All Ends With Beginnings

You sat back in your seat, enjoying your hot cup of chamomile. The mountains outside your window moved at a snails pace while the grass and trees in front of them zoomed past you.You boarded this train a good ten hours ago and you were finally, FINALLY, almost home.

Just one more hour ‘till Ponyville. One long hour until you got to see Spike and Owlicious again. One hour until you got to introduce your friends to Anon

What would they think of him?. Celestia forbid Rainbow decides to tackle him on sight. The thought of Rarity gasping and fainting upon seeing Anon in his state makes you chuckle.

”So, uh, Twilight?”

You look up to Anon sitting right across from you.

”What did you say we were going to do when we got back?”

You took another small sip from your cup, and placed it

back onto its saucer.

“Well, the rest of my friends should be waiting at the station for us when we arrive. They are probably excited to see you! After we meet up, we were all going to go back to the library and discuss on what we would do next.”

Anon nodded.
”And, this...library, is where you live?”

You gave him a grin and nodded.

”Huh! Interesting. Never heard of anyone living in a library before.”

“Oh, it’s really small and cozy actually. It’s nothing like the larger libraries in cities like Canterlot and Manehatten.”

Anon chuckled.
”MANE-hatten. That’s funny.”

You cocked your head to the side.

“Is it?” You asked.

”Oh, forget about it. Cultural difference thing I suppose.”

“Ah! I see, I guess.”

Anon sat back in his seat and glanced around the cabin and winced. The other Ponies were staring right at him. There was sort of a panic on the train when the passengers were told a mythical creature was being escorted on the train. Even after being told he was being escorted by the Princess of Friendship herself, it still took some convincing for them to calm down and understand they were in no danger.

What made it worse was that you were in first class. You got it without thinking about it really, just wanted the perks, but you also had to share with some of the most judgmental and snoody upper class ponies on the face of the planet. They all stared at Anon with suspicious and even sometimes disgusted faces.

Knowing Anon, prooooobably not the best cabin to seat him in. Fortunately, there weren’t a lot of ponies in this cabin, and while he didn’t look to be enjoying their stares, he seemed to be getting at least used to it.

”I uh...still don’t think they like me. Are you sure I’ll be welcomed in your home town?”

You waved a hoof at him.
”Pshh! Of course you will! Don’t mind these ponies. Just a bunch of upper class snobs that only care about high society and gossip! The ponies in Ponyville are very accepting and relaxed. Sure they maybe shocked at first, you are mythical after all, but they’ll get used to you quick, and when they do, they’ll accept you as one of their own!”

Anon rubbed his hands together.

”If you say so. Celestia was right about you Pinkie and Flutteryshy, I trust your other friends will be just as welcoming.”

You smiled.
“Glad to hear it Anon. Oh! Hey, Celestia gave you your stuff back didn’t she?”

”Yea, this morning. Why?”

“I want to know a little more about the rectangular thing you have in your bag. Is that one of those smart phones you were talking about?”

”Oh! Yea, it is. It’s dead though, out of battery. I’m afraid, I don’t have a charger to charge it if I did an electrical outlet. So, it’s just a piece of plastic now. Here, you can hold onto it if you want. Get to study technology from my world, even if it will just be a circuit board and wires.”

Anon handed you the small black device. You took it in your magic and looked it over. It was flat on all sides aside from one small button on the right side, and larger button on it’s left with two bumps on them. It was mostly just a black pane of glass with two buttons, and two holes on the bottom.

“Wow Anon! Are you sure? You mentioned to be able to do a lot of stuff with this thing. Are you really okay giving this to me?”

Anon shrugged.
”Oh, it’s nothing. Like I said the battery is dead anyways so it’s just a useless piece of plastic. I’m sure you would be able to find a use for it, if only for study.”

You smiled and gave Anon a quick hug.

“Wow! Thank you Anon. It’s so fascinating to hold alien technology in my hooves!”

”Heh, don’t mention it.” It didn’t take too much longer until you finally arrived at your stop.

Anon offered to help you gather your things. Just a small bag you brought along. Pinkie and Fluttershy already left the train, you can hear them talking to the rest of your friends.

”omygoshomygoshomygosh GIRLS! You are all gonna LOVE Nonny! He’s a big ol’ depressing sad pants but he can be so much fun once ya get to know him! He’s a real softy ya know! Oh! Make sure none of you mention anything about his past, it’s all spooky and mysterious and-”

”Woah, woah, Pinkie! Calm down, we don’t even know what they hay you’re talking about. Who’s ‘Nonny?’”
Ah, that was Rainbow Dash you could hear. You finally make it to the door of the cab and stretch your legs.

