Aloneby WutenChaptersIntroductions - PrologueGraduation - Chapter 1Races, Mares and Crashes - Chapter 2Pastries and Pranks - Chapter 3Apple-Bucking Season - Chapter 4Trees, Apples and Awkward Dinners - Chapter 5The Calm After the Storm... - Chapter 6The Party - Chapter 7Confessions - Chapter 8Lust - Chapter 9The Lake - Chapter 10Truths and Lies - Chapter 11Confrontation - Chapter 12Escalation - Chapter 13Climax - Chapter 14 (warning: non-consensual shenanigans)Introductions - PrologueHello, everyone, and welcome to my story. Before we begin, I feel it's appropriate to let you know that this was a request sent to me by an anonymous user on 4Chan. Expect to see some mature themes in this (which should be apparent by the rating), and eventually something... unexpected. With that said, onward to the reading! ~Wuten, the King of Spaghetti Prologue Alone. You were so alone. You are Scootaloo, and you just graduated from Cherilee’s class. They’re throwing a huge party outside of the school right now, and you’re sitting outside the party, looking up at the sky. The sunset really is beautiful. Celestia and Luna really are the best of sisters. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle graduated with you too… their families were so proud of them. Not yours, though. Your family never even knew you graduated… “Hey, what’re you doing all the way over here?” you hear a male’s voice come from above you. It was HIS voice. That thing that showed up a few years ago… He called himself “Anonymous”; supposedly, he didn’t even remember anything from where he came from or who he was. He didn’t even know his real name; “Anonymous” was just a name that he came up with by himself after nearly a month of going without a name. The only thing you knew about him was he lived out on the outskirts of town. He was pretty good friends with Rainbow Dash, too, it seemed. She was your idol, yes. But she didn’t know what you went through. Most likely, the only one that could ever truly understand your pain would be… that human. “Hey, did you hear me?” That voice again. He was speaking to you. “Huh? What?” You spring back into activity, looking around before your eyes land on him. He’s a giant; nearly taller than that Minotaur that came through years ago. He wore strange clothing when he was out in public; it was… different. You didn’t quite know how to describe it, but they seemed to fit him. “Oh, sorry; must’ve started daydreaming, that’s all.” You rub the back of your head nervously with your hoof; you didn’t want him to know you were thinking about him. “Heh, that’s silly,” he says, walking up to you. Despite growing a few feet during the last few years, you still barely stood above his waist at full height. “I asked what you were doing all the way out here, that’s all,” he asks again, looking down at you. You look back up at him, and his eyes… they’re staring right into yours. It’s as if they’re piercing right through your body, yet… the expression he has is warm, welcoming… “Well, um…” You stutter a bit, transfixed by his gaze, unable to think coherently for a few moments. “M-my parents are, well…” Your bottom lip begins to quiver a bit, hesitation getting the better of you. You didn’t want to say it. It was too embarrassing for you, to say it while everyone else’s parents were here. Sure, they were most likely paying no attention to you at this point, but still, it didn’t feel right… “I understand,” he says, giving you a warm smile before placing a hand on your head. “I know that feeling, too,” he speaks once again, before sitting down next to you. You do the same, and close your eyes as you let him brush his fingers through your fur. “You… do?” “Yeah. I don’t even remember where I came from, after all,” he says, his fingers causing you to melt under them. “So I know the feeling of not having a mother and father to be there. You and I are a lot alike, in that way.” “We… are?” You open your eyes and turn to look at him, a surprised expression on your face. Nobody had ever told you that before. Sure, they tried to comfort you at times… but none of them were empathetic to your feelings. “Yeah, we are,” he says, smiling at you. “When I first came here, do you think I befriended pe-… Er, ponies, so easily?” he asks you. You shake your head; you remember watching from afar as a filly, while he would be isolated by many of the ponies for his strange appearance. Sure, eventually they warmed up to his presence to where they didn’t completely ignore him, but still you could see the hurt expressions he would have at times when they would intentionally try to isolate him from the rest. “Hey, what’s your name, kid?” he asks, and you turn to him with a warm smile, returning the one he gave you earlier. “My name’s Scootaloo. It’s really nice to meet you.” He smiles and stands up, patting your head. “I’m Anonymous, and it was nice meeting you too,” he says, before walking off into the graduation party, mingling with the other graduates. “Anonymous…” That name… it soothed your bad mood almost immediately. You stand up, stretch your wings a bit, and walk into the party behind him. You’ll have to find a way to make it up to him someday. End Prologue And with that, the story can truly begin. Graduation - Chapter 1Chapter 1 You are Anonymous, and you are a human living in a world filled with colorful ponies. You came here a few years ago, and yet you have no memories of your former life on Earth. All you had coming here were the clothes you were wearing, and… well, your charming good looks. At least, YOU considered yourself to be rather charming. I mean, the ponies seem to like you. Sure, it took a while to warm up to you, but now you and the ponies are cool, right? Huh. This party’s cool and all, but… you kind of felt bad for that one pony earlier, the orange one that seemed all alone. What was her name again? It started with an “S”, you know that. Huh… Fuck, you’re terrible with names. The fact that these ponies had such strange names didn’t quite help the situation for you, either. At least most of them had a similar name to a trait of theirs. Rainbow Dash with her mane and her insane flying speeds, the entire Apple family… … No, best you