AMSHELAV

>"Wow man, I'm really sorry, need some help?"
"No!... No it's fine"
>You quickly retrieved your things from the ground and stuffed them back into your well worn jacket, hoping the inquisitive eyes of the blue haired boy didn't take notice of them
>"Alright, if you say so... Guuuuuy"
>The boy was very awkward, obviously he was someone who prided him in knowing everyone in the school, unfortunately for him, you were the one face he didn't know
"Yeah, no problem, duuuuuuuuude"
>You both made very awkward finger guns at each other as you quickly broke off, happy to have this situation behind you
>He may have been at least...
"AMSHELAV"
>The boy walking away from you immediately slipped and fell flat on his face, others quickly gathering to help him and ponder what he slipped on, too preoccupied with his well being to notice the final wisps of purple smoke slipping out the corners of your lips
>You wondered how you ended up in this situation
>You, a twenty something year old man who despite not a terribly long age had long lost your life to something most could never understand, now having to pretend you were an ordinary high school student
>It couldn't be avoided, the scent was too great, the moment the aroma burnt your nostrils you knew you had to be in this place
>For you were Anon, an occultist, and you were tired of using the knowledge that would turn most men mad to preform parlor tricks for a few cents

>Just as you readied yourself for another sniff a loud, ringing siren sounded within the school and hundreds of students poured from the classes and into the halls
>The sacred ritual known as "lunch" had begun, a time of rejoice for the students, and a time of frustration for you
>You could do nothing during this event, too many prying eyes littered every part of the school
>You could safely move around without being figured out when only a couple students would wander, but this many eyes would surely notice something amiss about you
>You pulled the collar of your tattered jacket up and made a quick bee line for the door, you knew there was relative safety once far enough

>"There he goes again"
>The other girls all looked up at Sunset, then turned to see what she was staring at
>It was that kid with the tattered jacket again, practically running away from the school
>Ever since he arrived it was the same thing everyday, Sunset and the rest would sit by the statue at lunch, and he would come charging out of the doors and run away from the school in some big hurry
>"Man, I should ask him to join the track team, that guy can sure move when he wants to"
>"You'd have to find him first darling, lunch is the only time I've ever seen him"
>Sunset took a pause at that
>Thinking about it she realized she'd never seen him outside of his brief sprints either
>"Hey girls, have any of you seen him in your classes?" Sunset asked
>The other girls thought for a moment, and said they hadn't
>For a moment shrugging it off as nothing until what they'd said really began to sink in
>"That is kinda strange, isn't it?" Twilight said, "I mean we have so many different classes, the odds that none of us have seen him in any of them is pretty low"
>"O-oh my, you don't think he's skipping, do you?" Fluttershy suggested
>Sunset thought for a moment, wondering if there was anytime in general she'd seen him either in or outside of class
>"No... I don't think he's a student at all."
>"Well he don't look like no janitor" AJ chimed in, "and I don't like the idea that someone is just sneaking into the school."
>Sunset didn't like it either, no one in the group did
>All but Pinkie Pie

>"Heeeeeeeeey!"
>What was that? Relax Anon, relax; it was surely just some of the students greeting each other
>"Heeeeeeeey you! In the brown jacket"
>You were wearing a brown jacket, at least it had once been brown, now it was so worn it nearly seemed white
>Again, surely there were dozens of individuals at this school wearing bro-
>"Brooooooown jacket guy with his hands in his pockets and his eyes down!"
>Against all your better judgement you raised your eyes just a little to see a girl with a head of the fluffiest pink hair you'd ever seen waving right in your direction, and the moment her eyes met yours you knew she meant you
>"Yeah, you! Come over here!"
>Damnation
>You quickly began to think of a way to get out of this, perhaps a spell to make them momentary forgetful? Or perhaps a spell of silence, or a spe-
>Your mind began to spin, your every thought filling the letters A, M, S, L, V; your vision filling with the very clockwork of the world, the city as a chorus of THE word filled your mind
>You balled your fists and closed your eyes, eyes that for a moment there nearly seemed they would burst right out of your head
>The mess within your mind subsided for a moment
>"Heeeeeeeey! You okay over there?"
>If you ran now, they would grow more suspicious than they surely already were
>Perhaps if you played it cool, with the help of your art, you could put this incident behind you
>You took a deep breath in preparation and-

>That scent, that burning stench, it was so strong
>Now you were curious, and little could keep you from quickly making your way over to the odd girl
>It was as if the very skin within your nose was being torn away, deep sniffs became less necessary as simple breathing became painful
>"Hey ya there! You a new student, it's just that I know everyo-"
>It took you a while to snap out of it and notice the perky young girl talking, thankful she seemed too pre-occupied with talking to notice you haven't heard a word she said
>"-What's yours?"
>Wait, what, what did she ask? Think Anon, think.
>A name! Of course, she wanted a name.
"O-oh, I am... Incognito"
>When you thought about it there seemed little reason to hide your true name, the few places you would be known would likely have never reached some high school students, but you still felt it best
>"Hey Incognito" the girl with the red and yellow hair standing just next to the state greeted, eyes burning into you
>Burning was perhaps a more literally term than you intended, there was something-
>"Don't think I've ever seen you in any classes, you new?"
>Damnation
>Only a week or two and already they were catching onto you
>You needed to come up with something, but any use of magic this close, with this many people observing your every move... You had to do things the old fashion way

"Y-yes, of course, just transferred here two weeks ago; I, I mean my family got a new job offer in the town and you know..."
>"Huh, weird, we've never seen you in any classes."
>You didn't like this conversation, not one bit, damned if you knew what classes were normally taken in a high school, such trivialities had long been erased from your mind
"I've never seen any of you in my classes either, I mean, it's a big school and all"
>"Yeah, big school..."
>You needed to end this, fast
>Thankfully you had one trick, one little thing, it wouldn't erase what happened here but it would provide a means of escape
>You subtly reached behind your back with both hands, fingers of one hand tracing the arms and notches of your glassless watch
>"...So what classes are you in? If you don't mind me asking."
>Your eyes turned to the sun
"Oh, well I'm in, you know, that one class run by that professor..."
>Come on damnation, where are you?
"You know, the guy with the thing, teaches the, well..."
>There, your eyes stopped burning and you finally saw the faintest hint of golden and blue gears in the sky
>You couldn't shift the months, you couldn't turn it back, but the sky didn't object to just a tiny nudge
>Your finger slowly pushed the minute hand of your watch forward, the clockwork sky moving just a little faster
"it's on the tip of my tongue, got a lot of stuff about the stuff and-"
>The bell rung again, signalling the end of the sacred lunch hour and the beginning of those classes you did not have
>"Huh, what they?" The girl looked completely shocked, all thoughts of you gone from her mind for a second
>"but it's only been a few minu-"
>All the girls seemed taken aback as they checked phones and watches, knowing in their minds that almost no time had passed but every source telling them otherwise
"Oh no, just look at the time, I better get back to class"
>You practically sprinted back into the school

>You'd abandoned your search for the rest of this day, you dared not risk another incident and chose instead to hide in the darkness of the library
>The past few weeks had taught you that it was quite the safe place, no one checked that little corner, and when the school locked you had free reign of the place
>An occasionally janitor maybe, nothing a compulsion spell wouldn't get rid of
>You decided now would be the best time to sleep, just before the night began
>You didn't sleep much these days, too busy looking for the source of the scent
>And besides
>Your dreams have been... Troubling ever since you discovered the word
>But even still, you drifted off after days of wakefulness
>You must have awoken only a few hours later, the sunset seemed to be just beginning
>Your watch confirmed it, the hour was well after the school had emptied
>You raised yourself from your makeshift bed of mundane books and made your way for the nearest bathroom
>Fools, do they not realize they are full with nothing but trivialities?
>Thus began your ritual
>You hadn't had a home of your own for years now, you'd become a laughing stock to the world and a shame upon your family
>You had no time for the work that consumes other men and your kin would never dare invite you into their homes
>Bathing and shaving and such things were never much of a concern before, but here you had to pretend you were one of the students
>And so you would do all your grooming at the bathroom sinks
>The hand soap worked well enough to rid you of the worst of your scent
>You actually felt quite refreshed as you returned to the library and gazed out the window
>Only for that comfort to be immediately forgotten when you saw her again

>There, by the statue, sat the red haired girl from before
>You instinctively ducked down, then raised yourself cautiously, ensuring only the top of your head could be seen
>Who was this mysterious girl? She seemed no different than any of the others, and yet...
>Something about her compelled you, there was something in those eyes
>You took another deep breath, but couldn't sense any strength in the scent, not in this library at least
>The girl was writing in a journal
>You thought little of it of course, but then you felt something
>A surge of energy, your hairs standing as if a burst of static passed through your body
>Even without utter the word, a small wisp of purple smoke escape your nose
>Such magic! Such a burst of power! You'd never felt anything like it before
>You quickly realized the source, the journal, it was glowing
>You needed it, whatever it was
>You stayed there for what felt like hours, surges of that same static rocking your body every time the girl stopped writing and waited for the glow again
>Surely she would leave soon, surely your chance to act...
>Your heart nearly stopped as she stuffed the journal into her backpack and stood to leave
"AMSHELAV"
>As you uttered THE word, your whole body strained as it always did; veins bulging, bones creaking under muscles gone unnaturally tense, almost every organ in your body felt as if it was about to burst, and of course a small puff of purple smoke escaped your mouth
>Out from the bottom of her bag fell the journal, crashing to the ground
>Just as she turned to investigate you uttered a few more words and the word
>And just like that she stopped midway through her turn and walked away

>You had to stop yourself from merely trying to break through the window to get to your prize
>Instead you took a deep breath to steady yourself
>It was close, close enough that a simple door would suffice
>You pulled a piece of chalk from your pocket and while staring intently at the book drew a rectangle on the floor under you
>Knocking three times the chalk outline became a crack, and the trapdoor opened to show the sky
>You quickly crawled through, ending up only a few meters from the statue
>Odd, the scent seemed distant, as if it had been strong but was now dissipating, but it was still quite strong, stronger than you were accustom to
>You ignored it as best you could, your mind already starting to get clouded by letters and clockwork
>It could wait, the journal surely held secrets just as valuable
>And there it was, laying just a few feet from the trap door
>You quickly snatched it up, eyes hungrily consuming every page as you flipped through it
>Magic, portals, Equestria... Ponies?
>The statue
>Of course, you should have known it the second you laid eyes on it
>It wasn't just some concrete block, it was something so much more
>Step through it and you would finally exist in a world you belonged
>Your fingers gently brushed the cool stone
>...
>Nothing
>Not a jolt, not a single sense of power seemed to escape from the thing
>Nonono, it couldn't be, the book surely meant no other statue, did it? Was it all just a li-
>Something was coming, the scent of magic, it was returning, and it was growing as strong as it had been the first time you'd been here
>And from the same direction someone was coming

>Quickly you crawled back through the trap door into the library and slammed it shut, your treasure held firmly beneath your arm
>You brushed at the chalk, and within seconds the cracks filled themselves as the door became nothing more than a drawing again
>Your breathed a sigh of relief, but the nights excitement wasn't over yet
>That stench, where did it come from? Who had approached?
>An occultist like you, but far more powerful? A spirit even?
>Your head slowly crept back up to the window
>It was the girl again, walking around the statue while looking for something.
>The journal? Impossible, the spell you cast to make it slip her mind never wears off in less than an hour, let alone only a few minutes
>Then again
>You'd only used it on human before
>Your demeanor changed, you began to burn with confidence
>You knew her, the journal told you everything you needed to know
>She was the key
"Well, I suppose it's long past time to make some friends in this school..."
>You quickly glanced at the pages
>"...Isn't it, Sunset Shimmer?"