You take a deep breath in. Home. Gotta love it. Your friends begin to gather round you, Rarity was the first to greet you.

”Twilight darling! It is so wonderful to see you back. How was Canterlot? That mythical beast wasn’t too much trouble I hope!”

Rainbow hovers over and butts in.
”Yea Twilight! I bet you showed that war mongering monkey what for! Sucks I wasn’t there for the fun.”

“Girls, calm down, one at a time. We didn’t go there to fight him! We were asked by Princess Celestia and Luna to study and help him. Anonymous really isn’t even a dangerous guy!”

The moment those words left your mouth, you were stampeded by a horde of terrified Ponies. All of them eager to exit the train car.

A few ponies were screaming, one of them saying something about a monster. After the stars and funny birds cleared from your vision, you picked yourself up and dusted your self off. Coughing the dust out of your mouth.
“Ugh. Wha’ was all that about?” You muttered.

You turned around and witness Anon anxiously stepping out of the car, a look of guilt on his face.
”Sorry Twilight, I don’t think the lower class passengers got a chance to see me yet and were shocked when I stepped into their cabin.”

Your other three friends stared wide eyed at Anon. Rainbow was giving him a particularly evil eye. Rarity looked like she was going to faint. AppleJack finally stepped up and spoke.

”Uhh. Twi? Is that the human y’all were sent to...study?”

“Oh, yes! I guess it’s finally time to introduce you three. Girls, this is Anonymous, the Human who was found wondering the palace gardens over a week ago.
Anonymous, these are AppleJack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash. They are the rest of my friends, and the three I’ll be making time for you to know while you stay here.”

Your friends all stared at Anonymous anxious on how he’d respond. Anon, similarly, was also staring at your friends for a while, before he finally raised on of his hands.

”Uhm. Hey. Anon is fine. I’m told I’ll be staying here for the...foreseeable future? Nice to meet you all.”

Rarity put her hooves on you.
”Yes! Well, it is certainly fantastic meeting such an exotic creature, and all of us are THRILLED you will be staying here and interacting with us! Twilight darling, do you mind of we spoke with you for a bit?”

“Uhm, sure Rari-WOAH!”

Rarity pulled you to the opposite side of the train platform, pulling your face up to meet hers. AJ and Rainbow positioned beside her.

”Uhm, Twilight dear, I don’t believe any of us remember you mentioning BRINGING that...thing, back with you. Did you?”
Rarity gave a nervous smile, probably hoping for you to say its all a joke or something.

“That wasn’t the plan initially. However Anon really needs help! He’s actually a really nice human, I mean think of the position he’s in! Unicorns and Pegasai are myths where he comes from too, and Humans are apparently the only animals that can speak in his world. He’s far from home in a weird confusing environment. I need you all to be understanding towards him.”

Rainbow got between you and Rarity and shoved her face right into yours.
”Yea? Well, he’s still a human Twilight. And what do humans do in their stories again? War? Chaos? Murder? Even to each other! They are also masters of deceit, how can we really trust him?”

“The Princesses trust him. Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and I have also spent five days with him and he hasn’t tried to harm any of us once. Hay there have been points where he’s helped us and shown kindness!”

”That may be true sugar cube,” AJ pulls Rainbow back.

”And Celestia knows, I wanna be reasonable, and I trust ya, but how do we really know he ain’t lookin’ for trouble? Did y’all even figure out how he got here?”

You look back over your shoulder to Anon. He was talking to Pinkie and Fluttershy. You had no idea what they were talking about, but Pinkie was laughing, so that was a good sign. You faced AJ again.

“Well, no. He refuses to talk about it. He refuses to talk about a lot of his personal life actually.”

”AHA!” Rainbow pushed AJ aside.
”So he IS hiding something from us!”

Rainbow’s face promptly made contact with the ground when AJ applied one of her hooves to the back of Rainbow’s head.
”Woah Rainbow, calm down now. Let Twi finish. Although, I will admit, does sound awfully suspicious.”

“Okay, yes, he is keeping a lot from us, but I’m very certain he isn’t trying to spy on us or have any ulterior motives.”

You lean your head in and lower your voice down to a whisper.

“I was going to tell you three this later, in a more private area, but Anon didn’t come to us from the happiest of origins. From the little we’ve been able to get out of him, he has lived a pretty sad and depressing life, on top of that, he was apparently in a darker and more violent place before arriving. Just look at his bruises. And as morbid as it sounds, that isn’t exactly fruit punch staining his hoodie.”

Rarity placed a hoof over her muzzle.
”My word, that DOES sound unfortunate. But what exactly do you want us to do about all of this?”

