[Copied from https://pastebin.com/8fkha0Qs]

>Be Anon
>In your dimly lit house you wait for your purchase to arrive.
>You really shouldn't refer to her as that
>You have everything ready for her arrival
>For the first time in, well months, you actually cleaned up the place
>You were never motivated enough to do so
>You really weren't motivated to do anything
>But then you had an idea to get your life back on track
>Your house is nearly spotless, minus the stains here and there
>You made sure to remove the medals off your wall
>Can't risk having her know who you were too soon
>Not until she trusted you enough to go along with your plan
>You hid the medals in a box under your bed, good chance she'd never go under there anyway
>You would have hid them in your closed, but there wasn't any room
>The uniforms took up most of the space
>You covered those in black suit covers. Just in case
>Everything had to be perfect
>You sit on your wooden chair with your head in your hands and your elbows propped upon your breakfast table
>Listening for any foreign sounds to signify the arrival of her
>After a few more minutes, and you've been waiting there for quite sometime, you hear tires turn into your parking lot
>Noone has pulled in your driveway for a very long time so you knew who it was
>You look out your window and spot a rusty red van screeching to a halt
>A heavy set man steps out of the van and makes his way to the back and unlocks the rear doors
>You take that as your cue to go out and greet him
>You never were a heavy talker, so you really would rather keep this conversation to a minimum
>You only ever spoke when you really have to
>And that was usually only at the grocery store, or the bar. Just saying simple "hello's" to anyone who looks at you
>But you never spoke at home, considering no one lives with you
>A "selective mute" you've been called before
>The large man steps toward you via a concrete walkway connecting the driveway and your front door
>You step down the steps of your small wooden, and creaky, porch
>In the large mans hand is a thick chain tied unceremoniously to a decrepit, old red collar that is bound to a purple pony
>At least she looks purple under the grey and brown debris, dirt and grime coating her fur
>The collar looks very uncomfortable to the pony, any slack from the collar is taken by the chain wrapped around it, almost choking her
>She sits by the large man awaiting her fate
>"you is who I'm supposed to meet?" The man says less than eloquently
>You could smell his breath even from the distance you are from him
>He clearly is'nt the most hygenic of people
>His XXL shirt hanging down covering his larger than life belly. Sweat stains covering it like a post-modern painting
>You hate post-modern art
"yeah, I am. My names Ano-"
>"Cut the pleasant-trees, I'm jus here to deliver your new bitch. That's why ya got it, right? To be your sexy bitch?"
>He starts giving a less than charming laugh
>"Ya here THAT you filthy animal?" He gives a tug on the chain-leash to make the pony pay attention
>She's starting to shake
>"YOU'RE gonna be this man's new fuck-bitch!"
>God, this man is incredibly annoying to listen to
>Seems the higher ups at the auction house hire the dimwits to do the transporting
"yeah, sure. Whatever you want to think."
>You take a tan envelope and hand it to the man
>He give you the chain and starts to claw to envelope open
>Fuck, the chain is filthy and staining your hand
>"two grand, right? You shure this is two grand? Doesn't look like two grand."
>He probably couldn't count that high anyway.
>You start to make your way to the door and open it to let the shaking, purple pony inside
>Before you could make your escape from the conversation, the man starts talking again
>"Heeeey, ah recognize you! I don't watch the news but you're the one that-"
>Before he could finish, you slam the door shut and lock the door
>You could still hear him outside as he makes his way to his van
>"...-ero my arse."
>You don't move until he is out of sight and gone.
>You hope your pony didn't hear any of that
>You go to take your shoes off when you turn around to the sight of your dirty pony crouched down, shaking more violently
>Her head is on the floor and her rear end is held high, tail out of the way giving a full view of her-
>You quickly turn your head to avoid looking at it, mostly out of decency, but also because that part hasn't been cleaned in a long 
time either
"Hey, what are you doing? Stop!"
>She turns around, confused. Tears are in her eyes and she is still very afraid
>"d-did I do something wrong already?" She hides her heads under her forehooves. "P-please don't hit me!"
"What were you doing?"
>She talks without moving herself. "Isn't it obvious? You're supposed to f...fuck me." She slightly winces when she says it
>"That's the first thing my previous masters did when they got me. They held me down and... had their way with me."
>She starts to cry, sniffing her now runny nose
"No. Not here, I don't want to do that."
>You pause for a bit, not exactly what to say to calm her down
"I want you to be safe here"
>You try to pull off your most comforting face, but it's been hard to express emotion.
>You always had a stoic look about you

>"I-I don't understand..." Her eyes dart around, expecting something horrible to happen at any moment
>But nothing happens
"It's ok, I'm not going to hurt you. I understand, you must've been through hell. But I want things to be different, do you remember your name?"
>It's been several years since the pony race has been in servitude, no doubt the trauma she's been through must have been harsh
>To say the least
>She stares at you, breaking. She's trying her hardest to think of who she was.
>She's stuttering trying to come up with any result.
>You can't help but feel awful about yourself
>You helped cause this 
>This is your fault
>Rushes of thoughts fill your mind, attacking you. 
>Your mind screams in agony at what you've seen, what you did
>You can't forgive yourself. You will never forgive yourself
>You don't show her your pain, Your face still emotionless
>You were always good at bottling up everything
>"I..." She sniffs "I can't even remember. I can't remember my own name! They never used it and hit me when I said it" She looks down completely dejected
>It doesn't matter, you knew who she was
"It's ok, I already know your name is Twilight Sparkle."
>She snaps her head towards you. Pupils shrinked to needle points
>She just looks at you wide eyed, as if someoned finally remembered what was on the tip of their tounge
>She remembered, the knowledge pushed deep inside her mind, forced away and locked.
>"H-how do you know?"
>You know why, you knew a lot about her, her friends and her kind.
>You can't tell her yet though
>She'd never talk to you if she knew
"I just know, ok? I just know."
>"How? Please tell me how you know me!" She desperately looks at you for some sort of answer
"Please, I just cant yet. It's better if you didn't know."
>She looks away, more tears in her eyes
>She's going to start crying again
"Come on, please don't cry. Please." 
>You kneel down and reach your hand out to comfort her
>At the sight of this she instinctivly backs away, hitting her back against the wall, knocking an old picture off the wall.
>You had developed fast reflexes and easily catch it before it hit the ground
>It was a picture of you and another man in your soldier uniforms, shaking hands.
>You had a forced smile on your face while the other looked joyful. He was always too joyful, in the crazy way, not the happy way.
>Who are you kidding, the guy was your C.O. and a complete fucking lunatic
>Back in his glory days, he loved killing arabs in those wars way back when
>When the war with ponies started, killing animals made him worse
>Why you had the picture out, was a mystery, or a reminder. Same as the medals.
>To remind you
>Not sure how you forgot to put this away too
>Hopefully she didn't look at the picture to closely
>You set the picture face down on a higher shelf
>Twilight is still quivering in front of you
>You should've realized trying to touch her would send off the wrong signals
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that. I was just trying to help."
>She looks to you, with a little more hostility
>"What could you possibly do to help? You people took everything from us."
>She wasn't wrong
>You people did take everything from them
>Their home, their freedom, all of it
>However she was unaware at your involvement in all of it
>You weren't sure what to say to her
>Finding things to say was never your forte and you usually said something done
>So you've always kept your mouth shut
"I'm sorry I just, I want to make the best of what I can do at the moment."
>Her face softens a little, calming down. You look to the side away from her
"I just want things to be better for you."
>She gives you yet another confused look
>"I just don't understand, why would you of all humans suddenly care about an 'animal' like me?"
"Because other humans haven't done what I've done. Seen what I've seen."
>That was easy to answer, however very vague. You probably sounded stupid
>You don't let her come up with an response
"Come. I think is best If we get you cleaned up."
>She calmly nods and you both make your way to the bathroom
"Here's the bath and shower, turn this knob to turn it on and off, and this one to change the temperature.
>You knew she was a genius. She'd figure it out
"Here are shampoos you can use. They don't exactly sell products for ponies and I didn't want to get anything for pets. You can just use mine, they're pretty much the same.
>You grab a hair brush and set it by the tub
"You're more than welcome to use my brush for your hair and fur."
>Your hair was decently long, not to your shoulders, but long enough for it to be pulled back and behind your ears
>You cleaned the hair off of it for her
"I'll, uh, wait somewere else and I can show you around and all that."
>You close the door and wait for her to start

>Be Twilight
>You are not sure how you're supposed to feel
>After the destruction of your home, the years of servitude, and the seperation of your friends, you've come to despise the human race
>You're hatred comes right after your pure terror of them
>They were monsters more fierce and so much smarter than any of the ones back home
>You've gone through several 'masters' and psycologically trained to be some real life sex-doll
>Truely a fate worse that tartarus
>And now you're treated nicely by this 'Anon'
>At least you assumed his name was Anon
>He was cut off the man who transported you to him
>You weren't sure if you wanted to trust him
>You've had a master who was nice before, tried buttering you up, before...
>You don't want to think about it
>You never have used a shower like this
>You fumble with the knobs with your hooves trying to turn
>With your magic subued by drugs, It made moving things harder
>Human objects were heavier to lift in most cases since they were bigger
>Anon was pretty big, bigger than most humans
>You guessed he was around 6'4" or so
>Slim build, he obviously kept himself in shape
>The shower knob turns and the rush of water hits you
>Cold
>Very cold
>The sensory overload makes your mind think fast trying to turn the temperature knob to make it warmer
>You fumble with it, hooves slipping
"ColdcoldcoldcoldcoldcoldCOLDCOLDCOLDCOOOOLD"
>You manage to turn the temperature knob
>Finally
>Hot
>The water starts to burn
>Before the water really starts to hurt, you get the knob to a nice middle ground
>It starts to feel better
>Your muscles that ached you for so long start to relax in the first time in ages
>You give a sigh of relief and sit down, looking up at the showerhead with closed eyes
>You start to think of the showers you had at home
>A calm stream tickling your face as it slides down you body wrapped in the warm water of a bubble bath
>You miss this
>You miss all of it
>You open your eyes and remember where you are
>The nostalgia ends
>
>You reach for the brush with your mouth
>You're able to brush most of the front of you off
>your legs and your belly are mostly clean of the gunk that coated your fur
>You can barely reach your back, the brush is too short
>You could ask for help
>Could being the important word
>You've had bad experiences, but you're still stubborn as a...
>Human phrases were starting to catch on to you. It bugged you
>This shower was really putting you in a better mood
>The steam from the shower was opening your pores and really relaxing you
>You needed this, like a lot
>It's better than you've felt in a long time
>You managed to get some of your back, not all of it, but a majority of it
>You put the brush between your hooves, getting a better grip of it as you brush your hair
>Not after you use the water to wash off the gunk. gross
>Pulling out all the knots is painful
>You never knew hair could be so knotty
>Thats a word, right?
>You hear the tears of your hair as each strand is straighted out after so long
>Previous owners tried to brush your hair, naked
>They didn't get very far, kicking and yelling until the eventually gave up
>You feel your main and shake your head to sample its smoothness
>You end up shaking too hard and your hair whips your eyes
>That's a good sign, You supposed
>Your tail was a bit more work but you managed to straighten that out
>You could finally shampoo your hair
>Their wasn't many products to choose from, just two of the same shampoo a conditioner that looked full from non-use and a body wash
>You pop the cap up and grab the body in your mouth
>Luckily the cap wasn't one of those dumb twist ones
>You apply a generous amount of shampoo to your hoove and begin to lather up
 
>Be Anon
>She's been in there for quite some time
>You wonder if she needs help
>That brush was pretty short
>You consider asking if she needs a hand
>But the thought quickly passes
>You didn't really want to help
>She should be able to do things herself
>You hear a slip and an 'eek' followed by a thud
"Doin alright in there?" you asked, the noise cutting off your thoughts
>"Just peachy!" she reponds
>You notice the change in her voice, it sounded a bit brighter
>That shower must be a welcome change to what she was used to
>You have a lot to explain to her about what will happen in the coming days
>After a few more minutes, you hear the shower turn off, followed by slapping noises
>You assume that her shaking the water off
>Hopefully she didn't open the curtain before she did that
>"Good to go! Can you come dry me off a bit more?"
>You grab a towel from the closet right next to the bathroom and head inside
>The first thing you notice is the wall of steam that pours out of the room
"Was the shower alright?" you ask her as you see how noticably cleaner she is
>You take your towel and wrap it around her, then begin to rub it around her
>She tries to blow the hair out of her nose and eyes and you bring the towel to her hair 
>You make sure to get under those wings too
>You finish off drying her and snap the towel up and down to get the loose hairs off
>Just a habit of when you dry off
>Unfortunatly the towel wips your leg and you let out a small grunt in suprise
>Twilight giggles 
>"smooth moves, Hoss."
"Like silk" you retort. 
>You always hoped to say that at least once in your life
>Her coat shines with a bright purple color that reflects the light from the bathroom window
>"Yeah, You would NOT beleive how much I needed that"
"Good to know, you seem to be in happier spirits, come on I'll show you around."
>He attitude starts to wear off on you
>It's finally nice to have someone around this quiet house
>You almost crack a small grin. Almost