don’t remind yourself of that. You turn to one of the graduated mares and smile, congratulating her. She has a gray mane and is wearing sleek, blue glasses. Her mane is in two braided tails, and she holds an air of superiority about herself. “Of course I graduated, who do you think I am? A ruffian like those three “Cutie Mark Crusaders”? Ridiculous!” she exclaims, huffing and walking away. …Well. That was rude. Learn to take a compliment, damn… You sigh, before looking around. Where was she… Ah, there she is! “Yo! Cheerilee!” She turns around and smiles, her face instantly lighting up at the sight of you. “Oh, Anonymous! So good to see you!” she exclaims happily, approaching you. “What brings you here?” “Saw there was a party. Figured, “Why not,” and headed over. That’s okay, right?” She lets out a giggle, and nods. “Of course, Anonymous; this is an open party for the town, after all.” “Cool. So hey, um… who is that orange one? The pegasus with the pink and purple mane?” “Oh, Scootaloo? She’s another graduated student of mine,” Cheerilee says, her smile faltering a bit. “She had difficulty when she was younger, learning to fly. She was teased by many of the other pegasi because of it…” Damn. That’s brutal, especially for a kid… “Ouch… sounds like she’s had it pretty rough. What about her parents, why aren’t they here like the other graduates?” Cheerilee shakes her head. “It’s a long story. But they’re no longer here, it seems,” she says. You don’t press the issue further; you have a fairly good idea of what could have happened to them. “It was many years ago. Poor young Scootaloo has been growing up all on her own…” Your eyes widen, and you turn to look around for a moment, before leaning in closer. “All by herself? Didn’t anyone try to help her?” “Of course we did,” Cheerilee responds, her voice softening to a low whisper. “But she wouldn’t have any of it. That mare’s stubbornness can even be compared to that of Rainbow Dash at times!” Heh. That’s saying something, definitely. Two hours have passed, and still next to nobody has come to congratulate you, save for Sweetie Belle and Applebloom. Cheerilee too, but she’s your teacher, she’s supposed to do that, or something. Then there’s… HIM… You haven’t been able to take your eyes off of him since he came to comfort you earlier. It’s like… he’s got some sort of spell over him or something. Wait. Wait, Scoots. Backup; what the hell are you thinking? You couldn’t actually… …But he was so nice to you before… Gah. You need to sleep on this, it’s happening too fast… Maybe it’d be best if you don’t stay at this party. “Hey, Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, I’m not feeling too well. I think I’m gonna go ahead and head home for the night. That alright with you two?” The two mares turn and smile at you, nodding. “Sure, Scootaloo; you go ahead and do whatever ya need t’ do ta feel better, alright?” Applebloom says, the bow in her hair still just as large as it was years ago when the three of you were just fillies. “Yeah, don’t worry, we’ll cover for you,” Sweetie Belle replies, placing a hoof on your back. The two of them… they were true friends. Applebloom could probably relate to you not having parents anymore, but then again she has her older sister and Big Mac to look after her… Sweetie Belle has her entire family, as well. Even though they couldn’t truly empathize with your situation, you knew that they were the closest things to family that you had. You’d do anything for them. “Thanks you two, I owe you big for this.” You nod at them, before outstretching your wings and turning around, when you’re suddenly stopped by two ponies in your way. “Where do you think you’re going, blank-flank?” one giggles, a grin across her face. Her mane is a light violet, with a large, white streak down the middle. On her flank, was an intricate design of a tiara. Diamond Tiara. And the other one with glasses… Silver Spoon. “What do you two want?” Applebloom turns to face them, your two friends stepping in front of you. “I don’t think we were talking to you, were we?” Silver Spoon scowls angrily at Applebloom. Sweetie Belle turns to look at you, and nods. “We’ll handle things here. You get your rest, Scootaloo.” …They were going to defend you against these two ponies? It almost brought tears to your eyes. Seriously, you owe them big time now. “Thanks, both of you…” You push off with your hooves, flapping your wings a few times before hovering away from the party. However, this isn’t before a certain bipedal creature takes notice of your absence… You take landing after about seven minutes or so of flying, landing up against a nearby tree along the road. Pressing your back against it, you sit and catch your breath for a moment before you prepare to take off again. For some strange reason, you always had difficulty flying. You never were able to figure out why, but usually after ten minutes of consistent flying, hovering, anything exerting your wings, you ended up plummeting to the ground, unable to continue. Sure, you tried to work up stamina to this; after all, what kind of pegasus can’t fly, huh? Nonetheless, it’s better than what you were able to pull off as a filly. Ten minutes, as opposed to hardly even a minute at all, is definitely something to be proud of… “Hey, what’re you doing all the way out here?” … Is it…?! You turn your head to face the voice, and sure enough, there he is. He must have seen you leaving the party… “What? Oh, um… I got sick, that’s all.” You need to get out of here, quickly. You can’t let him see you fly to where you li- “Oh? Would you like me to help you get home?” …Damn. “N-no, that’s alright, I can fly on my own…” He eyes you for a moment. “You sure?” You nod back at him, getting to your hooves. “Yeah… Don’t worry, I’ll be just fine.” He hesitates for a moment, before nodding. “Well, alright. Hope you get home safely. Get some rest, okay? That’s the best thing for when you’re sick.” You smile at him, outstretching your wings. “Will do, don’t worry.” He smiles, before turning and raising a hand. “See ya later,” he says as he walks away from you. You wave back with a hoof, before taking flight. “Bye!” You hover in the air for a few