Anonymous in Nu-Questria 2

You are Anon. The morning sun is very bright in spite of the scattered cirrus clouds in the sky. Your eyes hurt.

You rub the bridge of your nose to try and ease the pain from the migraine burning right behind your eyeballs. Fuck drinking. What a stupid idea.

You’re sitting on the main deck in the shadow of the balloon. Pipp and Izzy are nearby, both nursing bottles of water.

They groan and take turns complaining, but they seem alright. They’re a lot younger than you so they shouldn’t have any right to whine so much.

Sunny isn’t up yet. You didn’t see Hitch or Zipp, either. It’s a good thing the ship didn’t drift too much in the mountain valley overnight.

Izzy slumps onto the deck spreads her hooves out. She lets out a big groan.

“Oh, I hope Hitch and Zipp are okay.” She says.

“I think they’re fine, Izzy.” You say. “They didn’t drink as much as you did, after all.”

Pipp puts down her water bottle and wipes her mouth. “Yeah, well she didn’t sleep in the crew quarters last night. What’s up with that?”

You smirk a bit.

“I dunno. Might have had something... more important to do.” You say.

Izzy turns an ear towards you, her eyes are closed and her chin is laying flat on the deck.

“Oh yeah, like what?” Izzy mutters.

“Oh, I dunno.” You say with a smirk. “Just a hunch.”

Speak of the devil. Zipp then appears from the door to the lower decks.

She walks over towards the group of ponies. She seems more awkward than usual, but she looks quite refreshed.

“Hey guys.” She says. “Uh, any breakfast yet?”

She looks as the mess left behind from the party: discarded paper plates and plastic cups, streamers hanging loosely and fluttering in the wind, half-deflated balloons barely hovering over the deck.

“Oh, don’t even mention food right now, Zipp! You’re gonna make me feel sick again.” Pipp says. She swoons dramatically.

“Oh, uh, alright. I guess... I’ll make myself something then.” Zipp says. She rubs a hoof on the floor and looks down.

Suddenly you see Izzy raise her head. Her eyes are closed and she sniffs the air.

Her head swivels over towards Zipp and she continues sniffing. She gets up slowly and walks over towards her.

She opens her eyes and looks at Zipp. She then sniffs loudly an leans forward.

“Uh... Izzy?” Zipp says. She leans back and blushes.

Izzy narrows her eyes at Zipp. “Did you have a good time last night, Zipp? Hm?” Izzy says. She smiles mischievously.

“Uh, yeah! The party. It was really great. Had a lot of fun. Any way-” Zipp says, she spins on her back hoof to turn away.

Izzy wraps a foreleg around her and pulls her close. Zipp tenses up and grimaces anxiously.

“You know... your sparkle is really, really, bright today.” Izzy says.

“Uh, really?” Zipp says. “I didn’t notice.”

“Uh huh, it’s magnificent” Izzy says. She grins as she mashes her cheek against Zipp’s face. Zipp stammers in response.

“Uh, okay. I’m... just gonna... can we talk in the-”

“Good morning everypony!” Hitch declares as he walks across the deck.

He smiles confidently with a typical swagger to his step. He’s no longer wearing his shoulder strap and badge today. It gives you the feeling like he’s walking out in nothing but a bathrobe.

“Oh hey, Hitch!” Izzy says cheerfully.

Zipp’s pupils shrink to pinpricks as he approaches and she lowers her head ever so slightly.

Zipp slips out from under Izzy’s leg. She shows a grin filled with nervous energy.

“Water? That’s a good idea.” Hitch says. “I’ll take one of those.” He grabs a bottle of water and unscrews the cap.

“Can you guys keep it down please? I have such a killer headache...” Pipp complains.

It is at this moment that Sunny comes out of the bridge and walks over to the group.

She forces a smile as she gets close. You see the bags under her eyes, and the loose ponytail she has pulled her mane into. “Good morning... everyone.” She says.

The ponies look up at her and watch as she trots over towards you all. She avoids your gaze.

She lets out a languished sigh. “I know we’re all a little worn out from last night, but don’t worry. Today will be easy.”

