>"Owowowowowowo! Stop dabbing so bucking hard Spike!"
>You flinched as Rarity dressed your wounds
"Rainbow, what did I tell you about swearing in front of Spike?" you growled, snapping at your herd mate. "You know that- Celestia dammit!"
>Rarity let out an amused giggle as you hissed in pain, putting the finishing touches on the bandage on your head
>It was the day after the absolute flank kicking that you had gotten the other day and BOY were you hurting
>Everything ached, you had welts from the tip of your bucking snout to the end of your tail, and your head hurt like a motherbucker
>The only solace that you had--even though it was more than a little petty-- was that you weren't the only one hurting today
>There were thirty other mares getting bandaged up by their herd mates
>Some of whom were probably getting a little chuckle at how you all acquired these wounds
>Just like Rarity here...
>Your wings twitch as Rarity began to wrap a gauze around your barrel, an amused smile on her face
>"Well, I hope that you've all learned your lesson, dearies," she said, obviously trying not to laugh. "Tartarus hath no fury like an angry stallion."
"Yeah, yeah, you keep laughing it up, Rarity," you muttered. "You'll be laughing when that crazy stallion comes back into town and beats YOU with a stick."
>THAT shut the overgrown marshmallow up, Rarity's nose scrunching up as she saw to your wounds
>Spike, who had been quiet this whole time, finally spoke up
>"I told you that he wanted to be left alone, Twi."
>Rainbow let out a string of profanities as he tied the bandage around her hoof up a little too tight
>"If you would have just listened to me none of this would have happened..."
>The hurt that came into his voice as he said this hits you in the gut, prompting you to get up from your stool to walk over to the little guy
>Owowowowowowowowowowowo
>Buckbuckbuckbuckbuck
>Fightthroughthepainyoubigbaby!
 
>Showthatyou'reagoodbigsister!
>Though it feels like it takes a million years to walk the ten feet over to Spike eventually you do
>Wincing, you sat down in front of him
"You know what Spike? You were right," you tell the dragon, slowly wrapping a wing around him. 
>...Ow
"I shouldn't have blown you off like that. It was wrong of me and I'm sorry for it."
>Though he still looked upset Spike leaned into your wing
>Wincing again you tightened your wing hug
>You know that Spike and Anonymous had somehow formed a friendship
>You knew that Spike didn't have very many stallion friends, and the ones that he did weren't very good influences
>And while Anon was usually the biggest dickhead in the world to you and most other ponies he treated your little brother like he was HIS little brother
>In turn Spike had latched onto the giant stallion
>That was one of the main reasons why you wanted Anonymous to stay in bucking town and not run around the forest like a wild man
>Wanting to get into those pants of his aside
>If he was around Spike a little more, being big and lumbering and angry like he always was, he might show Spike how to be a good--if slightly angry-- stallion that could look after himself
>With a look he'd keep a gold digging or power hungry mare from trying to snatch up your baby brother
>From what Spike told you Anonymous knew a heck of a lot about dragons, so he might be able to help him with the birds and the bees as well as dragon puberty
>You liked to think that you did pretty good for Spike
>But you were just a mare; a very busy mare that didn't know who to trust with Spike
>And while you didn't care for Anon all that much, especially with what happened the other day, you knew you could trust Spike with him
>But as of now the two barely interacted with each other
>Anonymous only came to town once or twice a month and when he came into town he usually didn't come to the library unless he needed a new book
 