>The bathroom was in a small hallway to the left of the front door you have her note the bathroom closet and the small coat closet next to it
>Exiting the hallway was the living room, a large room that had it's ceiling raised to make the room seem bigger
>In it was a couch, recliner, and a coffee table that had books you've read long ago on it along with a few coffee mug stains
>"You should've used a coaster." She notes
"Hold on a sec." you tell her and she sits down
>"What, whats wrong?" she tilts her head, not knowing what was going to happen
"I didn't remove your collar, not sure why I didn't
>You took off the chain before she got in the shower, but for some reason you neglected to remove the collar as well
>It was one of those weird snap collars that always pinched your fingers when you pushed the sides in
>Not this time, thankfully
>When you pull it off, Twilight rubs her hooves around her neck
>"I've had that on for so long I forgot it was there, thats much better."
>Sort of like how you feel wierd when you take your watch off when you shower
"Well, you won't be needing that here, but I hope you don't decide to fly away at the moment"
>"They numbed my wings with a drug they injected into them, I won't be flying in a while if I wanted to until it wears off"
>You didn't have any drugs or those magic supressants, you hope they are not addictive
"Wing numbing drugs combined with the magic supressants arn't addictive, right?
>"Thankfully not, They felt really wierd at first, but my body got used to their effects. But I don't know when they wear off."
>You walk away from her and head to the kitchen and Twilight follows you
>The kitchen was connected to the living room, with a passthrough so those in the kitchen could watch TV too
>You pull out a drawer near the sink and throw the collar in the trash can
"Well that's good to know, hopefully you'll be back on your fee- your hooves in no time."
>Twilight nods in agreement
"Ok, well, obviously this is the kitchen, I hope you don't mind the dishes I leave on the table and everything"
>"I'm sure I'll be cleaning it up one way or another, I can't stand messes. Unless It's an organized mess but I don't see anything like that around here"
>Ok, your not THAT much of a messy person
>You just wait until later to put things away
>While Twilight was talking you look down at the collar you threw away
>You noticed a small flashing red light out of the corner of your eye when you turned your head
>You grab the collar and inspect it
>The light was coming from a small LED in a black translucent box labeled 'PONY AUCTION INC. PONY TRACKER'
>Below it in smaller letters, read 'COIN CELL BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED' 
>She was still being tracked. Most likely from the auction house.
>You drop it on the floor and crush the box with the heel of your foot
>It sorta hurt, with small plastic points poking your feet
>But your foot was mostly callused which nulled most of the pain
>"What was that for?" Twilight asks, moving her head closer to the collar's remaing
"Turns out you were being tracked still by the auction house"
>"Huh, I figured, that explains many failed escape attempts, couldn't get the collar off myself."
>You hear a buzz from your phone that was on the table
>You never had the sound on, they annoyed you
>You open your phone expecting it to be another annoying ad from the phone company
>That what it usually is
>Instead, it's from the auction house
>You read it out loud
"'DEAR LOYAL CUSTOMER, IT SEEMS YOUR GPS TRACKER FOR YOUR PONY AS WENT OUT, PLEASE CHECK TO SEE IF YOUR PONY HASN'T INTENTIONALLY DISABLED IT, OR IT RAN OUT OF BATTERIES. IN CASE OF DESTRUCTION OF COLLAR, A NEW ONE CAN BE SHIPPED TO THE BELOW ADDRESS WHEN YOU CONFIRM IT. WOULD YOU LIKE TO ORDER A NEW ONE? TYPE 'Y' FOR YES AND 'N' FOR NO. THANK YOUR FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT TO THE PONY AUCTION HOUSE INC. HAVE A LOVELY DAY WITH YOUR PONY."
>You read the listed address, it isn't yours
>You thought you gave them the proper address when you filled out your order when you bought Twilight
"Huh, this address is not mine, you know it by chance?"
>You hold the phone to her, her eyes scan the small screen
>"I'm not entirely sure, but if I had to guess, I'ts the address to the man who gave me to you. I assume they have him transporting collars and other 'goods' to the customers"
>What a coincidence
"How do you supposed that happened?"
>"Good question, seems like some mess up of info back at the auction house"
>You honestly don't know what could have resulted in it, but however, you can use it in the future
>You head to a small desk by the kitchen table and begin to scribble the address on a notepad

>Be Twilight
>This human is too trusting 
>He obviously hasn't had anyone in his life for a while
>You could use this
>He's giving you too many freedoms
>He's trying a bit too hard to earn your trust
>Best you can do is try to joke around to seem like your doing better
>Anon puts the pen down and walks back over to you
>You wonder what he intended to do with the man's address
>Maybe the two were working together for something?
>You push that thought out of your mind
>No way Anon, from what you can tell from him so far, would ever willing work with a creep like that
>Anon an apparent loner, his skin is slightly pale from lack of sunlight
>His muscles are toned, so he must still do some sort of exercise 
>You were still a little bit weak from the small rations you got from your previous owner
>Along with numb wings and no magic, you can't try to overpower him
>Anon also seems to have some sort of military background, you did see the picture that fell when you knocked it over
>Only for a second though
>Your belly growls
>"Are you hungry?" He asks
>You nod your head in agreement, hoping for something better than table scrap.
>"I could probably see what I have for you after I finish showing you around, not much left to see anyway. Not sure what you eat anyway"
>You follow him to the other side of the kitchen to a door
>"This stair way leads to the basement, nothing much down there except boxes of old... stuff"
>He pauses then begins to walk away and leads you out of the kitchen and to an ajar door on the opposite end of the living room
>"This is just a spare bedroom, you'll be sleeping here if you want."
"Better than the floor or a garage"
>That bed looked very tempting
>Along the wall opposite of the bed is a large bookshelf with books scattered along its shelves and on the floor
>Now you're talking
>"Excuse the mess, never really found time to organize this room either. You're welcome to do as you please with it"
"Just what do you do all day?" You ask him, wondering how his house could be in such a state
>"Nothing really, I don't have a job, the previous job I had paid me a lot for my work, and I didn't really feel the need to spend it on a lot of stuff. I eventually stopped, couldn't take the work load"
"Here, I'll find you something to eat and we can call it a day, it's starting to get late."
"What time is it? I haven't been given the luxery of knowing what time of day it was."
>"it's seven-thirty" he looks down at his watch, which was on his right hand and on the underside of his wrist
>He was right handed, from what you saw when he wrote on the desk.
>Most humans who were right handed wore watches on the left hand facing up
>Just small details you notice in pictures and the like
"Why do you wear your watch like that?" You say as you both walk back in the kitchen
>There wasn't any real reason for asking, just trying to find things to say instead of the silence of the empty house
>Anon opens the pantry door and heads inside. You wait outside as he scrounges for food
>"I ran back in high school I could see my watch better during runs so I didn't have to twist my arm."
>You hear rustling bags and other noises
>"I became used to it that way and it's uncomfortable wearing it the 'right' way"
>He comes out of the pantry with a small handful of food
>"Um, I have some potato chips, some fruit thats kind of old and some fig newtons. Have bread and stuff for sandwiches If you'd like"
>He sets the assortment on the table, the fruit tries to roll away, but Anon cuts off their escape
>Looks like you and the fruit have something in common
"I suppose I could take the fruit out of your hands"
>Chips like to leave a mess of your fur
>Celestia knows what the hell fig newtons taste like
>He takes a wide plate from a cabinet and begins to slice the fruit with a small knife
>Two apples, an orange and a kiwi lie perfectly sliced on your plate
>He sure is good with a knife
>He sits the plate on the breakfast table and you take a seat on the chair
>Wasn't the most comfortable position but you didn't want to complain at the moment
>Anon puts bread in the toaster and as it heats, takes out a butter knife and a spoon
>You take a bite of an apple slice, a little soft, but still retained some juiciness
>You observe Anon as he takes the very lightly toasted bread and begins to spread peanut butter first with the knife on one, and the jelly with the spoon on the other
>Both slices of bread have a generous amount of ingredients on them
>A true master of his craft
>He pours himself a glass of milk and sets his sandwich creation on a smaller plate and sits across from you
"You forgot to put the milk away, it'll get warm" 
>You point to the still open milk gallon on the table
>Anon gets up from his seat again. "Oh right, I always do that"
>Anon sits back down once his task is completed
>You've already finished most of your fruit when he begins to much on his sandwich, he alternates with one bite per sip of milk
>You notice Anon hasn't said anything
>You see that his eyes are stare staring down at the table, he hasn't blinked or really moved them at all
>You try to snap him out of it, you wave your hoove, lower your head to see if he can see you in his peripherals
>He isn't budging, half of his sandwich is already gone
>So you speak up
"So how was your days at school? Any good memories?"
>He looks up at you, didn't move his head, just his eyes
>"Was different, never made any close friends. Had some buddies that I talked to when I ran, but we went our seperate ways after I graduated. Never was able to keep anyone close, stayed silent."
>You were that way when you were in the academy
>But it was your choice to push others away, ignored their invites for social gathering
>Anon never really had that pleasure
>You almost feel bad for the guy
"How long ago was that?"
>"About a decade ago"
>So he's been living like this for almost ten years?
>You weren't sure what humans did when they finish school, you supposed most had a special talent
>They didn't have cutie marks so you didn't know
>You know somewhere along the lines, anon became a solider, but you didn't want to bring it up

>Anon finishes his sandwich and gets up and puts his dishes in the sink
>He grabs your and throws the peels and cores in the trash
>"I'm going to go brush my teeth, I have a dental appointment tommorrow. You're free to go to sleep, i'm sure you are tired"
>You have been getting deprived of sleep for a while
>You nod your head and head for your room
>You see Anon go inside the bathroom and close the door
>In your room, you look back at the bookshelf, a towering structure
>Anon must like to read
>You hop on the bed, the springs giving in to meager weight 
>Been a while since you've been in a bed
>The ones at home were much better, but this will do
>You miss home, you're not entirely sure what happened to it when the humans came
>The war lasted years and many settlements were torn to pieces by the human's advanced weaponry
>Your kind's spears and arrows were little match for human's ballistic weapons
>Not to mention the planes that were faster than any pegasus
>Even Rainbow Dash
>You miss her
>You miss all of them
>You'll make it prioity number one when you get out of here
>'But what about Anon?' a small part of your mind says
>Sure, he seems nice enough but
>He's just a means to an end right now
>You will find your friends

>Be Anon
>You are brushing your teeth and thinking
>You do that a lot
>Overthink
>You think of how exactly you want to proceed
>It would be too wierd if you outright said you wanted to help find her friends
>You knew the six of them had some strange supernatural power that your race was unable to understand
>It's why they were so quick to keep them away from each other
>You knew after you find them youd bring them to equestria and close whatever gate held your worlds together
>By no means was it the best plan, you never were known for your ideas
>You usually take things as they
>You're sure the gate was still there
>Twilight would probably think your crazy
>You finish brushing and spit out the paste
>You enter your room and slip into your sleep wear
>You sleep shirtless and with plain grey pants
>You grab your old ipod classic off the small night stand and slip your headphones on 
>You didn't usually like ear buds unless you're running
>You shimmy yourself under the covers and look at the cieling
>You prefer laying on your sides, but the headphones make that hard
>Small sacrifices, Anon
>Sacrifices
>You always liked to listen to music before you go to bed
>It's one of the few things that calm you down and clears your mind
>You flip the ipod off its lock and turn on the song you left it on
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oday_Fc-Gc
>You always found this song rather calming 
>Besides the subject matter, you found her voice to be rather calming
>A nice little song to listen to
>You feel a bit better
>You skip the next few songs and come to one of your favorites
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Whr61HeQrHo
>You're not sure why you find this so alluring
>You daydream your in a meadow under a tree
>Its dark, cloudy and lightly raining
>But the rain is soothing
>You see a city in the distance
>Lights of rooms in the buildings light up in the distance, as street lights and cars illuminate the streets
>Away from the hustle bustle of the city
>Alone in the dark meadow
>You're... calm
>And the song ends
>You figure thats enough for tonight
>You put your ipod back on the nightstand
>You roll over a few times to become comfortable and fall into a deep sleep

>You find yourself in the grass
>Not green grass
>This grass is rather tall, but brown and tan and easily broken
>You are on your stomach and you lay motionless as you've been for the past 3 hours
>You look down at the steep ledge that descends far to the canyon below
>You are overlooking a settlement, mostly covered by another steep cliff wall
>There is zero chance of you being spotted
>The ponies call this area 'The Badlands'
>You had to fight off some bizarre creatures before you came across the settlement
>Your C.O. gave you orders to find this settlement, It is holding high-tier pony officials, and await further instructions
>You hear the radio from the earbud in your ear spark to life
>"Anon, orders have arrived"
>With your wait finally over, you dig your sniper rifle buried under the grass next you you
>You depoly the bipod, flip up the lens caps on the scope up and begin to focus on the settlement
>You keep both eyes open
>One to look through the scope and another to alert yourself of any movement in your peripherals not in the Line of sight of the rifle
>The man from control speaks up again
>"You are to watch the settlement, wait for the signal, and open fire on any pony in your view, is this understood?"
"Yeah, I understand. What is the signal?"
>"Sigh, Anonymous, you DO know protocol states you are to respond with 'roger'?
"I'm well aware of the protocol, you do know I hate that whole 'roger that' commando stuff"
>"We are well aware. Don't worry, you'll know the signal when it arrives with the payload"
"Payload? What payload?" You ask in a loud whisper
>The radio cuts off, you return to laying in the silents of the night sky
>You are more uneasy, but you ignore the feeling
>Only you can do this
>You are the best, after all
>They laughed at how young you were, you made them put their money where their mouth was
>You had extra rations for the next week or so

