"What? Why?" Anon asked.

"Well…." Twilight seated herself on the ground, pushing her hooves together in front of her. "I kind of told Celestia I would tell her you got home safe and... I didn’t do that because I passed out last night playing cards. When I woke up and got her messages, I had not seen you come in yet. I kind of panicked, thinking something had happened to you, and told her to come down so we could figure it out. Then Spike woke up and told me you came in late. Hehe… funny right?"

Anon slapped his hand in front of his face, rubbing it straight down. "You could have, you know... LOOKED IN MY ROOM FIRST." He replied.

"I know that now!" She rubbed her shoulder sheepishly.

"Well, she is here now. It may be a good time to clear the air. Did you two figure out last night if this is gonna work out or not?" Applejack spoke up, looking up at Anon.

"It’s….complicated. I am trying, but I am not totally sure yet." He let out a huff. This is not how he wanted to start his morning.

Applejack tilted her head at him. Those green eyes narrowed at him. "What’s so complicated about it? Do you like her or not?"

"I don’t know yet. She’s nice to be around, sure, and... she is warm, but I've never done anything like this before." He pinched the bridge of her nose.

"If that’s just a fancy way of sayin’ you don’t want to be with her, just say that. Don’t drag it on." A soft scowl crossed her face as she spoke.

"It’s not like that! I just don’t know. I got here a few weeks ago, and now a goddess is trying to date. It’s not as simple as if I like her back or not." His tone was harsher as he spoke.

"But, it is. She is the princess, Anon! She never had anyone; everyone has always depended on her. Even us to get where we needed to be. She has done so much for every pony! Most ponies know how they feel after a nice date." She huffed.

"Applejack don’t be like..." Twilight spoke.

"I AM NOT A PONY!" Finally snapping as his voice cut through Twilight’s words.

The room went dead silent as he spoke; both of them were stunned by the volume at which he spoke. He let out a sigh and turned away, going back to his bed and taking a seat on it. He put his face in his hands. Twilight shot Applejack a glare as she sighed, coming up to Anon.

"I am sorry. I know you're not Pony, but we don't know how you guys work, and we can only go by what we know. Celestia means a whole lot to us. I think all of us want to see her happy." She then put a hoof on his knee. "But we also want to see you happy. Ever since you got here, I don’t think I've seen you smile much. We want to be your friend Anon but, ya closed off to every pony. That ain’t no way to live."

"That’s the only way I have lived." He answered without looking at her. "People leave... or things change. Then I end up all alone again, so what’s the point?" He looked up into her green eyes.

"Well shoot, that's a risk ya got to take, Anon! Sure, sometimes people leave or maybe they're not the same pony they were before, but that just means you can get to know them all over again. We ain’t going nowhere anytime soon. None of us are. We want to be your friends. You have been fun and kind to all of us. I know it’s scary, but we’re right here with ya. Even if you need time with everything," She spoke with her hooves placed on top of his hands.

He took her hoof in his hand. There was comfort in the warmth that he felt. "Thanks Applejack." He spoke standing up, looking over at Twilight. "Give me a minute to get dressed, and I will come out." Twilight gave him a smile as she and Applejack exited the room.

He slapped some water against his face in the bathroom, looking into the mirror. He didn’t feel tired. In fact, this was the most rested he had felt since getting to Equesta. He let out a breath, then found himself dressed for the day. Something simple: a plain white shirt and red shorts. He had to beg Rarity for something easy to wear. It was like pulling teeth.
Walking down the hall back to the map room, he found himself smelling... breakfast. It smelled of maple. He was hoping Pinkie was making flapjack again. She was a crazy pony, but boy did she know how to make a mean breakfast. As he entered the room. He spotted her, the princess, sitting at the table across from Twilight. Everyone was at the table beside Pinkie and Spike.

Speaking of the dragon, the doors to the kitchen burst open. "I got more! Hot and ready." He spoke as a certain pink pony was skipping behind him with a plate of pancakes on her head, that she was somehow balancing. They delivered the goods to the table as they also took their seats.

"Anon! Morning sleepyhead. Come get some food. You've been sleeping all afternoon. Well, so did we for the most part. But now we get afternoon pancakes." Pinkie giggled as she began digging into her plate.

He laughed, walking over to the table, as his eyes locked with those pink hues from last night. Celestia's smile was soft, and the rays of light coming into the room caught her just right. He cleared his throat, breaking eye contact as he sat down at the table and was slid a large stack of pancakes by the chef. The stack almost went to his chest. He looked over at Pinkie, looking concerned as she tilted her head at him.

"Ooo, right, silly me." She giggled again as she proceeded to drown his stack of cakes in a gallon of maple syrup. "There ya go, Anon."

"Rigghtt… I will work on these." Taking a very small bite They were pretty good, but he wasn't sure if he could eat all of this. His teeth might rot out if he did.

"Sorry about dropping by so soon. I know how that must look... I got a little worried when there was no answer, and... well, Pinkie won’t let me leave until I ate something." Celestia spoke, rubbing the back of her head.

"That’s right. A meal a day keeps the nurse pony away." Pinkie uttered, stuffing another bite into her mouth.

"It’s an apple, Pinkie." Rainbow Dash cut in.

"No, these are pancakes, silly." Pinkie replied with a mouthful.

" Pinkamena Diane Pie! We have a guest, and you are talking with a full mouth. Manners, darling, manners." Rarity spoke.

Celestia chuckled as Twilight simply put her head into her hoof. The makeshift brunch was good. Everyone was laughing, and Anon forgot about his worries for a moment. He ended up not finishing his stack but did get some coffee that Rarity made. Celestia stood up from the table.

"Thank you for the meal, Pinkie. I have to go now. I have a few other things to get done today." She turned to Anon. "I know this is a little forward, but would you like to come over to my study later this week? If you have time." She asked with a light redness in her cheeks.

Anon paused and put down his coffee, looking at her. A lot of things were going through his mind at this moment. His eyes locked onto hers. Maybe he did need to take a risk at times. "I think that would be nice." She smiled and smirked, leaning down and giving him a small kiss on the cheek as she then rushed out the door, waving goodbye to everyone.

Everyone in the room's jaw dropped. Anon rubbed his cheek. "That was pretty nice."

Author's Note

Hey everyone. New Chapter time. As always please sent comment my way if ya can. Also I am gonna be re-writing an old action crossover story I may promote here. I would love if you gave that read as well when it is up.