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 Chapter 1: Introduction
 
 >You recently discovered that you like going to abandoned places
 >In a way, they're just like you
 >They're empty, but in the past they were once full of life
 >You didn't bring your razor blade for nothing, though
 >The abandoned school was at least far away enough so nopony could hear you scream in pain
 ...
 >Just as you're about to sink the razor into your leg, you hear someone coming
 >Unwilling to confront whoever's there, you hide in the shadows
 >It turns out that the other one here is... Anon? The human?
 >What was he doing here?
 >You have talked to him at least once or twice, but the conversations between the two of you never lasted more than five sentences
 >He was wearing his black suit like he always does, but he was carrying a crate full of colored cans
 >At this moment you suddenly realize how dead tired you are, and you try your best to keep your yawn as quiet as possible
 >Thankfully he doesn't notice
 >He takes one of the cans and starts shaking it, then a trail of blue mist comes out of it.
 >He moves the can around in the shape of a circle, at least you think he's making a circle. It's too hard to tell when you keep closing your eyes
 >This time, you keep your eyes closed for too long, and you quickly fall asleep.
 >What you didn't know was that you were still holding onto you razor.
 >It drops to the floor and makes a very noticeable sound
 ...
 >You hear the sound of something hitting the floor
 >You look to your left and see a razor blade
 >The moonlight reflects off of it as the night shines through the window
 >You set your can of spray paint down and you check it out
 >It turns out there was a pony watching you, though she had fallen asleep
 >Grey coat, black mane with a pink streak, broken heart cutie mark, cuts all over her legs
 >You recognized this pony
 >Her name was Miss Eri
 >What was she doing here?
 >Then again, she'd probably say the same to you if she was awake now
 >You want to bring her home, but you have no idea where her house actually is, and you don't want to wake her up to ask her
 >Upon taking a closer look at the razor blade, you see numbers etched into it
 >Could it be her address?
 >Only one way to find out
 >Being careful not to wake her up, you lift her onto your shoulder
 ...
 >Ponyville is very quiet at night
 >Sure enough, the numbers did lead to her house
 >Through the windows, you can see a lot of red stains on the floor
 >So much that the whole floor may as well be red
 >The door is locked, so you have no choice but to go through the window.
 >You go to what you assume to be her room and lay her down on her bed
 >Before you leave, you have to take a quick piss
 >You walk into the bathroom, and it smells absolutely awful
 >It smells like a combination of dried blood and vomit
 >Yeah, you don't need to go anymore
 >Before you leave, you write a note to Eri explaining that you helped her
 >You leave the house, trying not to make too much noise
 >Now that that's over and done with, you've got a picture to finish
 ...
 >It's morning
 >You're back home
 >Wait a minute...How the fuck did you get back here?
 >You remember falling asleep in the school, while hiding from anon
 >There's a note on your desk
 >"I found you unconscious at the school. It was pretty convenient that you wrote your address on your razor blade of all things, otherwise I'd have to bring you back to my house. ~Anon"
 >Anonymous brought you back home
 >Why?
 >Now that you mention it, did he bring the razor blade back with him?
 >No, he didn't. Why the hell would he?
 >That was your last one
 >Maybe the razor blade is still there
 >Unless Anon took it back with him to prevent you from-oh shit did he know what you were going to do?
 >You know what you're doing today
 >You splash some water on your face before heading out
 
