Disaster Anon #11: G1; A Time for Healing

Disaster Anon: A time for Healing.

>You don’t know what’s worse, the fact that your humerus is chipped, or the fact that your cast is so ridiculously itchy. If only you had more anesthetics, then you wouldn’t even be complaining.
>It’s day 71in Dream Valley. Two days into your return, and boy, what a return it was.
>You were stuck in that hospital for three days, so you decided to send a letter to your no. 2, Firefly to let her know you woundn’t be back for a while. Sure enough, after three days, and a day long trip home, Firefly was already waiting for you two, watching patiently from the clouds, before the sun had even completely risen.  She flew down to greet us, but stopped her welcome immediately when she noticed the cast.  She announced in surprise “What happened, Anon!” and almost as if they were waiting for their cue, ponies left and right start rushing to the border of Eastern Dream Valley to see what’s going on.
>It then turned into a wave of confusion and fear from at least a dozen ponies, especially the children.
>It was so overwhelming, that I asked Firefly to get me home, and she carried me through the sky, taking me over a mile in less than a minute.
>Minty had to walk home, but lucky for her, most ignored the fact she existed, and just started chasing after me and Firefly. She was probably pestered by three or four ponies at most.
>‘Oh, our poor savior Anon. His arm is ruined, and now we will fall victim to zombie werewolves or something.’
>The cast is going to be a problem though. How /could/ you fight hypothetical werezombies if they came into town?
>Thankfully, you have faith in the others.
>Firefly, Ember, and Brightly are a surprisingly useful team after all.
>You only have about a week and a half left, so till then, you suppose they can hold down the fort.
>As the 71st day continues; the weather of the slowly approaching autumn feeling absolutely perfect; you and Minty take some time to hang out at Super Sundae’s Ice Cream Parlor ™, a place that feels very nostalgic to you.
>It’s the first place you ever visited in Dreamland, where you met the rest of your friends (minus Spearmint), and where you made your first disaster plan. To top off how great this place is, the parlor is ran by the incredibly warm and friendly caramel earth colt Rocky Road, and your most loyal civilian volunteer, the white furred, blue manned unicorn Frostbite.
>Helpful and generous, Frostbite gives you a free sundae all the time, including today.
>You stand over the parlor’s shining pink counter, eating a plum flavored sundae of goat milk.
>By your side is the always loyal Spearmint, in a stool, enjoying a mint chocolate chip Sunday, with dark chocolate syrup and a crap ton of sprinkles.
>“I don’t get why you don’t get what I get Anon,” says Minty. “This ice cream uses MY mints from the garden, so it’s arguable the best flavor around here.”
Nothing personal Minty, but you put mint in a lot of our food at home. A little change of pace never hurt anyone.
>You bend down a bit to pull another spoonful of ice cream to your face.
>Frostbite chimes in telling you in a very sheepish tone, “There’s a lot more flavors if you want.”
>A small grin comes to your face.
Thank you for the offer, but I don’t want to be a burden.
>She smiles, backing slightly as her wavy bangs obscure her light magenta eyes, and in a quiet voice she tells you, “It’s never a burden, as long as it’s for you.”
>You shouldn’t try reading into that.
>Rocky gives a blueberry cone to a purple unifoal as he ask to you, “So Anon, what are you gonna do until your arm heals?”
I got plans. Oh, that reminds me.
>You turn your head to Minty and tell her,
Minty, I’m not going to be able to take on any disasters for a while, but that doesn’t mean the world’s going to wait for me to heal. I’m trusting the others to make sure things stay peaceful, but I need you to take on the little things that I do daily. I’d like you to patrol the streets on my regular morning and evening schedule, and follow the others around if there’s a request for a potential disaster to be resolved. I have a notebook that I’ve been using to log all disasters, so if something does happen or if you feel an investigation needs to occur, write it in. Hopefully, you won’t need to do much. You can do this for me, right?
>Minty gives you a solute and tells you, “I’ll be the best Anon I can.”
Don’t try to be like me, Minty. If something happens, please try not to interfere.
>“I make no promises.”


>Anon thinks I’m weak, but I’m not; I’m just pacifistic. He’ll see though. This is my chance to prove I can be useful.
I’ll keep on my goggles and everything.
>“Don’t be pretentious, Minty. It’s bad enough that I’m always wearing them.”
>With a couple spoonfuls left, Anon finishes his ice cream, gets up from his slouched position, and begins walking to the parlor’s restroom at our left.