“Ugh, I sure hope so!” Pipp says.

Zipp has slinked away from Izzy quietly, glad to no longer be the center of attention.

Sunny turns to her. “Since Pipp isn’t feeling well. I think Zipp should take the next watch. Is that okay?”

Zipp freezes. “Uh, yeah. That’s fine, Sunny.” She says.

“Unless you’re feeling tired too?” Sunny says.

“Alright, WHAT IS GOING ON?!” Izzy shouts as she stomps a hoof.

Hitch and Zipp look uncomfortable. Sunny quirks an eyebrow at Izzy.

“Volume, Izzy...” Pipp whines.

“Uhm...” Zipp says. “We... uh...”

You sigh. “Isn’t it obvious?” You say.

You gesture a hand at Zipp and Hitch.

“They fucked last night.”

“What?!” Izzy says, flabbergasted.

“WHAT?!” Pipp says, jolting upwards.

Sunny facehooves.

You smile smugly.

“Woah, woah, woah.” Hitch says, raising up a hoof.

Zipp glances around nervously. Her ears fold back in shame.

“Everyone just calm down and let me explain.” Hitch says.

“Yes. We did spend the night together. It was in the heat of the moment, and entirely consensual.” Hitch says. “Neither one of us wants this to come in between our friendship, and so I want you all to know: this was a one time thing, and we don’t want any of you to treat us differently.”

Hitch nods resolutely. Zipp’s face is flushed crimson, and she moves her head sheepishly along with him. Izzy glances at them both with an incredulous look on her face.

“Hitch...” Sunny says.

“I know. I know. I’m sorry that we didn’t say anything, but-” Hitch says, but is interrupted by a small pegasus rolling up to her hooves and stomping over to her sister.

“Is this true, Zipp?!” Pipp says aggressively.

Zipp turns her face away and glances at her sister from the corner of her eye.

“Yes.” She says quickly.

“Hah! I knew it!” Izzy says.

“Well, okay. I appreciate the-” Sunny says.

Izzy prances over towards Zipp and Hitch, then throws both her forehooves around them and pulls them close together. She grins and looks at them out of the corners of her eyes.

“So you two lovebirds stayed up all night, huh?” She says.

They both look incredibly uncomfortable.

“Izzy, please...” Sunny says, rubbing her temple.

“Tell me everything.” Izzy whispers in Zipp’s ear. She shudders violently.

“IZZY!” Pipp screams and stamps her hooves.

Izzy is surprised by the outburst. She frowns and backs away from the two ponies.

Sunny exhales in one long, exasperated breath and runs a hoof over her mane.

“Okay. Now I know that this was unexpected and comes as a bit of a surprise.” She says. “But that shouldn’t affect things around here. Hitch is still our chief of security, and Zipp is still our chief engineer. If they want to be together, that’s fine. They just have to do it on their downtime.”

Sunny whips her head around and looks at everyone with a serious expression. “Is that fair to everypony?”

“I-it really just was a one time thing, Sunny.” Zipp says quickly.

Hitch lowers his head a bit and frowns.

Sunny looks at them both. Her ears fold down and her eyelids droop, showing them that she is incredibly done with their shit.

Hitch looks at Sunny and says in a genuinely compassionate voice, “We just caught up in it, Sunny. We both agreed that this isn’t the right time or place for this. We’re sorry. It was... irresponsible.”

“Wait... it was really just a one night stand?” Izzy says in a sorrowful tone.

“It better have been.” Pipp says, glaring at her sister.

“Like. I. Said.” Sunny says, loudly announcing every word. “That doesn’t matter. You had your fun, and that’s fine. Now it’s time to get back to work. Hitch, you go rest for your watch. Zipp, you go up there and work the cameras.”

“And the rest of you!” She says, pointing a hoof at Izzy, Pipp and you. “You clean up this mess! I’ll be on the bridge. Now get to it!”

She whirls around and walks with a purposeful steps towards the bow. You groan along with Izzy.

“Aw, cleanup duty? I hate cleaning.” Izzy says glumly.

