Everfree Island

Chapters

The Ponyville Perimeter
Too Damn Sweaty
Sea and Sand
Fishing Chickens
Pens and Friends
The Apple Field
No Cave Like Home
Post Contest Chapter - Webbed Up
Post Contest Chapter - Story Tidbits -

The Ponyville Perimeter

Ponyville

Anon leans around the side of the Ponyville Library, Twilight's usual haunt. He'd assumed it would've been doubled the size or some shit with how overgrown and unkempt everything was, considering it's a tree. Instead, it looked shriveled and withered, the ailing oak being stifled and swarmed by the jungle trees that grew far above it -- choking it of sunlight with their impressive canopy. Long, draping vines filtered down, and the midday sun could only gleam so much through this section of the never-ending, Equestria-spanning jungle.

Now it just looks haunted.

The rest of Ponyville looked pretty similar. The buildings were all still around, but old and rotted like they'd been abandoned years ago. Trees and shrubbery overgrown across, atop and around them, with vines and plants crawling up their walls. No part of it was untouched, even the fountain was now drained dry and covered in moss. Anything old was being strangled by the new.

Anon smacks his arm, squinting at one of the bazillion insects that wondered if he might make a tasty treat. At this rate, he'd probably prefer the changelings.

"Looking to borrow a book?" Faust asks, laying atop his head.

"No, uh... just checking if the coast is clear. They typically hover around the Schoolhouse, but I've seen a few stragglers." Anon quickly responds in a hushed tone, eyes scanning the edges of buildings, windows, anything for movement.

"I'd have expected them to claim the entirety of the town. You don't think so?" Faust questions, curious.

Anon shakes his head, Faust rolling off and resuming flight around him.
"It's all their 'Territory', but unless they're prowling, only the Schoolhouse should have the bulk of them."

She raises an eyebrow, scoffing.
"Prowling? Anon, they're foals."

Anon hunches lower, shuffling to peer around the other side. He could see Rarity's boutique from here... and that was not a shop he was keen on getting into. The fact that these little hellions had boarded it up from the outside made it clear enough, whatever was in there should stay in there.

"Well, sure. But they've all kept their old habits. They'll have lunch, and a full foal is a tired foal... so naptime should kick in pretty soon here, too. That should give us enough time to catch a few fish and bug out before they notice." Anon explains, tsking. Nothing so far... not even Sweetie Belle, who usually hangs around the front of the Boutique. His theory must be right. She's one of the only ones he sees even go close to that place. The rest avoid it like the plague.

"Let's hope your theory holds true. Oh, you might want to reconsider picking out a book, too." Faust says idly, coming back from peeping around the tree.

"Huh?" Anon questions, glancing over.

"Well, you've got an orange... thing with a skull on it's head, soaring towards you at a worrying pace. Worrying for you, since I can just poof away." Faust shrugs.

"Ah, shit -- wait. Orange? Flying?" Anon asks, shuffling to look around the other side of the tree again.

Sure enough, soaring down the overgrown plaza of the town, a bright streak of orange was rocketing over the grassy ground, none too different from how Dash normally flies. It looks like a Griffon, actually.

And man, what a wingspan on that chicken. Those feathery appendages easily dwarfed even Celestia's wingspan, twice as large as any of the foals in town. Thing looks properly feathery, too, like her fur was mixed with feathers. That skull it was wearing on it's head wasn't very promising for it's intentions for Anon if he got caught, either.

"Why can it fly?" Faust muses, ignoring the impending danger as she tackles the question.

"Shit, shit..." Anon mutters, quickly moving to the back window. It takes leveraging his spear into the windowsill to crack it open, the greenery that had been growing over it making a resilient layer to ward him out. He's forced to quickly try and cut through the resistant foliage, vines refusing him entry with their grasp on the withered oak.

"Hurry up, unless you want it shrieking and alerting the rest of them. I'm sure you're quite partial to your legs going unchewed." Faust warns playfully, floating around him. He can hear the Griffons wingflaps getting closer, right as the window creaks open, just enough for him. He barrels through the window shoulder-first, landing on the rotted wood flooring with a hard thud. He winces, gritting his teeth to stay silent, pressing himself again the wall.

Faust flutters in after him, landing on the floor, tilting her head as she listens.

...

Anon sits in tense silence, hoping he got through in time. Just barely, he can see the edge of it. It's perching atop the branches of the library tree as cracked chunks of it tumble to the ground below -- instead of hooves, sharp talons grasp the bark. It's head twists around, scanning the surroundings as it's wings are held out wide.

It's... really orange. There's a tuft of purple... feathers? Hair? Sticking out from the top of the mask.

After a moment that stretches far too long, Anon can hear the flap of wings as it lifts off, launching into the air.

He doesn't budge yet -- he can hear it circling, just below the canopy several times before heading back in the direction of the schoolyard.

He waits until the sound of it flying is entirely gone, before sighing to himself.

Faust, who'd been quietly watching beside him, speaks up.
"Well, Scootaloo is gone. For the moment. Still..." She trails off, perplexed. "Why was she almost... Griffon-like?"

Anon groans, slowly pushing himself to his feet, sliding his knife away, not paying much attentions to Faust's ruminations. Too close.

"That was Scootaloo?" Anon questions, giving his companion an incredulous look.

"Felt like her. But... different." Faust muses.

"Whatever that means." Anon grunts, standing.

Ponyville Library

Plan was to give them a couple minutes, since they were still active. By then, naptime should hopefully kick in.

For now, he'd kill time in what was left of Twilight's Library. Sorry for the intrusion, Purple, but... doesn't look like you'd really care much, considering the state of this place.

The books haven't been kept well, all overgrown, water damaged, chewed by moths... moss speckles the corners, and various plants and roots crack through the barky exterior of the now out-of-place oak, assailed by its surrounding flora. For shame, Purple.

Anon hopes she's alright.

Faust flutters by one of the shelves, trying to read some of the spines, spinning herself this-way-and-that as she tries to decipher them past their damage. She seems distracted, though, and gives up pretty quickly.

"Hoping to see your friend?" Faust levies.

"Yeah. I don't think she's here, but I hope she's doing alright." Anon nods.

"Well, Twilight is clever enough to avoid hungry foals, magic or not." Faust simply states, returning to her thoughts.

Anon tries to rifle through the place for supplies, but the entire upper floor is collapsed on itself, intruded by foreign growth and blocking off the stairway. Unless he was willing to spend a few hours clearing debris, with the reward being a likely empty bedroom... pass.

"I... have a theory." Faust suddenly says aloud, floating back over to him.

Anon is fairly distracted with his opportunistic but disappointing bout of looting, mostly just checking drawers she wouldn't let him see before, until his gaze catches on the basement. Anon hums to himself, checking it -- the door is locked up tight, but the wood is weak. Might be worth trying to crack it, see what's through here. He's not familiar with what's on the other side.

She takes Anon's silence as confirmatory interest, and keeps going.
"I believe I may have been mistaken about what the Remnants of Magic are."

"Remnants of Magic? How so?" Anon idly responds, checking the door for it's weakest point. The joints looked like they were barely hanging on, so he should be able to ignore the lock...

"Originally, I assumed that magic may have manifested itself into something akin to the Elements. Gems, crystals, objects of power carried over from this lapse in reality..." Faust explains, slowly fluttering down to sit on an old web-covered stack of books. A curious spider is handed a hefty side-eye, and leaves Faust well enough alone.

Anon snorts, backing up and rolling his shoulders, about to charge the door. Ponyworld rules should let him have his cool action movie moment, right?

"I wouldn't do that -- so it has me assuming their forms may be more... alive. Like vessels." ShoulderFaust explains, slipping in a warning that unfortunately goes unnoticed.

Anon barely realizes, before he slams into the rotted door with his shoulder, expecting the weakened structure to give way. It does, and what a glorious scene it is, with splinters flying as Anon sails right through the debris -- directly into the awaiting staircase that leads down to the basement.

Right. Basement. Forgot about the stairs.

Faust's ear twitches with every thud as Anon descends to the lower floor non-consensually, shaking her head before flapping down after him.

Ponyville Library - Basement

Anon groans, splayed on his back in the dim, dark underbelly of the library. Down here, it's all roots, the only light being cast down the steps from upstairs. He can't tell if his shoulder hurts from the door with most of him hurting from the fall, a dull throbbing ache firmly settling in.

Faust slowly swirls down the steps, lips pursed as she glances around.
"Hm. Still alive? Doesn't look very..." She trails off, landing atop him, ignoring the groan that wheeze out of Anon.
Then her eyes widen, staring into the dark bowels of the basement.
"Anon."

"Ugh... did it look cool, at least?" Anon mutters, blinking hard and rubbing his shoulder.

"Anon. Get back upstairs, now." Faust whispers harshly. Her eyes are still glued forward.

"What? I need a minute, Faust, that hurt pretty bad." Anon grumbles, shifting to lift his head.

The lighting was pretty shit, but he could see...

It's like a large, circular storage room for books and a variety of doohickies. It looks like nerd science stuff, but for magic. Like someone wanted a chemistry lab for sparkles and glowy shit. Anon doesn't think he's actually ever been in Twilight's basement before... not that she hid it or anything, but they never really had a reason to come down here. It had a smell.

He manages up to his feet, ignoring the pain, using his spear for a crutch as he hobbies forward.

"Anon! Stop!" Faust quietly hisses, holding a hoof out -- she won't budge forward any more, eyes wide. It falls deaf upon Anon's overt curiosity.

"...Huh?" Anon mutters, slowly looking up.

There's something... purple suspended in the air, in the center of the room, with numerous appendages stretching out to the walls. Like a mass of flesh bearing some familiarly nerdy colors, with that pink and purple stripe cutting through some of it. Above Anon's head is an exposed torso, a split-open chest cavity that all these fleshy straps of this 'web' come back to connect to, blood dripping from the whole thing and pooling on the floor. He can see sharpened ribs flared out and pulsing, an oversized beating heart, lungs that pump one at a time instead of together... and intestines dangling in the air.

Anon... isn't really quite sure to how to process that. Something all fleshy and gross, tucked between the obtrusive and overgrowing roots that forced their way down from above, pressing through the walls. Which, he just fell directly into.

Watching the exposed heart quiver, beating in a firm rhythm, brings up a few questions Anon isn't sure he's going to get the answers for. The pain from his fall starts to matter a little less now, pointing up towards it and glancing back towards the stairs.
"Faust... I'm recognizing an uncomfortable amount of purple in whatever that is, and if we go with the coincidental location, is that... Twilight? What's up with her?" Anon asks, thumbing up towards her trembling, main fleshy mass. "Is this a Remnant thing, like Scootaloo?"

Bit of a jump from the orange cripple getting bird wings, to... did she become a fleshy web?

Faust's nose is scrunched. There was a sick stench wafting from that room, one tinged with magic. No relief come to Faust, however -- this was not a familiar scent.
"...Not of Equestrian Magic. I think this is the work of something cruel and twisted, still capable of magics to twist ones form and mind." She says slowly, eyes quietly scanning the edges of the room.
"Now back away, before she notices you. Quickly. And quietly."

Faust had no idea who did this... a few guesses, which makes their excursion hurdles more dangerous, and now unpredictable. Whatever occurred here has altered one of the Ponies beyond her usual expectations.

And yet, Anon just stares up at it. As if enraptured by the visible organs, and the twisted flesh.
"You need to get away from her, now." Faust harshly warns, still hesitant to move any closer.

But he's enraptured, staring up at 'Twilight'. Faust's ears pin back as Anon does the opposite.

"Twi, you up there?" Anon calls, reaching out to brush one of the web-like extensions. Anon was more driven by a concern for one of his friends, then an outright concern for a power he didn't recognize.

Basically, he was a fucking idiot who didn't watch enough horror movies.

His hand meets... it feels like a pony, but bristly, which confirms a few unnerving things. Fur, warm flesh... and covered in blood. Soaked, even. It wobbles as he makes contact with it, vibrations running towards the center. A furred fleshweb.

"SHH!!" Faust hisses loudly, angrily flailing a hoof. "Idiot! Shut up! Come here!"

The exposed, central chests ribs begin to... oh. The ribs begin to twitch, before the entire exposed mass closes, the ribs pulling the intestines back inside itself with a dexterity that bone simply should not have, a squishy sound being made as everything is hidden back inside the fleshy...

Both watch, as the mass sitting central of the web begins to turn. Unlike first assumption, it's not attached to anything -- it was sitting atop the meeting point. Long, spindly limbs that were laid alongside the web, hidden from view, press and grow further outward from the mass, turning and hanging off the web. From the shadows around it, the rest of it slowly emerges, uncurling from it's rest. It almost looks like a pony, but... wrong. Very wrong. The limbs just out awkwardly from it, substituting any real hooves, as a head sporting a messy spatter of a very familiar mane pulls itself from the darkness.

Anon is realizing he probably should have listened. A little late now though, frozen in a mixture of confusion and fear.

It suddenly darts down the length of 'web' towards Anon, before either him or Faust can blink -- and stops, holding it's head inches from his face while hanging off the web.

It's Twilight alright. Mostly. She's weirdly thin like she hasn't eaten in how long, and her jaw hangs open with an unnatural, almost unhinged width with crimson dribbling out between her sharpened teeth. Vivid, glowing red eyes that piece through the shadows replace what used to be two big, curious purple orbs that stared up at him with passionate curiosity. Mandibles slowly chitter from inside her maw, twitching.

'Twilight' stares at Anon, eye level, mouth agape. There's a hunger to her gaze, supporting the idea she hasn't eaten in a while, drool dribbling from her maw. Anon stares back, eyes wide. She might remedy that lack of nutrition soon. On him.

Not great. Doubt he can run. Not keen on either trying to fight, or finding if Fausts ruling still applies to this... twisted, spider-like form of once-Twilight.

Not that Anon was plusses by the idea of fighting Twilight anyway. The others, maybe... but not Twilight.

...But she's staring at him. Just like she used to. Maybe she's... still in there?

Faust swallows hard, weighing her options. She can't afford to lose the human, but his stupidity just waltzed him into a spider-nest formed of the flesh of the Princesses favorite student. She could try stunning it, but her power was limited without her proper magic... she bites her lip, desperately trying to think of an out. Attack might be the only option, just enough to get away while it sizes him up --

"Hey, Purple." Anon says suddenly with a shaky voice, reaching out and ruffling it's mane, around the base of it's horn.
"Uh... funky new look, I dig it, though I didn't think you were big on insects. Seemed more Fluttershy's thing."

It blinks as he touches it, but continues to stare. Undeterred and slightly emboldened by not being ripped to shreds, Anon continues as Faust simply watches, the magic from her horn puttering away.

"Where's Spike, though? He become a spider-thing like you, hiding upstairs or something?"

The twisted Twilight's glowing eyes blink on the contact, shifting its gaze to the offending hand. It's tongue, an abbhorantly long and prehensile thing, traces the razor-sharp teeth that line its mouth.

And then, those opaque, pupil-less eyes and that bristled face seems to... soften. An ungodly noise escapes her throat, hacking up... something fleshy that splats to the floor below.
"Ah...non. Rhaa...riih...ty...eess."

To Faust's complete surprise, Twilight's head slowly tilts to stare at him, remaining sat and still as his hand coasts her fur, her hair. Twilight's poised stance relaxes, head leaning into his hand.

"...What?" Faust mutters, taken aback.

"Figures he's there. You been alone this whole time, Spider-Twi?" Anon laughs nervously to himself, continuing.

Slowly, with flesh that creaks and bones that groan... 'Spider-Twi' nods.
"Ahl... ohne."

"Huh. Well, I've got a camp up the hill, if you ever... web that way?" Anon finds himself offering tentatively, watching her for a moment.

The only response is a quiet, strange noise that's a mis between a chitter and a nicker, Spider-Twi's... Anon thinks he sees the mandibles inside of her mouth helping her make said noise. Interesting.

"Non...ny..."
'Twilight' mumbles, quieter now, seeming to have lost some of the excitement. She nuzzle his face with hers, cheek to cheek -- an act that... smears him with a fair bit of drool and blood.

"Anon!" Twilight shouts, startling him from his slumber -- the book slides off his face, hitting the floor loudly as he sits up.

"Weu--huh?" He mumbles, rubbing his eyes.

"You're always hogging my couch. Seriously. Every time, you say you come here to read, and I find you three pages in, snoring on my sofa!" She scolds, stamping her hoof.

The Princess' favorite purple is stood in her living room, glaring at him from beside the couch of which he so helped himself to.

"Alright, alright!" Anon throws his hands in the air, wobbling to a stand as the pouty pony continues to stare.
"Not my fault your place is so comfortable."

"It... huh?" She asks, tilting her head.