>You wait for another half hour
>You hear something loud in the distance
>It was actually rather quiet, but you could hear very well
>You spot two black dots in the distance
>No
>Oh no
>They weren't actually going to...
>They were
>The black dots form into black bomber jets when the come into view
>The noise was clearly waking up the settlement, from the few windows you could see
>They weren't even trying to be covert for this
>The jets whiz past you, and you watch them go
>You turn back
>Two long streams of Red, Orange and A black darker than the night form a straight line from where the jets flew
>Napalm
>You hear the crashing of wood and the rising volume of screams in the distance
>You look through your scope to focus
>To look clearer, You close your left eye
>You listen as screams of terror and pure agony echo through the canyon
>You see a group of ponies begin to run into your view
>The group consists of mostly mares and fillies
>Some of the children are painted black, streaks of fire melting their flesh
>Some already have exposed bones
>Some fall to the ground and writhe in the dirt, instinctivly to put out the flames
>Some ponies avoid the others in their sprint, hoping to not get the sticky, flammable substance on them as well
>Some abandon the children to get out as fast as possible
>Your eyes widen in horror
>You've seen combat, but this was not combat
>'Put them out of their misery, Anonymous' the demon says
>You hesitate
>Your radio snaps you out of your trance
>"Take the shots Anonymous"
>You don't answer, you keep looking
>"Anon, Take the shots." The man at control raises his voice
"I can't"
>You hear a new voice 
>"ANONYMOUS, LISTEN TO ME. YOU WILL TAKE THE SHOTS OR IT'S YOUR ASS!"
>It's your C.O.
>"ANON! I AIN'T HEARING ANY FIRING MECHANISMS, FUCKING FIRE!THAT'S AN ORDER, PUT THOSE ANIMALS DOWN!"
>You take the earbud out
>You look back at the group running
>Some black bodies lie motionless behind the group
>Burning, still burning
>You slow your breathing and turn your body
>You point a little above and forward of the mare in the front
>You lock your shoulder
>BANG
>KA-CHUNK
>You pull the bolt of your rifle
>The demon inside you grows
>The herd of ponies change direction diagonally away from you
>You aim at another mare
>her cutie mark is a heart
>BANG 
>KA-CHUNK
>The demon inside you grows
>You aim at a stallion
>His cutie mark is of a pencil and paper
>BANG 
>KA-CHUNK
>The demon inside you grows
>You aim at another mare
>Her cutie mark shows flowers 
>BANG 
>KA-CHUNK
>The demon inside you grows larger
>You aim behind the group
>Some of the children are lagging behind
>You're following orders
>You are following orders
>They are just animals
>They do not think
>They do not know
>They just survive as animals do
>You aim at the filly
>BANG 
>KA-CHUNK
>The demon inside you grows
>Her head explodes
>It spreads the ones around her
>She didn't have a cutie mark
>You aim to the next one
>This one likes Science
>BANG 
>KA-CHUNK
>The demon inside you grows darker
>The child was smaller than others
>There's no more of him
>You reload your rifle
>lather
>Rinse
>Repeat
>Grow
>Lather 
>Rinse
>Repeat
>Grow
>...
>...
>...
>The group is gone now
>One who loves science
>One who loved chess
>One who loved dancing
>One who loved building
>You stopped paying attention
>You point your rifle back at the settlement
>There is just one pony
>She limps from the wreckage
>And sits by the charred remains of an now unrecognizable child
>"WHHYYYYYYYY!!!???"
>Her shrieks pierce the dead sky
>"WHY?! WHY!!??? WHY!?WHY!!?? WHYYYY!!??"
>She is answered with silence and the cracks of still burning flames
>You've always denied it
>But proof was there
>You knew they talked, as a gorilla can communicate with sign language
>But ponies did something that no animal where you came from could do
>Animals don't ask questions
>A gorilla has never been recorded asking their owner who he is
>Thats what divided sentient, and non-sentient creatures
>And here you have this pony asking 'why?'
>There were MANY questions you could have bothered yourself with
>But this is the only you dared to answer
>You point the reticule at the sobbing pony 
>You fire your last shot
>BANG 
>KA-CHUNK
>You lay there motionless for some time. You hear the earbud come alive below you
>You insert it back in your ear
>Your C.O. was still on the line
>"Damn fine work there, Anonymous. Damn fine. We saw everything from your helmet camera. I'll be sure to give you a damn medal when you return, now haul that ass back here. Drinks are on me tonight! HAhahaha!"
>The line cuts with a short *Cckhhhtt*
>You stay there laying in the grass for a bit longer, looking at your work.
>You stand up, and stretch to crack your bones
>You press the light button on your watch, it's 12:23:45am
>You pick up your shell casings, empty mags, and place them in your back
>Your rifle is slung along your back and you walk down the hill
>Your earbud comes alive
>"HEY ANON! YOU SEE WHAT TIME IT IS?"
>You stay silent
>"HAPPY-FUCKING-BIRTHDAY, SOLDIER!!"

>You wake up in a dry sweat, sheets sprawled around you. You're breathing heavily
>The same dream again, playing the same memory

>Still Anon
>You check the clock on your shelf across the room
>7:30
>You suppose it's a good time as any to get out of bed
>You couldn't go back to sleep anyway
>You need some music to calm your mind
>You walk over and grab your guitar, it's been collecting dust
>You sit on your bed and begin to strum a tune you taught yourself before the war
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eeOPm2j-t4
>You were always a sucker for something meloncholy
>You feel your mind drift away
>You focus on only the notes
>You forget about the world
>You strum the same notes for a few minutes
>The creaking of your door snaps you out of your daydream
>Twilight makes her way toward you
>"Why did you stop?
"You startled me"
>You feel a bit embarrassed that she was listening to you play
>Her eyes drift past you
>"you play piano?"
>You look behind you to the small keyboard standing against your wall
"Yeah, first instrument I learned, parents made me practice a lot when I was In grade school. Thirty minutes a day on weekdays, an hour on saturdays. It felt like forever."
>"To a child, perhaps"
"I'd waste time by placing my fingers on a paperclip and pretend it was a skateboard"
>You gesture with your first two fingers, placing them on your other hand and moving them around
"Mother Was standing behind me and gave me a good whack when I turned around"
>You both share a small laugh
"I thanked them for it later though, they said 'told ya so'"
>You force a small chuckle
>"Can you, play a little more?"
>You look at the guitar for a bit
"Sure"
>You continue strumming and Twilight closes her eyes and rests her chin on your bed
>You play
>Music is good for the soul
>After some time, You finish the loop and set your guitar back on it's stand
"C'mon" You beckon Twilight as she snaps back to reality
"I'll make us some breakfast"
>You both make your way to the kitchen and you motion Twilight to sit at the table
>You open a small cupboard under the kitchen table 
>You had an assortment of cereal, but the moment called for something a bit more extravagant
>You could cook, for the most part
"So Twilight, Maple Brown Sugar Oatmeal or Co-Co Wheats?"

>You see her ears perk up at the word "oats"
>"Uh Co-Co wheats?"
>This pony hasn't had a proper breakfast before
>You'll remedy that
>She'll have the creamy hot cereal with the cocoa treat
"You ever have grits? Sorta like that, but chocolatey and way better"
>You try your best to sell yourself
>"One of each, please, I haven't had oats in forever"
>Probably different oats than what she's expecting, but it'll do
>She must be hungrier than you, anyway
>You take out 4 bags of the oatmeal
>Two for each. Single bags are too small a serving for your voracious hunger
>You pour them in two bowls, then grab a small pot and fill it with tap water
>You place the pot on the stove and set the burner to med-high
>You wait for the water to boil
>...
>...
>You and Twi wait in an awkward silence
>...
>...
>You were never good with conversation
"Sooo how'd sleep?"
>You start to rock back and forth from your heels to toes
>"Well, I slept... Well, how about you?
>You divert your eyes to the cieling 
>Bang
>Ka-Chunk
"I slept like a baby"
>"Nice, nice"
>...
>...
>'A watched pot never boils, son'
>'Quiet dad'
>Your dad's 'life lessons and metephors' play out in your head
>He was always so wise
>The one man who's respect and love you knew you'd never lose
>But the thought of losing it was your greatest fear
>He hugged you tight when you were drafted
>He wanted to go in your place, but he was too old
>You haven't seen him cry like that before
>The love of a father to his son
>"Anon"
>Twi's voice brings you out of your reminiscing 
>She points a hoof to the pot, it's starting to boil
>You pour the hot water in the bowls of oatmeal and place it back on the burner
>You give the oatmeal a good stir to mix the water
>You take the box of Co-Co Wheats and pout a generous amount for the two of you
>You stir the pot until the Wheats thicken
>You pour it into the remaining two bowls
>After turning the burner off your have the idea to carry all bowls at once to the table
>You place two on your fore arms and the other in your grips
>Turns out, things right of the stove tend to stay hot for awhile
>You quickly shuffle to the table and set the bowls in their respective places
>Your arms are a bit red, You'll live
>You look before you
>Two sets of bowls on opposite sides of the table, steaming 
>The light piercing through the window, casting a warm glow to its contents and onto Twilight
>The little things
>"You alright?" Twi asks with a raised eyebrow, feigning worry
>You know she knows you're alright, but she felt the need to ask
"Nah, it's fine, I'm not known for my ideas"
>You set down after getting a small spoon for yourself
>Assuming Twilight will just use her mouth
>You know, like a normal horse would
>You allow her to take the first bite, she goes for the Co-Co wheats first
"Wait!" You stop her before her mouth touches her food
>She jerks her head back 
>"What? What'd I do? Am I not eating it correctly?"
>She looks like countless theories of the cause of her error are playing in her head
"I forgot the milk, s'too hot"
>She looks at you as if you said something stupid
>It wasn't, this is important
>You jog to the fridge, and come back with the milk
>You also get some sugar in a small plasic container
>You pour the sugar in both your wheat bowls and stir
>You apply the milk in all bowls
>You sit back down
"Please, proceed"
>"You sure this time?" 
>You nod your head
>Without further ado she samples the Wheats
>You look with slight anticipation
>She raises her head slowly and looks to you
>She swallows and eye pupils grow
>"This... this is" she stammers out
>Victory
>She realizes what she's doing and her eyes revert to normal
>She resumes eating
>"...Adequate"
>So humble
>"I knew you'd love it"

>You both finish your breakfast and you put the dishes away
>You remember your dentist appointment today
>You check your watch 
>It's coming up to 9
>You're appointment's at 10
>It takes a while to get to the place, with little traffic so you should head out now
>Not before brushing your teeth, of course
>You enter the bathroom and start brushing your pearly whites
>Coming out, you find a hairband in the closet and tie your hair in a pony-tail
>Never liked it in front of your eyes much, you try to keep it tucked behing your ears
"Hey, Twilight, I need to make a quick stop at the dentist. It may take a few hours. I'll be back in when I can"
>You slip your shoes on and head for the doors
>You feel hooves climb onto your shoulders
>Your body tenses up and instinct takes over, you forget where you are
>your arm shoots back and pushes the hostile away
>You turn around with your arms out 
>You see Twilight on her back rubbing her head
>"Anon! What gives!?"
>You feel immensely guilty and kneel by her, you help her to her hooves
"Christ, I'm sorry, I have a bad thing when It comes from being grabbed from behind"
>You try your best to sound apologetic
>"Sorry, I should've known better. I just thought I'd... share a hug or whatever"
>You look at her
>"You got me clean, filled my belly and gave me a comfy place to sleep. Just thought I'd do something to show my gratitude"
"Twilight. You don't owe me anything. It's nice to have a second voice around"
>'Your forgeting about me' Your mind whispers
>You rub your temples
>You hold your arms out
"C'mere?"
>She wraps her hooves around your neck once again and you pull her into a tight embrace

>Be Twilight 
>You would be lying if you said he wasn't growing on you a bit
>You'd be lying if you said the hug didn't feel nice
>Been a while since you had one that wasn't forced on you
>You notice Anon's hands are shaking a bit

>Be Anon
>You stand back up
>"Anon? Your hands were shaking, You doing alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, I just really hate the dentist. The noises, people stuffing objects in your mouth, the like"
>You lie to her, well partially
>You really do hate the dentist
>But that's not why your hands were shaking
>Your headache comes back
>You need some music
>You say farewell to Twi and tell her she has the house to herself
>You lock the door
>You step to the pull-around where your car rests
>You turned your car on and plugged in your ipod into the auxiliary
>You pull out the drive-way and push play on the next song
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0I6muYX-R0
>Mmmmm, Retro-future
>You drive a bit faster, your mind sedated

>It was a long drive, but you arrive with a few minutes to spare
>The doctors call your name rather quickly, Your legs getting tired from bouncing on the floor in the waiting room
>They direct you to the chair, as you've done before
>You lay down, close your eyes and exhale a deep breath
>You feel something tight around your ankles and wrists
>You're quick to open your eyes, you see some dentists tightning belts around them
>You didn't even know these chairs had those
>You're quicker to relay your protests
"You gotta be joking doc, This is taking a bit far, right?"
>"Sorry, Anonymous, but given your past... experiences with us, we'd rather not take chances, or waste the manpower"
>So it took a few larger dentist to hold you down
>It's not like you can help it
>The drills get to you
>"Now Anonymous, please understand. It's for both of our goods, I'd rather not just sedate you"
>You don't respond, you simply shut your eyes as you hear the clanking of the dentist preparing his...
>Tools
>'Yeah tools, we'll make this quick and painful'
>Your mind begins to slip back in time to another memory
>'Who are we kidding, to you it'll be veerrry slow'
>You try to not replay to memory, but it over takes you as you hear the WHRRRR of a small drill

>You are strapped to a table
>It is rusty and cold against your shirtless body
>Your toned body no match for the braces that held you in place
>You're gagged barely capable of making anything other than unintelligent moans
>You're body is coverd in cuts in varying in kerf and deepness
>To your right are the torturer's tools of the trade
>A hacksaw, some scalpels, other blades of various sizes... a Pear of Anguish
>You hope they don't use that one
>At the end, standing up lies an old fashion De-walt power drill, an assortment of drill bits lie beside it
>You don't get to contemplate how ponies got their hooves on one of those before the door in front of you slides open
>Two Larger ponies walk toward you, 
>They are mostly covered, but you can see their eyes
>One nods at the other, the smaller walks behind you and puts hes weight on your shoulders
>The other takes some time to look at the blades, picking them up, and testing their sharpness
>On your chest
>He's inspected three at this point
>You're starting to sweat a bit more, your back slides on the metal table
>After a few more cuts, he eyes the drill
>Then looks at you, you try to hide your emotions and stare back
>He looks at the drill and then nods to the pony holding your shoulders
>You are blindfolded
>In the darkness you hear two short WRR WRR's, the pony testing the power of the drill
>"You humans have some very bizzare technology" He WRRs the drill again
>"I admire zis"
>He talks in whats similar to a german accent
>Typical
>He places hoofs on the table, and your arm
>Seems to have practiced using his mouth to use it
>You'd make a remark about his talent, but you're a big gagged at the moment
>He touches the drill bit to your throat and drills what sounds like a piece of wood
>He places the drill bit back on your throat
>You jerk at the burning of the bit
>The pony has a muffled laugh
>You hear the drill start to whir and you almost feel it coming in contact with your adam's apple
>He's toying you
>He lifts up the blindfold, revealing one of your eyes
>He's only a few inches to your face
>"You won't be getting out that easily" He whispers to you
>He doesn't break eye contact as he quickly shoves the whirring drill into your arm
>Your blood sprays onto the table and drill
>You clench your teeth into the gag and stare wide eyed at the torturer
>You body is siezing but the weight of the other pony holds you down
>The eye of the torturer does not blink nor cease staring straight at you with his crazy and small pupils as a drop of blood hits his eye
>You see a slight reflection your your pain stricken face in the ponies eye
>You hear a voice inside your head
>'He's thrashing to much, sedate him'
>Your body gives out and your world goes black

>You wake up on the couch in the waiting room, noone else is there
>You pull up your sleeve and check your right arm
>The 1.5mm scar remains on your upper bicept
>You sign out and head home.

