All Ends With Beginnings

”And then, after the pony slowly opened her front door, she finds on her door step...her missing saddle, covered in mold.” Lightning flashed, and you and your friends all huddled into each other. Shivering.

Rainbow was pretty good at telling some scary stories.

”Oh! Good HEAVENS Rainbow Dash, I-I don’t think I’ve shivered t-this much from one of your stories since y-you’ve told me about the time you crashed into Applejack’s pig sty!” Rarity was nuzzling right into your chest tuft.

Rainbow stood up and puffed her chest out. ”Heh, yea! I’m filled with great stories. Spooky, AND awesome.”

“More spooky than awesome.” You respond.

It was probably around midnight, you and your friends have been telling horror stories for hours. Mostly because after the first few, none of you were brave enough to sleep.

You looked over to Anonymous. He looked as though he was deep in thought.

“Anon?”

”Wha? Huh? Yes Twilight?”

“You okay? You haven’t said anything in a while?”

”Uhhhh. I’m uh, I’m fine. You guys are just taking a while is all.”

“What do you mean?”

”I mean, you guys have been sharing your...uhm, ‘spooky’ stories, and I was just waiting for one that was particularly dark is all.”

”WHAT?!”

Rainbow fluttered her self up into the air and hovered over to where Anon sat.

”The tale of ‘The Moldy Saddle’ is one of the most terrifying stories I know!”

Anon looked at Rainbow incredulously.

”Uhm. Is it really?”

Rainbow looked almost offended. Her mouth was open so wide It almost touched the floor from her position in the air. ”Uh, yes, really!”

”Alright, calm down sugar cube. Ah’m sure Anon didn’t mean nothin’ by it. He jus’ wasn’t spooked was all.”

Applejack butted in trying to mediate the situation.

”Though, Ah’m not sure how he couldn’t be.”

Pinkie Pie, seemingly out of no where, poked her head from behind Anonymous.

”WOW NONNY! I haven’t seen you shiver all night! *gasp * Does that mean you have an extra scary SUPER DUPER HORRIFYING STORY?!”

With the added emphasis on super duper horrifying, she hopped on top of Anon’s shoulders.

”Gah! Pinkie, you’re too heavy! No, I don’t really have one.”

Anon picked Pinkie up off his shoulders and set her down in front of him. Rarity finally lifter her head from your chest and looked over to Anon.

”Oh, you must Anon! If Rainbow Dash’s stories aren’t scarring you, you must have SOMETHING a lot more terrifying!”

”Listen, I...wait. Are you all being serious right now?”

The five of you looked at each other, and then all back to Anon.

“Serious about what?” You ask, eyebrow raised.

”Those were all the scariest stories you guys had to tell?” Anon looked at all of you, clearly confused.

“Well, some of them were scarier than others, and while they are all stories, they are some of the scariest we have in our culture...why?” You still weren’t sure what he was talking about.

Anon pinched his chin.

He was coming to a realization. Of what you didn’t know. But it look like it hit him like ton of hay bales.

”Those...those stories are all terrifying to you guys. Some of the scariest known?”

”Uh Yea!”

Rainbow set her self down, looking at Anon with a confused expression.

”Those stories...are the scariest...you guys have ever...”

Anon trailed off, it seemed like he was mostly talking to himself now.

”Excuse me for a minute, I need to uh...look at something real quick.”

Anon got up and left for the basement.

”Aww Nonny, where ya goin?” Pinkie started to follow Anonymous but you stopped her as she passed you.

“Hold on Pinkie, something’s up. I’ll go see what’s wrong.”

You picked yourself up and walked over to the basement.

You raised a hoof and knocked lightly on the door. “Anon?”

No answer.

You looked back over to the girls, they all shrugged.

“Anon? Anon, what’s going on?”

You pushed the door open slightly. You peered into his room, it was dark. The only light coming through was form the crack in the open door.

