Anon in Equestria - Chapter 7

Chapter 7

>...
>"...Anon. Anonymous. WAKE UP!"
>A hoof hits the side of your head, jolting you awake.
>You are leaning against the wall of a cold, dark, empty room.
>You feel like shit.

"Applejack?"
>Your eyes haven't completely adjusted to the dim light.
>"Yeah, it's me. Are ya all right?"
>...
>You try to focus on the orange pony in front of you.
"Wha... What's happening?"
>"Anon. Do you remember? They took us."
>...
"...they..."
>It all starts coming back.
>The fire.
>The shooting.
"Oh god. Applejack, you got hit. are you hurt?"
>She turns to show you the long burn along her side, partially obscuring her apple cutie mark.
"Does it hurt?"
>"A little... Yours is worse."
>The blast of magic had left a large wound on your back.

>"You're lucky to be alive."
>Who the fuck?
>There's another prisoner in the room.
>You can't see him well, but you can tell that he's an old, brown earth pony.
>The closest thing in Equestria to the ponies you have on Earth.
>"Name's Granite. Did they get the rest of your friends, too?"
"How do you know about them?"
>"I know a lot. One hears things when one's been here as long as I have. Also, they have thin walls."
>Sure enough, you hear the sound of arguing from another room somewhere.
"What are they fighting about?"
>"They've been fighting for a long time. Something about Crimson not knowing what he's doing. Sounds serious, doesn't it?"
>The voices are getting louder.
>They're coming here.
>Granite retreats to his corner.

>Crimson enters the room with two other unicorns.
>One of them looks pissed, probably the one who was doing most of the shouting.
>The other one is a friendly looking blue unicorn with glasses.
>Crimson comes a bit closer.
>"I'm glad you're finally here, Anon."
"I know why I'm here: I'm important. But what do you want with Applejack?"
>"I'M ASKING THE QUESTIONS! I only have one... actually, anonymous. I'm hoping you could repeat what you said to me before you tried to kill me. What was it you said?"
>You hesitate and he hits you in the face.
>"WHAT DID YOU SAY?! TELL ME!! TELL ME!!!"
>Crimson hits you again and again.
"STOP!"
>You spit blood on the floor and look him straight in the eyes.
>Crimson has clearly fucking lost it.
>He's unstable and violent; but you have no choice.
"I said: 'The voice told me to kill you.' It spoke to me in a dream. It told me you were going to get in his way and he wanted you dead."
>"LIAR!!!! LIIAAR!" spit flies from his mouth.
>He turns and hits Applejack, punching her onto the floor.
>You leap forward and swing at Crimson in your rage, but his horn glows.
>You are thrown backwards and pinned to the wall.
>Apparently, Crimson got his magic back.
"YOU'RE FUCKING DEAD, CRIMSON!! YOU HEAR ME??!"
>"You want to know why I went through the trouble of bringing Applejack here instead of killing her on the spot?! Because I wanted revenge for what she did to me."
>He smiles, showing his missing teeth.
>"But if you care about her this much, I guess I got more than I bargained for."
>Crimson and the other unicorns leave through the door, locking it behind them.
>You drop to the floor.
"Applejack!"
>You can see a bruise forming under her fur.
>"Yer overreactin', Anon. It's not that bad."
"Applejack, did you hear him? He wants to torture you! You... You have to get out of here!"
>You pull on the door, but it doesn't budge.
"Help me!"
>"It's useless." says Granite, "I've tried everything to open that door."


>It's been many hours since Crimson left.
>You're curled up in a corner with Applejack.
>Granite is sleeping in the adjacent corner.
"Applejack? Are you awake?"
>Her light snoring answers your question.
>Cute.
>The almost peaceful silence is broken by the creaking of the door.
>It opens slowly, revealing the silhouette of a unicorn.
>Thank fucking god it's not Crimson.
>It's the kind-faced bespectacled pony.
>... There's an awkward pause.
>You are still the only prisoner awake.
>"... Uhh. If you wanted to escape... You should do it now..." he nods and walks away, leaving the door open.
>Is this a trick?
>Doesn't matter, you have nothing to lose.

"Applejack, get up. Now."
>"Huh? What is it?" she senses the urgency in your voice.
"The door is open. We're escaping"
>Applejack's fully awake now.
"Let's go!"
>"What about Granite?"
"Do you trust him?"
>She considers it for a moment.
>"I do."
"Good enough for me."

>The three of you hurry into the hallway.
"Which way do we go, Granite?"
>"I-I was always blindfolded. This way I think."
>You go right, but end up with a fork in the road.
>"I can only guess..." Granite says, "Sorry, I just don't know. Maybe we should split up and meet back here in five minutes?"
"Yeah, okay. Applejack and I will try the left passage."
>He nods and hurries away.
>The passage you took leads around a corner and to a single door.
>Applejack's eyes dart around nervously.
>"I don't think this is it, Anon. Let's go back."
"Not yet."
>You approach the door and try the handle.
>It's unlocked.
"Could this be the exit?"
>You push the door open and peer inside.

>Holyfuckingshit.

>...
>What are the chances?
>Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are lying on the floor.
>Right here in front of you are the princesses, whose absence is the cause of all these problems.
>They can solve everything!
>You've done it!
>You've saved Equestria!