>Be Twilight
>Anon's been gone for some time
>He did say he'd be a while, but you're starting to worry a bit
>You wonder what had him so worked up
>You didn't waste time going back into your room and viewing some thie books he had
>You could have read at least 2 of these 'Steven King' by the time Anon came home
>But your curiosity to explore the house a bit more gets the better of you
>You try to organize the books back on the shelf the best you can
>At first, you tried to see how much of your magic has came back
>You're able to lift a few books off the ground, but your magic goes out with a small 'pop' and the books fall back down to ground
>Guess you're doing this manually
>While you were at it, you try to extend your wings out
>They move rather easily as you move them in small circles, but they don't feel strong enough to actually lift your off the ground
>You thank your fast, alicorn metabolism
>You set a book in your mouth and start to fill up some of the lower shelves
>In no time at all your forcing your neck to strecth as you try to reach higher shelves
>There are still two shelves above that one
>You summon your inner daredevil and try to climb the shelves like a ladder
>You don't worry about the shelves breaking, you're rather light for your size
>You just worry that the bookshelf will tip over, it doesn't seem secured to the wall or floor
>You make your way to the shelf on the very top, inching yourself very slowly as to not fall backward
>Anon would kill you if you knock this over
>You get to the final few books
>You try to go a bit faster, getting a bit over-confidant
>You push yourself to the top a bit to quickly and the bookshelf begins to sway
>Ho, boy
>Your body freezes and pushes itself towards the shelf in hopes it would lean back to the wall
>It didn't
>As the bookshelf falls back, you slip off against the carpeted floor
>You close your eyes as the book shelf decends upon you
>You get blanketed with an avalanche of hard and soft covered novels
>but you don't feel the shelf on you
>You peak your eyes and see the shelf a few inches above your head
>You wait a second, expecting it to tease you and then fall all the way, but it doesn't
>You shake yourself out of the pile a books and look at the damage
>Besides the mess of books the shelf happened to hit the side of your bed before it hit the ground
>The bed leans under the weight of the shelf
>The room itself is in disarry for your boldnes
>You start to panic and begin to pace, sweat starting to form on your face
>Anon's totally going to kill you
>Or at least beat you senseless
>You try not to think what a guy like Anon would do to you
>You come up with plan
>You try to lift the shelf with your magic
>It hovers above the bed with great effort 
>Your magic makes another 'pop' sound and the shelf crashes back down on the bed
>The shelf itself cracks, but the supports on the bed give in and the bed crashes to the ground
>Your pupils shrink in stupidity
>'Shit'
>Alright, Twilight! New plan!
>You made a mess and Anon'll be home any second now
>Your ear twitchs
>I know!
>Hide like a filly! Always works
>But where?
>Aha! His room of course!
>Anon would think it would be to obvious to find you in his room, therefore, he won't bother to look there!
>You love reverse psycology
>Despite psycology being the lowest of the sciences, it comes in handy
>You bound away to Anon's room and hide under the bed
>Hmm, roomy. You think to yourself
>You notice a box near you
>You probably shouldn't
>Buuut you already goofed up once today, Anon won't mind if you make another, right?
>Right
>You shuffle to the box and open it to examine its contents
>Oh, sweet Celestia

>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1NAhlVRaZ4
>The song ends as you pull into your driveway and park your car back in it's resting place
>You loved perfect timing
>You grab your dentist goodie bag that you got when you woke up
>You have needed a new toothbrush
>You unlock your door and step inside your home
>Seems a bit... quiet
>You'd be used to quiet, but not when you know someone else is in the house
>You set your bag on the breakfast table
"Twilight?" You call out to her
>You notice the open door to her room
>You rush over there when you see the bookshelf lying broken on the ground
"Twi!"
>You use your strength to push the shelf aside and dig through the pile of books
>A breath escapes you and your heartbeat lowers
>She wasn't under the shelf, which was a good signm
>So where is she?
>She wouldn't go in your room, you know that
>Unless she know you'd think that
>Better go check, just in case
>You always try to think of any possibility
>You slowley open the door to your room
>You See Twilight laying down and her back against the wall, her puffy and red eyes fixed on something
>She'd been crying
>The black bags covering your uniforms have been taken off the wall
>You slowly walk towards her to see what she's looking at
>You already had a good idea
>You see your medals spread across the floor
"Twilight, I... can explain"
>You don't say anything else, her horn lights up and you are lifted into the air
>'Ohp, Magic's back' is all you get to think as your body is slammed against the opposite wall
"T-Twi-"
>"DON'T even say my name!Don't utter another word"
>Her magic makes a little 'pop' noise and you fall on your stomach, knocking the wind out of you
>She lifts up some of your medals
>"Distinguished Sniper Markaman, Distinguished Service Cross And Look!"
>Twilight screams, she starts to break down
>She holds up a certificate
>"Awarded to Anonymous for his loyal and valiant effort against the pony menace"
>You don't say anything, you hold your head down in shame
>"Look at me when I'm talking to you!" 
>She uses her magic and jerks your head up and closer to her
>It wasn't exactly comfortable
>She holds up the picture of you and your C.O. shaking hands, you had your rifle slung across your back
>She turns it around so you can read the message scribbled on the back
>"Read. It. Aloud."
>You stay silent for a few seconds to long
>She uses her magic to lift you up, and slam you on the ground
>"READ IT!"
>Tears begin to flow from her eyes 
"Dear Anonymous," you begin. You're voice weak
"I'd like to congratulate you again for your FANTASTIC work at the Badlands.
You showed the ponies a thing or two!
Hope the looks on their faces was a satisfying birthday present!
With love, General Jackson Vonague"
>You try to look away
>"You are a monster" Twilight stammers out
"Twi... I'm so sorry, I'm not like tha-"
>"Be quiet!"
>She throws you with her magic, it sends you across the room
>Your guitar breaks the fall
>You get up, and look at your guitar
>It's crushed
>A string breaks with a 'Twang'
>You feel your anger rising
>You try to bottle it
>You look over Twilight
"Twilight, I'm sorry for what I did. I regret It every day, and every night, the memory plagues my sleep. I cannot change what I did, and I know saying sorry accounts for nothing, I killed innocent women and children. I didn't wan't to do it, but I was selfish and didn't think of the reprocussions."
>You try to think of more to say, you feel tears coating your eyes. An unfamiliar feeling
>"They had ME investigate the damage done there! When I arrived, all of it was too much, The charred bodies, the scattered ponies, all with holes in them! It was all too much to take in! I followed the trajectory of where the bullets came from, I found where you fired from. You had a good view of them, didn't you! IT WAS YOU!!"
>Hearing this from her, you almost break, you falter, but you continue
"Afterwards, when noone was in the barracks, I cried, I cried so much. I tried to give myself excused to justify my actions, that's when the nightmares started, I can see all their faces, I remember all their talents. I can't let them go"
>She looks at you, you feel a tear fall to the ground
"I tried to leave, I was captured by ponies and tortured. I got out and finished my duties. I tried to get away."
>Twilight starts crying more, you walk over to her and collapse by her
"When I came back home, I didn't have anywhere. The government gave me this house and I hid myself away from the world. I shut myself in and let myself rot."
>Twi looks up to you, your ribs ache
"I beat myself up everyday for what I've done, I thought, If I got you, maybe I could redeem myself. Funny right? A demon want's to make things all better with one of the leaders of the people I used to hunt"
"I thought if I found your friends, you could use those element things and make it all better, right? I thought if I brought you guys back and closed the door, I'd stop being such a miserable shit!"
>Twilight looks away, more tears flow out of you. You begin to sniff
"I don't expect your forgiveness. I don't expect you to do anything to help me. I just want to get you guys back home"
>"I- I want to find my friends too" Twilight manages to say between sniffs
"Please, let us do it together, I don't know if you'd be able to do this on your own if I let you go, I'm considered a fucking legend to some people, I want to use that to save your friends. Please, let me help you. Let me forgive myself"
>You tried your best to sound genuine, but you weren't ever good at words
>Twilight softly nods 
>"Ok... You are my only, best chance at finding my friends, if they are even alive. I don't think I can forgive you for what you've done, but I have to trust you If I stand any chance. I won't make it a few blocks without someone seeing me"
>You place a hand behind her ear and give a little scratch
>You hope it does something to calm her down
>She wrapps her hooves around your neck and begins to break down
>You break also
>You both cry together in the dimly lit light of your room
>"Tell me about your service"
>Twilight is the first to speak up after you both ran out of tears
>You respond quickly
"I was 19 when I was drafted, I was pretty good with a gun alread. Father took me hunting and shooting every so while"
>She doesn't flinch when you say 'hunting'
"I spent a while in training and they quickly noticed how good a shot I was, one of the best in the range. I got stronger in mind and body and eventually, after the first major battles with ponies, I was sent in along with a team. We fought, as usually skirmishes usually went. Others were scared, they shot frantically and some tried to be heroes and rush out. 'They're just ponies' one says as he rushes out of cover. He made it a few steps before a blast of energy from a unicorn tore his body to shreds."
>Twilight winces a bit
"I never saw anything like it, there's always a difference between expectation of death and reality. I was quick to harden up and I bottled up my feelings. I was able to get a few shots out and killed a good bit of the ponies. Instead of full auto, I placed my shots individually and carefully. I didn't miss.
"After a while, they signed me up for marksman training and gave me a sniper weapon. That's when they discovered my potential and... talent. They utilized me as their 'silent killer' and was placed in more and more important positions. I was rarely spotted, and I was seen, I never missed.
"Eventually, they placed me for the job in the Badlands. That's when I realized how wrong everything truely was. If I knew sooner how everything i've done would lead up to, I'd have found a way to stop it. But I didn't and I ruined your entire races' lives.
It was always mostly against ponies we fought. Minor races like diamond dogs were quickly eradicated and any who escaped, burrowed deep underground and never seen again.
Dragons, however, we didn't take any chances. We nuked their homeland as soon as we were cleared for it."
>Twilight didn't say anything
"I'm sure there is a lot going in your head. I'm going to fix this, with you. I cannot replace the lives lost, but we can still save those left."
>"Ok, I'll hold you to that"

>You're going to make this work, you have to
>For both of your sakes
>You made a promise
>Both you and Twilight make your way to the living room and you sit down on your couch
>You pull your laptop from under it a turn it on.
"Who should we look for first, Twilight. We have to do this one at a time"
>She thinks it over.
>Who does she choose?

>http://strawpoll.me/6475328
*Narrator's note: Choose wisely, scenarios will differ in length. Events taken place in a scenario may hinder or help the characters in certain ways. Time will be written differently as more characters are collected. A small description lies beside the character on the type of situation they are in. They vary on degrees of silliness and seriousness

>"Well, we could start with Spike?"
"Spike?"
>"Yeah, my dragon, he was my assistant back before all of this"
>Your eyes widen a bit
"You had a dragon as a personal assistant?"
>"Well he was only a baby dragon at the time, only helped me clean, organized. Occasionally he'd help us out on the adventures my friends and I would go on"
>You think a dragon would be useful to have in the future
>"By this time he should be in his late teens or so..."
>Her eyes lower and her tone becomes softer
>"I haven't seen him in several years, he must've gotten so much bigger, Hes in his mid-teens by now."
>You reach out and pat her head
"Don't worry, Twilight, We'll find him, wherever he is. After that, we'll find your friends. I promise we won't stop until we do"
>"But they could be anywhere in the world, How could we find them in a world of such scope?"
>You knew the answer to that
"Well, the portal to Equestria opened in America, making it property to the Americans, after intense political debate. I prefer to stay out of politics, though. We almost entered World War three after the world's super-powers fought for any sort of claim to your world."
>"World War... Three" Twilight interjects
>"I... won't get into that. However, after the ponies where defeated in the war, the American government decided, after knowing the potential that you and your friends posed if you were together, seperated you all, but kept all of you in America; as they didn't want any of you to fall in the hands of other countries."
>Twilight perks up a bit
>"So, all my friends are in different parts of this country?"
"Yes, as to not aroused suspision, they were sold and bought to varying Americans, who didn't know your talents. Luckily, all pony sales, especially your friends', are recorded in government data bases."
>"Are you able to access these files?"
>You begin tapping away at your laptop
>"Well, sorta, because of my... position, I'm able to look at very little information. But we need to focus on getting Spike first. Since he's a dragon, I wouldn't know where he is, noone would dare buy a dragon here. I know nothing of any dragon's whereabouts after we nuked them. We considered them done for, any remaining ones that weren't at their homeland would still be wandering around Equestria, we'd surely know if any entered the portal to here."
>Twilight begins to ponder for a moment
>"Well, he was with me after your bombs hit their land, he insisted on going over there to help out. I tried to convince him not to, but he left anyway. That was the last time I saw him. I was brought here before he returned. But if he did manage to come through the portal undetected, my bet would be that he would find us first. His ability to smell and detect this was stronger than other dragons when he hit his first growth spurt." 
>She looks to the ground
>"I remember how when he first sense of smell got better, he was so scared, telling me all the sorts of strange things he had started smelling. The birds, the flowers, the food in the pantry. He could name everything he smelled. After he got better managing it, he helped Rarity with her gem finding, he found more gems by smelling them than Rarity did with her magic. He ate to much and got a massive stomach ache." Twilight giggles "I kept telling him not to eat so much, but he kept at it"
>She pauses
>Twilight's mind, so full of memories
>You took that from her, but you'll do your best to make it up to her.
>Finding her dragon seemed like a good place to start
>People around here still assumed dragons to be a myth, despite the fact magical horses came into the picture
>It wouldn't stop them from coming up with crazy theories or faked sightings, though
>You're sure one of these sightings could lead to somewhere. You hope
>You decide not to tell Twilight that you weren't sure where to start
>But hey, Spike seemed very attached to Twilight, so you believed that if anything, he'd find you
>It'll be hard to convince him your intentions were good, before he maims you or worse.
>It was starting to get late again. You tell Twilight you'll keep searching for something and tell her if you see anything.
>'Purple with green scales on his head and chest' She described him
>You got her to tell you more memories she had of him, which seemed to cheer her up.
>Always good to keep positive memories
>You remeber that her bed sorta broke, so you insisted that she takes yours.
>Her tired body doesn't argue much, and you carry her to your room.
>You set her in your bed and tuck her in, giving a small scratch behind her ear
>She softly hums and digs her body deeper in the covers
>You had a long way to go if you were going to make things right for her, and yourself
>Maybe this small boost of confidence is a good start.
>Before you leave your room, you look at your broken guitar on the ground
>You forgave her for that a long time ago, you can get a new one

>You go back to your laptop, a few tabs already open with bogus dragon sightings
>Mostly garbage, you don't find anything of any important
>You don't spend much more time on it though, you're rather beat
>You close your laptop and lay your head on a throw pillow, not bothering to get a blanket