Anon was next to his bed, inspecting his old hoodie. Rarity mended it the best she could but there were still a stitch or two from the cuts he had in it.

“Anon?”

Anon didn’t move, he just continued to look at his old hoodie. You walked in a little bit and moved closer toward him.

“Anonymous, is everything oka-”

”Those are really the scariest stories you guys know? Like, not even that Edgar Allen Pone author doesn’t have anything scarier?”

You were taken a back a little bit. He’s really that overwhelmed by learning about pony horror?

“Uh, well, a few, but I wouldn’t say they are a lot scarier than say what Rainbow has to tell. Anon, what’s going on? Why is how scary our stories are upsetting you?”

Anon finally turned his head over to you, he looked like he was about to say something, but then stopped himself.

He turned his head back over to his hoodie and placed it carefully on his bed. ”It’s nothing Twi. I just came to a realization.”

He was becoming more confusing and hard to read by the minute.

“What do you mean? What realization?” You looked back over to Anon’s hoodie. “Is it about that place you were in?”

Anon didn’t answer. Instead he turned around and sat on his bed. The room was dark and still. The two of you looked at each other.

Your face expressed a sign of worry, on Anon’s a somber and serious tone. The quiet seemed to drag on.

Even the girls outside the room weren’t speaking. Knowing them they probably had their ears to the door and waiting in anticipation for what Anon had to say.

He let out a sigh. ”Twilight. You should stop asking about that. I’m never going to tell you what happened there.”

“What?”

”I said I’m never going to tell you what happened to me, or where I was between me being in my world and me showing up here.”

Where was this coming from? “Anon, if there’s anything wrong, we can help.”

”No Twilight. I want to do this alone.”

You went up to hug Anon but he stopped you, placing his hands on your shoulders. ”Really, Twi, I have to do some thinking tonight. I’m sorry to leave the party so early, but there are things I need to figure out tonight.

You gave Anon a pleading look, but once you realized you wouldn’t change his mind, you simply nodded and left the room.

When you closed the door to the room behind you, you looked over to your friends who were all looking at you with expectant looks on their faces.

”So...what the hay was that all about?” Rainbow asked, concerned.

“I don’t know Rainbow, Anon just needs some time to think tonight.”

”Think? About what?! Did my story end up scaring him?”

“No, I don’t think that’s it. But something about our stories opened his eyes about something, and it’s best we just let him meditate on what ever it is. He says he apologizes about leaving so early.”

The rest of the night continued as planned, absent one sad human. You all made conversation, ate s’mores, Pinkie was even able to get a few laughs out of every pony. But what Anon said stuck with you.

Another question you didn’t have the answer too, adding to how bugged you were with all of the other mysteries. Anon never came out of his room that night.

Eventually, you all decided it was time to go to sleep. As your head laid upon your pillow, the same questions bugging you at the beginning of the night made it difficult for you to find rest.

...

The night was silent. You and you’re friends were all asleep. The fire smoldered out some time in the middle of the night. You were wrapped in a comfortable blanket next to all of your friends on the floor of your library. The calm air of the night blew against the windows of your tree.

”AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

Your eyes shot open.

Rarity and Pinkie woke up in a panic. Applejack and Rainbow were in a defensive stance in seemingly no time.

”What in the hay was-”

”FUCK YOU!”

The basement door flew open, almost coming off of the hinges.

Anon stumbled onto the ground.

“Anon!”

You rushed over to help him up off the ground. “Anonymous! What’s wrong!”

Anon was rolling on the floor as if he was in a struggle with some invisible attacker.

”Yo! Anon! What’s gotten into you?” Anon didn’t answer Rainbow Dash.

Instead he rolled into the table in the middle of the library, knocking the wooden statue off of it.

“Oh sweet Celestia! He’s having a night terror!”

”Ah’m on it Twi!” AJ ran into the kitchen and filled a mug with water.

Running back over, she splashed it in Anon’s face. ”JESUS! Buh! Good Christ!” Anon stopped struggling and grabbed his chest, breathing heavily.

