>you are princess cadence
>after rounding up a small portion of the army in canterlot, you and your army made your way through sections of the city
>beating back the changelings was difficult
>you’ve never seen them attack so violently before
>this was nothing like before
>they weren’t after love
>they seemed to be attacking without purpose
>but what could drive them to do this?
>they stood nothing to gain from this attack
>after finishing your defense against the changelings most of them fled
>your soldiers managed to capture a single straggler 
>you had questions
>and they were going to give you answers no matter what
>”UNHAND ME!”
>the changeling hissed 
>but with the two soldiers holding him down there was little he could do
“Your friends have all been done away with or fled”
“And i want answers for this, this, senseless violence”
“None of you were here to steal love”
“You came and attacked everypony in sight”
“WHAT DID YOU EVEN STAND TO GAIN FROM THIS?”
>the changeling laughed
>”our hive has been desperate for energy”
>”with how difficult it is to steal love, we came for the next best source of energy”
>”fear…”
>”it’s potent, not as much as love, but far easier to get”
>”our attack was only meant to scare you ponies to supply us with enough energy”
>you couldn’t hold back your anger
“YOU KILLED GOOD PONIES!”
“I would have thought murder to be below even a changeling”
>the changeling laughs harder
>”it was all part of the plan”
>”the more fear we create the more we could take”
>his confidence turns to anger
>”BUT WHY WERE THERE SO MANY SOLDIERS STATIONED HERE?”
>”THERE’S A WAR IN THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE, HOW COULD YOU AFFORD TO KEEP THEM BACK IN CANTERLOT?”
“Simple, we won and went home”
>”WHAT?”
>”BUT THIS WAR, IT’S BEEN GOING ON FOR WEEKS NOW”
>something about what he says clicks with you
“You mean to tell me your plan was to attack canterlot while it was undefended?”
>”of course, it was easy prey, at least we thought it would be”
>”for a moment we thought king sombra had made it all the way to canterlot”
>”this place has his stench everywhere”
>you’ve had enough of him
“Guards, take care of him, we have to group up with the other soldiers soon, there’s still fighting in other parts of canterlot”
>with that you turn to lead your soldiers through canterlot
>the changelings were violent
>but they were nowhere near as strong as an equestrian soldier
>let alone the battalions from the crystal empire

>when you met up with shining armour you were ecstatic
“SHINING ARMOUR!”
>you ran up to him and caught him by surprise
>”CADENCE? How did you get here? I told you not to leave the castle!”
>being so excited to see him again you told the story of how you met anon, his journey and everything after
>you were filled with joy just to spend time with shining armour again
>you missed him so much
>but his expression was off
>before you could finish the details of getting to canterlot he interrupts you bluntly
>”Cadence, where’s anon”
>his tone was soft but demanding 
“Well, i dropped him off as soon as i got here so i could rally the soldiers against the changelings”
>your explanation did little to soothe him
>”Cadence, look at me, that cloud sombra made, it wasn’t an accident”
>”we’re not certain of anything yet, but judging from the symptoms and the fact only extensive magic cleansing can heal it, we think this is somehow king sombra plotting against us from beyond the grave”
>your blood runs cold
>”I need you to listen to me very carefully, if what you’re telling me is true, that means whatever king sombra is planning, anon is likely to be his means of carrying out this plan”
>”with how long he’s been exposed without treatment, surely this curse has developed much more than the ones we’ve seen”
>”we don’t understand exactly why this is happening, hay, it might even be nothing, but we can’t take that chance cadence”
>”we need to find anon immediately”
“Shining, the last time i saw him was where i dropped him off”
“He must be around there”
>”we don’t have any time to lose”
>”SOLDIERS, search the rest of canterlot for changelings, when you’re finished tend to the wounded”
>”alright cadence, let’s get moving”