>Spike wasn't getting the big, strong, supportive brother that he needed
>And, putting your selfish reasons aside, just think about Anon
>Living in a dangerous forest with nopony to talk to but the trees probably wasn't good for him
>And what if he got hurt in that forest and nopony was around to help him?
>Even if he was willing to die because he was being stubborn you weren't going to accept it
>He needed to interact with some ponies, he needed to be able to go to sleep in a safe, warm place
>He needed to be taken care of or at the very least he needed to be close enough so that you all could keep an eye out for him
>It didn't even matter if he found himself a herd or not (though that would have been great too), he just needed to come and live closer to civilization
>And since you contacted the other princesses hopefully they'd be able to either help you convince him or force him into see your point of view
>...But first you were still going to insist that Anon get punished for beating the horse apples out of all of you
>Twilight Sparkle ain't getting smacked around by no stallion without that stallion getting smacked back
>...Or at least brought to justice...
>"...I know that you just want to keep him safe, Twi, but Anon just wants to be left alone," the little dragon muttered
>You wrapped your wing a little tighter around him, nuzzling his cheek
"And what if he got hurt, Spike? What if he got sick and nopony was around to help him?" you asked as Spike let out a sigh. "I know that you might not agreed with what I was trying to do but it was for Anon's own good."
>...Celestia dammit does your bucking flank hurt...
>"I think I'll be the judge of that, Twilight."
>If you weren't so bucking hurt you would have jumped out of your fur as somepony stuck their muzzling into your ear and whispered those eight words
>But you were bucked up
 
>You had bruises on your bruises
>So, instead of jumping and yelling like a crazy pony, you slowly turned your head
>There, somehow standing in your living room, was both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna
>Your fellow princesses were right there and you hadn't gotten a warning so you could clean up the castle or get them tea and cakes or even--
>Princess Celestia, you teacher, giggled when she saw your expression
>"Now, now Twilight, there's no need to work yourself up. My sister and I aren't here with any official business."
>The white alicorn looked at your herd mates, who were bowing, in amusement
>"And there's no need to bow my little ponies. Please, stand up. Stand up!"
>Rainbow and Rarity does as she asked while you took a few deep breaths to calm yourself
>You didn't expect Luna and Celestia to come so quickly...
>And you might have been a little freaked out that they just APPEARED in your house...
>But this was good!
>Now you could nip this whole mess with Anon in the bud before it got any worse!
>A small, relieved smile works its way onto your face
"Thank goodness you're here, Princess. I had no idea what to do about all of this..."
>Celestia smiled
>"Luna and I are happy to help," she said, looking over to her sister, who nodded in agreement. "Now, Twilight dear, why don't you start from the beginning?"
 
>Be Celestia
>It had been quite some time since you and Luna had let yourselves in Twilight's home
>You, your sister, Spike, Twilight, and two of the other elements were seated comfortably in chairs as Twilight and the other girls told you all about what was going on
>Spike, ever the gentledrake, had gotten you tea, some cakes, and he had even went out and collected a few of the mares that Twilight had taken with her to collect Anonymous
>Both you and Luna had sat there listening to mare after mare tell the story of what happened for most of the morning
>Every single filly that was brought before you looked like she had walked through Tartarus during lunch time
>Bruises were common, as were welts
>A few mares were missing teeth and feathers
>And once or twice you had insisted that mare do to the hospital to get herself looked over
>But their voices were strong as they said what they needed to say
>Apparently Anonymous hadn't gotten along with your little ponies from the beginning
>After only a week he had left your ex-student's house, he had acquired an axe and a knife from somewhere, and had taken up residence in the Everfree, only coming into town once in a blue moon to get some supplies
>Every time he came into town he was aggressive to everypony that he talked to, he spoke only when he had to, and from what you gathered he was prone to threaten and snap at anyone that tried to be around him for any length of time
>All of this had come to a head when your student had gotten the bright idea of forcing Anonymous to live in town
>While you appreciate your old student's enthusiasm in helping others it wasn't hard to see that she had gone a little overboard
>While you agreed that something needed to be done with Anon forcing him to do something that he wasn't comfortable with or unwilling to do was NOT something that a Princess of Equestria should be doing
 