“Anon! Anon, are you okay?”

”W-what the fuck? Twilight? I...you? Huh?”

“Anonymous, it’s fine, we’re going to help.”

”Twilight! You...Jesus Christ...did I...another one?”

Anonymous looked at you. His eyes wide in shock. “You had a night terror Anon!”

”Fuck...again? Damn it.” Anonymous was still catching his breath.

Pinkie and Rarity helped him sit up, each grabbing one of his arms and helping sit up against the table.

”Thanks you two, I-GAH!” Anon grabbed his head. ”Fuckin’ headache!”

Anon rubbed his temple for a minute while you went to grab some pain medication.

Once you were back you gave him the pills and a glass of water. After a minute of heavy breathing and pestering from your friends asking if he was alright, the situation finally calmed down.

”Y’all alright Anon?”

”Yea, I am. Thanks AJ.” Anon leaned his head back against the table and took a deep breath. ”I’m fine, everything his fine.”

“Anon, you haven’t had a nightmare that bad since you were in the castle!”

”Yea, I know. It was a bad one too.”

”No kidding!” Pinkie exclaimed.

”You busted through the door and were all like ‘wraaaa’ and I was all like ‘aaaaaa’, and then AJ came through with a mug of water and-mmphmmmphphph.”

Rainbow pushed her hoof into Pinkie’s mouth. ”Woah! Calm down there Pinks.”

Anon brought his hands to his face and rubbed his eyes. He sighed and blinked the sleep away. He leaned his head back again and stared at the ceiling.

Another night terror. Well, the first one you actually saw. You, Pinkie, and Fluttershy were able to calm him down back at the castle and never actually got to see one.

At worse, he’d wake up in a cold sweat when ever having one of his nightmares, and Princess Luna was also usually able to help him while he slept. But this?

You haven’t seen this before. You and your friends offered to help him to couch, but Anon insisted he was fine and awake enough to move around on his own.

None of you managed to get back to sleep that night. It was five in the morning when Anon woke up anyways. With only about four hours of sleep under your belts, you all decided breakfast would’ve been a good way to further calm the situation.

You would all ask periodically about Anon’s nightmare, but much like his normal ones, he wouldn’t say anything about them.

So the five of you eventually stopped asking. Breakfast was quiet that morning. You couldn’t shake the feeling that what had happened was a result of last night.

You’d blame the stories but Anon seemed unphased by them. You thought back to Anon saying he needed to think about something. What that was you weren’t sure.

You could guess however, what Anon thought about had to do with troubles he either previously gotten over, but have come back, or something he never revealed to anypony, and the mental dam keeping it back in Anon’s mind finally collapsed under the pressure.

Pinkie Pie offered Anon lunch at Sugar Cube Corner later that afternoon. Maybe that would work. You’d let her try that.

But you had an epiphany of your own. Something was wrong with Anon. Gravely wrong. More than personal problems, even if those would be at the heart of it.

You told yourself you wouldn’t do anything drastic unless a situation proved to you that there was no other option. Well, you felt that night terror that left half your library in a shamble, and a door dysfunctional, these measures had to be applied.

Yes, you’d let Pinkie offer Anon a lunch with your friends. But it was clear now that you had to intervene. You couldn’t wait for the answers to show themselves. You had to do something, and do something now.

...

”Twilight, you coming?” Spike waved over to you from across the room.

Him and Anon were about to go to Pinkie’s lunch she planned to help alleviate Anon’s night terror from last night.

“Oh! I’ll be there, I still need to clean up some of this stuff.”

”Twilight, are you sure you don’t want me to stay behind and take care of the mess instead? I am the one who caused it.”

“Don’t be silly Anon. You don’t want to miss the lunch Pinkie Pie is throwing for YOU. It won’t take me long!”

”I suppose you’re correct. We could take care of it when we get back though. We can eat, and then I can help you out.”

