CHAPTER 2: THE HIDDEN GODS

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>Darkness, everywhere you look
>The drowned sound of wind howling blows in your ears
>Both the floor and the sky are in pitch darkness
>And so is your body
>HEART BEAT
>Huh? That sound
>It came from behind you
>Turning around, you see...nothing
>But it sounded louder than the wind
>HEART BEAT
>This time, you managed to see a pulse of green, hidden in the distant fog
>It was dimly lit, but the light was enough to shortly illuminate your face
>HEART BEAT
>Now the light is aproaching
>Every HEART BEAT moves the pulse closer and closer
>But it also intensifies in brightness
>And that, in turn, is beggining to reveal more details, like an oddly shaped triangle behind it
>HEART BEAT
>The bumps and outlines seem to be taking the shape of...
>There's several outlines being revealed actually
>HEART BEAT
>It's not a pyramid
>It's a pile
>And those are the bodies of several ponies, on top of one another
>Now the light is gone, instead, every HEART BEAT seems to originate from within every single one of the ponies
>They're all green
>And their manes are all black
>Mares
>Stallions
>Fillies
>Colts
>One of them seems to be some sort of hypogrif
>And as you keep staring at it, the HEART BEAT intensifies
>Two HEART BEATS every second
>Three HEART BEATS
>Four
>Five
>And then
>Red
>All around you
>Everywhere
>But its like, a bright shade of red
>Almost like blood
>And now, it slowly fades to black
>You look around one last time
>That's when you see it
>It's what you can only describe as a hollow heart
>Or the dark outline of a large, hollow heart
>And it's beating continuously
>But the inside has something
>Someone
>Their outline is but a dark shadow against the red background
>Its tall, has four legs, a crown, and a large pointy horn
>Closer inspection of the face is a mistake
>The last thing you see is its eyes opening
>Releasing a blindling white light, that drowns the rest of the dream

>You gasp for air
>A small surge of adrenaline forces your spine to erect itself
>It feels as if there has been no oxygen around you all this time
>Even though the cave you're in is a little cold, you wake up drenched in sweat
>Your blanket is covered in sweat, actually
>''Welcome back''. The voice of a familiar looking mare greets you
>Looking to your right, you see her, sitting on a large pillow next to your bed
>Well, if you can call a conveniently shaped rock with blankets and a pillow a bed, that's up to you
>Atleast its not pitch dark
>The candles around you are bright enough to reveal her true colours
>Still gasping for air, you look at her closely
>She's uncloaked, virtually naked it seems
>Her green is a little more pale compared to you
>Her mane is almost as short as yours tho
>Compared to you, her body is thin, looking more athletic than anything
>And that's a nice pair of wings she has!
>Oh, her thin flanks have the same cutie mark as you do
>And she seems to have noticed you, dissociating in the depths of her cutie mark
>Uhm, okay, think of something!
>Right now, you can't think of anything to break the ice
>It seems she won't speak unless spoken to
''You're not gonna...kill me are you?''
>''Dude'', she looks around her, ''I just saved you''
>You look at your own body.
>Not only did she dragged you around the cave for God knows how long, but she also covered your body in bandages
>There's pieces of rock, right inbetween the space between your bed and her pillow
>And they're covered in blood. Your blood, to be precise
''Yeah...'', you sniff. ''Thanks, Anon Mare''.
>That's right, you've seen entire threads on a certain blue and white colored website about pastel colored cartoon horses
>But this mare?
>She even giggles lightly, very lightly
>''Unbelieveable. I never thought I'd meet Anon Stallion himself''
>...that's not right, because you're not a character
>Well, right now you are a pony, a green stallion even
>but, you still remember your life before coming here
>You're...you!
''Uh, I'm not actually ''Anon'', you know?''
>''Neither am I, or any one of us if that matters''
>You sigh deeply
''You said ''us''?''
>''Well, you already met out shitposting friend out there''. She looks to the ground. ''I'm glad you're not like him''
''How'd you figure that?''. You raise an eyebrow
>''Hmm, he'll kill anyone that doesn't immediately say ''>rape'', or ''IWTCIRD'', or any other funny word''. She looks up, scratching her head with her right hoof. ''Most of us don't give much more than a second thought on what we'd do if we ended up in Equestria.''
>You remove the blanket from your body
''So its you, me, him, who else?''
>She sighs, deeply. ''I don't know. You're the first one I've seen in months.''. Her eyes face the floor, and get lost in your bloodstains.
''Hmm, right.''. You lift yourself up. Surprisingly, the pain in your body is...gone?
>She lifts her face once more, noticing you. ''All better?''
''Yeah.'', you mutter. What else is there to say?