 Chapter 2: The Artist
 
 >You were back at the school
 >It was overgrown with plants, giving it an odd sense of beauty
 >You weren't here to admire the scenery though, you were here to get your razor blade
 >What room did you go to again?
 >Room 122, there it is
 >Yep, the razor was right where you fell asleep
 >When you go to pick it up, something distracts you
 >The picture on the wall that Anon was making was finished
 >You walk over to get a closer look
 >It was a giant mechanical clock, and the bottom right corner was filled with the color blue
 >"Do you like it?"
 >You quickly turn around and see Anon standing in the door frame, holding the same crate of cans from last night
 >He comes in and sets the crate down on the floor
 >At this moment you just want to grab your razor and run out of the room, but you feel like you're frozen
 >"You saw me last night, didn't you?"
 >You're afraid
 >You're genuinely afraid and you don't know why
 >You haven't felt this way in years
 ...
 >She looked scared out her mind
 >Even though you haven't known her long, you never saw her display any emotion other than sadness
 >"I..."
 >Her voice sounded shaky
 >Was she scared of you?
 "It's okay, you aren't in trouble." You try to assure her
 >"I'm... I'm not?"
 "No. Also, you're kind of... Drooling."
 >Her expression of fear quickly turned into an expression of embarrassment
 >She wipes the drool away with her leg
 >You walk over to her and point at the picture
 "There's a lot more where this came from. I'm going to be adding something to this place at least once a day."
 ...
 >The fear is gone, but you feel like you're nailed to the ground
 >He's coming here everyday?
 >You have to admit, the picture looked nice
 >Much better than some of the other art you've seen in places
 >Finally, you work up the courage to move
 "I think I'll just go home now."
 >It took a lot out of you to speak those words
 >You go back to where your razor is and you finally pick it up, but before you leave Anon stops you
 >"Wait."
 "Hm?"
 >"Here."
 >He gives you an... Air freshener
 "Huh?"
 >You probably had the dumbest look on your face
 >"Put that in your bathroom. That's all I'm telling you."
 "Thanks, I guess."
 >You leave without saying a word
 ...
 >She's gone
 >You pull out your phone and bring up your reference picture
 >Thankfully you can still get human world internet in Equestria
 >You set your phone on the chalkboard as you ready a can of red spray paint
 
 Chapter 3: Love?
 
 >Anon was right when he told you to put the air freshener in your bathroom
 >It doesn't smell like shit anymore, but it's still a mess like the rest of your house
 >You remember that he was the one that brought you home when you fell asleep, so he had to have gone in there to know that it smelled like shit
 >Why are you even thinking about this?
 >It's past midnight, and you've woken up from a nightmare
 >You can't remember what the nightmare was, though
 >You can't get back to sleep no matter how hard you try
 >You kinda want to go back to the school, and you don't know why
 >Grabbing your razor blade, you walk out the door
 >It's raining, but you're not going to let that stop you
 ...
 >You make it to the school, and you're soaking wet
 >You head to room 122
 >The crate that Anon brought in is still on the floor
 >This could either mean he forgot it, or he's still here
 >You hope that it's the first one
 >The second picture is done, and you notice that Anon has added a subtitle to the two pictures
 >The first one has "Time" written underneath it
 >The new one... You have no idea what it is
 >It looks like a black arrow pointing down, and it's surrounded in a broken red circle
 >The bottom left is filled in with red, much like the first picture
 >The arrow was pointing to the word "Love"
 >Love. Something you've been hanging on for a long time
 >You even wrote a poem about how much easier it is to hate than it is to love
 >Something about it looks off though
 >It looks finished, but at the same time it's missing a crucial detail
 >You should finish the picture for Anon
 >Wait, what? Where did that thought come from?
 >It needs more red
 ...
 >Everything around you is black
 >The only thing in front of you is the picture
 >Without thinking, you jam the razor into your hoof as hard as you can, hoping to get the most blood out
 >You scream in pain
 >You cover the rest of your already wet hoof in blood, and you smear it where the circle is broken
 >The blood drips down the wall
 >"Eri!'
 >You snap back to reality and realize what you were doing
 >What the hell just happened?
 >"Eri! What are you doing?!"
 >You turn around and see Anonymous standing right behind you
 >He doesn't look angry, but concerned
 >"Are you okay?"
 >You look at your hoof, still covered in blood
 >You need to be honest with him
 "No..."
 ...
 >This mare literally painted the walls with her own blood
 "What happened?"
 >"I don't know! I was staring at your picture and I started getting all these strange thoughts! I blacked out and... and..."
 "Calm down."
 >You pull out a piece of dry tissue paper from your pocket.
 "Eri, give me your hoof."
 >She holds her still blood soaked hoof out to you, and you wrap the tissue around it
 "I know it isn't much, but it'll have to do for now."
 ...
 >You feel so ashamed of yourself
 >All you wanted to do was come here
 >You don't even know why you wanted to come here in the first place, you just did
 >Now you have a human tending to the harm you intentionally gave yourself
 >Normally you'd just want it to bleed, but this time feels different.
 "I'm sorry for ruining your picture, Anon..."
 >You hang your head in shame
 >"Ruin it? Honestly, I think it looks better now."
 >Your eyes widen in response to this statement
 "You do?"
 >"Yeah. The blood drops give it a nice effect. How you did it is NOT good though."
 "Oh..."
 >"Don't worry, you're still not in trouble. If I was making these pictures back in my world, I'd be in VERY big trouble."
 >He's doing something he shouldn't be? This is interesting to you, but you're still too ashamed to make eye contact with him
 >"Come here."
 "What?"
 >He hugs you without warning
 >You're just standing there dumbfounded by this
 >It feels... Great
 >Warm, comforting
 >Not knowing what to do, you hug him in return
 >The loss of blood is making you dizzy
 >Anon is probably going to have to bring you home again, isn't he
 >Before you pass out, you realize something
 >It isn't an arrow. It's a heart.
 
