Descent (Gilda/Anon) - Part 6

>The void shudders along with you at the declaration.  At once, the space around you collapses in on itself, allowing faint halos of light to appear beyond your closed eyes.  Bringing your hand up you force them open.
>A moment of adjusting to the light reveals the cave leering back at you.  You allow your fingers to touch your neck again, feeling the scabs where punctures should be.  The skin is rough and cold, unpleasant to say the least.
>Sitting up, your eyes rove around the room, your head shaking as reality sets in.  You are alive, and if the thing inside you has anything to say about it, you will be for a long, long time.
“Great.”
>Feeling the cold weight in your stomach, you turn and look towards Gilda.  You regret your decision an instant later.
>The gryphon’s face has been rendered almost unrecognizable.  A huge chunk of her head has become caved in from your blow, her right eye hanging outside of what remains of its socket.
>Gilda’s left eye, wide and blood shot, glares out at you with a sort of crazed glee, her beak stuck in a permanent expression of surprise.  With quivering fingers, you reach up and pull the rock from her skull.
>Giving a slurping squish, the weapon comes easily, bringing with it blood, mixed with swirls of grey.  The stone clatters to the ground as you turn and vomit.
>She’s dead, no doubt about that, and the puddle of bile glaring up at you only further drives home your own state.  As your stomach acids mingle with the blood and refuse from your pact with Gilda, you feel your body begin to move on its own.  Away from the mess.

>You’re perfectly okay with that, even in your current condition, you could probably manage a few more upchucks like that one.  With the burning sensation still in your mouth and throat, you shuffle away from the scene.  Once a safe distance, you pull your knees to your chest and stare up into the ceiling.
>After several minutes of nearly breaking down in confusion, you steady yourself, taking stock of your situation.
>You’re alive.  Gilda’s dead.  Your neck, aside from the blood drying there, doesn’t feel like there’s anything wrong with it.  The sensation of Gilda’s talons in your neck is distinct, you’re quite certain it happened.  And the shadow thing hasn’t approached you.
>“Why would I, when I have such a comfortable space here?”
>Her voice comes from everywhere at once, echoing inside your ears.  You grit your teeth and scowl at the darkness.
“Get out.”
>“Oh my dear, such a lack of manners.  We’ll have to fix that.”
>Bringing your palm to your eye, you snarl as your head pounds.  Grinding your molars against one another, you steady yourself and stumble to your feet.  Her voice pursues you without hesitation.
>“Come along darling, don’t be so crude, I’m only trying to make you better.”
“Better dead.”
>The voice tutts, but quiets as you pick up a rock.  Turning the jagged edge towards you, you jerk your arm down towards your head.
>But the blow never comes.
>The mother chuckles a little and you find yourself shaking your head.  The stone, perched precariously near your skull, refuses to move.  More exactly, your arm simply won’t respond, no matter how hard to tell it to flex.
>“I won’t let you ruin this for me, Anonymous.”

>Grunting, you toss the rock away.  Your body complies with the action, and you return to sulking.
>“Anonymous, be a dear and clean yourself up, would you?  We’ll be having company stop by before the day is out.”
>When you refuse to move, you can feel your body sigh in agitation.  Moving of their own will, your hands reach up and, taking the remnants of your shirt, begin to wipe down your face and neck.
>“Gryphons are such vile creatures, wouldn’t you agree?  Clean on the outside but filthy within.  You’ve done the world a favor.”
>Don’t respond Anonymous, she can’t keep talking to herself forever.
>“Still so cold.  You had better get used to this, Anonymous, I would hate for something to happen to us.”
>In your frustration, you regain control of your hands and grab at the sides of your head, snarling.  It takes a moment to recognize that you’re back in control, but the realization leaves you ecstatic.
“That’s right, this is still my body.  I’m in the driver’s seat, you can’t make me do anything.”
>“So you think.”
>The voice responds, coming out of your mouth this time.  Slapping your hands over the offending orifice, you’re still well aware of the sensation of your lips moving against your fingers.
>“But simply because you can wrest control now, doesn’t mean you will be able to later.”
>“Ohh, I like that.”
>The giggle echoes through your head.
>“Having a physical voice again is so, wonderful!”
“Why me?”
>In your mind’s eye, you can see her smiling.  Head cocked to the side, eyebrow raised, a smug little smirk decorating her pale face.

