Anonymous in Nu-Questria 2

You are just about to slip back to sleep again before your cheek slips off the cell wall and your body jolts itself awake.

You tilt your neck to the side and try to stretch it with a low groan. The Hollow Shades dungeon is not known for its comfort, but at least the cold, damp stone walls feels good against the bruises on your face. The black eye might need some time to heal, but you can almost see out of it again now.

You raise up your hands, the heavy cuffs pulling tight on your wrists, and you rub your face.

Did they have to kick you so many times after they wrestled you to the ground? You weren’t really resisting that hard. Maybe some of the off-color remarks about their loyalty to the Princesses rustled their bat jimmies. You wish there were laws against police brutality here...

Still, it was pretty awesome. Sure, you didn't hit anything with your gun, but at least you managed to get a shot off. You weren't really aiming for them any way. You just wanted to show them that you shouldn't be fucked with.

They didn't have to take it so personally, damn.

Well, maybe once your head stops pounding so much you can appreciate it more. At least the cell block is quiet. There's no sound except for the occasional drip from the empty cell next to yours.

You rest your hands in your lap. You’re still wearing your bathrobe in all its muddy, torn glory. Next time it won’t be so easy, guardpones. You think about it for a while as you lean your head against the wall and grin.

Then you hear the clank of a heavy, wrought iron door and the jingling of keys. With a few hoofsteps, a royal bat pony guard comes into view, followed by the purple one herself, Twilight Sparkle. She’s looking at the floor, her wings firmly stuck to her sides.

The bat pony stands at attention in front of your cell. Twilight’s somber gaze raises up slowly. Her eyes are shadowed from the glare of the piercing blue glow-lights by her razor-cut mane.

“Prisoner, stand for the Princess.” The stallion says in an deep, authoritative tone.

Twilight raises a hoof. “It’s alright, Sir Agdayne, I can handle it from here.” Twilight says in a kind, small voice. “Please leave us.”

The bat pony stallion turns abruptly and gives a deep, formal bow to the Princess. He holds out his keyring to Twilight, who takes it with her magic. Without another word, the stallion marches out of the cell block. The door clangs shut behind him.

You know Twilight must be exhausted, but her mane and tail are still well-brushed and trimmed to perfection. Always keeping up appearances, huh, Twiggles?

You smirk a little but don’t say anything, opting to stay leaned back against the wall. Twilight stares at you back. How loud was it on her end, you wonder? Your smirk widens into a full smile, and your bruises hurt with a good kind of pain.

Twilight lets out a prolonged sigh. “Anon, it’s time to go.” She says. “Come on. I have a chariot waiting.” She levitates the keys up to the cell door. With a twist, the heavy cell bolt clunks open.

“Where we going, Twilight?” You ask, “Did you post my bail or something?”

Twilight shakes her head sadly. “No, Anon. When I showed up to your house yesterday afternoon, I was trying to give you one final chance. I tried to give you the choice to leave amicably, on good terms if you wanted to, and now that’s changed. I'm sending you back.”

Your smile fades. Your eye twitches as you lean off the wall.

“What, what are you saying?” You ask.

Twilight sighs and adopts a very distant tone.

“The Royal Guard informed me of what they found after they seized your property. They found out about the drugs you were growing and selling, and the alcohol you supplied to the Griffon Mob in Manehatten. Then came the plans for weapons, the actual prototype weapons, the plans for large scale manufacture of ammunition, the letters to the overseas fabrication companies...!”

She stops and sighs deeply as her voice becomes a bit too panicky.

Your mouth opens. You want to say something, but you know she’s really serious this time. You clench your fists and lean forward.

“It’s over, Anon.” Twilight says as she looks down at the floor. “Luna and Celestia have already been informed, and we will convene at sunrise to make arrangements for your trial.”

“So is this it, Twilight? This is how you finally get rid of me, huh?”

You rise up slowly out of your seat, the chains jingling on your wrists.

“What are you saying, you’re going to have a little mock trial and then exile me?”

Twilight shakes her head slowly. “No, that’s not it. You will be tried fairly under Equestrian law, but...”

She looks at you with all the weight of her royal position resting on her small, purple withers. “I want you to plead guilty. I want you to opt for the banishment sentence.”

You lean forward, clasping your hands together as the chains hang from your wrists.

“Twilight, I already told you. I can’t go. I have property, a house, a marefriend...” You say. You actually sound a bit sorry.

“Anon, that doesn’t matter now. The guards have seized your property and all of its assets. All valuable materials from inside will either be scrapped or sold at private auction. The proceeds will go directly towards your defense team’s budgetary concerns.”

You stand up and walk over towards the bars of your cell. As you make a silent oath never to drink again, you kneel down and look into the eyes of your first pony friend as your mind scrambles for a way to get you out of this mess.