Part 2
=======================================================================================================================================

>WAKE UP
>You spring awake, your eyes burning and mind a buzz
>You saw little reason to stay awake after discovering Sunset Shimmer and her miraculous journal, and decided a few hours of much needed sleep would do you some good
>You were wrong
>Your dreams were always odd before, disjointed visions filled with a nightmare one couldn't wake from around every corner
>Fragments of distant worlds or times
>But tonight
>You saw little, none of the letters and clockwork that usually clouded your mind, none of the nightmares of trapped within death and great monstrosities loomed over you
>Just blackness disrupted only by a command
>A command followed by whispers of THE word
>For someone reason you found a dreamless sleep far more unsettling than one filled with horror
>None-the-less you crawled from your makeshift bed and checked your watch
>Surely enough, school would begin soon, likely there were already teachers and students roaming the halls and preparing the days lessons
>A perfect opportunity

>You snuck out of the corner, eyes darting to ensure no one would see you until you were in a less suspicious position
>With ease you slipped out, hands in pockets and head down
>As you made your way to the bathroom thoughts raced through your mind, plans and schemes
>You knew this Sunset had the power to unlock the portal to the other land
>You also knew that she was exceptionally powerful
>You could smell it on her, such a concentrated magic
>You were a mere occultist, but she was a sorcerers from another world
>If you confronted her and tried to force her to do as you wished, she'd destroy you without a hint of effort
>Or perhaps she'd strain herself to death, even you had to twist your entire body to squeeze just a hint of this worlds barely present magic into minor spells, a spell powerful enough to destroy someone?
>You needed to get her to open that portal of her own will
>And though the journal contained little information about the portals nature, it did provide you with a way to win her to your side
>Friendship, the girl seemed to pride it above all else
>So you would become her friend
>It was the only way into this "Equestria"
>Oh how THE word echoed in your mind, as if it was an old home you longed for
>A land of such magic that individuals used it for simple everyday tasks?
>But for now, you had to make due with the magic you had
>You stared into the bathroom mirror, thankful it was empty
>You'd never attempted such an ambitious spell, in most circumstances you believed you'd never be able to achieve it
>But that journal inside your jacket seemed to send great volts of electricity through your body with every heartbeat, burning everything inside your body but fueling your mind
>"AMESHELAV"

>You sprinted down the halls, lungs burning and coated in sweat
>First you lost the journal
>Then thanks to stress you forget to turn on your alarm clock
>It just wasn't turning out to be your day at all
>Just when it seemed you could add being late to the list the bell rung only a few steps from your classroom
>And stumbling in revealed the teacher herself to be late
>You'd breath a sigh of relief, if you could breath at all
>Still, you felt just a little more at ease
>At least, you did for a moment
>But as you walked to your desk right next to Twilight, you noticed she was talking to someone
>Someone familiar, and not in a good way
>It was Incognito
>He looked different, very different
>Nearly half a decade younger, his worn jacket now looked brand new
>But it was certainly him
>The weird part was Twilight and him were chatting it up like they were old friends, like the odd conversation yesterday never happened
>You decided to investigate
"Hey Twilight, hey... Incognito"
>"Oh, hey Sunse- Wow, what happened to you?"
>She was obviously referring to the fact that you nearly had a waterfall coming off you
>"Forgot to set the alarm"
>"It happens" shrugged Incognito, "good thing the teachers late, huh?"
>You didn't like how 'friendly' he was making his voice, which also seemed to have changed
>From the short conversation you remembered it used to be gravelly, strained
>Now it sounded young and smooth
"Yeah... So, is this the class 'with the thing' and 'the stuff' with 'that one professor'?"

>"Huh? Oh, you mean yesterday, sorry about that, I was a little..."
>"Too many workshop fumes, huh anon?" Twilight jabbed, giving Incognito a wink
>You didn't like it, not one bit
>Friendships could form fast, sure, but this felt wrong
>Almost staged
>"Yeah, I was feeling a little under it; but no, I was transferred to this class, turns out the school made a mistake and placed me in a lower grade. Gotta love that efficiency, huh?"
>There was nothing about Anon you liked
>He looked like an ordinary high school boy sure, and maybe his excuse for the odd behaviour might have worked at some point
>But there was just something about those deep purple eyes of his
>You couldn't place it, but they felt wrong somehow...
>"Alrighty class! Everyone take your seats, we're going over the war of 1812!"
>Cheerilee interrupted your train of thought, stumbling into class looking even worse than you, a fake smile plastered onto her face
>"Miss Cheerilee, this is advanced math"
>"Yeah, well here's a question for you; what does mama plus gin plus morning equal?"
>The whole class thought for a second before answer
>"...Is it 'shut your goddamn face,' Miss Cheerilee?"
>"I have taught you well, my students"

>Class consisted mainly of a movie on mute and Miss Cheerilee drooling onto her desk
>It was certainly very odd, it wasn't a Monday
>And you thought it far too convenient
>Miss Cheerilee just happens to be completely out of it on the one day that some "new student" comes into the class?
>Then again, that was probably being too paranoid about Incognito
>Sure he didn't seem to belong here, but getting one of the teachers completely drunk the night before just to sneak into class?
>The bell finally rang, interrupting Cheerilee's loud snoring
>"Whhhhhhhyyyyy?"
>The students began filing out of the room without a word from the teacher
>All except you
>You wanted to have a little chat with Cheerilee
>"Hey Sunset, you coming?"
>You looked over to Twilight, Incognito standing right beside her and giving you a "friendly" smile, those unsettling purple eyes darting this way and that to take you in
>You instinctively raised your textbook to your chest
"You go on ahead, I have some things I have to do."
>"Alright Sunset, see you at lunch then."
>Anon also gave you a quick wave as he left with Twilight
>Finally with him gone you felt your spirits lighten substantially
>His mere presence suffocated you, why was Twilight now friends with him?
>With most the class gone you got up and walked over to Cheerilee's desk
"Um, Miss Cheerilee"
>"Huh, wha?... Oh, Sunset, what do you want?"
"Well I'm not sure if you noticed, but there was a 'student' in here that didn't seem to belong and I'm kinda worried."
>"What are you? Oh, you mean Incognito? He's a new student, I should have introduced him, huh?"
"Wait, he's actually a student?"
>"What do you mean by that? Of course he's a student, put him on the attendance sheet myself."
>Was... Was Incognito telling the truth?

>"...Of course Darling, Miss Cheerilee has always been a little- Ah, hello there Sunset"
>You couldn't believe your eyes
>The moment you walked out of the school they nearly popped out of your head
>You'd been surprised when you saw Incognito in your first period class, when you saw him in your second period class you were shocked
>So much so that you didn't even think to interrogate him when he was sitting next to you and trying to make small talk when the teacher wasn't paying attention
>But seeing him sitting by the statue with all your friends, who now seemed to be his friends as well
>You almost went to pinch yourself, this had to be some nightmare
>"Sunset, you remember Incognito, right?"
>You could only nod in response
>"Sunset, Darling? Are you alright?"
>You quickly shook your head and closed your mouth, trying to regain some composure
"I, what, I... What is he doing here?" You said in a rather hostile tone
>All the girls stopped what they were doing to gaze at you in surprise
>Except Rarity, who glared at you before putting on her best "lecturing" tone
>"We invited him to eat with us because he's new to this school and hasn't made a lot of friends yet."
>You raised an eyebrow at Rarity, and then lowered them at Incognito
"Really? Seemed real buddy buddy with Twilight earlier"
>Your tone wasn't lost on the group, and now all of them were glaring at you
>It was almost like Anon had always been friends with them
>And now you were insulting their life long friend
>"What is that supposed to mean?" Twilight snapped, "why are you being such a bi-"
>"It's alright"
>Anon quickly cut off everyone, holding up his hands as he inched away from the statue a bit
>"I get it, I'm the new kid and I'm butting in."
>"I don't want to cause any trouble, I'll just go. See ya around girls"
>He stuffed his hand into his pockets and began walking off

>You could breath again!
>The journal did mention that all of Sunsets friends has some latent magical potential within them
>But you never expect their stenches to burn just as badly as hers did
>The smell in combination with the pulsing of the journal nearly destroyed you on the inside
>You couldn't wait to crawl back into the school, into the library
>To toss the journal into a corner and lay in the dark refuge of the books
>Nothing sounded more comfortable
>Odd, to think once you'd never dare part with even the most insignificant trinket that might have held magic
>But the journal was simply too much
>It gave you power you could hardly imagine
>But it delivered pain you couldn't stand to bare
>You think back to the old days
>How you would scour stores and libraries for any grimoire or religious text
>How you would spend entire nights pounding together any herbs you could get your hands on to make oils and creams
>How you would raid antique stores and spend entire days if not weeks inside museums for a mere glimpse any artifact
>Days that had lost you the respect of any peers, lost you the love of your family
>So many wasted hours until you discovered it
>THE word carved onto a an odd piece of amethyst
>And through it beholding a clockwork sky
>And now the journal
>Two small discoveries that have made nearly a decade learning simple tricks seem completely irrelevant
>You finally skittered into your dark corner
>And oh the sweetness of the clean, near magicless air
>You could have slept right then and there
>Then again, why shouldn't you? Surely you could alter the minds of her other teachers a bit too, you still had much hair to spare
>But she would likely grow suspicious if you were in all her classes
>So instead you drifted away into a troubled sleep

Part 3
======================================================================================================================================

>"Anoooooooooon"
>Your eyes open slowly, you were inside the school no doubt
>But who would be calling your name in this place?
>and your real one at that
>"Anooooooooooooon"
>It was a faint whisper, barely audible if not for the stillness of the school
>Checking your watch confirmed that no one would be inside it, the hour was still far too early
>You raise yourself cautiously and crawl over to the journal, only to realize it was still in your jacket
>How peculiar, you'd sworn you removed it before you slept
>But familiar jolts coursed through you, and soon they replacing all tiredness in your body with energy
>It was a good pain, a pain that gave strength to face anything that opposed you
>"Theeeeeeee pooooooortaaaaaaal"
>That faint whisper again, coming from the library proper
>You inched forward, peeking around the corner to search for anyone
>But it was empty
>All except a single noise in the distance, through the door leading to the hallway

>A faint, rhythmic ticking, like a clock
>But none of the clocks in this school made noises, you were certain of it
>You raised yourself to your feet and slowly walked toward the noise, journal clutched tightly and lips ready to utter THE word
>No matter how much closer you got, or how much louder the sound became, it still seemed nothing but a faint buzz
>You reached the hallway door, and again cautiously peeked through
>And again there was nothing, but the ticking grew louder stronger
>You noticed it came from the bathroom, and with it a few letters flowed from the doorway
>A, M, S, L, and V
>You again began to slowly shuffle your way forward
>Finally you reached it
>The ticking was at it's loudest here no doubt, but nothing seemed to create it
>You looked in the mirror
>And as you did your head seemed to "explode."
>All your features, nose, eyes, mouth, slowly drifted away from the blank canvas your face had become
>And as you stared into the mirror with floating besides your face, two very different eyes of the deepest purple, seemingly made of tightly concentrate letters, opened on the blank canvas of your face
>"Theeeeeeeee Ciiiiiiiityyyyyyy"
WAKE UP

>You felt awful for how you treated Incognito yesterday
>At least, that was your motivation
>You didn't trust him at all, you doubted the friendship between him and your friends was natural
>You couldn't prove it but you knew it had to be another case of someone getting their hands on Equestrian magic
>When was it not Equestrian magic after all?
>But your friends loved him now, so you'd have to pretend you did to
>But first you had to "apologize" for your rude behaviour to get back into their good graces
>Thankfully, Incognito and Twilight were in class early
"Hey Incognito."
>Both Incognito and Twilight looked at you, with the latter giving you expecting look
>"O-oh, hey Sunset..." Incognito said, eyes darting between you and Twilight, "I should probably go."
>You stopped him just as he stood up
"Actually Incognito, I was wondering if we could talk?"
>Incognito's eyes observed you for a moment, those unsettling purple eyes darting about
>A smile crossed his face, not a particularly friendly looking smile either
>"Yeah, sure."
>You did your best to give him a friendly smile, but it must have looked just as crooked as his did
>As you walked into the hall with him you noticed he almost had a skip in his step
>He was way too happy about this, and it just assured you of what you already knew
>"So, what did you want to talk about?"
>It seemed like he was trying to look worried, but his face just betray far too much joy
"I wanted to apologize about yesterday."
>"Oh, that?" Anon scoffed, "please, you have nothing to apologize for, I was the one butting in where he wasn't wanted"
>Yeah, you sure were
"No Incognito, you didn't, I was just being unreasonable and..."

>He cut you off for a moment
>"No, no, I know."
>You stared into those eyes, purple darting eyes
>What was it? What about them unnerved you so much?
>Their colour? No, they seemed quite normal
>The constant darting? No, if anything that made it harder to pinpoint what it was.
>"I'm kind of a weird guy, running out of the school every lunch, always a downer."
>You were barely paying attention to what he was saying, you had to figure it out
>There had to be something there
>A clue that would give away his whole game
>"I've just been going through some... Stuff lately. I was born and raised in my old city, spent my whole life there, just feels wrong being here, ya know?"
>You couldn't see anything
>No matter how hard you looked you couldn't see what was wrong, just that there was something wrong
>You snapped out of it
>You needed to figure him out, but you also needed to be in your friends good graces
"Trust me Incognito, I know," you said, not really intending to relate, though it was a happy coincidence.
"Can we just pretend yesterday didn't happen and start over?"
>You tried to use your friendliest voice
>It didn't sound even remotely convincing
>But it seemed to satisfy Incognito, or at least he pretended it did
>And finally an idea popped into your head; a nice, easy way of figuring out everything
"Hi, my names Sunset, wanna hang out with us at lunch?" You said playfully
>And held out your hand
>"Why, I'd love t-"
>Just as he was about to grab your hand and reveal all his secrets the bell rang
>He immediately pulled his hand back and made his way to the class room
>"Lunch it is then" he yelled back as he disappeared behind the door
"...Shit"

>She hadn't believed a word you said
>You had no arts that could have been used then with your limited resource
>And even if you did you doubted what effect it'd have on her
>Her friends, despite their latent magical potential, proved just as easy to manipulate as anyone else
>A little snip of your hair snuck into their pockets, and they would take a bullet for you
>But would this "girl" even react if you stuffed your entire hand into her pocket and chopped it off?
>Unlikely, even THE word had only a momentarily effect on her
>But still, she wouldn't be outright hostile towards you anymore
>And that alone was enough to get her to warm up to you
>But in the meantime...
>Damnation!
>The room stank!
>And the teacher simply droned on and on about some trivialities
>Mathematical equations? Please, child's play.
>"Science" had become irrelevant to you many years ago
>You had little patience for this, you needed no more time to plan
>You did need time to act
>Looking out the window you stared again at the sun
>The class was over an hour long, you doubted the clockwork sky would turn for you so far
>In the past a mere half hour proved to be the furthest you could go once a day
>It was no simple task after all to move the very city itself
>But a mere half hour would be better than waiting the full length, enjoying nothing but the stench of magic burning your lungs
>Your eyes finally stopped burning as you could see the faint vision of...