 Chapter 4: The Aftermath
 
 >You feel like you've been run over by a train
 >Or ten
 >What did you do last night?
 >All it takes is to look at the red tissue on your hoof for the events of last night to come flooding back to you, but some of it still seems very blurry
 >The only part you can completely remember was the embrace with Anon
 >You're still not sure why you felt so compelled to "complete" the picture
 >You look on your desk to see that Anon has left you another note
 >He also remembered to bring back to razor blade this time
 >The razor is completely covered in dry blood
 >"Eri, I'm still not sure exactly what happened back there. I think it'd be better if you stayed home for today and get some rest. There's going to be a lot more art on the walls when you return. ~Anon"
 >Staying home does sound like a good idea
 >You hear someone knocking at your door and you go to answer it
 >"Hi, Eri!"
 >It was one of the ponies you went to school with, but you can't remember her name
 >She had a very light pink coat, a tan-ish mane, and blue eyes
 "Hey."
 >"You wanna come to sugarcube corner and get some free sweets?"
 "No. I just wanna stay home for today."
 >"You wanna stay home EVERY day."
 "This time I actually have a reason."
 >"What's that?"
 >You show her your hoof, the one covered in a red tissue
 >Her energetic mood was quickly faltered
 >"Oh... What happened?"
 "I don't want to talk about it..."
 >You close the door in her face
 >"Wait-"
 >She tries to say something, but it's too late
 >You're not in the mood for this right now
 >You just want to sleep
 ...
 "What the hell got into her?"
 >You ask yourself as you gaze at your picture
 >The blood drops on the wall have dried up
 >You think back to last night
 ...
 >You decide to look around more of the school, maybe find another room to start a picture in
 >There was a second floor that you haven't checked out yet, so you decide to go up there first
 >The stairs are made of stone, so thankfully you wouldn't have to worry about them giving away
 >Most of the rooms had nothing left in them
 >You find room 230
 >You could tell that this was a room used for art class because unlike the rest of the rooms, this one still had most of its supplies left
 >Even the cabinets used to hold all of the supplies still had resources left in them
 >Paint brushes and pieces of paper littered all over the floor
 >The next stop is the restrooms because why the fuck not
 >Honestly, you didn't know what you expected
 >Those toilets definitely weren't working anymore
 >You see some writing on the stalls
 >Some of them had dates, the most recent one being about a year ago
 >You decide to draw a quick picture just for the hell of it
 >Just when you finish your picture, you hear a scream downstairs
 >You run downstairs right away and you try to find the source of the scream
 >You instinctively head to room 122, and you see Eri standing on her hind legs in front of your picture
 >She was soaking wet. Most likely from the rain
 >Then you see it
 >Her right hoof is covered in blood, and she's smearing the blood in the cracks of the circle
 ...
 >A lot of the work you did today was mostly writing song lyrics on the walls along with a few smaller pictures here and there
 >You aren't going to work on the third picture in room 122 for a while, though
 >Finishing up the last picture, you pack your stuff up and start heading home
 ...
 >Night again
 >You never thanked Anon for bringing you back home
 >And for helping you
 >And for the hug
 >You've been thinking about the hug all day
 >The only place that you want to be right now was in Anon's arms
 >...That's something you never thought you'd think
 >You'll go to the school tomorrow first thing in the morning
 >Hopefully Anon will be there so you'll be able to thank him properly
 >The last thing you think of before you fall asleep is the heart of the picture that Anon made
 
