Anon in Equestria Chapter 2: Apples, Apples, Apples.

	As you sit up to yawn and stretch your mind slowly starts to process reality. It takes you a moment before you remember to clap your hands in order to turn on the interior lighting. As you do, you immediate regret it. Your room is immediately illuminated with bright white light, it causes you to curse and throw your blanket over your head. You have a tendency to forget that your room gets rather bright when the light first comes on. You would change the bulbs to something less powerful, but there aren’t any. You figured out early on that your room was enchanted to give off light and to get rid of it with a simple clap of the hands.
	You give yourself a moment before removing your blanket and getting used to the light. Your room is the same as its always been, except you notice your dirty clothing pile starting to add up in the far corner. You’ve yet to find a Laundromat and you don’t have the items needed to wash your clothes. You’re either going to have to talk to Rarity about washing your clothes, or you’ll have to just dump them in the pool and pretend the chlorine will clean up your clothes. Regardless you need to hurry up and get out of bed. You have another day of cleaning and prepping with Pinkie today and the last thing you want to do is be late for work.
	Not knowing the time you realize you have to rush to get ready. Your shower, teeth brushing, toilet time, and dressing took you all of thirty minutes. Soon you’re running down the hallway and crawling out of the bed in Twilight’s basement. When you poke your head out you take a look around the room to find various beakers set upon a table in the center of the room. You see Twilight currently pouring the contents of two beakers into one thick container. The combination causes the liquid within to turn indigo in color. After a few seconds light starts to pulsate from the container, bathing the room in an eerie indigo glow.
	“Mornin’ Twilight, what’s up?” You make your presence known as you climb out of bed. She turns to you, her eyes unreadable due to the goggles she’s wearing, “What you working on?”
	“Science,” She doesn’t elaborate upon it further, instead she turns back to her experiment. She seems intent on seeing this through. When she picks up a third beaker full of green liquid using magic you think it best to simply leave. She seems pretty busy with her work. The last thing you want to do is interrupt her, she’s probably working with something dangerous. With that mindset you climb the stairs and walk out onto the main floor of the library.
As you take a quick look around you couldn’t imagine the state it was in just a month ago. Parasprites and Timberwolves tore this place to the ground, yet Twilight was able to repair her home and replace the destroyed books within a month. You assume being Celestia’s Protégé must get you a lot of perks, hence the library being fixed in such a short amount of time.  When you’ve had your fill of looking around you make your way to the front door. You find Spike sitting at a desk right in front of one of the windows. He’s eating a gem encrusted muffin while watching ponies go about their day.
	“Sup,” he turns his head to face you when he hears you walk by, “heading out to work?”
	“Yup.” you duck down, place your hand upon the door, and freeze. Your stomach rumbling has stopped you dead in your tracks, “hey Spike, you wouldn’t happen to have a muffin without gems would ya?” You’re filled with disappointment when you see Spike shake his head.
	“Nope, sorry Anon, nothing but sapphire muffins here.” He says showing you the gems beneath the delectable chocolate muffin top. You curse under your breath.
	“Thanks anyway,” you say before heading out into the busy P0nyville streets.
	“You’re welcome!” Spike calls as you shut the door. When you disappear down one of P0nyville’s roads Spike turns to his muffin, “I got the day off, I should really do something today,” he turns his gaze towards the kitchen, “But I’ve got three more of these babies sitting in there, tempting.” His voice trails off as he downs the last of his muffin. He heads into the kitchen to grab another…
	“Excuse me, pardon me, coming through.” You weave around mobs of ponies as they go about their day. Some are polite enough to move around for you, others you’re stuck having to squeeze around. You’re in a hurry. You assume you’re already late for work so you have to sprint in hopes of getting there without being too late. You have to admit this is a pretty decent workout, especially since you have to hurdle over low objects every now and again.
	“Hey!” You hear a mare call angrily.
	“Sorry!” You have no time to stick around. After a few minute pass you finally see the gingerbread building come into view. You pump your legs for the home stretch, you’re sweating and your breathing has become ragged, but you don’t care you’re almost there. You burst through the double doors leading into the dining area. You’re panting at this point and you find your legs looking to give out on you, but you made it.
	“Oh Dearie, please sit down,” you hear Mrs. Cake call from behind her register. You nod weakly before lumbering over to a nearby table. You take a seat and try to catch your breath. As soon as you do you find a blue hoof setting a glass of water on your table. You turn to find Mrs. Cake looking over you disapprovingly.
	“How late am I?” You ask between raspy breaths. She responds by shaking her head.
	“Anon, you would’ve been thirty minutes early, if today wasn’t your day off,” Your go from exhausted to totally and utterly confused.
	“What, no one told me that,” You say before grabbing the glass and taking a hearty gulp of the contents within.
