestia said before standing up to find Inkwell. She still needed to work out why Cadance was having trouble with a cave near her lands that just wouldn’t let anypony in. There just wasn’t any time for her to relax, she found.
~End Chapter Twenty-Three~
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Fear the music
Snookered indeed. He died as he lived...in pain.
In before he implodes with Null energy
I'm sure he'll be hoarse in the morning.
That was bad and I feel bad.
I hope throwing him to the proverbial wolves has consequences for them down the line. Seeing non-villains use a main character for their own selfish reasons without facing consequences simply because they are not villains gets annoying.
Umm... have we been reading the same story? For the most part the ponies have been kinda douchebags or that might just be me. Having said that Anon being a pony apologist would fit his personality pretty well.
Actual footage of Anon. Deponified for your safety.
Anon, guys carried coin purses for millennia before the modern mangling of the word to refer to a "woman's" carry-all. (Quotes because... hello, what is a briefcase really but a fancy purse for documents, writing materials, and, in my case, a laptop?)
Shouldn't anons power prevent him from being brainwashed into song?
Now we're on to completely new chapters and this one did not disappoint.
That's what happens when Anon ignores his "power". Great update and I look forward to reading more.
10273140
The musical magic is too strong, he's barely able to snap out as it is
Fear the music.
Lol a bong, do you mean a gong or is vinyl back at it