When she reached her and Gleaming's bedroom, Moon leapt into the air.

She flapped her wings frantically, barrelling up through the opening in the ceiling and into the pitch-black attic. There were no lanterns here, only a finely carved mahogany table tucked away in the corner with a single unlit candle sat atop.

Moon landed in her study with a soft thud dampened by a thick, silver-embroidered, midnight-blue rug. Gazing at the Servant's seal displayed beneath her, she muttered a quick prayer to the Night Mother. She hurried over to the table, opening a drawer to reveal a silver lighter.

The metal gleamed, and to anypony not in the know, it might've looked brand new. But it was old. Older than Moon, her grandmother, and even her grandmother's grandmother. Moon had so far traced it back three centuries.

She squinted as she flicked it open, bringing its flame to life. Its brightness strained her eyes as she touched it to the candlewick in front of her. Slowly, the wax beneath began to melt, pooling at the catcher. Engraved near the bottom was that same seal, incorporated in the swirling design wrapped around the whole stick.

Moon passed her shelves of history books, of tomes of spellcraft and magicks, and the chests of artifacts she had collected over the course of her life. Trophies, certificates, and other awards she had gathered for her research surrounding the ancient Nightrealm lined the walls.

She rifled through the papers scattered across her desk before she found her Ancient Lunar dictionary. It was the same script that was on Anon's notes. The colt didn't know Ancient Lunar. Nopony in Trotsylvania did except for a small handful. She started to translate the text.

Moon dropped her pen and laughed, pacing across her study in elation. Even the hard landing couldn't slow her down after she dived back down to the bedroom. Moon stuffed the papers into her saddlebag, sprinted down the stairs, then burst out the door. She left the foals bewildered behind her, only briefly calling out to them to let them know she would back soon.

Finding her heading, she started into a gallop. Moon needed to spread the word for a meeting today.

Anon, tried not to focus on the table bench below him. It sat uncomfortably low, forcing him to stretch his legs out in front of him. He pushed away the thought and continued staring at the outside wall of the now-unlit schoolhouse.

An outside observer might have seen him and thought him zoned out. Or, if they stayed to watch, they might have concluded that a few of his screws were loose and jingling about in his head. In fact, he was pretty sure the filly that just passed by had worn a worried look on her face. Despite that, Anon focused harder.

Come on… he clenched his jaw. You know you want to show me something.

Nothing happened.

"Uhh, Anon, what are you doing?"

Anon blinked, his concentration dissipating. He sighed and looked at Cass who was evidently back from his bathroom break.

"Nothing."

Cass gave him a questioning look, tilting his head.

Anon hesitated. "I just… I wish I could remember."

Remember more.

I could just tell him. I trust him.

Cass pouted, his eyes sympathetic. He climbed onto the bench beside Anon. Cass wrapped his hooves around Anon's waist, catching him off guard.

Anon smiled, reciprocatively wrapping an arm around the pony's barrel before trailing his fingers to Cass' ears.

"Thanks, Cass."

"Mmm," Cass hummed, sidling up against Anon's chest.

Anon relaxed, content to feel the unicorn's warmth radiate onto him. A simple hug could always wash away the worries of a long day at school. When he was worn out, all it took for the stress to go away was a nice embrace…

I…

Anon's head started to pound. The memory began slipping through his fingers. Already, he could feel it gravitating back towards that locked box, the details fading.

No…

Anon reached out, his fingertips brushing the memory. He stretched further, finding purchase as he clutched its tail.

There was a blaze of agony in his head, but Anon just grit his teeth and stubbornly held on. The flames licked at his spine as it spread downwards.

Anon blinked. There was only darkness.

He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

He tried again. Then he yelled. He screamed and cussed, but he couldn't hear himself. He tried to calm himself by taking a deep breath, but no air was drawn into his lungs.

Abruptly, his panic washed away. The darkness shifted around him, and his vision was replaced by a deep blue glow.

He closed his eyes and let it consume him.

Anon had his notebook stashed away and his backpack zipped closed before the bell ceased.

He stood, joining his classmates in placing their chairs atop their desks. He only chirped out a "thank you" to Mr Palmer as he hightailed it to the door.

The cool wind of the winter afternoon slapped at his cheeks. He spun the scarf around his neck, while also buttoning up his school blazer.

Shoving his hands in his pockets, he started his walk out of the school campus.

He heard his name being called out. Searching around, Anon spotted Hayden beckoning him over. June stood beside him, gripping his arm and watching him haughtily.

"Well?" Hayden asked.