>The vision kept clearing
>Usually gears were nothing but a phantom, a mere mist
>But now you could see them in their full splendor
>As clear as they had been the first day you discovered them
>They overwhelmed you
>The most intense gold and jade and amethyst sky you'd even seen, the clouds and the sky melting away
>Even the world around you seemed to melt away
>The beauty didn't last long
>Across every gear and arm letters began to glow began to glow
>Some seemed to form off the gears in the sky itself
>Some seemed to form immediately before you eyes
>Yu thght f ths wrld, trd t thk f...
AMSHELAV
>Uoy deirt ot esolc rouy seye
AMSHLV
>Uy brdmmr ht np f ht srggd nvrd tn ry sds
AMSLV
>First child, only child, the Beast laughed
WAKE UP
>Immediately you were thrown back into the world of present and possibility, and you drew the every eye within the class as you were
>The pain within you was incomparable to anything you'd felt before
>As if you'd uttered THE word to cast a spell that would alter the very clockwork city itself
>You screamed for half a second before thick, purple oil filled your throat and nose and burst from you
>You stood to run from your desk, only to immediately fall over
>And again raised yourself as quickly as possible, rushing from the class and into the hall

Part 4
=======================================================================================================================================

>"I really hope he's okay"
>"Shy, I don't think he started screaming and coughing up blood because he had a cold"
>AJ quickly elbowed Rainbow Dash in the ribs
>Incognito never did join you for lunch
>And honestly, you were actually worried about him
>You were watching him a good bit before his outbreak
>It was small at first, he seemed to zone out a bit
>And soon he began to shake so violently even other students took notice
>The whole class had their eyes on him a good few seconds before he seemed to regain consciousness, a splatter of blood spilling from his lips
>At least, that's what everyone thought it was
>But you noticed something, it wasn't red, not even close
>It was a deep purple
>You knew there was something off about Incognito, and you suspect it's wasn't completely normal
>But this proved it without a doubt
>Whatever happened here reeked of magic
>And this time it seemed more like Incognito was a direct victim of it
>"I think he might be epileptic is all" chimed in Twilight, "poor guy"
>All the girls nodded in agreement
>You took a pause at this
"What? What about all the 'blood'?"
>Twilight gave you a worried look
>"Blood, what blood?"
"What blood? The blood he was coughing up when he ran out of the class!"
>The girls all looked at each other concern
>"I think you might have been seeing things Sunset, there was no blood."
"You said he was coughing out blood like five minutes ago"
>"No I didn't"
>"You feeling alright there Sunset?" AJ asked from across the table, she and the rest of the girls giving you worried looks
"But, he, you..."

>"Hey Sunset! Sorry I'm a little late, this seat taken?"
>Before you could continue Incognito sat down next to you, seeming perfectly fine
>At least, as "normal" as he usually looked with those odd darting eyes
>His smile seemed far more genuine though, almost a little too genuine if that made any sense
>"No statue today?"
>He asked as he sat down, you noticed an absence of any kind of lunch
>"Darling please, we don't eat there everyday"
>"Just most of them," he chuckled. "It's like you girls are guarding something there."
>Pinkie also let out a chuckle and put on her best "spooky" voice
>"Yeah, we're guarding a portal to magical world! Don't say anything about it 'Nito, or else..."
>She seemed to immediate materialize behind "Nito" and whispered in his ear
>"...We'll have to kill you."
>The table was silent for a few seconds
>Then they both burst out laughing
>Well, it was at least nice to see he was doing better at least
>Though, maybe it wasn't all things considered
"Hey Incognito"
>"Please, call me Incog"
"Sure, 'Incog,' you feeling alright? Just kinda worried about what happened back there."
>He paused for a moment, pretending he was trying to figure out what you were talking about
>"Oh, you mean me fainting in class? I... Have a condition, little prone to it; it's no big deal, doctors say it doesn't really do much so long as I don't bump my head or anything"
>None of the girls seemed confused that he reduced it from a seizure to fainting
>"So really, don't worry about me much"
"Yeah, sure Incog."
>Easier said than done

>The rest of the day was uneventful
>A shame, you wished you had something to distract you from all your thoughts
>You now knew for a fact that Incognito was using magic
>The problem is, you didn't know what kind of magic
>Equestrian magic perhaps, but as unpredictable as it is you've never seen anyone react that violently to Equestrian magic
>There was something that felt different this time
>You felt more lost than you ever had
>Usually when something like this happened you could at the very least talk to your friends
>But Incognito had turned them all against you...
>No, that's the worst part
>He hadn't even done that, they were still your friends
>They simply couldn't see Incognito the same way you did
>He made it so you had to pretend everything was alright
>You couldn't even talk to Twilight without the journal
>You felt trapped within yourself
>It was unbelievably cruel, to keep the whole world open for you but to weld your mouth shut
>You wanted someone to talk to, anyone...
>"Hey Sunset, admiring the big concrete block?"

>You didn't even turn to look
>Hell, it wasn't even his voice that tipped you off
>It just felt right that he should have showed up right when you were thinking about him and about wanting to talk to someone
>"Speak of the devil" and all that
"Hey 'Incog'"
>Incognito stepped besides you to also stare at the portal
>"So, what's the deal with this thing anyway?"
>You didn't even turn to look at him, his eyes didn't concern you at the moment
"Didn't you hear Pinkie? It's a portal to a magical world."
>Incognito let out a quick laugh
>You didn't laugh with him
>He took a long, awkward pause when he noticed you weren't laughing with him, or even looking at him
>"...Something wrong, Sunset?"
>You took a deep breath and tried to clear your head
>If you wanted to win whatever game he was playing, you had to play by his rules
>No friends
>You couldn't win without your friends
>No matter what happened they'd always come through in the end
>Whether it was Twilight from the other world or all the girls in this world, there was always someone you could turn to for help
>Not now
>He'd won, now it was just a matter of finding out what exactly it was he'd won
"Don't believe in magic, huh?"
>Out the corner of your eyes you saw something
>A slight shimmer in his face, and for a moment his face seemed more...
>Like HIS face
>"The possibility exists."

"What do you mean by that?"
>You looked at him now
>And this time you didn't scan his eyes looking for something, anything, that would tip you off to something being wrong with him
>Because there was nothing, they were just normal eyes
>Very tired looking eyes
>"You read books, Sunset?"
"Sure, but what does that have to do with magic?"
>"It's an apt comparison. You understand what canon is, right?"
>You were confused, but for the first time he was actually saying something that may betray who he actually is, not just generic responses to make you like him more
"It's what's part of the actual story, right?"
>"And who is to say what is part of the actual, the 'real,' story and what isn't if the original never filled that space?"
>He walked towards the statue and pressed his hand against the cool stone
>"I've always been fascinated by that idea, what IS reality when we only know the here and now about a handful of fundamentals? When one writes a book he creates a world, a 'reality' if you will; so what happens if someone else writes something that stems from that book?"
"You mean like a fanfic?"
>"I suppose that's one example; but also 'non-official' sequels written by the authors family, or even complete strangers, or even just comes up with little bits of lore? Anything that creates something from the original book and adds to the story."
>"So now you have the original book, and the parts that have been written by others, and now people debate about the whole idea of 'canon' and dismiss anything not written by the original author as not being part of the story; but I have to ask, if it presents a reality that could be than who's to say it isn't part of the story?"
>You honestly weren't exactly sure what he was talking about
>But all your suspicions disappeared
>You were actually warming up to him
>You were warming up to someone because he was talking about some completely nonsense instead of trying to be overly friendly
>Funny how that works out

"Alright, I get it it... Kinda, it's all up to the reader to decide what's part of the story and what's not. Right?"
>"There's more to it, I'm not just suggesting that there is no canon and everything goes. There's one thing that no one takes into account when discussing such things; the original story, the 'canon,' it was never complete in the first place. The original story is bits and pieces, just enough to fill the plot, and even if the story is thousands of pages it always encompasses only a limited scope. You cannot decry something as not being part of the canon if the canon never makes mention of the space it fills; it's called a headcanon, and it's no less valid than the canon in my eyes"
>"It's a possibility Sunset, that's the key! When one writes about something that hasn't happened or was never discussed in the 'official' story, the canon, than there's no reason it couldn't be and is thus real, just another part of the story to anyone who would see it that way."
>"The only way to invalidate a headcanon is to entirely remove it from the story's world, and the only way to do that is to create something else where it was, to replace the space it occupied with something more 'real'."
>You tried to put some thought into it, you want to pursue this version of Incognito
"But wouldn't that still make those side stories real? They weren't erased, they just aren't canon."
>"Yes, but they become a memory of things that cannot be. They no longer hold any place in the world of the story, the lore, and in the minds of those who do remember them they may as well not exist. The memory remains, but the potential to be part of the world does not."
"So you think magic exists because there's no one to say it doesn't? What about science, doesn't that 'canon' invalidate it?"
>Incognito looked back at you with a sly but good natured grin, "don't you know science is just headcanon too?"
>You smiled at that
>A genuine smile as you rolled your eyes
"Sure Incog, sure."

>Incog stared up at the sky again as he let out a short giggle
>You noticed he did that a lot, always looking almost right into the sun
>You followed his eyes, but didn't see anything... Outside of the sun which almost blinded you
"Doesn't that hurt your eyes? What are you even looking at?"
>Anon looked back down at you
>"Huh, me? Well..."
>He pulled his hands out of pockets and made them into claws, putting on his best "spooky Pinkie" impersonation
>"I'm actually an occultist who can see beyond the veil of the sky and see a clockwork city!"
>The two of you stared silently at each other for a moment, before you finally let out laughs
"You're right Incog, you are a weirdo"
>"At least I'm not boring, right?"
>You shook your head briefly, holding a hand out to Incognito
>"See you around incog"
>He grabbed your hand and gave it a shake, a casual movement with his face still looking normal and friendly
>But still, you remembered earlier when you tried to shake his hand

>You almost didn't want to take a look inside, there was something telling you that you were played his game by his rules
>And you were winning
>But you couldn't resist
>Your geode vibrated slightly and within a second you found yourself diving right into his mind
>Only to feel like something had grabbed your consciousness itself and tossed it immediately back into your own head
>You recoiled back, almost feeling like you'd taken a punch to the face
>And when you looked back up the Incognito you had just met was gone
>His hand was tense and pale, veins bulging horribly
>His eyes had gone... Wrong again, and as you looked closely, for the briefest moment, you saw why
>There were tiny letters in them
>A few A's, some S's, L's, and others you didn't quite catch
>Before you could make any real sense of it his eyes began to dart again, and you noticed that is was a bizarrely rhythmic movement
>He quickly hid his hand into his jacket pocket and gave you a fake, crooked smile
>"See ya tomorrow Sunset."
>He walked right past you
>But you didn't pay too much attention to him
>Because inside you head you heard the final whispers of a single thought, a single word that you had successfully seen before being repelled
>AMSHELAV

Part 5
=======================================================================================================================================

>Behold! A clockwork sky!
>You sat cross legged, staring up at the magnificence that was the city
>Your city
>The greatest of all things you hands had ever forged
>But still, the dead could never hope to reach it
>And you were dead, sitting on what was a dead past looking at the one window you had to a reality lost to you
>A window that began to grow obscured as something else descended
>The Beast came crashing upon the barren red sand before you
>His four legged body blocking the gold and jade gears
>His the world that served as his crown obscuring the amethyst arms
>But you stood not in his presence, for it was quite rude for the dead to stand before the living
>He spoke to you
>No... Not to you
>He spoke through you, past the one seeing through your eyes into this glimpse of death and into the mind of yet another
>Old fool
>Did he truly believe he could stop that which transcended possibility?
"Please Beast, you know she cannot succeed, to make her feel like she can is quite cruel. Isn't she your child after all?"
>The mind within the mind in your eyes seemed taken aback at this
>Did they believe you did not know they were within you?
>They did not understand a word being said between it and the Beast
>They couldn't have
>One was simply too small minded to understand, the words made no sense to it
>The other too lost to even realize this was not the product of a sleeping mind
>You tried to explain, perhaps you felt like they deserved and explanation
>After all, one of them was your child and yourself
>Or perhaps you simply enjoyed toying with them
>Who is to say?
>It mattered not, you felt the time for them to leave you alone to your admiration of the city had come
>Or, more appropriately, was going to come; for the city had yet to turn that far
>But it was certainly close
WAKE UP

>Things were getting worse around the school
>Whatever Incognito was doing, he was doing it very well
>Now there wasn't a single student who didn't seem to be his friend
>Any hall you walked down there'd he be, with someone you knew beside him yelling "hey Sunset, you ever met Incog?"
>That was no exaggeration
>Even before class had started you counted thirteen separate occasions of it happening
>The school loved him now, in a short two days he'd gone from "that weird kid who always runs out of the school during lunch" to one of the most popular students in the school
>The worst part?
>You blamed yourself
>For a moment there you had him, if you'd done nothing, if you'd done what he wanted in the first place and just given him a chance
>But you didn't, and that brief moment he had where he actually seemed like a person, however weird, was even more distant
>Forget Incognito
>If you couldn't get help from anyone at this school, you needed help from someone outside of it
>You needed that journal
>No matter what else happened you needed to find it to put an end to this madness
>But where to even begin?
>It could have been anywhere, you had no idea how long that hole in your backpack had been there
>You could have lost it at the school
>Or somewhere along the road
>Anyone could have picked it up
>It was odd though, a hole almost the perfect size of the journal just happened to open up just after...
>You nearly slapped yourself, you couldn't believe you'd been so stupid
>Then again, you never realized how much power Incognito had upon meeting him
>But that just brought up another question
>If he had it, how on Earth were you going to get it?