	“Didn’t Pinkie Pie give you your schedule?” You shake your head before drinking more of your water, Mrs. Cake sighs before going back behind the nearby counter and picking up a piece of paper with her mouth. When she trots back over and sets the paper down you pick it up and look it over. At this point you realize two things: number one, you really need to invest in both a calendar and a watch. And two, Pinkie Pie needs to remember to give you your schedule so things like this won’t happen again. Better to take care of this problem early then months down the line.
	As you read over your schedule you realize that you have both today and tomorrow off. You start back on Wednesday. Your attention is torn from the paper when you see a sack of bits land on the table. You turn to Mrs. Cake to find her smiling.
	“As you can see you aren’t needed today. Here’s your pay for last week, go ahead get some breakfast and enjoy your day.” This married mare has to be one of the sweetest in P0nyville. After you’ve caught your breath, and with your glass empty, you look over your pay. You open your sack to find forty bits figuratively staring back at you. Unfortunately you have no idea how much money you actually have. You’ve seen things priced for five bits here that you’d see for ten or more dollars back on your world. This is yet another thing you have to get used to here.
	At least this world is similar to yours. You’re thankful Twilight taught you what she could, but there are still some things she hasn’t covered yet. You’re due for another tutoring session with her, but with her doing her science business that’s out of the question for today. So what are you going to do? First you’ll probably stop by Mocha’s Café and pick up some coffee, and then you’ll just wing it from there. After thanking Mrs. Cake and recovering from your run, you get up and head out, bits in hand. As soon as the door shuts Pinkie rushes down the stairs in a blur of pink.
	“Hi Nonny!” Pinkie shouts excitedly. She’s got a wide grin on her face, she’s standing on her hind hooves, and her front hooves are open for a hug. But with her eyes being closed she doesn’t see that you’re not in the room. Mrs. Cake clears her throat.
	“Uh Pinkie, Anon left.” Pinkie opens her eyes and looks around to find that Mrs. Cake is right.
	“Aw, drat. Oh well I’ll just get ‘em when I get off work!” With that gleeful proclamation Pinkie bounces off into the kitchen in order to get started on her day of baking. Mrs. Cake takes her place back behind the counter…
	Your walk to the café was fairly uneventful. All in all it was an average day both for you and the town ponies. You would return the occasional wave or say good morning to those you’ve seen before, but other than that there wasn’t much to do other than look around at the same homes you’ve passed by time and time again. As the café comes into sight something does surprise you enough to cause you to stop.
	You find Applejack making her way through town, she’s currently stuffing rolled up pieces of parchment into a pair of brown saddlebags. You assumed this would be something normal, that is until you saw her tussled blonde mane and baggy, blood shot eyes. It looks like she hasn’t gotten any sleep in days. Needless to say you’re a little worried for your acquaintance. As you approach she turns to you her eye lids close for a few moments before she yelps and smacks herself awake.
	“Hey Applejack,” you wave, “What’s up?” You squat down to her level. She has to shake her head in order to keep herself awake. She squints before answering.
	“Oh! Well ya see I’ve been working myself to the bone bucking these apples. Big Mac hurt himself last week so I’ve gotta do it alone.” That explains why she hasn’t been getting to sleep. If she’s got to do hers and her brother’s work then that leave little time to sleep. You don’t know much about apple bucking, but you know that apples will eventually rot if left alone.
	“That sucks, I’m sorry to hear about that. Send Mac my best wishes.” Applejack nods.
	“If I can get home, I was supposed to come to town to pick up some papers for Granny, but everyp0ny’s seems to need me for something! Did ya know Dash had me catapult her outta town?” She yawns and smacks her lips before shaking her head rapidly.
	“Weird.” Seeing Applejack in the state she’s in is cause for alarm to you. You remember how large Sweet Apple Acres was from your first visit. She can’t possibly do all of that work alone.
	“You know, if you need any help you can ask me.” She raises a hoof to stop you.
	“No can do Anon, gotta do it on my own!” She can’t possibly expect you to just accept that as an answer.
	“Applejack, seriously, look at you, when was the last time you got some sleep?” You cross your arms and wait. It takes her a moment to register what you’ve just said. It only helps to drive your point home.
	“I’m gonna tell you what I told Twilight yesterday, I don’t need any sleep! I just need to get my work done!” Her angry tone and glare startles you. Perhaps you’re not the first one to tell her this. Instead of snapping at her you hold up your hands dismissively.
	“Calm down AJ, I’m just worried about you,” Her eyes widen when she realizes just how she came off as.
	“Oh shoot. Sorry about that, just been a little stressed lately.” She turns her back to you and trots off in the direction of her home, “I gotta go, see you later, sorry again!” she shouts back. Her little back and forth with you has done little to put your mind at ease.
	As Applejack disappears from sight you can’t help but think you should walk after her. But if she was like that at the mere mention of getting help, then being forced to take on help might make things worse. You decide it best to just leave things as they are. She’ll probably overwork herself to a point to where she’ll be forced to ask for help. When that happens you’ll be waiting to lend a hand.