>You wake up in a cold sweat
>You had the dream again
>It's a bit after sunrise, 11:21 as your watch says
>Your focus shifts to the window
>It was bright and sunny
>A good day to go for a run
>You go to your room to check on Twilight
>She's still asleep
>But she has one of your pillows wrapped around her arms and legs
>She was small enough for it to be a body pillow
>It's a rather adorable sight, it brings a small grin to your face
>You silently undress, and neatly fold your clothes and lie them next to your dresser
>You slowly open a drawer and pull out some of your running tights
>You slide them on and pull the ends to to your shins
>It looked to hot out to wear a shirt, so your decide not to get one
>You exit the room and pull the door shut
>Tieing your running shoes on, you place your earbuds in your ear and connect them to your ipod
>You exit your home and walk to the end of your driveway
>You forget to lock the door
>You realize that only after you leave your driveway and turn down a street
>'What kind of paranoid vet forgets to lock his door?'
>Don't answer that 
>It was a rhetorical question
>You switch your ipod to the next song
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64liF2VuLxI
>You can dig it
>You need something loud to forget where you are
>Your mind becomes entrances as you set your body into a pace
>Not too fast, not too slow
>Occasionally a car would come, as you run on the left side of the road, so you subconsciously move to the gravel
>You carefully avoid the pot-holes
>The next song comes on
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jPaZzQt5DQ
>Not the best thing you have
>But it's loud
>Loud drowns out the senses
>Brings out your inner misanthrope
>The song drops and you pick up your pace, extending your stride and raising your knees more
>You start to build up sweat
>You can't hear how loud you're breathing
>You fatigue
>You get a second wind as you flip to the next song
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hbjmv1deZ0
>Anything but country
>The loweset of forms
>It's been a few miles
>You're still going strong, a few small hills, but nothing you haven't done a hundred times before
>You think you see something out of the corner of your eye
>Probably a leaf
>You're winded
>You always notice the looks of people driving by you in cars
>It's like they've never seen a shirtless guy before
>You still have a few miles to go on your loop
>You made sure to look at the fields of farmland as you run by them
>You appreciate the scenery it offers 
>The grains of wheat blowing in waves in the wind, shifting like the ocean's tide
>You don't get much more time to enjoy it, as you are yanked to the side by a strong force
>You were mid-stride, and too tired to react fast enough as you are thrown into the ditch
>the side of the road was littered with trees, any drivers would be none the wiser
>Clever girl
>You're body hits the leaves and you feel a knee in your back and sharpness in your side
>"Are you Anonymous?"
>At least he's polite
"Yep, do you mind?"
>You'd return the politness, but he interrupted your song
>You feel the knee lift off you and the attacker squats by you
>Your turn your head and notice a purple dragon squatting by you with the claw of his index finger to your kidney
>Hot damn, what a coinkydink
"Spike I presume?"
>He simply moves his eyes to you
>"Yeah"
"You could've killed me if you wanted, I didn't know you were there. I guess you've been following me so I assume you know where I live, whats stopping you?"
>He just stares blankly at you
>"Saw you talking with Twilight, she seemed... calm. I don't know what you're doing to her, but it stops now."
>He puts more pressure on your side with his claw, you wince a bit, his claws are thick
"I know you won't believe me, but I haven't done anything with Twilight. We just so happened to be talking about you, we were going to look for you. 
>"You're a really bad liar"
"At least let her tell you that herself, you do want to see her, right? She did say you would find us first with your sense of smell."
>With that his ear scale things perk up
>"Only she would tell you that, but anyone can assume dragons can smell"
"Good enough to outbeat Rarity's gem-finding magic, huh?"
>With that, he sighs and retracts his claw, not looking at anything
"You shouldn't eat so many sweets, kid. They'll upset your stomach"
>His eyes look a bit wet
>"Ok, I get it... can you take me to her? I'm so close to talking with her again"
"Yeah, come on, run with me"
>You finish your run with the dragon, you notice hes a bit shorter than you, about six feet tall
>Whenever a car would come by, he'd leap to the side and the driver would be too lazy to investigate further
"Been years, huh?"
>"Look, I appreciate the small talk, but I just don't trust you yet, you're a human, you know what that means. I'm just here for Twilight and I'll be done with you"
>Ah, teenagers
>You arrive back at your home and enter it with Spike, who gives you a suspicious look
>Can't blame him
>His eyes dart around, hoping to find what has been lost to him
>You hear something in your pantry
"Yo, Twi?"
>The pony walks out, with your jar of Nutella stuck around her muzzle
>It's a rather puzzling sight
>She freezes and looks a you
>Then to Spike
>Then to you
>Then down at the Nutella
>You notice her toungue on the bottom of the jar
>Caught her mid-lick
>You're first to speak up
"My Nutella..."
>The jar pops off her mouth, Nutella is smeared in her fur and her mouth ajar
>It bounces on the floor a few times then goes silent
>Her brain snaps out of it and darts at Spike
>You notice her wings arn't numb anymore as she slams into Spike full force
>Spike somehow manages to supress the force and catches Twilight
>"I-Is it really you?" Twilight stammers out, already crying again
>"Kept you waiting, huh?" Spike replies
>Did he just-
>"It's been so many years!" Twilight's crying coating Spike's scales with tears and Nutella
>It's a rather heartwarming reunion
>Like a mother and son
>You feel a bit better inside
"I'll leave you two alone"
>You head for the shower to clean off the sweat

>Be Twilight
>And you are happy
>And messy
>Slamming into Spike caused you to rub off a lot of that delicious Nutella onto him
>But that's the least of your worries
>You have Spike back!
"Spike!" You say with tears welling up
>The first thing you notice is how tall he's gotten
>Almost as tall as Anonymous
"How's the weather up there?"
>Spike lets out a small laugh
>"Hit a few more growth spurts, if you can't tell"
>You squeeze him a bit harder
"Ohhhh my little assistant isn't so little anymore"
>You let go of him and wipe your mouth with a wet rag that was by the sink
>You're able to use your magic to wipe the bits off Spike too
>Your magic still isn't fully back, but you're able to do smaller objects
>You could feel your wings more as well
>You and Spike walk over to the couch and you hear Anonymous turn his shower on
"So! Spike, I have so many questions!"
>"You ALWAYS have a whole bunch of questions"
>You cover your mouth as you giggle
>You're so giddy now
>It's been years 
>You start with the most obvious
"So how'd Anonymous find you so quick?"
>"Actually, I found Anonymous, I've actually found this house a day or two ago, I just needed Anon to be on his own before I confronted him"
"You didn't hurt him too much, right?"
>"I was close to but then he started saying that you were alright and yadda yadda. I'm still finding it hard to believe he's doing this for us"
>You suppose you should tell him Anon's background, but you omit that
"I'm really glad to have you here. Anon promised us he'd find our friends"
>"Is anyone else here?"
>You notice he's gotten used to saying 'anyone' instead of 'anypony'
>He must've been here for a while
"Spike, how did you find your way here?"
>"After going back to the Dragon's Lair-"
>He pauses
>"After going... home, and seeing the damage, I headed back to Ponyville. You were gone, everyone was gone. So I ran to Canterlot, it was also deserted, I tried to find the princesses, they sealed themselves away 'unable to deal with the ruination of their utopia' they told me. They only spoke to me to open a small one-way portal to this world with their combined magic. After awakening here, I traveled for years around the place, trying to find any clue to where you were. Eventually, making my way here."
>He pulls out a small loft of purple hair from under his scales, it was stuck together with blood
>"I used this to smell you out, I found it in your old castle. I couldn't wash it, or else the scent would be gone. So I kept it under my breast scales."
>Closest to his heart
>"i've been searching for you for years. Hardely eating, rarely sleeping. But i've finally found you"
>You feel some fresh tears
"You did good Spike, I could'nt be more proud"
>You both hug again
"I know I should'nt ask, but what did you find in the Dragon's Lair?"
>His eyes darken
>"There was nothing there. It's barely an island anymore, the volcano is hardely a hill. Everything is just a bigger, blacker crater. There was hardely any skeletons, any remains there were practically dust. It's all gone. There was something in the air too, it made my scales feel tingly"
>You should ask Anonymous about the 'nuke' 
>Spike re-directed the conversation
>"So who is Anonymous? What's his deal?"
"He's a man plauged with guilt. He means well, he feels his only goal in life is to find our friends, and he CAN find them. I believe he's our only chance at getting Equestria back"
>"You really think he's capable of that?" Spike looks to the bathroom, where the shower water has stopped flowing
"Honestly, I believe so. He may be the last, best hope for Pony-kind."

>You are Anon
>The last, best hope for Pony-kind
>And you are struggling to get the last of the shampoo out of the bottle
"Fuckin' Twilight, having so much hair"
>You repeatedly slap and shake the body like a newborn baby
>You need that 'poo
"This little douche"
>Heh, shampoo jokes
>Your shower does have a way to put anyone in a better mood
>Well, you got one friend down, five to go
>He wasn't an element, but having a six foot tall dragon could help
>You're sure he can do a good job keeping out of sight
>He must have learned quickly if he's gone this long without being seen
>You'll have to tell it to him straight
>Your military background
>Can't keep this group together without being honest
>That's something they'd say
>You finally get enough shampoo into your hand to clean your long hair
>You constantly have to shake off all the loose hairs that get stuck on your fingers
>A minor inconvienience
>You wipe your  body with your wash and dry yourself off
>You know Spike won't take it well
>You figured he'd have gone to the Dragon's Lair after you nuked it
>Hopefully he won't straight up kill you
>It wasn't a good plan
>But you were never known for your ideas
>You walk back to the living room
>They finish their small talk and turn to you
"You two catch up enough?"
>Twilight pipes in 
>"There isn't much that there is to talk about, considering the circumstances. But Spike is more than eager to help you find our friends."
>"So, Anon" Spike leans on the armrest "who are you exactly? What makes you have the need to help us?"
>Here we go
>You walk to Spike
"Spike, if we're gonna make this ragtag little group work, I'm going to have to be honest with you completely. I know you're not going to like it"
>Spike looks at you more intently
"Spike, I fought in the war against ponies. I was one of their top snipers"
>His eyes, as big as they are, widen
"I was there when they launched the bomb that destroyed your home, and I was the shooter at the Bad-"
>You didn't finish, Spike lunged at your throat, teeth bared
>You didn't flinch, you simply closed your eyes
>But the pain didn't come
>Although a part of you wish it had
>It'd make the whole ordeal much easier for your
>You open your eyes
>Spike's mouth is right over your throat, but his body is covered in a purple aura
>Twilight holds him with her magic
>You hear light static
>'Shame, I thought you wanted to die'
>The voice in you speaks up
>'That'll come later, then'
>The white noise dies and leaves a headache
>You look at Spike
>His eyes hold primal rage
>They're staring directly at you, unblinking
>Twilight releases her magic and Spike sits back in the couch
>"Not in front of Twilight" is all he says as he gets up and walks down the steps to the basement
>He didn't know where he was going, he just needed to get away
>Hopefully he doesn't take the spot you use down there
>Twilight begins to speak
>"I'm... sorry about that"
"Don't be, I expected worse to happen. At least the magic's coming back in"
>"Yeah. I know you had to say that to him. Better you tell him than to have him find out. I'll talk to him more, but it'll take him sometime before he warms up to you."
"I understand" you mutter
>"Anon, tell me about the 'nukes'"
>The question almost caught you off guard, but you understand her desire to know
"Nuclear weaponry, stuff we created long before the war; only gotten stronger since then. They harness certain elements to create an explosive reaction. I'm no scientist, but I know the bomb is filled with certain isotopes, the one we used was a Hydrogen bomb, so it had hydrogen and other elemental isotopes. Umm..."
>Twilight simply looks at you, learning, for the most part
"The casing, ones detonated, expel an insurmountable amounts of radiation, causing inner casings to compress and they react. Causing them to violently explode."
>You motion your fists together, then spread them apart when to emphasize 'explode'
"This leads to widespread radiation and nuclear fallout, which can last several years in the area, and make it uninhabitable"
>Twilight stares at you somberly 
"I cannot tell you much about the science of radiation, just know that it's extremely dangerous and areas high in it will cause sickness and death. Nuclear bombs are the most dangerous weapons ever devised by man. Many countries have them, but noone uses them, the chain reaction would destroy the world."
>You give Twilight a moment to absorb it all
>"You humans..."
"For what it's worth, and it's not at all. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry"
>Twilight takes a moment to respond
>"We need to keep going. We shouldn't waste time"
"Right, who do you think we should find next?"
>"We should find Flutteshy, She's the most fragile of all of us. She should be first"
"Understood. Here, I'll see what I kind find"
>You pull out your laptop and search the name Fluttershy in the database
"She's in... the 'Natural Habitat for Otherworldly beings'"
>"The... What?"
"Seems she's in some sort of zoo for creatures captured in your world. Seems like it was built a few years ago"
>"Seems fitting... almost. She's an animal pony, can we visit a prison on the way?"
>You shoot Twilight a look
>"... I was only joking, you get it right?"
"I don't worry, I got it"
>You secretly thought it was funny
>But you didn't laugh on the outside
>"So where is this place?"
>You pull up Google Earth and point to Michigan
"We are here"
>"On the big hand mitten?"
"Yes and she's here"
>You point to lower Ohio
>Closer than you thought, to be honest
>"That's pretty close! thats like a short train ride!"
"It'll actually take about seven hours, give or take Without traffic in my car"
>"You're country is too big"
"I know"