>You've never talked to a girl in this particular context before. There's too many questions to ask, and you feel insecure that you may end up fucking it all up
>Oh gosh oh gosh wat do wat d-
>''Okay first of all'', she interrupts your train of thought by raising her right hoof, ''I would preferably like to handle this like the adults we are...''
''Okay...''
>And before you get to say anything else, she closes the distance between your face and hers
>She pushes her snout against yours, penetrating your soul with her eyes
>Nose to nose, but...not in a romantic way
>The presure is enough to make you scrunch
>''If I catch you staring at my butt one more time, I will make sure you never get to meet your waifu, understand?''
>You nervously nod
>''Good'', she says while pointing at you with her hoof. ''That being said...'', she returns to her original position
>Once again, sadness seems to have overtaken her
>Is she on her period?
>No you can't ask her that!
''So uh, from what I've gathered''...
>Let's see, what do we know so far?
>There's more Anon ponies, but, they're not really characters, they're very real people like yourself
>Very autistic, normal people from the looks of it
>Except that your Unicorn friend over there is a turbo autist that is gatekeeping Equestria for himself, maybe
>Who knows how many more of you have been here already?
Finishing your train of thought, you continue speaking. ''...there's more of us, right?''
>She doesn't react, and only replies in a moody tone. ''There were...''
>Gosh, you could've been a thriving society of Anonymous in Equestria
>But she herself seems to have been more personally affected by it
''I'm sorry to hear that, uhm...Anon Mare?''
>She looks up at you, her sadness gone from her face once more. She twists her snout before replying. ''Well, obviously that's not my name, but I'm not gonna share MY name...''. She ponders with her right hoof. ''I guess you can call me anything BUT Anon Mare''
>Well, you'll think of something...
>She does look a lot like a
''You kinda look like a tomboy. Can I-''
>''No''. She frowns upon you.
>That burning you feel?
>It is shame
''Sorry, I'm a little autistic. Uhm'' you try to avoid her eyes, only to be chased by them. ''You can call me anything I guess.''
>''Okay, Anything!''. She gets up, and heads into the entrance of the room
>All this time, this cave you've been has been merely a bedroom
>''Anything's too long of a name. Can I call you ''Any'' instead?''
''No. You frown upon her. That's an Any, with an ''ɛ''
>''Sure. We can talk outside, if you want to.'' As she heads for the entrance of the bedroom, she turns her head around
>''Coffee or tea?''
>It takes every inch of your willpower to not look at her butt
''Tea would be nice''
>She doesn't say a word, she just leaves the room
>As you get up, you watch the ground, careful not to step on your previously-owned shrapnel
>''Hey do you want it hot or cold?'', her voice echoes from the entrance of the room
>Considering that you're still partially wet in sweat...?
''Cold''
>You exit the room, and see a rudymentary...living room of sorts
>There's enough space to fit maybe 5 ponies side by side
>Are you gonna measure things with ponies now? This is so weird
>Well, there's a kitchen bar, a table, a set of 4 chairs, and even a TV
>But everything's carved out of rock, so...
>Its more so a TV carved in the wall
>There's also a large tunnel, that splits into three
>You can see some sort of candle light, dimly reflected on the walls of the tunnel
>SPARK
>Anon Mare taps her hoof strongly into the ground, echoing all around the cave
>So loud in fact you turn to her in shock
>Several sparks of lightning dance haphazardly on the kitchen bar, before a kettle starts moving on its own
>Anon Mare-well, however she'd want to be called, walks to the bedroom
''I didn't know pegasi could conjure magic''
>''Nope'', she says, entering the bedroom, ''In fact, most ponies can't even come close to accomplishing this type of magic. Uhh, unless of course they're Starlight Glimmer...''
>She peeks through the door. ''You do know who she is, right?''
You scuff. ''What am I, fan of the fandom?''
>She doesn't question it. Instead, she returns into the bedroom. ''Well, our unicorn friend out there dropped the show after season 5. He told me before he tried to...y'know...''
''Oh...sorry to hear''
>SPARK
>after a moment of silence, two pillows come out of the bedroom
>on their own
>and then proceed to walk all the way to the table, resting on where you'll eventually sit
>This seems...oddly familiar
>''Oh, have a seat, I'm just...'', there seem to be all manner of random sounds coming from the bedroom
>Was that an elephant?
>Nevertheless, you decide to head for the table
>You sit on the far end, facing the bedroom, hoping the pillows don't mind laying your butt on them
>That's where a cup of tea, materializes in front of you
>And a chilled, metallic tea jar
>...