	With that in mind you head towards the café. The closer you get, the more ponies you see hanging out outside the building. Dozens of them eagerly await their orders and from the windows you can see that it’s virtually the same inside as it is outside. Utter chaos has swept up the little café as employees inside rush from patron to patron. Each carries their own enlarged tray filled with various items. You find Mocha standing on a single, solitary table in the center of the café. She’s barking orders to every employee that comes by her. Judging by that crazed look in her eye it seems she’s not used to this and she’s starting to lose it. Where could the manager be?
	As you push through the crowds and enter the building the compilation of various voices nearly deafens you. Their banter causes so much noise you’re not even able to hear your feet as they step across the tile flooring. You’re forced to cover your ears in hopes of deafening the sea of clamor. As you get closer to Mocha you can feel ponies tugging at your jeans.
	“Hey there hero,” some exclaim, “Hey its Anon!” Others shout. Suddenly the ponies that were enjoying their time with each other seem to swarm you. Each has their own comment about how you helped them get rid of their problem. It’s been a month, you were hoping that the glamor would have faded, but apparently it hasn’t for everyone.
	So you do what you do best, you smile and wave. As the crowd draws closer you notice that in places where the ponies were standing there are quite a lot of broken dishes and spilled liquids. You motion to Mocha who simply nods in response. The staff that hasn’t been overwhelmed comes into the room with mops and buckets. They clean at the speed of Dash, using your appearance as a distraction. Once the messes have been taken care of, and the signs placed, the staff heads into the back to take care of all the orders that have been neglected.
	For twenty minutes you’re standing there shaking hooves, holding foals, and trying your best not to run out the door. Mocha sees your distress from behind your strained smile. Lucky for you she has your back.
“Okay everypony your orders are ready!” There must have been magic somewhere in that kitchen, because sure enough pony after pony comes out of the double doors in the back. Each has a tray of food in hoof. The ones who’ve already gotten to talk to you make their way back to their tables in order to eat. Inadvertently you’ve helped out the café by simply being here. Bit by bit the ponies slowly leave you and go back to their meals, some insisting that you join them, while others are hurriedly trying to fill their bellies.
	With the floor being clear again, and with the drowning on of various conversations filling the air yet again, you make your way over to a sweating, exhausted looking Mocha.
	“You picked the best time to show up,” she says, panting.
	“Yeah, what the hell’s going on?” you ask as you motion to the crowds of ponies hanging out in the café.
	“Them, they’re here for Applejack. She’s getting a trophy for being the most dependable pony. While you were off doing Celestia knows what she saved the town from a stampeding group of cows. The Mayor decided to give her a ceremony to go with the trophy.” Well that explains the crowded streets this morning. Mocha decides to sit on the table and stretches her wings. As she looks over them you find that she’s managed to make a mess of them. At some point it looks like she spilled some coffee on her wings. Sticky black liquid drips from her feathers, causing some of them to stick together. Mocha lets out a whimper before collapsing on the table, “I just want the day to end so I can go home, preen, and soak.”
	“You’ll be fine Mocha, this can’t be worse than the day Discord left, and I had no idea Applejack stopped a stampede. How’d she do it?” One of the other employees cuts your conversation short.
	“Hey Mocha, table nine said Vanilla Bean got their order wrong, since I’m taking care of eight and ten can you take care of that?" She groans in frustration before folding her wings back and getting off of the table.
	“Fine, I better get a promotion for this,” she turns to you before adding, “Listen Anon, if you want something you can go ahead and order, but you’ll be waiting about an hour or so.” You don’t like the sound of that at all.
	“Yeah I think I’ll just wait for the ceremony to blow over before getting something to eat, good luck.” You hear her mutter her reply under her breath.
	“I’m gonna need it.” When she heads over to what you believe to be table nine you make your way back outside. You wave goodbye to the conglomeration of ponies that wish you a good day. You sigh as you get back outside and right into yet another crowd. They part like a sea for you. You walk through them rubbing your temples all the while. Your day off is shaping out to be an annoying one and it hasn’t even hit noon yet. You take to the streets on Ponyville, hoping to find something to do that doesn’t involve you having to deal with too many ponies…
	To your misfortune there are more ponies out and about now than there were an hour ago. As the multi-colored crowds pass you by you can see they’re heading in the direction of Town Hall. As you pass over one of the bridges you find Twilight setting up a podium on a stage in front of the mayor’s building. As she works on setting that up you find Rarity putting decorations on the trees around the area. She’s thrown glitter onto the leaves of the trees, multi colored streamers hand low from the branches, and she tops them off by wrapping red ribbons around the bases of each. Rainbow and Fluttershy are doing their part to prepare as well. The two are working together to put banners on Town Hall, each has a symbol of an apple stitched into them. If Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash are busy setting up then Pinkie probably isn’t too far behind.