"Well, Dash keeps trying to bug me to tell her the differences between my Football, so she can compare it to her Hoofball. She's been hounding me for the last week, and this is the best place to duck away from her. She wouldn't be caught dead reading something that isn't the new... what was it?"

"Daring Do." Twilight retorts bluntly, frowning.
"So you just come here to hide from Dash?"

"Well, you're the Pony I get along with best, so... yeah?" Anon shrugs.

"...I am?"

"Well, when you're not yelling at me."

Twilight frowns.

Twilight's magic scoops the book off the floor, holding it beside herself.
"Well, if you weren't napping all day, I wouldn't need to. Hang on, don't you have work?"

"Oh. Not really, anymore. Applejack fired me." Anon states, pursing his lips.

Twilight double-takes right as she's about to turn around, to return the book to it's rightful place.
"She what?"

"Eeyup."

"But... statistically, your height should prove ample for collecting the missed apples from her bucking! Theres numerous advantages your build should have for working the field!" Twilight objects.

"You'd think that, but that earth pony magic helps them out plenty. Honestly, I kind of just got in the way." Anon shrugs, huffing loudly.
"Speaking of... room and board got canceled with it. You mind if I crash here again?"

"...Is this why you've been trying to hog my couch for the last few days?"

"...Maybe?" Anon shrugs, grinning sheepishly.

Twilight groans, rubbing her face with a hoof.
"Yes, of course you can stay, Anon. Just... help Spike with cleaning up like before."

"Same closet?"

"Same cl -- same room, Anon. It's not a closet." Twilight quickly corrects herself.

"Well, for someone of my size..." Anon holds his arms out.

"What, would you prefer my bed?" Twilight snorts.

"...I was gonna say couch, but hey, if you're offering. A little forward there, Purple." Anon teases.

"What? I wasn't -- I --" Twilight quickly flusters, cheeks taking a flush as she stutters.

"Messing with you." Anon chuckles, leaning down to poke her nose.
"Thanks, Twi. I'll pay you back for this. When I figure out how..." Anon mumbles, words trailing off. He plucks the book back out of her magical grasp, wandering off to go deposit it where he found it.

Twilight stares after him for a long moment, the blush on her cheeks never quite seeming to go away.
"... I mean, you'd probably fit in my bed..." Twilight quietly comments, shaking her head before she trots off to resume whatever task she'd been in the middle of, before Anon distracted her. Again. As usual. She'd figure things like that out later.

Spider-Twilight slowly pulls away, turning and scaling up the lengths of web, easily scaling several feet in seconds and pushing towards one of the distant walls. Her chest... slowly reopens, organs exposed to the air again, as the ribs protrude forward. She uses them almost like single-fingered hands, ribs now twisted and sharpened, as they tap the spines of a line of books several meters up off the ground from a wall-covering bookshelf. She's still maintaining her library, even like this. The books down here are in a good bit better condition than the ones upstairs, to note.

Faust has little else to say as her expectations had been subverted. Anon, however, slowly steps after Twilight as he keeps speaking.

"It's a cave, and it's a fair bit more dry than here, if you want to bring your books." Anon continues, blinking out of... was that a memory? Calling up to her before shrugging, continuing from his offer. "If not, I'll try to visit so you aren't too lonely. See you around, Twi?"

No response. Just a strange chattering sound, and bones grinding.

"Figures -- still a nerd." Anon sighs warmly, giving a little wave before he turns to leave.

Faust could feel it. The shift in influence. It felt... diluted. Like there was a gap, a slip in the foul corruption that seeded this place, returning some semblance of the Unicorn, despite her still twisted and misbegotten form. She was absolutely going to have ripped him apart, but... didn't.

Anon reaches the stairs and the awaiting, slack-jawed miniature Faust.
"Anon."

"Mm?" He hums, wiping his hands. And face. Twilight was a bit... grimy, to say the least. Wash himself off at the beach.

"How did you do that?" She questions, concerned.

"Do what?" He shrugs, starting back up the steps. He's careful not to put too much weight down, for the fear of shoving an entire foot through a rotted step and repeating his tumble. Anon looks back, sighing softly before carrying on. He wished he could do more for her, but... for now, she seemed to be in an alright place.

Faust glances back at Twilight, before quickly fluttering after him.
"She was about to rip you to shreds, Anon. I could feel the bloodlust, from whatever has twisted her, oozing from her."

"Twilight? Psshh, nah. We're tight, she'd never." Anon rebuffs, blowing a raspberry.

Faust slowly bobbles up and down on his shoulder as Anon scales the stairs, returning to the properly-sunlit living room, her thoughts swirling. Perhaps the Human would be more impact full on their journey than she thought.

Wait.

"Anon -- why did you invite her to your camp? Avoiding getting eaten once is a fluke, at best. Now she's going to show up and web you up while you sleep."

"Because the basement was kind of gross? She shouldn't hang out down there alone, anyway. She's offered her home to me countless times, I can do the same at least once. In fact... wonder if I can get her to make me some string, get a fishing rod going." Anon mumbles in completely unconcerned curiosity.

Originally, she'd label him an idiot and a moron. But that idiot just subverted a corruption that fully intended to devour him, by... being friendly with it.

Well. Looks like even here, in whatever ruined world this was, Friendship was a magic that refused to quit. She just didn't expect the one to form as it's remnant to be...

She looks at the human, mumbling to himself about bait and fish.

She did dump him in the proper timeline for a reason. Looks like she made the right choice, even if it was an accidental one. She rolls her eyes, fluttering over to catch up and get to her usual spot on his shoulder.

Author's Note

Another render from the same idea, thanks to [Bad Touch]
for the first render

Too Damn Sweaty

"You can stop trying to grab me, you know -- you'll never catch me. And even if you do, I'll smite you." The little, fairy-sized cream-colored pony above his shoulder jeers, fluttering away from his grabby mitts.

"Still not sure if you're even real or not, considering you have yet to actually follow up on any of those threats." Anon sighs, giving up for now. Too wily. He'd try again later.

"Obviously I'm real, nitwit. I'm right here." She holds her hooves wide -- doubling as a taunt for how he just can't catch her. If he did manage to get his hands on her, Anon foresaw a jar in her future.

Not that jar.

"That's just what a hallucination caused by a head-injury would say." He rolls his eyes, trying to instead focus on the task at hand.

"Stupid." She mocks, sticking her tongue out.

"Can you mope silently?"

"Absolutely not. Idiot."

Anon groans. There was no winning with her.

About a week ago, Anon woke up with a raging headache, a bump on his head, and a new nuisance dedicated to sticking to him, all along for the ride in an unfamiliar land. Sounds familiar?

Problem is, he already did that.

Woke up in a weird forest, wandered out of it to be greeted by colorful horses, found his place in Ponyville, got settled, made friends -- it all seemed so distant now. He just wasn't expecting a messed up do-over where nothing seemed quite right.

Waking up in ponyland was one thing. Opening his eyes to a thick, sweltering jungle without anyone else in sight was another. Palm fronds, ferociously fernicious ferns, hanging vines, too many damn bugs, and a consistent swass that ailed his shorts... worst of all, no Sugarcube Corner for his morning coffee.

His first assumption was he must've died and gone to hell, until this thing flapped over to start bothering him.

Now he's sure he's in it.

Something happened to Equestria, according to his 'new companion'. Magic was kaput, muted, and twisted. Only the most capable creatures could even still tap into it, so most Pegasi can't fly. Unicorns can't float shit. Earth ponies... well, they probably didn't notice.

The entire continent was a rainforest now. And... apparently an island? Some early and rough exploration found that the general geography was roughly the same, but considering he could see the coast from the edge of what was left of Ponyville, something was not right. Equestria was an Archipelago, as if it had originated that way. Ponyville was still there, buildings and all. Just... completely overgrown and unpopulated.

Actually, not quite right. Ponyville still had a population, just... not a friendly one. That's where Cheerilee and her Ratpack reside now, and he gives them a wide, WIDE berth.

Trying to get into Ponyville to look for anyone else stranded here wound up sorely backfiring when a whole swarm of foals, fillies and colts, all wielding spears and knives with masks on their faces came charging out of the buildings and alleys. Cheerilee is probably the only adult pony still left in the entire town, now some kind of Matriarch.

Anon didn't like thinking about what happened to the others. He stumbled across too many bones to keep his theories light and lofty.

"Looks like you're running low on food. Planning to starve?" His source of headaches so helpfully points out, distracting him from his thoughts. Floating above one of his little woven baskets, sat beside a smoothed rock stained with fishblood, she looks at him expectantly.

Anon rolls his eyes, tugging the twine tighter against the stick he'd been messing with, working the sharpened rock onto its edge. Lucky for him, he had one unbeatable to call upon for not dying in the rainforest in the first three days.

He was a fiend for those low-technology building and survival videos. The kind where some guys in shorts make an entire pool with mud and sticks. Could zone out for hours watching those, and half the time he'd just throw one on as white noise to pass out to. They were bullshit and had construction gear just outside of frame, sure, but they were entertaining -- and was currently serving as a good inspiration for his camp.

Glancing back at his little setup in the works, he was proud of it, even if present company enjoyed slandering his efforts every moment she could. In about a weeks time since awakening, he'd taken over an empty cave which looked like the entrance to some cavern system, and figured the general local layout. Boarded up the back with logs so nothing came up, set up a fire pit, sharpened some sticks to ward off the local pests, gathered some big leaves to serve as a bed... it was rough living, but it was living in the technical sense. Even had time to weave himself some baskets out of some of the ferns and knock together some tools with sticks and rocks.

Couldn't get the fish smell out of the place, though. At this point, just part of its charm.

"Why don't you poof me up a meal, if you're so all powerful?" Anon teases, damn well knowing the answer. "Take a double cheeseburger, fries... shit, let's splurge, and do a shake too."

"You know I can't utilize magic like that, not with Equus in this state. I've explained this to you. Are human brains this bad at remembering?" She gripes, crossing her hooves as she floats back over to his shoulder, leaning on it.

"Sounds like you should let me worry about how much food we have then, since there's a perfectly good fish-laden beach not even an hours walk from here." He frowns, debating trying to flick her. Every time he was certain of it being a figment of his imagination, it pulled some shit like taking a bite of his food. He should try to find Nurse Redheart... if she even was still a doctor.

"And what do you plan to do about our resident gang of underage tribals?" She muses, enjoying the uncomfortable expression that settles on Anon's face.

"You picked up on how I speak way too fucking quickly. What happened to all that Regal, noble shit? Prithee and thou and stuff." Anon veers topics, ignoring the question. He'd only known her for a week, and she went from speaking like Luna, with the olden-horse speak and the loud voice, to chatting like any other.

"...Honestly, speaking like this is freeing. I especially enjoy that one word you keep saying. Fuck? So versatile! Like Buck, but the buildup on the F with ones lips gives it so much more..." She circles the air with a hoof, thinking.

"Oomph?" Anon offers.

She nods.
"Oomph. Ffffffffffffffuck you." She draws out, floating in front of his face while she loads it up, going extra heavy on the 'ck'. She even holds up her hooves like she's giving him the finger.

"And here you are, insulting me while wanting my help. How benevolent of you, oh crude one." Anon rolls his eyes, pushing himself up to his feet. This should do well enough for a spear.

"Only because you're being so slow about it." She blows a raspberry at him, swirling around his head before nestling onto his shoulder again, lounging on her side and stifling a yawn. She's only about the size of his fist and weighs almost nothing, but is still a pain in the ass.

She's not a breezy, or whatever those ones are. She calls herself 'Faust', claiming she made Equus or some shit; Anon heard Celestia mutter something about Faust one time when she stubbed her hoof, so that's probably where his brain is pulling that from. Cream-colored fur, Alicorn, red mane, quill and inkwell on her butt... and keeps bugging him to find the remaining fragments of magic so she can 'reset' what 'happened'. Doesn't seem to know what happened, though.

No idea why his brain chose a tiny alicorn as his way to process head trauma, but whatever. At least she wasn't an eyesore of colors.

Anon watches her get settled, before checking himself over. His old clothes were holding out well enough, and his rampant absorption of survival videos about making knives from bone or frying meat on a rock paid off well enough that he's got enough to get by. For now, the plan was to cross through the lighter side of the jungle, heading for the coast past Prior Ponyville. Do some fishing and head home, prep and stock up on food, and then explore some of the surrounding area.

Faust watches him scoop a few shiny rocks he'd picked out from a little pile, snorting behind a hoof.
"Is that how you intend to pass through? You're going to bribe Cheerilee's little checkpoint?"

"I doubt it'd work, but never hurts to try. I'd rather just avoid them. Worst comes to worst though... I'm not above punting foals. Say -- if you're going to reset this place, can I...?" Anon treads carefully, side-eyeing the little nuisance.

"No, you cannot eat or kill any ponies, Anon. I'll smite you on the spot if you bring it up again." She states uncomfortably bluntly, glaring at him.

"Noted, though I meant more whack them around then... wonder how a pony would taste, actually." Anon mocking muses, as Faust leers dangerously close to his eye with her horn.

Not like he was really intending to run around stabbing ponies. Grisly business, and they were too cute for that.

She rubs her hooves together, creating a surprisingly large static shock -- before jabbing him in the neck.

"YEE-OW!" Anon flinches hard as it courses through him, swatting at her. She easily flaps off, doing a circle around him.

"You did goad me, Anon. Perhaps let this be a lesson?" She jeers, grinning widely.

"You suck." Anon huffs. Felt like when Twilight zapped him the first time he ever arrived. Checking his makeshift bag, made from his jacket and tied together with some of the spare twine.
"I thought you said you couldn't use magic!

"For the most part. I have enough left to keep you in line." She warns, before settling down, sitting and crossing her hooves.

Rubbing his tingling neck, Anon leaves his camp behind for the moment and treks towards Ponyvilles perimeter, pushing through the overgrown flora, ducking past the hanging vines. He's made this trip twice already, but he took a much wider berth... and it takes too long. This time, a little risk, for a chance at a big reward. If his plan panned out.

"Why don't you just skirt Ponyville the long way, like before?" She asks suddenly.

"It's a long trek. If I can figure this shortcut, it'll save time. And... I'd like to try to find my friends, if I can."

Every few minutes, there's a decent-sounding smack as he aims for whatever bug tries to assail him, past the trolling and chirps of the jungle.

He tries to smack Shoulder-Faust in the same manner when her guard is down, but gets another zap for his efforts.

Sea and Sand

Ponyville Coast

Their little detour proved Anon's theory correct, with the overgrown jungle-addled Ponyville retaining it's quiet, quaint, and now eerie status as bugs buzz and the distinctive, distant smell of the ocean lingers through the fronds. The local trouble was tucked in for an afternoon nap, hopefully for a while.

Cutting through town and skirting heavily around the Schoolhouse, which now looked closer to a barricaded raider encampment nestled among the dense foliage, Anon and ShoulderFaust managed their way back out of the town's breadth and down towards the awaiting beach.

It was a weird thing. Where the Everfree was supposed to start, instead, soft white sand took over the grass, offering the smell of the sea and the lapping of waves. Like someone had just up and plucked the entire forest out of the ground, and dropped an entire ocean in it's place. Didn't make any sense, scale wise, but Anon would rather a calm beach then that fuckity forest to forage in.

Wonder what happened to Zecora, though. Well, obviously Anon was wondering what the hell happened to almost every-pony he knew, but Zecora kind of had an ocean dropped on her. He hoped she could swim.

Tossing aside his shoes, Anon wriggles his toes once he's gotten across the sand, the surprisingly warm water lapping at his legs as he stands ankle-deep, taking it in again. Still just as beautiful as the first time he'd seen it.

Distant, craggy overhangs sprout from hills and mountains, forming a miniature, distant cove. Ocean stretched far into the distance, like Anon had just walked the breadth of Equestria, despite his camp being just past the other side of Ponyville's hills.

ShoulderFaust is processing their recent discovery while aptly sat on Anon's shoulder, brow furrowed in deep thought. Anon, in contrast, starts stepping through the crystal-clear waters of the coast, spear levied and on the lookout for fishy movement, looking relatively worry-free as he scans the sand, rocks and tidepools. He's left most of his stuff on the beach further up, tucked on top of a rock to stay dry. The water is a very comfortable temperature, the surface and his skin tickled by a gentle breeze.

Well, one pang of thought does bother Anon. Did any ponies turn into fish? Was he eating them? He'd checked them for cutie marks last time he caught them, and so far, the answer was no. He hoped it stayed that way.

"Why are you so unbothered?" Faust suddenly speaks up, poking at his cheek from her shoulder-bound perch.

"Huh? Oh. Dunno. Already got culture-shocked once, and I'm pretty used to weird shit thanks to the internet." Anon off-handedly retorts, spear flicking as he sees... no, nothing.