moments, watching him walk away before flying off. Whew… that was a close one. You didn’t want him to see where you lived, that’s for sure… It only takes a few minutes after that, but soon you arrive at your home, a smile on your face. You land, and walk up the wooden steps into the house, before opening the door and stepping inside. It hadn’t changed much in the last few years, but you didn’t care; it was home, after all. This was where your true family lived, even though the two of them didn’t know it… The Cutie Mark Crusaders. The two fillies that, years ago, took you into the group the three of you created. It was more than just a group to you, though; it was a family. A TRUE family, not one of blood, but of bonds created through friendship. Over the years, this friendship blossomed further, and now you couldn’t see yourself without them standing by you every step of the way. Sure, you idolized Rainbow Dash for her speed and her awesomeness, but she wasn’t quite as “family” to you as the Crusaders were. If something bad happened to Rainbow Dash, you’d be sad, yes… But if anything were to befall the other Crusaders… you don’t want to think of what would happen. Speaking of which… you hope the two of them are doing alright. Hopefully they didn’t get into any trouble when confronting those other two mares… You breathe out a heavy sigh, before closing the door. As you do, however, a large crack opens from the sky, and a thundering roar can be heard from above you, causing you to jump in surprise. Then… the rhythmic pitter-patter of rain begins to hit the roof of the tree house. Great… this area’s needed rain for some time now. It’s been at least a week or two since the last rainfall. You look around, and turn on a small light. Immediately, your… “personal” furnishings of the clubhouse are illuminated by the dim light. Wonderbolts and homemade Rainbow Dash posters… toy figures, and even a rainbow wig that you used to wear when you were a filly. You smile, and walk over to your makeshift bed in the side of the clubhouse, slipping under the covers and poking your head out the top. Giving your Rainbow Dash poster on the ceiling one final look, you close your eyes with a smile and begin your dreams about flying high, soaring across the clouds… And standing on the green, lush grass below you… a tiny figure watches your ever-graceful gliding with a smile on his face… End Chapter 1 Races, Mares and Crashes - Chapter 2Chapter 2 A few days have passed since the graduation party now. The best part about graduating? You have time off from school for a few months before you go up to Cloudsdale to work with the other pegasi in the weather factory! You’re going to put those months to good use, though; first things first, you need to find Applebloom and Sweetie Belle. They’ll probably have an awesome idea for what you guys can do! You open your eyes and lift yourself up out of bed, outstretching your wings a bit and shaking your head quickly. “It’s time to go!” You flip the covers up and hop down to the floor, when you suddenly slip and fall, smacking your head on the hard, wooden surface. “Ow…” Mental note for later; be more careful when getting out of bed… You push yourself up off of the floor, and that’s when you notice something… different. Your wings, are they more… powerful? You’re not flexing them for show, no, but they feel like… well, you could fly for a lot longer than usual… Maybe… You rush outside and take flight, noticing just how easier it is for you to fly this morning. What could be the reason for it? You decide not to question something good, and instead choose to put it to good use. Time to find the other Crusaders! Sweat beads along your bare-naked chest and forehead, your breathing staggered as the two of you continue on. “C’mon, is that all you’ve got, Anon? Faster!” Rainbow Dash calls out to you, urging you to keep going. Keep going… Almost there… Woo! You finally made it! You pump a fist to the air as the two of you reach your predetermined checkpoint, just outside Ponyville, and you collapse to the ground. “Hah, awesome job Anon, I think we beat a record that time!” she laughs, and you turn to look at her, an exhausted grin on your face, as the two of you bump fist to hoof. She looks around, then up to that huge city in the clouds, and then turns to you. “Hey, so you’re just gonna rest here?” You nod, your fist falling to the ground as you breathe in and out heavily, your heart rate slowly returning to normal. “Yeah. I’m gonna go ahead and do some stretching, then head on into town. Might grab a bite to eat from Applejack’s stall or something, too.” “Alright, so I’ll see ya later then, alright Anon?” You smile and nod, stretching your arms before walking off. Rainbro was such an awesome pony to hang out with. The two of you had just finished your morning run; she would fly alongside you, while you would do your best to keep up with her. She was quite obviously faster than you, but kept her pace with you to help keep you company while you ran. Besides, having wings and racing against someone whose running isn’t exactly fair, right? Rainbro waves at you with one hoof, before flying off towards Cloudsdale to begin her daily routine of controlling the weather. …Though, you both knew that usually consisted of 95% sleeping on clouds, and 5% actual effort on her part. Still, she always did what she was assigned to do that day quicker than any other pegasus you had seen in the few years you’ve been here; that, in and of itself, should be more than enough to justify her actions in your eyes. You chuckle lightly, before beginning your stretches; flexibility is key for keeping yourself fit, after all… Is that… Anonymous? What’s he doing? “Oh! Hey Scootaloo!” he calls out to you, waving with his open hand while he leans his entire upper body to one side, reaching for something on his foot… “Hey Anonymous, what’re ya doin’?” You swerve around and land, flexing your wings a bit before retracting them. He stands upright again, walking over to you. “Eh, stretching after my morning run. You?” You turn your head a bit to the side, averting his gaze slightly. “Just flyin’ around. Was going to find Applebloom and