 Chapter 5: Yurasaka
 >You actually managed to get a good night sleep
 >It's still a little bit dark out, but you might as well get a head start
 >you go through the same routine as always, grab your razor and walk out the door
 ...
 >You notice words sprayed right outside the door
 >They say "Welcome home."
 >You aren't completely sure what to make of this
 >You walk inside and see another word written on the wall. "Goodbye."
 >You feel uneasy as you walk into room 122
 >The blood on the wall has dried up since the incident
 >Anon's crate was nowhere to be found, indicating that he wasn't here yet
 >You might as well explore
 >Maybe you'll find some more pictures
 >You decide to go upstairs
 >More words written on the walls
 >Most of them are words you never heard of
 >One of them catches your eye
 "Yurasaka?"
 >You say the word out loud
 >What kind of word is that? What does it even mean?
 >Wait a minute...
 >You take a closer look at the word
 >Oh
 >You decide to move on
 >You find a picture of a basic human figure, but it's broken up in some places, and it looks like the body is made up of a bunch of newspaper articles
 >The word "Loner" is written underneath it
 ...
 >You head back to room 122
 >Anon still wasn't here yet
 >You decide to wait
 >...And wait
 ...
 >Seriously, it's been an hour and he still isn't here yet
 >You should have talked to him about meeting up
 >Coming here was a waste of time
 >As long as you're still here, you might as well leave a very small note for Anon
 >You use your razor to carve letters into the wood of the desk
 >You even carve your own cutie mark into it
 >You've spent enough time in here for one day, it's time to head home
 >Plus, you need to take a shower
 >You need to be ready for tomorrow
 ...
 >You set your crate down and you notice something etched into one of the desks
 >It was the same cutie mark that Eri has, and there was a message next to it
 >"Meet me here tomorrow at 10 in the morning, I need to tell you something. ~Eri"
 >She's going to open herself up to you? This should be interesting.
 >Might as well get the room prepared for the occasion
 >This is going to be a pain in the ass, however
 >You put on the safety goggles you brought for this picture specifically and start painting the ceiling
 ...
 >Your hoof is still wrapped up in the tissue paper
 >You have to take it off, otherwise it'll just fall apart in the shower
 >Slowly, you remove the tissue
 >That doesn't smell good
 >The air freshener that Anon gave you made you realize how awful you actually smelled without knowing it, whereas before you couldn't tell the difference
 >Your hoof is all hard and sticky
 >Damn, that cut is deep
 >Out of all the times you've done that to yourself, you've never gone THIS far
 ...
 >You have to admit, taking a shower did leave you feeling much better
 >It made you feel like you could take on anything before you remember that you can't do shit
 >You get a clean tissue and wrap it around your hoof
 >Now that you think about it the fact that you don't even have any bandages in your house is pretty fucking stupid
 >Was this really how you live?
 >You shouldn't dwell on it for too long, maybe you'll get some bandages from the store or something after your meeting with Anon
 >You need to get to sleep, Anon doesn't need to carry you back home for a third time
 
