Author's Note

Hey all, small announcement here. I'm writing these author's note's as I upload chapters, so I want to address a couple things from the first chapter. Firstly, thank you all so much for the feedback and getting the story featured in less than a day :D I am extremely thrilled to see that. Secondly, I want to make one thing clear about this story. It's meant to be a little silly here and there and have some more comedic themes that don't exactly line up 100% with reality sometimes.

Having said that, I really hope you guys enjoy the chapter and where the story goes from here. Sorry to make that whole thing a point on here, but I saw a lot of comments from last chapter that seemed to be judging the entire story off of one single chapter, and making assumptions about the direction the story is going to be taking, and I wanted to clarify my thoughts a bit.

Chapter 2: The Decision

Anon awoke with a tired groan as the sun's harsh light rays filtered into his home through the slit in the curtains. A beam of light centered right on his eyes, prompting them to blearily blink open, much to his chagrin. He lazily rolled over to the cooler side of his king sized bed, finding that the light no longer beamed straight into his retinas, and snuggled into his pillow just a tad longer.

The harsh beeping of his alarm clock instantly shattered any chance he had of falling back asleep, and he groaned loudly to himself as he pushed himself up to a sitting position. He smacked his lips a few times as his eyes fell on the blaring alarm, finding the time to read '7:00AM'. He slowly reached over, his joints popping in protest as he grabbed the alarm with his hand and promptly threw it at the wall, shattering it instantly.

"Was having a good fuckin' dream too." He mumbled.

Anon slowly looked over his room. The hardwood floors were covered in a thin layer of dust and a fair amount of bedsheets that had been tossed off the bed throughout the night. His bookshelf still had no books. Lastly, the mahogany desk under the window retained the stain of ink he'd spilt while attempting to quill a letter the night before. Anon sighed quietly before pushing himself out of bed and stepping toward the bathroom. He quickly brushed his teeth and stepped into the shower.

With a quick pull on the pull tab sticking out of the wall, heated rainwater poured down on him from the cloud hovering just a foot above his head. He spent the majority of the shower staring at the stone tile floor pattern that happened to look a bit like a cat chasing a kite, before lethargically washing his hair and finishing up. After toweling off and drying himself, Anon stepped into his massive walk-in closet in complete nudity.

Once there, he grabbed the only clothing on the rack; a pair of black slacks, a white dress shirt with a crimson tie, and a black overcoat. He pulled out the pair of black dress shoes and socks from the bottom shelf, and the lone pair of underwear. Anon set about dressing himself and eventually emerged from the closet, fully clothed in his attire.

"I need to get some new clothes... summer is brutal here." He said to no one in particular.

Anon walked over to the doorway, and exited the bedroom. He walked through the short hall to the central living room of his house, and descended the stairs. He ran his hand atop the exquisitely chiseled hoof-rail lining the stairs. The intricate patterns depicted a pegasus pulling a chariot filled with several other pegasai as they fired arrows and hurled spears at some unknown foes; all carved out of pure ebony.

As he reached the bottom of the stairs, Anon jumped down to the granite floor below, his dress shoes clacking nicely against the material as he stepped toward the kitchen.

Much like the staircase, every piece of furniture or décor in the kitchen was carved out of pure ebony, with a white granite floor filling the entire room. Anon made his way to the cupboard and looked inside, finding absolutely nothing.

"Huh."

He closed the door and opened the pantry instead, finding a lone box of Oat-flakes laying on its side with some of the oats spilt on the shelf.

"One of these days I'm gonna figure out which cabinet is which." He muttered as he grabbed the box and made his way to the island in the center of the kitchen.

Anon grabbed a bowl from the sink and poured the cereal until it was almost filled. Once he was satisfied, he set the box down and made his way over to the refrigerator. He peeked inside, finding only one carton of milk that was less than a quarter full. With a shrug, he grabbed the milk and poured it into his cereal, finishing off the carton.

"Note to self... add milk to the shopping list." He said as he pulled out a spoon.