“Well... see you soon, everypony.” Hitch says. He starts to casually walk back to the crew quarters. Pipp glares daggers at him as he leaves.

“You better have been safe. Zephyrina.” Pipp says in a bitchy tone.

“Pipp. You know what?” Zipp says cooly as she turns away. “Mind your own business.”

Pipp gaps and recoils in disbelief. Izzy watches with wide eyes as Zipp walks past her.

Then you were left on the deck with Izzy and Pipp and a giant mess around you.

“Ugh! I can’t believe her!” Pipp says. She stomps her hooves angrily. She then winces and rubs her head.

“Well, time to earn our stay.” You say with shrug. You find a bundle of empty trash bags under the margarita table.

Izzy walks over to you as you pick one up.

“Hey, Anon.” She whispers. “I have a question. Can earth ponies and pegasi... make babies?”

You look at her with a blank expression.

“Yes, Izzy.” You say.

You toss the empty trash bag over her horn. “Yes, they can.”

You and Izzy were the ones that did most of the work cleaning up. Pipp had fits where she complained about her hangover and how horrible her sister was. It caused her to throw little tantrums on the deck.

Still, it didn’t take too long to get everything put away. You decided to just throw the bags of trash overboard.

You hefted the bags over the side, one by one. You then leaned over and watched them fall to the misty ground below.

You noticed that the ship was flying lower than it usually does. Sunny must have descended to get under the layer of low, scattered clouds. You’re still at least a thousand feet up or more.

You stayed there for a while, leaning over the side. The cool wind felt nice on your face. Pipp went back below deck, and Izzy ran off to do... something.

As the ship traveled further east, the number of abandoned structures slowly increased. There were crumbling skyscrapers and patches of small buildings clumped together.

As you studied it, you notice that there were strange circular depressions near some of the buildings. They were clustered in some parts, and spread out over others. They had long since been filled in with vegetation, but they look almost like craters from bombs.

What you don’t really get is why they’re so evenly spaced out.

“Anonymous, report to the bridge immediately.” Sunny says over the intercom.

You sigh and rub your face. Oh right, Sunny still has to chew you out for what you said last night. Gotta get that over with.

You lean up and turn towards the bow. As you do, you notice that the clouds in the western sky are growing thicker. No, not just thicker. There’s a wall of dark gray clouds gathering up ahead. In the distance, you also see the outline of a very familiar looking mountain.

You walk over towards the bridge slowly.

You open the door and step in. You expect her to instantly start shouting at you, but Sunny doesn’t look back at you from her place on the helm.

“Hi Sunny.” You say.

Sunny turns her head. Her eyes are cold and empty.

“Grab those binoculars. Tell me what you see.” She says. She then nods towards the mountain on the western horizon.

“Alright.” You say.

You take the binoculars off their hook. You walk over to the front-facing windows of the bridge and raise the lenses to your face.

You see the outline of the mountain at the heart of Equestria. Mount Equus. Time has not worn away its pointed top, nor its steep sides. From this eastern vantage point, you cannot see Canterlot.

“That looks like it.” You say. “But we can’t see Canterlot from this angle.”

“Not that.” Sunny says. “Look below the clouds.”

You point the binoculars to the southwest. Underneath the dense thunderhead, right where Ponyville used to be, there is nothing but a huge crater filled with an expansive body of water. Lightning flashes within the clouds and you see glints of wet, jagged rock sticking out of the lake.

“Holy... shit.” You say as you lower the binoculars.

“Well...?” Sunny says.

What the fuck happened? Your stomach twists in knots as you look at Sunny and frown.

“Sunny...” You say. “That’s where Ponyville used to be.”

She closes her eyes and takes a breath. “I thought so.” She says. Her hooves move listlessly along with the steering wheel.

She opens her eyes, looking straight past you.

“We’re going to go around it.” She says. “We can’t fly in a storm like that.”

This is not the response you were expecting.

“I can’t believe it.” You say. “Ponyville. Twilight’s castle. They’re all just gone...”

She doesn’t say anything. She just keeps staring forward.