	“Hi Nonny!” Pinkie’s ecstatic voice coming from right behind you causes you to yelp in fear. You nearly jump out of your skin when you feel Pinkie’s hooves latch onto your shoulders from behind. She repositions herself so she’s facing you from the front. You’re forced to place your hands on her flanks in order to keep her from falling. She giggles happily before nuzzling your cheek.
	“H-hey Pinkie, what are you doing out here? I thought you had to work today.” Pinkie nods.
	“Oh don’t be silly, I AM working, see?” She removes a hoof and points toward the stage. You find long, rectangular table with dozens of sweets and drinks laid out for whatever pony wants them. Cakes, muffins, cupcakes, brownies, soda, milk, and various other treats decorate it. Of course it’d have something to do with baked goods. Pinkie’s voice brings you back to attention, “Don’t those look great Nonny?”
	“Yeah they do, it reminds me that I didn’t get to eat yet.” Pinkie gasps at your simple comment before leaping out of your arms. Her single front hoof seems to stretch as it wraps around your hand.
“That’s no good at all, come with me I’ll solve that in a jiffy!” she exclaims as she drags you closer to the ever growing crowd of ponies. A few stragglers in the back turn to you and wave, others laugh at your misfortune. If these ponies could understand what giving them the middle finger meant, you know you’d be using it to its fullest extent right about now. You try to pull away from Pinkie but it’s like you’re caught in a bear trap. There’s no way you’re escaping from her grip. Slowly but surely the two of you wade through the crowds and up to the snack bar. From there she finally releases you to show you what all she has available.
	“We’ve got cupcakes, marshmallows, chocolate, cake, muffi—“Here’s where you start to tune her out as she goes on and on about the nearly endless selection of sweets. You like Pinkie’s enthusiasm and near eternal state of happiness, but you have a limit. You’ve thought it once and you’ve thought it again, this mare is sugar in its purest form. From her pink cotton candy mane and tail to her bubblegum like body, and even her bright pink coat. Everything just screams happiness and excitement.
	You act fast when Pinkie finally stops talking long enough to give you a paper plate. In a blur of pink she starts stacking confectionary goods on your plate at the speed of a bullet train. Soon you have to balance a leaning tower of cupcakes and muffins, along with a bottle of soda. Just by looking at the variety of muffins and cupcakes on your plate you feel yourself developing diabetes. There is no way Pinkie expects you to eat all of this alone. If you set this plate on the ground you’re fairly certain this tower would rival you in height.
	As you’re pondering just what you’re going to do with all of this food you feel Pinkie pushing you in a random direction.
	“Pinke you do realize I can’t eat all this right?” You look between her pushing you and the tower of food nervously.
	“Well duh! It’s for you and me!” She answers you as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. You lean and look around your tower to find that she’s leading you to a picnic table. Thankfully it’s pretty far away from the crowd so you’ll be able to eat in piece. With a sigh of relief you finally get to set down your tower and soda. When you take your seat Pinkie takes a spot next to you, “So what do you wanna try first?”
	Not the most nutritious breakfast in the world, but at least it's filling. You squint as you look over the tower. A single blueberry muffin seems to call out to you along one of the sides of the tower. You point to it and before you can say anything Pinkie swipes it. The tower of treats makes no indication of having ever been disturbed. As she hands you your muffin your curiosity gets the better of you.
“Pinkie, how did you do that?” You look at the area were Pinkie grabbed your muffin, and it looks like it was never even there to begin with. You know that if you pulled it the whole thing would have come toppling down on top of you.
	“How did I do what?” In the time it takes you to answer her she manages to scarf down three cupcakes in a single bite.
	“How did you grab my muffin and those cupcakes without knocking anything over?” She looks to the treats, and then she turns back to you and shrugs.
	“I don’t know, I just took them,” She takes another cupcake from the tower and eats it, “See, that’s all there is to it.”
	“That’s it?” Pinkie nods, “Really?” She nods again, “You know what, I’m just gonna go with it.” Pinkie smiles.
“Good, hurry up and eat if you wanna get a good spot. Applejack is gonna be here any minute.” With that in mind you take a large bite of your treat and revel in the taste that follows.
	While you’ve been busy in Equestria, Discord, Screwball, and Eris have been doing their own brand of work. For the time you’ve been gone Discord, with the help of his daughters, have brought Earth an entirely new brand of chaos the likes of which humans have never seen.  At least, that’s what Discord was hoping he would bring. As it turns out, Earth is already bathed in chaos. The Middle East continues to wage war with itself. Rome, Italy, and France have become bankrupt. Looting in the streets has become a common sight within their borders. China is looking to cash in on the debt various countries owe it, with force if necessary. The world is already burning…
	“Woo hoo!” Screwball screams from atop her Abrams Tank. She’s currently holding onto the main gun for with all she has while Eris operates from within. The two speed through the sand dunes of the Sahara. The hot, dry air is masked by the wind whipping past her face. Both are having the time of their lives. Screwball surveys the area before a particularly large sand dune comes into sight a few miles off. She licks her cracked lips before turning to face the tank itself, “Hey Eris!”