>“I gotta go use the John. I’ll be back in a bit.”
Take your time.
>He walks through the door, leaving me alone to finish my sundae.
>I continue licking at my bowl, wanting to finish as soon as possible so we can leave together, but as I do so Frostbite walks closer to where I’m at, and begins speaking.
>“It’s so sad what happened to Anonymous.”
>My snout exits the ice cream to respond.
Yeah. He sure does go through a lot. He’s a tough guy though. I’m sure he’ll be okay.
>“Still, he’ll have to spend so much time healing, and he doesn’t even have a comfy bed to sleep in, just a lumpy old couch.”
Heeey, my couch is not lumpy!
>Rocky interrupts telling me, “It is kind of lumpy.”
Hmpf. Well, that doesn’t even matter anymore, because I used the platinum we got last week to get a bed this morning for the house, so nya.
>We hear the creek of the restroom door, and I turn to see Anon walking out.
Ready to go, Anon?
>“Yeah, I guess.”

>Six hours later.
>As the sun retreats, and the moon takes our sky, Anon changes into his jammies and gets into our newly bought king size bed…in my room…with me!
Isn’t this comfy Anon? The pillows feel like a really big marshmallow.
>He mumbles a little before asking, “Are you sure we couldn’t afford a PAIR of beds?”
Platinum only gets you so far. Besides, I don’t have an actual bed of my own either, just a futon, so it’s a win-win for the both of us.
>He turns away with his back facing me, and he tells me, “Okay, then. Just--don’t wake me.”
No problem.
>“And no, spooning.”
What’s spooning?
>He turns his head and yells, “It’s literally what you’re doing right now!”
>Oh.
“But you’re so waaarm,” I say as my cheek buries into his hair.
>“I’ll go back to the couch.”
>Dang it.
>My cheeks puff up as my lips blow a dissatisfied ‘pff’.
Fine.
>I scootch away from him, but I’m not turning.
>“Goodnight Minty.”
Goodnight Anon.
>Tomorrow’s going to be big. I can already feel it.

SUNDAY
>First day on the job.
>It’s crazy to think Anon gets up at the half hour part five. I’m usually not up till seven at least, but he said I needed to be up by then, in case anything were to happen.
>Nothing HAS happened though. In fact, it’s already noon, and nothing’s been going on.
>I’ve been on the living room couch, knitting a comforter to take my mind off of this, but the whole matter has left me really on edge with impatience.
>Usually ponies come over to ask Anon for help, so maybe they’re just not coming because they don’t wanna be rude.
>Maybe they’ve gone to the others for help.
>Maybe something bad has already happened and I just don’t know about it!
>I put down my quilt, and hurry to were Anon said he’d be spending a lot of his time; the basement.
>I open the door, exposing the unsettlingly dark stairway, and continue down until I see Anon’s dimming silhouette, barely illuminated by a flameless lantern that he calls a ‘battery powered lamp’. He’s sitting in a chair near the end of the wall, crouched over, and there’s a weird zappy noise as sparks fly near his face.
Anon?
>He turns, with a grin and tells me, “Oh. Hey, Minty.”
>I smile back at him.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile before. What’s going on?
>“I’ve got it. I’ve totally got it.”
>He does a wave-like motion with his head to his front, and I walk over to see what he’s doing.
>On the table, is a weird thingamajig made of metal, and weird junk I can’t even describe (I don’t get human technology),and there’s also what appears to be Sunbeam’s broken horn from when Anon fought her in Whinnyshine.
You kept Mrs. Sunbeam’s horn?
>“This is fantastic. You don’t need to be a unicorn to do magic, just the horn. I’m experimenting with electricity, attaching wires from this battery through the hollow end to conduct the tip, and inhibit a response. I don’t know how to cause magic though. I’ve read about witchcraft and mages, so I’m sure there’s something.”
Uh huh…I’m gonna head off to Brightly to try and see if anything’s happened.
>“Don’t get too angsty. If you ask for trouble, you’re not going to get it.”
>I scoff at the statement.
I’m not angsty, I just don’t want anything bad to happen and for it to be my fault.
>“But you don’t even handle disasters.”
Well, until your arm gets better that statement is false.
>I turn and gallop away.
>As I head upstairs, I tell Anon,
You’ll see, I’m gonna be really useful, and you won’t have to worry one bit about anything.