Faust blinks blankly at him at mention of the worldwide web, continuing.
"Your friend was deformed and corrupted, Anon. Evil has taken deep root. Her body malformed, her very soul twisted. I still haven't figured out why she didn't simply devour you." Faust states, still incredulous at his reaction and continued... lack of worry.

"I've hung out with Luna; not as Spidery, sure, but cute things around here having a dark and twisted side to them isn't anything new. Humans eat that stuff up, too -- you should see all our movies and fan bases. If it's a cute show, the fandom around it is unhinged. Plus, weird shit happens constantly around here. A bit... more gore than usual for Ponyland, I'll admit, but it was still clearly Celestia's favorite little bookworm." Anon retorts, pausing for a moment as a shadow darts past in the shallows -- but he doesn't stab quick enough. It's not as easy as it is in the videos, and that whole water refraction thing is trippy to work around. He was used to fishing with a rod. Shifting his grip, he goes back to watching.

Man, Celestia. Wonder how she's faring through all this. Faust seems to perk up at the name, too.

He huffs, renewing his slow walk and search as he continues.
"Plus, Twi's a nerd. She only really cares about the books. She'd always be trying to bring me a new one to read, but I couldn't keep up with her pace. I'm more of a casual reader. Honestly, I just feel kind of... bad? For her? With the state of her collection. Wonder if she can even read like that. Or if she's trying to. That's why I offered my camp, you know. If she's a Remnant, we should keep her close. Or at least, keep tabs on where she is. I'm willing to be Rarity is still in her boutique, the way it's all boarded up, and that she's one of them too."

Faust sighs, unsure if this development is a good or bad thing. Foreboding, in now that she found villainous influence and corruptive, ill intent creeping upon the world. An insect alteration like that likely meant the Changelings beheld some new, dark powers... but if Equestria's roster of ner-do-wells were freely roaming, that too meant the worst of them was free.

Both of the remaining Draconequus must be eating this up... unless the rest have returned. If they have, their squabble should buy them some time. Faust wonders how many other of Equestria's villains are thriving in this complete upheaval, and just how far they've gone.

"... Just be careful." Faust warns in long, quiet thought as Anon splashes around. Even with the Remnants, resetting this mess just got much more complex, knowing she now had to weave around other invasive factors.

"So why do you think Twi was like that? I've never known her to be the insect type. I swear she had a thing with ladybugs." Anon asks aloud, slowly climbing over a sizable, soaked rock to peer on it's other side. Nothing. He tsks, sliding down its trying not to make too large of a disturbance.

"In this world, it looks like Equestria's villains run free. And that particular twist was likely either the Changelings, or from a creature you're likely not familiar with. I pray you never meet her here, Anon." Faust explains.

"Huh. Chrysalis, you reckon? I dunno... seems counter-intuitive. Didn't look like she was capable of throwing around much love, and the rest of Ponyville didn't seem very orientated to their needs." Anon comments, humming. "You think the Crystal Empire is a jungle, too? Or maybe it's a new biome. Hard to imagine it as anything but cold." Anon mumbles, stabbing at another shadow that darts past. They were small fish, but if he could catch a couple, he'd be set for a bit. "Actually, harder to imagine the Changelings being worse off than they already were."

"What do you mean, Anon?" Faust questions, tilting her head. She lifts a wing to shade herself from the sun, squinting at it. The Sun and Moon still made their rotations, which hopefully meant the Princesses were of sound enough mind to help. At least, Faust hoped. Given the depth of what could change, here, there was a lot of potential for both of them to be at their worst... and then some.

"Well, I heard from Twilight -- the before Twilight, not the spidery one -- who read it from Starswirl's journals, about how the Changelings were made. Born of an evil tree in a swamp, or something. Forced to hunt creatures for their Love, never knowing it yourself. Tragic, huh?" He explains.

"Anon, they've caused innumerable problems for Equestria over the centuries. You would show them empathy?" Faust questions, giving him an incredulous look.

"I mean, I'm not ignoring what they've done, but... it's still kind of sad, isn't it?" Anon offers, shrugging. "I feel bad for them, you know. Just trying to survive with the hand... or hoof they got dealt, you know. Not their fault they need love to survive."

"I'm continuously impressed by just how dense and oddly caring you are." Faust tsks, dangling her hooves over his shoulder. "And what of Nightmare Moon, then?"

"...Her armor is cool." Anon mumbles.

Faust rolls her eyes.
"You're a naive, gullible fool. But, at least you care. I'm surprised you didn't shit yourself when you saw Twilight, honestly. I still remember when you found that centipede on your pillow, yesterday." She chides him, nudging his neck with both hooves, mimicking their scuttle.

Anon's face and neck scrunches as he remembers, shying away and swatting at Faust, who effortlessly flaps out of the way as usual.
"There's not much point getting freaked out about it, right? You're going to reset things and fix everything, and we can't find the Remnants if I'm busy panicking. I wanna help my friends, you know. They helped me out when I got dumped here." Anon responds, surprisingly steeled in his resolve. "Least I can do is try to help them when they're going through something."

That, and his incessant crush on the Princess' student, Faust huffs to herself.
"...Hm. What drives you, Anon?" Poking him again, Faust suddenly prompts him.

"Huh?" Anon asks, attention torn from the water, glancing at the little Faust that nudges his cheek. "I'm not a car."

"Oh, shut the fuck up, you know what I mean. For someone whose lost everything again, you're weirdly motivated." She elaborates.

"Ha. Uh... I'm just confident we'll get it back again, I guess? Ponyland goes haywire every few weeks so nothing new there. Sure, I'm not usually this involved unless I'm a victim of whatever crops up, but if tiny, colorful horses who spout about friendship and harmony before blasting a watermelon-sized hole in something with magic can stop numerous evil takeover..." Anon trails off, squinting towards the water at his feet. Standing still, the shadow of a fish slowly drifts between his legs.
"I can probably handle a scavenger hunt and a bit of babysitting. Emphasis on probably."

"And what if you can't? What if you're stuck here, like this? What if everyone is stuck like this?" Faust continues, driving her point.

"...I can probably figure out!" He grunts as he stabs downwards, spearing the shadow before wrenching it from the water.

Wriggling and impaled, a decent-sized fish of near a half-foot long is hoisted from the waters, flapping about uselessly. Kind of looked like a salmon, if with a splash more color.

Thankfully, the fish looked othwrwise normal, and without cutie mark. Not the biggest, but if he could get a few -- he'd be set. Hopefully they tasted the same, too, Anon muses, dangling it in front of him.

"Stressing won't do me much good at this point. I mean, worst case, I die. Then I don't have anything to worry about anymore." He grimly jokes, huffing proudly at his catch.

"Did you ever find out why you got stuck in Equestria?" Faust asks, watching the fish wriggle in his grasp. It doesn't really sound like a question.

"Nope." Anon shrugs, trudging through the water back to his things.

"Want me to tell you?" Faust leers, raising a brow.

"Mm... Nah." Anon shakes his head, dropping the fish off on his unwrapped jacket, to spare it from the sand. At this point, he was just accepting he'd smell like fish forever. Hopefully those bears stayed fucked off. He didn't like those Ursa things.

Hope they didn't turn into anything weird, either.

"Really? Not even a hint curious? Or perhaps, it would drive you to spiral into a rage, knowing what tore you from your previous life? Fall into a depression?" Faust prods, surprised, trying to goad him.

"I've come to terms with it. Left things behind, found new things. Life is all about change, you know? Just... one big, sudden change for me, so... it is what it is." Anon chuckles, wading back out into the water. Shading his eyes with a hand, he looks out into the distance, watching birds perch on the distant, cliffside rocks. "...Never saw the ocean before I wound up here, you know? Lived in a landlocked town, never went that far out."

"What do you make of it?" Faust asks, leaning her head on her hoof.

"Been to lakes, rivers... the way it just keeps going, making the horizon one, flat line. The smell... there's a taste to the air. It's pretty cool." Anon explains, before shrugging.

"Cool?" Faust parrots, snorting. "What an empty description. Cool. Try again."

"I thought that 'cool' covered it. Uh..."
Anon trails off, staring into the distance. His eyes roam, slowly flicking from various minor, environmental points of interest as Faust quietly watches him observe.

"The... way the waves gently roll towards the beach, yet they don't even break the horizon line is neat." He tries, looking at Faust expectantly. She only squints at him.

"Neat. Hmph. And what else?" Faust scoffs, shaking her head.

"The... way the ocean almost matches the sky, how the sea foam is like... wet clouds, for us down here. Makes me think about how pegasi fly up there, just like how we swim down here. Wait, aren't there those... water ponies?" He asks suddenly.

"Alright, getting more insightful. Keep going." Faust nods, ignoring his question to keep him on track.

"Uh..." Anon mumbles, glancing around, before turning away from the ocean, back towards the beach.
"Sand, I guess. I'm used to gritty, rocky lake beaches and riverbeds. Here, it's soft under the feet."

"And hot, if the way you were yelping earlier is anything to go by." Faust teases.

"Yep." Anon groans, being reminded of his first trip to this beach. "And the... well, the jungle is pretty. Too many bugs for my liking, but I'm used to more temperate forests. Here, everything is so wildly overgrown, you can't help but be pulled into nature, especially with how it's overgrown everything. I'd say it's beautiful, but until I make some mosquito repellant, I'm calling it okay."

"I'll give you that one. See, Anon? A little more to it than just 'cool'." Faust notes, crossing her front hooves and resting her head atop them.

"Sure, sure. Why'd we, uh... play the descriptor game, again?" Amon asks, glancing at his shoulder.

"Wanted to see if you'd step on the urchin by your foot." She points down into the water.

"Wh--wEUGH--" Anon quickly flails, eyes darting through the shallows as he balances on one foot.

His brow furrows as Faust's snort-laughing meets his ears.

"You fucking suck." He grumbles, levying his spear and lowering his foot.

"So gullible!" She chortles out between breaths. When she does eventually slow her laughter, she sighs, relaxing on his shoulder. Perhaps the human was a little more... profound than she expected.

"Shitfuck." Anon hisses, water splashing as his spear misses another wily fish. "Fuck your mother."

Maybe not.

Both pause as a distant sound draws their attention, hundreds of meters away towards the horizon.

Far off the coast, something... massive breaches the water, twisting through the air like a breaching, leaping whale with some impressive hang time. Except it just... keeps going. More and more body emerges as the head dives back under the water, like an unnaturally long... sea serpent? It has stripes running down its side, numerous fins linings its sides, twisting around before it splashes back down and disappears, quiet promptly returning to the little beachside cove.

"Was that...?" Faust mumbles.

Anon decides not to mention that he saw stripes. No way he's going out there.
"One big-ass fish, that's for sure."

"...How long can you hold your breath for?" Faust asks, grinning.

"Absolutely fucking not. There's enough Remnants on land." Anon refutes, as he stabs at another fish.

Faust laughs to herself, settling in as Anon keeps at it.

...

Unbeknownst to either of them, a pair of of near-turquoise eyes rise partially out of the water a small distance away, observing quietly, tinged with curiosity. It keeps it's distance, content with watching the coast's noisiest repeat visitor.

"...And how might I help my strangest visitor? It's unusual to find you at my door." Zecora notes dryly, as Anon leaps into her hut the moment she opens the door -- and slams it shut behind himself, pressed up against it, panting.

"Just, uh... need a spot to hide. For a little bit, if that's cool." Anon says between gasps, quickly scuttling to her window to close the blinds.

"What kind of vindictive behavior have you brought to my doorstep?" She questions, trying to look out the other window -- nope, Anon shuts the wooden blinds before she can stick her nose out. She frowns, watching him as he huddles below the windowsill.
"...To panic this much speaks of ill of --"

Before Zecora can finish rhyming, Anon's hand latches around her snout, shushing her.

A distant, muffled voice screaming Anon's name can be heard. And it sounds angry.

Once it quiets, Anon slowly releases Zecora, suffering her patient, yet furrowed glare.

Anon huffs, running a hand through his hair.
"I... may have been dared by Rainbow Dash to mess with Applejack. Into taking her hat, and trying to beat the record of who can hold onto it the longest."

"An incredibly foolish venture, to tempt the wrath of the Apple. Begone with you, before my abode suffers the effects of your inevitable battle." Zecora scolds, waving a hoof at him.

"I already dropped the hat! She just wants to kick my ass for taking it. Didn't even get close to the record. Not asking you to hide me out to break it or anything, just... until she doesn't want to kick my legs off?" Anon laughs weakly, holding his hands up in surrender.

Zecora stares at him for a long moment, listening as the yelling gets further away.

"...Very well, you can remain. But efforts you must take, if safety you're to gain." Zecora tsks, trotting over to her cauldron.

"Uh... yeah, sure. What did you have in mind?" Anon questions, pulling himself from the floor and following her, walking with a hunch to avoid hitting his head on the numerous jars and ingredients hanging from the ceiling.

It watches silently for some time, chuckling to itself while bobbing softly with the waves, before dipping below the surface, gone, leaving only ripples.

Author's Note

Fishing Chickens

Ponyville

"Well, it was a reasonable assumption. Seems you had their age range a bit skewed, hm?" Faust teases, idly flapping beside him, keeping up with ease.

Huffing and puffing, Anon retorts loudly.
"They're small and cute, I thought they'd still do naptimes and shit! I never bothered to figure the age comparisons!" Anon shouts, glancing back over his shoulder, his tied-up jacket sloshing and shifting weirdly, filled with a few wet fish as he runs with it slung over his back.

"Cute? Faust asks, glancing behind them.
"Nope, no nap for these guys, apparently. Better keep hauling, they don't look happy to see you." Faust comments. "Take that back, actually, some of them look real happy to see you, and I think that's worse. Are they drooling?"

"Oh-ho-ho fuck no." Anon gripes as he kicks it up another gear, his shoes flinging dirt.

After catching a few fish and squaring them away in his makeshift bag, Anon and Shoulder-Faust tried to cut back through Ponyville rather than skirt around it, on a gamble that Cheerilee's little hellhounds would still be down for their nap.

They got spotted by one of the wandering foals who screeched loudly like a banshee, alerting the pack.

Probably close to a dozen knee-high, tribal spear and knife toting foals were chasing after him, shouting childish insults and making frankly adorable-yet-terrifying horse noises. It'd be kind of cute, if they didn't continually bring up how they wanted to eat him. They try to throw one or two of the spears, but their aim is pretty dogshit, going WAY wide. Lucky him for now, but they've got the numbers, and it's only gonna take one them to not miss.

Anon thinks he can see Cheerilee at the back of the pack, dressed up like the rest with a big crown, but it's hard to get a good look while hauling this much ass.

Something bumps against Anon's heels -- an especially nippy one gets a little too close, and gets punted for it. Think that was Silver Spoon. Oh well, she probably had it coming.

Faust glares at him for it, but Anon is pretty sure he's got a pass for a little pony punting in this situation.

Anon is surprised that they're faltering when he glances back -- until he realizes he's getting near the Boutique. They ward wide around it, avoiding it like it was some taboo place as they shout and whinny. Had a feeling they didn't like it, since they avoided it and boarded it up. There's a bunch of childish scrawlings of warnings and skulls across the walls and boards, mostly of skulls and jagged lines.

Stopping here helps get him a moment to catch his breath, but he's still not ecstatic about it, huffing and puffing loudly as he pauses to lean on the Boutique wall.

Some of the rat pack are doubling back in confusion, others tentative on an approach. A short rest, before Cheerilee catches up, rallies them, and does some shit like surrounding the Boutique. Silver Spoon is right at the edge of the group, holding a very large stick. With nails sticking out of it.

"You're not very fit, are you?" Faust questions, a little annoyed his head is bobbing around to much to land on properly.

"Shut... up!" Anon manages between staggered breaths, retightening his grip on his fishy prize. "I'm healthy for my age!"

"Sure, sure. Just..." Faust mumbles, glancing down at his leg.
"Oop."

Anon blinks, following her stare.

Sweetie Belle is stood directly beside him. Numerous jangly little bracelets and necklaces made of small animal bones hang from her, and she wears a leathery mask that sits squarely over her face. Her horn is glowing softly, a knife fashioned of bone floating beside her as she stares up at him.

Doesn't say a peep. Just levels the knife at him, sharp edge uncomfortably close.

...Right. This one doesn't care about the Boutique taboo, he saw her in front of this place earlier. Shit.

"Hey... Sweetie." Anon says as he startles, holding his hands up in surrender.

No response. Beyond threats to his life and bets to his taste, the foals hadn't been a talkative bunch so far.

"You, uh... here to visit Rarity?" He tries, nodding at the Boutique.

Sweetie's attention seems to drift, the knife lowering slightly as she looks towards the closest window. She stares at it for a surprisingly long moment.

"Quick, while she's distracted." Faust whispers, urges. Predictably, it falls on deaf ears.