"I'm done for today. For the week. I'm just out of juice, man." Anon replied.

June rolled her eyes. "You're so dramatic."

Anon raised an eyebrow at her. The day Hayden had introduced him to June, she had looked him up and down with disdain. Anon never understood why.

She smiled at him, her eyes showing her real displeasure.

"It can't have been that bad," Hayden chimed.

"I don't know, Hayden. I'm exhausted. I don't think I have the energy in me for another exam."

"As long as you pass."

"I wouldn't bet on it." June snarked. Hayden just looked at him, unfazed by her comments.

"I should go home." Anon sighed.

"Yeah, that might be a good idea."

Anon glared at June. He was starting to get sick of her prickly attitude.

"Alright, man. I'll catch you later." Hayden smiled, patting him on the shoulder. "You'll do alright tomorrow."

"Mhmm," hummed June, unconvinced.

Anon turned and walked away. One more second with that girl and he'd lose it.

Why? Why did she have to be so unpleasant all the time? And it wasn't only her. Few people in school seemed to be fond of Anon. He muttered under his breath, cursing them all.

"Woah, someone's upset."

Anon snapped his head towards the sound. "Not a good time, Liv."

The bookish nerd caught up to him and nudged his arm. "Oh come on, what's the matter?"

Anon huffed, taking a deep breath. "Please, Liv. Not right now."

Olivia frowned. "Fine. But at least come with me to the movies. There's a new horror film that just came out and from the trailer, it looks awesome!"

Please just go. Anon thought. But he couldn't bring himself to say it.

"Please?"

"Okay, fine. Jeez." Anon capitulated.

Olivia grinned. Her steps seemed to bounce even more than before, to Anon's annoyance.

Anon groaned. "What?"

Olivia pouted. "Come on, we're friends. Just tell me what's going on."

"It's been a shit day, and you're not helping."

"Well, why?"

"I might have screwed up my exam, June is still a prick, and now I have you driving my patience into the ground despite the fact I've asked you to stop. That's why! Are you happy?"

Olivia's face fell, and she stepped away from him. She clutched her notebook tight against her chest.

Anon sighed. At least she'd stopped bothering him. On the other hand, it wasn't right of him to take things out on Olivia. She'd only been trying to help.

"Look, I'm sorry, Liv. It's just been a bad day."

Olivia fidgeted with her hands, before finally speaking up. "Do you… want a hug?"

"Excuse me?"

"A hug. You know…" She made a grasping motion with her arms.

"I know what a hug is, Liv."

"Well, I thought…" She examined the ground before her. "It always makes me feel better when someone hugs me."

A trickle of guilt ran through Anon as he watched her nervous expression. "Alright… go ahead, then." He slowed to a halt, keeping his eyes on her. Olivia tentatively approached, before bursting forward in a hug.

Anon blinked, his body tense. But he had to admit… Olivia was right. It was nice. He allowed himself to wrap his arms around her, returning the embrace.

Olivia pulled away, flustered. She turned her eyes away from him. Anon wanted to reach out, and say something. But he couldn’t find the words. Each second of empty silence ate away at his fortitude. He cleared his throat.

"So… um…" Anon blubbered. "Movies, right?"

Olivia yelled. "Anon!"

"Anon!"

Anon woke with a jolt. He inhaled, only to enter a coughing fit. He bolted upright and smacked his face into something hard.

"Ah!"

"Ow! Hey!"

Cass rubbed his snout, the unicorn only inches away from Anon.

"Sorry," Anon muttered, massaging his own nose. "What… Why are you on top of me?"

Cass looked down at himself, then at Anon, glowing red. He reeled backwards, stumbling off the bench and landing hard on his rump. Anon reached over and offered him a hand.

"I-I…" Cass stammered, accepting the help. He rubbed his foreleg, watching Anon with unease. "Y-you just went limp, I don't know what happened! Are you okay?"

"Yeah…" Anon rubbed at his eyes. The end of his memory was a little disturbing. But… he remembered it. A light grin tugged on his mouth. He was making progress.

"Don't worry about it," He said.

"Don't worry about it?" Cass scrunched his face, stomping at the ground. "Anon, you fell unconscious! Of course I'm worrying about it! I…" Cass stepped back, guilt written on his countenance. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't yell."

Anon cringed and slipped off the bench. He knelt before Cass. The unicorn was just trying to be nice.

"Hey, no. Come here," he said, taking Cass' hoof in his palm. "I know you're just looking out for me, and I really do appreciate that."

Anon pulled him into a hug. He wrapped his arms around Cass' barrel, placing the unicorn's head on his chest in a way that he couldn't see Anon gritting his teeth.

