Author's Note

Here's the next one. And enjoy the big twist.

Chapter 2: The Trip

After Anon had left through the portal, it took him a while before he had reached the other side. After so much glowing Rainbow magic, he had finally made it to the other side. He looked down on himself and saw that he became a teenager, a senior, if what he remembered what Twilight said was true. Or in this case, Princess Twilight, considering where he is now.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this.” Said Anon to himself, “Then again, it’s good to be back on familiar grounds.”

“Hey, Anon!!”

Anon looked up and saw Pinkie Pie. Well, her human version anyway. She had a big grin on her face before picking him up whilst giving him a hug. Truth be told, he enjoyed the human Pinkie’s hugs. Either that, or his pervy instincts enjoys her breasts against his chest.

“Nice to see you too, Pinkie.” Said Anon as he gently patted her back.

After she broke the hug, the rest of the girls, namely Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Fluttershy appeared, with the girls also greeting him.

“Nice to see you again, Anon darling.” Said Rarity.

“The feeling’s mutual Rarity.” Said Anon, “I really gotta make time to visit you girls. I know your counterparts are my friends, but I like to visit all my friends now and then.”

“I feel the same way,” said Fluttershy, “We really need to make more time for visiting.”

“True that.” Said Anon, then he looked at Rainbow. “I hope you’ve been keeping up with your grades, Rainbow.”

“Sure have,” said Rainbow, who then had a sympathetic look, “But truth be told, it hasn’t been the same without you. You’re the only one that made science class exciting.”

“Aw, appreciate it.” Said Anon. He then noticed someone wasn’t with them…the girl who offered the invitation to him. “Say, where’s Sunset?”

“She’ll be here, shortly.” Said Rarity, “She just needed to fetch a few things.”

“I hope she gets here; we don’t want to be late for the cruise.” Said Anon, then looked at Rainbow sternly, “And not ruin the trip for anybody in the group.”

Rainbow winced at that, but regained her composure and said, “Don’t worry, the girls and I already talked, and we agreed to have our geodes locked up to make sure nothing happens. Though I don’t see why Fluttershy has to keep hers.”

“Y’all know very well that she wants to spend time with the animals.” Said Applejack.

“Though it’s a shame that Spike’s not allowed to go with us.” Said Fluttershy.

“I know, darling.” Said Rarity, “But you know they have a strict no pet policy.”

“That sounds kind of hypocritical.” Said Anon.

“Anon’s right actually,” said Rainbow, “They won’t allow dogs, and yet they allowed an onboard petting zoo.”

“Animals aside,” said Anon as he looked at Applejack, “I hope you remembered to pack in your medicine this time, Applejack. We don’t want a repeat of what happened last time. And don’t give me the, ‘ah don’t need medicine, ah’m a tough gal’, excuse.”

“Don’t worry, ah won’t do it, ah learned mah lesson.” Said Applejack, though she was still embarrassed over what happened.

“Sorry I’m late!!”

They turned and saw Sunset coming, with Twilight in tow, though Anon didn’t see her yet.

“Had to gather the last of our things before we left.” Said Sunset, then noticed Anon. “And I’m glad you could make it, Anon.”

“Wouldn’t miss it, and thanks for the invite.” Said Anon.

“No problem.” Said Sunset.

However, Anon then noticed Twilight. And he immediately scowled and crossed his arms. “Sparkle.”

Twilight wince and sheepishly waved at Anon. “H-hi Anon. How are you doing?”

“Depends.” Said Anon, “Did you ruin any other chemical experiments, lately?”

Twilight winced at that, and looked down. Clearly he was still mad at her, which surprised the rest of the Rainbooms, whilst Sunset was now concerned, knowing this was going to happen.

“No.” muttered Twilight, “I’m still banned.”

“Uh, Anon, why don’t you wait at the bus?” asked Sunset, “We still have a few things to sort out.”

“Fine.” Said Anon as he grabbed his things, “I’ll wait at the bus.”

Anon walked to the Tour Bus and waited for them there. The rest of the girls on the other hand were still confused.

“Goodness,” said Rarity as she had sensed some tension there. “Whatever was that about?”

“Uh,” said Sunset as she didn’t want Twilight to be further upset, “He still hasn’t forgiven Twilight.”

“Forgive? why…?” said Applejack as she and the others suddenly clicked, “Wait, don’t tell me he’s still mad at her.”

“But…Twilight apologized and everything.” Said Fluttershy.

“Twilight did…but…” said Sunset before she was cut off.

