Ponyville's Pragmatic Posse

Princess Twilight sits deep within the Crystal Castle of Friendship, gently reading one of her numerous books. She finally had a moment of downtime, and was eager to finish some reading she'd started a week prior, that she just could not find the time for. The Magic Mirror sits dormant, as does this section of the castle.

But it seemed even now, in her moment of peace, she couldn't focus.

Her mind wanders to the other occupants of her Castle. Other than herself and Spike, there were four other individuals living at her Castle with her, all some variation of being her 'Student'.

Sunset Shimmer. Not so much one of her Students directly, the two shared magical knowledge often, with Sunset visiting from Earth through the Magic Mirror that Twilight hosted within the Library. She'd always been a little worried for Sunset; normally feeling like an Outcast among Pony-Kind for spending so much time on Earth, Sunset had been quite surprised to find a Human in Equestria. While she was originally a Pony and traversed through the Magic Mirror in the library, to go back and forth.

Unlike Anon's natural form being that of a Human, with no Magic, and his arrival to Equestria some time ago being an Accident, meant he couldn't travel back to Earth.

Princess Twilight originally worried that this would cause friction between the two; but Anon had little intention of ever going home, and the two bonded surprisingly quickly, making references and jokes nopony else in the room seemed to get; this helped the awkward transitions be a lot less awkward, giving her someone to laugh with whenever she came through the mirror walking on two hooves. She'd often bring him things that he requested.

Speaking of Anon, he was... a Student, of sorts? Their dynamic hardly played out as such, and he certainly never called her teacher, or mentor. Or Princess. Usually some Nickname trying to push her buttons. It was actually Twilight's fault that he was here. Some time ago, Twilight had experimented with the Mirrors on her own; it failed, utterly, shattering her prototype and dumping an entirely untransformed Human into her house.

They'd salvaged a relationship, thankfully; Anon was a very relaxed soul, who preferred to joke rather than sweat about something. Something about being Moisturized and Unbothered? How it is simply how it is? He made some odd references most of the time, and only Sunset seemed to understand them. To a degree.

Speaking of relationships; while they weren't as public as Starlight and Trixie, Sunset and Anon seemed to have... something, going on; or at least the start of something.

Anon's natural lack of Magic was actually found to be some kind of Magical Absorption; Magic hardly has an effect on him, dissipating on contact. This included trying to grasp him with Telekinesis, Teleporting him, healing spells; good or bad, a spells essence was slurped up by the no-magic void of Anon. Thankfully, physical contact didn't try to absorb anyone latent magic. It seemed it simply rebuffed spells. Sunset said after some light testing, it seemed most Humans from Earth were the same way.

He's been staying with Twilight since his arrival, and the upgrade to Crystal Castle was a welcome one for not hitting his head. He "Studies" his odd relationship with magic, mostly by serving as a Guinea Pig for her other students experiments.

And speaking of Students who enjoyed using Anon as a Guinea Pig; Starlight Glimmer and Trixie.

Starlight was probably the one who fit most properly under the title of "Student", actually searching to learn Friendship and Magic under her watch and mentorship. Though a touch... unaligned with most Ponies general attitudes towards things. She didn't quite agree with how Equestria was run, how Cutie Marks were so ingrained culturally, and was always willing to dive into a political tirade. That, was definitely not the attitude of most Ponies. Thankfully, she'd found both friends, and a Marefriend in her time at the Castle. That, and Anon seemed to always be up for a debate, no matter the topic. He had an unnatural way of luring people into arguments, no matter how pointless.

Said Marefriend to Starlight, and final student, was Trixie. It was a big hurdle for Trixie to actually join as one of Twilights "Students", swallowing a big chunk of her pride. She'd always viewed Twilight as her rival, and she was always a little... dicey, about their dynamic as Teacher and Student; but the gap between the two's skills just couldn't be ignored. With some serious self esteem issues, Trixie strove far more for magical prowess than she did friendship; but she found it all the same. Trixie has a bad habit of pushing people away, or poorly reading a room; Anon, however, seems immutable to being pushed away, and either fires back playfully or entirely defuses the situation.

It'd be safe to say that out of her four students, and their tentative friend group, Anon was the glue that kept them together; they didn't have much in the way of friends outside the Castle, considering most of their histories.

But not everyone was made for big, town-wide friend groups. If they were happy, and learning the foundations of friendship while pursuing their own interests, than Princess Twilight Sparkle was happy.

She sighs, content, trying to finally focus in on her book.