 Chapter 6: Do It For Her
 
 >Morning
 >You know the drill
 >Wake up
 >Grab your razor
 >Go out
 >Fuck, why are you so nervous?
 >Calm down, Eri. Today's the day that you tell Anon that you lo-
 >...Are very thankful for all that he's done for you
 >You're just going to thank him and then leave
 ...
 "Through space and time?"
 >Words written above the door to room 122
 >"Well if I had to guess the way I wound up here, then yes."
 >Anon was here
 >"Hey Eri, look up." He says to you as you walk in
 "Look up? What are you- HOLY SHIT!"
 >There's some sort of lifeless empty face... Thing right above you, and it's mouth has fire inside of it
 >It looks like it wants to eat you
 >Without thinking, you hide under one of the desks in fear
 >Then you realize that it's only one of Anon's pictures
 >Anon is laughing at what just happened
 >That was so embarrassing
 >You chuckle nervously as you get out from under the desk
 >You're undoubtedly blushing right now
 >"You said you needed to tell me something?"
 >Okay, your horrific incident of terror is over, time to get to the point
 "Yes."
 >You take a deep breath as you get ready
 "I wanted to thank you."
 >"For what?"
 "For helping me a few days back."
 >You point to the heart on the wall
 "One of the reasons I keep coming back here is because I love youR ART!"
 >FUCK! You realize what you were going to say and you try to save it, but Anon doesn't look like he bought it
 >"What?"
 >He looks confused
 >Shit, if you weren't blushing before you definitely are now
 >You need to get out of here before he questions you
 >Your voice gets faster as you slowly start backing out of the room
 "Y-yeah! Your art is amazing! I need to get going now because I need to get some bandages because my house doesn't have any in it right now I'll come back tomorrow bye!"
 >Once you finally get out of the room you make a run for the exit
 >That was a close one
 >You abandon your plan of going to the store, you're heading straight home
 ...
 >You're standing in the middle of the room, absolutely confused as to what just happened
 >Was Eri really about to tell you that she loved you?
 >It feels like forever as you try to think of what to make of this
 >You look at your crate, and make your decision
 >...You aren't doing this for fun anymore
 >You're doing it for her
 >"Um, excuse me."
 >Your eyes return to the doorway
 >A pony you haven't met before
 >Light pink coat, tan mane, blue eyes
 >Her cutie mark looks like a screwdriver and a hammer
 >"Are you a friend of Eri?"
 "Yes. Are you?"
 >You're not going to tell this pony about what just happened back there
 >"Yeah. I saw her running from here and I thought I'd investigate. Do you know what she was running from?"
 "The picture above you."
 >"Picture?"
 >She looks at the ceiling
 >"Wow. Did you make that?"
 "Yep. And you see those paintings on the walls over there?"
 >You point to the heart and clock
 "I made those, too."
 >She looks stunned
 >"Really?"
 "Really."
 >"What's your name?"
 "Anonymous. What about you?"
 >"What's with the blood on the 'love' picture?"
 >She avoids your question
 "Eri did that."
 >"She did?"
 "Yeah. She didn't even know what she was doing either. I heard a scream and I came down here to see what it was, when I get in here I saw Eri standing in front of the picture on her hind legs, and her right hoof was covered in blood and she was smearing it in the broken spots of the circle."
 >She's silent for a whole minute as she tries to process what you just said
 >"I guess that explains why she had her hoof wrapped up..."
 "You talked to her the day after?"
 >"Yeah. She didn't want to talk about it and wanted to stay home."
 "I was the one who told her to stay home that day."
 >"She must really trust you to listen to what you said."
 "Can I ask you something?"
 >"What is it?"
 "Are you good with power tools?"
 >"Yes, why?"
 "I have something special planned for her the next time she comes here."
 >You ask her one more question
 "Do you have an electric saw at home?"
 >"Yeah, I think so."
 "Good. We'll need it."
 ...
 >You never did get her name
 >That isn't important right now
 >You place the plastic over the hole in the wall and you nail the four corners of it to the wall
 >Time to work on the third picture
 
