As the stream came to a close, Anon sighed and smiled weakly - standing up, as he stated "If everypony's like you, Pipp, i'm sure I can adjust... I just hate the thought that my friends and family will... Will probably think i'm dead if all of this takes too long."

The ponies all grimaced, as Sunny sighed "Maybe we can work something out quickly...", glancing down in thought as her ears and head drooped.

Izzy grinned "I'm sure something useful will come to us over some food! Stop stressing over it, stress is, like, the killer of creative-y juices! Just give it time."

Hitch chuckled, looking to the unicorn and stating "Are you sure you aren't just hungry for the stuff Sunny was cooking during the stream?", as Comet grinned in amusement, standing near the table - replying "Definitely wouldn't blame her! But yeah, Izzy's definitely right." with a small sniff of an apple fritter, taking a bite.

Sunny grinned, stating "I AM pretty good with food!", brushing a hoof through her mane, as everypony chuckled and gathered around - Anon sighing with a smile and moving to join them, grabbing a slice of apple pie. Perhaps things would be alright. Perhaps he could get used to life here... Even if he was living in the ashes of Equestria's future.

His eyes widened as he took a bite, his whole tongue seemingly feeling the shockwave of flavor from the moment the pie first hit the tip of his tongue - looking to Sunny in shock as he stated "H-How is it so good!?" in shock

Sunny only laughed, stating "Earth pony magic. It does tend to make stuff taste better, I don't know why..." in amusement, gazing out of the window for a moment, up at the now-clear skies. The storm had passed quickly.

The meal was wonderful as always, but Sunny did have some concerns about their new human friend. After she had explained what had happened in their past, he had a bit of a... Haunted expression. She couldn't blame him, to be honest; those same stories had plagued her own childhood. Not to mention what the loss of magical knowledge implied about his own ability to get home.

As they finished off their food, the mare sighed "Well, that was great... But now, I guess all we can really ask is... What next."

She smiled, her gaze shifting to Misty "With Opaline gone, I guess you can afford to let your mane down a little more, Misty. Maybe... Maybe we could start to work together on uncovering more information about Equestria's past. It was always my dad's passion project, and to be honest... I kinda want to see it through, too..."

Misty blinked, before nodding "Opaline told me a lot. I don't know what was truth, and what was a useful lie, but... I guess that just means that it's more important for me to try and get to the bottom of it." she stated firmly, Sunny nodding with a smile as she looked to Anon "And i'm sure that if there's any hope of getting you back home... it will be among the ruins of ancient Equestria. You have an outside perspective that could pick up on things we would miss, so... Would you be interested in helping out with that?"

Anon blinked in surprise - before he grinned lightly. Little did these ponies know, he WAS a fan of the show... He knew far more than he was letting on, and probably could see things they would miss. And it would definitely help him gain closure on... everything he had heard about. He was afraid about not getting home, true... But the thought of the mane 6 dying in some ancient pony war... He couldn't help but feel a deep sadness at the thought.

"Would I be interested?" Anon repeated, before nodding vigorously "Definitely! You're right, it probably is my best chance of getting home... But also, the thought that everything around us has been shaped by some... Ancient tragedy that we don't know much about... It's not something you can just 'put down'."

Pipp snickered, stating "Speak for yourself~ Ahhh, so now we have three of them, I guess...", glancing between Zipp, Sunny and Anon.

Sunny grinned, stating "Hey, i've been busy lately, but the secrets of ancient equestria... They've been the obsession of my whole family! Of course I wanna explore them now the community garden and everything is set up." simply.

Zipp chuckled in response, stating "I wish you were like this a bit earlier! And yeah, sounds like fun. The Zephyr Heights library may have some clues. Perhaps Misty can point us in the right direction there." simply

Misty exhaled and stated "Maybe I can... Later, though. Today's been more than crazy enough." - earning a chorus of agreement from the others, as she smiled "I just wanna unwind for a bit, y'know?"

Anon smiled, stating "I guess it'd be nice to... Really settle into town. I'm gonna be here for a while, I might as well accept it." - the mares (and two stallions) nodding at his words, as Pipp grinned "And i'm sure everypony's going to be REALLY excited to meet you in particular! Heh, so, what does everypony wanna do?

Author's Note

This chapter went through a bit of a... Transformation, hence the delay. I planned for things to move forward with Allura, but frankly, that'd be waaay too fast pacing. So I figured we could get a bit of slice of life.

Is there anything in particular in maretime bay that people want to explore? Or maybe you want Anon to further ponder certain... Abnormalities he's seen since he arrived. He still doesn't really have an explanation for that odd moment where Sunny started to speak in a double-toned voice.

Or perhaps there's something else that needs to be mentioned, said or asked. Misty has had quite the life with Opaline... Really, the sky's the limit. I'll try to follow your requests, so long as they make sense for Anon's current level of knowledge.

I look forward to any comments!