	“Yeah?” Eris calls from inside.
	“See that big hill over there?” Eris’ head pokes out from the top of the tank. She looks over to where Screwball’s pointing and slowly but surely a smile starts to form. She ducks back inside the tank and makes a sharp turn towards the dune. The tank speeds up, Screwball watches as the area around her becomes a mere blur of tan. Her cheeks start to puff out to comical proportions, exposing her teeth and gums to the harsh, sand filled wind. She hacks and coughs as sand starts to get stuck in her teeth, but the thought of flying through the air keeps it from distracting her from what’s to come.
	“We aren’t going fast enough!” As if on cue a purple aura forms around the tank and soon it doubles in speed. Screwball’s grip tightens as the dune quickly draws near. At this point their vehicle is having trouble maintaining the speed, the sound of metal cracking under stress can be heard as the treads of the tank start breaking, but with the magic keeping it going the tank doesn’t slow down. The tank takes to the air after it hits the dune, now more of a sled than an actual vehicle. The two scream with joy as they go higher and higher into the air, then all at once their fun comes to an end when the tank slams face first into the sand. The impact launches Screwball many yards into it. Eris ends up crawling out of the top in a dazed state. She limply falls to the sand and she tries to set her eyes straight only to fail. She can’t even stand in her state.
	“W-whoa,” Eris manages to crawl a few feet before collapsing. As she recovers from the impact Screwball manages to climb out of the hole she made. Once she manages to pull herself out she crawls over to Eris, climbs on top of her, and flops down in a heap.
	“That. Was. Awesome,” Screwball says with a wide grin. Eris opens an eye and looks up to her sister.
	“Get off of me,” Eris snakes her way out from under Screwball and gets to her feet. She wipes off the grit that managed to collect upon her coat and scales. When she feels she’s removed enough sand she looks over the remains of the tank. Over half of it is buried and the remaining parts of the treads lay strewn across the area. The longer she looks over the tank remains the more her mind starts to process possibilities with which to do with them. Her thoughts are a blur as she starts playing scenarios in her head.
	Maybe she can set it ablaze and set off the ammunition stored within, see what sort of ‘fireworks’ come about as a result. She could turn it into a flying turtle and fly through the skies.  Perhaps its excrements would be the ammunition. That way they could figuratively bomb a place they fly over. Or she could just pick up the shredded pieces of metal and fling them into the sky, just to see where they land. Eris could even ignore the mess. Instead she, along with Screwball, can go mess with something else. What manner of mayhem could they cause? All of these possibilities whirring about cause her to grimace. She rubs her temples in hopes of quelling the headache that’s come about from her thoughts.
	She’s been experiencing these for the past few weeks now since coming to Earth. Whenever she thought of something fun to do, it was as if her mind would auto pilot a nearly endless supply of options, each one more tempting and violent than the last. But, the intricacies of these plans were not something she’d want to take part in. That was her father’s territory. She liked simple pranks where no one would end up hurt as a result. But ever since coming here the thought of the repercussions involving human victims became less of a priority. Just an hour ago the two of them ran over a soldier when they stole the tank. It didn’t kill him but with those legs being nothing but jelly he’ll never walk again.
When she realized that this didn’t bother her, she was scared. In fact, the more she thought about it, the more she started to wonder just how versatile a human body can be when exposed to chaos. After all, you did a fair job when introduced to their magic, maybe they-
	“Hey Eris, what’s up? Got another headache?” Eris nods while trying to rid herself of it. She never had to worry about feeling like this back in Equestria. That and she didn’t have to worry about seeing sentient creatures trying to kill each other with bigger and better toys. Maybe it was time for her to pay her favorite human a visit. After all he’s probably gotten so lonely without her there. As the discomfort starts to fade a lazy smile spreads across her lips. Yeah, she decides she’s going to see how you’re doing. She’s just got to get to Discord’s place of business and let him know where she’s going. She doesn’t want her dad to worry. Last thing she wants is for him to tear this planet apart in search of her.
	“Yeah Screwball, I’m fine, and I’ve got a brilliant idea.” Screwball gasps as Eris snaps her talons and disappears from sight. She looks around the desert for a moment before leaning back and shouting into the air.
	“I’m telling daddy you left me here!” She exclaims before her propeller beanie whirrs to life. Screwball hovers in place for a moment before flying off in a random direction. She’s a purple streak contrasting with the tan color of the sand below…
	While Screwball makes her way off to who knows where Eris has made it to her destination. She appears upon the snowcapped mountain known as Mount Everest. Unlike the creatures she’s come to see, Eris is unaffected by the unbearably freezing temperatures or thin atmosphere. She stares on at the endless expanse of snow that covers the mount of Earth that dared to reach to the heavens. The wind whips her disheveled mane back and forth masking her vision of the chimera that’s taken to sitting upon a mound of snow.