“He won’t accept my apology unless I’m absolutely sure I won’t do it again.” Said Twilight.

“Well, he did tell you not to ignore his notes.” Said Pinkie Pie. “And he does have a master’s degree in chemistry.”

“Although, I get what he’s going through.” Said Rainbow, “I mean, I’d be mad too if someone had messed up the Wondercolt’s routines after I laid them out, or like Applejack when someone messes up the harvests, or like Rarity if someone were to botch up the dresses. Even Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie with the animals and pastries.”

“Surprisingly, Rainbow does have a point.” Said Rarity.

Suddenly the five girls blinked at this, then said in their heads at the same time, ‘Whoa, déjà vu.’

“Guys,” said Sunset as she tried to calm the group down for Twilight’s sake. “I know things were bad, but Twilight is sorry and tried to make up for her mistakes. That’s also one of the reasons Anon is here, to try to fix things between them.”

“Though given his history of being stubborn,” said Rainbow, “He’s still mad at Lightning Dust for what she nearly did to the team and why he put in a petition that she be sent to Military school. And I thought Applejack was the stubborn one.”

“Hey, ah ain’t stubborn!!” said Applejack, causing the girls, even Twilight, to look at her with a flexed eyebrow, which she caught on. “Okay, ah’m a lot stubborn.”

“You know, as Anon onetime told you, you don’t have to take things personally.” Said Rarity.

“You mean like he’s doing with Twilight?” asked Applejack rhetorically.

“His reasons are legit.” Said Rainbow, “And Twilight did lie to him and took advantage of his trust.”

“I thought his notes were rubbish!!” said Twilight, voicing her opinion, “I’ve also worked with chemicals and I thought half of what he wrote was ridiculous!”

“Twilight, he has a master’s degree in chemistry.” Said Rarity, “And he was also our teacher ever since the Fall Formal incident. And because of it, all of us did well in our science, even Rainbow performed admirably in science and chemistry.”

“Heck yeah, he did.” Said Rainbow with pride, “If it weren’t for him, I would’ve been kicked off the team, despite my position as Captain in every team.”

“Yeah, so maybe give him some credit, I mean he did fix the two accidents that you made.” Said Pinkie Pie.

“I guess,” said Twilight, “But he still won’t give me a chance. I mean my parents grounded me and confiscated my chemicals and the schoolboard hasn’t lifted the ban of me using them alone without adult supervision, or at least till I turn twenty.”

“I’m sure we’ll find a way.” Said Sunset. Then she looked at the time. “Oh, shoot. We’d better get going, or we’re going to miss our ship.”

“Alright y’all, grab yer things!!” said Applejack as she grabbed her things, “We’ve got a ship to get to.”

Everyone grabbed their things and made their way towards their tour bus, whilst Anon was waiting for the girls to finish whatever they were doing.

***************************************************************************************************

The drive was a bit, but they were thankfully to make the time, whilst Anon decided to take a nap in order to save his strength for the traveling. Soon enough, all of them arrived at the docking area. Anon got a good look at the ship and it was very big. Bigger than the last ship that the girls went to. It reminded him of the Norwegian ship back home. They really know how to make big ships for vacations.

As Anon was busy getting the last of his things out, he then heard shouting.

“What do you mean, you’re overbooked?!!”

He turned back and he saw that Rarity was fuming.

“Oh boy, this doesn’t look good.” Said Anon as he was able to grab his chest and his luggage and made it over.

“I’m sorry miss,” said the Crew Director, “But all cabins are full at this point as everyone is aboard.”

“But we booked ahead of time after we won the contest!!” said Sunset.

“We are aware of that ma’am, but it seems one of our crewmembers didn’t get the memo and already placed them in. And we can’t change it, otherwise we might get complaints.”

“Well, we’re complaining now!!” said Rainbow in annoyance.

Anon soon arrived and asked, “What’s going on?”

“This ruffian over here botched out bookings and let someone else take them when we already booked the whole thing!!” said Rarity in frustration.

“Seriously?” said Anon as he walked over after he placed his luggage down and walked over. “May I see that?”

The Crew Director handed Anon the tablet over, allowing Anon to look it over. He looked at every single room and saw that all of them were booked, even the ones with a balcony. However, he saw something that caught his attention.

“What about that?” pointed Anon at the top of the ship.

The Crew Director looked at it, and said, “That would be the entire deck dedicated to first class passengers. Where the entire deck is sealed off and only those with keycards can enter. We also allow room service up there that would have them eat anything they want, whilst it also has its own entertainment center, as well as spas.”