Anon ate his breakfast in silence, only pausing to scratch an itch or gaze out the window for a moment. Once he was done, he set the bowl in the sink and made his way out of the kitchen to the living room. In the center of the room, a massive statue of solid gold, made to look like a unicorn mare casting a spell to destroy some kind of feral wooden wolf, greeted him with silence. There was a fireplace in the center wall, made entirely of obsidian, and dragon scales. A pleather couch curved around the fireplace, sitting atop a genuine polar bear fur rug.

Anon stepped past the statue and made his way to the lavish, intricately detailed mahogany door that stood at twelve feet tall. Highly detailed patterns lined the door, depicting the sun and moon, as well as magical runes patterning around the celestial bodies, and a silver tipped handle made of dragon bone.

As Anon opened the door and stepped out into the world, the door automatically closed behind him, the runes flashing red in the process. Anon gave a quick tug on the door to ensure it was locked, and when it refused to budge, he headed out into his courtyard. Aside from the marble fountain in the center of the walkway, Anon's courtyard was fairly spartan. Large fields of grass lined both sides of the front walkway, leading all the way to the gate.

As he made his way through the yard, Anon glanced over at the vineyard on the far side of his property, finding that the vineyard was in full bloom.

"I'll have to get all those grapes before they go bad and the whole thing dies." Anon said, shaking his head.

He soon arrived at his gate and pressed his hand against the flat panel on the front. The runes emblazoned on the silver and gold laced frame immediately burned to life, and the gate slid to the side, allowing him to exit. As Anon stepped out onto the sidewalk, he glanced down the street to see Canterlot Castle just a few miles away. The road leading straight to the impressive building was already lined with ponies of high social class, making their own ways there as well.

Anon checked his wrist for his watch, only to realize that he wasn't wearing one.

"God dammit... How'd I forget that? Better get there before I'm late." He muttered, his brow deeply furrowed in annoyance.

Anon hastily turned towards the castle and made his way toward the structure.

As Celestia sat upon her throne in the center of the Sun Court, she eyed the petitioner's line with a perfect poker face of reserved interest. Today, there were already well over two hundred ponies lined up and chatting amongst themselves as her secretary and guards arranged the first session of court. Celestia suppressed a yawn as she leaned over to the alabaster white unicorn sitting beside her.

"Raven, what time is it?" She asked, her tone pleasant and just loud enough to be heard only by the pony meant to hear it.

"It's eight thirty two, Princess." Raven replied.

"I see. How many ponies have shown for court so far?"

"We have two hundred and twelve in the room, and as of five minutes ago, another hundred and ninety six outside." Raven answered, eyeing the clipboard in her magical grasp.

Celestia's eyes widened ever so slightly, before narrowing more noticeably.

"There hasn't been this many ponies in for the opening of Day Court in over nine hundred years. I wonder what issues they could all have." Celestia pondered aloud.

"They have one, your highness." Raven coolly responded.

Celestia did a double take, "You mean they're all here for the same reason?" She asked.

"It seems so, your highness. They've signed all of their names for the same court case... well, almost all of them. Anonymous has also arrived, although he hasn't signed for any of the cases. He's simply signed that he wants to observe." Raven elaborated, detaching her eyes from the clipboard and looking over to Celestia.

"Who?" The sun princess asked, looking at Raven, squinting in confusion.

"Anonymous... t-the human, Princess?" Raven replied, looking up to Celestia, inquisitively, "The tall, biped stallion standing in the back of the room? He's at least twice as tall as everypony else." She continued, nodding toward the far side of the room.

Celestia gazed out over the crowd of ponies, her eyes falling on the only non pony in the group, at the end of the room. The creature named 'Anonymous' stood there, towering above everypony else around him. However, that was essentially the only thing that stood out about him. He wore a suit like every other stallion in the room, he had a small patch of barely kept, brown hair atop his head, and a pair of dark brown eyes to match.

"Anonymous... Anonymous... why does that name sound so familiar?" Celestia pondered, sucking on her lip as she looked down to her secretary.

"He's... the only one of his kind, Princess." Raven replied, continuing as she saw Celestia's head tilt ever so slightly, "He arrived here when Nightmare Moon returned. The spell that she used to break free of the moon caused a rift in our dimension and he was sucked into our world from his?" She explained.