>you are applejack
>throughout the trip back to canterlot you were running wildly with your thought
>you’re certain that big mac is in canterlot
>but anon could be anywhere
>you needed to make sure big mac was safe
>but you don’t even know where to begin with getting anon back
>it hurts your heart just thinking about how lost he could be
>he could be starving out there
>thinking such dark thoughts makes you dry heave when you breathe
>the second the chariot stops you bolt out to find big mac
>but something was wrong
>there were changelings everywhere around canterlot
>and they weren’t alive
>there was an invasion…
>and big mac was there…
>you burst back into a full sprint towards every medical tent and soldier outpost you could find
>nothing, nothing, NOTHING
>hay, he wasn’t anywhere in sight
>in your search you found shining armour
“SHINING!!!”
>you rush up to him
“AH NEED YOUR HELP, WHERE’S BIG MAC, HE GOT DRAFTED AND HE SHOULD BE IN CANTERLOT BUT I CAN’T FIND HIM NOWHERE!”
>he seems frantic
>”Look, AJ, no time, big mac is fine last i saw him he was with the other recruits and they were in a safe place when the invasion happened”
>”glad you showed up though, need your help finding anon, and fast”
>you were in shock
“You're lookin’ for anon too?“
>”yeah, listen we don’t have much time, cadence is taking us to the last spot she saw him, grab big mac and make your way back to the west side of canterlot”
>”he’s back in the design store, all the recruits were shuffled in there when we got here”
>”hurry, we don’t have much time!”
>you nodded and ran as fast as you could to where big mac was
>a part of you was ecstatic
>you have a lead on where anon was last
>this is big
>with him being completely unaccounted for during the war you were sure it would have taken far longer before you could find where he was
>but if cadence saw him somewhere then it should be a lot easier to find him 
>the second you arrive in the design store you grab big mac and ran
“Big mac, i know you’re a bit startled by whatever just happened but we got bigger problems right now”
“Just follow me and we can get you home”
>he was happy to see you but understood there was something up

>once you and big mac arrived shining and cadence ran up to you
>shining spoke first
>”AJ, what’s the fastest way back to ponyville”
>you were confused
“Now hold on a minute, i thought cadence knew where anon was”
>cadence corrected her
>”no, but i know where he was last, and it was here”
>”the only thing he would ever talk about was getting back to ponyville”
>”his ‘rifle’ as he called it is still here, but he’s nowhere to be seen”
>shining spoke up
>”yes, judging by the, well, trail, it seems he went to ponyville on foot”
>you looked down and saw what shining meant
>in in green liquid there was a trail left by what could only be anon, it was no pony that was for sure
“Our best bet to find anon is to take the train, it’s finally up and running again and we better go before it’s filled up”
>in an instant the four of you make your way to the train station