>Oh it won't pour itself? Ok then
>As you serve yourself, once again, Anon Mare manifests right in front of you
>And now, she's reading a copy of the Canterlot Daily
>All of this random magical nonsense has to have a reason
''So...'', you speak as you pour, ''you're Discord?''
>''Nope, but now that you mention it, we gotta go look for him''. She keeps reading
>Isn't he with Flutt-
>Before you mutter a word, she puts the newspaper right on your eyes
>It forces you to stop pouring
>MUSEUM OF CANTERLOT ROBBED IN BROAD DAYLIGHT!
>you didn't know this thing existed but there it is. Some artifacts went missing
>ELEMENT OF KINDNESS URGES THE POPULATION TO LOOK FOR DISCORD
>Sure, if he knew what your evil doppelganger was up to, he'd probably turn him inside out or something.
>What else...?
>...oh, looks like you missed Lyra and BonBon's wedding
''Right, I'm gonna take a guess an-''
>She turns around the newspaper in an instant
>ANON AND PRINCESS LUNA...DATING?! MORE INFORMATION BELOW!
>You read below and it seems to be a bunch of made up stuff about those two, but in that picture you see Luna and your unicorn friend entering a library
>This is the moment where you piece two and two together and...
>Yeah you got nothing
''So Discord's gone, someone broke into Canterlot Museum, and this fucker gets to bang his waifu like nothing is wrong?''
>While you were distracted, Anon Mare poured herself some tea. ''As far as I know,'' she sips, then continues, ''that's not his waifu.''
>Hmm...and that dream you had earlier would've for sure caught the attention of the lunar princess herself
''And all of this happened what, within a week?''
>She just nods, gently, enjoying her tea
''So you've been hiding for a whole week in here?''
>She finally opens her eyes, looking at you
>''A couple of months. Discord had the brilliant idea of dealing with the plague of the Anonymous by himself, without the mane 6 knowing''
You raise an eyebrow, ''...and what happened?''
>''as is often the case when the lord of Caos makes a plan behind everyone's back'' she shrugs, '' it backfired miserably''
''Oh...seems very in-character for him.''
>She keeps staring at you, with her tea cup on her hoof.
>You haven't touched your tea. And both of them are judging you now
>Oops
>You bring your head down to the table, and put your two hooves on each side of it
>SIP
''Oh this is some bomb ass tea-''
>You don't even get to finish your sentence before she spits out her tea in laughter
>That phrase triggered a sleeper agent that made her wheeze uncontrollably
>You said it outloud
>And now, she's on the floor, laughing in tears. ''OH MY GOD! YOU SHOULD'VE SEEN YOUR FACE!'', she yells, while rolling in the floor
>You can't help but chuckle at the thought
>''OH! Oh...oh my sides'', she tries her best to get up on all fours
>''Oh my God...ahemm'', she locks in, trying her best to make a serious face
>''Alright, alright, you win''. You manage to crack one more smile out of her before she goes super-serious-mode yet again
>Your smile dissipates too
''Right...so uh...''
>You try to make sense of all of this, still
>that's when you recall a familiar looking amulet on her neck
''So uh, was that the Alicorn Amulet back there?''
>''It was!''. She reaches into her left wing, and pulls it out of there. Indeed, it has been hollowed out
>''Our unicorn friend managed to shatter it before it got into the wrong hands...''
''Hooves''
>She scrunches. ''Right. At least the wings still work...kind off''. She gently taps the amulet with her hoof and indeed, a red bloom can be seen, faintly emanating from the wings
>You ponder into your tea cup
>The weight of the fucked up reality you're residing in starts to become more and more apparent
>Discord is gone. That means Fluttershy doesn't have her protector
>Luna is close with the other guy, which is dangerous enough as is. Who knows what he'd tell her?
>That dream you had? Anon Mare over here probably saw it become a reality
>''...Anon? You OK?''. She breaks the silence
''I'm...sorry. All of this is wrong, and I have no idea what you've been through but...''
>Still pondering at your cup, you stand up, on top of the table
>You think about all the times you were in tears, knee deep in depression.
>Everytime the ponies made your day just a little bit better.
>Every character that got a good laugh out of you when you needed it the most.
>Every song that made you sing along with glee. Every drawing, video, music video, comic, and media that kept you going, even during the harshest days.
>You exhale deeply, thinking about the good ol days...
''This world means so much to me. I don't think I'd even be the same if it wasn't for Twilight and her friends''. A single tear runs down your eye, as you crack a smile. ''I think its time for me to return the favor. I think its time to save them. No matter what. ''
>Anon Mare is speechless. Her mouth, remains wide open
''Now'', you finally look at her. ''How do we get into Canterlot?''

[END OF CHAPTER 2]