>You are still Anon
"We can head out tommorrow morning, get an early start. I'm sure it'll be a long day
>Twilight steps off of the couch
>"Sounds fine to me, what time is it?"
"It's half past three. I can see if I can't cook us up something to eat"
>You pause for a moment, remembering that Spike's hiding downstairs
"Maybe I can find something for Spike to eat too, I'm sure I have some hot dogs or whatever. It isn't much, but the meat'll beat anything he's had for a while"
>Twilight looks at you
"Yes, the rhyme was intentional"
>You're trying to be a little more loose around Twilight, to get her to open up more
>But you've always sucked at it, which is why you don't do it much
>Didn't hurt too much to try, though
>You fill a pot with water and set it on the stove to boil.
>Putting three hot dogs in the pot, you pause, and simply put the rest of the hot dogs in the pot
>Spike's probably starving. You know he wouldn't show it
>You take a raw hot dog and take a bite our of it, it lets out a satifying crunch
>Koegel hot dogs. The only way to have them, with a good layer of skin and flavor
>They were the only hot dogs your dad would eat
>You remember him always taking a few and handing you one all the time when you were younger
>He'd also slice ring bologna and put horseradish on it and microwave it
>The simple things you'd enjoy with him
>You notice Twilight looking at you, with a cringe
>Oh yeah, meat
>The crunch was probably like nails on a chalkboard to her
>It didn't stop you from taking another, though
"Sorry, I know you're a herbivore and all that. But I enjoy this stuff. Don't worry, I'll make something better for you"
>"Need me to do anything to help?"
"Nah, don't worry about it, you can do whatever and i'll call you when it's ready"
>Twilight walks off, leaving you to the kitchen
>You lived alone for awhile, gotta learn something
>You take a final bite of the hot dog and savor the crunch as you chew

>Be Twilight
>You remembered that you destroyed Anon's guitar in your... fit of rage
>You can slowly feel your magical energy coming back, but very slowly
>It'd be faster if this world had ambient magic
>But you'd have to rely on you Alicorn physiology to repair itself manually
>You still didn't understand the full potential of being an alicorn
>You had your studies after Celestia ascended you, but you didn't get far
>You enter Anon's room and look and the mess of splintered wood
>The guitar is broken in half and the front panel is caved in
>Some strings are bent and there are small wood splinters litering the carpet
>You knew some alchemical magic to fuse the wood back together, some adept material
>Nothing you couldn't handle. You feel magically strong enough to accomplish the feat
>You enwrap the instrument with your magic and observe it floating before you
>You don't want your magic to fizz out again and cause more damage
>Time to focus
>Your mind plays out the routines and small spells you've practiced hundreds of times in the past
>The guitar faintly fades into a purple mesh and the two halves of the guitar come together
>You focus out the dents and the small cracks and begin putting the spliters back in their places
>Like a puzzle, you think
>The guitar makes smalls cracking noises and moans against your magic as it puts itself back together
>You think you got the shape of the guitar together
>You shift your mind to the strings
>Fusing the snapped strings back together, you are able to put them back in their rightful place
>It won't be tuned, but you get them nice and tought
>The guitar comes out of it's purple mesh and presents itself to you
>Good as new, if not better. It's even got a nice shine on the woods veneer
>You knew you were the best, not to brag
>You admire your work. You still got it
>Time to show Anon, you think he'll really appreciate it
>You knew he hid his rage when he saw it broken
>You're lucky he didn't take it out on you
>Hopefully this will win his favor
>With newfound spirit you prance back out to the kitchen where Anon has his finger in his mouth
>He looks to you
>"Burned it... You're horn's glowing, what do you have"
>You don't fail to lose your smile as you levitate the newly constructed guitar from behind the wall
>Anon's eyes go wide
>It's the most emotion you've seen him display at something
>"My guitar, you fixed it!"
"My magic seems to be coming back nicely" you say in a smug grin
>It's ok to be a little prideful in your work
>You gravitate the instrument to him where he cautiously grabs onto it with caring hands
>He plucks some of the strings, and winces at the strings being out of tune.
>"Couldn't tune it for me?" he says actually grinning at you
>It... actually makes you smile back at him
>He twangs at the strings and twists the little peg things at the head of the guitar
>Eventually he has the guitar with sound to match it's beauty
>He strums out a small tune
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eERsVqIFrE4
>You find yourself hypnotized again
>Anon sure loves music
>You're sure he finds it a good distraction from his mind

>Be Anon, finishing your little tune
>Twilight did a nice thing, she did a very nice thing
>For you
>She did something for you. And you are glad
>You don't say that often
>You'll remember this. It isn't much, but a little kindness goes a long way
>You set the guitar down and walk towards her
>She instinctivly backs up in suprise, you are undeterred
>You kneel down onto your knees and pull her into a hug
>You squeeze her tightly, She is suprised at first and begins to slowly hug back
>Anon, master of hugs
"Thank you"
>You say it trying to sound as sincere as possible
>For real, this time
>You break the hug, Twilight seemed like she wasn't done though
>More hugs'll have to wait
>You need sustanance
>You have already put Spike's hot dogs on a paper plate, with some ketchup on the side, in case he likes that stuff
>You doubt he's even had it before
>He hasn't lived yet
>For you, you have made some beef stroganoff from Hamburger Helper
>It isn't your go-to meal, but it's quick to make
>For Twilight you have a head of cabbage
>Just kidding, for her, you have some Mac and Cheese
>It's something
>You only had a few minutes, give yourself some credit
"I'll be right back, I want to give Spike his food"
>You begin to head down the steps and Twilight stops you
>"Need me to do it?" She looks concerned
>Understandable
"Nah, he wouldn't do anything with you here"
>Probably wasn't the best thing to say, but oh well
>You turn on the light in the basement and look around
"Spike?"
>You don't seem him
>And you already know the best hiding spots
>You give up with a sigh
"I'm setting your food right here, it's meat, I hope you like it, some sauce too if you want to try it"
>You head back up the stairs
>"Anything?"
"No, he's staying out of sight for the mean time"
>"I'm sorry he's acting like this, he used to be so lively"
"I don't blame him. In this world, someone like him needs to grow up fast"
>You go back to the kitchen counter and put your food and Twilight's in bowls
>You think you hear a familiar crunch from downstairs

>You set your food on the table, sans the burns from carrying too many plates
>Twilight looks at her mac and cheese
"Something wrong?"
>"N-no... It's just so... cheesy"
>This mare
>You have half a mind to throw her out for not wanting glorious cheesy goodness
>You'll let it slide this time
"C'mon, you'll like it. I'm sure our cheeses are different"
>She uses her magic to lift the spoon and dig out some macaroni
>The spoon shakes a bit, she's trying to get used to using magic casually again
>Like using your less dominant hand
>You're somewhat ambidextrious, so you never had that problem
>She takes a bite and licks leftover cheese from her lips
>If you had half a mind, you'd think that was erotic
>You try not to think to much about that
>You look at her expectantly
>"It.. it's good"
>She takes some more bites
>Anon, master of hugs and now master of the ways of the mac and cheese
>More stuff to add to your resume
>You both continue your meals in silence
>Not an awkward silence, but a peaceful one
>Your mind is giving you a short break
>Finishing up you head downstairs to get Spike's plate
>It's in the same spot
>However there are no remains of hot dogs, some tooth holes in the plate
>You notice the plate itsself is moist, licked clean
>He must have been starving
>No ketchup either, nice
>He knows whats up
>You begin to head back upstairs when a voice stops you
>"Thanks"
>You could tell the general direction of where it came from
>Up
>You had those removable square panels on the ceiling, he must be up there
"You're welcome, Spike"
>You ascend up the stairs
>You throw the paper plate away and rinse your bowl and twilight's in the sink
>You place them in the dishwasher after a glare from Twilight
"Alright, we should probably go to bed early. We'll get an early start tommorrow and head to the... preservation to find Fluttershy"
>You pause then add:
"By any means necessary"
>You don't want to be all 'action hero' but you're willing to go to the extreme to do this
>You rememeber an old quote
>'To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift' -Steve Prefontaine
>An inspiration in your high school cross country days
>Twilight nods and heads to her room
"Wait..."
>Twilight stops and looks at you, puzzled
"Your room's still a bit destroyed, do you want to take my bed?"
>Her face gets a bit red
"No no! Not like that, I'll sleep on the couch!"
>Smooth as fuckin silk, Anon
>You've never even asked a girl out back then
>Now you're asking a colored pony to sleep in your bed
>Damage control
>Twilight, still blushing, looks at you
>"You... can still sleep in the bed... if you want"

>Be Twilight for a second 
>'Oh shit nigga, what are you doing' is all you can think
>You don't want him on the couch
>You want him still with you
>For comfort reasons, of course
>Purely for the best interest of both parties
>You don't want him to get cold

>Be Anon again
>You don't, by any means, feel THAT way towards Twilight
>And she asked if you want to stay in the bed with her
>The hell do you say?
>Say no, tell her no
"Uh... sure"
>Goddamnit
>You both awkwardly walk to your room, and you instinctivly begin to pull of your shirt
>You stop, realize who's with you, and you put your shirt back on

>Be Twilight again, purely for comedy gold
>'Dem muscles' you think
>And... scars
>Scars are cool, right?
>You don't think about where he got them, though

>Snap back to Anon, bender of the rules of nature
>You crawl under the covers of the bed and Twilight goes on the opposite side
>You both are a bit spaced out, but comfortable
"Are you... comfy?"
>"Y-yes"
>Oh, christ above, you can practically feel feel nervousness
>Anon, get a grip, you're a hardened war veteran
>You're actin' like a lil' bitch
>'I ain't a bitch' you think
>You steel yourself and you try to go to sleep, facing Twilight, whose back is to you

>Fast forward to later
>You are still Anon
>Twilight is still asleep
>But instictivly has her back pressed up to you, she's the tiny spoon
>Purely accidental, of course
>You... put your arm around her
>By accident, for the record
>She tucks herself deeper
>Oh god, this totally isn't forced
>If Spike walked in, the live action audience would go 'oooooooo' and he'd proceed to dismember you
>But he doesn't though
>You find yourself drifting off to sleep with the scent of Twilight filling your nose
>Not on purpose though, her mane is in your face and you have to itch
>You are Anon
>And you are content with the events happening right now

>You wake up dazed after an alarm sings it's song
>Set early for obvious reasons
>It is 4:30
>Twilight was nowhere in your room
>You are unsure how she got out of bed without you waking, let alone opening your creaky door
>You ignore the thought and proceed with getting dressed
>Old grey jeans and a blue and black striped long sleeve
>You push the sleeves to your forearms as usual
>You should go see where Twilight went
>However first you go to the bathroom to wash your face of the sleepiness

>You are Twilight
>You tell yourself repeatedly how stupid you are for laying in bed with Anon
>Sure, you liked him as a human. He's proved to be a more easy-going human
>But you should not have pulled that little stunt
>It was a moment of weakness
>You hear Anon's alarm go off and later the water running
>You sit up from the couch, you decided to sleep there for the later half of the night
>Anon comes from the hallway and notices you
>"I see you're up early'
>You shake your head from the early morning sleepiness
"Uh yeah, just... trying to get an early start. That's all"
>"Alright, I'll cook us up some eggs" he pauses. "You can eat eggs, right?"
"Yeah, they're alright"
>"Good, can you get Spike? See if he can't come up and eat before we go?"
"Oui, mon capitaine"
>You lazily hop off the couch, leaving some hairs in it
>You're sure Anon won't mind
>You head downstairs and see Spike curled up on the floor
"Spike? Everything alright?"
>You nudge him a bit to wake him
>Spike's eyes shoot open and moves back defensivly
>You let out a small 'eep' in suprise as Spike bears his claws
>"Oh... I'm sorry Twilight. I'm not used to sleeping inside a house, people have tried to get me.
>You understand, someone in his position couldn't sleep lightly
"Anon's cooking eggs, then we'll head out to find Fluttershy"
>"Anon know where she is?"
"Yeah, she's in an animal preservation"
>"Sounds like her"
"That's what I said, but it's for creatures captured from Equestria. She's more than likely not living in luxery"
>"Right. Alright, i'll be up in a second"
>You head back upstairs and smell eggs
>Anon must've put some stuff in the eggs, you smell some other ingredients
>You take your seat at the table
>Anon sets yours and his plate down, along with a third for Spike, which has a few more eggs in it
>"I hope you like them scrambled. I took some creative liberty and put diced ham, onions and mushrooms in me and Spike's. I put the same in yours, without the ham of course."
>It smelled rather wonderful
>You hear the sound of the steps being climbed and Spike emerges from the basement
>"Glad you could join us" Anon says
>Spike doesn't respond, just looks at Anon as he sits down
>He sure has gotten bigger
>The rest of breakfast is rather un-talkative
>A part of you wants to know more of what Spike's been through
>Another part tells you not to pry into it
>However Anon chimes in
>"Spike, Twilight knows this already, but Fluttershy is in an other world animal preservation. It's about seven hours away and we have a long drive ahead of us. We'll try to make few stops unless we need it."
>Spike simply replies with an 'alright'
>A minute passes before Spike breaks the silence
>"I understand what your intentions are. You want to help me and Twi find our friends and go home, and break the bond on our worlds. Although I cannot forgive you on what your people have done. Thank you for helping us out with this. I... appreciate it."
>Spike takes another bite of his eggs
>"Also your cooking is adequate"
>Anon grins a little. "I knew my stellar cooking would win you over"
>It was Spike's turn to give a bittersweet grin
>"I'm contemplating whether or not It beats eating sticks"
>You give a small chuckle
>Spike still has his sense of humor
>The three of you put your dishes away and Anon starts the dishwasher
>"So they'll be clean when we get back" he says
>You and Spike head outside and Anon comes out with his guitar
>You look at him puzzled
>"What? Music is a wonderful medicine. It'll come in handy. Promise"
>He puts it in the backseat of his vehicle
>It's a small, simple car with four doors. A tad rusty near the wheels tainting its dark red color
>Anon opens up the front seat door for you and you hop in and make yourself comfortable
>He goes to the back seat and lays the back of the chairs forward
>"Here Spike, You can have the back seat, and the back opens  so your body can fit in the trunk for more room, and if we need to hide you just in case"
>Spike takes his spot and circles around, and lays down, legs out into the trunk
>Anon takes his seat and turns the car on, the noise it makes is strange
>"Not the prettiest thing she is, but it works. I have a full tank so we won't have to stop anytime soon"
>He must be refering to the vehicle
>He connects his little music box to a wire and presses the button
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ycPuo2mMds
>This sounds very soothing
>Like you don't have to worry about anything anymore
>The vehicle lurches forward to Anon's road
>Anon looks at you
>And you look at him
>You see a small glimmer of confidence in his weary eyes
>"And so we go"
"And so we go"