>on the way back you had much to discuss with cadence and shining
“How is it that you know so much about anon?”
“I know he snuck off to find big mac but he never made it home on the train with the rest of us”
“Hay, what was he even planning on doing up there?”
>you had a million burning questions
>and with the knowledge that anon was nearby you could rest easy
>cadence interrupted your little interrogation 
>”well, it seems you already know that he went to the crystal empire”
>”how about i start from there”
>for a long period of time cadence explained in detail about anon’s journey through the woods, the crystal empire, and his trip back to canterlot
“And how in the hay am i supposed to believe that anon was the one who took down king sombra himself, he ain’t even able to use magic”
>shining agrees
>”yeah, it doesn’t make sense, how can you be sure he wasn’t lying to you?”
>cadence confidently speaks
>”simple, he proved it to me, twice”
>she levitates the rifle
>after looking at it you noticed it had an engraving on it
>’anonymous’
>it was definitely his you knew that for sure
>what it was, you didn’t know
>”his first demonstration was against a building in the crystal empire, you couldn’t see what came out of the end, but the noise against the building sounded like something had hit it”
>”the second time was against the changelings, he-”
>before she went further you interrupted 
“AGAINST THE CHANGELINGS?”
“You mean he fought against them?”
>cadence looked a bit nervous
>”well, i mean, we didn’t have a choice, when we made our way to canterlot we were swarmed by them, we could have laid low but we had an obligation to defend equestria applejack”
>”besides, i promise he was safe the entire time, i flew at a safe distance from them the whole time while he did his work”
>you couldn’t believe what you were hearing
>anon fighting changeling?
>but what was more confusing was the contraption in front of you
>you knew anon had a tendency to little experiments especially after the gift he made for you
>this was a whole other level of surprising
>but you still had questions
“The smoke, when it happened all of us made it to the trains, what happened to anon…”
>a part of you was worried
>and the look on shining armour’s face didn’t help
>before cadence could speak shining interjects
>”aj, this isn't going to be easy to tell you”
>his words only made you feel worse
>”after what we’ve seen with the other ponies who were in direct contact with the smoke…”
>he has difficulty explaining it
>”from what we saw with them, we figured it to be something akin to a curse”
>you were feeling sick
>”we don’t fully understand what it is, but some of us believe the smoke was no accident”
>”that it might have been some kind of plan for revenge, we’re not sure how, but the symptoms some of the soldiers got were nothing like a regular illness”
>listening to shining armour say these things was making you go crazy
>you couldn’t express it but the way you felt inside was dreadful
>”they weren’t sick or had any major concerning symptoms, but they acted differently”
>”some of my bravest soldiers seemed to be scared of the night and refused direct orders to stand on night watch”
>”others experienced increased aggression”
>”the only consistent symptom was a large increase in appetite”
>cadence goes wide eyed but shining continues
>”the good news is we can cure it, but we’re not sure if we can cure someone who’s too far gone…”
>”but if what anon told cadence is true, then anon had far higher exposure than anyone else did to it”
>”like i told cadence, it might not be as big a deal as we think, but we can’t take that risk”
>”right now, our mission to protect equestria relies on us finding anon”
>after listening to what shining armour had to say the 4 of you go quiet for the remainder of the trip
>knowing that anon was nearby was a relief
>but hearing about this curse was something else
>you can’t believe all that anon’s been through
>after all you did to keep him out of harm's way he ran off and got caught up in all this
…
>it hurts to even think about
>that poor boy’s been alone for so long…
>the thoughts were too much to handle
>for the sake of the rest of the passengers you stepped outside to the back of the train to be alone
>as you sat behind the railing you spoke to yourself
“This must be where anon sat on his way there…”
>just the thought of him being all alone like that broke your heart
>you tried your best not to think of the worst of it
>but it all came flooding into your head
>you couldn’t help but lay down and sob
>you did everything you could to protect him
>but it just wasn’t enough
…
>if cadence is telling the truth then anon’s a hero…
>he ended the war and brought us all home…
>but the good that he did doesn’t negate how you feel
>he should have never had to go through that
>everything that cadence told you
>those lonesome nights
>the desperation for his next meal
>knowing that the train left without him
>hay, he thought he was going to die
>twice…
…
>it must have been terrifying for him…
>just thinking about it makes you start to choke up again
…
>there’s one thing that frustrates you the most
>the draft
>you knew there was a war going on
>but a draft?
…
>it must have been necessary…
>but sending big mac off to war
>it just frustrated you
…
>you owe applebloom and apology..
>she’s been through so much while the three of you were gone
>you shouldn’t have raised your voice at her like that
>the first she’s seen of you in weeks and all you do is scare her…
>you feel downright awful
…
>the changelings…
>even you don’t think you could have lived through something like that
>just the thought of his desperation against them…
>you don’t even want to finish the thought
>your breathing became short and rapid
>the pain of knowing how much anon suffered tears you apart on the inside
>you think back to the timberwolf incident
>gosh, he had nightmares over something like that…
>this…
>this was something so much worse than the timber wolf incident…
>you can’t even begin to imagine how awful things have been for him…
…
>you hope you can make him feel safe again

>https://youtu.be/2C467uoZipQ (The Aftermath)