Celestia gasped in recognition and shook her head.

"Oh yes, I remember now. Luna and I gave him a Lordship and a plot of land in the city to make up for him being ripped into our world. I seem to recall him being one of the more quiet and reserved types..." Celestia recalled, "Didn't I have Twilight and the school try to send him home?" She asked.

"Yes, Princess. They couldn't find a way to send him home without killing him though." Raven replied.

"Ah, I remember that now... That's quite unfortunate. I do hope he's adjusting well enough despite the circumstances." Celestia murmured.

"He seems to be getting along well enough." Raven shrugged.

"Why does he want to watch the court?" Celestia curiously inquired.

"Probably because he has nothing else to do. From the looks of him, that stallion could use a mare to guide him around and take care of him. He seems lost and particularly fragile, if those thin legs are anything to go off of." Raven surmised, eyeing Anonymous with a critical eye as he asked the guardsmare at the chairs in the back, where to sit.

"I see... Well, regardless we should focus on the task at hoof. Could you kindly begin the court procession. I do believe it's just about nine." Celestia replied, sitting just a smidge more upright.

"Of course, Princess." Raven responded, before turning her attention to the guardsmare sitting to her left, "The Princess is ready to begin Day Court." She said.

The guard nodded, before turning to address the gathered ponies still talking among themselves, "Attention! Day Court will now commence! Let us hear the first case of the day!" Her voice boomed throughout the hall, silencing everypony inside immediately.

The guardsmare turned back to Raven and gave her a nod.

"The first case will be Comet Star and... well, let's just say several parties." Raven explained.

The guard nodded and turned back to the crowd, "Comet Star! Please step forward!" She called out.

A butterscotch unicorn stallion with a finely trimmed mustache, and a neatly combed, rust colored mane, stepped to the podium in the center of the room. The rest of the ponies present, formed a crescent moon shape around the lone stallion as he cleared his throat and looked up to the Princess.

As Comet Star situated himself before her, Princess Celestia looked down at the stallion and adorned a motherly, if a tad forced, smile.

Oh... great. This stallion again. Celestia thought, forcing herself not to roll her eyes.

"Welcome, Comet Star. What troubles you, my little pony?"

"Good morning, Princess Celestia. First, I would like to start by saying that the sun is shining ever more radiantly with each new day. Truly, your power and beauty know no bounds." The stallion replied, his deep voice reverberating throughout the room. It was smooth, and warm, like honey on a pleasant day.

"You're too kind, Comet Star. Thank you for your kind words. It is truly an honor each and every single day, and I am more than pleased to hear how much you appreciate the sun." Celestia kindly responded, a grateful smile now on her face.

Ugh, Faust get a better pickup line. This has to be the hundredth time you've tried that one, you perv. She thought quietly to herself.

"You're very welcome, your highness. Now, as to the matter at hoof-" Comet Star began, gesturing over to the crowd of gathered ponies with his hoof, "-as you can see, there are many stallions here from all walks of Canterlot. Ponies of high prestige and nobility, whose names date back all the way to the founding of Equestria itself."

Celestia's eyes darted up to the gathered ponies immediately. For the first time since everypony walked in, she noticed that every single one of them were stallions. Her eyes widened slightly for a moment before she looked back at Comet Star.

They are all stallions... How peculiar.

"I see. I understand everypony here has arrived for the same reason." Celestia nodded.

Comet Star smiled, "Indeed, your highness. We've all arrived, eagerly awaiting your answer to the proposed stipulation of the Paired Sister Act of two hundred and sixty two ANM." He explained, looking up to Celestia expectantly while nods and words of affirmation echoed behind him.

"Pro...posed stipulation? Comet Star, I'm afraid I don't recall exactly what was written in that act, well over seven hundred years ago." Celestia replied, her eyes squinting in suspicion.

"Of course, Princess. I've brought a copy for you on just such a chance, that you might not have remembered exactly what was written all those years ago." Comet Star smiled, igniting his horn and levitating over a tightly wrapped scroll in his amber aura.

The guardsmare beside Raven quickly grabbed the letter out of the air with her magic and walked over to the princess. Celestia nodded in thanks before taking the scroll with her golden magic and unfurling it to reveal the Act within. As she read through the scroll, Comet Star continued.