>"Yo Incog, what's up with you and Sunset?"
>You pretend you don't know what Flash was talking about for a second
"What do you mean?"
>"I mean she's really giving you the cold shoulder, you guys fight about something?"
>Yes, she attempted to infiltrate your mind
>Devilish little witch
>And yet it was a horrendously unsuccessful attempt
>The moment you felt her consciousness try to expand into yours it took but a push, a flick really, and she was thrown back into her own mind
>Perhaps she was attempting to be subtle, a weak push hoping you wouldn't notice
>Or perhaps...
"Dunno man," you quickly elbow him, "maybe she's on her period"
>"Heh, year, she's a real 'demon' when that happens"
>You both let out a laugh
>Yes, a real demon indeed
>But she still had what you needed
>You had the journal, you knew where the portal was
>Now you just needed her to open that gate and you'd no longer be forced to keep stuffing hair into everyone's pockets
>Well, patience was a virtue, and with all her friends on your side she would have to turn to you eventually
>Though eventually could be a very long eventually
>Damnation! If only there was a faster way of doing this
>But you dared not take a direct approach
>Occultist or no
>The word or not
>She was still a sorceress from a world of unfathomable magic
>You put the thoughts aside, you noticed an all too familiar burning stench growing in the hall and were sure it wasn't Sunset again
>As you looked you saw Rarity round a corner
>Perhaps you could send her to move things along faster

"Hey, Rarity!"
>You waved at the girl
>And she nearly jumped out of her skin
"O-oh, Incognito! I-I didn't quite see you here darling, h-how are you?"
>There was something off about her, her smiled was completely crooked, her posture stiff
>You told Flash to go on ahead as you went to greet your "good friend"
>But with every step you took she seemed to shrink even lower
>She was terrified of something
"Something up Rares?"
>"Something? Up?"
>Her eyes actually looked off in different directions when she laughed
>It was one of the fakest laughs you'd ever heard in your entire life
>"Why Incognito darling, you are simply the most darling darlings, worrying about me so much darling, ahh-hahaha!"
>Now you were the one scared of her, what on earth had possessed the poor girl to act this way
>Perhaps the enchantment you put on her was too strong and it had burned her mind
>But that couldn't be, the enchantment did no such thing
>Anyone you'd used it on had never been harmed by it
>The bell rang, and Rarity tried to run
"Rarity, wait!"
>You grabbed her by whatever you could
>It was her necklace
>And the second you did your hand felt as if it had been shot
>The same as when Sunset attempt her infiltration
>THE word going berserk within your mind, a brief flash of the clockwork city even through the walls
>By the time you'd finally regained some composure she was nowhere to be seen
>"Damnation!" you screamed in pain
>You looked to see a few students staring at you in shock and anger for your attempted grab
>It was no issue though, you recognized them all, and they all had hair in their pockets
"You're welcome!" You yelled in the best undignified voice you could muster
>And just like that all the students who was believed you'd simply handed Rarity back the necklace she'd dropped
>But you still worried about the girl and her odd behaviour
>Perhaps for her well being
>Or perhaps... It was for your own at sake

>You forgot about "your classes," worthless trivialities and Twilight would excuse any absence if you told her to
>There were more important matters at hand
>A sense of dread overwhelmed you
>Perhaps you hadn't harmed Rarity
>Perhaps YOUR power was waning, perhaps YOU were losing control
>You ran into the bathroom, one student was there
>He had hair in his pocket
"GET OUT!"
>Without a second thought, without really registering the words, he simply ran out with his hands still dripping and the sink running
>You slammed both your palms onto the side of your head, nails digging into your scalp
>She couldn't have overcome the enchantment on her own
>If she put on another outfit the spell would have made her transfer the hair
>Even if she were completely naked she's have at the very least still held it
>You power couldn't possibly be waning
>The journals power didn't seem to drop for a second
>You'd grown used to the pain certainly
>But still it sent great jolts through you with every heartbeat
>How could you be losing power?
>Or was it you? Were you the only who was losing himself?
>Yes, you'd spoken THE word too much, moved the clockwork sky too much, and defend yourself against Sunsets assault which may have been far more powerful than you gave it credit for
>The journals power was amazing, but you were human
>You'd have to use it more sparingly, rely more on the tricks of the occult you knew before the journal
>Things you learned even before THE word
>And most importantly, you needed fail safes if too much went wrong
>If Rarity had truly broken from your hold she would know you controlled her, she would go to Sunset
>And Sunset would know this whole time you'd been scheming against her
>A few chalk doors here
>A few carved eyes there
>Make it so you can watch and escape to every part of the school if she comes
>Maybe a few traps as well...

Part 6
=======================================================================================================================================

>"Sunset!"
>You were shocked to see Rarity, especially considering it was the middle of class and she just barged into the classroom
>On top of that she looked more distressed than ever
>"Sunset, come with me quick!"
>Every eye in the class was on the two of you
>That wasn't very many though
>For some reason a lot of the students just hadn't showed up
>And some even left just after it started, stealing pieces of chalk from the black board
"Rarity, what's going o-"
>"No time to explain, hurry!"
>Rarity immediately seized you by the wrist and yanked you out of the chair, leaving behind a very confused Twilight and a "it's Friday so who gives a shit" Cheerilee
>You tried to get a word in, but Rarity didn't seem to register a single word you were saying as she dragged you out of the school
>Not just out of the school, completely away from it
>"Does he know where you live?"
"What, who?"
>"Incognito!"
"What, no, why wou-"
>"Your place, now!"

"Alright Rarity, mind telling me what's going on now?"
>Is what you wanted to say, but what ended up coming out was more along the lines of
"What- *wheeze* is going- *wheeze* fuck me! *cough*"
>Rarity had run you all the way back to your small apartment, not stopping for anything
>No matter what you asked, or if you struggled, she kept an iron grip on you and just kept running
>Who would have ever figured the lithe fashionista was is just amazing shape? She'd easily give Rainbow Dash a run for her money if she wasn't worried about getting dirty
"Are..."
>You inhaled deeply
"Are we done running..."
>The last word trailed off as Rarity ran around the small apartment closing every curtain and ensured every door was locked
>And strangest still, just when it seemed she was done, she began to raid your small pantry until finally she found what she was looking for
>A small box of salt
>Wasting no time she took a handful of the stuff and rubbed it all over herself before pouring out another handful and throwing it right into your face
>And directly into your eyes
"Rarity! What are you doing!" you screamed out, half in confusion and half in pain
>Finally she poured a small circle around you before stepping inside and start at you with horrified eyes
>"F-feel any different?"
"Yes."
>"Like you've been freed from the clutches of evil itself!?" She yelled with a dramatic flair
"No, like someone threw salt in my eyes."
>Rarity's eyes narrowed a moment before a realization hit her
>"You were never under his control in the first place..."
>You were about to ask what she was talking about, but realized there was only one person she could be talking about
"Incognito"
>Rarity burst into tears as she hugged you

>"Oh darling! It was awful, simply awful!"
"The control? Was it painful?"
>"No, hearing 'I love your outfit' come from my mouth when my mind screamed 'you look like you got your clothes in the garbage'!"
>Well, that certainly sounded like good old Rarity, which you were grateful for despite her not seeing the bigger picture
>But in bringing you here she had actually gone against your plans
"Rarity, listen to me, we have to get back to the school."
>"WHAT!"
>She screamed directly into your eardrum, causing you to finally push her just a little bit further
"He has something, well I'm not sure he has it but it's a pretty safe bet, my journal."
>"I know darling."
"Yes, and we need to... Wait, what? What do you mean 'you know'?"
>Rarity was quickly at work trying to reconstruct the salt circle your push disrupted as she spoke
>"I saw it in his jacket, many times in fact; I would have told you but whenever I tried to say anything something completely different came out. He had complete control of me darling, any word, even my expressions, everything!"
>"Anything I did was something that would either praise him or shame anyone who didn't."
>He had the journal
>There was no probably about it, you knew for a fact that he had it
>On top of that, you knew exactly where he was keeping it
"Rarity, we need that journal. If we can contact the Twilight from Equestria she can help us stop whatever he's... What are you doing?"
>Rarity had managed to find one of your decorative salt shakers and began sprinkling it on herself
>You didn't know too much about fashion, but you were pretty sure table salt wasn't this seasons "in" look
>Rarity finished up and quickly stepped back inside the circle before talking
>"It's how I broke free darling, when I was making supper yesterday the lid came off my salt shaker and sprayed all over me, and just like that I didn't feel any compulsion to help Incognito. The creepiest thing was when I went to take a shower I found a few strands of hair in my bra, his hair no doubt."

>Hair?
>Incognito's hair?
>By Celestia, that explains it!
>He'd been stuffing hair into everyone's clothes, or getting those already under his control to do it
>That... Didn't sound like Equestrian magic at all
>And being undone by salt
>It didn't add up, the only magic you knew of in this world were slips of Equestrian magic that had somehow bridged the gap between both worlds
>Was that why he could resist your geode?
>Were you going to have to fight a kind of magic you'd never seen before with your own kind?
>You shuttered to think what else this "Earth magic" was capable of
>It didn't matter, you finally had a friend again in this world
>And a means of getting your other friends back too
"We have to go back to the school"
>"Of course we do darling, when something exceptionally dangerous happens we just have to be the first ones to run into danger."
"We need that journal."
>Rarity gave you a curious glance from her salt circle
>She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and stepped out
>"No, we don't"
"Rarity, if we don't-"
>"No Sunset, there's no WE about it."
>You couldn't believe what you were hearing
>One of your best friends was refusing to help you now?
>Maybe she'd just tricked you, maybe she was still under Incognito's spell, maybe...
>You did't finish that train of thought, because before you could Rarity had stuffed the salt box into her purse and opened the door to the apartment
>"You were never under his control, darling, if you try to get close to him he'll be on his guard; but for all he knows I am still under his control."
>"You stay here, and I'LL get that journal!"

Part 7
=======================================================================================================================================

>Finally you were within the sanctity of the library again
>Your hands were white, covered in a thick powder of chalk
>And yet, even with every corner of the school hiding drawn door and glass eye and other unusual things, you still felt paranoid
>Would the tricks of an occultist truly stand a chance against the might of a sorceress?
>Even if the journal or you yourself had lost no power you felt certain you couldn't stand against Sunset Shimmer
>Worse still, your body itself seemed to be giving out with every step
>The journal jolts stayed the same, but you felt weaker
>You walked slower, your eyes burned even in the dark, your skin now paler than it had ever been
>Even your breath had grown worse, taking in the deep scent of magic that came from those girls
>...No
>Not the girls you realized
>Their geodes
>Those stones they had on their necks were the real sources of their powers
>But so much as touching one seemed to make your heart stop
>If you'd worn them yourself, they might give you the power you needed to stand against Sunset
>Or they may kill you long before you could ever find out the secret of that portal
>Damnation!
>There wasn't enough time, you knew it now
>You only had so long before you'd run out of power
>There simply wasn't enough magic in this world to sustain the energy you were putting out
>You were too powerful now to exist in this world
>You couldn't simply "befriend" her anymore
>You needed to find out the way to open the door some other way
>But how?