“I need you three to be understanding and help him. I promised the princesses we’d help him settle in and make friends. My hope, is that the more we show him the power of understanding, and the magic of friendship, we’ll be able to learn more about him. Information we could use to help him, or maybe even send him home!”

”Ah don’t know Twi. Even if all what you said is true, from they way it all sounds? It’s appearin’ mighty risky.”

You couldn’t disagree with your stetson wearing friend. You really didn’t know everything you needed to. But Anonymous is so tame, if a little jumpy. You shook your head.

“Look, we can do it. We are the Elements of Harmony for a reason. Where he came from, what happened there, and how he got here aren’t important right not. He’s here, he needs friends, and we are ALL going to show him friendship. Alright?”

AJ and Rarity nodded but Rainbow dash stuck her nose up and pouted. Crossing her fore hooves over her chest. An intense glare from you was all that was needed to make her change her mind.

”Ugh! Fiiine! I’ll help.”

“Perfect. Now, I still have to get to the Library and unpack. I’m sure Spike and Owilcious are aching to see me again. You three should go and plan to do something individually with Anon! I’ll meet with you three tomorrow morning at breakfast.”

Your friends still looked uneasy about this.
“

Don’t worry. Anon is a nice guy, this is how we did things back in Canterlot. We all had a day to ourselves and got to know Anon, and at the end of it all, we all spent a day together! Trust me girls, everything will be fine!”

After waiting for Pinkie to say her one thousand good byes to Anon, you took him on a mini tour of Ponyville with a final destination of Golden Oaks.
The ponies walking passed seemed a bit irked by Anon, but seeing him close to you probably put them at ease.

Weird things happened all the time here, especially when you were around. Seeing a mythical ape that could walk upright right beside you is the kind of anomaly Ponies in this village are just used to now. Just as you expected too. The discomfort in Anon’s face seemed to slide away with every step. The magic of Ponyville hospitality at work. Guaranteed to make your bald monkey feel at home or your money back.

”Wow, is that Golden Oaks?”

You nodded.

“Yep! What do you think?”

”I honestly didn’t expect Golden Oaks to actually be a...well...an oak?”

You chuckled.

“It’s a part of the charm. Come on, it’s a lot cozier inside!”

…

”So, let me get this straight.”
Spike pinched the bridge of his snout.
”We are going to let the fairy tale creature that was found covered in blood wandering the Canterlot Gardens at night stay HERE with us...because he’s sad and needs friends?”

You deadpanned.
“Yes Spike, that is exactly what we are doing.”

”Are you sure that’s a-”

“Yes. Yes I am.”

”Well, where is he gonna sleep?”

Anon leaned forward.

”That is a good question Twilight. Where AM I going to sleep?”

“We have a guest bed, we usually set it up right across from mine, but I know you love your privacy Anon. We could set it up in the basement. Don’t worry by the way, it has plenty of light and is clean for the most part.”

Anon shrugged.
”Better than sleeping on the ground or having guards watch you all night I suppose. Thanks.”

You smiled.

“Don’t mention it! We are happy to have you stay over.”

You grabbed one of your quills and note pads from the table in the middle of the room.
“Please make yourself at home. I’m going to be planning out who you’ll be spending time with for the next few days. Oh! And Spike, help Anon out with lunch please. He hasn’t eaten since the train.”

Spike responded with a disgruntled “Aye aye, Captain.” and led Anon to the kitchen.

You got comfortable on your bed and started planning.

Let’s see, AJ first. She’s the most level headed and would actually make an attempt to bond. Even if all she had him do was farm work, it could give Anon some a well needed distraction.

Rarity next. You should probably tell Anon to ask her if she could make him some new clothes. The one’s he was wearing were getting very dirty and torn up.

A new wardrobe would hopefully be more comfortable and help with his self image. And last is, ugh, Rainbow Dash.
Loyal as she is, she can be as stubborn as a mule sometimes.

She’d have to be last, hopefully Anon makes a good enough impression on AJ and Rarity that Rainbow would have to come around to giving him a chance.

You took out Anon’s phone and looked at it. He said it needed electricity to charge the battery inside it. Maybe you could find a spell that would help with that. You looked over it some more. The screen it self was covered in scratches, some of it broken on the bottom. Not shattered, but you could see some noticeable cracks. You turned it over to see the back. Letter’s that spelled ‘Samsung’ was on the back. That must’ve been the maker of this? The back was also covered in scratches and small dents.

It’s edges seemed to have been scraped over small rocks. A small amount of dried blood covered the edges. You frowned. Oh Anon, what happened to you to cause this?

~~~~