"If you'll look at paragraph eight, in subsection five, you'll see the stipulation I'm referring to." He explained.

Celestia looked at the section in question, and her eyes immediately widened considerably.

"As you can see right there, your highness, the Act says that upon the return of your sister, Princess Luna, from her banishment to the moon for one thousand years, exactly one year and six months after she has had time to reacclimate to Equestria and retake her duties as a the Princess of the Night, you would choose one stallion to become your consort. It has been exactly one year and six months since Princess Luna's return, and we have all arrived to see who you will choose, Princess." Comet Star elaborated, finishing with a small bow as another round of affirmation surged through the hundreds of stallions behind him.

Celestia almost dropped the scroll held in her magic. "Please allow me a moment to discuss this arrangement with my secretary, Comet Star." She announced.

"Of course, your highness. We will wait patiently for your decision." Comet Star replied, grinning broadly at the sun princess.

Celestia looked down at the page again and again to confirm that her eyes weren't deceiving her, before looking over to Raven, finding her eyes glued to a large legal tome sitting beside her.

"Raven?" Celestia whispered.

Raven sighed quietly and closed the tome, "It appears that Comet Star is correct, your highness. Apparently when you signed that Act, you were still grieving over your sister's banishment and, to quell the literal sea of suiters all pining to be wed to you, you signed this act, essentially agreeing to marry the first stallion to catch your eye on this exact day." She explained, giving an apologetic head shake.

"Is there any way I can change my mind? It has been over seven hundred years since I wrote that. Certainly there must be some legal loopholes we can jump through." Celestia suggested, her eyes frantically darting all over her copy of the Act.

"I'm afraid... You've made this one pretty set in stone, Princess." Raven sighed again.

"What do you mean?"

Raven's horn illuminated in a white light, and the tome beside her immediately opened to the last page she was on. At the bottom of the page, there was a hoofprint made in what appeared to be a blackish, rust colored ink.

"You signed with blood, Princess. The runes in the law bind you by spells that I don't even know how to decipher. If I understand this stipulation right... It would strip you of your power as an alicorn, should you refuse." Raven explained, an apologetic look on her face as she eyed the writing on the page.

The blood drained from Celestia's face, and her usual pearl white coat took on a tone just a shade paler. She frantically looked over the page again and again, her heart pounding in her chest as she scanned for any discrepancies or easy outs that she might have missed.

"What if it was a marriage only for show? As in... I could marry a stallion here, and then nothing more comes of it. He would be compensated for his silence, and that would be the end of it." Celestia suggested, sending a pleading look Raven's way.

"Princess... these are Canterlot nobles... and you're the most powerful and beautiful mare in all of Equestria... I don't think anything could buy their silence. We both know that they'd want to flaunt the fact that they were in bed with royalty everywhere they'd go." Raven admitted.

Celestia leaned down until she was just whispering into Raven's ear. "Do you truly believe that? They would tell everypony about... Luna... and I?" She asked, the fear clear in her voice.

"I... I'm afraid so. Despite how amazing you are, and the things you do for all of us... you know as well as I do that they'd try to leverage that piece of information against you and Luna to get their way." Raven confirmed, a sad frown on her face as she looked down to the floor.

Celestia felt a pit form in her chest as her eyes fell to the floor between her and Raven. The pristine marble tiles held her gaze for a few moments before she slowly looked back up to the crowd of ponies still eagerly awaiting her decision. She glanced back and forth between each stallion, finding almost hungry looks being thrown back her way. As her eyes drifted from one side of the room to the other with increasing desperation, she saw a peculiar sight that made her pause.

Celestia's gaze focused on Anon as he sat in the guest seating at the very end of the room, his eyes curiously examining the situation in front of him with what she could only discern as slight concern. In that instant, a realization hit the solar princess and she turned back to Raven.

"Raven, does the Act specify that I have to choose a pony stallion?" Celestia inquired, her eyes baring intensely on the secretary.

Raven looked at the tome once more, her muzzle scrunched in concentration before she turned back to Celestia.