Sweetie Belle to go do something today.” “Oh? Sounds like you’ve got a fun day planned ahead,” he says, chuckling a bit. “You feel better from last night, then? I was worried after the storm began that you might not have gotten home before it hit.” Your eyes widen and you look at him in surprise. He… he was worried? For you? But he hardly even knew you! “Uh, I ah… Yeah, I got home in time. Not like a storm would have stopped me, though!” You stutter at first, but then return with a confident tone and grin on your face as you stare up at him. Into… his eyes… What is up with him and his eyes? They’re… they’re like pools of water that you can peer into and see into an infinite calmness… You don’t even pay attention to what color they are; they’re just… beautiful. Fitting of him… ...Wait, he said something! And you weren’t paying attention, you idiot! “Um… sure.” “Great!” he exclaims, pumping a fist into the air. “Let’s go, c’mon, I bet I can beat you there!” he says, sprinting off down the road towards Ponyville. …Ugh, what have you gotten yourself into this time, Scootaloo? Run, run, run! You laugh as the orange pegasus follows close behind, your voice booming through the streets of Ponyville as the two of you make your speedy way through town. “Wait up!” you hear her call out to you. She’s definitely straining to keep up now. “Sorry, no can do! It’s a race, after all!” She lets out a groan, but you return it with a laugh, even turning around to run backwards. “C’mon, is that the best you’ve got?” Her eyes widen when she turns back to look at you. “Wah! Anon, watch o-” …Too late. You go tumbling over a food stall, and land flat on your back, the stall toppling over with you. “Anon, what’re ya doin’ runnin’ inta my stall for?” you hear from a certain mare’s agitated voice. …Oh no. Applejack. You could handle it when she was in a good mood. Bad mood, though… watch out. “Uhm… I, uh…” You stumble over your words (kind of like how you did that stall, heh), trying to figure out the right combination to go with that won’t end up sending you to the hospital. Applejack had always… tolerated you. Not to the point that the two of you were friends, it was more of “You-get-your-shit-done-and-get-out-of-my-face” kind of deal. Not that any of that mattered anymore; you knew just as well as she did that you did that out of your own stupidity. “I… sorry…” “Hu-what, sugarcube? Din’ quite catch that. Might want to SPEAK up a bit?” she asks, putting a hoof to her ear, never taking her olive green eyes off you. Shit. You really blew it this time, Anon. You can feel the malice practically SEETHING through her teeth. “…Sorry for crashing your stall, Applejack. Didn’t mean to, I swear!” “Didn’t mean to? You just destroyed two weeks worth of apple buckin’! You best have some way t’ pay for it, or ah’m gonna have ya work on the farm until your legs are jelly!” Oh fuck, not that. ANYTHING but that. You remember last time she had you working on the farm. You couldn’t walk straight for nearly a month. You also had blisters on your feet because she made you do it barefoot. You’ve gotten used to assuming this little extra bit was just out of spite. “Listen, AJ, I really am-” “What the HAY did you jus’ call me?!” Shit. You’re breaking every fucking rule you’ve figured out during your time here, Anon! Rule #1: “AJ” is reserved for her close friends only. You are not a close friend. Avoid using that name at all costs. Rule #2: Apples are like family to her. Breaking stalls, stepping on, tossing out half-eaten, it doesn’t matter to her. If you disrespect apples in some way, you incur the wrath of that mare. Rule #3: Apple-bucking hurts like a motherfucker. Always wear shoes. ALWAYS. Wow, Applejack’s really grilling him hard… Maybe you should say something on his behalf, maybe take some of the blame off of him? Wait, why would you do that? He was the one who ran into the stall, not you! It was his own fault, not yours. And yet… You feel as though you should step in for him. Maybe… “Um, miss Applejack?” She stops for a moment and looks up at you. “What d’ya need, sugarcube? Ah’m a bit busy at th’ moment.” “I know, it’s just… It wasn’t entirely Anon’s fault. See, we sort of agreed to a race, and when I couldn’t keep up, he turned around and started running backwards to try and get me to speed up, and… well…” “And so he ran into mah stall?” she asks, shooting him a quick glare, before returning to you. “S’that what yer sayin’?” “…Yeah… pretty much…” She lets out a heavy sigh, before turning to him. “Anon, yer not gettin’ out o’ this one that easily. Show up at th’ farm at sunrise, ah’m puttin’ ya t’ work.” You can see his eyes shrink to the size of pinpricks in fear, and the occasional stuttering as he tries to reason with the mare. But it’s no use; everyone knows that Applejack’s as stubborn as ever when it comes to decisions. “An’ don’t you think yer gettin’ any special treatment either, young lady. Yer showin’ up for apple buckin’ too; maybe you can show Anon a thing or two ‘bout buckin’ that he hadn’t seen yet,” she says with a grin. Great. There goes your first week of summer break. You let out an audible groan, and Applejack shoots you a look. “Now don’t you start complainin’; accordin’ to ya, yer just as responsible fer mah stall bein’ totaled as he is for doin’ the totalin’,” she turns to Anon, who has since gotten to his feet. “Show up at sunrise, th’ both of ya. Ah’ll have Big Mac show y’all which orchards need buckin’ when ya get there.” Ouch. Well, could be worse. At least you’re doing it with Anon. End Chapter 2 And there's chapter 2. Hope you all are enjoying this story so far, I feel like this could very well be my best work, depending on how I play things out... ~Wuten, the King of Spaghetti Pastries and Pranks - Chapter 3Chapter 3 “Well, damn.” Anon grunts, placing his hands on his hips as he walks alongside you. That… could have gone better, definitely. Now you’re stuck doing hard labor for the next few days on the Apple farm. Could be worse, though; at least you and Anon will be doing it together. “Sorry…” Your ears droop down in shame and you look at the ground as the two of you walk. He sighs, and places a hand on your