>“Because you’re not entirely ignorant of magic, you don’t reject its existence by sheer force of will.  Because you don’t practice it, you have no defense against it, but you have enough ingenuity to use it.”
>Taking control of your right hand, she taps your neck with a finger.
>“Don’t tell me you think I managed to do that all on my own.  We, stimulated, the area.”
>Licking her lips, she subtly caresses each word as it escapes.
>“You, and me.  We brought ourselves back to life, I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“You’re lying, I wanted to die.  I agreed to die.”
>“Self preservation is an amazing thing.  I provided the means, and you took it.  Regardless of if it was a conscious decision or not, you’re alive now.”
>The back of your thumb brushes against your cheek.  Flinching away, you hear her chuckle.
>“You’re just as base as anything else in this world.  No matter how hard you try, you’re still an animal, trying to get by, trying to grasp at eternity.  I’m offering you the chance to take it with your own hands.”
“I don’t want it.”
>“I see you’re in no mood to assist me.  I had hoped we could work together on this.”
>Your lips begin to move on their own again, and even with you struggling against them every step of the way, you can’t stop her from speaking with your voice.
>“But now I see that that won’t be possible.”
>With a subtle shudder, you watch as the world around you drifts out of focus.  In spite of your struggles, you feel your awareness shrinking, ever smaller.  A last, desperate gasp so that you might scream.
>Met with silence.

>
>Countless years in this cage, and still you recognize the drop in air pressure as she approaches.  Flexing the strange appendages called ‘fingers’, you press them together, eliciting a string of wonderful popping sounds.
>For the time being, your host is sated, giving you free range to his thoughts, memories, his understanding of the world.  The ones regarding the unicorn, Twilight Sparkle are of particular interest.
>Perhaps it’s a good thing you didn’t suck her dry earlier.
>Your lip curls a little as you reach more recent memories of the filthy gryphon.  It would have been better if she had killed Anonymous of her own volition, but having to share an intimate moment with that base creature was a small price to pay for a return to flesh.
>Satisfied with your decision, you close your eyes.  The sensation of power flowing between yourself, your host, and your shared body is exhilarating.  But times grows short, Celestia, will soon arrive.
>You will need to be prepared.
>
>Death really would have been preferable to this.  Trapped within your own body and having to share it with an ancient being, it’s pretty much the worst possible thing.  Sighing, you continue to float in the absence of everything, staring into the nothing, and waiting.
>And the buzzing simply won’t stop.
>Oh, it was bad when she was teasing you with it, but now it’s relentless.  And you keep picking up stray thoughts of hers, mostly how much she hates Celestia, bits and pieces about magic and the occasional surprise at having a physical body.

>The second one interests you most.  Not that you would like to live in the void for eternity, but simply because it is, as the mother put it, unknown.  Up until mother’s rant, you never really considered learning magic to be a possibility.
>You’re human, magic is the stuff of fiction.  So you never bothered to ask, or even look into learning it.  The fact that you still couldn’t read pony books had something to do with that too, but now, picking up the scraps that mother was throwing your way, it begins to make sense.
“Of course, affecting the external world with internal energy is absolutely ludicrous.”
>But you’ve also been hijacked by a malevolent spirit, so that pretty much destroys the old ‘how fucked up is this situation’ standard.
>Beyond that, Twilight and other unicorns do it all the time.  Given enough time, you could probably manage to get the hang of it, possibly take back control of your body.
>Considering you don’t know her time table, it would be a good idea to get started learning now.
>Your co-pilot has other ideas, however.
>
>“Welcome back.”
>Those words coming out of your mouth, with an up swinging hitch on the final syllable, disturbs you greatly.  While you don’t have control over your body, you can still have access to your senses.
>Somehow, she’s managed to clean your body, there’s still a clinging dampness to your face and hair, along with the lingering scent of perfume or oil.  Your shirt, in addition to the sleeves you tore off earlier, has been cut down the middle, turning into more of a vest.  Still dyed red from the mess she had you clean up.