Well, until she hears a commotion of hoof-steps and yelling charging through the neighboring hall.

Twilight groans, closing the book shut and putting it down.

She slowly approaches the door, the muffled yelling getting louder.

The door slowly creaks opens, Twilight peeking through the cracks.

Starlight is rolling her eyes, stood just behind a seething Trixie, Starlights magic holding a pot lid from the kitchen. Trixie is shouting at Anon, who is hiding around the corner, holding a basket of... water balloons.

"ANONYMOUS! THE GREAT TRIXIE DEMANDS YOU RETURN HER PRIVATE PROPERTY --" Trixie shouts, getting cut off as Anon shouts "MAGIC MISSILE!", throttling one of the balloons at her. Trixie is yanked by her tail, scooted behind Starlight with magic as a water balloon impacts the pot lid, Starlight using the impromptu shield to intercept Anons projectiles. The floor of the hall is already soaked, as is Trixie. Looks like she couldn't get out of the way in time. Several times.

Looking closer, Twilight spots Trixie's hat sat on Anon's head -- and was that the beard from her Starswirl Nightmare Night costume? He even had a blanket wrapped around himself like a cape.

Trixie scowls, puffing her chest.
"Thank you, assistant. NOW -- RETURN TRIXIES HAT, THIEF!" Trixie shouts, emboldened.

"Assistant?" Starlight scoffs.

"Mmmmagic MISSILE!" Another shout from Anon.

The pot lid "Accidentally" floats a little too high, a water balloon pelting Trixie in the face. She sputters, gasping as she's soaked again. Starlight grins.
"Oops."

She does actually block the next one that goes ripping towards them, splashing the walls and floor with more water.

Twilight sighs, her internal debate on whether or not intervening was worth it, or if she should just teleport a mop between them.

Actually, where was Sunset? When her students got into shenanigans, it usually involved --

The Magic Mirror behind her slowly whirs to life. Twilight steps away from the door, watching as the machine twists the pink glow into a burst, the mirror enveloping in a glow as Sunset steps out.

She's holding several plastic bags, filled with... costumes. And fake wands. And a fake, plastic staff. And a bag of empty water balloons. Several bags, actually.

"Anon! I got the things you... asked... for." Sunset trails off, face growing pale as she realizes Twilight is staring.

Sunset is also dressed similarly to Anon, in a big poofy beard, and a pointy hat. Sunset lowers down from two hooves to four, glancing away sheepishly.

"...Hey. Princess Twilight." Sunset mumbles, rubbing her front-leg with a hoof.

"Hello, Sunset. An enjoyable visit to Earth?" Twilight asks, shifting to fully face her. More swearing and splashing can be heard in the hall.

"Uh, yeah... just, uh. Playing... Wizards. With Anon." She coughs.

"He's already soaked Trixie." Twilight informs, nodding to the hallway.

Sunset scoffs, frowning.
"Without me?!"

Twilight watches as Sunset barrels through the door, shouting -- in moments, the situation has spiraled into a 3v1; Anon's face twists from cocky assurance, to fear as he realizes he's not in fact, reinforced -- but outnumbered, Sunset joining the other Mares. Anon has his supply of Balloons wrenched from his grasp, and is promptly subjected to a horrific firing-squad of magically propelled water balloons.

He's left curled up in the fetal position on the floor, twitching, soaking wet and in a puddle. The other three look content. The remains of the water balloons pepper the floor like spent casings, the three Mares catching their breath from the beatdown.

Trixie floats her hat back onto her head, trotting back up the hall with an appeased huff. Until the Mop blinks in front of her, in a twinkle of purple light. She screeches to a stop, starting to stutter.
"B-But Trixie did not--"

Twilight gives the group a knowing stare, as she leans out of the library doorway, earning a silence. Except from Anon, who lays slain on the floor, mumbling in soaked pain. The Library door slowly shuts, leaving the usual suspects in the hall alone.

Trixie grumbles, grasping the mop in her blueish glow.

"Just dry the floor, Trixie. Bombarding Anon like that was worth the cleanup." Starlight chides, off to look for a bucket. Trixie grumbles in agreement, starting to mop up some of the water.

Sunset stands beside the slain Anon, tilting her head at him. She tsks softly, shaking her head.

"...Traitor." Anon mumbles.

Sunset leans down, sighing with mock pity, and pats his back.
"Winners write the history books, Anon; and I like winning. Shouldn't have started without me."

Anon groans.