	Discord sits upon a single pile of the stuff. It vaguely resembles a throne of sorts. He chuckles to himself as he watches the blistering winds carry flakes of snow around the bleak landscape. When Eris makes her way over he turns his head to look at her.
“Hey there,” he greets her with a smile and a small wave. Eris pulls her hair back and looks at her father in confusion.
	“What’re you doing here? There aren’t any precious humans here.” She raises a brow when Discord points to the throne he’s sitting on. He starts off with a chuckle.
	“Oh I’m well aware of that, but think of it like this: I’m currently sitting on top of the highest point on this planet. That means that every living thing is currently under my flank. My ass is the highest point on Earth,” he trails off as his chuckling turns into full blown laughter. As Eris floats higher than where her father is sitting his laughter is cut short, “Eris you don’t understand I need this, please sit.” Eris shakes her head in disappointment, “Bah you’re no fun,” he crosses his arms and leans back in his snow seat. “So why are you here?” He goes back to watching the snow fall.
	“I’m leaving.” Discord’s eyes widen in shock.
	“Where are you going, how long will you be gone?” And just like that he’s gone from a lunatic to a semi responsible parent.
	“I’m going back to Equestria.” Discord opens his mouth to speak, but when he remembers why she’d go back in the first place he goes from shock to annoyed.
	“Really, you’ve been gone a month. I’m sure he’s fine.”
	“There’s more to it than that-“Eris is cut off when her head starts to throb. She grunts in annoyance before putting her claws to her temple, “These damn headaches are pissing me off. I didn’t have this problem there.” The constant pounding causes her to shut her eyes while she tries to remedy her problem. She doesn’t see the small smile creeping up on Discord’s lips.
	“You know what, go right ahead.” Discord waves his talons dismissively. When the pain subsides, and when Eris opens her eyes again she sees her father has turned back to watch the snow fall. Eris grumbles to herself.
	“Fine, see ya,” And with a snap of her fingers she disappears in a brilliant flash of purple light. When Discord is alone again he looks over the snow. When a single flake comes a little too close he reaches out and pokes it. Immediately it turns to a bright shade of green. Like a chain reaction each individual flake of snow soon becomes its own unique color until a plethora or frozen pieces of color fall in place of snow. The once pure white ground gives way to the madness that is sure to consume the once peaceful solitary mountain.
	“It’s only a matter of time Eris,” he says to himself as he watches the ground around him become corrupted with the multitudes of hues. Slowly but surely the color bleeds out onto the snow, it snakes its way across the endless expanse turning the rock into a mere shell of its former self…

“Well, that went on forever,” you grumble to yourself. The entire ceremony for Applejack seemed to drag on for a while. At first poor Twilight tried her hardest to deliver a proper speech for her friend, but Fluttershy, Pinkie, and a few others interrupted her. Then the Mayor came up wearing a grin and Twilight couldn’t stand it anymore. The Mayor approaching the stage signaled that Twilight’s time was over.
Knowing that she let out a frustrated groan, and then she threw her speech into the air. You couldn’t help but laugh at the situation. Very rarely have you seen Twilight get into such a state. Unfortunately she saw you laughing and she cut her eyes at you. It’s too bad you’re twice as tall as the pony populace around you. You couldn’t hide that it was you chuckling. She is definitely going to chew you out when you head home tonight.
As of right now though, you’re helping out Applejack by carrying her trophy home. You can’t believe they actually gave her such a hefty item as an award. You figured she’d get a certificate or maybe a medal, but a full blown trophy that almost rivaled you in size? It was a bit much, at least to you it was. The worst part was that no one made a single move to help out the exhausted apple pony with it.
Maybe they knew how stubborn she was, or maybe they would have simple gave up if she told them she had it handled. She tried that with you when you walked up and plucked it off her back. Instead of acknowledging her you instead carried her trophy toward Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack gave chase, obviously angry by you blatantly ignoring her, but you didn’t care.
You weren’t about to have her carry a heavy object home while carrying apple baskets. It doesn’t matter if you still harbored some resentment for what happened your first week, it wouldn’t be right to have her do this alone.  She’s already got enough weight to deal with as it is.
Admittedly you probably should have gotten a pony to carry it. Her apple farm is quite a ways off and your arms were starting to get tired. The trophy probably weighed well over sixty pounds and your arms were going to pay for it tomorrow. Still you trudged on, much to the dismay of Applejack.
“Dang it Anon I told ya’ll to drop it.” You look to see the farm in the distance. It won’t be too long now, you’ve basically made it.
“Well too bad, you need help and you’re too damn stubborn to ask for it.” You turn to see her baggy, blood shot eyes stare angrily back.
“I don’t need anypony’s help! You’re just being overbearing, you dang human. “She growls before casting her eyes to the side. You chuckle to yourself when you see her blush. You get that she’s a proud pony mare who can take care of herself, but that doesn’t matter to you at the moment. It must be embarrassing to have someone helping her.