>After all of this nonsense was settled you were going to make sure that you spoke to her about that...
>That being said, after you had collect all of the testimonies-- including a rather passionate one from Spike defending Anon-- there was just one more thing you and your sister needed to do
>You had gotten one side of the story
>Now it was time to get the other
"Alright, Twilight. I do believe that my sister and I have heard enough."
>With a grunt you rose to your hooves, finishing the last sip of tea and taking another little bite out of a cake
>Your sister stood with you, an almost irritated look on her face
"Now we'll go and see what's got Anonymous in such a tissy."
>Your old student gulped, turning a shade paler
>"Are you sure that it's such a good idea for just the two of you to go?" she questioned. "What if he goes after you too?"
>"Then we shall answer his violence with violence of our own," Luna answered before you could open your mouth
>Your sister narrowed her eyes and snorted
>"If Anonymous thinks us easy prey than We shall be happy to show him otherwi--oof!"
"What my sister means to say is that we'll do our best to make sure that nopony is going to attack anypony else," you say as your sister rubs her side. "I'm sure that this is all some sort of horrible misunderstand that can be solved if everypony just sits down and talks to each other."
>"If the colt charges at us with a stick we are GOING to beat him with it, Tia," your little sister grumbled just loud enough for you to hear, glaring at you
>Unfurling a wing you cupped her face and all but forced her to turn toward the door
"Not in front of the children, Luna."
>Winking at your most trusted ex-student you turn and make your way to the door
>There was no need to teleport out of the castle
>You and Luna were in no hurry
>You'd have this solved by dinner time; there was no need to go rushing into the forest like a couple of crazy ponies
 
>You said hello to a few of your subjects as you made your way through the small little village
>You inspected and praised a few ponies wares
>Luna said hello to a few of the little ones and promised to play a game of tag with them after the two of you were finished
>And then, in what seemed like the blink of an eye, you and your sister found yourselves standing in front of the Everfree forest
>You couldn't help but shiver slightly as you gaze at the ancient vine and moss covered plants
>Long ago you had looked at this forest in wonder, and even after all of these years this wild place, this... FREE place was still able to make the fur on the back of your neck stand up
>It made you feel small
>Not many things were still able to do that
>Not many things at all...
>The majesty of the forest seemed lost on your sister however, as she was just looking around in disinterest
>"Where did thy student say that path to the human's house was?" she asked, brushing past you. "We recall that she said something about marked-- aw, there it is."
>Following your sister's gaze you see that one of the tree's had had the bark taken off of it
>The marks look deliberate, like somepony had done them with an axe
>Deeper into the forest there more trees in such a state
"It would be more difficult to see these marked trees in the winter but it's a very good idea," you say as you and Luna follow the "path" into the forest
>"Aye, tis not something that we would have thought of," Luna admitted, her ears perked for any signs of danger. "It appears that Anonymous has his head on straight. Odd for a stallion of this day and age."
>Surprisingly none of the Everfree's many creatures tried to attack you, making for the walk into the forest an almost pleasant one
>Many of the vines and plants that made walking in the forest difficult had been cleared, so the two of you didn't even have to cut your way through to get to the human's home
 
>And in a place like the Everfree, where some plants grew overnight, that was one heck of luxury
>Anonymous must have quite a bit of time on his hands if he was able to maintain this path of his...
>Eventually you could see smoke above the treeline and after a few more minutes of walking you came upon a clearing
>And the second you and Luna stepped out into the clearing you were greeted with one heck of a sight
>The clearing was massive, at least an acre or even two long and wide
>There was a massive wooden house sitting in the middle of this plot of land with two other wooden structures sitting on either side of it
>In front of the house there were three rows of dirt that were probably intended for crops
>In front of that was a pile of fallen trees that had had the branches hacked off
>Building materials if you had to guess
>Dozens of other small but significant things filled your vision as you looked over Anonymous's "property"
>Luna let out a low whistle
>"The colt must have cut a thousand trees down," she muttered
>You nodded slowly
"Cut a thousand trees down, fought the wildlife, and moved a mountain of dirt," you added, letting your amazement wash over you
>A group of powerful unicorns would have had trouble building all of this in the Everfree forest
>You couldn't, for the life of you, imagine how difficult it must have been for Anonymous
>Now you could see why he had resisted Twilight bringing him back to down with such fervor
>You could have fought tooth and nail if you had managed to build all of this and somepony wanted you to throw it all away...
"I wonder how he managed to build that cabin all by himself; and out here in this forest no less."
>You and Luna just stand there for a few moments taking in the rather incredible sight before a certain emotion begins to fill your chest
>Excitement
>It looked like this was going to be far more interesting than you had imagined!
>Grinning, you nudged your sister with a wing
 