>As you thought you were interrupted by an approaching stench
>It couldn't have possibly been any of Sunsets friends, you'd sent them all away for a while
>You needed to breath in as much fresh air as you could manage for a change
>So who was approaching?
>Sunset herself perhaps, had she grown bold enough to challenge you?
>You weren't ready damnation! She'd destroy you
>You took a few steps back as the stench grew stronger and stronger, ready to spring your traps and escape
>But finally the source of the stench stepped through the door
>It was Rarity
>What was she doing here? Had she not escaped your grip, would she come so boldly to you?
>"Ah, Incognito!"
>She seemed happy
>Genuinely happy to see you
>Was it just a hiccup in your power then, some sort of interference?
>Or perhaps her mind really was waning? Slowly growing more and more damaged as the spell held her
>How could you know?
>You were using your hair on far more people than you'd ever had before
>A small push here and there before, just a few simple things to help get by
>But never anything like this

"Uhhh, hello Rarity, what are you doing here?"
>Rarity quickly raced over to you, the last hints of painless air gone
>"Why I just wanted to apologize for this morning darling"
>She seemed quite sincere
>Still, you worried for the girl
>You never wished harm upon her
>She was simply a necessary playing piece to work towards a bigger picture
>Once you'd left this world all of them would be free of you grasp, and you'd sleep easier in the other world knowing you'd done little to damage them
>"But, well, I simply cannot hold my tongue any longer"
"Pardon?"
>Quickly she pulled out some measuring tape and began eyeing you up
>"Incognito, darling, your outfit is atrocious"
>Without even waited for a response she quickly got to work measure every part of you
>Impossible
>You had commanded her to only speak good things of you
>"I mean, the style itself is fine but all these clothes are so..."
>She got far more aggressive, pushing your whole body around as the measuring tape slipped into every conceivable crevice
>You would have commanded her to cease if she hadn't finished so quickly
>"But don't you worry, I'll whip you up a gorgeous outfit over the weekend."
>She said as she left you awkwardly bent over and relieved that the uncomfortable ordeal was over
>So great was your relief that it took you a couple second to notice a distinct lack of pain in your side

>It was gone...
>It was gone.
>IT WAS GONE!
>And if felt wonderful!
>You took in a deep breath and simply enjoyed the sweetness of the air, air you'd forgotten the taste of
>The pain in your side, the electricity coursing through your body with every heartbeat?
>There was not a single hint of it
>It was as if you'd waken from a peaceful sleep after decades of being pushed until you collapsed
>You wanted this feeling to last
>But as the pain in your body left, the pain in your mind grew
>You heard ticking as the letters began to fill your every thought and sight
>Your vision disappeared as thick purple smoke came from your lips
>All the time a chorus of AMSHELAV grew so strong the universe itself seemed to shake
>You wanted to be free from it, from that cursed word
>Now you could see just clear enough, it was no great discovery, it was poison
>It was never anything more than a pain you grew so accustom to it seemed almost a blessing
>You wanted to fight it
>You NEEDED to fight it
>But what power did you have against THE word?
WAKE UP
>Your vision returned immediately
>what were you thinking? You needed the journal.
>Damnation!
>How far had she gotten, where was she?
>You almost tried to give chase before looking at your hands and realizing everything you'd done
>You pulled a glass eye from your pocket and held it to your real eye, your mind filling with visions of the entire school

>She seemed to think she had done it
>A relieved smile crossed her face as she ran down the halls, making a break for the front door and the safety outside of the school
>She would find little such luck
>For even without the journal, even without THE word's power, you were still an occultist
>And you had many tricks up your sleeve
>Such as the chalk rectangle she failed to see
>The one that suddenly cracked and sprung open
>The one that made her stop on a dime unsure of what just happened, until she saw you jump out of it
>She let out a scream and began to run in the opposite direction
>Directly into one of your traps
>A circle of teeth on the floor, torn from your own mouth; your own gums filled with white stones to reform into proper teeth with the proper elixir
>The moment she stepped into it the the floor opened up and quite literally swallowed her, spitting her out one level lower into one of the schools many storage rooms
>You could see her through another of the glass eyes, she was terrified
>Any sense of where she was going was gone now, the certainty of level had been stolen from her and now she realized any step could take her to any part of the school
>Maybe she hoped you were bound by the same rules
>You were not
>You stepped once again through the chalk door and a trapdoor just beside Rarity swung open
"Give me the journal Rarity!"
>She let out yet another scream as she saw you crawl through the floor
>And just as you lunged at her she held out her hand
>And you found yourself struck face first by some blue barrier of pure magic
>It had been like you were pressed up against red hot metal
>Rarity, wasting no time, shoved her barrier against the wall and jumped through the door you'd opened

>Damnation!
>You'd nearly forgotten that all the girls had magic
>Or at least wielded magical artifacts
>Artifacts of this "Equestrian" magic, something your own occult studies gave you no knowledge of
>You needed to be cautious, to be bested by a high school girl and lose everything would be a grave loss indeed
>It didn't take long after she left for the barrier to disappear, and wasting no time you raised the eye to your own again
>She was making good way
>At least she was until she stepped on a sigil that fused the bottom of her shoe to the floor
>Was there a door nearer there than the one she left?
>No, you would have to hope the trap would hold her long enough to catch up
>You jumped through the trapdoor as well
>By now students had begun to gather and observe the odd door leading to somewhere that in their minds made no sense
>When you jumped out of it they all backed away terrified
"After her you fools!"
>They simply blinked in confusion
>Impossible, surely everyone had hair in their pockets by now
>But you lacked the journal
>The power of the hair in this state could likely only control one or two at a time
"Damn you fools!"
>You turned to give chase alone, only to quickly be stopped
>"Anon?! What the hell is going on!"
>It was Flash you believed, or perhaps someone else
>It mattered little
>You reached once more into you jacket and pulled a small carving of a wooden mouth
>Gripping it between your new teeth, you snapped it in half
>Immediately you were let go as the hall filled with an unimaginably loud scream that deafened all, including yourself, but you were better at ignoring the ear splitting noise and rushing forward
>If she escape, what little power you had that could have stood again Sunset would be gone
>And you didn't believe you'd survive long being completely at her mercy when she knew what you were

>You ran forward
>And just as you'd entered the hall you saw she was nowhere to be found, her shoe simply left behind
>You fumbled with the glass eye as you raised it again, nearly dropping it from your sweaty hands
>She was almost at the door leading out of the school, well past most your doors
>All but one
>You'd need to time it perfectly
>You quickly pulled out your chalk and drew another on the floor
>Observing through the eyes you waited, hand shaking as it readied itself to tap on the vinyl
>Any second now
>How could it all be going so wrong?
>You had everything, the school under your compulsion, the journal
>Everything was going right, the only thing you needed was to figure out how the portal would open
>And when it did, the city would be yours...
>The city? Weren't you after this Equestria?
>You quickly shook the thought as you saw it was time
>You knocked
>The door swung open and struck Rarity
>You quickly dived in and made a grab for the recoiling girl just as she tossed another barrier at you
>The only thing you managed to grab was just a corner of her dress as you were struck and pushed right back through your own door
>You panicked, raising the eye again
>But you could see no sight of the girl
"DAMNATION!"
>In anger you tossed the eye against the floor as your vision filled with letters so violently it was almost as if THE word itself was cursing you
>That was it
>It was over
>Now Sunset would surely know what you are, and that you had little more power left to fend her off
>It couldn't end this way, there needed to be something you could do save yourself
>...
>Wait, even as you were you could still control one student at a time
>And there was another source of magic to fuel you
>Your nose began to fill with fire again
>You looked up to see Twilight Sparkle at the end of the hallway

Part 8
=======================================================================================================================================

>"Now darling, I'm not one to demand compensation for doing the right thing..."
>Rarity's eyes narrowed as she handed you the journal
>"But you own me"
>You quickly snatched it up and hugged it to your chest as if a long lost friend
>In truth, it really was
"Rarity, I don't even know how to thank you."
>You expect some witty response
>Instead Rarity just stared out the window, obviously quite shaken
>"What are we going to do? The other girls are still there."
>You wondered the same question yourself
"We'll figure out something Rarity, we just need some time"
>"We don't have time!"
>She looked at you, her entire face plastered with dread
>"We need to get them out of there Sunset, we can't leave them with that... Thing!"
>You didn't want to leave your friends behind either
>But you couldn't face Incognito blind
>You needed to know about what you had gotten yourself into
>And you knew only one way to do it
>You quickly opened the journal and began writing
"We need to know what we're dealing with Rarity; we'll go as soon as possible, but we can't face him head on"
>You began to write, explaining everything
>Incognito's initial appearance, his domination of your friends, the letters in his eyes, his ability to resist your geode power, and everything Rarity told you about his odd doors and traps
>You thought you wrote everything worth writing, but you remembered one thing
>The word that whispered through your mind when you attempted to read him
>AMSHALEV

>The wait was excruciating
>Every second you thought about your friends
>When the sun began to set your thoughts turned to terror
>You felt Rarity was right, that were was a time limit
>If you didn't act soon then you'd lose
>All your friends gone
>And not just that
>You remembered how you almost saw the real Incognito
>Was he truly a monster?
>Or was he just as much of a victim as everyone else was?
>You checked the journal every half minute
>But hours ticked away, and nothing happened
"It's all my fault" you began to weep
>"Darling?" Rarity asked, brewing herself another batch of tea to still her nerves
"It's all my fault this happened, I could have stopped it."
>Rarity walked over to the sofa, sitting beside you and placing a hand on your shoulder
>"Sunset, there was nothing you could have done; he put us all under his control long before-"
"No Rarity! I had him! I, I got through to him for a moment, if I kept at it I could have, could have... I'm so stupid!"
>Rarity just hugged you, oblivious to what you were talking about but knowing you needed someone to be there
>Your eyes cracked open a bit
>And through your tears you could see a faint glow

>You quickly broke the hug and reached for the journal, frantically brushing tears from your eyes
>Twilight was finally writing back
>The air in the room became far lighter, you and Rarity were both elated
>That is, until you began to read
>"Hello Sunset"
>"Sorry it took me so long, I rushed to the library immediately after reading everything, and it took me a while."
>"Simply put, there's absolute no records of magic like the one this 'Incognito' used. I don't know much about your world, but he has to be using some sort of Earth magic."
>"I was able to find something about 'AMSHELAV' though, and it doesn't sound good."
>"It was from a tome in the forbidden section, it was in really bad condition and what was still legible didn't make a whole lot sense to me."
>"Supposedly AMSHELAV is a vocalization of the five letters A, M, S, L, and V."
>"'And my speech lives verily'."

>"There was something about two spirits creating two different planets. One built a planet to be a weapon and destroy the other spirit; and the other, known only as 'The Beast,' wore the world he created as a crown floating over a city inhabited by lesser spirits the first killed but couldn't 'use'."
>"The nameless spirit built something called the clockwork city around her world, an extremely powerful artifact that was supposed to kill The Beast, but she only got to fire it once before she died."
>"As she was dying she uttered a single word to the only child she birthed."
>"AMSHELAV"
>"Then she was killed as she fired the city, gravely wounding The Beast and killing herself."
>"Again, this is just what I managed to piece together, there were a lot of weird contradicting ideas that didn't make any sense"
>"But what I could find out is the word she said was some sort of extremely powerful spell."
>"AMSHELAV was a command, a command to anyone who learned the word to find a portal between worlds and use it to reach the clockwork city"
>"And fire it to destroy the Beast."
>"Sunset, I don't know what exactly would happen if this happened, but I get the feeling it would be something terrible."

>You tried taking all it in
>It seemed like a whole lot of non-sense to you more than anything
>Spirits, planets for crowns, clockwork cities...
>Incognito had mentioned seeing a clockwork city before, hadn't he? He said it as a joke then... But Pinkie did the same about Equestria.
>And you thought about the letters you saw swirling around in Incognito's eyes
>A M S L V
>AMSHELAV
>It was a bizarre read indeed
>But there was one thing that was clear as day
>Incognito seemed very interested in the statue
>And AMSHELAV commanded whoever knew it to seek out a portal between worlds
>Like the portal between Earth and Equestria
>A portal that would open by itself in only a couple of days if you remembered correctly
>There was a time limit
>But not just for your friends, for something far worse
>You had no idea what the ramifications of Incognito reaching this "clockwork city" to destroy some spirit you'd just now heard of
>But you were sure it was bad...
>The two of you knew what you needed to do
>And neither of you liked it

Part 9
=======================================================================================================================================

>The sun had set completely by the time you approached the school
>But still the students were there
>Hundreds of them, standing stiff and expressionless, waiting for something
>And as you approached and all of the parted, you realized it was you
>You and Rarity walked down the makeshift hallway of eerie, dull faces and towards the figures who stood just before the door
>"Hello Sunset, I had a feeling you would come."
>The one who spoke was Twilight, and the rest of the figures were the other girls
"Twilight, what's going on? Why are-"
>Twilight raised her hand to quiet you, and you realized it wasn't quite Twilight
>Her eyes were just as dull and expressionless as the rest of the students and the rest of your friends
>And you noticed all of them were missing their geodes
"What have you done to Twilight?"
>"A temporary taking of the reigns if you will. If you wish to speak face to face, follow me, and let us see once and for all who holds the most power now."
"What are you talking about?"
>But as you said it Twilight had already opened the door and was leading you through the hallways, the other girls left behind and Rarity clinging to your frightfully.
>"No more reason to pretend we don't know what the other is anymore Sunset; you, the Equestrian sorceress and me, the Earthen occultist. We both should have known this battle would come."
"Battle, what battle?"
>As you asked Twilight threw open the doors to the library
>There, sitting upon a massive pile of books, with purple ink flowing out of his eyes and mouth like a river and coating the five geodes he wore, was Incognito
>"WHY, THE BATTLE OVER THE PORTAL OF COURSE!"

>Every word he spoke seemed to come from the sky itself rather than his lips
>And now the tiny letters you'd once seen in his eyes were forming and unforming in front of his face, so large you could clearly read them even from the bottom of his makeshift throne
>"SO SUNSET, HOW DO YOU THINK WE SHOULD DO THIS?"
>He stood
>Or at least he tried to
>He absolutely oozed magic... Literally
>You'd never seen such power spilling out of an individual
>But on the other hand you would have never believed a human could look so weak and still be alive
>Every vein in his body looked like it would burst at any second
>His skin had turned not just pale, it'd gone grey
>Every attempted movement he made seemed to hurt him, his joints shaking violently under his own weight, which now seemed so pathetically low that his clothes likely weighed more
>You were certain of only one thing as he practically threw himself off the throne and caught himself with magic, levitating only a few feet before you
>This magic was killing him, and you weren't even sure if he cared, let alone knew it
"Incognito, what have you done to yourself?"
>"ANONYMOUS, MY NAME IS ANONYMOUS, THERE'S NO MORE REASON TO HIDE."
>You were just confused, the name Anonymous held no significance to you
>"NO, I SUPPOSE IT WOULDN'T, BUT IN CERTAIN CIRCLES IT WOULD BE KNOWN."
"What?"
>"THE NAME, IT HELD SOME SIGNIFICANCE ONCE."
"You can read my mind now?"
>"DON'T ENJOY IT WHEN OTHER DO SO, YOU DEVILISH LITTLE THING?"
>He chuckled, a sound that was more like the grinding of massive gears than anything a human could make.