You look down at the ground. There’s knot in your stomach, and it’s twisting up the more you think about it. You knew it was going to be bad, but... not like this.

You take the binoculars and hang them back up on the hook. You glance back at Sunny for a moment. You should probably say something, but you can’t think of what.

“I’ll tell you when we get to Canterlot.” She says emotionlessly.

“Okay.” You say.

You reach a hand towards the door. You hesitate for a moment. Shouldn’t you apologize for what you said last night? She’s still pissed off about it, but at the same time you don’t know what you can say without making things worse.

You decide to just ignore it for now. You quietly slip out the door to the bridge and start to walk back along the deck. Your mind is swirling with dark thoughts, of storm clouds raging and the earth shifting underneath that innocent little town you knew so long ago.

Izzy appears in front of you. She wears a chipper smile and her horn is glowing.

“Hey Anon! Take a look!” She says.

She holds up a paper plate in her levitation spell. She has drawn a picture of Hitch and Zipp kissing with cartoon hearts floating around them.

You curl your lip at it. “That’s... cool. Izzy.” You say.

You walk past her, returning your gaze to the deck. Izzy decides to follow with you at your side.

“I know they said that it was just a one-time thing, but I’m not so sure. I think they really like each other!” She says.

“Yeah, maybe.” You say.

“Oh, I had another question for you. About interracial kids. Do they come out with just like, one wing? Do they have short wings? I mean, how does that work if-”

“Izzy.” You say angrily. You turn to her. “Can you just drop it already? No one cares that you’re shipping Zipp and Hitch.”

Izzy’s expression turns into a frown. Her ears droop.

“O-oh.” She says.

“Just stop. Alright?” You say.

“Did I do something wrong?” She asks.

“No. Just-” You say.

“Then is there something bothering you? Are you okay, Anon?” She asks.

You turn away from her. You feel the deep well of remorse inside you filling up. Your chin nearly wobbles.

“I’m...” You start to say, but you can’t finish it. You’re not fine. This is horrible.

You take a breath. You need a distraction.

“Come on, Izzy. Let’s get some food.” You say.

It always sets your mind at ease. Cooking.

You didn’t always enjoy preparing your own meals. Food was convenient on Earth. Ready to eat meals that require little to no preparation. Taking time to prepare a big meal seemed like a waste of time.

Then you were thrown into this world. After years of being forced to do it on your own, you slowly grew to enjoy the simple rituals of it.

For this late breakfast with a lot of hungover ponies, you had just the thing in mind. Simple, but filling.

You stood at the stove in the kitchen, slicing up bananas over a pot of simmering oatmeal.

Izzy and Pipp laid in the lounge with the blinds over the windows, trying to rest their weary eyes. As you stirred in a bit of honey, you looked over and noticed their noses twitching at the smell.

You ladled three bowls and handed them out.

“Alright... the best meal for a hangover.” You say. “Banana oatmeal. Eat up.”

Izzy carefully sits up and takes her bowl. Pipp scrunches up her face.

“I don’t really like bananas.” She says.

“Just trust me.” You say. “But it’s hot, so be careful.”

Pipp takes her bowl and delicately blows on it.

Izzy lifts up a bit with her levitation and tastes it with her tongue. She finds the taste satisfactory and begins to eat more.

You eat along with the ponies in silence. Pipp gradually starts to get accustomed to it and starts eating as fast as Izzy, but the tense feeling in the room grows. The ponies start to pick up on it. You want another distraction...

“Well...” You say. “Hitch and Zipp. Pretty crazy, right?”

Izzy sighs.

Pipp ignores the question. Her fussy mane droops over her eye as she stares into her bowl.

“I wonder why Zipp never told me she liked Hitch.” Izzy says despondently.

“Well... Izzy, I’m sure she would have.” You say. “They just got caught up in it, like Hitch said.”

Izzy huffs.

“Can we not talk about this any more?” Pipp says in an annoyed voice. She cuts one burning green eye towards you and sneers.

“Fine.” You say.

Izzy frowns and eats another slow bite of oatmeal.

You get done with yours. As you are about to make another bowl to give to Zipp, the intercom rings again from the speaker upstairs.