"Come now, Luna, we have a stallion to speak to!"
>If you wanted to speak to Anonymous before now you REALLY wanted to have a chat with him!
>Your sister struggles to keep up with you as you powertrot toward the big log cabin
>To your delight you see that the one who had been causing all of this fuss was sitting on his porch with a open book in his hands and a pipe in his mouth
>...Is...
>Is that tobacco that he's smoking?
>It's been an age since you've seen anypony smoke...
>Anonymous, who hadn't noticed you yet so engrossed with was he in his book, exhaled a puff of smoke through his nostrils as he grumbled to himself
>On the walk through the forest you had decided that you needed the introductions to be slow and gentle
>No appearing out of thin air
>No yelling or stomping around destroying anything
>You and Luna just needed to get Anon's attention and you needed to start with a simple good afternoon and a how do you do
>Unfortunately, after seeing all that Anon had built, you had forgotten to inform Luna about your plan of action
>"ANONYMOUS! We would have words with thee!"
>You sighed as Anon's head whipped up to look at you
>His eyes narrowed and he reached down to grab the worn out, chipped axe sitting at his leg as he spat out his pipe
"There's no need for that, Anon!" you said just a little too loudly. "My sister and I are only here to talk."
>"I am NOT leaving my home to live in that thrice-cursed town," he growled
"We aren't going to force you anywhere that you don't want to go, Anon," you promised, doing your best to look as small and non threatening as possible. "We're just here to talk. You have my word."
>Boy, Twilight's wasn't wrong when she said that Anonymous was being overly aggressive
>He just sees you and he's ready to take your heads off
>Though you couldn't really blame him
>The last mares that had come around his house had tried to burn it down...
>Both you and Luna watched as the human looked at the two of you with narrowed eyes
 
>...Before he let out a sigh
>"...I have no quarrel with you, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna," he grunted, putting his. axe down "But I am not in the mood for dealing with ponies. Come back in a few days if you wish to speak with me."
>Luna frowned as Anonymous reopened his book and started to scan the pages again
>"Anonymous the human, We hath heard from Twilight Sparkle and many other ponies from Ponyville that thou attacked them. Though thou wish to be left alone we cannot fulfill thy wish until we hear what transpired."
>"No. Go away," Anon answered, licking his finger and flipping the page
>"I'm afraid that we must insist--"
>"Insist somewhere else. I've have a belly full of royals for a while."
>Anon waved in the direction that you and Luna had come from
>"Now leave me be before I bend you over my knee and beat you with my axe
>You tried to open your mouth to try to ease the obvious tension in the air but Luna cut you off
>Scoffing, you little sister looked over at a monstrous tree stump not five feet away from the two of you
>Her horn sparked to life, encasing the stump in her magic
"Luna, ple--"
>You deflate a little when you sister, glaring at Anonymous with her nose scrunched up, ripped the stump out of the ground roots and all
>...Sweet stars above Luna...
>"We are NOT Twilight Sparkle, cretin. We will not just stand idly by while they run at us with thy hunk of iron."
>She then ripped the stump in half like it was a dried twig and tossed both of the halves away from the two of you
>"If thou wish to throw a hissy fit we shall gladly show thee thy place."
>Anon looked up from his book
>His eyebrow raised as he looked at the torn apart stump
>You expected him to look angry; you probably wouldn't have been too happy with Luna's behavior if you were him
>But he just looked... bored?
 