Anon follows Sweetie's gaze. Seeing inside is nigh impossible with the way it's been boarded up from the outside, with whatever they've probably ransacked from the now-decrepit local hardware store. But there's a glimpse of a worn dress, slumped on a broken mannequin inside.

"Anon... for how long for you plan to wear the same thing each day?" A hoighty, trying-to-be-nice voice asks him.

"Well, it's about the only thing that came with me when I woke up here, so..." Anon shrugs.

Sweetie points over her shoulder at him, like 'get a load of this guy', getting a frown from Anon.

Rarity puts a pin in her latest work, setting the loose fabric aside with her magic as she turns to face him, taking in...

Cargo shorts, a loose t-shirt, and dirty sneakers. Charming.

"Well, Anon, the option to not wear something is always there for you. You're aware of this, right?" Rarity tries prompting, but Anon vehemently makes an X with his arms.

"No way. My stuff doesn't... work the way yours does." Anon tries to carefully allude, remaining PG for the filly present.

He got dragged to Rarity's place because Twilight was getting concerned for the quality of his clothes. He bathed himself and kept his clothes washed, but his refusal to be naked around any of the ponies was starting to get concerning. So, Twilight shoved him to Rarity's, hoping as the local fashionista, she could help with this clothing crisis.

"...So your kind... need to wear clothes? Goodness, darling, if I'd been born as one of you, I'd never be out of work." She laughs to herself, a measuring tape floating over from one of the nearby tables.

"Why do they need to wear clothes?" Sweetie pipes up, stepping off the well-cushioned chair she'd been doing her homework on."

"It's... a cultural thing." Anon tries to offer, as Rarity starts lifting his arm, extending the tape to check his dimensions.
"Rarity, what are you doing?"

"Well, we certainly can't have you wandering around and wearing down the same drab fit, Anon. I'll make you something new to wear -- your odd proportions should give me a good challenge."

"Oh, I don't have any bits." Anon tries to refute, but Rarity's got a good grip on him.

Rarity scoffs, waving a hoof dismissively.
"Fret about that once you land a job. Or, well, manage to keep one. I heard about what happened with Applejack. That life isn't for everyone, so try not to worry."

"Oh. Uh... thanks Rares."

"Rares? Hmph. That's Miss Rarity to you."

"Oh uh..."

"Messing with you, Darling. Chin up."

Sweetie slowly circles him, tilting her head.
"Why are you so long?"

"For picking bananas out of trees." Anon jokes, getting a snort out of the filly.

"Here, Sweetie -- get me one of my pincushion, would you?" Rarity nods to Sweetie Belle, who goes trotting across the Boutique to dig one out of one of the shelves.

"Anon. Listen this time. You don't--" Faust tries to protest. She sees the look on his face; it's the same as when he saw Twilight. He seems to be snapping out of something.

Sure, the Friendship thing was nice, and she was glad he was getting through to some of them. Yeah. Great. Maybe not when the rest of the pack is slowly encircling the Boutique, testing how close they're willing to get? She swears she can hear Cheerilee shouting in the distance, getting closer.

Anon kneels down beside Sweetie, digging through one of his pockets. The knife gets closer as Sweetie glares, watching -- but Anon goes slowly, as he pulls out some of those colorful rocks he'd grabbed before leaving, holding a few of them out in his palm for her. His backup barter plan, or whatever he had in mind. Last ditch effort to not get stabbed.

Sweetie looks down at his hand. It's hard to read her stoic expression, but the knife continues to lower away from his more stabbable areas, until it's almost touching the ground.

Slowly, three of the little rocks start to lift from the collection. A yellow, and orange, and a white one.

"So you do remember." Anon mumbles. Anon was starting to clue in that all these changes weren't quite as deeply rooted as he expected.

Sweetie's head tilts, looking at him as he speaks. But then her head tilts back, looking straight up.

Anon and Faust follow her gaze, towards the roof of the Boutique above them.

Scootaloo, looking particularly feathery, hangs off the edge of the drain that encircles the roofs edge. Her claws, also looking incredibly sharp at this angle, dig into the wall and tile as the oversized, orange once-filly stares down at them.

"Uh... Hey, ScoOOooo--"

Suddenly, Faust finds herself with no shoulder to perch on, idly flapping in the air. Scootaloo is gone -- and so is Anon. It's just her, Sweetie, Anon's spear, his jacket of fish as they slap to the ground...

"...Anon?" Faust asks aloud, glancing back and forth.

Sweetie points past herself with her hoof, towards the sky.

There's an orange dot, carrying another larger, flailing, displeased dot into the distance.

Both are quickly getting smaller.

"...Oh, shit." Faust curses, quickly flapping after them.

Sweetie looks down at the tied-up jacket that was left on the grass, nose scrunching after giving it a sniff.

Above Ponyville

"scccCOOOOO -- OW, SHARP!" Anon yells, limbs flailing. The wind is whipping past him as Scootaloo grips into his shoulders with her claws, trying to fix her grasp on him. Anon has little intention of letting that happen, wriggling like a feral cat. His spear was long gone, dropped when he got grabbed.

Wait. How high up was he?

Anon risks a glance down.

Oh. They're already higher than any other building in Ponyville. Great. Sweet. Epic, even. He's totally not just absolutely panicking right now.

Scootaloo makes an odd noise as Anon latches to her clawed legs, grasping tightly with both hands. Or, one hand, finding his other hand occupied. Why does he have Sweetie's bone-knife? When did he get that?

Following initial take-off, Scootaloo seems to be struggling to lift him further following his incessant refusal to sit still, grunting as she flaps harder. She might be a bit bigger and able to fly now, but maybe she wasn't too used to the practice of carrying something Anon-sized just yet.

Or maybe he needed to lose some weight. Either way, Anon wasn't complaining.

Obviously, he doesn't want to fall and die. He can't just stab her, either. That's death in two ways, where it'd be a race between the fall, and Faust for who rips him a new one first.

But considering Scootaloo was wearing a skull and greeted him with talons, she probably didn't want to have him over for fucking tea.

And even if he does live, the ratpack is below, ready and waiting to catch up to him and his mangled legs, running after them both now that they're away from the Boutique.

Anon feverishly looks for a solution. Would be easier if he could just land on a roof or something, and figure it out from there.

Hang on. Landing on something. There's an idea.

Anon shoves the handle of the blade into his mouth, gripping it tightly with his teeth. He reaches up, grabbing Scootaloo's feathery side with a tight fist and yanking down, hard.

The sudden shift in weight spins her away from the Schoolhouse and towards the canopy of Ponyvilles edge. If he could just keep a good grasp on her, and force his weight, he could abuse her inexperience with flight. Maybe. Hopefully. She's trying pretty hard to shake his grabby little hand off of her, but no dice.

"Anon!" A distant-but-closing voice calls from behind. Anon risks a glance -- it's Faust, flapping as hard as she can to catch up.
"Hang on!"

No shit, Sherlock. He'd love to yell it, but there's a knife in his mouth. He settles for a loud noise instead.

They coast overtop some of the overgrown shops, needing to lift his leg to avoid hitting the edge. Scootaloo is already losing steam, audibly panting. But the edge of the jungle is close, and the little terrors don't tread beyond the border.

Probably.

Hopefully.

Distantly below, they're starting to trail, more and more of them getting demotivated or distracted as Scootaloo gets some distance, trading height for speed.

It actually gives Anon a chance to look at Cheerilee, who follows far in the rear... oh, god, she looks like a centipede. That one's going to give him nightmares. She's got that Twilight corruption going on, but elongated, dressed up like some tribal chief. Too many legs. Way too many.

Anon instead tries to focus on the impending trees as they near, Faust now flapping beside him.

"What are you doing?!" She calls, glancing between him and the jungle.

No time to answer -- knife handle in the mouth and all -- so Anon decides to lead by example. As is, Faust watches as Anon suddenly yanks one of Scootaloo's wings, and crashes both himself and Scootaloo into the leafy fronds of the jungle leaves, tumbling through them towards the ground. She loses sight of him for a moment as Ponyville becomes hidden by trees, Anon and Scootaloo careening through branches and vines, slowing their fall.

By the time Faust catches up, both are sprawled on the grassy floor, panting heavily in a little clearing.

...Surrounded by curious, wild chickens. Probably escapees from the Apple farms. They curiously peck at Anon's clothes.

"You alive?" Faust asks hurriedly, landing beside him.

Anon slowly plucks the knife from his mouth, huffing loudly.
"...Yup."

Faust glances past him to Scootaloo -- though she's panting, glancing around like a lost, cornered animal, she's already flaring out her oversized wings to try and take off again.

"Anon, careful, she's about to get up!" Faust urges, landing and shoving his shoulder with her hooves.

Anon groans, sitting up, one of the chickens clucking loudly and flapping away.

... That gives Anon an idea, as he looks at the knife in his hand. Scootaloo wobbles, trying to stand.

"Shit, kid -- you alright?" Anon asks, rubbing his very sore shins.

"Uh... yeah, yeah, I'm good." The orange filly mumbles, awkwardly reaching up to mess with the helmet that's slumped down to skew her vision after their impact.

Anon had been walking back from the market with a few things for Twilight, when this absolute speeding bullet on a silver scooter biffed a turn and slammed into his legs. He was holding it together for now, but he'd probably have a cry about this later. Scooter to the shins was no joke.

"Try to watch where you're going, alright Scoots?" Anon scolds through gritted teeth, trying to remain some level of friendly.

"Hey!" She suddenly squeaks, right as she fixes her helmet.
"How'd you know my name?"

"Scoots?"

"Scootaloo!"

"Huh. Lucky guess?" Anon shrugs, like every one of these colorful horses wasn't conveniently named after the one thing they did the most, or not even remotely similar.

The local librarian? Twilight Sparkle.
The filly on the scooter? Scootaloo.
And so on.

"Well, sorry about your hooves. Why do you only have two of them? And why do they bend like that?" She asks, tilting her head, staring with big, curious eyes.
"I haven't seen anything like you before."

"Sweetie asked me the same thing. Just the way I am, I guess." Anon shrugs, still bent over, rubbing his ankles as they get red. God, that hurt.

"You know Sweetie?!" Scootaloo suddenly squeaks, getting much closer.

"Uh... met her while visiting Rarity?" Anon offers, to the filly rapidly encroaching his personal space.

"Cool! Do you know Applebloom, too?"

"Applejacks sister? Sure?"

"She's my other friend! Well, if you know both of my other friends... we should be friends too!" She announces firmly, practically lifting off the ground in excitement, her tiny wings fluttering.

Was it okay to be friends with kids? Was that a thing here? He didn't feel like catching a case.

"Uh... sure?" Anon tentatively agrees, getting strong-armed into a friendship as the orange one grins widely.

"Nice! Okay, see you around, new friend!" Scootaloo announces, hopping back on her scooter. Before Anon can even say anything, she's already ripping down the road, a few walking ponies yelping as she tears right between them.

"...Gonna ask Twilight about that one." Anon mumbles. He stands up, his ankles not getting any better without an ice pack. Speaking of Twilight, maybe she had one. At least the groceries weren't damaged.

"Remember what I --" Faust tries to say, snapping him out of his thoughts. Anon cuts in, waving a hand around.

"I know. Just trust me!" He inhales, quickly and roughly pushing himself to his feet.

Scootaloo squawks in surprise as Anon returns the earlier favor, and tackles her to the ground. Pinning her underneath him with a leg, he raises the knife.

Author's Note

extra images

Pens and Friends

Anon's Camp

"A pen? A fucking chicken pen?" Faust repeats, looking at Anon's work with... well, it's not pride.

"Well, its not like I had many options. Plus, look at her! She looks right at home!" Anon argues, wincing even as he mentions it, gesturing forward towards...

Scootaloo, skull mask and all, is sat on her haunches in the middle of a roughly built chicken pen. Ferns turned to twine and sturdy-ish sticks jutting out of the ground create an impromptu foot-tall fence that would only really defend against ponies shins who don't pay attention. But, it was what he had. And it seemed to be working.

Surrounded by quietly clucking fowl that peck at the ground around Scootaloo, ogling her curiously, she looks... depressed, with the way her head hangs. She blinks slowly, sad eyes barely visible past the skull on her face, emotionless and deadpan. Her once sizable wings have been heavily trimmed, the flight feathers cut, grounding her once more. The chickens, Anon just grabbed up afterwards. Pretty sure at this point they're the ones from the Apple farms, considering they're so... domesticated.

Now that she's not trying to fly off with him, Anon can finally relax. The loss of his fish and the spear sucked for sure, but Anon wasn't going to turn look a gift horse in the mouth. Or gift chicken in this case? Or whatever that saying was. They got chickens, and that made it worth it.

Chicken for dinner didn't sound bad, and landing on a pile of them was a life-saver. Still, though, he can't just chop them all up for dinner. Eggs were an important resource too, and there was plenty of grass and bugs around to sustain them. That, and these things basically fed themselves on the bugs that lived around here. Natural pesticide.

"Why does that one have a snake for a tail?" Faust questions, settling atop one of the pen posts, pointing to one of the chickens that was near double the size of the others, quietly pecking at the ground. Still a bit shorter than Bird-Scootaloo, It's tail idly watches one of the other nearby chickens, forked tongue flicking the air from it's curved beak.

"The one with the tail... I don't remember catching that one. Huh."
Anon thought it was the Rooster at first, but... oh well. Seemed passive enough. He wiggles a finger at it, and the snake-end of the tail flicks it's tongue at him.

"Pretty docile, aren't they? No clue about that one, but I think the others are the Apple Farms animals gotten free. I thought if I was making a pen to hold Scootaloo, I could double up and put the chickens in, too. Keep her... company or something." Anon explains, glancing over.

Scootaloo sighs quietly, flopping onto her side on the grass. A curious chicken tilts it's head, clucking softly at her. Yeah, she's not going anywhere. No better prison than a mental one. Well, he's not trying to keep her like a prisoner, but -- ah, fuck it. This looked bad any way he might try to spin it.

Faust gives him one hell of a look.
"You re-crippled the cripple, Anon. That alone is one thing. But then you went and put her in a chicken coop." Faust points out.
"With chickens."

"Yeah."

"That's fucked up."

"...Yeah."
Anon mumbles, scratching the back of his head.

Faust rubs her face with her hooves, shaking her head, exhaling loudly.
"...Horrid slights against the newly re-handicapped aside, I think this might actually be the right thing to do."

"What do you mean? Like... putting her in here?" Anon asks, checking his handiwork on the posts, giving one of them a wiggle.

"Not that, idiot." Faust snips, Anon shying back.
"After seeing her and Twilight, I've more than confirmed that Magic is still around, just in... weird, twisted ways. Basically, Magic has been condensed into a select few, rather than the whole populations. Bringing Scootaloo here -- not shoving her in with the chickens -- is a good plan moving forward. She's the only Pegasus we've seen that can fly, so i'm willing to bet she's one of them. A Remnant." Faust explains. "If we can, we should find and either bring them here, or keep tabs on them. Your approach seems to be... working, as odd as it is, so keep at it."

"Could fly." Anon corrects, deflating as Faust glares at him. She did have a point though -- there were several pegasi in that little foals pack that was hot on his heels, yet none of them took off from the ground. They jumped and flapped their wings, sure, but they didn't get anywhere.

"Anyway. I believe she's one of the magic Remnants, so keep her around, and keep looking for more. Twilight may be one as well, but... well, better to keep an eye on her, I suppose, though we'll see if she follows your invitation. Cheerilee and Rarity too, but they shouldn't be going anywhere. I just hope Twilight doesn't come sniffing around for a quick meal, now that you've told her about your camp." Faust continues, shaking her head.

"How many more do you think we need?" Anon asks, leaning against the pen fences.

"As many as you can get. The more I have to work with, the less likely I am to detonate the planet by accident when I try to fix it." Faust explains, uncomfortably bluntly.

"The planet?" Anon asks, confused. "So how does this fixing-things even work?"

"Simply put, I'll draw on their magic to create a larger magic-pool, to allow for a greater spell. The more we have or know of, the more I can draw from, and the more I can revert." Faust explains, like it was elementary

"And it's going to take a lot of them, I'd guess?" Anon guesses, shrugging.

"I've been checking on some of the neighboring nations, while you were working on your... 'Scootaloo containment'. While my impact on the world is minimal, currently, my capacity to view it hasn't been as greatly hindered -- getting a general view on things is easy enough. But, things are... not great elsewhere, either." She admits, fluttering back towards the cave. "There's... a lot to fix."

Anon hops off the fence, jogging after her.
"Wait. How bad is bad? And... where?"

"Well... we're basically on an island, for one. Equestria was always a water-surrounded continent, but any land connections to it's neighbors has been carved out, and we're entirely surrounded by water now. Probably at half the total landmass too, with several locations just turning into coves and beaches, as you saw with the Everfree. The humidity has increased across the board, and most forests are jungles now." Faust explains, fluttering through the opening to his cave abode. Her face scrunches as she gets inside.
"You really need to do something about that fish smell."