"Anonymous then, why are you doing all this, what are you after?"
>"THE PORTAL SUNSET, PLEASE PAY ATTENTION."
"No, I meant..."
>You took a second to get your thoughts in order
"Anonymous, look at yourself, whatever is inside you, this 'AMSHELAV,' it's killing you..."
>You thought, there had to be some way to get through to him
"Do you remember that conversation we had at the statue a few days ago. When you were talking you were different, this thing inside you, you pushed it back."
"You have to try to do that now, if you don't, you'll-"
>"I'LL WIN AND REACH EQUESTRIA!"
>Reach Equestria?
>But he wasn't trying to get to Equestria, he wanted to get to the clockwork city, didn't he?
>Or maybe that's just what HE believed, but not what IT really wanted
"The word."
>It was all starting to make sense
"It's like what you did with the hair, it doesn't control you completely, it just twists you into believing something else."
>Anonymous came within a inch of you, your entire vision filling with the letters
>"NOW YOU PRETEND YOU UNDERSTAND THE WORD? I HAVE KNOWN THE WORD FOR YEARS, YOU THINK YOU'D UNDERSTAND SOMETHING YOU DIDN'T EVEN KNOW ABOUT UNTIL TODAY?"
"You can't see it because it's controlling you!"
>One of his skeletal hands shot out and grabbed you by the neck
>Despite what looked like a body seconds from death, there was an unimaginable strength within him, a strength no doubt powered by this AMSHELAV and the geodes
>"I THINK THAT'S ENOUGH TALK, IT IS TIME FOR US TO FINALLY SEE WHO HAS MORE POWER!"
>You tried to think of something, anything to say to calm him, to help him see reason
>But then you thought of something else, one last ditch effort
>If he excepted a fight, he might not be able to shield himself in time
"If you insist"
>You grabbed his hand
>And were tossed into the world that was Anonymous

"You closed minded fools! Damned idiots!"
>You could see through Anonymous's eyes, it worked!
>Somehow he hadn't managed to push you out in time
>You took in your surroundings, you seemed to be in some sort of classroom, a university perhaps, and before you stood several glaring old men
"You will deny my research without even a single glance? The things I have discovered and written-"
>"Are not worth our time" said a man you assumed the leader of the group, an older, short man
>"We have important things to research and discuss Anonymous, REAL science, REAL phenomenon. We have no times for the fancies of some delusional student who believes in voodoo."
"The only reason your science is anymore REAL than mine is because you deemed it so, I've done everything you would have in my research! I have substantiated foundings, verifiable measurements, everything in those papers proves that the occult can indeed stand as a proper science and that occultist can be a title with the same level of respect that a physicist or biologist would command."
>The group of old men laughed at your suggestion
>"The boys crazy!" said one with a bushy mustache
>"Crazy? Please, you give him too much credit, he just wants attention" said another
>"Enough!" Commanded the head of the professors. "Anonymous, we see absolutely no reason what-so-ever to review your papers, let alone publish them. Maybe if one day you actually dedicate your time to a genuine study, then we might actually consider it. Now, seeing as how you so rudely barged in on a meeting you were never invited to, I ask you to leave."
"You idiots! Ignorant savages!" Anon began to scream, "mark these words well, one day I will stand above you all having birthed an entirely new science while you have nurses change your bedpans, your names forgotten!"
>"Would someone please call security already?"
>You, or Anonymous you suppose, quickly reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out an object
>The professors all recoiled in fear, initially expecting something far worse than the bit of chalk you held in your hands
>You drew a door on a wall
"No need, I'll leave myself."
>You knocked on the drawn door three times and miraculously it swung open, leading well outside the school
>Something that made little sense considered the windows showed you were at least three stories high
>This was not lost on the professors, the last thing you heard from them before the door shut were gasps and cries of disbelief

>"When are you finally going to abandon this madness Anon?"
>You were in a very different room
>The only bit of furniture that seemed normal was a bed
>Outside of that the desk you sat at was covered in papers and photographs on one half, every single one bearing carefully drawn symbols and odd words or images of ancient museum artifacts or odd formations in woods
>The other half was covered in herbs and plants of all sorts and shapes, bottles both full and empty standing attentively and several tools to process down the ingredients into oils and pastes
>The walls were nothing but bookshelves, every book revolving around magic or religion or folklore
>Grimoires and books of alchemy, histories of witches, sacred texts of cultures you'd never even heard of
>And you also noticed Anon was wearing the same outfit he had upon confronting the professors, and the same he wore when you met him
>An older man was questioning you, the resemblance obvious enough to know he was Anonymous's father
"When did you ever abandon your beliefs? I seem to remember you made quite a stir looking for some frog everyone assured you didn't exist."
>"That was a frog Anon! I had every reason to believe it was real!"
"And I have every reason to believe that magic exists, how else can you explain the things I've discovered?"
>"Your tricks have only helped make this family a laughing stock! Everything you do just brings us closer to ruin."
>The man pulled a few papers from your desk, looking over the odd things on them while shaking his head.
>"You're dedicated Anon, why can't you be dedicated to something real?"
"You mean like you were to your frog that certainly didn't exist?"
>Your father quickly tossed the papers back onto your desk in anger
>"You've lost your house, you've lost your job, you've lost any respect the scientific community would ever have for you despite the family you came from, and now you wish to lose that too?"
>You never looked up at him for a second, you were lost within yourself
>Your mind always racing with ideas and experiments
>Always hungry to discover more, to discover the secret forces that flowed through this world constantly
"I would sooner abandon everything I had than live in a world where what is and isn't real can be so easily decided."

>There was a hole in the sky
>You stared up at it, a tiny gear in your hand and held to your eye
>You did not know why you had felt so compelled to have the thing
>It was just a small gear made of amethyst, no larger than a quarter
>But the moment you saw it inside that store, just laying in some long forgotten corner, you knew it had to be yours
>Even the stores owner did not seem to know what it was, he insisted it'd just fallen right out of the sky one day
>He sold it to your for a hefty price assuming it was, if nothing else, a jewel; you knew you'd go without food for a little while
>But you did not mind
>When you inspected it you were certain you'd come across something miraculous
>It was beautiful sure, but it was quite plain
>The only real detail on it had been five letters perfectly caved into its face
>A M S L V
>For some reason a compulsion had overtaken you to look through the thing
>And you saw there was a hole in the night sky
>Well not quite a hole, but when you looked through the small hole the stars and skies seemed to disappear entirely
>It was fascinating
>But after what must have been hours of staring through it something else began to slowly form in your vision

>Gears
>Gears in the sky
>Or perhaps due to the rhythmic nature of their turns, clockwork was a more appropriate term
>By god you couldn't believe it
>You'd studied the occult your whole live, you'd lost your life to it in fact
>But it had always been small things, little tricks that would bend what science deemed possible, but nothing like this
>You kept staring, you could do nothing but stare
>Even when you wished to put the thing down your arm simply refused to move
>Suddenly something new happened
>Letters, glowing bright purple, began to form across the clockwork sky
>At first they were so distant and thick they seemed more like flying fire, but soon more began to form closer and closer until they were right in front of you
>Every letter was either A, S, M, L, or V
>And just when it seemed the last had formed and nothing more would happen the closest letter to you shot through the gear and into your eye
>Directly into your mind
>Others followed, then some further away began to flow
>And then it seemed the entire world was being thrown into your brain, you couldn't keep track of them as an entire ocean of letters flowed into you
>A word began to form in your mind a chorus screaming it over and over every time a single individual letter etched itself into your brain
>AMSHELAV
>The gear shattered as the final letter entered your mind
>Thick purple smoke began erupting from your nose and mouth as your whole body shook, hands coming up to grasp your own head as if to keep it from bursting as the entire world around you seemed to shake violently

>You... You recognized this memory, because you saw yourself
>You saw yourself standing in front of the statue
>You saw you walking up to yourself
>Whatever had happened to you in the previous memory, you were now seeing through eyes that had suffered with it for a long time
>Your entire body was in pain, it almost felt like an electricity was being sent from your side and burning your insides with every heartbeat
>And you smelled an absolutely foul smell, so strong and acidic it was actually painful to breath, and smell coming from yourself, from Sunset Shimmer
>The sky looked normal at least, but in the corner of your eyes the letters would constantly flow around
>And in your head was an ever present whisper of AMSHELAV
>Oddly though, it seemed like the one who had this memory didn't even see it, like it had been a part of his life for so long that he blocked it out entirely
>You weren't paying much attention to your conversation, it seemed a dull conversation and you felt Anonymous had little real interest in it himself
>Until you heard the question coming from your, which is to say Sunset's, lips
>"Don't believe in magic, huh?"

>There was something about hearing that sentence that for the first time in years reached a part within yourself that had been long forgotten
>And it almost seemed like THE word tried to fight it
>Your vision filled with more letters creeping in from the sides of your as the whispers turned to commands
>It nearly won, consumed that little flicker of what you'd once been
>But Anonymous still lived within it, and though THE word was powerful there was one thing that for the briefest of seconds grew stronger
>Your passion for the things this world had deemed false
>Your vision cleared perfectly as the voice ceased completely
"Who's to say?"
>You remembered the conversation well enough
>But to see it from Anons eyes, to see what that short conversation did to him
>You almost screamed to him to not shake your hand when that moment came
>But he did
>And you felt unimaginable pain race through your body as your vision filled with a clockwork sky and the letters
>You could see your own consciousness trying to invade
>You could feel THE word flare up and toss it out with the greatest of ease
>The word that used it's reignited strength to also toss Anonymous back within itself
>And finally you heard someone yell a loud, echoing order within your mind
>WAKE UP

>You didn't know whose eyes you were looking through now
>But you knew this wasn't one of Anonymous's memories
>You raised yourself from the ground, an absolutely barren ground that seemed to be nothing but red sand stretching as far as the eye could see
>You were covered in something; slime, blood
>You felt new to this world
>You were new to this world, you were a new birth
>The first new birth
>You looked up from the barren ground and up to the sky and the device used to create you
>A clockwork sky, gold and jade gears so brilliant it was as though they had been forged from nebula's, with arms of Amethyst that could constantly tick and tock along that stretch of absolute splendor
>And as you stared up at it you saw something begin to descend
>A woman, unnatural thin and tall, her three arms held out as she slowly floated down to embrace you, long black hair flowing behind her pure black skin like a cape made of miles of the night sky itself
>Her feet finally touched the ground mere feet from you, so gently yet throwing up some much sand around herself it seemed like time itself was moving infinitely slower
>You stared into her eyes, beautiful purple eyes that contained nothing but love for you but hatred for everything else
>But you weren't so awestruck that you couldn't see something quickly descend from where she had
>It was a massive, four hooved beast; its skin the pale blue of an early sky, it's head nothing but a lower jaw
>And built atop this jaw was an entire city housing four thousands dead gods, murdered by the woman he descended upon and sheltered so that she could never use them
>He landed behind her, and with the force of his will alone forged two daggers from the air itself and slide them under her arms, deep into her so they met at their tips within her heart
>The woman hadn't turned, and hardly reacted, though she was indeed dead
>Your dead god mother simply stared down at you with a smile and whispered one word
>"Amshelav..."

>Dead, but a part of her would live on now
>For now her voice would live on forever within your memory, a voice you would remember anytime you looked upon her finest invention
>An invention that defied the notions of life and death
>An invention that though dead, she still had enough power to call upon one last time
>She pointed a finger to the sky, the gears spun violently as fire built within each and every one of them
>And finally the fire turned to a beam of pure light that shot down, punching a clean hole through The Beasts breast and erased her from the world
>The Beast let out a great scream of pain, the ball of flame and ball of stone that had once been his eyes bursting from his head and flying suspended beside the city as the ashes of where he had been hit spread across the entire world and buried themselves deep inside the sand, sand that turned to dirt, dirt that grew trees and grass
>As he retreated his blood dripped on the ground, and exploded into vast seas
>And only a few chunks of his charred flesh dropped to the earth, they pulsated and squirmed until they found forms that would suit their needs while honouring their father
>Finally The Beast had fled, separated forever from his power that was rewritten and became your world, too weak to destroy you and the voice now living eternal
>Your mother had also fragmented, but she had split into something far different, not the mortal animals that The Beast had left behind, destined to die a million deaths
>Her own soul had been torn apart, and became forty two billion, for a soul could never be truly destroyed but simply take different shapes
>But they were souls without forms, and you realized why you had been left here
>You grabbed a small piece of the charred flesh that had once been your mother god and put it inside yourself
>You would finish her work, and birth the forms her fragmented soul needed
>Forms that would remember their mothers voice when they looked upon the city

>You were thrown into another memory you didn't understand, again on a barren land staring at a clockwork sky
>But you were no newborn, the opposite
>You were dead
>You knew this had been long after The Beast had ended you and his wound forged the world that had once been your own
>But this was the past, a dead past, and dead beings could only exist in dead realities
>So you sat and stared into your greatest triumph, your greatest failure, and again what would become your greatest triumph
>Until your vision was obscured by a massive descending shape
>The Beast, ever ready to ruin your admiration of the weapon that should have been his downfall
>But still, you would not stand, it was quite rude after all
>"YOU FORGET YOURSELF SO QUICKLY LITTLE ONE? A DEAD GOD YOU ARE SURELY NOT"
>His voiced filled every part of your mind, but it did not burn into it as THE word did
>In fact, it seemed to liberate you
>It felt familiar, that power, though you could not say why
>But it put your mind, unsure of what it was lost so far in visions of times and places no mortal eyes ever witnessed, back into the place it belonged
>Yes, you weren't a dead god
>You weren't any kind of god at all
>You were just a person
>Or a pony really
>You were Sunset Shimmer