"No, Princess. The Act doesn't specify the species of the stallion you have to choose, but... are you sure that he's a better choice?" Raven asked, having already picked up on Celestia's plan.

"At this point, he's a known unknown. All of these stallions are known knowns. I'm not usually a betting mare, but at this point it's either lose, or maybe not lose. I think that makes him the best chance Luna and I have... Faust, she's going to kill me for this." Celestia replied, sighing quietly.

"Well... if you're sure, Princess. I'll do everything in my power to make sure he's ready for the role. Are you ready to announce your choice?" Raven pressed.

"I am. Thank you, Raven." Celestia answered. She took a deep breath, putting on her regal smile and calm façade in the process, and looked back at the crowd.

The gathered stallions and Anon looked up at the alabaster princess with a range of emotions. Some were nearly bouncing in place from the excitement, while others bore smug looks of superiority and confidence. In the back of the room, sitting all alone, Anon simply watched Celestia with a frown.

She's not really gonna pick one of these dicks to marry right now, is she? He pondered to himself.

Celestia cleared her throat, and addressed the crowd in her motherly, regal voice they all knew and expected from her.

"Comet Star, I thank you and all of the attending stallions for bringing this to my attention. Were it not for you, I certainly would have forgotten this Act that was signed well over seven hundred years ago when I was still coming to terms with the loss of my sister. I understand you all have most certainly been waiting for a long time to hear who I will choose, not just today, but certainly for most of your lives-" Celestia began.

"Heh. If that's not a backhanded compliment, then I don't know what is." Anon chuckled to himself.

"- and I certainly wouldn't deign to keep you all waiting any longer." Celestia continued, her eyes slowly drifting from one side of the crowd to the other, "Now, while you are all very handsome, charming, and downright beautiful stallions, unfortunately I can only choose one of you. Aside from that, my sister Luna will also have to approve of you later this evening when she awakes to resume her duties this night."

The stallions filling the room nodded at her words, excitement filling their veins as they stared back at their princess with bated breath.

"Ooh! Pick me!" One shouted.

"No! Pick me, Princess!" Another cried.

"You're already married!"

"Buck off, don't ruin this for me!"

Celestia rolled her eyes as discreetly as she could with almost all eyes on her.

"Now gentlecolts, I promise that my decision has been made with all the consideration I could possibly give. I would remind you all that you are fantastic stallions, and any mare would be lucky to have any of you. However, as I stated before, I must choose only one, and I have made that choice. The stallion that I have chosen to be my new consort, is Anonymous." Celestia finished, a soft smile on her face.

"I'm sorry, what?" Anon did a double take.

"What?!"

"Who?!"

"Where is he!? I'll kill him!"

"But I'm so much prettier than him!"

A chorus of angry, dismayed, and downright sad voices filled the air, delving the room into a chaotic fit as the guardsmares stepped in to attempt to control the crowd of suddenly angry ponies.

Meanwhile, in the back of the room, Anon's jaw dropped, and he stared back at Celestia with a mix of disbelief, shock, and confusion.

"Lieutenant Valorant, would you kindly have Anonymous brought to my chambers immediately." Celestia asked, nodding her head toward the human in question.

The guardsmare next to Raven nodded, stepping toward the group of guards holding back the shouting and screaming stallions.

She grabbed two unicorn mares and directed them toward Anon, "You two. Get Anonymous to the Princess's private quarters. I don't want a single hair on that stallion's head to be out of place when he gets there, you understand?" She ordered.

"Yes ma'am!" Both mares replied instantly, before breaking into a gallop toward Anon.

They both ignited their horns and disappeared with a magical *pop*, before reappearing at Anon's side.

"Gah!" Anon cried out, nearly falling backwards in his chair.

"Don't worry sir. We're here to take you to her highness's chambers." One guard said.

"Just try to stay still. This should only take a second." The other cautioned, her horn lighting up once more.

"Wait, what are you-" Anon began, before disappearing with the guard in a flash of light.

He blinked back into existence just inside of Celestia's bedroom, still in the chair and with the second guardsmare beside him.

"What the fuck just happened?" Anon asked, before throwing up on the floor.