head, scraggling your mane a bit. “No worries, it’s just a few days hard work, right?” he smiles at you. “I’m sure we can do it.” Your eyes widen and you look up at him in surprise. Not five minutes ago he was on the ground getting the grilling of a lifetime from Applejack, but here he is now, cheery as ever. “Yeah…” You kind of feel bad… if it hadn’t been for you not keeping up with him, he probably wouldn’t have ended up running into the stall in the first place… “Hey, you hungry at all? We still haven’t finished our race to Sugarcube Corner yet,” he says, rolling his shoulders. Oh. It’s on now. “Now you’re talking.” You grin and shoot off past him, that few-second head start giving you the boost you need to stay ahead of him. Now that you actually KNOW where you’re racing to, you’re going to smoke hi- He just took off past you. …Whoa, he’s fast… REALLY fast… By the time the two of you reach the entrance of Sugarcube Corner, he’s easily an entire five or six feet ahead of you, maybe even more than that. “C’mon, Scoots, you gotta do better than that!” he laughs, readying his shoulder for impact. Wait, is he…! You hear a loud *THUD* as Anon slams himself up against the door of the bakery. Yep… he did. Failed to pull it off, but still did. You slowly land on your hooves, flapping your wings a few times before retracting them back at your sides. You look at him with a smarmy grin. “That’s two things you nearly broke today, Anon; careful Pinkie doesn’t end up making you bake for her for the next few days too!” He laughs at this, and scraggles your mane once again. “Don’t you worry about me, Pinkie and I are good friends,” he says, as he opens the door to the bakery… There’s flour everywhere. So much, oh man… Did the twins get into the kitchen again? They always seem to make a mess… “Oh! Hey Anon!” Pinkie’s voice can be heard from the other room, “Sorry about the mess, the twins got into the flour and decided they were going to play…” Called it. “It’s alright Pinkie, I’m just coming in here with Scootaloo to get a quick snack, that’s all,” he says, looking to you before cautiously stepping inside. And that’s when he gets hit. An entire bag of flour, dumped right on top of him. You quickly duck out of the way of the impending powdery doom, landing in a small bit on the floor, but that pales in comparison to what Anon went through… He coughs, tossing up a cloud of white smoke, before looking down at himself. “Aw, man! Really?” he glares up at the door. Turns out the twins had set up a kind of bucket-of-water prank, but with an open bag of flour instead. Anon, in this case, just happened to be the unsuspecting victim in a series of childish pranks… And there they are now. They’re small, but you can see their little heads as the filly and colt both rush around the second floor, giggling to themselves at Anon’s expense. Even you can’t help but stifle a giggle at the sight. Anon just looks ridiculous! “Guh, now I’m gonna have to get this stuff washed out of my clothes, and that’s gonna be such a pain…” he groans, trying to brush the flour off his clothes but to no avail. He sighs, giving up the futile attempt at cleaning himself off. “Hey, Scoots?” Your ears perk up a bit; did he just call you by that nickname? “Could you give me a hand? I need to get this stuff off of me, and it’s just…” he tenses up a bit, “Everywhere…” he shudders. You nod; as hilarious as it is, it must feel pretty uncomfortable. And to have to wash that stuff off… Ouch. “Sure, Anon, I’ll help ya out.” He nods and gives you his thanks as you help pull off his shirt, his arms and face still pale white from the flour, whereas his chest is- …This is the first time you’ve seen it up this close. He really does have quite a toned chest… No! Stop those thoughts! Bad Scootaloo! “Ugh… I liked this shirt, too…” he sighs, before shrugging. “Ah well. Pinkie!” “Yeah, Anon?” the pink pony asks, her head stretching into the doorframe, a smile on her face. “Is it alright if I use your bathroom to try and get this stuff out? In the meantime, Scootaloo can chill out here. That okay?” “Okie dokie!” Pinkie grins, before retracting her head out of sight. He smiles and turns to look at you. “You’re alright with that, right? I won’t be too long.” You nod. Might as well. “Sure, go on ahead. Need any help?” He chuckles and shakes his head. “Nah, I can take it from here,” he says, taking a few steps inside, a few white imprints on the floor from his shoes trailing behind him. “I’ll be right back.” And with that, he disappears behind the wall, leaving you alone in that room. You sigh, walking over to a nearby table and sit down. You are not alone in this room, however… The soft pitter-patter of hooves returns… They’re coming from both sides! “Miss Scootaloo, are you friends with Mister Anon?” you hear a childish female’s voice come from the darkness before both the filly and colt appear, leaping and grabbing your forehooves, dangling on them. “Huh? I guess I am…” “Oh yeah? What’s his favorite color?” the colt asks, grinning proudly up at you. “Well, um… is it blue?” “Heehee! Nope!” Pumpkin Cake exclaims, the two of them letting your hooves go, before sitting at the table with you. “His favorite color is orange!” she giggles. Your eyes widen a bit. Really? “Oh? How do you know that?” She grins, seeing as she has your attention now. “He told me! He LOVES orange! This much!” She stretches her hooves out as far as she can to her sides. “Yeah! And he’s got a-” Pound Cake begins, but is interrupted by a loud, annoyed groan from the other room. “…You think we used too much flour?” Pumpkin Cake turns to her twin brother. He thinks for a few moments, and then they both grin at each other. “Nah,” they both say simultaneously, before giggling and scurrying off. Huh. So his favorite color is orange… “Gah, this is annoying! It’s turning into dough before I can get it out!” you hear him yell out angrily. …You should probably go and help him. Today is not your day, Anonymous. Your favorite shirt. Ruined. Turned into a common pastry dish… And tomorrow you have back-breaking hard labor for Applejack… things just aren’t going your way today. You let out a heavy sigh, holding up your