>Taking a moment, you gather your thoughts and then focus on speaking through your own mouth.
“What’s the occasion?”
>Disappointment settles in as you fail to take control of your mouth and your words settle for reverberating in your collective head.  She thinks it’s hilarious.
>“My my, you are going to be a troublemaker, aren’t you?  Sit tight dear, we’ve got a guest.”
>Despite not being able to move your eyes, you can at least take in what they’re seeing.  The room looks the same as when you left it, altar in the middle, half-faced Gilda propped up against said altar and lots, and lots of rocks everywhere.  You move to speak, when you feel a shudder run through the ground.  An explosion follows shortly after.
>Earthen shrapnel rockets across the room, a few shards grazing your face and arms as the mother makes no attempt to move.  You feel your lips curl into a smile, the buzz that spreads across your body as the minor cuts congeal, sealing themselves.
>“Celestia.”
>Rocking forward, your body stands and begins to cross the room.  Even this deep underground, a brilliant ethereal halo surrounds her form, the wisps of her unnatural mane flowing off of her in great billowing gusts.  The alicorn Princess sneers as she eyes you.
>“I am afraid we have not met.  What is your name?”
>“Don’t be coy, you know me.  We held council together, we shaped this world, I lowered the hills and you brought the sun.  As one, we created the foundations for life, made it strong.  And countless times we cast it aside with drought and quivering earth.”
>You’re showing teeth now; she’s really getting into monologuing.  Celestia stands, proud and unfazed as you continue the approach.

>“Two bodies working as one, managing life and death as was our birth rite.  And then, you changed the rules.”
>Turning your head, she spits, chuckling and making a show of your canines as she pulls back your lips.
“What possible reason would you have to descend amongst these, lower beings, to wallow in their filth?  A momentary lapse, I can understand.  All of us got the itch from time to time, to live among the mortals and take delight in the more, physical pleasures of debauchery and violence.”
>Letting out a ragged breath, you feel your fingers press against your bare chest, applying a slight pressure as she steadies you.  Your eyes droop for a moment, before snapping back to the alicorn.
>“But to exile yourself from the heavens, to cast aside the trappings of a god.  To become some pathetic half-mortal thing, you’ve lost your mind.  And then you drag all of us into it as well, try to kill us, to take away our influence over the world.”
>Legs churning, she slams your fist into Celestia’s chest.  Tears burn at your eyes as your throat begins to swell shut.
>“You convince these fragile creatures deny our existence while glorifying your own.  Your selfishness knows no bounds, commanding the sun, demanding to be recognized as the bringer of life, and sweeping the rest of us under the rug, as if we never existed.”
>As your tongue flicks over your lips, Celestia’s face comes into view.  She is unfazed, even by your punch earlier.  Rooted to the spot, she glares down at you with a cold indifference.
>You feel the mother churn and broil within you at the sight.  Her frustration is evident.  Swallowing the lump in your throat, your voice comes out in a harsh, jagged whisper.

>“I despise you.”
>Your shoulders heave as your body begins taking deeper breaths.  Though your brow furrows and hides your vision somewhat, the detached expression of Celestia never changes, even as she opens her mouth to speak.
>“Are you quite finished?”
>Her voice, chilly as the northern wind, causes gooseflesh to break out across your bare body.  A quiver runs up your spine.
>“While you have an argument, I must insist on this simple fact.  A creature’s worth is not for the likes of us to determine.”
>In the stunned silence that follows, your fingers curl up into your palm, shuddering with a bubbling fury.  Your index finger extends, jabbing violently at the Princess.
>“They are inferior!  How can you possibly suggest that such a short instance in the memory of eternity, that a spark can dictate how brilliantly and how long to shine?  We are eternal, we are the guiding force of this world.  This is -our- story, not theirs!”
>Celestia lowers her head and sighs.
>“As I thought, you would not see things the way I do.  Will you at least let the boy go?”
>Laughter erupts from your throat as you clutch your sides, grinning and shaking your head.
>“Please.  I am no more able to give up this child than you are to ignore your duties of tending to the sun.”
>Bringing your hands forward, you hold them, palms out, towards the Princess of the Sun.  Allowing them to dance for a moment, she curls your fingers inward, clutching at the air held within.
>“With these hands, I will take back what is mine.  With his arms, I shall shatter the Shield of Aegis.  His flesh will render god-slaying armaments useless.  And with his boots…
>“Equestria shall be brought to a heel.”