I can't let him know.

No. No, you can't.

"But please, Cass, I don't want you worrying about me like that, alright? I'm fine. Trust me."

Cass let out a deep breath. "Okay," he said. "Just… you'll tell me if there's anything bothering you?"

Oh, why'd you have to make me lie to you?

Anon put on his most sincere expression. "Yes, of course."

He almost gagged. It felt terrible, lying to Cass.

Pull yourself together, Anon.

Cass pulled away from him and met his eyes with a smile.

"Okay. That's good." Cass swivelled his head around. Anon did so, too, and saw how only a small handful of ponies were still around.

"Home?" Anon asked.

"Sure."

Cass tugged Anon by the hand. They started the route back to the house, leaving the school in their wake. Before they could even take the steps to the front deck, however, a bubbly voice called to them from behind.

"Cass? Anon?"

A red mare wearing her jet-black mane to the side stood at the doorway of the house opposite.

"Oh. Hi there, Mrs Sharp!" Cass beamed at her. "Was there something you needed?"

"Well yes, actually. Would you two lovely gentlecolts happen to know where my dear little Fluff-ball is?"

Anon looked at Cass. "Fluff-ball?"

Cass shook his head. "No, sorry, Mrs Sharp. We don't know where Fly is."

"That's unfortunate. If you run into him, would you please tell him he needs to come home? Tell him it's important. He'll know what I mean."

"Um, okay Mrs Sharp. We'll tell him if we see him." Cass nodded hesitantly.

"Thank you, colts." Mrs Sharp smiled. She retreated, clicking the door shut.

Anon hummed. "So I take it we're going to look for him?"

"I dunno," Cass shrugged. "I mean, is there anything else to do?"

"Your lead, then."

Star lay on the cavern floor. Rolling over, she blew at the growingly noticeable layer of soot caking the stone, sneezing as the particles exploded and peppered her snout.

Stupid human, she frowned.

Star sighed. Why couldn't Cass see what was going on? Anon was bad for him. For their friendship. It was only a matter of time until… until…

Shaking herself from her thoughts, Star shifted herself upright. Was she being unreasonable? Fly seemed to think so. And yet, she still knew deep down: Anon wasn't to be trusted.

"Alright. I'm ready, Fly."

Fly waited awkwardly, sitting on a pillow beside the bench. It still lay there, sad and broken. His mane was styled differently today, brushed to one side. It left her with a rare, unrestricted view of his emerald eyes.

Star breathed deeply.

"I met Blaze at the tavern. You know, on Fridays when they let us in?"

Fly nodded.

"He bought me a grape juice and we started talking." Star's cheeks heated up. "He told me I was pretty, and then kissed me. He said he loved me. I guess… things moved fast…

"We didn't see each other often, but whenever we were together he wasn't really there, you know? Like… he didn’t want to be there. He'd started making excuses whenever I asked him to meet up. He was always busy. Plans with other friends. Busy doing homework."

Star tried to laugh, but it came out as a choked-out sob. The memory was like a knife twisted in her chest. She should have seen it. How could she have been so stupid? "He didn't even pay attention in class, he never did his homework!"

Star sniffed. "And then one day… I saw him with Clover."

She could see that green filly's face, her lips on the colt she thought was hers. She remembered the way her legs had trembled beneath her and how her throat constricted. If she hadn't run off crying, she might have fainted.

"Ugh," Star cleared her throat. "Mom was right about stallions. Why do they have to be like this?"

"I-I'm really sorry that happened to you, Star," Fly said hesitantly. "B-But, I don't understand… What does this have to do with Anon?"

Star frowned, wiping her eyes. "I told you before, Fly. He's going to take Cass away from us."

"I-I still don't get it, Star. I mean, do you…" Fly wavered, "…d-do you like Cass?"

Star recoiled. "What? No! Ew." She gagged, scrunching her face. "Plus, he's gay, isn't he?"

"I-I mean, yeah, I'm pretty sure. He and Anon-"

"What, do you like Cass?" Star pointedly accused.

"N-no!" Fly's eyes widened, and his cheeks flushed. "I'm not- I-I like fillies!"

She raised an eyebrow. "You sure?"

"Yes!" Fly stated defensively. "But that's not the point! I'm sorry that you had a bad experience with a colt, but that doesn't have anything to do with Cass! We shouldn't stop him if he's found a special somepony… even if it means him spending less time with us."

Star blinked. This boldness from Fly wasn't something she had seen often. She stumbled.