“You’re right, I am.” You offer her a strained smile.
“Look at you, you’re sweating and your arms are shaking. Just let me—“you cut her off.
“No.” Applejack tries again, and you interrupt her with another no. The two of you continue back and forth for what little distance remained. As soon as your feet touched the front porch of her home you set the trophy down. A single, loud exhale escapes you before you start panting.
You were ignoring it for the most part, but when your body was finally given relief the fatigue of what you’ve just done makes itself apparently. Sweat pours down your face and your body feels as though it’s on fire. How you managed to ignore it for this long is a miracle. You find yourself taking a seat on her front steps in order to recuperate
“See, if ya’ll just let me carry it you wouldn’t be tuckered out,” she lets out a yawn as she finishes trying to reprimand you.
“And if you’d just ask for help you wouldn’t be either.” You retort before shooting a tired grin her way. She’s angry enough to start shaking. The muscles in her eye begin to twitch, and you swear you can hear a teakettle boiling.
“AND I TOLD YOU I DIDN’T NEED ANY HELP!” Gale force winds blow your hair back and the sweat off of your body. You blink a few times; shocked by the amount of volume she managed to blast in your face. You mat your hair back down before chuckling.
“Applejack, you seem really, really mad. I think you need some sle—“now it’s her turn to interrupt you.
“And I don’t need no sleep neither!” She doesn’t give you an opportunity to respond. After a frustrated growl she grabs her trophy with her teeth, walks inside, and then slams the door behind her. You sigh to yourself before turning to look at the orchard.
“You’re welcome,” you murmur. As you catch your breath from the labor you just put yourself through, you can’t help but recall the events that led you to this exact orchard in the first place. You feel a bit nostalgic as you visualize yourself having Winona bound up to you, her leading you to the barn nearby, and Fluttershy tricking you into molesting her.
And how could you forget the fight with Big Mac that nearly cost you your life? You find it hard to believe that it’s been a month since that time. While you’re busy reminiscing, the stallion in question trots out of a nearby apples cellar. When he spots you he quickly approaches.
“Well howdy there Anon.” You shake your head of your day dream.
“Oh, uh, hey Mac, how’s it going?” You smile before scooting out of the way so he can grab a seat. As he trots past you can’t help but notice the bandages he has wrapped around his mid-section, “ouch man, what happened?” He winces when he takes a seat on the porch.
“Farming accident, I was trying to stack up the rotten apples we collected, and the entire pile fell on me. Put me out for the season.” He grimaces as he recalls the event.
“That sucks, sorry to hear about it. So what, did Applejack think she could do your share and hers this season?” This gets Macintosh to laugh. He shakes his head.
“My sister’s as stubborn as a mule. I told her it’d be too much for her to handle, but she insists she can do it.” You shrug in response.
“No offense Mac, but she looks like shit. She’s going to end up hurting herself if she doesn’t stop.”
“Eeyup. She’s been falling asleep while bucking,” he points to his noggin before adding, “ended up getting hit in the head on more than one occasion.”
“Why does she keep refusing help? This is getting ridiculous.”
“It’s because she’ll compare herself to one of them dainty mares, the kind that can’t lift a hoof without some help. She’s proven time and time again that she’s tough, but it just isn’t enough.”
“I can see what you mean, the only reason why she accepted my help was because I didn’t give her a choice.” You chuckle to yourself before gingerly rubbing your left bicep. You think you probably pulled a muscle from the constant straining.
“What did ya’ll help her with?”
“She got this huge trophy from the Mayor, and she was gonna carry that AND the apples on her back.” You shake your head as you think about how disastrous that could have been.
“Ya’ll pull something partner?” you find Macintosh looking at where you’re massaging.
“Probably, that thing was heavy- fuck!” a single spasm sends pain coursing throughout your entire arm. You turn to Macintosh with a pained expression, “Do you guys have any painkillers?” You curse again when he shakes his head.
“Nope, we can’t afford them fancy pills and prescriptions. If you went to the hospital I’m sure they could give you something?” You look at the bits lining your pockets. You could easily lose all of them if you bought pain medication. If you did, you’d probably have to ask Twilight for a handout.
“I think I’ll take my chances with a warm bath,” You get to your feet after that, intent on getting home as soon as possible, “it was nice talking to you Mac. We should hang out sometime when you’re not messed up.” Macintosh’s eyes widen when he remembers something important.
“Actually, me and a few buddies of mine were thinking of going to my Uncle Orange’s bunk- I mean cabin in a few days. We always go up there to celebrate the first week of spring. Wanna come along?” You start thinking of the potential bits lost in going on a vacation.
“I’ll see what I can do. If I’m broke then I got to stay. Need bits for food and such.”
Then Big Mac starts sweating, “Anon, I’ll give you enough food and supplies to last you a week if you come along.” You’re taken aback to say the least. What could be happening to make him want to bring you on his vacation so badly?