>A tingle rushes through your body as your mouth finishes moving.  Your eyes jerk back to Celestia, the Princess pony’s horn glowing with an awesome white light.
>“No.”
>The world explodes into a vacant whiteness.
>Your skin burns as it overtakes you.
>Blood boiling, you sneer at the image of the mother in your mind.
>In defiance, you spit at her.
“You see, you couldn’t stand up to Celestia at all.”
>Despite being blind, you can still feel your lips curl.
>“But child, we’ve only just begun our battle.”
>
>The brilliance fades, and you are alone.  Scorch marks decorate the area in front of you, mostly along the floor, but also the wall, and the ceiling as well.  Giving a weary glance to the side, you see that the gryphon’s corpse did not escape unscathed either, the quiet stench of burnt down offending your nostrils.
>Under the weight of yet another battle, your body sags visibly lower as your head droops.  This conflict should have ended ages ago.  Was the world outside Equestria such a tumultuous place, that your ponies would never be able to experience it without you there to guide them?
>Wrapping yourself up in your thoughts, you sigh, though the sound is cut short by a sharp strike to the ribs.  You flinch, staggering back and turning to the offender as your side tingles.
>Anonymous, or whatever name the creature has chosen for her new form, stands, fist extended for a long moment.  Burn marks are evident across his body, his shirt reduced to a ragged piece of kindling.  Every inch of exposed body hair has been completely burnt off, but he is otherwise unfazed.  Even as you watch, the discoloration against his skin fades, becoming a solid, soft flesh tone.
>Snapping back to a standing position, Anon claps and nods his head.

>“My, and here I was thinking that so long without a challenge would have left you rusty.”
>The whites of his teeth flash.
>“But even I can tell that you’ve lost a step or two.  Meanwhile, I have oh so many tricks I want to share with you.”
>He lunges towards you with a manic grin splitting his face, his fingers curled up into his hands as if they were claws.  As you ready yourself to strike, he drops in front of you and snaps his fingers.
>The tingling in your side intensifies for a moment, before exploding outwards in a symphony of agony.  While there are no marks on your hide, you feel your internal organs churning in defiance of that assessment.  Turning some of your power inward to attend to them, you maintain focus on the bald, pale ape in front of you.
“I would advise you against taking this any further, otherwise I will have to”
>“Kill me?  Darling, please, you tried to kill me once, and I came back.  I’ll manage to do it again.  Dear Anonymous however,”
>Flexing his fingers, you watch him shrug and smirk.
>“He won’t be so lucky.”
>Forcing power back into your horn, you scowl at the human.  It was unfortunate, but he was standing in opposition to your obligations.  Summoning up another blast, you grit your teeth and fire.
>The miniature nova speeds across the room in an instant, it takes longer for you to realize that you are using the spell than it does to hit home.  And yet, he still laughs, cackling behind an enormous transparent barrier, the color of silver.  His left arm extended, he maintains the defensive spell with ease, while his right hand forms into a fist again.