The girls were surprised by this, with Sunset saying, “That’s a new one.”

“They just installed it.” Said Twilight, “They wanted to try something new.”

“But I guess it’s booked, right?” asked Anon.

“Not really, turns out we haven’t sent out the memo yet because we weren’t sure if any of them could handle things, so none of them are booked. But I’m afraid you won’t be able to afford this.”

He then showed Anon how much it costed, which caused Anon to do the math in his head and slowly figured out how much it costs altogether. And from the look on his face, he couldn’t help but smirk.

“I see.” Said Anon as he gave the tablet to the Crew Director back and walked over to what appeared to his chest that he somehow brought. “Will this do?”

He kicked the side of the chest, allowing it to open. The moment it did, it revealed a huge amount of treasure inside. Gold, bits, jewels, rubies, sapphires and so on. This put a shocked look on the Rainbooms’ face, as well as the Crew Director. He slowly looked at Anon.

“I believe this will cover the cost for the next two weeks? As well as a few extras?” said Anon whilst he smirked.

The Crew Director looked at the chest, then to Anon. Who then ended up having the biggest grin he had ever bore. He quickly contacted the crew.

“All crewmembers!!” said the Director in excitement, “We have very important guests here!! Take their luggage up to their rooms to the first-class deck, asap!!”

Suddenly, all the crewmembers ran down, took their luggage, and went straight to the ship, as well as the treasure that Anon paid with.

“Wait right here, I’ll get everything set, asap!!” said the Director before running off.

As he did that, the Rainbooms still had shocked looks on their faces, then they slowly looked at Anon.

“Question…HOW?!” exclaimed Rainbow as she was shocked by this.

“I was able to save enough for a rainy day or an emergency,” said Anon, “I even did some treasure hunting with a friend whilst I was on vacation. You’d be surprised how much it’s worth in this world. And when Twilight told me about the cruise, I realized how much it will cost, so I thought I’d bring what I saved up all together. And given that we didn’t have any rooms…I’d count this as an emergency.”

This caused the girls to squeal in excitement and instantly hugged him.

“You’re the best, Anon!!” said Sunset.

After they broke the hug, the Director came back with their keycards.

“Here you go!! All set!! Now come on board and enjoy what the cruise has to offer!!” said the Director.

“Don’t mind if we do.” Said Anon as the girls climbed onboard, as well as Anon.

********************************************************************************************************

Whilst the ship was getting ready, everyone began to inspect their rooms, for it was truly twice the size as any of them could imagine, as if all of them were living in an expensive hotel. All of them continued to explore the place as all of them got excited over what they were seeing. Once all of them were done, they regrouped back at the elevator.

“This is amazing.” Said Rarity in excitement, “I never knew such a place existed.”

“Thanks again, Anon!!” said Pinkie Pie as she hugged Anon from behind.

“Yeah, thanks man.” Said Rainbow as she was greatly excited over it.

“Now I really can’t wait to enjoy this cruise.” Said Sunset.

“Gosh darn it!!”

They looked and saw Applejack coming in. Looking a bit miffed.

“What’s wrong, Applejack?” asked Fluttershy.

“Ah completely forgot to pack in mah medicine for seasickness.” Said Applejack, “It was the first thing that was on mah mind, but I completely forgot.”

Suddenly, Rainbow clicked and groaned, “Oh great, I forgot to pack in my medicine for body cramps.”

“Body cramps?” asked Anon confusingly.

“I’ve been having cramps in my legs lately, so the doctor told me to take a few so that my body doesn’t ache so much. Sure, I can still workout, just not too extreme.” Said Rainbow.

“Oh, posh, I forgot my headache tablets too.” Said Rarity.

“And my vitamins.” Said Sunset.

“And my stimulants that I need to get through the day.” Said Twilight.

“And my allergy medication.” Said Fluttershy.

“Allergies?” said Rainbow in confusion.

“My sinuses have been acting up lately.” Said Fluttershy.

“Aw, candy corn, I forgot to pack in my Lithium.” Said Pinkie Pie.

This took everyone by shock.

“You’re what now?!” exclaimed Sunset.

“Maud’s been wanting me to take that medication, says it’ll be good for me.” Said Pinkie Pie.

Anon then clicked, as he realized something, for this could be the perfect time to test them.

“Actually, I have something in mind.” Said Anon.

The girls looked at them as he pulled out his medication tablets.

“I recently made these tablets, which I call a cure-all medication. Any problem you have, it can help solve things. Seasickness, cramps, headaches, you name it.”