>"THERE YOU ARE LITTLE ONE, HAVE YOU SEEN ALL THAT YOU NEED THEN?"
>All that you need? Please, now that you could think again you didn't understand a single thing that just happened
>"YES, I IMAGINE THE AFFAIRS OF GODS ARE ODD THINGS IN YOUR EYES."
>Wait? could he hear my thoughts? But this was a memory.
>"NO LITTLE ONE, THIS IS A DREAM OF A MEMORY, WITNESSED BY ONE WHO SEES THROUGH THE MIND OF ANOTHER AS YOU SEE THROUGH THEIRS."
>"AND IT IS THROUGH THE MEMORY OF A DEAD GOD ALONE I COULD SPEAK TO YOU, SO THAT YOU MIGHT UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU MUST DO."
>Something else made its presence know, and you were truly shaken
>For you'd never felt completely detached from the eyes you saw through when looking at memories, and you certainly never felt like they knew within the moment that you were inside their mind
>But whoever you were inside now knew you were there, seeing everything she saw, hearing everything she saw
>It had to be a memory, but it still felt as if it was unfolding right now.
>"Please Beast, you know she cannot succeed, to make her feel like she can is quite cruel. Isn't she your child after all?"
>Came from the lips of the dead god you were looking through
>Wait, "his child?"
"YES CHILD, LOOK UPON MY CROWN."
>You hadn't quite noticed the floating orb just above the city of dead gods before, and you would have thought little of it even if you did without hearing it mentioned
>It wasn't just some orb, it was a planet, The Beasts eye of flame and eye of stone circling it slowly
>And as you traced out the landmasses in your head you couldn't believe it
>It was Equestria

>"YES LITTLE ONE, YOUR LAND, YOUR 'EQUESTRIA,' IS WHY I HAVE COME TO YOU."
>But why?
>"BECAUSE YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN STOP HER CHILD FROM ACTIVATING THE CLOCKWORK CITY AND DESTROYING THE WALL BETWEEN TWO WORLDS."
>Worlds? Which worlds? I thought the clockwork city was built to destroy you?
>"IT WAS, FOR I AM THE WALL THAT SEPARATES WORLD, YOUR EQUESTRIA, YOUR OPPONENTS EARTH, THEY CANNOT EXIST WITHIN EACH OTHER FOR THEY OCCUPY THE SAME SPACE."
>So like when Midnight tried to destroy Earth to get to Equestria?
>"NOT QUITE, FOR HAD SHE SUCCEEDED NOTHING MORE THAN LAND WOULD BE DESTROYED, THE VERY SPIRIT OF THE WORLD THOUGH WOULD STILL EXIST AND COULD BE INHABITED BY THE LIVING, IT WOULD BE THE DEATH OF THE PHYSICALITY. BUT WHAT HER CHILD TRIES FOR IS A TRUE DEATH, A DEATH OF POSSIBILITY."
>You mean Equestria wouldn't just be destroyed, it would cease to exist?
>"Existence is fickle thing," chimed in your host, "I am dead, but I still exist, do I not?"
>But how do you exist if you are dead?
>"Simple, I exist in a reality that is also dead."
>"IT IS DIFFICULT TO EXPLAIN, AND WE HAVE LITTLE TIME; BUT YES, EQUESTRIA WOULD CEASE TO EXIST AND EARTH WOULD TAKE ITS PLACE."
>"As when my foe here was struck and his flesh became a part of my world, none of his 'children' will ever exist in the way they would exist in his, for they now belong to us. They died as they were and ever would have been, and were rewritten to suit another reality, perhaps you wouldn't think of it as a death but it certainly was one of the truest deaths of all; the death of possibilities."
>You mean... Like filling in a blank space with something more 'real,' canon?
>"The girl is observant."
>But what about me? I'm from Equestria and I exist on Earth
>"YOU EXIST ON EARTH AS YOU DO BECAUSE YOU WERE NOT ENTIRELY REWRITTEN, YOU FOUND A HOLE IN REALITY AND CRAWLED THROUGH. IN A WAY, YOU AND ANY WHO CRAWL THROUGH IT GO AGAINST THE 'CANON,' AS YOU PUT IT."

>I'm lost, all this seems to be contradicting itself
>If the canon always fills in the "blanks" with something "more real," than how can something less real invalidate the canon?
>"Existence itself is naught but rewrites and contradictions, child. Does a story's first draft not seem infinitely different than what is told in the end? Possibility is as fickle a concept as existence."
>"AGAIN, IT IS DIFFICULT TO EXPLAIN TO YOUR KIND, BUT IT IS OF LITTLE IMPORTANCE."
>"ALL YOU NEED KNOW IS IF YOU DO NOT STOP HER CHILD, THE WORLD YOU ONCE CALLED YOUR OWN DIES A TRUE DEATH, REPLACED FOREVER WITH SOMETHING MORE 'REAL'."
>"Just as my soul became billions and I exist as humans now, while I as I was exist only within a dead possibility, a forgotten first draft if you will."
>But how do I stop him? I don't even know where his powers come from, let alone how to beat it
>"HIS POWER IS THE VOICE OF THE DEAD GOD YOU DREAM AS, THE WORD AMSHELAV, A VOICE THAT LIVES WITHIN HER SOUL NO MATTER WHAT FORM IT TAKES; A M S L V, LETTERS THAT LIVE WITHIN HER CHILD NO MATTER WHAT FORM SHE TAKES"
>"HE DID NOT DISCOVER IT, HE REMEMBERED IT. NOW HIS MIND IS POISONED BY IT, THE LETTERS BURNED INTO EVERY THOUGHT AND DREAM HE HAS, THE LAST MEMORY OF HIS MOTHER AND HIMSELF; EVEN DEATH WOULD NOT STOP HIM AS THE WORDS ARE BEYOND SUCH PHYSICALITIES. THE ONLY WAY TO STOP HIM AND ENSURE THE FRAGMENTED SOUL NEVER REMEMBERS THE WORD AGAIN, THE ONLY POWER YOU HAVE TO END THIS, IS TO PULL THE WORD FROM HIS MIND AND ERASE IT."
>But how am I supposed to do that?
>"YOU'VE PULLED ANGER AND PAIN FROM MINDS BEFORE, YOU'VE DESTROYED POISON WITHIN A HOST, YOU KNOW HOW TO DEFEAT HIM."
>But why can't you help, or why can-
>"THIS IS AS LONG AS THE DREAM LASTS. GO LITTLE ONE, REMOVE THE LAST MEMORY OF HER FROM POSSIBILITY."
>You wanted to ask more questions, wanted some guidance
>But the moment he said his last word you felt yourself being pulled away, out of the memory of a dead god and out of Anons mind.

Part 10
=======================================================================================================================================

>"You..."
>The voice came from Anon's throat this time; a gravely, wheezing voice that you could barely even hear
>"You have no magic..."
>A large smile plastered his face as oil poured from his eyes and mouth more violently
>"ALL THIS TIME I HAD BEEN AFRAID OF YOU, TERRIFIED OF THE POWER I ASSUMED YOU HAD! THE POWER YOU WOULD DESTROY ME WITH!"
>His voice returned to the sky, ringing your ears with every syllable
>"BUT YOU DON'T HAVE ANY POWER, YOU NEVER DID!"
>You backed away from him as he let out another mechanical laugh, practically dancing in mid air
"What are you talking about?"
>He stopped and fixed his eyes on you again
>"DID YOU THINK I JUST LET YOU SLIDE AROUND WITHIN MY MIND AS YOU PLEASED WITHOUT DOING SO TO YOUR MIND AS WELL?"
>"I'VE SEEN IT ALL SUNSET, PERHAPS YOU WERE A DECENT SORCERESS WITHIN YOUR OWN WORLD."
>He floated over to you and grasped your wrist so violently you thought it would snap
>"BUT HERE YOU ARE JUST AN ORDINARY TEENAGE GIRL..."
>His other hand moved to your chin, a couple fingers slowly moving lower and lower
>"...WITH SOME TRINKET."
>With one swift pull he tore off your geode, his hand actually catching fire the second it made contact with the thing
>It was too much, his body couldn't stand anymore Equestrian magic without destroying itself
>But he didn't seem to care at all
>You realized what The Beast had said was the truth
>With the word in his mind, he was beyond a physical death
>And so he tossed the necklace onto his own neck with no regard for himself, even as the oil ignited and engulfed his entire body in purple flames he didn't seem to care

>"COME ON!" He commanded as he floated out of the library, dragging you behind him by the wrist
>You tried to pull away from him
>You tried to reason with him
>Your words went as unnoticed as your struggles
>He seemed to be completely within his own world now, your screams about him killing himself or destroying Equestria not registering
>Or maybe they couldn't even be heard in the first place
>As he reached the school doors he didn't even bother to push them, or break them with magic
>They just seemed to melt from his mere presence, as if the very world was moving itself to avoid getting in his way
>He led you past your friends, eyes completely blank, not a single care or concern about you
>He led you past the mass of students, all of them under his command
>Maybe on the inside they were scream as Rarity said she had, praying they could do anything to help
>But they couldn't, it was impossible to imagine anyone could escape from Anonymous and the power he had now
>At least, you thought so, but when you looked back you saw Rarity standing at the melted doors looking terrified at you
>She had been in his presence this entire time and he'd never thought to take control of her?
>"NOW..."
>He tossed you to the ground right in front of the statue
>"OPEN IT!"

"I can't"
>"DON'T LIE TO ME!"
>He tossed you into the air with magic, just strong enough to let you get back on your feet
>"I'VE BEEN IN YOUR MIND, YOU CANNOT HIDE YOUR SECRETS FROM ME!"
>He held up a hand, and immediately your backpack was reduced to scraps, spilling the contents all over the floor
>All except one object that he caught just before it hit the ground, and a second later it fly to your chest along with a pen
>The one item that started all of this
>The journal
>"NOW, WRITE, TELL HER TO OPEN THE PORTAL."
>He glared at you, at least you felt he would if you could even see his eyes
>The letters almost seemed to be the things that glared, surrounding your head as if attempting to swallow you
>You glared back at the letters, opening the journal
"You know, she might realize I'm not writing this."
>"THAT IS HER ISSUE, NOT YOURS, IT ONLY PROLONGS THE INEVITABLE. NOW WRITE, CONSIDER THAT I STILL HAVE USE FOR YOU, HOWEVER BRIEF!"
>But as he spoke you barely paid any attention
>Twilight was looking at you
>And she looked scared
>She wasn't just standing there perfectly still, but she wasn't approaching, not yet
>Because Rarity was busy pouring salt circles around the other girls
>The word wasn't commanding these students, all of this, it was just an amplification of Anonymous's occult power
>And it could be broken the same way no matter how strong he was
>Hope flooded back into you
>You lost his game a long time ago
>But now he had to play yours
>But they needed some time, so you wrote
"Dear Twilight Sparkle? Could you open the portal please? We defeated Incognito and... Well it took a lot out of me, I kinda need to talk to someone who gets magic right now."
>It should have been all the time you needed, she wouldn't respond immediately, right?
>"I'm so relieved to hear that Sunset! I'll open the portal right now, won't take more than a minute."
>Fuck

>Twilight didn't seem to be exaggerating either as you saw the portal begin to shimmer, much to the joy of Anonymous
>Why had Twilight been so close to the portal?
>Why did it have to end like this, with you pulling the trigger that would erase her forever?
>You backed away from Anon, tears flooding your eyes as he laughed in triumph
>Now when you looked up even the sky itself began to change
>You could see the clockwork city, you supposed everyone could
>And it began to tick away violently, every gear filling with the fire the would kill a god and destroy a world
>You almost wanted to jump through the portal yourself, so you could die with everyone else instead of having to live with the guilt of having erased an entire reality
>But your thoughts were interrupted when you felt a hand take hold of your own
>It was Rarity, smiling at you
>A second later you felt another take your other hand
>Twilight
>Quickly all your friends gathered, free of Anons spell
>You felt power course through your body, flowing freely between you and your friends
>And Anonymous felt it to, or he smelt it, whatever it was he did to detect magic
>He spun quickly just before his fingers touched the now open portal
>He could hardly believe it when he saw you and your friends rising into the air, magic unlike any other he'd ever seen emitting from you
>The geodes he wore around his neck, now truly seeming little more than trinkets in his mind, began to dance around his own neck as the flames engulfing him faltered and died
>You were siphoning all the power from them, and he could do nothing to stop it as your power grew exponentially and his own completely faded
>And finally, when the oil from his mouth reduced itself to a mere trickle and life seemed to return to his body you transformed

>You opened your eyes and stared down at Anonymous
>And when you did you felt nothing but sympathy for him
>He looked terrified
>More scared than you'd even seen anyone ever look before
>And some part of you that suggested he wasn't scared of you
>He wasn't scared because he thought you would destroy him for what he was or any of the other lies the word had convinced him of
>He was scared because you drained him and granted him a brief moment of clarity, a few seconds without pain
>And he could finally see the thing controlling him as it truly was
>But that fear, that clarity, it was short lived
>He would never be powerful enough to fend off the word for long
>His eyes once again projected letters
>FOOLS! YOU ARE NOT GUARANTEED TO WIN! WITNESS A NEW CANON BORN!"
>He quickly spun on his heels, ready to jump through the portal
>A simple laser wouldn't cut it this time you understood, even if it hurt him he'd still get through the portal
>You needed to follow him
>So before he could finally step through you gathered together all the magic within yourself and your friends and used it for something else
>You shot forward
>You slammed directly into Anonymous, wrapping your arms around him as you both disappeared into the portal