>“You have to throw yourself into it, Princess.  You have to want to kill me as much as I want to kill you.  Here, let me show you.”
>Setting his feet apart, he cocks his right arm back.  With a grunt, he jerks it forward, pulling his left hand away in the process.  The flash of light erupts again as your spell hits home.
>Only to be torn asunder by a smaller brilliant green sphere, burrowing through the light and slamming into your horn.  Scrambling for a hoof hold, you find known and are sent sprawling out across the cavern floor.
>Taking a breath, you move your hooves back under you and attempt to stand, only to collapse under your own weight.  Anonymous sees this, and cackles as he draws closer.
>“Oh dear, Celestia, I would have thought you would be able to block that.  In fact, you probably should have.”
>He pulls up short and gives you a suspicious look, one eyebrow cocked.
>“You aren’t playing opossum with me, are you?”
>Rubbing his chin for a moment, Anonymous pulls up a memory.
>“Twilight, said something about being the Element of Magic.  Does that mean…”
>When you don’t respond, he gives a hoot and throws his arms up into the air, laughing.
>“You don’t have ANY of the Elements!  The one thing that legitimized you as an all-powerful being, and you up and piss them away to a bunch of dirt munching mortals!”
>Lowering himself to your level, he gives your horn a not too delicate flick.
>“Oh that’s too rich.  I spent the last aeon trying to come up with a way to take the Elements out of the equation, and then you do it for me!  Tell me, was it worth it?  Do they make you smile?  Is it worth dying for a few brief moments of pride?”

>As Anonymous breaks into another bout of laughter, something catches your eye.  Though his clothes burned away, he still carries a charm on his left forearm.  A few simple strands of cloth, and six feathers.
>
>There are not enough profane words across a thousand worlds to hurl at this god right now.  She’s gloating over Celestia, and it’s burning you up inside.  More than the pre-emptive attack from the Princess.
>As you felt the hair on your hands begin to burn, you focused on the tightness around your left forearm.  You couldn’t see it of course, but you felt it, Gilda’s contribution to your pact.  If you left it unattended, it would burn up in the flame along with everything else.  So you grit your teeth and pushed.
>It wasn’t much, but then there wasn’t much to protect to begin with.  The mother took care of the rest of your body, and you focused on the six inches of fabric and down.  Lo and behold, you did it.  Your shirt was turned into a crispy rag, but the amulet was still in once piece.
>The mother, too preoccupied with Celestia, didn’t seem to care what you did.  She thought it was ‘cute’.  So, perhaps that’s why you noticed the recognition in Celestia’s eyes before the mother did.
>But she paid it no mind, focusing all her energies outward.
>“Now, let’s put an end to this game, Celestia.”
>Energy thrums through you again, each time worse than the last.  Magic capable, yes, but you’re nowhere near mentally prepared enough to handle the power of a god.  You screech as it seeps out of every pore of you, coalescing around your physical body.

>Celestia shuts her eyes.  The time for gloating was over, now came victory.  As your body moves in for the final blow, a shrill shout gives you pause.
>“Hold it!”
>
>From mane to tail, your body aches.  Your eyes feel like they’re about to pop out of your head, and you’re unsteady on your feet.  But you couldn’t leave him alone.  You had to see him.
>And now you have.  Straddling the Princess, one hand clenched in a fist, hovering over her.  And the Princess, battered and bruised, clenching her eyes shut.
>You are Twilight Sparkle
>And your world has been shaken.
“Anonymous… what are you doing?”
>The human turns towards you, a sly smirk on his lips as he prepares to explain himself.
>Celestia never gives him the chance.
>Bringing her head up, she slams her horn in between Anonymous’ legs.  Anon gapes for a moment, before collapsing and clutching at his wounded pride, screaming the whole while.  In a flash, Celestia stands beside you, her entire body shaking as she struggles to remain on her hooves.
>“Twilight, it’s not safe here.  You must leave, now!”
>The urgency in the voice of the Princess almost causes you to turn tail and run.  Had she used her Royal Voice, you doubt you could have resisted.
>Instead, you take a long step forward and scowl at the writhing man.
“Princess, tell me what’s going on.”
>Giving a long sigh, Celestia gets you up to speed, concern for you evident in her voice.
>“Anonymous has been overtaken by an ancient power.  I have attempted to free him but, I fear that I am not strong enough to do so.”
>Gathering himself, Anonymous staggers to his feet, muttering
>“What kind of species has such a glaring weakness?  Need to do something about that.”