now-doughy shirt. A manly tear trails down your cheek. This shirt had been with you since day one… “Hey Anonymous?” you hear a voice behind you. Your tender moment with your former shirt is quickly interrupted, your tear ducts suck up that manly tear, and you turn to look at the pegasus behind you. “Oh, hey… what’s up?” you ask, hiding the fact that you had shed any sort of fluids out of your eyes. “You need any help? I heard you yelling from down the hall,” Scootaloo says, smiling up at you. You sigh, dropping the shirt in the water again, before slumping into a nearby chair. “There’s no saving it, Scoots. It was my favorite shirt, too…” She groans at your melodramatic display, before walking over to the soaking shirt. “You put it in water with all that flour on it? Why didn’t you just beat it out and use a wet cloth first, Anonymous?” she asks, turning to look at you. …Wait. Why hadn’t you thought of that? Damn, this mare seems to know her stuff. “So, you mean… it can be saved?” “It’ll take some work, but yeah, nothing major. Gotta get the dough off of the shirt first, though,” she grunts, picking the shirt up out of the water. “Just get a rag or something and scrub it off; that should do the trick as far as the dough is concerned…” She tosses the dough-covered shirt over to you, and you catch it. “After that, you’ll just have to get the rest of it out through some other means… Water isn’t gonna do you much good here.” “Wow… thanks Scoots, didn’t think you’d be the one telling me about this kind of stuff.” She grins at you. “Just because I’m younger than you, doesn’t mean I’m stupid when it comes to this,” she says. “Now let’s get this taken care of.” The two of you spend the next hour or so violently scrubbing the dough out of both your shirt and pants. It took a while, but you finally managed to get all of the dough out of your shirt, and managed to save your pants without making the same mistake twice. They lived to be worn another day. You couldn’t be happier. Later on, the two of you are walking out of Sugarcube Corner, each of you with cupcake in hand and hoof, heading back to your house. “Thanks again for helping me back there, Scoots. I owe ya one.” She grins back at you. “Heh, no prob, Anon,” she says, taking a bite out of her cupcake. A comfortable silence, save for the sound of chewing, is shared between the two of you as you enjoy your cupcakes, before Scootaloo finally ends it. “Is your favorite color orange, Anon?” she asks, turning to look at you as the two of you walk. “Yeah, it is. How’d you figure it out?” She’s silent for a moment. “Wild guess, maybe. I dunno.” “Well, for a wild guess, you were pretty spot-on.” You laugh before taking another bite of your cupcake, looking up at the evening sky, the sun just barely peaking over the treetops. “Guess so,” she giggles, taking another bite herself. “So, you like running?” she asks. “Yeah... I guess back on Earth I was really athletic, or something. I’ve always loved the feeling of the wind rushing across my body while running. It’s almost unreal.” She nods, looking back down to the ground. “Yeah… it’s awesome.” “Must be pretty amazing, having a pair of wings and all. Being able to do all of that stuff… I can’t even begin to imagine it…” She suddenly becomes silent as the two of you walk, before finally reaching your house. “Hey, listen Scoots. Really, thanks so much for helping me out today. I seriously owe you one.” You kneel down and hold up a fist to her. “You really are a lifesaver.” She hesitates for a moment, before lightly bumping your fist with her hoof. “Anon, I…” she mutters. “Yeah?” She stops herself visibly for a split second, before shaking her head. “Nevermind,” she exclaims before turning around and running off, before taking off into the sky. …What was that all about? Not that you can focus on that right now. Rainbow Dash should be getting off weather duty soon, which means more bro stuff with her, before… apple-bucking on Applejack’s farm… You shudder at the mere thought of what may happen to you. Stupid stupid stupid! How could he be so insensitive?! You grit your teeth in anger before shooting over the treetops towards the CMC clubhouse. Seriously, he KNOWS that you can’t fly well! Why would he say something like that?! Except… you can’t be completely mad at him, for SOME strange reason… He says something like that, you should feel angry at him, but you can’t feel angry enough as you feel like you should be at him, and now you’re starting to be angry at yourself for not being able to feel an appropriate amount of anger for him… WHY IS THIS SO DIFFICULT?! You groan, before landing softly at the entrance of the CMC clubhouse. Opening the door, you trot inside and close it behind you, locking it. The three of you established a few years back that if the door was locked, that meant that one of you wanted to be left alone, and this would be an easy indication of it. It usually happened with Applebloom after Hearts and Hooves Day; she’d lock herself in for a few days, and just sit there, sulking… not a lot of stallions liked her accent very much… You sigh, turning on a light and walking over to your bed, leaping up onto it and burying your face into the pillow. Stallions didn’t even notice you, for that matter… They all had their eyes on much prettier mares than you… Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, and even Sweetie Belle at times had more luck with getting stallions to like them than you did. But that didn’t matter to you, you didn’t care what they thought about you. To Tartarus with getting stallions to like you! Just because you’re a bit more tomboyish than other mares, that doesn’t mean they can treat you like that! You roll over onto your back and stare up at your ceiling, at a huge poster of Rainbow Dash flying. …Wonder what she and Anon are doing… Must be fun… You sigh, closing your eyes. You need your rest. Tomorrow, you’re helping Anon with apple-bucking. That’ll be… fun… End Chapter 3 Apple-Bucking Season - Chapter 4Chapter 4 The next day, you wake up to the sound of a knocking on the door. “Scootaloo? You in there?” you hear the voice of Applebloom from the other side. Oh… darn! You forgot to unlock