>Be Anon
>You are a fresh 21 year old
>But Alcohol is not what you'll be consuming today
>You and your small squad regroup at the center of the village
>You itch under your helmet
>You're still not used to the buzz cut
>You miss your long hair
>You and your team have finished a small skirmish in this small Equestrian village
>Your squad leader was told for you guys to attack the village, as it has become a supply town for the Equestrian military
>You don't question orders
>You've been in battle a few other times, so you're starting to get used to the feeling
>Killing's part of the job
>You're fine, really. You're... fine
>You just want to stand out for the higher ups
>General Jackson Vonague seems to have his eye on you, whenever he visited your camps
>Your team gathers and you wait for what happenes next
>It's rather quiet here now, now that the gunshots and everything has died down.
>You take a look at your surroundings again
>Green grass
>Paths of gravel and sand, still littered with hoofprints
>The fountain you're by gives ambient noise
>Rather tranquil now
>You see a few of your medics with the wounded
>Parts of their bodies missing, circular patterns from the unicorn blasts made short work of them
>You'd be lucky if the blast didn't rend you apart on the first contact
>A few other men from your group join in and your squad leader, Staff Sergeant Denton, Speaks up
>"Alright, good work today, men, Private Anonymous, fantastic work on taking out the pegasi. You sure have a knack for moving targets"
>You give a wide smile, basking in the recognition
>"While the medics tend to the... wounded, i'll make some calls to General Vonague and report our situation. Anonymous, I'm also signing you up on extra marksman training, I think we've found your niche today"
>Perfect, just what you needed! 
>You try to hide your enthusiasm, you hate to gloat
>But it just felt too good!
>They're picking you out of the crowd
>"Everyone, in the meantime, your free to linger around until we have the say so to leave. Keep your gun close in case any other ponies show up. Dismissed"
>Everyone splits into their own groups, except for you of course
>You were usually left out
>Probably because of your marksmanship
>You take a walk down the road less traveled, rocks crunching under your feet
>You think you'll have a look around
>You'd never admit it, but this place is rather beautiful
>You wonder were the bodies of the ponies went
>You're sure they do research on them, being the first extra-terrestrial life form your kind has encountered
>You don't think about it too much though
>You round a corner and look at some the signs posted around
>you can't read most of it, It's written in those pony symbols they write with
>Sometimes you'd see letters that resemble english, Congates, you believe the word was
>You noticed when you came into the town, sans the shooting and yelling, that the town was something called 'Neighbalinne'
>You assumed, adding in a few english letters to make it seem like it'd fit. Fuckin horse puns
>A hushed voice brings you out of your stupor
>"Anon! Get your ass over here"
>Oh fuck, you recognize the voice before you saw it
>An open door to your left down the road is ajar and you see Sergeant Blake Adams
>You're sure his lacky, Corporal Ryan Timber, is close by him 
>You thought some people were missing when you grouped up
>You make your way to him, you're focused to see what he's up to
>They always had it out for you
>Whether it be something as asinine as saran-wrapping you to your bed at night, to something dangerous as to sabotaging your gun
>Something was in the firing mechanism and that shit made the gun blow apart
>You got off with minor cuts and shock, but you KNEW they did something
>Your classic bone-heads, and since you've been attracting attention, they'd think you're trying to replace them
>They were only higher ranking since they were in the army since before drafting of the pony war started
>You enter the house, you shouldn't have, but Blake being a Sergeant, he'd probably mouth off something to Denton that you did something stupid. He has before.
>You are led into the house and you find yourself suprised 
>A unicorn soldier lies tied up in the middle of the room, struggling to break free
>White coat, light blue striped mane
>Female
>You'd be lying if you said you weren't getting nervous
"Guys? what the hell are you doing? They said not to take prisoners..."
>"Well, we happened to subdue our friend here, and since you got signed up for your marksmen training - Don't worry, Corporal Ryan told me - we thought you desereved a little... reward"
>He said 'reward' really slowly
"R-reward?"
>You didn't like where this was going
>But Sergeant Blake didn't keep you waiting
>"Fuck the pony, Anon"
>You were afraid of that, but your eyes still widedned
>You cannot rape a pony
"Are you guys fucking losing it? I can't do this!"
>You try to find some reason not to
>You these guys were Asses, but this if fucking going too far
>"I know you wouldn't be up to it, but i'll give you some incentive. Fuck the goddamn pony, or Denton, hell even Vonague, Miiiight find out what your keeping here"
>He looks at the bound pony
>"All I need to do is send Ryan for a run to tell them what we've found you with" He gives a wide grin
>This is fucking sick, they've seriously went of the deep end.
>You look at the pony, it's eyes are not scared, but full of rage
>"Fuck. the goddamn. pony."
>You stagger to the pony
>It's horn lights up
>Oh fu-
>Ryan imediatly reacts and unholsters his pistol, expertly firing off a single shot directed at the horn
>The pony's horn shatters and the pony starts writhing in pain, screaming into the gag that holds her mouth
"Ryan! What the fuck!"
>"What? She was going to blast you, I couldn't have that. Now you owe me one."
>Ryan may be stupid, but he was one of the fastest guns in your squad. A crackshot with a pistol
>The pony stops violently shaking and starts shivering
>You look at the horn
>Broken almost completely, leaking blood and...
>Some sort of fluid, it wasn't red, but purple
>You quickly assume it had something to do with it's magic, as some sort of catalyst
>Her eyes hold no rage, only fear now. Small tears on the edge of her eyes
>You think you hear a muffled 'please' but you think it's in your head
>Pony's can't speak english
>"Get to it Anon, You're wasting my time"
>You remove the main plate covering the ponys torso
>"What's keeping you, Anon? Is this your first?"
>You don't answer
>Blake gives a howl of a laughter
>"Ha, fuck me! This is his first! Fuck I don't have a camera!"
>You lay the pony on her back, looking away to hide your shame
>You undo your harness, and un-bind your trousers
>You drop them
>"Nice ass, Anon!" Ryan pipes out
>What the fuck.
>You look at the pony
>Shame fills your eyes
>You have to do this
>You grab the pony by the hips and you get started
>Every second was not filled with pleasure
>But with misery

>Be present day Anon
>Ever have a really weird memory pop up randomly?
>Then you feel really awkward embarrassed about yourself?
>That's sorta what happened
>You are still driving down to the 'preservation'
>You should have another hour or two
>You casually glance to the backseat every so often
>Twilight is in the back there, cuddled up with Spike. Both of them napping
>Spike's wrapping around her with Twilight huddled up in his stomach
>You feel like it's something they used to do
>Except Spike being the smaller one
>How things change
>You keep your eyes on the road
>You're music's off, letting your passengers sleep in peace
>Your mind starts to drift
>Traffic is'nt heavy, cars are vastly spread out
>Less than often, there'd be /that/ car speeding by you
>That one going ten miles above the speed limit, weaving between cars
>You hate those
>Signs on the edge of the high way zoom by in rhythm
>You pay little attention to them
>You're speed stays the same, as you keep your car on cruise control
>"Anon?"
>Twilight's soft voice breaks the silence in a hushed whisper
>Silence: the only thing that can be broken by simply whispering it's name
>You come out of your stupor and tilt your head back enough to let Twilight know you heard her
"Do you need something?"
>"Where did you get me?"
"What do you mean?"
>"You've found Fluttershy, and you're going to find the others, but how did you get me?"
"Craigslist"
>"Craig's-list?"
"Yeah, just a place where people can buy and sell things. I went to see if you were there by any chance, and a guy happened to be selling you."
>"Huh, I'd have thought it'd have been something more... well, harder?"
"Me too, but that's just how it turned out."
>You did have to make the purchase legal and official, which meant getting the auction house involved, which is why one of their men delivered Twilight to you 
>"Do you believe in fate, Anon?"
>You turn back to her for a split second, showing you were more suprised at the question
"In a way, I believe some events happen for a reason, as if it's showing you a certain direction. However It's what we do that affects the future. Why do you ask?"
>"Do you think it's any coincidence that everything has happened so far?"
>You think, you did find Twilight rather easy, and Spike just sorta showed up after both of you were talking about him.
>You don't believe he was able to sneak into your world that easily
>You'll have to ask him about it when you get the chance
"There has to be a reason for everything."
>You were never sure how to respond to 'fate' questions and the like
>The whole concept is above your head, impossible to understand
>Twilight didn't respond, simply taking in your answer
>You hear and exhale of breath from her and you believe she went back to sleep
>Couldn't blame her
"We still have another hour or so, just so you know"
>She lets out a small 'mm hmm' letting you know she heard you
>The rest of the drive was spent in silence

>You pull into the parking lot of the Preservation
>The line of cars were immense, as an innumerable amount of families wait to be led to parking spaces
>You always did hate places like this
>Families and loud children, Overpriced knick-knacks and the like
>Your car finally rests as it finds its own parking spot
>You realize you can't exactly walk around with a dragon following you
"Uh, Twilight, any ideas for hiding Spike? We won't get far with him in plain sight."
>Spike stretches his limbs as he sits up
"Twilight, how good's the magic? Got anything in mind?"
>She smiles proudly
>"What sort of element of magic would I be if I didn't know a few spells? I know several cloaking spells that can hide Spikes appearance, or change his shape!"
>"Can you finally use the moustache spell on me again? I liked that one, I'll think i'd fit right in." Spike says, supressing a small grin at Twilight
>Twilight lets out a nostalgic giggle
>"As good as you looked with one, I think we should use the standard 'Invisible Ink' spell to hide you."
>You pondered how spike would look with a 'stache, you don't get it.
"Yeah, as long as you stick very close to us, we'll be fine. Just try not to bump into anyone."
>"Loud and clear, Twilight, will you do the honor?"
>Twilight turns more to Spike and her horn lights up
>It flickers, but then gives the car a purple luminance
>Liquid-looking magical sparks pop out of her horn, and splat on Spike's scaley body
>Eventually the 'ink' covers Spike, and he fades out of view
>Twilight takes her cue to explain the spell
>"Now, the spell will last as long as I need it too, however it being a 'liquid-based' spell, try not to get wet or it'll wash right off."
"Isn't that a bit... unconventional?"
>Not that you'd understand magic in the first place
>"Spells need to take on a certain quality to have form, there's mental, physical, and meta-physical spells. Mental spells harness the power of your mind, spells such as telekinesis, mind-reading and the like. Physical spells, as i'm sure you know what 'physical' means, create things. This can be destrucive depending on the spell. This is like creating fire, air blasts, or any energy beam. It's usually more defense based if you're in a harmful situation."
>You're confused, but slightly see what she means
>"Meta-physical spells are more complex. It deals with the manipulation of matter and bending it. This includes spells like morphing objects, or alchemical spells. As in taking an object, breaking it down, and creating something new. Or you cant morph objects together if they share properties, like how I put your guitar back together, I simply made it one structure again. However master level spells can involve warping space or even time. It's very rare to be able to posess the power to accomplish such spells, however."
>That's some deep shit
>You feel like that could've been part of the reason why a portal opened up between your worlds. Someone, or pony must have been delving into some heavy stuff that resulted in the merging of two worlds.
>But that's just a theory
>Twilight looks a bit proud to talk about something she likes
"So what does that spell have to do with being 'liquid based'"
>"Good question! Spells in some cases have to take on what we call an 'Analogical binding.' To sum it up, and it's rather hard to explain, is that for some spells to work, they need to be compared to something. Hence the 'analogy' aspect of it. The 'Invisible Ink' spell is more than just it's name, but it's binding. The spell itself is compared to literal invisible ink, and the spell took on the properties of what we know 'invisible ink' does."
"So the spell somehow knows what 'invisible ink' is to you and makes it so that it does what the ink does?"
>"In a way, yeah. Magic is part of our world, we considered our world was a living thing. We live one with the world and our world lived with us. That's why it was so beautiful, we treated our land as we treated anypo-... anyone else."
>She looks down, remembering what it was like
>"Your world isn't like that. You made the world adapt to your needs instead of co-exsisting with it. You're polluting it."
"Yeah... we did, didn't we. I wish I could have seen your world that wasn't from a scope."
>"I wish you were able to see it too."
>The car gets quiet
>"Uhh, I'm still here, guys."
>Both you and Twilight look where Spike would be
"Oh, whoops. Alright, Twi, lets go."
>"Shouldn't ponies be on a leash?" Twilight says as you step out of the car, minding not to let your door hit the adjacent car
"No, laws on your 'kind' have been a bit lenient as of late. From what I've seen, as long as you don't get too far from me. We should be fine."
>The two of you, and an invisible dragon, walk towards the booth that leads into the preservation.
>The less-than-enthusiastic man behind the window takes your money and puts a neon band around your wrist.
>He looks at Twilight, and then to you.
>"Sir. Please keep that thing close. I've never seen one with both wings and horns."
"Don't worry, she's supressed"
>Your larger size and look prevents the man from questioning you further
>"This way sir, have a good day"
"You as well"
>"Uh-huh"
>You  pass through the gate
>It was one of those 3-pronged spinny gate things you'd see when entering Disneyland or something
>Then Twilight passes through in, the gate making a click as it turns
>And then it spins a third time
>The man behind the counter stares at the gate, in suprise
"Something wrong?"
>"N-no, have a good day" he repeats
>You and Twi make your way to the preservation, fancy word for zoo
>You slow your walking pace, making sure Spike is near you
"Spike! What was that? We could've gotten busted! You could've vaulted over it" You say in a loud-whisper
>"What? I always liked passing through those things, besides, we didn't get caught, so don't worry about it. Things happen for a reason"
>You grimace in his direction
>You look around, searching for one of those giant maps they place around the area
>You find one, and inspect it's multi-colord areas
>Hmm, Chimeras, Sphinxs, Bug-bears...
>Interesting
>How did the get a hydra in here?
>A few 'regular animals' were in here too
>But they were rabbits, and other animals from a different dimesion, so I guess it sorta counted
>You wonder how Fluttershy ended up in here, and not sold to an actual person
>Twilight said she was good with animals, so maybe they have her incase a mythical creature tries to wreck shit.
>Here we are, 'Pegasus Holding Pen'
>On the far side of the park. Great
"Okay, she should be here, lets get going"
>"What will we do when we see her?
"Haven't a clue, I'll think of something, I think we should just see what condition she's in, and if we can talk to her"
>"Alright, I hope she's okay"
>You both head to the left of the sign and make your way down the street