>It felt the same as it always had for the first few moments, like being stretched out and twisted into a different form
>But quickly you felt yourself simply stop
>Both you and Anon regaining your shapes are you stayed suspended in that bright white gateway
>Nothing seemed to move, it was as if the portal had stopped working with you still in it
>"Sunset..."
>You couldn't quite look at Anonymous with the way you clung to him
>But you were certain if you did you'd see no letters in his eyes, no oil pouring from his mouth
>The remorse in his voice was just so strong
>Quickly you felt him push something deep into your ear, believing he'd revert back before he spoke again
>"Save me, please!"
>And then the both of you were shot to the side
>The world of pure white tore away and turned into a world of absolute blackness, the only light being Anonymous as he reignited into flames
>No
>They weren't flames at all
>This close you was that they were an extremely thick, flowing concentration of the letters AMSLV
>That little detail distracted you just enough that you didn't have enough time to catch yourself when the world came back and you crashed full force into a floor of metal
>And when you regained your composure you quickly realized it wasn't the world at all
>It was a platform of solid gold in the center of an amethyst arm
>You were in the Clockwork City
>And only now you realized why it was called the city, for every gear was covered in windows from which dead gods looked at you curiously
>Some even sat down immediately upon seeing you, for they did not wish to be rude
>"Anon?" You yelled out, looking in every direction for him
>But he wasn't on the platform, the only thing that stood here was what looked like a control panel made of gold
>"Anon? Where are you?"
>You began to fly up
>Only to be immediately grabbed and tossed to the ground

>Quickly you lunged forward the second you hit the floor, narrowly avoiding a beam that turned the gold so hot it vaporized
>You turned and readied your own magic, expecting to see Anonymous under the control of the word again
>And froze up the moment you saw it
>It wasn't Anonymous
>Or at least, not anymore
>You saw the goddess herself
>Or at least her word, the last thing of herself that existed in its original form on this world
>The letters had reformed themselves into a mockery of the dead god, her exact shape made from purple flame of concentrated AMSLV
>You shook your head and without a second thought shot it with your own beam
>It dodged the shot with ease, running on all fives in a circle around you before leaping forward with one arm poised to strike
>You fell to the ground as you jumped back to avoid the claw, a claw that struck the ground and threatened to split the very platform you fought on
>Again you flew back, practically skating on the floor as you backed away from the word and tried firing another shot at it
>And again it dodged your magic, jumping right over the beam
>When it hit the ground the form disintegrated, turning into a river of sentient fire that sped towards
>You flew into the air, just avoiding getting swallowed by the flame as the letters concentrated and again took the form of the dead god
>It practically shot from the ground and towards you, hand outstretched and fingers ready to grasp
>And in doing so had spelled its own doom, for it couldn't dodge your attack now that it had committed to a path

>One last time you readied a shot of your magic, the strongest and truest you'd fired against it
>And as you'd hoped it came crashing down and burst directly against it as it ascended
>Your heart soared as you saw a few individual letters being torn off the shape, flying back to break apart and disintegrate in your magic
>You'd done it, you'd beaten it!
>Anonymous, Equestria, they would all be saved
>But then the word wrapped its hand around your ankle and descended back down, dragging you down with it
>Your beam stopped
>And all hope was lost
>You had destroyed maybe a few dozen letters with your attempted
>But the word was billions
>Forty two billion
>You hadn't won at all, you hadn't even harmed it slightly
>You tried to fly away but the forms grip was steadfast
>And your pitiful attempts at escape just made it take more notice of you
>It violently jerked you down, one hand digging into your wing and the other into around your neck
>And the moment you were held in place it shot another of its own beams into your chest
>The pain was unbearable, though the beam had only struck you for a second before it continued forward and struck the platform behind you
>You couldn't even scream pain, you simply lost all your strength in seconds
>As you went limp the word simply flicked you away and began to casually walk toward the center of the platform
>Towards the panel that would bring about the end of a world

>You tried to raise yourself
>You couldn't let it end here
>But when you looked down at the perfect hole on your chest you realized it was over
>It didn't even feel like you'd been hurt or killed in any physical sense now that you looked down at it
>It was as if everything about you had been burned away and erased
>Because you, one who had been the hero time and time again
>You, who no matter what adversity had come her way, had in the end found a way to save everyone
>But you'd lost, you weren't the hero anymore
>The word didn't intend to kill you
>It simply wished to show you a simple truth
>The whole world would be rewritten, and you would have no place in the new canon
>Your death would be to exist in failure of what had always been written as your victory
>In dead possibility
>You realized you never had any hope of defeating the word, this AMSHELAV
>It was the word of a god
>You were just a pony from a world that soon would only exist in a dead past
>You just lay there, hands covering the hole
>Tears welled in your eyes as you closed them
>"Come on now, giving up that easy?"
>Your eyes shot opened
>And you saw something that shouldn't have existed, something that invalidated the canon
>Standing there, seemingly devoid of even the barest hint of the word, was Anonymous
>"Letting an entire world die without a fight? Damnation Sunset! You have to try a little harder than that."
>You closed your eyes again
"It's over Anon, it won, like you said. Canon fills the blanks and erases possibility."
>Anonymous shook his head
>"Sunset, didn't you forget the most important part I said?"
>Your eyes slowly opened up again as you stared at Anonymous
>"'Don't you realize science itself is a headcanon?'."
>Your eyes shot open
>"The panel Sunset!"
>He disappeared before your very eyes, but his words still echoed through your mind
>You looked down at your wound
>And realized it was nothing more than that, a blank hole yet to be filled

>The second the god's word saw you race past it was already over for it
>Before it could realize what you were doing you already had your hand pressed against the only button the panel had
>The second your hand pressed against it you felt power
>Power you couldn't begin to fathom
>A power that filled every inch of your body
>Keeping one hand on the panel you turned to stare at the word
>It silently cursed you as it realized what you attempted to do, and immediately shot you with another one of its beams
>But this one did not burn through you
>In fact it barely hurt you at all
>You raised your hand to the word, to AMSHELAV, and readied one last beam of your own
>The fire inside all the gears began to surge violently as it felt the call to use
>And mere moments after the flames shot into the tip of the amethyst arm, racing down the ornate blade and flowing into you
>Your own wound was filled with fire, restoring itself just as quickly as it had been made
>You swore that you could actually feel fear coming from the word
>And though not a single word was spoken, within your mind you felt it wonder a single question
>How?
"DON'T YOU GET IT?" You said, your voice coming from the entire city itself
"YOU WERE WRITTEN OUT OF THE CANON LONG AGO!"
>With a final scream and you sent a beam and blinding golden light at the word
>For the brief moment it had left to exist on this world it looked in panic, desperate to find any hope of survival it had
>But there was none
>Before your very eyes you saw it blown away, letter after letter tearing away from it and snapping to pieces before being completely erased from possibility
>And as this shape, the last remnant of a dead god went to go join her, a new shape became visible
>A human shape
>When you were certain not a single letter more was left to destroyed you stopped your barrage
>Anon lay there motionless, and for a moment you were certain you'd killed him
>At least, you were, but you noticed something out the corner of your eye
>There sat Anon, cross legged just a few feet beside you

Part 11
=======================================================================================================================================

"Anon? But you're over, and now you're-"
>"Which Anon is this one though?"
>Your eyes kept shifting between the Anonymous in front of you and the one laying motionless a few meters away
"What the hell does that mean?"
>"Simple, is this a dead Anon born from a dead possibility while another Anon still lives within what still can happen? Have you ever considered the idea that if one possibility exists while another does not, the individual said possibility revolves around can be both alive and dead?"
"I mean... Maybe... I don't..."
>You just stood there silently for a few more moments, eyes wide and tired
>Finally with a sigh you slumped down and sat next to Anon, rubbing your head
>You really didn't want to get into THIS conversation again
"Anon, please, I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that Equestria is the crown of a god with a city for a face, and the city is inhabited by-"
>You stopped yourself when you realized you didn't want to wrap your head around it
>All you wanted to do is just go home and pretend this whole thing was a really, really bad fever dream
>Anon, or dead Anon, or whatever he was, let out a chuckle
>"Actually, it's really a lot more simpler than that."
"Let me guess, you're actually the god of the dead or something."
>Your tone was joking, but you half expected a serious response
>At this point it really wouldn't surprise you
>"No, just an old trick. When we were in the portal I felt myself and THE... The word split up, it abandoned my mind completely and simply dragging my body around thanks to the power it had in this place. For the briefest moment when I had control in the portal I tore out one of my teeth and put it inside your ear. No word, no Equestrian magic, just occultism."
>"Honestly I'm surprised you haven't noticed yet."
>You were about the chuckle
>Until you noticed you did feel something in your ear
>You didn't investigate, you'd rather not know.

"So, what now?"
>You'd done it, you'd destroyed a word spoken by a dead god using a clockwork city in the sky
>You'd gained what would certainly be an interesting story to tell your grandchildren
>And you now had a very good reason to start stealing gin from Miss Cheerilee's desk
>But you were also kinda stuck here
>The portal you'd come through was nowhere to be found
>And you figured there was a bit more to getting off a city of dead gods than just flying down
>"Just use the console to beam us down to Earth."
"Huh?"
>"You're thinking about how to get out of here, just use the same power you did to erase the word"
"I thought this place was only a weapon"
>"Sunset, this place is a magical control power that defies the very ideas of possibility. I'm pretty sure it can do a little more than just fire a few lasers."
"Yeah, I guess that makes sense... The lasers part at least."
>You stared up at the sky
>Now the gold and jade gears just calmly ticked away, not expecting a call to arms by the last remnant of their inventor
>Despite everything, it really was a beautiful sight to behold
>Still, you'd be happy to never see it again in your life
>"You and me both"
"What?"
>"About never seeing it again; I'll stick to nice, normal occultism for now thank you very much."
"Are you reading my mind?" You asked in a shaming voice
>"I'm not reading your mind, I'm inside it."
>He pointed at his ear
>"Tooth, remember"

>Again, you really didn't want to think about it
>But you did think about Anon, what would happen if you brought him back to Earth?
>Would he still try to get into Equestria?
>...
>Did you actually have any reason to stop him now that he was free of the word?
>"Equestria, huh?"
"Yeah, magic so common they use it to put on clothes... When they wear clothes in the first place. I bet you'd love to see that, right?"
>Anon thought for a second as he stared into the sky
>"Maybe... Maybe someday, but I don't think I'm ready to leave just yet. This world may not be as magical Sunset, but there is magic in it, its own magic. Not whatever bleed off The Beast when he was hit but something born from men themselves, fragments of a dead gods soul."
>"I don't think I ever want magic to be mundane Sunset, I don't want to know exactly where it comes from or why it works. I don't think I was ever really interested in Equestria, it was just the compulsion the word birthed in me."
>"It just seems like they got magic all figured out there."
>"I prefer the mystery."
>He smiled to himself, another genuine smile like the one you saw at the statue only two days ago, though now it felt like it'd been a hundred years
>Would he ever be a threat again?
>Maybe, everyone could be, seemed threats came along everyday with some plans to end the world
>But he was just someone hunting after something he believed in
>You can't blame anyone for that
>...
>You were ready to go home and try to forget all of this
>You stood to gather Anon's real body and went back to the control panel
>"It was nice meeting you Sunset."
>You give him one last smile, his unconscious body on your shoulder
"Same"

>An explosion shook the school, and you crawled out of the charred pit
>Frantically you looked around with your watering eyes, certain you'd just torn someone to pieces
"Oh Celestia, is everyone okay?!"
>Thankfully you saw you were in the staff parking lot with the now uncontrolled student body rushing from quite far to see what had happened
>Another successful day without a body count
>It was certainly getting harder to pull off
>"Sunset!"
>Rarity pushed passed the crowd and raced over to you, tackling you into a hug and nearly sending the both of you back into the pit
>"Oh darling we were terrified, we'd thought you were hurt, or dead."
>You let out a little laugh as you hugged Rarity back
"Physically dead or erased from the canon dead?"
>Rarity's hug loosened a bit as her expression went from one of joy to confusion
>"What?" she asked in an uncharacteristically deadpan tone, not even letting you go
"I'd explain it to you, but I don't have any idea what I'm talking about either."
>It seemed like she wanted to say something, but she couldn't find a single word
>She didn't have to though as the other girls quickly joined you for a group hug, all repeating Rarity's sentiments
>But still, you felt like you were forgetting something
"Anon! Is Anon okay?"
>The girls broke away as you looked down into the pit
>There was no sign of him until you looked up
>There, on the other side of the pit, was a chalk drawing of a door and six geodes sitting next to it
>You couldn't blame him, not everyone would know the full story
>To the rest, Anonymous was just another magical monster trying to enslave the school to attack Equestria or something
>But you were glad to know he was alright at the very least
>Well Anon, godspeed where ever you go, and please don't come back possessed by another dead god
>"...Sunset, darling."
"Yeah Rarity?
>"What's that bloody thing in your ear?"