MONDAY
>It’s the fourth hour of the evening, and I sit on a stool in the ice cream parlor, sucking a cherry vanilla milkshake, in complete disappointment.
>Frostbite notices the saddened expression of my brow, and walks over to ask, “Something wrong Minty?”
I’m just a little depressed. It’s taking too long for something to happen.
>In an unchanging tone, she asks me, “And what if something DID happen? Do you actually expect to do something, or would you just hide behind Anon’s friends. What could you even do?”
>The statement only makes me feel worse.
I’d…do something. What? You think I can’t help out?!
>She backs away slightly, and her tone gets defensive.
>“Woah now, Minty. Let’s not get in an argument or anything. I’m just asking questions. You need to chill out.”
>She’s right.
>I look down slightly, feeling a little embarrassed at my response.
I’m sorry. It’s just...I really want to impress Anon is all. He IS my best friend after all.
>“Well, he’s your only friend, so you can’t really-”
>I give her a super peeved glare, and she kindly shuts her face.
I think I’ve lost my appetite. I’m going out to see if Brightly’s found anything we can investigate.
>I leave the milkshake behind, and without looking back, exit with what remains of my dignity.
>Only a few houses east of the parlor is Brightly’s home; the brick, and peach colored, Brightly Family’s Sunflower Shop.
>In a blink I trot over, and from sunflower filled window, I can see Brights Brightly, cheek to the front desk, boredly spinning a top with her magic.
>I open the door, and the bell up top chimes, alerting her of my arrival.
>As the scent of sunflowers fill my nose, Brightly slowly raises her heard and tells me, “Yo.”
Hi Brightly. I was just wondering, has anything concerning happened lately?
>Her eyes raise to the ceiling as she thinks about it.
>“Uuuuuuh. Well, Wild Flower was complaining about moles or something digging her garden, and I heard Melody’s cat’s gone missing. That’s about it.”
UGH! That’s not even worth an investigation!
>“What’s wrong? It sounds like you want something bad to happen.”
I wanna impress Anon by showing him that I can be a hero too.
>“But…you’re not.”
I COULD BE!
>“Well, let’s hope we don’t need to find out. It’s been pretty quiet lately, and you might find it surprising, but I actually /like/ it that way. My flank’s still sore after that gryphon fight last week.”
>I give a long and frustrated groan.
>“I’m surprised you care so much. I thought that you didn’t even like Anon getting in trouble. Don’t you think now would be a good time to try and hang out with him or something?”
>My brows rise slightly.
You have a point.
>“Of course I do. Maybe we could plan a group get together. The park's always a fun-”
>A small smile comes to my face as I think about it. Me and Anon, together with no distractions. We could have a picnic, and Anon could scratch me behind the ear as we watch a sunset. It’d be so…so…
>I carelessly cut Brights Brightly’s sentence.
Brightly, it was nice talking with you, but I’m going back home to talk with Anon.
>FORGET THE TRANSITION. I’M ALREADY IN THE BASEMENT!
Anon?!
>He jumps in his chair, almost falling out to the ground.
>“DEAR GOD, MINTY! DON’T SNEAK UP ON ME LIKE THAT!”
Sorry. I was just thinking. Since you won’t be taking any disasters for a while, maybe we could take a trip somewhere. The leaves in the Fluffernutter Forest should be changing color by now, o-or maybe we could go to Doo-Wop springs and visit the sea ponies.
>“Minty, I already told you before, sea horses are not interesting creatures, and I don’t care enough about nature to visit the Fluffernutter forest.
But Anon, it’s not like you can just spend the week in this basement.
>“I have more than enough to occupy myself with, now, if you don’t mind, I need to do some studying on the dark arts.”
>He turns back to the table, looking into an opened book next to a couple of books and journals.
>Sometimes Anon can be such a stick in the mud.

TUESDAY
>I spent the entirety of last night, alone in bed, with nopony to snuggle.
>Anon was up the whole time, down stairs working on his sciency junk.
>Sure, aside from days in the hospital, I only spent one night sleeping with Anon, but still, it felt very lonely without him.
>I go through the morning usual; bubbly bath, breakfast, open shop, and the green mail pegasus comes at nine to deliver his shipment of letters. From my kitchen table, I analyze each, setting the letters aside, one by one with my hoof.
>Bills, bills, fan mail for Anon, bills, more fan mail for Anon…wait, this one’s a red envelope.
