Loss Chapter 1

>Day Normal in Equestria
>You are Anon
>The only human in all of Equestria
>You’ve been here for about a year now
>And besides Fluttershy’s constant pestering, it’s been pretty good
>You grab your bag and a bagel and run out the door, hoping to avoid today’s fetish guess
>Nope
>You bump into Fluttershy, and she falls backward
>She actually pulls it into a roll and bounces back onto her feet
>Huh
>She beams at you
>You resist the urge to D’aww
>She may be the bane of your existence and annoying to no end, but you couldn’t deny her gir- adorableness
>”S-so Anon, are acrobatics your fetish?”
>…Did she actually plan for you to run into her?
>She’s getting more scheming with her guesses
>She’s like an evil mastermind of fetishes
>You look back at Fluttershy as she gets blown over by a gentle breeze
>She then squirms on her back like a turtle, before rolling onto to her side
>Not seeing much ‘mastermind’ going on here
Afraid not, Fluttershy. Now if you don’t mind me Ireallymustgetgoing!
>Before she can try anything else, you dash past her
>Time for another awesome day

>You reach Twilight’s tree and pull out your key
>Twilight had given you a spare
>Sometimes she’d pull all-nighters, and you didn’t want to wake her when she slept in afterwards
>After working with her every morning for 8 months, she trusted you enough for a key to her books
>You unlock the door and walk in
>Twilight looks up from her book and smiles as she sees you
>”Hey Anon! I know you like using the key, but I could’ve opened the door for you!”
>You smile back at her
And risk waking you? Never
>You walk over to the trap door that leads to the basements and head down the stairs
>Twilight was even cool with you working alone now as well
>Below is a laboratory
>Your pride and joy
>You’d been experimenting with chemicals and magic for the past while, as well as their effects on yourself
>The world was a wonderful place when you could use your own body as a test subject
>Ethics right out the window
>You settle in for the morning; you know you’re getting close
>If you can just get rid of one or two chemical imbalances, you know it’ll work
>Of course, you need to be careful
>The last time you tested it, you singed off all your hair
>You missed the hair, but for some reason Twilight couldn’t use her magic to bring it back
>Rainbow Dash had started calling you Chrome Dome
>So creative, that one

>You continue tinkering around with your concoction for a while, until your alarm on the wall goes off
>You wave to the security camera as you leave; a weird tradition you’d started ever since you created the beauty
>The chemicals inside reacted to magic, essentially doubling the energy put into it
>A simple bolt of Twilights magic would run it for weeks
>You wave goodbye to Twilight as you leave
>Next up is Rainbow Dash
>You see her cloud floating lazily about
>You walk under it and wait a moment
>…
>Dammit
Rainbow, wake up. We’ve got work to do!
>”Mreh, 5 more minutes Dad…”
>You sigh
>She never makes this easy
>You pull out a vial of liquid and shake it
>Aiming it at Rainbow Dash, you remove the stopper
>The smoke shoots out and wraps around her
>You hear her start to sputter
>A moment later, she falls off the cloud, landing with a thump at your feet
>You pat her on the head
Now, shall we get going?

>A half an hour later and you’re standing in one of Apple Jacks emptier fields
>This has been Rainbow Dash’s training area ever since you started helping her
>”Anon, I hope you know I’m going to get back at you for that stupid stink formula you have. Why do you even carry that stuff around with you?”
>You smile at her as she hovers above you
Purely to wake you up every morning, Rainbow
>”Can’t you think of anything better?”
Nothing as funny
>Rainbow glares at you
>You shake your head
Very well, Rainbow. If you can beat my course this time, I’ll wake you up another way
>Rainbow’s eyes narrow
>”…And we start 5 minutes later”
>You smile
Very well. I hope you’re up for the challenge
>Rainbow’s eyes brighten and she grins
>”Today’s the day, Anon! Give me your best!”
Don’t regret it later!
>With that, you pull out your set of chemicals
>More specifically, these are your obstacle course chemicals
>Each vial creates a different sized ring
>As well, they remain connected to the vial with a strand of magic string that attaches itself to the ring
>This allows you to control how they move
>If flesh touches any part of the ring, it changes colour
>You signal Rainbow to head to the starting line you always use
>You tie the strings hanging out of the vials to your fingers
>10 fingers, 10 vials, 10 different sized rings
>You pull out the stoppers, and begin to position the rings
>Rainbow is the best flyer you know; if you put the rings in weird positions, she’d finish it no problem
>Which is precisely why you started moving the rings while she flew
>The two of you had been attempting to enhance her reflexes beyond what anyone in Equestria could reach
>The next Wonderbolts audition, later this month, wouldn’t just get Rainbow on the team
>You’d make her Captain
>After a moment of some fairly silly looking finger wiggling, you nod at Rainbow Dash
>And before you can react, she’s made it through the first ring
>Shit
>You pull your pinkie in to bring the first ring back, and focus on the rest
>You split your mind to focus on each ring individually, and begin shifting them as much as you can
>You make sure not to make them move at any consistent speed or in any kind of pattern
>Yet still, Rainbow succeeds at passing through the second to fifth ring
>Of course, this is when it gets fun
>Now it’s only one hand, and your mind is able to focus more
>Rainbow twists and turns, following the rings as they move through the air at increasing speeds
>After what feels like ages, but what is only about thirty seconds, there are only two rings left
>Rainbow begins flying towards the second last one
>Just as she reaches it, however, you yank, pulling the two rings in close to each other
>Rainbow, with her wings in free fall, would barely fit through the smallest ring
>You bring them in close, criss-crossed like a Venn diagram
>Rainbow goes through the first ring
>You’ve got her now, the gap between is tiny
>But then Rainbow twists, making a barely perceptible flap of her wings and shooting above the ring
>Before you can react, she dives and loops through the final ring
>It doesn’t change colour
>Baffled, you pull the last ring towards you
>You put the end of the strings into the vials, and they chemical returns
>Rainbow Dash lands in front of you a moment later, breathing deeply
>”Hah! Did you see that? Am I awesome, or am I awesome? I should’ve asked for 10 minutes!”
>You stare at Rainbow, your mouth hanging open
>Rainbow cocks her head
>”Uh, Anon? You ok?”
>You shake your head, refocusing
Rainbow… that was astounding. You’re astounding!
>Rainbow blushes
>”Don’t get too amazed Anon. You’re my Coach, remember?”
>You pat her on the back
I don’t think I have much more I can help you with after that, Rainbow
>Rainbow looks distraught for a second, but quickly recovers
>After a moment she grins
>”Well then, I guess I’ll have to teach you how to wiggle your fingers better! I’ll see you tomorrow!”
>With that, she flies into the air
>”Remember, 5 minutes later!”