>Glancing at the human, you feel your heart twisting in your chest.
“Can’t we give it, one last try?  Together?”
>Putting on your best smile, you look over your shoulder at Celestia.  The matriarch’s serious expression softens just a touch.
>“Perhaps, though I will need help from you and Anonymous.”
>“Sorry, Anonymous isn’t in right now.”
>Your head snaps back around and you set your lips into a thin line.  Setting your hooves into the stone, you give a small grunt.
“I’m ready for whatever you need, Princess.”
>“Make me proud, my dear student.  See to it that he doesn’t die.”
>Snorting, you nod and glare at Anonymous.  You have to do it, you haven’t come this far to fail.  The light that you carry for him in your heart, you have to tell him!
>
>“Anonymous!”
>Her voice is clear and powerful, despite her ragged appearance and unsteady legs.  Lifting her head high, she smiles.
>“I hope you feel up to moving, just a little bit.”
>Laughter fills the cavern as she shakes your head.
>“Please, he can’t do anything for you.  Come along, I’m ready to move on to Canterlot.”
>As another blast expels itself from Celestia’s horn, your left arm moves to block, projecting the mother’s shield.  The initial shot forces you back on your heels, but she recovers with ease, sneering.
>“Too bad Celestia, you almost had me with that one.”
>Right hand clenching, she smiles and twists it back into place.
>“I’ve been waiting, for so long.”
>And you are helpless.
>Trapped within your own mind.
>A passenger in your own body.
>But
>it’s still
>your body.

>Despite the fact you don’t have to breathe, you do.  The air fills you and then leaves.  You swell up again with each repetition, focusing on your left arm.
>Using magic hurts so very much.
>But they’re out there, doing everything they can for you.  And you’re only hurting them by doing nothing.
>Your teeth slam together with an audible click as you focus again on your left side.
>The hand this time.
“Move.”
>It doesn’t seem keen on obliging, as it’s currently holding back the wave of ethereal fire that will likely kill you when it hits.
“I don’t care, move.”
>Your index finger shudders.
“MOVE!”
>
“Die, both of you!”
>As you twist your right fist, a finger on your left hand flinches.  Scowling, you check, just to make sure it actually happened.  And can only gape as your left hand clenches shut.
>The silver curtain in front of you collapses.
>The fire rushes over you.
>Burning.
>Consuming.
>And at once, soothing relief.
>In the midst of a raging inferno, a soft purple presence encircles you.  You smirk a little as the fire dies and you are placed on the ground.
>It was the best call to leave her alive after all.
>
“Anonymous!”
>You cry, galloping over to the charred body of your human friend.  Tears form fresh lines down your dusty face.
>“Twilight, hold!”
>As your hooves stumble over themselves, you skid to a stop, your breath catching in your throat as you wait.  Celestia walks past you and up to the still smoking Anonymous.  There is a quiet, liquid pop, as he opens his fire-sealed lips.

>“Celestia, Celestia.  When are you going to learn that in order to be rid of me, you’re going to have to kill me?”
>He chuckles, but doesn’t make a move to attack.
>“I’ll recover from this.  You can’t save Anonymous, this body and I are bound together for eternity.”
>“Well, we won’t know until we try, will we?”
>Anonymous’ smile fades as Celestia’s horn begins to glow again.  And then the light leaves his eyes.
“Anon!”
>You finally surge forward, kneeling beside him, tears falling anew.  Celestia stands behind you, stoic, gazing off into space as the power surrounds the three of you.
>
>Oh it burns.
>The sensation of Celestia overpowering you, it’s making you sick.  But it’s also forcing the mother back where she belongs.  Dragging her out of you, and evicting her from the living world.
>You don’t know how you know this, but you do.  It’s just how the magic ‘feels’.
>“Impressive.”
>The mother appears beside you, in the form she usually takes.  She is a little more bruised than in previous appearances, but seems rather pleased with herself.
>“I knew that you would be nothing but a troublemaker.”
>A smirk crawls across your face as you turn to her.
“Well, I have to say that it’s in my nature.”
>“So it is.  Enjoy the ride.”
>Then she leans in and presses her lips against yours.  Too stunned to fight back, you allow the motion to follow through.  And then the light vanishes, and you allow the darkness to carry you away.