the door this morning! What time is it? “Wha-! What time is it, Applebloom?!” You quickly rush over to the door, slamming it open, your disheveled mane and fur taking Applebloom by surprise. “Erm… sun came up about an hour ago, came out here t’ grab a few things,” she says, raising an eyebrow at you. “Y’all alright?” You shake your head quickly, realizing it’s your friend. “Uh… yeah. Yeah, I’m alright!” You say, chuckling to yourself. “Never better!” She shrugs it off, and smiles at you. “So, ya ready t’ help out in the orchard today?” she asks, walking inside and opening a few windows. “Applejack’s really needed some help lately, ever since we got some new land on the south orchard a few years back. Remember?” Oh yeah, you remember! Applebloom wouldn’t stop talking about it for weeks; she definitely seemed excited for her sister. “Is… is Anonymous out there already?” “Yup!” she exclaims, smiling at you. “Ah’m sure he’s waitin’ on ya t’ help out with it,” she says, grabbing a few books. “Ah’ll be comin’ out t’ help ya also, but I got a few things t’ take care of in the house first.” You nod, quickly going over to fix up your disheveled mane. “So where are they now?” You turn to your friend, who’s placing the books into her pack. “They’re out by the farm last I checked,” she says, going to the door. “Takin’ a break, but you know my sister…” She sighs, walking down the steps. “She prob’ly already has him out workin’ again…” You quickly speed out behind her, walking alongside Applebloom on her way up to the farm. “So what’s that book you got there, anyway?” “Nothin’ big, jus’ somethin’ that Granny Smith wanted me t’ get,” she says, grinning happily. “Granny and I are gonna be workin’ on somethin’ good fer dinner tonight, so we gotta make sure we finish up fast!” She turns to you. “Maybe ya might like t’ come on over for dinner tonight? Maybe bring Anonymous too, if mah big sis will let ‘em,” she says, her face beaming. Dinner? With Anonymous? It’s more likely than you might think! You grin back at Applebloom. “Sure! Just make sure you can keep up with us… wouldn’t want you to get tired from all those apple trees you gotta buck.” She takes this as an implied challenge and grins back at you. “Yer on! Ah’ll meet ya at the orchard!” she exclaims, before speeding off towards the farm. “Meet with mah big sis before ya start! She’ll tell ya where to go!” She calls back at you before disappearing over the hill. You nod, beating your wings a few times before lifting up off of the ground, floating into the air. There! Leaning against the barn wall in the shade; you’d recognize that hat anywhere. You quickly speed down to the barn, landing softly on the grass below. “Well, hey there Scoots,” you hear that familiar mature Southern accent, and see the orange mare eyeing you, chewing on a grass stem. “Hope y’all are ready for a hard day’s work,” she says. “Ready as I’ll ever be!” You grin, extending your wings in an intimidating stance. She lets out a chuckle, before spitting out the grass she was chewing on and giving you a grin. “Good ta hear.” She points out to the south, and you see a small movement coming from a tree in the distance. “That’s where Anonymous is working,” she says. “His legs are strong, but he ain’t strong enough ta work effectively without help. That’s where you come in,” she says. “Help him buck the trees and collect the apples. Do yer best ta finish as much as ya can.” “Aye aye!” You hold your hoof up in a mock salute, before speeding off towards Anonymous. Finally, the two of you will get to hang out on your own! Maybe you’ll finally get some insight on why Applejack doesn’t like him, too… Your legs are screaming at you. Then again, you shouldn’t be surprised; after kicking roughly fifty trees as hard as you can, of course your legs are going to be tired. Good thing it’s just the beginning of summer, though; it’s not gotten NEARLY as hot as it could be right now. You knock the last apple from the tree that you can see, before wiping your forehead and moving to stick them into the basket. “Anon! Wait!” you hear an all-too-familiar voice call from the distance. You turn and see Scootaloo, barreling towards you through the air. She has a grin on her face rivaling that of Rainbow’s whenever the two of you are racing, and probably- SMACK! While you were deep in thought, she was trying to stop herself from crashing into you. Being the ignorant one you are, however, you didn’t notice her not being able to pull it off, and ended up getting slammed in the torso, sending both of you falling to the ground. You slam your back hard into the ground, letting out a pained grunt. “Whoa, kid! Watch where you’re flying next time…” You cough, catching your breath after you got the wind knocked out of you from this pegasus. “Oh gosh, I’m so sorry!” she exclaims, trying to help you back onto your feet. “I was trying to get here as quickly as possible, but when I arrived I wasn’t able to slow myself down…” she mutters, her ears drooping a bit in sadness. You sigh, patting her on the head. “It’s alright, Scoots. Just be careful next time, alright? We’ve got a lot of trees to go through, after all; I’m gonna need all the strength I can get.” She smiles up at you and nods, before lifting up into the air. “I’ll get the ones that are higher up in the trees that don’t get shaken off by your kicks, alright?” You chuckle; it seemed a bit unfair, but hey, at least she’ll be helping you get it done. Three kicks per tree should do the trick if she’s telling the truth. “Alright, sounds like a plan.” “Woohoo!” she exclaims, flying up into the air and beginning to go over the last few trees in the area you’ve kicked already, snagging the last remaining good apples from the tops of the trees. A few hours pass before anything of note is spoken between the two of you. “Hey, Anon?” she looks down at you, dropping an apple into the nearby basket. “Yeah Scoots?” “I was just wondering; why does Applejack treat you like she did back in the market? She doesn’t seem to treat any other pony like that…” You sigh; she’s bound to figure it out eventually. “Well, it’s a long story, Scoots… you might want to land for this. I think we both need a