“Oh yeah, I saw you work on those.” Said Sunset.

“So, I wanted it to be a proper test run.” Said Anon, “And I know some of you might not want to take it, but feel free to use it unless absolutely necessary. And if it’s working, just let me know right away, okay?”

The girls were a bit hesitant, but everyone remembered how he did help them out on a few occasions. So, they figured they owed him one.

“Alright, we trust you.” Said Sunset as they accepted them one by one. “If it works, we’ll let you know.”

“I appreciate it.” Said Anon with a smile. “Now why don’t we go and see the cruise off before we do any other activities?”

“Sure thing.” Said the girls as all of them headed towards the elevator.

Anon then realized something. ‘Oh, shoot, I forgot to add some for myself too.’ Thought Anon, ‘Well looks like I’m going to the ship’s infirmary before I do anything else.’

Anon entered the elevator with the girls and headed back down.

***************************************************************************************************

Meanwhile, back in Equestria, Twilight looked over a few things in Anon’s classrooms. She went over his notes and couldn’t help but smile.

“Every time whenever I look at these, he never ceases to amaze me.” Said Twilight.

“Twilight?”

Twilight turned around and was surprised to see Starlight.

“Starlight?” asked Twilight in confusion. “What are you doing here? I thought you’d go to the Crystal Empire.”

“Turns out Meadowbrook and Starswirl went over there before I could.” Said Starlight, “Sunburst said that once they’re done they’ll find a way to visit.”

“That’s good.” Said Twilight.

“You’re going over his notes?” asked Starlight.

“I am.” Said Twilight, “I’m just amazed by this, as well as the chemicals there. I’m so glad he labeled them so that I could know which is which.”

“Same here.” Said Starlight. Until she noticed something. “Wait, did Anon order two sets of chemicals?”

“What do you mean?” asked Twilight.

Starlight pointed at the chemical at the table, gaining her attention. To Twilight’s surprise, it was the…

“Wait,” said Twilight as she used her magic to pull the vial to her, “This was the chemical compound that Anon was gonna use to combine them with the medicine.”

“But if that’s there, then what…”

The two of them looked at the vial and picked it up. They saw it had the same label. However, …

“Wait, this label’s a fake.” Said Starlight.

“But what kind of chemical…?” said Twilight as she used her magic to peel it off.

The two of them saw a symbol on it, a symbol they had hoped it wasn’t, but it was. The two of them gasped in shock as they realized what it was.

“That’s the same ones that Smolder drank by accident!!” said Starlight in shock.

Twilight teleported away, then came back frantically, “Somepony took the chemical from the vault we locked up!!”

“But if Anon mixed that in the chemical without anyone noticing, then that means…!!” said Starlight.

The two of them dreaded and slowly looked at one another.

“We’ve gotta warn Anon!!” said Starlight.

“We can’t, we don’t know if they packed in their journals!!” said Twilight. “Starlight, you need to go to that cruise and stop them immediately!!”

“But how?!!” said Starlight in worry.

Twilight then thought about it, then instantly teleported, then came back with a bag.

“This is the ones we’ll use for emergency!!” said Twilight, “If that ship somehow took off, then use it to find another means of transportation!! And get there as fast as you can!!”

“On it!!” said Starlight as she grabbed it and ran towards the mirror portal.

“And pray none of the girls took it.” Said Twilight in worry.

***************************************************************************************************

Within an hour, Starlight had arrived in the human world in her human form. She frantically looked around, trying to find a means of transportation. She saw that there was a taxi and quickly climbed onboard and paid with the coin that Starlight used as they quickly sped towards the docks.

But as she arrived, she ran towards the docks, and to her shock, she was already too late, the ship had taken off and was already too far away. She panicked, wondering what she would do next. She then looked to the side and saw a person working at the docks.

“Excuse me?!” said Starlight in panic as the guy looked at her. “Is there a way to get to that ship, I missed my departure!!”

“There might be,” said the guy, “If you’re willing to…”

“I’ll give you half of what’s inside.” Said Starlight as she presented it, which surprised him.

“Okay then,” said the guy, “Thankfully I’m the pilot of a helicopter, and I just so happen am going to take some supplies there on the last minute.”

“How long will it take?” asked Starlight.

“At least about fourteen hours.” Said the guy, “Don’t worry, we’ll be there before you know it.”

As the guy left, Starlight stood there in worry.

“I hope so,” she muttered, “I just hope that I’m not too late.”