“Whoa, what’s going on Mac?” Macintosh gulps nervously before shifting his eyes.
“Let’s just say, the first week of spring in any town of Equestria is a bad place to be if you’re a stallion.”
“But I’m not a stallion, I’m a human.” You’re sure to point to yourself for emphasis. Having fingers alone separates you from them.
“You’re a guy ain’t ya? It might not matter.” That statement alone causes unnecessary paranoia to seep in.
“W-what are you talking about?” Big Macintosh leans in and you do in turn. Whatever it is he doesn’t want anyone else to hear.
“Ya see Anon, during spring there’s this thing called est—“Macintosh is interrupted by the front door swinging open.
“Dang it Anon why don’t get on outta here! I said I don’t need any help!” Applejack comes wobbling out of the home. Her tired eyes stare angrily into yours.
“In a minute Applejack, your brother was trying to tell—“Applejack cuts you off.
“I don’t care what Macintosh was trying to tell you, if you don’t skedaddle I’m gonna sick Winona on you!” You don’t know if it’s the pain in your arm, her attitude, or the gravity of what Mac is trying to tell you, but for the first time in a month you lose it.
“You know, after nearly getting me KILLED I thought you would have had a little bit of leeway with me! But I guess I’m wrong there huh?” You walk up the stairs and kneel down to Applejack’s level.
“How dare you? You’ve got a lot of nerve bringing that up.”
“How dare YOU act this way? I even busted my ass carrying that trophy for you. I don’t need some god damn pony threatening me.” You lean in and she meets you half way. You’re nose to muzzle at this point, you and her are staring each other down with absolute hatred.
“I’ve been real patient with you Anon, you’ve been pushing it and pushing it, but no matter how many times I say “no” you don’t stop. You obviously don’t care enough to listen to me. “
“Well maybe if you weren’t so damn stupid I wouldn’t have to push. You’re running yourself ragged, and all because you can’t admit that you need help. Then you have the audacity to pull this? We get it Applejack, you’re a strong mare. Now swallow your pride and stop being an idiot.” She grinds her teeth at your statement.
“Ya know what? If you don’t leave now I’m gonna beat you myself.” Judging by how she’s glaring you know she’s more than willing to do so. And you don’t want to put your hands on your friend’s sister. You’ve got a lot more respect for Macintosh then that.
“Fuck. You. Cunt.,” your words are laced with malice. What few thoughts you had of potentially making a decent friend out of Applejack is long gone now, “I’m outta here. Fucking Stetson hat wearing hick.” You step off the porch and walk the dirt path toward the entrance.
“And don’t you bother coming back!” You respond to Applejack’s final call by giving her the middle finger. You know she doesn’t understand the meaning, but that doesn’t mean you can’t feel better about it. As you make your way down the path to Ponyville you try to take this time to calm down. Unfortunately for you it doesn’t work.
“God damn horse!” You wind up shouting before kicking a nearby tree. You can’t believe Applejack just did that. You tried with her just then, you really did. But it looks like there was no reason to. You were better off just letting her carry that trophy herself, and hopefully getting hurt from it.
Your day couldn’t get any worse, at least that’s what you thought. You had to help out Mocha with the pony crowds, you sat through a long ceremony, you volunteered to help the ungrateful Applejack, and to top it all off you’re now hurt and no longer allowed on Apple property. You wind up kicking another tree out of anger.
This tree violently shakes from the impact of your foot. Suddenly a creature falls from the branches higher up, and you hear it start to scream as it falls. Instinctively you look up and to find some black thing falling towards you. Its face collides with yours, knocking you off balance.
You end up on your back and the creature ends up on its side in front of you. In no time at all you’re too your feet, the animal seems to be having a hard time shaking off the blow. You use this time to take in its appearance. After a few moments opens its pupil-less cyan eyes and looks up at you before scrambling to its hooves. You see insect like wings buzzing on its back helping it stand.
Like the ponies you’ve come to know this thing seems to be about the same size as them. It even has the same body shape, but its coat is pure black in appearance and from the impact you could tell it was anything but soft. It didn’t help that it had some bent horn sticking out of its head. In a way it was like some insect version of an alicorn. You spot two little fangs protruding from its muzzle. Whatever this thing is, it’s a carnivore.
“What the hell are you supposed to be?” you ask yourself more than it. The creature dons an angry glare and hisses at you. It seems like you’ve made it mad by knocking it out of its tree. When its horn starts to glow your eyes widen in fear. This thing was capable of using magic. Before you can react a solid beam of green light erupts from its horn and hits you square in the chest.
The force from the impact knocks you onto your back and immediately you can feel your skin burning away from the area you were hit. You shout in pain before rolling around, your hands frantically pat the area in a vain hope of stopping a flame that isn’t even there. As you do the creature slowly approaches you, its horn glowing again with that sickly green light. When it gets close you look up to see it lowering its head towards yours…