>"I've been trying to get that damned stump out of the ground for weeks," he said, looking your sister up and down before he returned to his book. "I'll have to chop it up for firewood later. You have my thanks."
>Luna opened her mouth but you snapped it shut with a spell
>No no no
>You didn't want to hear anything else come out of that filly's pie hole
>She's already done more than enough thank you very much
>Though he looked bored you could see that Anon's muscles were tensed
>He was ready to spring into action; ready to launch himself at you and your sister
>You had to defuse the situation now or something might happen that all of you will regret
"Are you sure that you don't want to speak with us?" you asked the human
>"I'm positive," he answered without missing a beat
>Well... this wasn't turning out like you hoped...
>Your mind raced, trying to think of a way to turn this all around
>You mentally fumbled for a few moments before you sat on your haunches with a sigh
"Very well then. My sister and I shall wait until you are ready to speak with us."
>"What?!" Luna cried before you slammed that big mouth of her's shut, smiling as Anonymous looked up at you
>Though you could see irritation in his eyes he didn't did up to force you to leave
>Which was something
>"...I will not tell you how to spend your time, even if you wish to waste it."
>With a slight shake of his head he returned to his book
>"As long as you leave me be then you can sit there and wait as long as you wish."
>...Not how you thought this was going to go but you'll take it!
>Anything to get your hoof in the door
>Fixing your sister with a "just be quiet and go along with it" look you settle in and begin your least favorite game of all time
>The waiting game
>Eventually Anonymous would take either get annoyed enough or he'd take pity on you and start talking
>You just knew it
>All you and Luna had to do was sit back and wait
 
>...And wait
>...And wait
>...And wait some more
>You don't know how long you and your sister just sat there in front of Anonymous's porch while the stallion sat there and read
>It might have been minutes, it could have been hours
>Your sister was amusing herself by using her magic to juggle three pebbles in the air
>You were sure sitting there looking at the scenery bored out of your mind
>It appeared that you had underestimated Anonymous's ability to ignore you
>But you couldn't back down
>You and Luna were going to sit here all night if you needed to!
>And SPEAKING of your little sister...
>You were going to give Luna SUCH a talking to when you got home
>If she didn't go and snap at him maybe you could have talking Anon into...
>Though you're just letting your mind run on autopilot at this point a movement from Anonymous catches your eye
>Taking a moment to get a good look at him you see that his face is scrunched up in frustration
>But it wasn't because of you and Luna
>His mouth was moving, and if you didn't know any better you'd say that he was trying to...
>Getting up you started to make your way toward Anonymous
"Anon? Is there something wrong?"
>You could feel your sister's gaze as you stepped onto the human's porch but you ignored it, keeping your gaze on the stallion in front of you
>Though you were a princess first most of your days were spent teaching at Starswirl's School for Gifted Unicorns
>Nothing brightened your day more than to teach little ones the ways of magic
>And while you knew that you weren't the greatest teacher in the whole world you knew when somepony was struggling with something when you saw it
>Anon's eyes snapped up to meet yours just as you sat down beside him
>You ignored the anger building on his face to look at the book
"Are you having trouble with a word?" you asked, quickly reading one of the pages. "I'd be more than happy to help you with you'd like."
 
>Confusion replaced anger as Anon stared at you
>You simply continued to smile back at him
"Though I don't look it I've done my fair share of teaching, Anonymous."
>To further cement that you meant no harm you levitated Anon's pipe off the ground and back into his mouth
"So please, show me what's giving you trouble."
>Anonymous looked down at his book
>You could see that he was debating on what to do
>He could toss the book away and charge you
>He could let you help him
>It was a toss up at this point
>The only thing you could do was sit there and smile and hope
>"...What is this word?" he asked, tilting the book so that you could read it easier as he pointed out the word
>Hah
>Got him
"That word is oxidation, Anon."
>Anonymous's nose scrunched up as he silently mouthed the word over and over again
>While he was doing that you beckoned your sister with a wing
>No use for her to just be sitting on the ground while you were here
>You were use that Anon wouldn't mind if she made herself comfortable on that stool over there
>"Ox-i-da-tion. Oxi-da-tion. Oxidation. Oxidation."
>The smile on your face grew and grew as Anon's confidence with the word grew each time he said it until he was smiling himself
>"Oxidation."
>He looked up at you, the suspicion and anger that was once on his face gone
>"What does the word mean?"
>Out of the corner of your eye you saw Luna settling herself in the stool
>Clearing your throat you made yourself as comfortable as you could
>You had a feeling that you were going to be here a while
"Well, you see, oxidation happens when..."