>’For Anon, Subject: 23ANWHC.’ Sounds important. I should show this to Anon right now.
>I take Anon’s letters into my lips, walk through the basement door, and head downstairs, slowly, and quietly making my way down the creaking stairs. I don’t wanna give Anon one of those bucket-of-water shock wake ups if he’s asleep; I’d rather ease him awake with a light shove.
>I make it to the bottom of the stairs, and by the tips of my hooves, make my way to Anon who’s still displayed by his lamp.
>In a whisper, I ask,
Anon? Are you awake?
>No response.
I guess not.
>I continue until finally making it to his face, and I look to confirm that his eyes are closed, as his head rests on the table, among the clutter of books and circuitry.
>Yep, he’s asleep alright.
>I nudge his chin with my nose, and quietly tell him,
Anon…Wake up, sleepy head.
>His body slowly begins to move, as he forces his head up.
>“Nnnn. What is it, Minty?
You have an important looking letter, so I brought your mail downstairs.
>“Thanks.”
>Slowly, Anon works himself up, using his good arm as support.
>“I’m going to go take a bath, and I’ll be back soon to read it.”
>He begins walking, but turns back when he realizes he can’t hear my hoof steps.
>“You comin’ or what?”
Y-yeah.
>I’m actually a little curious.
>Anon spent an entire night working down here, so I really wanna see how much progress he’s made with whatever he’s doing.
I walk upstairs with Anon, and watch him off as he heads for the second floor bathroom, but the moment he reaches the top of the stairs, I head straight back into the basement, to poke and prod at his possessions.
>The lamp is an interesting thing, and there are a bunch of schematics for some kind of tubular thing with a handle at the end, and wires and all sorts of things that I just don’t get, but something in particular really catches my eye, mostly because it’s not supposed to.
>Underneath a couple of Anon’s books, I can see what looks like a human foot, as part of a much larger cover of the book it’s a part of.
>I’ve never seen feet aside from Anon’s, so I decide to move the books aside, and find out what exactly it’s for.
>As the last book on top is moved, my eyes set sight on what I think is considered a female human, with black short hair, and green eyes, lying across the an undone bed. I can tell it’s human, because Anon showed me a picture of Megan and Molly, and this thing has a similar shape, but they don’t have eyes this squinty, so maybe it’s a different species or something. Do humans even have different species? I need to ask Anon about that later.
>Continuing the examination, the text on the cover is all foreigny, with a thick font of purple, a red outline, and little decorative hearts. There are also a couple of little boxes that have other females in them; one with orange curly hair, and the other blonde with tanned skin and heavy white eyeliner. Both still have the squinty eyes, and there are little foreign captions underneath them.
>Is Anon able to read other languages beyond Dreamlandian? I dunno.
>The weirdest thing about it though, is that nopony on the cover has any clothes on from what I can tell.
>Actually, the main lady does have this small frilly thing around her ankle. They seem too small to be pants, so I guess they’re…shorts maybe?
>I begin turning the pages along with my hoof, revealing more and more human girls, with only a handful wearing clothes, and half of that handful being in the middle of taking clothes off.
>Looking at this, I’m overcome with an uncomfortable sense that I don’t fully understand. It sort of feels like living with somepony, only to realize they brought a friend that’s you knew nothing about.
>I put everything back where it was, and immediately head back upstairs as if nothing happened.
>I gotta go get the others.
>Thankfully Anon has each pony’s usual schedule logged in his book
>By Nine-Twenty, I get Ember who’s home watering her flowers. A few minutes later, I get Brightly who roller skates through Dream Central Park in the mornings, and finally, I call Firefly out of her home in the sky apartments.
>Once she makes it to the ground, we go back to Ember’s backyard garden, and by her very small pond, we talk things out without the concern of wandering ears picking up the news.
I just don’t get it. Why does Anon have this book with him? Why was he hiding it, and why are there so many girls? It makes me feel all icky inside, but I can’t explain that either.
>Ember tells me, with the upmost confidence, “The problem is obvious, Minty. Think about it. A man like Anon, all alone in Dreamland without another human for a hundred miles; he must feel really lonely without them.”
That’s ridiculous. I’m there for Anon, all the time, whenever he needs me.
>“But you’re not like him. None of us are,” she says.
>Looks like the elephant’s finally tired of hiding.
>Firefly soon speaks up and tells us, “This might be my fault. I DID take him here against his will. He probably lost a lot of friends by staying here…I’m not a very good pony.”