"So the whole world is one tropical hellhole now?" Anon prompts as he enters after her, sniffing the air. Smelt fine to him.

"Equestria, primarily. Some of the other nations are just outright missing, or are going through their own problems."

"Like...?"

"Well... let's just say, don't go to the Crystal Empire if you like your meat staying on your bones." Faust warns grimly.
"Some kind of infection is running rampant in their populace. Thankfully, it's limited to their colder biome. It hasn't shifted, unlike most of Equestria."

"Oh. Delightful. Gotcha, will stay put." Anon raises his hands, intent on finding something to distract himself from that wondrous line of thought. How long does it take for a chicken to lay an egg?

"Actually, at some point we might have to check there for Remnants. Don't worry, I'll figure something out. Probably." Faust muses, tapping her chin.

Anon groans.

Some time later

"Anon."

Anon snores, having opted for a late-afternoon nap following that little burst of excitement. Evening sky splashes orange light through the thick canopy around his little cave-site camp. When he tucked in for bed, more than half the chickens were nestled into their little makeshift 'coop', which was a glorified lean-to style tent of fronds and sticks so the chickens could have some cover. Including Scootaloo, who was jammed underneath it, with several chickens sleeping atop her.

"Anon." Faust urges, poking his shoulder.

Anon snorts, rolling over and waving a hand away.
"Nuh."

"Don't fucking 'Nuh' me, idiot. Get up. You've got a visitor." Faust hisses, practically shoving him off his little leaf-strewn makeshift cot.

"Who?" Anon questions, more sliding than standing out of his rough little collection of leaves and whatever comfortable things he found on the ground.

Faust hovers near the edge of the cave, pointing towards the chicken 'coop'. Most of the Chickens were huddled together, sleeping under the little slanted coverage he'd built for them. But Scootaloo wasn't under there anymore.

Scootaloo sits at the edge of the fence, staring down at... Sweetie Belle, who stares back from the other side.

"Huh." Anon comments helpfully, scratching his cheek.
"Did, uh... any more of them follow?" He asks cautiously, peeking from the edge of their cave.

"Just her." Faust shakes her head, fluttering to land on his shoulder.
"I smelt her before I saw her. She brought your fish."

"She did?" Anon asks, surprised. Dinner had been locally-sourced berries and an egg, since he thought those fish were lost in the escape. How did she find them?
"...You think she's remembering?"

"I'd love to be surprised, but with your current track record... This alteration upon reality has been severe and chaotic; there's no telling the origins of each afflicted pony or what they've got through. And yet, some bonds transcend even the worst situations." Faust motions towards the pair, who continue to share gazes.

"They must be seriously close friends in that case, then." Anon comments, to which Faust hums softly.

"Perhaps that prevails even beyond this chaotic event." Faust nods slowly, thinking.
"...This is an odd development. Truthfully, I don't think their bond would have survived, since they didn't seem particularly close before... you reminded them, Anon. I think your meddling is causing these things. These changes."

Anon slowly steps outside of the cage to greet their... visitor. It's a bright, moonlit night thankfully, so visibility isn't too much of an issue as long as he doesn't go romping into the depths of the jungle.

"Hey, Sweetie. Surprised you found the place." Anon says calmly, approaching slowly. She might have been friendly, but she was still a part of the ratpack. She might take some serious offense to Scootaloo being taken like this.

But Sweetie slowly looks to Anon, head tilting as she stares up at him. She doesn't say much, but she emanates this odd curiosity.

"Hang on, think I've got something that belongs to you." He says, darting back inside the cave -- when he comes out, Anon is holding out the bone-knife he'd apparently plucked from her when he also got plucked -- by Scootaloo, numerous feet into the sky. Normally, he'd lean against handing sharpened objects to children, but these were odd circumstances. Some of Scootaloo's flight-feather fluff still clings to the blade.

Sweetie's gaze slowly falls onto it, staring at it for a long moment.

Eventually, after what feels like a long time, a soft glow encases the knife as she pulls it back to her side. Sweetie seems comforted by it's return, rubbing against Anon's hand like a cat. She sits in her haunches, apparently none too intent on returning back to what's left of Ponyville at this time of night.

"...Guess you've got another now." Faust comments, leaning off him to watch, returned from her vexed state.
"I don't believe she's a Remnant, but... well, enjoy another mouth to feed."

"I feel like I need to make more beds. Like, multiple more beds." Anon nods, patting Sweetie on the head.

"If you keep collecting them like this? Probably. You went fishing, and ended up with two of them in your camp, and that's not even mentioning what's going on with Twilight. So unless you plan to also keep them with livestock..." Faust scoffs, side-eyeing Anon from his shoulder

Point taken. Anon shuffles the fish inside to try and process before heading back to bed, at the least. He'd sleep in a little bit to make up for it -- and to make Sweetie a bed before he fully passes out.

Once he's finished with those, though, it takes him a while to fall asleep. There's this weird scuttling, or skittering sound coming deeper from the cave. He checked it thoroughly once before he moved in, so he's got no clue what's digging or crawling it's way around.

Actually, there's a lot more cave to this cave than he first thought, tucked behind his makeshift barricade at the back of his room. It might actually lead to caverns or something, maybe some fungi to pick. For now, he throws a few extra sticks at the back part of his current living area. Mostly for peace of mind.

There's more webs than he remembered there being.

He'd figure it out later. Sleep now.

The following morning, a few things have become clear.

Sweetie intends to stay, the way she's started staking out the outside corner of the clearing, close to the chicken coop by some of the trees. She probably wants to try and build something, with how she keeps cutting ferns and finding branches with her knife, dragging them back over to form a little pile. She's a surprisingly handy little thing, and weirdly good with that knife since she lacks her...

Anon blinks. She's just casually using her horn, floating the knife and some ferns around herself as she stacks them. Is she a Remnant? Now that he thinks about it, she used magic earlier too -- though she's nothing like Scootaloo's level of magic. Maybe a Remnant Jr situation or something, considering she's part of the trio.

Scootaloo continues to remain inside the chickens fence, watching Sweetie. It seems like she's almost accepted her situation, making no attempts at freedom and just following Sweetie from the fence-line, watching her work. Maybe Sweetie was the reason for that? Either way, it looks like Scootaloo has taken over responsibility for the chickens as their rooster of sorts. The eggs were stacked neatly on a small pile of leaves for him in the morning, and Anon caught her flipping rocks for the birds to peck at the bugs underneath.

He tried to thank her, but she just ignored him. Fair enough, honestly.

If that was the case... he should try to find Applebloom at some point. The only one missing from their little group. Though an excursion to whatever was going on at the farms sounded a little daunting, if what happened to Ponyville was any consideration.

"Any idea what happened to the Apples?" Anon comments aloud, while rustling out what's left of the fish from last night to continue working it. Scales, guts, the head... he had a few ideas for what to do with them, and was planning on a few things. Cook some now and divvy it out for breakfast was the first. Maybe try to smoke or turn some of them into jerky... he had a loose memory of the process. Might take some experimenting.

"You asking me?" Faust loudly comments back, sprawled out across Anon's bed. She barely took up any of it, but her small size meant his meager bedding was a field of leafy comfort.

"You're the only other verbal creature around, so far." Anon retorts, glancing over his shoulder.

"... I'd tell you to leave the Apples alone, actually." Faust eventually sighs, rolling onto her stomach.
"Everything is wrong, but they're wrong in a... weird way."

"What do you mean?" Anon pauses, turning back to look.
"I thought you wanted me to find as many Remnants as I can?"

"I do, but... It's pretty bad, and I haven't even been able to scry that much about their situation." Faust relents. "If you do go looking around there... I won't be able to go with you."

That surprises Anon, entirely stopping mid-fish-poking to turn around.
"Wait -- you won't go near the place. Seriously?"

Faust shakes her head.
"Not won't, can't. There's something strange about the area, that wards off magic. With my current state, I doubt I'd last very long there, and anything with innate magic would be unable to use it."

"...So I don't have to go there, right?" Anon asks for clarity.

"I suppose not. As home to one of the Elements, it may host a Remnant... but if I'm incapable of supporting you, you could very well meet your end here. This isn't a situation of shin-biting fillies and colts, this is... something like Twilight. Twisted. Wrong." Faust continues to explain. She's somber, her usually joking tone weighed down by harsh reality.
"And likely just as dangerous. How close were you with AppleJack?"

Anon huffs, leaning against his little makeshift table -- a raised hink of flat cave wall. Problem is... Applejack was a friend. Sure, they had their ups and downs, but if Twilight was going through something... she probably was too. Rarity was too, undoubtedly, but locked away in her boutique, she was probably fine for now, and he needed to give the ankle-biters time to calm down. The others too, if he could figure out where they were. But they all seemed to be tied to the Remnants, to some degree.

But he definitely wasn't as close to her as he was Twilight. Still, worth the effort.

"...Anon. You've figured it out, right?" Faust suddenly asks.

"Huh?"

"Scootaloo. Why she's a Remnant, but Sweetie isn't." Faust further presses.

Anon purses his lips, shaking his head.
"No clue. Enlighten me?"

Faust floats behind him, nudging him to look at the two foals in his camp.

Sweetie, who looked normal, and dressed like a tribal.

Scootaloo, who looked like a Griffon, bigger than Sweetie, and wearing a skull for a mask.

"...Somethijg about how Rarity might still be around, but Dash isn't?" Anon guesses, crossing his arms.

Faust silently nods.

"Wait -- seriously?!" Anon flinched, face twisting.

"I think a Remnant forms around one who hosts immense, or unique magic... or manifests in those around them. Scootaloo and Sweetie aren't exactly talkative, but --"

"Scootaloo was close to Rainbow, so if Rainbow is gone... Scootaloo is her host of her brand of magic." Anon cuts in, guessing.
"...Dash is gone?"

"I haven't been able to find her anywhere, and Scootaloo flies awfully similar to her. Or, flew." Faust adds, squinting at him.
"I think I even saw traces of rainbows leaving her wings. So, some Remnants might host in those around those with notable magic, as well." Faust continues grimly.
"Which means, with every Remnant we seek, you may not find what you're looking for." Faust says, erring more to a warning than anything.

"Do you know how Rainbow... passed?" Anon presses, frowning.

"No. Like I said, I haven't seen any sign of the Element of Loyalty. And I've been looking." Faust shakes her head.

"...Honestly..." Anon pauses his lips, squinting at Scootaloo. "I don't think that Dash is gone, if I'm going to be honest " Anon retorts, shaking his head as he turns back to the awaiting fish.

"...Anon." Faust sighs.

"Believe what you want, Faust, but Rainbow's a tough cookie. I'm sure they're out there. All of them. All the Ponyville residents, the Elements, the Princesses -- hell, I bet even Zecora is fine, even with the Everfree gone." Anon continues.

Faust tries to cut in.
"Anon. You need to --"

"I'm sure she's either going stupid-fast in the clouds far away at Cloudsdale, or a fish in the ocean or something. Just... drop it, Faust."
But Anon doesn't seem intent on listening anymore. He's borderline defiant as he speaks, putting his foot down.
"The Apples are probably going through something there, too. But that doesn't mean I'm going to just ignore it. If I have to go without you.... I will. I'll find whose the Remnant of Honesty or however this Remnant shit works, be it Applejack or Big Mac or Granny Smith or Applebloom, and bring them back or make sure they're alright where they are. You just tell me how many you need, and I'll keep getting them." Anon states firmly, as he slowly works out one of the fish' guts.

Faust contemplates his words silently, before fluttering into the air to hover around his head, watching him work for a long, quiet moment. So that's what was driving him. He felt like he owed them all something... and if he agreed that Dash was gone, it meant he couldn't repay her.

Anon piles the fish guts together to the side, slowly working away the scales. He doesn't have the most experience, but he's putting in his all.

Suppose that's just what he's doing at all times, really.

Faust sighs, landing on his shoulder.
"I'm not refusing to go because I don't want to help."

"I know."

"If... if I'm compromised, there's no pony else who could revert what is happening. What... has happened."

"I know, Faust. I don't blame you. Just... these little colorful splashes of small horse did a lot for me when I first wound up here. Wouldn't feel right if I didn't do the same." Anon says, continuing to work, resolute in his words. He could live out a simple life in the jungle, sure... but seeing what they were going through, how they could still recognize him.

He had to try. Was he scared? Sure. Doesn't matter, though. He was more scared of letting them down. Even for the Ponies that might not have made it during this entire, terrible shift, setting things back the way they were could save them.

"...Alright. Don't leave until you're ready. I'll keep an eye on the cave and the fillies for you while you're gone, at the least." Faust eventually relents, lifting off his shoulder to flap over towards the cave door.

"Sure. Thanks." Anon nods, without glancing up from his task.

Faust pauses in the cave entryway, watching him. The strange, all too familiar alien biped, trapped on a world not meant for it. She swallows the guilt, before flapping outside, leaving Anon to his thoughts.

The Apple Field

"I wish you'd save this jaunt for later, honestly." Faust comments idly, flapping in the air a foot from his face. Not much humor here on her end, and she's even been swearing at him less lately.
"I'm still working on something to help you, but..."

"It's gonna take a while, and we don't have many other options right now. Gotta give the ratpack time to calm down, anyway."
Anon stands at the edge of their little camp clearing, geared up as well as he can be. He's fashioned another spear from a good-sized stick and a sharp rock, bound with twine. Limbs wrapped tightly in several layers of folded ferns for some added protection from trudging through the elements, and wearing every bit of clothing he's got, Anon is about as protected as he can get. Except his jacket. That thing smells funky at this point, and has been relented to holding fish.

Early morning light is fighting the leafy canopy for it's chance to break through. With no clue about what's waiting for him, his best bet was to get out there and use as much of a day as he could. He was still a little deflated from his plan falling through back in Ponyville, but any failed plan he survived was a step forward in some regard. That was a little tidbit Twilight bestowed on him, and something he tried to keep in mind. Though it was more about her biffing experiments, it still worked.

It'll be his first excursion without her hanging over his head.

"Is it odd, in this magic-messed place, that there's a location actively rebuffing the remaining magic?" Anon muses, checking his spear thrice-over.

"It is. I'd love to figure out why, but I can't even scry it. I'm going to entirely rely on you telling me what you've found, so try to come back alive. And in as close to one piece as you can." Faust warns, foreboding and definitely not chipping at Anon's already weakly founded confidence.

Scootaloo watches from her spot in the pen a short distance away, while Sweetie stares up at him just a few feet away, wordlessly watching him and Faust speak.

"The farm isn't far from here, so I shouldn't be gone for very long. There's leftover fish, and you remember the berries I've been picking. Those, and the eggs, should keep you guys going." Anon explains -- though it's more to Sweetie, since Faust doesn't really eat.

"Just play it safe, alright? Leave quickly if you need to." Faust warns, crossing her hooves.
"Whatever is stopping me from getting a better look at the area seems deliberate... so just be smart."

Anon makes a mock-salute, leaning down to tussle Sweetie's mane -- she shakes her head, face scrunching.
"Keep the place safe while I'm gone, yeah? I'll be back soon."

He'd be lying if he said he wasn't nervous -- there was a weird air about this entire Apple thing, but they wouldn't solve this whole thing if he just kept sitting at home.

It takes a moment, before Sweetie gives a little wave. Anon is pretty sure she understands, and she seems capable.

"Alright. Hurry back. Before I get bored of foalsitting." Faust huffs, crossing her hooves.

With a final wave, Anon turns and starts trudging deeper into the jungle. The general layout of most things was the same, just... a lot more humid. He should be able to find the Apple farm without too much difficulty, since he had Ponyville's general location to work off, and his little cave camp was roughly at an in-between point of the two.

With his spear as leverage to lean on, pushing oversized ferns and fronds aside as he navigates around sizable tree-trunks, the camp doesn't stay visible behind himself for much longer.

And in a few short moments, stepping over massive roots that dig into the ground below, Anon is by his lonesome, left to naut but his thoughts.

He used to be pretty big on his alone time, left to daydream. Feels a bit odd, now. No Faust to bug him. As weird as their situation was, she had her uses.

Anon slowly skirts around a thick set of hanging vines, looking for an easier path as his thoughts return. And it stays that way, Anon immersed in questions and answers tasked only to himself, for most of the journey through the jungle.

Until the treeline starts to break, and an unfamiliar sight lays before him, catching him off guard.

...Since when did the Apples grow wheat? Really tall stuff at that. It was as big as a corn stalk, if not bigger. Anon leans against one of the nearby tropical trees, humming in confusion.

Was wheat even capable of growing somewhere tropical? He guesses so, if it's related to one of the Remnants.