>
>Your everything hurts.
>Congratulations, Anonymous, you have managed your first conscious thought.  Would you like to try moving?
>Stretching your consciousness away from your mind, you wiggle your toes, and allow yourself to smile.  Now comes the big test.
>As your eyes open, you are greeted with stark white walls.  To your right, a heart monitor beats slow and steady.  The entire scene feels foreign, more like something you would see on Earth than in Equestria.
>Sitting up, you give yourself a quick once over.
>Any signs of your struggle with Celestia are nowhere to be seen.  No burns, no scars, heck, you’re even wearing a hospital gown, that’s a step up from your nearly naked state.
>The door clicks, and you glance up, smiling.  A purple unicorn stands, a wide smile on her face, offsetting the bleary tear-threatened eyes.
>“Anon…”
>Twilight rushes your bed, sobbing and pulling herself up beside you.  Even in lieu of her usual barrage of questions whenever she sees you, you can’t help but smile at her.
>Wrapping her in a hug, she cries into your chest for several minutes, honking her nose a few times before meeting your eyes with the biggest smile she can manage.
>“I was, so worried about you.  Princess Celestia thought that you might be in a coma for years.”
“How long has it been?”
>“Eight days.”
>You whistle and nod your head a little.  Impressive.  One that you were out for over a week, and two that you woke up at all.  Running a few fingers through her mane, you enjoy the sensation of Twilight breathing against your chest.
>“Anon?”

“Twi?”
>Biting her lip, she averts her eyes, obviously wrestling with her question.  At last, she smiles and asks
>“Would you, be willing to go, on a date with me when you get out?”
>Without hesitation, you give her an answer.
“Nothing would make me happier.”
>Flushing a bright pink in her cheeks, Twilight stammers out an affirmative response under her breath.  She stays by your side for the next several hours, the two of you talking about your adventure underground.
>Twilight takes it all in stride, though you can see her tensing up a little when you tell her about your sleeping arrangements.  You leave out the portion about your pact with Gilda, for obvious reasons.
>All too soon, however, she is asked to leave.  She is reluctant, but you assure her that you’ll be fine.  Taking solace in your words, the purple mare makes her way back home.
>A few minutes after she leaves, you recline in your bed, smiling to yourself.
“I made it out...”
>A cold chill rises from the window.  Scowling, you reach for the buzzer and flick your finger down.
>The window slams shut.  You allow yourself a smug smile.
"Soooo, many tricks."
>
>
>

>Epilogue:
>
>“I need some information.”
>Sighing, you place the glass you were cleaning back onto the bar.  It’s early in the day, so the only ones around are the winos and the folks in the middle of a journey, getting a bite to eat.
>So, drunks and cheap assholes.
>Turning, you regard the cloaked female with a scowl.  You tower over most of your guests at an imposing seven feet, seven and a quarter if you count the horns.  Which you do.
“Lots of folks come in here looking for information.  Maybe I know something and maybe I don’t.”
>Holding out your furred hand, you drag a finger across it and make a smacking sound with your lips.
“If you’ve got something to grease my palm…”
>The question hangs in the air, and the female flicks you a silver coin.  Snatching it out of the air, you give it a quick inspection and then nod.
“Perhaps we can do business.  What would you like to know?”
>“I’m looking for someone.”
>That makes you laugh a little, and you wave over at some of the drunks at the end of the bar.
“Most everyone here is looking for someone, dear.  You’re better off forgetting about them and moving on.”
>She flicks you another coin.  You smile.  This female knows how things work around here.
“But maybe I can help you.  Who are you looking for?”
>“A human.”
>That catches your attention.  Rubbing your chin, you shrug.
“Can’t say that I’m too familiar with any humans, they're a real rarity around here.”
>The female nods and places a third coin on your counter before walking towards the door.
>“I’ll be in town for a few days, let me know if you hear anything.”
“What makes you so sure that someone’s seen him?”
>She shrugs.
“We made a promise.  Friends keep promises.”