“No no. It’s an easy clean. I insist, you and Spike go and show up to Pinkie’s party. Tell them all I’ll be there in a minute.”

”Well...if you insist I guess. See you in a minute?”

“Of course! I’ll see both of you soon.”

You waved to Spike and Anon as they left the library, watching the door shut behind them.

“Now that they are gone.” You cast a spell or two and the library was as clean as it was before the episode last night.

You’d have to schedule something for somepony to fix the door though. Didn’t matter now. Anon’s night terror last night made something in your head click into place.

What you and your friends were doing wasn’t enough. You had to help Anon some OTHER way. Your mind drifted to his journal.

No!

That was if there was no other way. You wanted to help him, and at this point you were even considering doing some ethically questionable things to do so.

But you had to exhaust options. Maybe looking through his things would get you somewhere? You pulled the door to Anon’s room carefully and walked inside.

He took care of the little space you offered him. Best he could at least. The bed still wasn’t made, and his things from his world were still scattered around his desk.

He was neat enough to hang his clothes properly though. You picked up one of his hoodies. His older one. Looking it over you noticed the fine, barely noticeable stitching Rarity has made to mend the thing. You could barely see any pink or red that was a result of where ever Anon was the night before arriving to Equestria.

You could only imagine what Luna had seen of Anon when she found him.

You scrunched your muzzle. “Don’t worry Anon. You may not want to accept our help. But we are going to give it to you. We’ll make what ever you’re going through better.”

You set down the hoodie and walk over to Anon’s bag resting on the table.

You begin looking through his bag, searching for something that may help you without having to do anything too drastic. Though you felt that may be unavoidable the more time went on.

A pocket knife. It had little red droplets staining it, the knife it self was rather dull and bent. As though he’d been using it a lot and was either not taking care of it, or unable to.

A pack of cigarettes and a lighter. Obvious what these are for. A strange long wire that split in two a long the middle. On the end of the two wires were small buds bent into a shape resembling a phonograph’s horn.

At the other end, a dull metal spike with grooves a long it. You weren’t sure what these were for. You put those aside and continued.

You found some pieces of paper and small coins in his bag. Human money! Another mental note to ask Anon about, but this wouldn’t help you.

You stopped rummaging through the bag. You found something. What was this? You pulled it out.

It was a long, black, rectangle. Rhomboid actually now that you looked at it. It was ‘L’ shaped and had a little trigger in the angle. You don’t remember the princess’s mentioning Anon having this on them. They must have thought nothing of it.

It seemed to be hollow. As if you put something in it. Ugh what was that smell? It smelt burnt.

You placed the open end of the black object under your nose and took a whiff. Was that?

There was a faint smell of burnt sulfur coming from the inside of it. Weird. You wonder what that was used for.

Just another thing to ask Anon about.

After some more looking, you could find nothing. You sighed, and glanced over to the drawer in the desk.

You didn’t want to.

It felt wrong.

You were already doing a very fishy thing by looking through Anon’s personal belongings, but reading his private journal felt so unethical. But he needed help.

His nightmares weren’t getting better, and if last night was a message of what was to come, they could only get worse. With a deep breath you opened the drawer and enveloped the journal in your aura.

You could feel a dark energy coming from it. You could already feel the weight of the action you were about to do. What else could you do though?

You stared at the front.

’DO NOT READ’

Those bold letters in red seemed to pierce into you.

You gulped, and stared down the journal.

“This is for Anon. I have to do it. Even if what I’m doing is wrong. The ends HAVE to justify the means in this situation. They have to.”

You placed the notebook on the ground and let out a long sigh.

“I’m sorry Anon. I’m just trying to help.”

You read the bold letters one last time.

‘DO NOT READ!’

It read like a warning. You opened the cover and stared at the red writing. Guilt was already beginning to fill you. But you persisted.

For Anon. For your friend. For his sanity. You began to read.

“Dear diary...”

You couldn’t finish the line. You fell over.

Everything went black.

~~~~