Swathes of the golden grain gently rustle in a breeze that sweeps down from the adjacent canopy, completely blocking his view of anything within it's depths.

He could kind of see the barn. Again, bad angle, and some good distance away. Didn't look overgrown like ponyville... but it was smack in the middle of this almost golden, flowing swathe of grain, the roof barely peeking overtop.

The treeline thins, and just... crop. As far as the eye can see. Like it was dropped directly into a part of the jungle.

...Anon glances around, squinting. No activity. Just gently rolling waves of gold-ish 'ocean'. It was about as intimidating was just walking entirely into the ocean back on the Ponyville beach. He had no idea what was in there, and with the twisted changes, he wasn't quite sure he wanted to run into any of the Apples.

But his options were go in, stand here, or head back. Couldn't just keep sitting around, and going home didn't solve anything.

Through the field of wheat it was. Eugh. His fingers tap against the shaft of his makeshift weapon, stuck fighting the simple desire of 'fuck this'.

"Don't think this line of work is quite right fer' ya, 'Non." Applejack teases through gritted treth as she trots up to the tree he's slumped up against, body slick with sweat, panting heavily.

She places a bucket of water beside him, stepping back to remove herself from the splash zone as he reaches for it. AJ learned after the first time.

Anon doesn't so much drink it, as he does try to drown himself by pouring it's contents on his face, mouth open, to Applejack's amused laughter.

When he's finally done sputtering, Anon nods, wiping his face dry.
"...Yeah, you're probably right. Damn. Was hoping this one would work out."

"Build wise, you seem alright, but you ain't got any of our earth-pony magic. Bit hard t' keep up with us without it." Applejack explains, taking a seat beside him.

"Still, 'ppreciate you givin' it your all." Applejack continues, smiling.

"Yeah, yeah... back to stacking books for me." Anon snorts, flopping back on the grass. From here, the barn was partially hidden behind several fields of trees, hinting at distant civilization.

"Well, y' seem good at that, if Twi keeps takin' ya back."

"She does it because she's trying to help me. She doesn't need another assistant, but... I just can't seem to keep any jobs around here. Man, this sucks." Anon blows a raspberry, staring up at the clear blue sky.

Slowly, Applejack leans into view, over him.

"You... know why she keeps takin' ya in, right?"

"...Because she's being nice?"

"Pfft. And I thought Colts were dense. She's sweet on ya', 'Non." Applejack snort-laughs, starting to trot away.

Anon sits up suddenly, blinking. Huh?

"She's what?" Anon calls, but Applejack is already heading back for the barn. Anon scrambles to his feet, trying to run after her.

Visibly grimacing as he tightens his grip on his spear, Anon shuffles to the edge of the awaiting task, fingers brushing at the closest wheat stalks.

God, or Celestia, or whatever the Ponies swore at, Anon grumbled. He didn't really wanna do this.

But the thought of the ones who stuck it out to help him when he first arrived... he owed them this at least. To try.

Steeling whatever nerves he has left, Anon submerged into the rolling, sweeping depths of the awaiting wheat, unaware of the eyes that quietly watch him from deep within it's stalks.

"Aw, shucks. Y' ain't stayin', Mister Anon?" The youngest of the Apples whines, trailing his heels as he packs his things. Room and board only counted as long as one worked there, and Anon was no longer an Apple picker, continually outdone by the Apple kickers.

"Sorry Applebloom, but it just isn't in the cards for me." Anon shrugs.

"Can... y' still come an' help us fix our tree house later?" The filly squeaks, throwing him those big, sad eyes to try and get her way.

Anon laughs softly, ruffling her mane.
"Sure, Applebloom. I'll swing by again sometime once I'm settled."

"Okay! But... why do y' have to go, 'gain?" She asks, head tilted to the side.

"I'm not very good at this kind of thing, kiddo." Anon says simply, packing the last of his things.

"But all you have t' do is buck th' trees!" Applebloom retorts, confused. She even kicks the air to prove just how simple it is.

"Not an earth pony, I'd just hurt myself. And how I go about it is too slow. Don't worry, I've got things figured." Anon assures, tying his bag up nice and tight.

"Aw..." Applebloom huffs.

Anon blinks. Wait. He's already out? That's it?

He looks behind himself, but any wheat he's trampled seems to have righted itself, to the point there's no trace of where he came from. The seemingly endless field served more as a veil, evidently, for the moment that Anon had entered, he wound up on the other side. And it looked the same backwards, too -- nothing but a massive field of wheat, with the jungle in the far distance, like he just crossed a huge distance in seconds.

As his hand brushes aside the last few stems, the blockade parts to grant him the view of a wide, open field.

It's a harsh contrast to that of his new tropical home. The wheat gives way to an entire clearing of dead grass and dilapidated farm infrastructure. The odd dead tree is sprinkled around, with not a single leaf, alive or dead, to decorate it's branches. Dead, yellowish grass lays limply underfoot, and the sky above is nearly grey. A collapsed silo, and broken fencing that wouldn't stand a strong breeze are nearby.

Even overgrown as it was, Ponyville at least still looked like Ponyville. The farm is just eerie and quiet as he looks around, taking tentative steps forward. Across the field, in the distance, the barn sits. It looks pale, the red paint worn down, muted and chip, with the Apple family home is a short distance away not in any better condition.

No bountiful fields of apple trees. All that's left these scattered, dead ones, hardly more than a dozen in sight.

As off-putting as this, maybe he'll get lucky, and Applejack will be as amicable as Twilight or Sweetie have been.

Or she could be like Scootaloo, and try to tear him to shreds. He's working off of a few unknowns here.

And they won't become knowns if he doesn't bust a move.

Sighing, Anon forces himself forward and out of the wheat field, exposing himself to wide open, empty fields. He can't help but look to the sky. Scootaloo is the only one that should be able to fly... that they know of. Well, before he clipped her wings, but being cautious might save him from getting snatched again.

Straight for the... in the tossup between house and barn, Anon settles on the barn, maybe. See if anything is weird about it before going to the house to check. If the barn is dicey, he'll at least know what to expect for the rest of the place.

The grass is weirdly crunchy underfoot, dehydrated. It's like the entire area has been suffering a permanent drought. Quickly, he jogs through the field, trying to cover some ground.

It's not long before he nears one of the dead trees, between himself and the barn, pausing to get a closer look at it. The bark is dry and worn, peeling off the trunk. The branches warped and gnarled, completely empty. There's not even any leaves around the base of the tree.

Right as he's about to reach out and press a hand against it, it... opens. The trunk slowly splits apart vertically, widening and splitting unnaturally, creaking and splintering as something massive emerges from inside it.

Anon stumbles back, falling on his rear as he watches a creature emerge. It's like nothing he's seen before.

It almost looks like a horse, but it's nearly twice as tall as he is. Wiry flesh and taut skin expose a torso of little more than bare flesh and bone, with it's entire skull visible instead of a face, still marred with flesh that stretches with it's jaw as it breathes heavily. It sounds more like a death rattle than an actual attempt at taking in any air.

Giant antlers that look like the branches of said tree erupt from it's head, the base surrounded by an unkempt, dirty blonde mane that hangs from it's neck.

Anon is frozen still, the creature finally stepping free of the tree, which crumbles to splinters and branches behind it. It's gaze, that of a cold indifference, eye-holes completely black, slowly overlook the field.

Including Anon. He swallows hard.

But it simply ignores him, slowly scanning the horizon.

And it starts to walk. It's bones creak and groan with every hobbled step, but it begins to cross the grassy clearing, towards the distance.

Anon forces down a big gasp of air, letting his legs recover. They weren't quite willing to help him stand up just yet, eyes glued to the oddity now wandering away from him.

...

Clinging to his makeshift spear, Anon continues to the barn unmarred. No other creatures emerge from any of the trees, but he avoids them like the plague nonetheless.

He's still trying to figure why it just... ignored him. Like he wasn't even there. Maybe to it he wasn't? Faust mentioned something funky with the area affecting anything magical... maybe because he wasn't a pony?

No time for that now, even as he continuously glances after the departing creature, making sure it hasn't changed it's mind and decided he was snack-sized after all.

The barn is close. His pace quickens, rushing to the closest wall. There was a smaller side-door, instead of the big barn doors. Better to use that.

His ears are listening for anything odd, as he circles the side of the dilapidated structure. The hay stacked against it is wiry and dry, unkempt. The paint is chipped, like the barn has been ignored for... decades, even.

Anon pauses, right as he reaches the side door, nestled between some broken barrels and a crate.

Voices. Multiple. It sounds like they're arguing.

He presses his ear to the door, listening.

They're... normal voices. Like him, or Faust. Were there others?

It's hard to make out their conversation.

One of them definitely has a squeakier pitch. The other --

He shifts his footing, accidentally bumping the door.

Shit.

The voices stop.

Shit shit.

There's the sound of footsteps, or hoofsteps, or something steps approaching the door. There's nowhere nearby to hide, unless he wants to sprint around the side of the barn.

Shi --

The door opens inward, revealing a familiar face.

"Mister 'Non? What're you doin' here? I thought Applejack let ya go?" Applebloom questions, tilting her head.

It's AppleBloom. Just... AppleBloom.

No tribal markings, no skull face, not a different species, not an insect... it's just regular, normal AppleBloom.

Anon kneels down, grabbing the fillies confused face, turning her this way and that, squishing her cheeks and checking her over for any sign of alteration. She makes protesting noises at first, but starts to giggle as he checks her ears and mane, saying something about tickling.

She's... entirely normal. Like she was plucked from the world he knew, right into this one.

"How?" Anon questions aloud, pulling at her bow.

Applebloom finally pulls away, chuffing loudly at him and waving him off with a hoof.
"What're you doin'? Yer' actin' mighty strange, Mister 'Non. What're you up to?"

"...Oh. Uh... Sorry, just... surprised to see you're normal. How are you... you?" Anon asks, pushing off his knees to stand.

"Normal? Whadya mean?" Applebloom questions, tilting her head.
"Did ya' hit your head or somethin'? Oh, y'should come inside quick. Applejack wouldn't be happy if she saw ya'. She's been in a bit of a mood lately, ever since y' took her hat. C'mon in!" Applebloom steps back, making room for Anon.

He glances out in the field, towards the distant creature. It's pawing at the ground with a hoof, digging up the grass.

... Applejack?

Anon shudders, quickly stepping after the filly and into the barn. Applebloom shuts the door behind him with her back hooves, rattling shut.

The inside of the barn is... also normal. Completely. The color is back, compared to the outside. The hay is bushy and fresh, nothing looks worn or unkempt. There's no strange tingle in the air inside here, either. It just smells like a barn.

Anon blinks, confused. Was this place a little pocket of pre-fuckup safety or something?

Several creates and barrels line the wall, as do tools, hay stacks, and...

"Miss Chrysalis! We've a visitor! Where'd you sneak off 'ta?" Applebloom calls out, trotting around the barn.

... Miss Chrysalis?

"What are you barking about now, you impudent filly?" Anon hears beside him, a chittery voice dispensing it's apparent displeasure.
"I was merely avoiding that disgusting thing you call your sister."

Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings, crawls out from behind a stack of haybales, having hid the moment the door opened.

She's half her usual size. Chrysalis is forced to stare up at Anon, even with her haybale adding to her height. She's about the size of... the standard pony is probably the closest comparison.

Honestly, his first time actually seeing her. He'd heard she was taller, but...

She kind of looked harmless, if even a little thin. Her tongue flickers as she hisses softly.

"... Oh, great. Another one of the Elements little troupe." Chrysalis glares at him, brow furrowed.

Applebloom hops over, waving a hoof at Chrysalis, who hisses at it and backs against the wall.

"Be nice, Miss Chrysalis! Mister 'Non is a friend!" Applebloom decries, defending him.

Anon is so confused right now.

"Can... someone explain to me whats going on?" Anon asks aloud, both the filly and the bug pausing to look at him.

Applebloom nods, smiling.
"Sure! Y' want some apple slices, first?"

Applebloom, Anon, and Chrysalis sit in a circle in the middle of the barn. Well, more like a triangle, but with a plate of sliced Apples sitting between them, done up by Applebloom herself.

Chrysalis doesn't take any, simply glaring at Anon from underneath her mane.
"I can't understand how you can subsist on only these... disgusting red fruits. It's all you've eaten for the three days I've been here." Chrysalis grumbles, shying away from the plate. She have something against apples?

"Well, cuz they're tasty! Ain't you only eat love or somethin'? Sounds like that'd be borin'. How do ya' find all that love anyway?" Applebloom pokes back, crunching down on another slice.

"I've explained it three times already. I can't." She grumbles.

Anon cuts in, holding his hands up.
"-- I've got lots questions about what's going on."

"As do I. It's the end-times, and you waltz in here without that creature outside even so much as bothering you." Chrysalis mumbles grimly, sinking to the floor, putting her head on her hooves.

"Whad'ya wanna know?" Applebloom asks, looking to Anon, loudly crunching another apple slice.

"Uh... what's going on with the Apples? Is everyone alright?" Anon starts picking up one of the slices for himself.

It's weirdly squishy. Like it's just past it's prime ripeage, Anon can squeeze it between his fingers with some surprising give. It doesn't dent like a normal apple, either, springing back to it's usual shape.

And Applebloom is chewing on hers for quite a while, before she swallows.

Anon sets the slice down. He's alright.

"Well -- a week 'r two ago, Applejack told me, 'n Miss Sugar Belle, to stay with Granny at th' house, cuz' somethin' was goin' on. She don't come inside th' house no more, n' Miss Sugar Belle says she's protectin' us." AppleBloom starts, sitting back and waving her hooves around as she speaks. Her little southern drawl peaks heavily through her words, even as Chrysalis sits around, looking bored.

"Right. So... AppleJack is patrolling the farm outside, while the rest of you are all inside?"

Chrysalis scoffs when he mentions 'patrolling'. He's pretty sure he heard her mutter 'more like hunting' under her breath.

"Yup! Though, Miss Sugar Belle told me t' start stayin' at th' barn. Said there was somethin' in the cellar that Big Mac needed t' clear out. That was... 'bout a week ago?" Applebloom hums, nodding to herself in confirmation.
"She keeps bringin' me Apples though, so 's alright. Ah'm just bored."

"So you've just been staying here, with... " Anon trails off, looking at the resident bug. Chrysalis meets his stare, squinting back at him with those predatory, slitted eyes.

"Miss Chrysalis! Tell Mister 'Non 'bout how ya' got here!" AppleBloom pipes up, scooting closer.

Chrysalis groans, rolling her eyes.
"Must I? I've no reason to share, and your mouth is in working order, to my displeasure."

AppleBloom frowns, crossing her hooves and tsking.
"Ah've been lettin' ya stay here without tellin' nopony! 'S th' least you could do!"

"Oh, is it? Silence, foal. I will not beguile my secrets to anyling." Chrysalis huffs, holding her head high.

AppleBloom pouts, turning to Anon, speaking up instead for the disinterested party.

"She came runnin' in here with AppleJack on her heels. AppleJack won't come inside, an' Miss Chrysalis won't leave. Mostly cuz each time she's tried, mah' Sis just chases her right back in. She don't do much, on account of th' outside makin' her feel all weak n' sick." AppleBloom explains, as Chrysalis grumbles loudly.

"Oh, you don't have your magic, do you?" Anon asks, turning to the bug queen.

"It burns to be outside, around the wheat. And ever since this whole debacle, with the entire continent changing... I've had to force my hive to hibernate." She admits, glancing away.

"Wait -- are they like you, too? Unchanged? Well, mostly." Anon adds at the end, envisioning munchkin-sized drones.

"...Not quite." Chrysalis grumbles, taking in a heavy breath.
"We... I can't believe I'm going to easily admit this, but my circumstances could hardly be more dire, trapped away from my brood, contained in a barn with an incessant yellow annoyance and the hairless ape."

"Hey!" AppleBloom squeaks through a mouthful of apple slice.

"We... cannot feed. Our capacity as Emotivores was enabled through our innate magic. While the natural magical defenses granted by my throne from outer magic preserved us from deeper change, our home was still destroyed. We cannot use our disguises. We cannot eat. So, I search for answers alone, while they slumber. I would not ask my hive to starve pointlessly." Chrysalis explains through the dour expression settled firmly on her face.
"Must be a wonderful thing to hear, I'm sure."

"I... I'm sorry you and your hive are going through that." Anon says quietly. This catches Chrysalis by surprise, face scrunching in suspicion as Anon continues.

"Every one of my friends that I've met has been... twisted by this, whatever this is. It's terrible, but... I may know a way to help. Or, someone who can help." Anon explains, shifting his seating to look at her.

Her buglike brow furrows, a low chattering emanating from her throat.
"Oh, you just happen to have the solution? And why would you help us?"