"But Anon might still be dangerous-"

"Anon's not dangerous, Star! If he was, he would have done something by now. He's been nothing but nice." Fly pleaded. "Please, Star! Stop saying that. It's not true..."

"I…" Star trailed off. Fly was right. Anon hadn't done anything truly worrying. Sure, he acted strange sometimes, and her gut told her to be wary of him. But she couldn't trust her gut anymore. It was how she ended up in the situation she had with Blaze.

Fly closed the distance between them, wrapping his forelegs around her. Star's breath hitched.

"Star, please. Anon isn't a bad pony."

She hesitated but eventually reciprocated with a leg around Fly.

"It's just… just…" She sniffed. Her eyes were watering again. "Ugh. I'm sorry, Fly."

"It's okay, Star."

Star patted her tears away with the back of her hoof. She chuckled. "What happened to you? So combative all of a sudden."

Fly turned his head, shrinking where he stood. "Well, um… it's a long story."

Star noticed the faintest hints of sunlight outside. It was probably a good time to get going.

"Maybe another night, then. Thanks for listening again, Fly." She led the way out, into the undergrowth. Her mom and uncle were probably waiting for her to get home. "Seeya tomorrow."

Star burst into the air, rapidly flapping her wings. She manoeuvred through the trees, pushing herself off the trunks of both redwoods and palms. The humid air blanketed her wings in a familiar, comforting sensation as she synchronised them with her breaths. Star kept just beneath the canopy, following the trail towards the road. She flew in silence, her wing beats almost inaudible. Stealth had always come naturally to her. It was pure, primal, instinct.

Rustling from ahead alerted her to movement. She stopped, landing at the top of a small palm tree with a clear view of the trail, remaining dead still.

After a brief pause, she spotted Cass and Anon trudging their way down the path. Star's breath hitched as she saw them, and she had to shove her unease back down her throat. She heard movement from the other direction, and soon Fly appeared, too. His bright coat and mane stuck out through the brush.

"Fly, there you are!" Anon called. "We've been looking for you."

"Mrs Sharp wants you home." Cass piped, "She says it's important and that you'd know what she means."

Star couldn't see Fly's face, but his drooped ears told her enough. "O-oh," he said. "I'm sorry, guys. That means I have to go. Thanks for telling me."

Fly cantered past, before taking off. The other two followed, not without declaring their presence to the whole jungle with their chatter.

Star stretched her wings. Thinking nothing else of it, she climbed above the jungle canopy and took off, flying home.

Moon peeked above the pages at Tulip as she approached.

"Well, that's everypony. You ready?" Tulip asked.

"This is incredible." Moon laughed. "Cass has grown quite fond of him, you know. Not only is our colt happier, but now we have this wonderful surprise… Night Mother bless, I'm glad we let Anon stay."

"As She willed it." Tulip placed a hoof on Moon's wither. "Let's go."

"Let's." Moon beamed. They walked towards the fire at the centre of the room. Moon watched the smoke rise towards the tall ceiling, disappearing into small ventilation holes. This time, the soot buildup on the floor was minimal.

The others were already huddled around the warmth, shrouded in their Servant's cloaks. As fascinating and humbling as it was to set hoof in one of the Night Mother's ancient hidden lairs, the biting, frigid air didn't make it very pleasant.

A red-coated mare fed another log to the flames. A haze of sparks was kicked into the air by the disturbance. Cherry noticed Moon and respectfully took her place in the circle, making space.

Everypony's faces were illuminated with an orange glow. Nopony looked particularly thrilled to be here, and the cloud of their recent failure in reaching out to the Night Mother hung over the room.

Regardless, all eyes were watching her. Though, many squinted against the fire's brightness. Moon began.

"Thank you for being here, everypony. I'm aware it's not our usual meeting day, but I've asked you all here for something I believe was important to share." Moon sighed. "Last week's setback was a great disappointment. A lot of time and effort had been invested into the project, and unfortunately, things… didn't pan out as we had hoped."

Moon glanced at the smaller pony standing beside Cherry. Fly cringed at her gaze, cowering within his cloak.

It was an accident. You've already talked to him.

Moon handed Anon's pages around the circle. "I'm sure you're all aware of Anon, the creature we summoned by mistake. We were supposed to dispose of him, but once again, things did not go according to plan." In her periphery, Moon could see Fly with his eyes glued to the floor. "You may have heard he is living with me, now. This has turned to our favour."

Moon gestured to the pages. "Those are a few things he's written. He told me himself that he doesn't remember writing it, nor does he understand what it says."