>you are anon
>you’re still struggling to cope with everything that happened
>your journey home is quiet
>you shiver as you walk
>the stains on your clothes are constant reminder of what happened
>the damp feeling on them is hard to ignore
>it’s pitch black out
>you aren’t even taking any kind of path home
>you’re just hoping the direction you picked will get you there
>the silence is unbearable 
>you think of what applejack and the rest of them will think when they see you again
>you’re not sure how you can explain it all
>applejacks going to be furious with you
>no matter the excuse you come up with you did exactly what she told you not to do
>the only solace you have is that big mac and applejack are safe
>your goal was met and that brings you comfort
>as you make way through the tall grass you think of all the things you wish to enjoy again
>playing with applebloom and watching big mac talk endlessly
>but most of all you want to see her again…
>you want to fall asleep next to applejack
>you want to hear her reassuring words
>you want to feel her warmth
…
>the further you go the weaker you feel
>you lay on your back and face the sky for a small rest
>the stars were bright and the tall grass surrounds you leaving the only the sky to look at
>unlike earth, the stars in equestria seemed to make a whole galaxy visible to the naked eye
>it was bitter-sweet 
>the beauty of the sky was incredible but you wish applejack could be there with you
…
>your small rest did nothing to fix your weakness 
>if anything you only feel less capable of moving
>your breathing became more difficult
>it began to feel like you were back in the crystal empire being surrounded by smoke
>a calm realization came over you
>your condition wasn’t getting better
>your weakness only got greater and your breathing only more difficult
>as much as it hurts to think you may never see applejack again your just glad you could reunite her family 
>but the thought of her family being reunited without you being a part of it hurts even more
>but you didn’t shed any tears over it
>even though all you ever wanted to do was be with applejack you figured it would be a waste to mourn the loss of it ever happening
>with all your strength you reach to your bag for the old fireworks and the lighter
>staying on your back you lay the firework upright to give yourself a humble funeral
>tilting your head towards it and reaching the lighter to the fuse you hear it flash to life 
>turning your head back to the sky you hear it shoot off as a gentle pop rings off
>you use every last one you have
>you smile when seeing all the designs that never made the final cut
>the ones that were too small, the ones you tried to make into certain shapes that didn’t turn out right
>but the final one breaks your heart as you see it go off
>the color scheme of it
>it was meant to be applejack's cutie mark
>but the shape was off making the apples combine together with specks of green inside
>your desperation for her comes back in full force 
>and there’s nothing you can do about it now

>you are applejack
>once the four of you got off the train it was dark out
>you hoped that anon would be home by now
>but when you made it back it was only applebloom there
>she was ecstatic to see you and big mac home but was asking where anon was
>you tried to avoid the question but you couldn’t
>it was difficult to explain to her that he was on his way home
>you hoped he still was
>but for now the rest of you needed to get some rest
>you offered cadence and shining to use anons old room for the night
>just the thought that someone else was using anons room in his place pained you
>but what was worse was that he wouldn’t be home to share your bed with you tonight
>no matter how hard you tried to sleep that night you couldn’t
>it felt like the bed had a large open space in it that shouldn’t be empty
>and not being able to hold onto anon and make sure he was comforted stressed you too much
>you gave up on sleep and sat on the front porch
>the night sky was beautiful
>anon used to tell you how much he loved the night sky in equestria
>and that where he came from the night sky had very few stars to look at
>oh how you loved to show him things that excited him
>that innocent joy he got from the littlest of things used to melt your heart
>but after everything that happened to him you’re scared that innocence won’t be there anymore
>he endured so much…
>he must be having constant nightmares
>and you aren’t there to shake him awake
>to hold him
>to tell him everything will be okay
>he likely hasn’t had a decent meal in days
>your desperate to take care of him
>but after everything cadence has told you he seems to be completely capable on his own
…
>sometimes you wish he would be completely reliant on you…
>as guilty as that thought makes you feel you really wish it were true
>to have every excuse to spend even more time with him
>to check his temperature even when you know he’s healthy
>to hold him at night even when he seems calm and relaxed 
>to do his chores with him even if you have your own to take care of
>you want to revolve yourself around him
…
>what if it becomes a burden to him…
>he’s capable of taking care of himself…
>those little things you do for him amount to nothing compared to what he can do
>it would be a nuisance, you would just get in the way, interjecting into everything he does
>just the thought of being insignificant to him makes you tighten your eyes as tears fall to the ground
>it hurts so much you can barely pull air in to breathe

>https://youtu.be/Zo0M3SeVl8A (and then it happened…)