>You return home after a visit to Apple Acres
>You bought a couple of apples, but not before being dragged into an arm wrestling contest between the Apple Family and a few of their visiting cousins
>Your arm was still sore; brute strength had never been your strong point
>That was a few hours you weren’t getting back, but Big Mac and Apple Jack were always fun to hang out with at least
>And over the months, Apple Bloom and her CMC pals had grown to see you as a sort of big brother
>They’d said something about kinship between blank flanks and stuck to you since
>You didn’t mind
>You mow down on the apples for your dinner
>Sometimes you missed meat, but the whole vegetarian thing had grown on you
>After a bit of relaxation, you figure you may as well go to sleep
>You settle in for the night, hoping tomorrow will be as good as today
>You fall asleep imagining ways to make your obstacle course harder

>Day Disaster in Equestria
>You wake up to a loud knocking on your front door
>You look outside to see the sun just beginning to rise
>Fluttershy isn’t normally this early
>A moment later, the knocking returns, louder and faster
>You hop out of bed, quickly getting dressed, and run down stairs
>You open the door to see a distressed looking Twilight
Twilight, what’s wrong?
>”Anon, the library! It’s gone!”
What? What do you mean ‘gone’?
>”There’s no time to explain right now, just follow me!
>Twilight runs off, and you follow suit
>You reach Ponyville fast enough, and you soon see what she means
>Where the tree once stood is a fiery ruin
>Where once books were held, only ash remained
>The nearby buildings are being sprayed with water by numerous ponies
Twilight, what happened here?
>”I don’t know, I woke up to Spike shaking me, and when we got down stairs, the whole place was aflame. I tried to stop it, but the fire was immune to my magic!”
>Twilight begins to cry
>”I’ve never felt so helpless!”
>You pat her on the shoulder
>How could this have happened?
>No time for that now though
Twilight, let’s see if there’s anything left. It’s seemed to have simmered down enough now
>She sobs, but nods, following after you as you walk through the ashes
>It’s not looking so good
>The fire was thorough
>After a moment, you notice a gleam
>You brush side some of the ash
>You lift up your prize
>One of your cameras
>You’re not sure how it lasted the fire, but you aren’t complaining
>Twilight comes up behind you
>She gasps as she sees what you’re holding
>”Anon! Maybe the camera will show what happened last night!”
>You look back at Twilight
>Tears are still flowing down her face, but you see a glimmer of hope
>It makes your heart ache
Let’s find out then

>You can’t believe it
>What is this?
>You, Twilight and the rest of the town are silent as they watch the camera’s recording unfold
>You see a human wearing a sock mask rummage through the library
>They walked right through the door
>You see a glimmer as they put away your key
>How?
>They head down the stairs to your laboratory
>A few moments later they return with…
>No
>Your latest concoction
>The one that had burnt off your hair
>The figure shakes it up and then lets it go, and a flash blinds the camera for a moment
>When it fades, the figure is gone, and the library is ablaze
>Twilight turns off the recording and looks at you
>”…Why?”
Twilight, you have to believe me when I say that wasn’t me!
>Her eyes glow purple, and you feel yourself unable to move
>”Don’t lie to me, Anon! Why did you do this? I thought we were friends?!”
You know me, Twilight! You know I wouldn’t do such a thing!
>”Were you lashing out? Were you sick of living with ‘little ponies’?”
>You try to struggle, but the magic lifts you off the ground
>You look towards the crowd, hoping for help
>You’re met with angry glares
>”Anonymous, you not only destroyed my home and library, but you also endangered the lives of myself and the ponies who live near me”
Twilight, no! I didn’t do it, I’ve been framed I swear!
>She carries on, ignoring you
>”I hereby, with the power invested upon me by Celestia as her student, and as an Element of Harmony, do banish you from Equestria!”
>You feel your heart drop
>A moment later, the world twists and turns, and you find yourself in a waste land
>Only you and the Mane 6 are here
>The ponies glare at you
>Rainbow looks at you sadly before turning away
>The only one that doesn’t look mad is Fluttershy
>She’s impassive
>Twilight speaks up, her eyes glowing
>”Never return to Ponyville, Anonymous, or face far worse!”
>She turns away as well
>”I never want to see your face again”
>And with that, they disappear
>You look around you
>There’s nothing but rocks and desert
>You sit down, unable to stand any longer
>…What just happened?

>You are Fluttershy
>The look on Anon’s face was almost too much
>It killed you to do this to him
>But you loved him
>And you knew his happiness would only last so long as he refused your love
>And his happiness was your greatest concern
>You feel yourself grow giddy
>Imagine how he’ll react when you save him from his banishment, returning him home
>Then he’ll love you
>He’ll have no choice
>You are Fluttershy
>Master Planner