“Everyone, report to the main deck in five minutes.” Sunny says abruptly.

“That’s an order.” She adds. There’s a static click as she hangs up.

You sigh and prepare a bowl for Sunny as well. Hopefully this isn’t her announcing that she’s throwing you overboard.

You and the ponies all make it to the bow of the ship where Sunny is waiting. She declines your offer of food. She says she’ll eat it later. Instead, she directs everyone’s attention to the storm that’s passing by.

The airship has banked slightly to starboard as it approached. Sunny made a course to give the storm a wide berth. It’s a good thing, too. Bolts of lightning shoot down from into the lake underneath it quite frequently.

Despite all this, the ponies are not very perturbed. They take turns looking at it with the binoculars. Sunny wears a blank expression the entire time.

“Is it just me, or is there some sort of... haze around it?” Zipp says as she lowers the binoculars.

It is difficult to pick out from a distance, but there’s a purple glow to the air underneath the storm. It’s too dull to be refracted light. It seems to almost permeate the air itself.

“I noticed that too.” Sunny says.

“Looks like some sort of magic aura or something.” You say. “Maybe it’s magic to keep the storm going.”

“That’s not magic!” Izzy says suddenly. She points a forehoof out at it and looks over at you.

“I know what magic looks like, okay? I’m a unicorn. That isn’t magic. It doesn’t have any sparkle to it.”

“Well then.” You say. “Excuse me, Izzy.”

“No sparkle...? Then what is it?” Pipp asks.

“We don’t know.” Sunny says. “But it’s too dangerous. We’ll go around it.”

She then turns to the pink pegasus princess.

“Pipp, go ahead and document this. Take a video, please.” She says.

Pipp doesn’t respond for a moment. Then she takes out her phone and raises it up. “Sure.” She says. She clears her throat and angles it out towards the storm.

You notice that there’s a ring of destroyed buildings around the perimeter of the vast lake. The vegetation is almost completely gone even though the precipitation is heavy being so close to the roiling storm. Patches of wet, bare earth dot the streets underneath piles of wet rubble.

“Could be some kind of acid rain, maybe.” You say.

“Great. Even more reasons to avoid it.” Sunny says.

Zipp, Pipp and Izzy keep watching as Sunny takes the binoculars and begins to walk back to the bridge.

“We should be getting close now...” She says. She isn’t looking, but you know she’s talking to you.

You follow her into the bridge. She hands off the binoculars to you wordlessly. You raise the lenses to your eyes and adjust them. Off in the distance, the spear-like mountain juts up from the countryside. Its snow-capped peak is both familiar and foreboding.

You don’t see Canterlot yet. You don’t really remember what vantage point you need to be at, and this landscape has changed too much to recognize any landmarks.

For a while you just stare at it, waiting for those old familiar towers to swing around the bend. Or at least, what was left.

Then you realize it.

There’s nothing.

The mountain is missing a piece on the western slope. Like someone knocked it off with a giant chisel.

Canterlot isn’t going to swing into frame. There’s just a giant hole where Canterlot should be.

You lower the binoculars and rub your eyes.

Fuck.

There’s a pause as Sunny looks at you from the helm.

“... I’m guessing it’s not there.” She says.

“No.” You say. “Canterlot is not there any more.”

You sigh as the weight of this realization presses down upon you. You place the binoculars onto the control console and then take a seat at the small desk near the corner.

The grand city at the heart of Equestria now lies in a pile of stone at the base of the mountain. A heap of useless rock no different from the rest.

You rest your head on your hands.

Sunny still seems unresponsive. For a while you contemplate the travesty of this world until she finally deigns to look at you and open her mouth.

“I’m sorry.” She says.

You look up at her, a bit surprised.

You open your mouth, preparing to tell her what you think this all means.

Then Zipp bursts into the room.

“Sunny!” She says.

“Huh? What?” Sunny says, craning her neck back.

“We’re getting a radio signal. Come, quick!” Zipp says. She then bolts out of the door.

Sunny looks at you, her tired eyes widen. Without another moment of hesitation, she runs out the door too.