Tulip stepped forward. Her Walhaychian accent was still noticeable. "We have translated the script to modern Lunar. This is what it says." Tulip handed another set of papers around, but fewer this time. Muttering soon echoed throughout the room, and Moon understood why. The translated words were near-incoherent. The lines were repeated, almost like the ramblings of an ill pony. But they were still a sign.

"We believe the ritual worked to some extent and that we have indeed established contact with the Night Mother herself," said Tulip.

"But so far-" Moon interjected, "-this is all we have. We will be trying to get more. Tulip and I will be personally watching Anon for more information, and we will let you know of further developments next time we meet."

Moon smiled proudly. "We are closer than ever to achieving what we have been working towards for the past year. Perhaps one day soon, we may even manage to bring the Princess back."

The awed expressions around her caused Moon's heart to flutter. Most of these ponies probably didn't think they would ever get here. Many had only taken up Servitude because it ran in the family, because of their historical interests, or even purely for the social aspect. She was once much the same, at least, until Walhaychia…

"That was all, everpony. Thank you again for coming on such short notice." Moon concluded.

With the meeting concluded, many servants left. Some, though, stayed for discussions. Moon scanned the room, seeking out Fly. She approached him gently, taking the colt aside for a quick one-on-one.

"It seems you're pretty lucky, dearie," Mrs Moon said. Fly cringed. She was wrong. It couldn't have been luck. His failure was so embarrassing and detrimental that Princess Luna herself must have pitied his uselessness and given him a miracle.

Mrs Moon placed a tender hoof on his chin, tilting his eyes towards her. "It's alright. We've already been over that. I don't need to tell you off again."

Fly looked up at her with quivering eyes, and she pulled him into a hug. "I need you to do something for me, dear. You've done a good job so far watching Anon for me."

She hoofed him the page of ancient text. "Now, see if you can get more of this from him. Can you do that, for me, dear?"

Fly, peered at the page. It was the History work they had done yesterday. He began to read Anon's answers but flinched when Mrs Moon cleared her throat. He took a deep, shaky breath. "Y-Yes, Mrs Moon Glint. I'll try my best."

She smiled down at him and let him go, smiling. "Thank you, dearie. I'm counting on you."

Fly nodded meekly as Mrs Moon turned and left. He shut his eyes and muttered a prayer to the Night Mother before looking around to find his mother.

"One moment, child." Fly felt a hoof on his back and froze. Miss Tulip walked up beside him. "You're friends with Anon, aren't you?"

Something in Miss Tulip's tone put a cold, icy feeling in Fly's chest. "Y-yes, M-Miss Tulip."

"What do you know about his strange behaviour?"

"I-I… What do y-you mean?"

Tulip glared at him with eyes like needles. There was something about the way she stared which pierced his inner being. It shattered his composure. Fly wilted where he stood, whimpering.

"He tends to have moments of… vacancy. You've noticed this."

Fly squeezed his eyes shut. "U-Um… I don't know…"

Tulip hummed disapprovingly. "Tell me what you observe this week. I'll see you in class." She grinned at him, sharp fangs glinting in the dying firelight, before turning away.

Fly waited for her to be out of earshot before he started crying. He stifled the noises, covering his mouth with a hoof. He wiped his tears with his hood, taking a moment to compose himself before he found his mother.

He clung to her foreleg the entire way home.

Author's Note

Sup everyone

So it's been only eight chapters and, what, two years?, I'm definitely a different person now than when I started this story. I was sixteen and I wanted to write a self-insert. I thought it would be an anthology, so I didn't really put much thought into the plot. I just started writing and wanted to see what would happen.

Welp, now I've got a bunch of different plot threads I need to somehow tie all together. I've gotta bring everything to a climax and then a resolution, so I guess we'll see how we make all that work.

I'm trying to bring more character to Star. So far, I feel like I've just treated her as plot device. She does what I need her to do for no reason apart from she needs to move things along or set up the development of Fly or Cass. Solution: I've given her boy problems. I've got a similar issue with Anon, considering how I wrote him initially as somewhat of a self-insert, but it seems like he'll be a little easier to deal with.

In other news, my creative juices haven't really been flowing. I don't know what it is, but that spark I once had has started to die out. But eh, can't really be helped. I would still like to finish this story, but we'll see how it goes.

Oh and lastly, that whole stupid girl best friend character development arc is officially over with. I just read my last author's note and it's wild remembering how much I missed her after we never even came close to dating. That was a real cringe part of my life. But hey, at least being sad gave me a bit of muscle.

See you all next time. Night night.