AppleBloom glances between the pair with wide eyes, chewing excitedly.

"Look, I know you and the Elements don't get along... but I think we can both agree we'd prefer things the way they were, right? And not..." Anon trails off, looking towards one of the barn windows, held shut only by wooden shutters.

Chrysalis follows his gaze, lips curling.
"And why should I trust you?"

"Never said to trust me, just said I might know someone who can fix it. Trying to help them do that now. Speaking of..." Anon looks to Applebloom, whose worked her way through the plate of weirdly squishy apple slices.

"AppleBloom."

"Yup?"

"You remember your friends, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, right?"

Anon barely gets the words out before AppleBlooms eyes threaten to bulge out of her head, leaping to her hooves she nearly knocks the plate over, Chrysalis flinching at the sudden movement.

"You know where they are?!" She exclaims, smiling widely.

"They're back at my camp, between here and Ponyville. They're... a little different than you might remember them, but I think they remember you. Did you want to see them?"

"Absolutely!" She squeaks, prancing around.
"Ah'm tired of sittin' around here, waitin'. Let's go!"

"Go? With that thing still out there?" Chrysalis scoffs.
"Why do you assume I'll accept your help, anyway? For all I know, you --" Chrysalis starts to ramble, but Anon is zoning out as he tries to mentally plan things out from this surprising turn of events.

Anon had no intention to try and wrest anything else from this place, until Faust figured out how to handle this magic field thing that was going on.

But he could bring AppleBloom to her friends. Maybe. If AppleJack didn't gore him with her antlers for yoinking her sister.

And the matter of Chrysalis, who continues to watch him wearily, still rambling about her proud stance as Queen. Villain or not, the circumstances were their real enemy, especially if what she said was true -- that she can't feed.

For now, at least. The topic of feeding was something they'd have to handle. He wasn't just going to leave her here, but if she couldn't eat, then she'd starve, and they can't have that. Faust could help with that, but then... whose going to be her food source?

Himself?

They'd figure that out later. AppleBloom was content and fed, at least, and wanted to see her friends.

Anon purses his lips, humming to himself as he leans by one of the windows, staring out towards the distant fields.

No magic... a filly, and a weak, half-sized Changling Queen. He doubts they'd be leaving without causing a ruckus.

He can't see AppleJack for now...

"What about Big Mac and Sugar Belle?" Anon asks, turning to the excited filly.

"Oh! I mean... if you wanna ask 'em, but they'd probably say no to me leaving. Miss Belle was real strict about me staying and all, but... I wanna see mah friends!" She refutes, hopping in place.

"Alright. I'm just gonna check on them, say hello, and... we'll go, yeah? Just wait here." Anon offers. If there were others unchanged, he should at least check on them.

AppleBloom sits back down, looking to Chrysalis as she starts to ramble about how excited she is. Chrysalis flops over, sighing dramatically as she's subjected to yet more torture.

Author's Note

No Cave Like Home

Crossing the distance between the barn and the house went uneventful. No sign of AppleJack, now.

The patio is empty, mind for a sole, empty rocking chair. Stepping up and ducking his head from the pony-sized overhang. The boards creak underfoot, drawing Anon from his slow, worried thoughts. If there were others that were still... unchanged is probably the best word for it, then maybe he should leave AppleBloom here, and bring her friends to her? Or bring them all back? But will AppleJack react to them? Scootaloo is a Remnant, and might not play well with this static tingle.

He knocks on the front door -- it rattles loudly in the doorframe, before slowly swinging open, left unlocked.

That's not foreboding at all.

"Hello?" Anon calls out, slowly creeping inside. The only light offered is the dreary splashes of whatever peers through the windows and the open doorway.
"Miss Belle? It's Anon."

The main hall is empty, most of the furniture knocked about. Pictures are askew, or even just broken on the floor.

"He..lLooOo..." A distant, somewhat feminine quiet voice calls back.

And then there's an ungodly groan, and a bubbly gurgle.

... Anon's face scrunches.

Despite being a terrible idea, he slowly steps further. He at least had to check, right? In case someone needed help, or something.

"HHHeEEllOooOo..." The voice calls out again, louder now as he nears the corner of the hall.

Taking a deep breath, Anon slowly peers around the halls bend.

There's Sugar Belle, standing by the door to the Apples basement. But she looks... off. She's smiling at him, and the smile is just too wide. Too sharp.

Still, though. The others have been weird too. Gotta give her a chance, even if he doesn't know her that well, right?

Before he can say anything though, she gestures towards the open door beside herself. The stairs head down towards the family basement, and she waits patiently as Anon looks.

There's... a pulsing, fleshy mass that quivers and moans. It's shape doesn't hold to one form, constantly wriggling and shifting. It hurts his head just to look at the thing.

A slimy, fleshy tendril slowly extends outward, as an apple begins to bud from it. Slowly, Sugar Belle reaches out with a worn basket, snipping it's stem with her hooves and catching it as it lands inside it with a loud squish.

"WaAAaant... onE?" Sugar Belle asks, turning to Anon starting to approach him.

"Oh, uh... no thanks, I'm not hungry..." Anon manages, between dry-heaves.

"YoU shOulD...HaAaAaveEe... neeEedDdt tTO HAVE TO HAVE TO HAVE TO HAVE TO HA-" Sugar Belle starts to scream, rushing towards him.

Anon nearly cracks his head on the doorframe as he sprints back out of the house, tumbling into a roll as he clears the patio. He doesn't stop until he reaches the barn, throwing the door open and leaping inside, slamming it shut. Lungs burning, Applebloom and Chrysalis give him an odd look as he sits against the door.

Safe to say, AppleBloom was coming with him.

"Mister 'Non! Did they say I can go?" AppleBloom asks, bounding up to his face.

Behind her, Chrysalis stares at him with a curious frown.

"Uh... yeah, yup! Good to... good to go! Grab your things!" He huffs loudly, peering out the window, watching the house.

No movement. Nothing following.

AppleBloom grins widely, racing around the barn for... well, she doesn't exactly have much stored around here, so she's basically just making sure she didn't leave a mess and packing what little she did bring. For a moment, she pauses beside the platter of sliced apples, about to grab one -- Anon's stomach twists.

"Oh, uh -- mind saving the rest for me? Just realized how, uh... hungry I am!" Anon calls out. Applebloom pauses, glancing up and nodding with a smile, before skipping off to prep.

Anon exhales in relief. He still feels like he might vomit, quickly grabbing the plate and shoving it behind some of the haybales. Chrysalis creeps closer while AppleBloom is distracted, watching the filly.
"What in Tartarus you see in there to get you that spooked?" She presses, poking at him.

Anon glances over his shoulder, ensuring Apple Bloom isn't listening, before leaning to whisper.
"It's bad in there, and nobody should be eating those. That's all I'm gonna say.""

Chrysalis' eyes widen, words failing the bug queen. She silently looks at where he spilled the plate.

"Yeah. You, uh... good to go? I can carry you, if need be." Anon offers. She probably weighs almost nothing.

Chrysalis looks objectively offended, if not outright horrified at the idea.
"If you lay those grubby, splayed hooves of yours upon my chitin, you'll face my utmost wrath."

"Hey!" AppleBloom huffs, trotting back over. "I'm ready!"

"FASTER!" Chrysalis shouts, wriggling in his grasp.

Anon is hauling across the grassy field, bolting for the closest patch of wheat to get back where he came from. He's got Chrysalis under one arm, and AppleBloom under the other, carrying them both amidst his mad dash.

And AppleJack, screeching like a banshee with a warbly, ethereal scream that carries across the emptiness, is plowing after them. Her hooves tearing up clumps of dirt, billowing loudly. The moment he stepped outside of the barn with the pair in tow, she ripped out of the nearest tree in a fury, storming towards them.

Plan was simple. Run. Didn't pan out so great. Not a great track record for his ideas so far.

"Ah'll be back soon, Sis! But ah' wanna see mah' friends!" AppleBloom shouts back, trying to calm the oversized, skull-faced monstrosity gaining on them.

No dice. She is furious. Yoinking her little sister, and dangling Chrysalis in front of her is not helping. Her once-black eyeholes now burn brightly, and Anon can feel Chrysalis shaking in his arm. Must be terrifying, left pint-sized and without means to defend yourself.

The field of oversized wheat is getting closer, but not close fast enough. They're not going to make it -- the stomping is getting louder, and a glance behind himself shows they're about to be trampled as AppleJack towers over them.

Maybe if he throws them? He can buy them a moment and try to distract AppleJack -- though she's likely to just gore right through him to get to them.

Something loudly slaps against his chest, stopping him in his tracks and surprising him. All three, confused, look at it.

It's a web. And it leads back into the wheat field?

"The fu --" Anon barely gets out before he's yanked forwards, tumbling and crashing into the wheat, right as something large scuttles overtop of him. Chrysalis and AppleBloom make startled noises as they fall from his arms, and Anon scampers to his feet to look.

It's Twilight. Or Spider Twilight. Spidertwi? Twider? She's squaring up with AppleJack, holding herself high with her legs to match her height. She's not as tall as AppleJack, who roars loudly in frustration at being denied her catch, stamping the ground.

Applejack lunges forward with her antlers, swinging them widely -- as Twilight's horn glows brightly, and there's an ear-piercing flash of light that stuns anyone and everything unfortunate enough to have been looking in the direction. This includes Anon, stumbling back.

Before his vision even has a chance to recover, he's yoinked off the ground. Anon can barely hear the objecting voice of the others past the hum in his ears, as he feels wheat hit his face as he's quickly moved. And in a moment, the static hum in the air is gone, as is the stinging of his face getting whacked by stalks of wheat.

He rubs his eyes, squinting as his vision returns.

They're back in the jungle, away from the farm. Anon never thought he'd be happy to be hassled by big-ass mosquito's again. It doesn't look like Applejack intends to follow them beyond the farm, either.

"WHAT is TH-- the SPARKLE?!" Chrysalis refutes, wriggling in Spider-Twi's grasp. She's holding each of them in one of her legs, watching them with her opaque eyes.
"Remove yourself from me at once!"

"Miss Twi', you're lookin'... different. An' awful bright." AppleBloom remarks, eyes practically dinner plates as the filly works through her daze.

She slowly turns her head down to Anon, tilting it sideways before nuzzling his cheek. Still a bit on the grimy side but... they'd get her a bath or something.
"Thanks for the save, Twi. You coming back to the camp with us?"

"Nnnn...ooohnnnnn...eeee." She slowly chitters, before carrying them off in the suspiciously correct direction of their camp. Had she already been there?

Anon watches the wheat behind them dissapear as Twi effortlessly crosses the jungle with her odd limbs. Sorry AJ, but he'll take care of AppleBloom, and try to set things right soon.

AppleBloom sits in a daze for most of the trip, and Chrysalis eventually relents to being carried, again, against her will.

Well, whatever Faust was expecting to see when he got back, Anon doubts that this would be anything even close to her expectations.

"Who is this... benefactor, that you claim will help us?" Chrysalis suddenly asks, a few minutes into their ride home.

"Oh, right, forgot to mention her. Faust. You know her?" Anon offers, curious.

"...You're joking. My Mother?" Chrysalis states flatly.

"You know her mom? She a Changer-lin' too?" AppleBloom pipes in.

Oh boy.

Post Contest Chapter - Webbed Up

Chrysalis didn't have much more to say, either with attitude or genuinely after that little tidbit Anon dropped. Even with AppleBloom bombarding her and Anon with a number of questions about who Faust was, she eventually lost steam when she saw Chrysalis was in a mood.

Traveling by oversized spider was an interesting experience for the intrepid trio. A little sore and odd, but they got back to the cave in record time, the evening sky peeking over the tallest of the trees as the shadows lengthened and stretched.

The idea of Faust just being a hallucination had started to dip from Anon's mind once he saw her interacting with Sweetie, but now the levity of things was coming to bear. Chrysalis had a mom, who happened to be the shoulder sitting nuisance that claimed it could restart reality? Part of him hoped they just shared a name or something, considering how not very bug-like Faust was.

It doesn't take long for the cave to come into view.

...

Sweetie is still scoping out the same tree, a short distance from the chicken coop. Looks like she's drawn some kind of diagram into the dirt by the fence, which Scootaloo is slowly adding to with a claw. AppleBloom is a little confused at first, but her eyes nearly bug out of her head when she sees her friends, launching out of Spider-Twi's grasp to run over to them.

It's a surprisingly warm reception, as AppleBloom tackles Sweetie into a hug. It takes Sweetie a second, but she smiles, before hugging AppleBloom back. Both head over to Scootaloo, stopping by the small fence as AppleBloom bombards them both with questions. Of course, she hops the fence without a thought to throw her hooves around her other friend.

Unfortunately, the other half of the reunion isn't quite as exciting. Faust flutters out of the cave at the commotion, looking over everything with surprise -- especially Spider-Twi, until her gaze falls unto the Queen of the Changelings.

Both tentatively approach the other, each displaying a surprising amount of guard towards the other.

"Chrysalis?" Faust says first, after a long, long pause. It's a quiet, surprised noise rather than a proper word.

"...Mother." Chrysalis returns shortly, glancing away.

"You're... smaller than usual. Thin. Have you been eating?" Faust asks, taking a step forward.

"It likely pleases you to hear that I, nor my brood, can eat since this rupture to our reality." Chrysalis suddenly turns back, spitting.

"That's not what I..." Faust trails off, but Chrysalis doesn't give her a chance.

"Do not pretend like you care. And who are you, to speak about my state? Look at yourself. Is this all that remains of the Mother of Alicorns? Some pint-sized Breezie whose lost control of her so-carefully construed realm?" Chrysalis jabs a pointed hoof at Faust, who falters, taking a step back.

"Mother of Alicorns?" Anon mutters, as AppleBloom nudges his leg, having wandered back over to him. Like Celestia and Luna?

"Ah' mean, she does have wings n' a horn." AppleBloom whispers, the pair watching the slowly worsening familial reconnect with the same assurance someone in a wheelchair going down the stairs.
"Is that Miss Faust? She's awful short. Is she like the Princesses?"

"Uh... kind of." Anon shrugs. He had no idea, honestly. Mother of Alicorns was a loaded title, and Faust never really talked about herself. Not that Anon asked. He got used to just rolling with how weird pony-world was, and adopted that mindset when all this happened, too. That might need to change going forward.

"This isn't my fault, Chrysalis. This --" Faust tries to relent, but Chrysalis won't stand for it.

"Oh? Is it mine, as you've likely already assumed? Or perhaps another of your so dutifully-raised daughters has failed you? Tell me, how fares your Mare on the Moon? Or perhaps, the favorite?" Chrysalis continues, taking an aggressive step forward.

"Chrysalis. Enough." Faust warns, her torn face finally twisting to fury.

"Yes, enough. Fret not, Mother, for it was not I that set the world on this path, as much as you wish it was."

"I never created you for that, Chrysalis. I made... many things in this world, all with great variance!" Faust tries to explain, but Chrysalis snorts at her words.

"You made me -- my kind, to eat love. A never-ending hunger, and a ceaseless hunt, that drives us to be the villains for your little Elements. But you never expected us to get so close, to be such a threat that you beguiled your eldest into the Harmony she so eagerly champions." Chrysalis snarls, holding her head high.

"Chrysalis, I never intended for the Changelings to live like this, nor were you made for such a purpose. You were never even meant to leave the swamp --" Faust starts, but Chrysalis cuts in.

"Yes, the bearded one's meddling. I remember. And yet, here we are, Mother. Or... were. Before your latest, greatest screw-up." Chrysalis chuckles. It's a slow, pitiable laugh that soon grows in loudness until she's cackling. But there's no joy in it.
"You'll finally have what you wanted. To watch us wither, and fade, so you can go back to playing favorites."

Faust is silent, lips pursed and words caught in her throat.

Chrysalis shakes her head, sighing dramatically.
"Whatever. Enough of this."

Right as Chrysalis goes to turn however, she finds the human in her path, watching her with a dour expression.

"Move." She states simply, but surprisingly quietly.

"Nope." Anon retorts, scratching his nose.

"It wasn't a request." Chrysalis growls.

"That's nice, but... it's my camp, and you're welcome here. Stay. We'll figure something out to help you feed again. Promise." Anon explains, ignoring both Chrysalis' and Faust's widening eyes.

"Why? You know what I am. We are not friends, human."

"But... we could be."

"You, the little Pal of the Elements, would befriend a Changeling? Enough with your falsities."

"Well, technically I'd be your second friend, but that's semantics."

"Second? Who are --" Chrysalis trails off, as Anon nods towards the particularly yellow filly. And snorts loudly.
"You're joking. I was using her to hide from her mess of a sister."

"Friendship is a give and take type of transaction. Just... I'm not gonna try and convince you of anything more than this. Stay, at least for a while, and let me try to help you. So you can help your hive."