>Or not.
>Something is clearly wrong.
>The princesses aren't chained up.
>The door wasn't locked.
>And, they're not moving.
>Even their manes, usually flowing with magic, are still.
>You cautiously kneel down between them.
"Princesses?"
>You lay a hand on each of them-
>and black out.



>Sun.
>For the first time in almost a week you see sun and blue sky.
>A gentle breeze rolls through the short grass that covers the flat landscape.
>Celestia stands before you, her wings stretched out on both sides.
>"Hello, Anonymous."
"Hi... Where are we?"
>"This is Equestria. Well, not exactly. The Equestria you've been living in is the real physical one. This is more of a ... memory of what it was."
>"So... this isn't real? This is all in your head?"
>LUNA:"It is not in my sister's head, Anonymous."
>You turn around and see Princess Luna.
>It is suddenly night, but not cold and uncomfortable like the Equestrian night you had experienced since you came here.
>This night was quiet, dark and peaceful.
>You turn back to Celestia, and the daytime returns.
>CELESTIA:"Luna and I share a powerful connection with each other and with this world."
>LUNA:"That's part of the reason the entity you've been talking to had us captured and sedated, rather than simply removing us from our world like he did to you."
"Woah, slow down. You know about that voice?"
>LUNA:"Yes. We had an interesting talk with him."
"And it's true that he wanted to get rid of you?"
>CELESTIA:"He has a ... task ... he told us about. Something Luna and I could not let him do."
>LUNA:"Unfortunately, not all of our subjects are completely faithful to us. He convinced that  Unicorn Supremacy organization to get us out of the way so we wouldn't interfere."
>CELESTIA:"Despite their misguided actions, you must remember they didn't kill us, sister. That would have been the easier thing to do."
>LUNA:"Perhaps."
"So, what? They just keep you unconscious with some kind of magic."
>LUNA:"A drug, actually. And we're not unconscious, Anon. We're conscious, only, we're here."
"What was the task you wanted to prevent?"
>CELESTIA:"... I think you'll find out soon enough. There's something I wish to tell you before you go back to your friend Applejack."
"Yes?"
>CELESTIA:"I believe there is still hope for this world, but you are not it. You need to go home at the first chance you get. And when you do, never return to Equestria."

...

>LUNA:"It's time for you to wake up now, Anon. Remember, don't make the mistake I did."

>You're back.
>Applejack is looking down on you.
>"Anon, are ya all right?"
"I'm fine Applejack."
>"Are the princesses... dead?"
"No... I talked to them. But we're wasting too much time. We need to get out of here, and there is no way we're carrying two full-sized horses with us. We can come back for them."
>"Okay, let's go."

>Granite is already waiting for you where you split up.
>"I found it! The exit is this way!" he whispers excitedly.
"How far?"
>"It's right down here."
>You follow him through the silent passages.
>After a few minutes, you round a corner and come to a huge open room, like a hangar.
>The far wall has a massive hole that opens into the sky.
>A single miniature zeppelin is in the center of the room.
>Applejack is about to run to it, but you put an arm out to stop her.
"Wait."
>A group of four unicorns is off to the side, discussing something.
>You look back at the zeppelin.
"...Wait..."
>Crimson climbs down from the airship and walks to the group, who promptly stop talking and face him.
"Now!"
>You, Applejack, and Granite hurry quietly to the far side of the zeppelin, where you'll be out of their line of sight.
>None of them saw you.
>There is a staircase up to a raised platform, from which you can board the ship.
>The stairs creak with every step you take, threatening to give away your presence.
>Fortunately, the unicorns are too busy shouting at each other to hear anything.
>When you reach the deck, Granite runs around adjusting the fins on the side of the ship and preparing it for flight.
"You know what you're doing?"
>"Of course I do. Keep your voice down."

>As expected, the unicorns notice when the zeppelin starts to move quickly out into the open sky.
>They shout in confusion and run after it.
>As the ship passes through the opening, you see that the base they were holding you in was built into the side of a huge mountain; probably the same mountain that houses the city of Canterlot.
>A cool wind blows through your hair.
>You look down into the moonlit valley and see the lights of Ponyville in the distance.
>Applejack smiles at you.
>"We did it."

>A series of bright flashes reveals the obvious flaw in your plan: unicorns can teleport.
>Crimson's three henchmen are prepared to open fire, but they stop when they see you.
>Crimson isn't happy that you escaped.
>"KILL HIM!!!! SHOOT!!"
>He's twitching and red-eyed.
>The others look at one another in confusion.
>"I thought he was important."
>"DID I STUTTER!! KIIILL HIIM!!!!" He spits.
>None of them shoot.
>Crimson's rage reaches its peak.
>His eyes glow red and his horn crackles with energy.
>The deck explodes under your feet, launching you to the back of the ship.
>Another explosion destroys a few of the cords that stretch up to the balloon.
>The hull tilts forward and to the right; anything not tied down starts sliding over the edge into the valley below.
>You hear the sound of three unicorns teleporting away to safety.
>Three.
>You get to your feet and see Applejack nearby.
"Applejack! Hold on to something!"
>Another cord snaps and the ship tilts to a more extreme angle.
>Your feet slip out from under you and you grab a rope to keep from sliding off the edge.
>You see Applejack is still hanging on.
>Crimson looks you in the eye and smiles.

>Then he grabs Applejack and they both vanish.