>You weave back and forth between groups of people
>Families going this way and that way and they are not exactly keeping to a single side of the stone path
>On both sides of the path are cages of animals
>For some of the bigger animals, the cages are a bit thicker
>They seem like regular animals, but I suppose they don't want to take any chances
>You observe the animals of the cages as you pass them
>Some deer, some wolves and other creatures you'd find here
>However the color of animals are a bit more solid than the ones you have seen
>But they seem... sad
>The faces of the animals almost look like they're frowning
>Twilight doesn't look at the animals, and keeps her body almost touching yours
>You move on to the next area of the preservation
>You pass under a small gate that says 'Monsters and Exotic Beasts'
>In this area, There are less cages
>These creatures are kept in deep pits lined with thick, circular cement walls
>The even larger Monster pens are covered in thick glass domes
>You see about 4 of these domes around the area
>There are also some uniformed men standing guard in different parts of the pens
>They are not carrying visible weapons, but you see slight bulges on the sides of each of them
>Probably not to disturb the families
>You walk up to the first pit you see and read the sign posted by it
>'Timber-wolves: These creatures made up of animated wood hunt in packs under an alpha. Much like the wolves of Earth, these beasts create groups that forage for food by hunting lesser wildlife. The biology of these creatures is currently unknown as to what keeps these wooden animals functioning.'
>You've encountered Timber-wolves before. In what was called the 'Everfree Forest'
>It was before your kind knew of the monsters that dwelled in their world
>You walk away from the pen and continue further to where Fluttershy should be
>You pass one of the large glass domes and you glance at the sign
>'Chimera: (Pronounced Ky-mher-uh) This legendary creature bears resemblance to those of Greek mythology. They have the heads of both a lion and a goat, a snake as a tail. It is extremely dangrous and should be observed with caution. The Chimera prefers to hunt alone and only mates to procreate. They keep to their territory and are incredibly hostile to those unfortunate to trespass into it.' 
>You look over the railing and into the dome
>The habitat is rather forested, but you manage to see the chimera sitting on the limb of a tree
>The head of the lion is resting on the branch, staring off to nowhere
>The goat's head is sitting up looking around to nothing, disinterested at it's spectators
>The snake is simply swinging to and fro
>You hear a buzz sound and the chimera reacts like clockwork
>It deftly hops off the limb of the tree and walks to the edge of the dome
>Some unifored men throw chunks of raw meat through a hatch far out of the reach of the beast
>The lion lazily gobbles it up, the nourishment of the meal shared between the amalgamation of animals
>It retreats back to it's branch and lies down again
>You feel a tug on your pant leg
>"Can we please hurry? I do not like it here"
>Twilight has a somber look in her eyes
"They're just monsters... right?"
>"They are, they may not talk, or share the same intelligence, but they still think"
"Alright, come on"
>You start to notice some people giving you and twilight strange looks
>You make your way from the Chimera pen and proceed To Fluttershy's pen
>Your pace quickens a little bit as you see it, disregarding the manticore and the parasprite pen
>You Weave your way inbetween families as you make your way to the cage containing Fluttershy
>You look over the fence, the pen medium sized, grassy grassy area about the size of lion habitats
>The habitat is a grass fields with two thin trees providing some shade
>Patches of flowers give color to the area
>Your eyes scan the habitat
>Twilight places her forehooves on the fence and leans in close
>You feel Spike's invisible hand on your shoulder as well
>And there she is
>Laying under the shade of the further tree, staring at the grass 
>You assumed she was a thin pony
>But she looked an unhealthy thin
>Her Yellow color looks unsaturated, looking slightly grey
>Her chest calmly rising and falling with each slow breath
>Twilight has her eyes opened wide, and she looks to you
>Her eyes begin to water and she gives a small 'sniff'
>You look around at the spectators, who are giving you looks
>You notice some of the uniformed men also eyeing you
>One talking into the walkie-talkie strapped to his shoulder
>You kneel down to Twilight
"Twilight, we can't make a scene. These people cannot know that we know who Fluttershy is. They'll throw us out and we'll never see her again. We need some way to get to her."
>She nods and begins to take deep breaths to calm herself
>Your mind begins to race as to how to get Fluttershy's attention.
>Your train of thought cuts short, as a siren begins to flash lights and sound
>Your head jolts to the source of the noise
>A spinning light above a nearby glass dome catches your attention
>The Hydra inside banging it's head on the glass
>Still a fighter
>The glass cracks a bit
>Some of the families and onlookers back pedal a bit, confident that the glass will hold, but prepared to go if they need to
>Fathers putting their daughters behind them
>You hear a small buzz from Fluttershy's pen and you see a small gate open
>A uniformed man quickly enters the pen and beckons Fluttershy to him
>Fluttershy gets up quietly and is led out of her pen
>A little while later, another gate opens on the far side of the hydra pen.
>The hydra utilizes all of it's head as it bangs into the glass, which continues bearing the hydra's punishment
>Fluttershy steps out of the gate, and begins to slowly flap her wings and lifts herself into the air with slight difficulty
>One of the heads, in its rage, looks at Fluttershy
>Fluttershy looks as though she is speaking to the monster and places a hoove on the nose of the hydra's head
>The hydra opens it's mouth and snaps it shut where Fluttershy is, however she quickly is able to dodge it in suprise
>A litte further away, Fluttershy continues to speak to the hydra and two more of the heads cease banging on the glass to listen
>Fluttershy slowly gets closer to the hydra and rests her forehead on the creature, who seems more calm
>The last head of the hydra stops banging the glass and all heads give Fluttershy attention
>With tears in her eyes, she says a few more things to the hydra, and the heads give a slight, meloncholy nod in unison
>Fluttershy goes back to the cage and is led back to the her own pen
>The hydra goes to the middle of it's pen and lays down, and rests
>Each of the heads wrap around themselves as to comfort each other
>Fluttershy hasn't come out to her own pen, and you notice most of the uniformed men are still preoccupied with seeing if the hydra is truely done with its desprate attempt at escape
>Your mind thinks quickly and you spot an 'employees only' door on the opposite side of Fluttershy's pen
>You hastily make your way to it, Twilight in her suprise following close to you
>"Anon, what are you doing?! We're going to get caught!" she says in a loud whisper
"This is our only chance. That thing with the hydra happened for a reason. We won't get another chance. Keep close to me"
>You slowly open the door, which happened to not be locked as uniformed men were quick to deal with the hydra
>You, Twilight and Spike step inside the employees only section. Which seemed to be a tunnel that connects the different holding pens
>Luckily for you, the tunnel would create an echo to let you know if anyone is walking near you
>You don't have to worry about Twilight creating noise
>She isn't wearing horseshoes and pony hooves are oddly soft, as you know
"Alright, walk quietly and listen to anyone that might be coming" 
>Twilight nods
>You need to know where they are keeping Fluttershy when she's not in her pen
>the initial path goes left or right, with Fluttershy's pen at your left
>You go right
>You see signs that label out utility cabinets, janitor closets and miscellaneous things
>You proceed further down the tunnel and you begin to smell something
>On your right is a large room which is filled with small silos and large bags
>You assume this is where they put food for some of the creatures
>You see a man in an apron taking the large bags and emptying them into the silos
>You wait for him to turn to take another bag and you swiftly pass the room
>You see an arrow on the wall which says 'Employee Lounge' 
>The door to the lounge is closed and you walk past it
>As you passed the door, you stop when you hear talking
>"So about that pony, whats up with her?"
>You stop and hold your head to the door to listen better
>"Well you're new, so I'll go ahead and tell you now so you don't look stupid for forgetten what you were told earlier. She's somehow extremely good with the animals here, whenever they get a bit riled up, she's been able to calm them down better than what we're able to do.
>"From what I hear, I don't know If we're keeping her here for much longer. We've gotten better technology since this preservation opened and we're rather able to contain any situation ourselves. Tranquilizers are much more powerful and are starting to get produced cheaper, so we'll just start using thoses."
>"What about those bug things?"
>"The parasprites? Yeah, those bastards we're hell at first, they multiplied faster than we exterminated them. We've learned to not keep parasprites widespread so if something stupid happenes, we won't have some big invasion happen. The parasprites here are the only ones in our world. And we were able to breed them so some are unable to reproduce, and if the dome gets too full of them, we gas all of them and exterminate a fraction of them. We only allow one or two to be able to spit out new parastprites."
>"Those things freak the fuck out of me, so what do they plan on doing with the pony if they don't need her to calm the monsters down?"
>"Don't take my word for it, but I think the higher ups just planned to sell her off, probably to some glue factory like we would with a normal lame horse."
>With that, Twilight lets out a gasp and you quickly hold your hand over her mouth to silence her

>"Alright, man, my breaks almost over, so I have to go punch back in."
>"Sounds good. Hey, you gonna be at the employee golf outing?"
>"Wouldn't miss it"
>You hear the footsteps coming towards the door
"Fuck, we need to hide somewhere
>You and Twilight (and an invisible Spike) quickly scurry back to the food area
>Lucky for you the guy pouring the grain out of the bags had left
>You crouch behind some of the bags just in time to see the uniformed man walk by the corridor
>You look to Twilight, finger over your mouth in a shush gesture
>Her mouth is open eyes shut
>"ahhh, ahhh..."
>She seriously isn't...
>You quickly reach a hand over and cover her mouth
>"Ahh-pthbbb!"
>She sneezes into your hand, muffled by it
>Gross
>"Hm?"
>You peek over the sacks to see the uniformed man peeking inside
>After a few seconds, he shrugs and continues on
>You don't even look at your hand and you wipe it on one of the bags
"Eugh"
>Twilight gives you a blushed grin
>"S-sorry"
>You shrug it off, and you motion to Twi for the both of you to keep going forward
>Further down the hallway and past the employee lounge, you experience no further interruptions
>You come up to a gate, with barbed wire strewn to the top, and a sign saying "HOLDING AREA"
>You try to pull open the fence's door, but it doesn't open
>On the wall by you, you notice a card reader
"Damn, we need an ID card from one of the employees to get in here. Know any way to bypass this, Twilight?"
>Twilight shruggs 
>"We didn't have this technology in Equestria, so I don't know how to get by this. We'll have to find a card."
>You sigh and think
"Think you could put a guard to sleep?"
>"Yeah, easily"
>You backtrack back to the the employee lounge, where you hear the earlier employee sipping a drink
>"... but I wonder what my deductible will be if I did that..."
>You hear rustling of paper and another sip
>You look to Twilight
"Ok Twi, I'm going to get his attention, be ready to put him asleep" you whisper
>Twilight nods and assumes a ready posistion
>You knock on the door and make a grunting noise and make it sound like you're making an effort to lift something
"Hey, can you give a hand with this bag real quick? It's fucking heavy"
>You hear stuff being set aside
>"Gary? You've been here a few years, thought you'd have built up some muscle by now"
"L-long day"
>"Right, Ok here, just a sec"
>You step off to the side of the door
>Footsteps are heard and the door opens
>"Alright, so where do these need to-"
>He doesn't say any more as a puff of dust clouds around his head, and quickly dissipates
>You catch the body as it falls and bring it back into the lounge
>Setting the body on the love-seat, you grab the ID card connected to a lanyard that was hooked to the waistband of the uniform
"He gonna be alright?"
>"He'll wake up in an hour or two, it was a simple sleeping powder spell"
>Twilight's explaination of magic repeats in your head
>Examining the card, you notice besides the picture is a red diamond with the number '3' in it with 'level access' written beside it
>Making your way back to the gate, you slide the card in the reader, and it makes a small 'beep' with a flash of green
>The gate makes a 'click and you proceed inside the holding area
>Passing a corner to your right leads you to a larger area
>There are empty cages strewn about and a small ramp that leads down a bit to a large metal garage door that slides up
>You assumes it's a room for when they're getting ready to load or unload cargo to and from the zoo
>Twilight looks at you with a worried look
>Do you think she'll be in here?"
"She should be, she has to be in one of these cages" you say quietly
>You're constantly worried that someone will enter the room from the nearby doors, ruining the whole plan
>Fluttershy must be here, waiting to be transported to her fate
>You look around at the cages, hoping to initially see her from where you entered
>Your head perks up when you hear the sound of something shifting on metal
>You walk towards where you heard the noise and spot a single cage covered in a dirty green wool blanket
>You slowly take the blanket in your hand and remove it from the cage
>Fluttershy lays inside, dirty, thin and a few new bruises you didn't notice before
>She looks up to you with a terrified expression, expecting the worse
>She doesn't say anything, but she starts to shake a bit, not knowing who you are
>You squat down to her level, trying to think of something to say to calm her
>"Please don't be afraid. I am your friend"
>Twilight comes from behind you and Fluttershy's eyes drift to her
>"Twilight? I-is that you?" Fluttershy says in disbelief
>"It is, It's going to be ok, we're going to get you out of-"
>"No!" Fluttershy says with a quiety shriek
>You and Twilight are taken aback at the sudden, yet quiet, outburst
>"This is a trick, you can't be Twilight, she wouldn't be here"
>She turns her body away from the two of you and starts muttering to herself
>"This is just my mind playing tricks on me again, just like the last time. You're not really here, just a figment, Twilight and her friends are gone... You got me in trouble before. You're not going to get me in trouble again. I supposed to be a quiet pony."
>You look to Twilight, hopeing she'd know what to say
>Twilight circles around the cage so she's in front of Fluttershy again
>Fluttershy buries her head in her hooves
>"Y-you're not real! Go away... please" You hear here sniff
>Twilight crouches to the ground
>"I am real, Fluttershy. It's really me this time..."
>She pushes her hoof to the cage and Fluttershy, looking up, reaches forward
>Fluttershy feels Twilight's hoof and looks to her
>"I can feel you... Is it really you?"
>You look at the lock on the cage
>It's a simple slide lock that animals can't move since they don't exactly have thumbs
>It has a few bite marks in the metal by it, she must've really tried to get out before
>You slide the lock the left and you open the door, which makes a squeak
>Fluttershy jumps at the small noise and stares at you with fright
"It's ok... you can come out"
>Fluttershy continues looking at you
>"Fluttershy, it's ok, he's a friend. He's trying to help
>She doesn't look away from you as she slowly walks out of the cage, with difficulty.
>Twilight comes back around to Fluttershy, who lifts up a hoof to feel her again

"Girls, as much as I want you two to enjoy your reunion, I'm getting more and more paranoid that someone is going to show up."
>Twilight nods her heads, and breaks takes her arms that were tightly woven around her friend
>"Um, I'm not too sure I should go..." Fluttershy peeps out
>Both you and Twilight look at her in confusion
>"They told me I was going to be transfered to a nearby animal reserve, the animals there are troubled and in despair. They told me they were going to let me go to them to help."
"Fluttershy... I don't think thats the truth"
>"What do you mean? They said I've been a huge help with the animals here, and they thought i'd do the same in the other area. The people are rather mean, but I'd do anything to help the animals."

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