 Chapter 7: One Good Reason
 
 >You can't sleep
 >You can't stop thinking about Anon
 >He knows
 >But how does he feel?
 >You're afraid to go back to the school
 >After all he's done for you you're too much of a coward to tell him what you think of him
 >He hasn't even done much for you in the first place, what the fuck are you talking about?
 >You try to think back to where these feelings started
 >The second night
 >His embrace
 >His welcoming embrace
 >That was where your feelings began
 >He tended to your wound
 >And the fucking air freshener
 >That single air freshener made you realize just how awful you were living
 >In only a few days he has unknowingly improved your life more than anypony else could even if they tried
 >...No more moping around. You know what you have to do.
 >You walk out the door so quickly that you don't even grab your razor
 ...
 >You've been spending all day trying to get this set up
 >From getting a pony you don't even know the name of cut a giant hole in the wall to setting up dozens of green colored lights behind the picture you put up over the hole to get the right place you wanted the picture to light up in, this has been a hell of a day
 >Does it work?
 >You go to room 124, the room right next to 122, and switch on the lights
 "Yes!"
 >Right when you're about to start packing up, you look out a window and see Eri in the distance
 >What you were going to show her in the morning has turned into a surprise gift
 >You switch the lights back off and you hide your crate
 ...
 >You stop at the entrance
 >You know you don't have to do this, you can just turn around and go home
 >But your home is right in front of you
 "Welcome home..."
 >Yurasaka, Eri. Yurasaka.
 >You're shaking
 >Is it because you're cold, or are you afraid?
 >You can't tell which
 >Working up as much willpower as you can, you walk through the door
 "Anon?"
 >Your voice echoes throughout the building
 >You once thought you understood how it felt to be alone, but the absolute silence of the night made you realize you never had a clue
 >Instinctively, you head to room 122
 >The third picture is up
 "Dreams."
 >It looked like 'Time' except the clock aspect was missing
 >The top right was filled with the color green, and the rest of the picture was made up of what looked like to be a bird spreading its wings
 >Time
 >Love
 >Dreams
 >Death
 >Death?
 >Why death?
 >How did death cross your mind?
 >Before you could consider the idea that you're going to lose it again, the bird begins to glow
 >You stare at the picture for what feels like an eon
 >Were you hallucinating?
 >You raise your hoof where the picture is glowing, and it gets bathed in the light
 >This isn't a hallucination?
 >How was this possible?
 >"Beautiful, isn't it?"
 >A familiar voice snaps you from your trance
 >And it's right next to you
 "Anon?"
 >"I did this for you."
 "You did?"
 >"It took me all day. I was just about to leave before I saw you coming."
 >He worked his ass off all day to finish this
 >And he did it all for you
 "Why?"
 >"Take a guess."
 >He cared
 >He actually cared for a mess of a pony like you
 >You shed a single tear without knowing
 "Because..."
 ...
 >She looks like she's going to break down
 >Her voice sounds like she's trying to hold back the rest of her tears as hard as she could
 >"You... Love me..." Her voice gets quiet as she speaks the last two words
 >In the blink of an eye, she wraps her arms around you.You do the same for her
 >Honestly, seeing her like this was starting to make you tear up a bit too
 "You're right." You say to her.
 ...
 "I LOVE YOU TOO!"
 >Those were the only words you could speak through your tears
 >The same feelings from the night before are present
 >Warm
 >Welcoming
 >Accepting
 >You're like a child in your mother's arms
 >You're in the only place you want to be
 >Though you know that it ends eventually
 >The two of you eventually fall asleep in each other's arms
 >At that moment, you felt yourself slipping away into someone who could understand and be your only friend
 
 Epilogue
 
 >You wake up in Anon's arms
 >Maybe you could stay asleep for a bit longer
 >Or forever
 >As long as you're in his arms, you'll be happy
 "I love you, Anon. Thank you."
 >You close your eyes as you go back to sleep
 ...
 >It's been a few months
 >You and Anon are in a stable relationship
 >The school has been torn down since, but thankfully the two of you were able to get the pictures out of the building before the incident
 >It's a shame, the place really was like a second home.
 >You have learned something from the whole experience
 >Sometimes, life can seem so monochrome
 >You just need to believe in the colors that surround your life.
 END