“Twilight... please.” You beg, “I’m sorry. I know I really went overboard, but...”

Twilight glances down for a moment, but then raises her eyes. She speaks with the tone of a calculating leader. “There’s nothing I can do, Anon. It’s either that, or you’re looking at a sentence of twenty years or more. I’m sorry.”

Twenty years?! You’re not a fucking terrorist! You didn’t even kill anypony!

You clench your eyes tight and bang your head gently against the bars.

“Twilight... please!” You say, searching for reasons to sway her to your side. “My girl... Valerie. Do you know where she is? Is she going to be safe at least?”

Twilight looks off to the side and sighs. “Your batpony marefriend? They haven’t found her yet, Anon... she might get picked up eventually, but it’s tough to say.”

You look down at the floor. Valerie is probably half way across Equestria in a completely different form by now. Of course she’s not going to ask around or check on you. Not once she sees all the pigs swarming around the place.

“Did you really love her, Anon?” Twilight asks distantly.

You sigh and rub the shackle on your forearm.

“I thought we had... some kind of connection...” You say glumly. In truth, you only had one real thing in common. You were both hiding from this. The authority of the crown.

Twilight waits for a moment, then turns to the door. With her magic, she pulls it open and it slides to a stop. You lean back from the bars and stand up slowly.

“Come on, now. The guards have picked up some of your clothes. You can get changed once we get to the castle.” Twilight says.

You glance hesitantly towards the open cell door. You look back at Twilight.

She looks at you with an expectant, unapologetic stare.

The glowering faces of the princesses really hammered it home. Hell, even Cadence and Shining Armor were there. All perched up on the thrones in the great hall of Canterlot Castle, with you standing pitifully in your little suit, chains on your wrists. It was Equestria against the human. No more chances.

The trial began two days after your capture.

In truth it was only a few short hours in total, but in your mind the minutes dragged on to centuries. All the legal formalities and ceremonial recitations and the arguments from the lawyers... It never seemed to end.

All of those nobles watching from the public benches, your five friends from Ponyville nowhere to be found, and that Judas in front of you. It was hell. Especially her gaze. She maintained her disapproving look of scorn with those narrow, violet eyes the entire time.

Twilight won. In the end. You knew that the only way out of this was to follow her advice. Just forget about Equestria.

The list of charges were staggering. Some of things they said made a few nobles in the front rows pass out. The murmuring of the crowd was always interrupted by Luna stomping her hoof and screaming for order in her booming, royal voice.

It was too much. You couldn’t play it off as a childish prank or harmless fun any more. No more chances One way or another, you would be declared a serious threat to capital “h” Harmony.

You plead guilty.

Celestia, in her regal tone, read out your final sentence. Her magenta eyes betrayed the slightest feelings of despair, but you felt not a twinge of empathy.

You spent a few long, lonely nights in one of the guest rooms within the Canterlot spires. The tiny, circular room your only reprieve. No alcohol. No drugs. Nothing to numb the pain. You stared at the ceiling, expecting the rage to boil over at any moment, yet it never came. Just an empty pit in your stomach that grew wider and wider.

Twilight stopped by in the evenings in the most secretive part of the forbidden archives to go over her notes with you. She explained everything in cold, calculated terms from across the lengthy oak table. She showed you around the ritual casting room. She explained how the spell would shunt your spirit back to Earth in your own timeline. At the same time, it would make it impossible for you to ever wake up again in Equestria. If things went well, you’d be back like you had never left in the first place.

You could have asked how she figured all this out. You could have even given a paltry attempt at understanding, yet your mind refused to cooperate. You just didn’t have it in you any more.

You were just waiting for the end.

You entered the ceremonial chamber in the forbidden archives of the castle flanked on either side by guards. All of the princess were already waiting. Luna. Celestia. Twilight. Cadence. The combined magical strength of the four alicorns would be needed.

The guards unlocked your shackles.

You stepped up onto the altar.

You laid down on the smooth stone platform and folded your arms across your chest.

With the swirling multicolored magic all around you, the horns of the alicorns all aglow, you made one final plea to the ancient gods of this realm. Those that came before the Sun and Moon, and those who may come after.

“It’s all just a dream.” You whispered to yourself. Your feet started to feel very numb.

“I’m going to wake up in my bed.”

“It’s all just a dream...”

“It’s all just a dream...”

“...It is finished. We shall speak of this ‘human’ no more, dear sister.”

“...”

“Farewell, Anonymous. May you find peace in your world, and rest for your weary, troubled soul...”

“Shining... are you sure this was the right thing to do? He... he looked scared.”

“It’s okay, honey. If he wasn’t going to be a threat to ponies, he would eventually become a threat to himself. You had to do this... I know it wasn’t easy.”

“...”

“Twily... are you okay?”