>you could hear a faint sound 
>a small burst of light in the distance
>everything you were feeling moments ago dropped in an instant
>something inside you knew it was anon
>those were fireworks
>surely it was him
>you sprinted as fast as you could
>constantly checking to see if another one of them would burst in the air giving you directions to him
>it wasn’t far until you came across a field
“ANON, ANON!”
“PLEASE, IT’S ME, APPLEJACK!!!”
“PLEASE, JUST TELL ME YOU’RE OKAY!!!”
>you waited anxiously
>you heard heard a raspy voice
>”AJ… is that you…”
>you followed the voice 
“ANON, YES IT'S ME!”
>you ran straight to him
>as you came across him you saw him laying down taking labored breaths
>you lower your voice to an anxious whisper
“Anon, please tell me you’re okay”
>you push against him with your hoof
>he coughs wildly and get on his knees as he puts his hand against the ground
>he gasps for air as he tries to speak
>”aj… aj, i can hardly move”
>you rub your face against his as you reassure him
“It’s gonna be okay anon, it’s gonna be okay”
“How are you breathing, are you breathing alright?”
>he faces back to the floor and continues to cough
>”hardly…”
>he spits on the ground and wipes his mouth
“Anon don’t you worry sweetheart, i need you to stay right here you understand?”
“Don’t you move a muscle, just sit here and breathe for me alright, steady breathes, your only job is to breathe and wait for me you got it?”
>”yeah… got it…”
>he continues to cough miserably and spit something dark
>in panic you rush back home
>with no regard for those asleep you run upstairs into anons old room
>in a whisper yell you shake the both of them
“Cadence shining, wake up, it's an emergency!”
>”huh, what…”
>cadence rubs her eyes and but shining is at full attention
>”what is it aj?”
“Anon, he’s not doin good, we need to get him to a hospital or something”
>despite cadences previous grogginess she suddenly gets out of bed
>”what time is it, we might be able to make it to the midnight train if we’re fast”
>you rush over to anons clock
>11:23…
>you don’t have much time
“Look, i'm going to wake up applebloom and big mac, you two grab all the bits you have and follow me got it?”
>they both nod in agreement
>after waking up big mac and applebloom and giving them the short version of what's going on the five of you rush towards anon
…
>”ANOOOOON!!!!”
>applebloom yells the second she sees him
>anon looks up just as applebloom jumps right at him
>he falls backwards as applebloom rolls sporadically on top of him in excitement
“APPLEBLOOM NOT NOW!”
>she jumps off of him just as fast as she did onto him
>cadence looks on in worry
>”oh gosh…”
>”shining, look at his arm…”
>anons arm was covered in black spit from wiping his mouth so much
>shining thinks to himself
>”he can’t hold onto you like he did against the changelings, he doesn’t have the strength…”
>everyone goes quiet anxiously thinking of how to move him 
>except for one of you…

>https://youtu.be/wVqwYsXctxk (somber no more, thanks to you best friend)

>you are big mac
>when cadence told you of what anon did, you couldn’t believe it
>that anon went to war for your sake
>you were sad when he told you he wouldn’t be there to say goodbye
>but now you knew why
>and you owe him for it
>you throw him onto your back and bolt for the train station
>the four of them shouted from behind you but you were too focused to pay attention
>keeping him balanced was easy as long as your pacing was consistent
>”big mac… is that you bro?”
>you didn’t respond, you were too focused on getting to that train station
>”ha… it’s damn good to see you…”
>he coughs after forcing out his words
>applejack, applebloom, shining and cadence were close behind you making their way to the station
>shining runs up next to you
>”good thinking there, but are you sure you can get him all the way there?”
>you give a stern nod as you return your focus to getting to the station
>as you got closer to the station you noticed the doors slowly closing
>you weren’t going to let anon down so easily
>you burst through the doors breaking them in the process
>it definitely hurt your head doing that but it was worth it
>the applejack and the rest follow through the opening meekly
>applebloom lowers her head and looks up at you
>”uhh, are we gonna get in trouble for that?”
“Nope”
>you set anon down on the floor and you sit beside him
>you were extremely dizzy after breaking down the door like that
>he lays back against the wall
>he tries to speak but continues to cough 
>shining armour speaks to all of you
>”i’m going to talk to the conductor a second, just sit tight and i'm sure we’ll be in canterlot in no time”
>mere minutes after shining armour went to the front of the train you began making way to canterlot

I want to take a moment to thank you readers for making part 7 my most viewed paste ever
but I want you to also know that HistoriAnon was a major inspiration for me and I hope you guys can check him out on ponepaste as well, thanks again for your support!