Chrysalis falls silent, glaring at Anon. Her gaze never softens... but her lip doesn't curl like it did towards Faust. Eventually, she rolls her eyes, turning towards the cave.
"Fine. But I'm taking the comfiest bed here, for I deserve no less."

Well, that would be his bed, but Anon will take the victories he can get. He doubt he won her over with promises of being buddy-buddy, but there wasn't really a reason to just let her starve herself out. Watching Chrysalis slowly pace towards the mouth of the cave, Faust slowly approaches him. there's a droop to her flight, landing on his shoulder.

Faust takes in a long, slow breath, steeling herself as she faces Anon. Composure returns to her face, and her voice steadies.
"I suppose you have questions for me, after hearing all that."

"Honestly? We can save them for later. I... think you two have been through enough tonight."

"You... don't want to ask me anything right now? I haven't exactly been forthcoming with you, Anon."

"I've always figured you've got more going on. Like, come on. Anybody who claims they can reset reality tends to come with baggage, I'd imagine. Well, after I finally figured you weren't just a voice in my head given form." Anon laughs, spinning a finger beside his temple.

"I suppose that's one way to look at it. Are you... sure?" Faust asks quietly.

"Talk to me when you're ready, Faust. Not like I'm going anywhere. Just... I think you've been given a pretty unique chance here. With Chrysalis, that you might never have gotten before."

Faust purses her lips, sighing.
"I'll consider your words. Thank you, Anon. Though, I think somepony else could use your attention at the moment." She says, gesturing behind him.

Spider-Twi is squinting at the chickens, tilting her head. They're fairly unabashed by her presence, wandering around their containment as she watches. Scootaloo is much more on guard, hiding behind the makeshift coop, fluffed up and peeking out from behind it.

"Give me some time to figure out... Chrysalis' situation. I think you've rounded up enough Remnants for the moment. How was the Apples farm, anyway?" Faust asks.

All Anon can muster is an 'eesh' expression as he remembers what he saw in the house.

Faust slowly lifts off his shoulder, hovering.
"That bad? Well... good job. I knew you were the right one for this."

"I'll ask what you mean by that later." Anon huffs, hands on his hips.

"Sure. I owe you that much, at least." Faust says quietly, before quietly fluttering towards the cave.

Quite the development. Mother of Alicorns... so he's been trying to swat Celestia's mother like a mosquito?

Feels like he got off easy with the zaps.

...

"Twi... you messing with Scootaloo?" Anon asks, joining the irregulars by the coop. The birdified Scootaloo, and the Spiderfied Twilight. AppleBloom was over with Sweetie, looking over the tree. Now with someone to actually verbalize their intent, it sounds like they want to build a treehouse, like the one they had prior. That should keep them busy.

Twilight blinks, turning her attention from the hiding Scootaloo, and towards him. He was getting a little more used to seeing her like this, especially now that she wasn't dangling herself from a flesh-web in her basement. It just reminded him of one of her many spells she's subject herself to in the name of progress, altering herself for whoever knows how long.

Except this time... she's some kind of spider-pony. And a bit less verbal.

"Ahnnnn.... nonn." She says with a surprising amount of warmth, nuzzling into his neck.

And a fair bit more affectionate?

Still kinda grimy though.

"Anon!" A distant, familiar voice calls out to him.

He's in the middle of crossing the Ponyville town square, headed for the train station with a packed bag slung over his shoulder. Pausing and looking towards the voice, he sees... Twilight running towards him. Her hair looks frazzled, and she's panting up a storm. How long has she been running for?

Anon stops, waiting for her to catch up.
"Hey Twilight." He greets simply, as she comes skidding to a halt beside him.

"Why didn't you tell me you were leaving?!" She exclaims, huffing loudly as she catches her breath.

"Well, I tried leaving a note for you on your door, and your table when I couldn't find you at any of your usual spots. None of the other girls had seen you around either, so I was gonna try sending you a letter or something." Anon offers.

"Letter? From where?" She presses, stepping close.

"From Canterlot. I'm not going that far, Twi, I just got a bartending gig through one of AppleJack's cousins." Anon explains. The relief is palpable on Twilight's face as she sighs loudly, wiping her brow with a hoof.

"Oh. Canterlot? That's... not far at all. Okay. Phew. Okay." She mumbles, nodding to herself.

"You alright? Normally you just teleport everywhere, I'm surprised to see you running around." Anon laughs, leaning to poke one of her frayed strands of mane back into place.

"Well, I had been to all the spots I thought I could find you! Then I realized that when you weren't at any of the major locations, you were probably at the intermittent locations between locations in transit, so I thought going on hoof would increase my chances of finding you before you left." Twilight rambles, entirely unaware of Anon slowly fiddling with her mane.

"Think we ran around each-other?" Anon chuckles.

"Probably." She huffs. "Were you going to leave without saying goodbye?"

"Spunkle, I spent like an hour looking for you, and my train leaves in fifteen minutes." Anon tries to object, but stops when he sees Twilight's face pout.

"And, you know, it's Canterlot. You visit the place like every two weeks to see Celestia, I figured we could just... hang out whenever you're in town." Anon continues -- and Twilight instantly perks up.

"Promise? Send me your work schedule every week, and I'll manage my visits to the Princess around it!" She exclaims, hopping forward so close she nearly bumps into him.

"Okay, okay! Will do. Promise. But I've gotta go now, Twi, I can't miss my train."

"I could teleport you there." She tries to offer, but Anon physically flinched.

"You know I hate that shit." He quickly shoots the idea down.

"I'm sure you'll stop getting sick... eventually, if you go through enough exposure to it." Twilight tries, smiling not-so-innocently.

"Yeah, no dice. Good try though." He pats her head, standing.

"Well -- at least write me! Okay?"

"Alright, Twi. Will do."

"Like... weekly?"

"Weekly? You know how much ink costs, right?" Anon scoffs playfully.

Suddenly, Twilight presses into his legs, hugging him tightly.
"Promise?"

Anon sighs, leaning down to awkwardly return the hug.
"Alright, alright. Promise."

Lucky for both of them, there was a closer water source than the Ponyville coast. There was a river, albeit a bit small and devoid of anything that would serve as an actual snack, that ran through the lower area behind the cave.

Well, more like a creek. It's a little separated from the trees, and Anon checked thoroughly for things like leeches or the like, but it seemed pretty clear.

Bathing an oversized spider-pony is... an interesting task. She's surprisingly willing to listen to his instructions, clearly still the intelligent nerd of prior, even if her verbosity has been a bit hampered since her transformation.

She's half-submerged, sitting patiently on the creek bed. Anon is trying to scrub free some of the griminess that stuck to her, likely from her residing in that basement alone. No tools at hand, he's going old-fashioned with water, and raking through her fur with his fingers.

Twilight's making this odd, throat-purring chittering sound whenever he scratches along her neck and spine.

"What, this a hard to reach spot or something?" Anon chuckles, watching Twilight's ears flatten against her head as she leans into it.

A rustling from the nearby ferns draws his attention, though Twilight seems entirely subsumed in simply enjoying the sensation of the trickling creek.

The other, natural-borne bug pony slowly emerges, frowning slightly when she realizes she's no longer alone.

"Hey, Chrysalis." Anon quaintly greets, before splashing Twilight a few times.

"Queen Chrysalis." She corrects, before glancing between the pair with confusion. "What are you doing?"

"Bathing Twilight. She's a bit grimy from her old den in Ponyville."

"That... you're adapting to this nonsense weirdly quick. Do you have a thing for insectids or something?" She scoffs, pausing by the side of the water.
"Unlike the Pony, our kinds Chitin remains resolute from filth."

"Really? That's pretty cool." Anon nods.

"It... is." Chrysalis slowly mumbles, confused by her bragging taunts going unchallenged.

"How's the bed? They're pretty easy to make, so if you need me to make you one that fits you better or something, let me know."

"Changeling beds primarily comprise of the excess byproduct of our builder drones. A bed of leaves is... odd, but not entirely unpleasant." Chrysalis relents, sitting.

Silently, she dips a hoof into the water, watching the stream curve around it.

She sits in silence for some time, simply watching Anon scrub down Twilight. Her fur is looking brighter, now that it's getting at least somewhat properly washed, but she's just not quite as colorful as she used to be.

"How did you meet my Mother?" Chrysalis suddenly prompts.

"Uh... woke up, and she was buzzing around my head. Never seen her before." Anon answers, shrugging.

"You know she's the reason you're here, right? She pulled you to this world." Chrysalis states, watching Anon.

"I was getting that feeling." Anon nods.

"...Do you not care?" She scoffs.

Anon looks to Twilight, who tilts her head at him, wondering why he's stopped scratching.

"No, not really. I found what I care for again." Anon answers simply, pressing Twilight's nose.

"...Hm." Chrysalis huffs.

"So this is the place, huh?" Twilight muses, slowly perusing around his new abode. A bit on the small side, but it would allow for some savings.

He'd picked up a place close to his work, after crashing in a spare room his boss supplied for a few months. One floor, single bedroom. Good commute, location close to the shops, and had a cozy vibe to it. Couldn't ask for much more.

Plus, tall doorways. A blessing.

Twilight was in town for a visit with Celestia, discussing some of the recent changes to Ponyville. So in the meantime, she swung by to see his new place.

"A little light on the furniture..." She muses playfully, giving him a look.

"Still trying to find someone to make me some human-sized ones." Anon huffs, shutting the door behind them. It was pretty light so far, kind of stuck to the necessities until he was flush again. Still, nice to have a place to call his own.

"I think the Princess has contracts for making furniture for the larger sized dignitaries, did you want me to ask her about it?" Twilight offers, turning in place to look up at him.

"That'd actually be pretty sick. My feet still dangle off the bed, though at this point I think I'm used to it." Anon snorts, getting a giggle out of Twilight.

"I remember seeing you nearly fall off everything you try to sit or lay on. How are things with your work? Adjusting to the Canterlot lifestyle?" She continues, poking her nose into his fairly underfilled hall closet.

"Snoopy." He comments playfully, as Twilight pulls her head out of her closet squinting at his accusation.
"It's going pretty good. Getting used to the whole Nobility thing was a bit weird, but not too unlike my old world. Job is good, though. Managed to actually stick with it, and unlike the Apples, my hands actually give me an advantage in my jobs day to day."

"That's good. I'm glad you've found your place, Anon." Twilight smiles.

"How have you been faring? Ponyville still the boring little backwater that bursts into activity?" Anon asks, stepping over into the kitchen.
"Oh, you want something to drink? I've got... water, potentially out of date milk, and half a Hoof-E-Cola. We'd have to go splits on the cola, though, cuz I've been fiending for that thing all day."

Twilight makes a noise, waving a hoof.
"I'm alright, thanks though."

"How long are you in Canterlot for?"

"Five days. The Princess is swamped with meetings, but she's been wanting to discuss something about Ponyville with me."

"Any clue what it is?" Anon asks, slumping back onto his couch, claiming the cola for himself.

"I wish. She's always cryptic in her letters, so I'm waiting to see." Twilight shrugs, hopping up on the couch beside him.

"Well, if you need a place to crash... though I bet she's got you set up at the castle. Oh, your family is here too, right?" Anon tries offering, but both crack a smile as they look around the barebones home.

"As tempting as it would be to steal your couch in revenge, I'm alright. Staying with my family, my Mother's been missing me." Twilight laughs, before groaning and sinking into the cushions.
"And asking me when I'm gonna meet a nice colt, when she's getting grand-foals..."

"What, haven't met that special somepony yet?" Anon teases, poking at her side.

"Well..." Twilight trails off, stealing a glance at Anon.

Dinner was both easy, and a bit odd. Chrysalis can't eat until Faust figures out how to alter the magic affecting her, and Faust doesn't eat, period. Sweetie already fed herself with things gathered from the jungle, but Anon tried to supply the fillies with some fish-strips and eggs nonetheless. Scootaloo ate most of their portions, and the trio is setting up a temporary spot to sleep closer to the coop. A bit of an odd choice, but Scootaloo really doesn't seem intent on leaving the coops fencing.

That mostly left himself, and Twilight. While her diet was a concern at first, it turns out (in this form) Twilight was more partial to meat, picking up the fish rather than the berries and such Sweetie had collected. Hopefully she doesn't go after one of the chickens.

She's still crunching through them, tearing them apart with her limbs and wolfing them down.

There wasn't much left for Anon at the end of the day, but that's kind of the consequences of cramming your camp full of hungry creatures without preparing for it. He'd spend tomorrow gathering more, maybe take the detour and hit the coast again.

Chrysalis looks quite comfy on his bed, nestled up on it. She's staring at the wall with a distant gaze, sighing softly to herself. Faust has perched on one of the higher extrusions in the cave wall, uncharacteristically quiet. The trio of Crusaders were set up in a snuggle-pile with the chickens, until they got their plans for a proper treehouse going.

Anon's bed situation found itself resolved when Twilight finished her meal. Mostly in the case of the prompt happening of her picking him up, and webbing herself to the ceiling, in the starting stages of what was likely going to be a pretty big web-bed.

A touch weird, but now that she wasn't dirty, she actually wasn't a terrible cuddle. Just... had to get used to all the legs. And the fact that with how sticky the web was, he wasn't going anywhere.

They'd start figuring things out tomorrow. With a few of the Remnants found, there were undoubtedly more with varying levels of... reason. Sleep might take a while to take him, no small thanks to what he heard from Faust and Chrysalis today, but he had a feeling things would be alright. If the pleased noises of the spiderized Twilight that was currently dangling him from the ceiling was anything to go by.

He slowly ruffles her mane as she presses her face against his chest, exhaling loudly.

Anon never got a chance to tell her, last time. Maybe this time.

"Ahh...nnnnooon." She mutters quietly.

"Yes, Twi?" Anon responds, lifting his head.

"Missed... you." She slowly mumbles into his chest, numerous limbs pulling him closer.

Or maybe she'd tell him.

Author's Note

Thanks for reading this the last chapter I HAVE TOO MANY STORIES
i dunno when the contest is done being reviewed so im gonna dump it now

Obligatory romance because I only write romances they just happen to slowburn for x wordcount

Post Contest Chapter - Story Tidbits -

lingering ideas I didn't have the wordcount to expand on at request

Crystal Empire - Suffering from a rampant infection that melts flesh and fur off the bone, crystalizing the skeleton underneath. Highly contagious but surprisingly painless, but can only perpetuate in frigid environments, limited to it's northern biome as the rest of the surrounding regions have turned tropical. Half of the nation decorates the Capital's streets and buildings as little more than statues of glinting bone.

Princess Cadance seems to be the epicenter of the epidemic, as the Crystal Castle is entirely subsumed by eruptions of crystals.

The Umbrum find themselves unable to maintain their forms, relegated to an agonizing in-between as the disease attempts to melt flesh and fur that simply does not exist on ethereal shadow-bound ponies. In contrast, it treats them much harsher than the almost majestic, if somber fate to that of the crystal ponies. The only real threat in the area, other than the lingering infection if you make contact with the crystals, or the groaning, moaning puddles of shadowy masses, is the sole Umbrum who refuses to let his form falter, wandering the streets in a pained rage.

Everfree Forest - Now a cove of coral, it's residents reduced to sea-creatures of completely random variety with no link to their prior species, nestled beneath the waves and forming a coast just outside of Ponyville that stretches across the eastern side of what was once Equestria.

Compared to much of the strife that occurs on the surface, little issue happens below the waves, an amusing contrast to the fear and worry previously applied to the once forested region.

Ponyville - Entirely populated by the burgeoning population of the Schoolhouse, Ponyville is now an overgrown territory guarded by the foals and fillies under a centipedal-Cheerilee, hunting anything that tries to tread into their region.

Rarity's Boutique has been boarded up, as the foals have no interest dealing with the creatures inside.

Sugarcube Corner may lie abandoned, but hosts the largest entrance into the tunnels that run deep below the town, populated by a singular entity, who roams aimlessly, giggling. Try to avoid treading to deep, before the dirt and rock becomes squishy and wet, bleeding from every step.

Fluttershy's home is entirely missing, as is the yellow pony. Kept in a perpetual slumber, Discord keeps her hidden away for her own protection, so she might not be used against him by the other Draconequus. This works for the moment, as they're too busy trying to protect themselves from being put down again by Malice.

Canterlot - Completely overgrown not unlike Ponyville, the difference is clear in how the city still remains populated. Despite the population living as if things were normal, every pony that resides within the city is completely blind, and seems to take no issue with it if the topic is discussed.

It's for the best, for they best not gaze upon their Princess, who never moves from her throne.

The mirror world hardly fares any better than the world Equus knows now, it's own horrors kept from traversing by the Princess of the Moon, who can no longer be contained by any.