>Bright’s skate clad hoof clops to the ground, as she realizes something.
>“I got it! That book must’ve been filled with his old friends from home.”
All female?
>“Minty, there’s like, 20 guys in Dream Valley versus at least 100 mares, does it surprise you that his friends are all girls?” asks Brightly.
But how come they were undressing?
>Ember tells us, “Simple. No human I’ve met has ever had body fur, and Anon is no exception. With fall entering, he needs to wear clothing to stay warm. Those pictures were probably taken in the summer.”
Oh…that makes sense.
>Brightly asks, “So girls, what are we gonna do?”

>Later that day.
>We brainstormed how to make Anon not miss his human friends for what seemed like hours. If Anon quits on us, there’s no telling what would happen. We’d have disasters left and right, and no human to help save the day. I know Frostbite said I wasn’t useful for disasters, but now that I know what’s going on, I’ve realized that I AM useful. I may not be smart like Ember, of a fast flier like Firefly, or… whatever it is Ember’s good for, but I’m really good at making Anon feel good, and right now, he needs to feel the bestest he can be.
>I return home at around noon, and unsurprisingly, I can hear Anon in the basement.
>It sounds like he’s chanting or something.
>I open the door, and walk down the stairs as his voice becomes clear.
>“…and as your crimson wings burn, none shall survive your awe worthy rage. Let all who doubt your power be blessed by your wisdom, as the flames of tartarus sear their-“
>He stops as he realizes I’ve arrived. Also, he’s in the middle of the basement, with a bunch of candles, and a circle of chalk around that thing he’s been working on.
>“Oh, hey Minty. Hope you don’t mind the chanting. I’m practicing my magical endowment.”
Uh huh…Anon, could you meet me underneath the apple tree in the backyard?
>“Eh, sure I guess.”
>He slowly gets up, and walks up stairs with me, unaware what I want to talk to him about.
>We continue outside, past my foliage of mint plants, and I lie down under the tree’s shade, prompting Anon to lie beside me, in the opposite direction.
Anon…
>“Yeah?”
>I take a deep breath.
Do you like me?
>“That’s a dumb question,” he says with a chuckle. “Of course I do. If I didn’t I would’ve moved out ages ago.”
Do you like me more than the others?
>“I don’t play contest…but maybe.”
…Do you like me more than your old friends at home?
>“Megan and I weren’t that close, and the same goes for me and Danny. I do miss Molly though, and Megan’s kids were pretty cute.”
What about the others?
>“What others? Molly was pretty much the only friend I cared about. If you’re talking about my friends in college, I stopped caring about them years ago.”
>I turn to my side, look him in the face, and tell him,
Don’t lie to me Anon! I know about your book of girls.
>He pauses, and I can almost feel the tenseness coming from his body as it tightens.
>“You went through my stuff, didn’t you?...Minty, I know you might not believe me, but it’s not what you think. I just like to look at them, it’s not like I-“
I don’t want your excuses. Why didn’t tell me you had so many friends?
>“So many frie--You-wait a second…you think…the girls in the book are my friends?”
Well, duh. Why else would you be keeping that?
>“…Guess I can’t hide it any longer.”
You don’t need to worry though.
>I rise slightly to get a better look at him.
Everypony in Dream Valley loves you, especially me, and I’m gonna do everything I can to make sure you’re not lonely.
>He laughs worriedly.
>“T-that’s okay, really. I’m fine with what I have.”
But that’s just a book. Why get all mopey with the past, when you can have all of us here.
>“I just like looking at the people. There’s nothing to look into,” he says with a touch of agitation.
Yes there is! Ember told me that nostalgia can be connected to both good and bad emotions. You need to let go of your past so you can look forward to the future.
>“I just really like humans! Jeez, Minty. You don’t understand what it’s like to be the only human in a town of horses. Sure, I have fans, but I don’t have any other human to spend my time with.”
Why does it matter? I’m here for you, and I’ll do anything I can to make you happy.
>“That’s part of the problem.”
>He gets up, and begins walking back to the house.
>“I’m going to get back to my work, and I’m NOT going to look at my magazines. You’ve ruined that for me.”
>I consider stopping him, I really don’t want him to leave on such a bitter note, but I don’t know what to do. Now I feel horrible for bringing up the magazine in the first place.
>I already lost Teddy and Patch; I don’t think my heart could handle losing Anon.
>What a disaster this conversation turned out to be.