rest before finishing up the orchard here.” Both of you take shelter under the shade of a nearby large apple tree, both of you taking one apple each out of the basket; it’s just two apples, after all. What’s it gonna hurt? “It all started two years ago…” End of Chapter 4 Author's Note Hope you all enjoyed! This is the first time I'm posting a story in FIMFiction's new layout, so let's see how this formats... ~Wuten, King of Spaghetti Trees, Apples and Awkward Dinners - Chapter 5Chapter 5 “Look, Scoots. Before I tell you, you need to know something,” he says, looking down at you with a serious tone in his voice. “Sure… what is it?” “I… well, Applejack and I… we had a bit of a relationship. Nothing too serious, but it’s important to the story,” he says, looking to the apple in his hand. “You… and Applejack?” “Heh, hard to believe, isn’t it?” he chuckles, wiping his forehead. “What can I say; I’m a sucker for Southern charms… Anyways,” he says, taking a bite from it. “The two of us were going steady for… I want to say somewhere around six months. Looking back, I’m surprised it even lasted THAT long,” he sighs. “Why? What happened?” “Guess you can say I love Southern charms, but there’s a limit to that affection,” he says, taking another bite. “Applejack wanted to take our relationship further than I was ready for. I refused, and she, well…” he swallows the bite, “She hates me for it.” You scratch your head in confusion. Why would Applejack hate him for that? Sure, if he stopped being her special somepony, she’d be mad, but you never thought it’d be like this… “Why does she hate you for it, though? It’s been a long time since then, hasn’t it?” “I’m not entirely sure myself, Scoots. All I know is—” he begins, but he’s interrupted by the sound of another mare coming out to the two of you. “Scootaloo! Anon!” Applebloom called out from the hill as she galloped down, finally reaching the two of you. “What’re y’all doin’? We gotta get this buckin’ done, an’ quick!” she exclaims, looking around. “Relax Applebloom, we were just taking a little break is all. We’ve been at this nonstop, after all,” Anon smiles down at her. “You’re here to help us, I assume?” “Eeyup! Mah big sis’ wanted y’all t’ do it on yer own, but ah couldn’t jus’ leave y’all out here alone without any help!” Applebloom exclaims, smiling back at him. “Well then, let’s hurry and get this done; the faster we do, the more time we’ll get to rest,” Anon grins, cracking his knuckles, his eyes fierce with determination. You smile and hold out a hoof to them. “All for one, one for all!” Applebloom nods and smiles, pounding her hoof against yours. Anon does the same, clenching his hand into a fist and pounding as well, completing the triangle. “Let’s go!” he yells, and immediately the three of you begin spreading out, collecting as many apples as your hooves (or in his case, hands) can get a hold of. During this time, you slow your pace every so often to look back at Applebloom. Every single time you do, you catch her stealing looks at Anonymous while she bucks at the trees… …Could she…? No, she couldn’t be; her sister would be completely opposed to— … THAT’S WHY APPLEJACK HATES HIM SO MUCH! You are screaming to yourself on the inside; no wonder she holds a grudge! Her sister has a crush on Anon! It’s the only explanation you can come up with, it must be! But… she’s your friend. You won’t ask her about that now, with him within earshot. You’ll wait until tonight, pull her aside and ask her then. This may very well be the reason behind Applejack’s hate for Anon; if it is, you could mend the relationship between everyone! And Anon, he’ll… he’ll thank you for doing it, you know he will! It’s settled, then! Tonight, you finally get this all straightened out. “And a-one, and a-two, and a-three…” You really do love having hands. It makes for so much more convenient apple-picking, in your case. Kicking trees is effective at times, but you figure you managed to collect enough apples to warrant your legs a good rest. You look up at the tree; looks like there’s two apples left on this one, but they’re especially high up… Nothing you can’t handle! You squat down and leap high into the air, snagging both apples at the same time, before crashing down to the ground, apples in hand, mission accomplished. “Nice one, Anon!” you hear Applebloom call from across the orchard. You turn and wave at her, tossing the apples into the basket. Looks like there’s not too many trees left… You look around for a clear path to one, and see a perfect spot. Time to get a running start. You sprint at the tree, making sure to get as much speed as possible… Go! You bring your leg up against the tree, and use the momentum to shoot upwards, grasping for a branch to support you. Bingo! Got one. You climb into the tree, shaking all of the branches, sending apples toppling down and landing softly on the grass. Yeah… this is a much easier way to get apples than kicking the tree… That is, until you hear a cracking noise under your feet. …Looks like you’ll have to get better at choosing branches to support your weight. The branch gives way, and you fall rather clumsily to the ground, right into the branch. A few cuts and bruises, but other than that you feel just fine. The tree on the other hand… You look to the branch you broke off, and to the tree… Yeah, that was a good third of the tree you just broke off. Way to go, smartass. You should probably stick to the ground from here on out… It’s been about an hour since the three of you split up, and since then you’ve cleared what was left of the orchard. All of you meet up at the end, and kick the last tree in unison, causing all of the apples to fall at once. “That was awesome!” Anon shouts, pumping his fist into the air. “And just in time too!” Applebloom smiles, looking at the sunset. “Looks like it’s almost nighttime now. Let’s all head inside, Applejack said you both can stay for dinner!” she exclaims, running off toward the barn, leaving just you and Anon behind. You wipe your head with a hoof. Wow, that was a workout… “Hey, Scoots?” You look up at Anon; a smile is on his face. “Thanks for the help today, you’re a pretty awesome mare, y’know that?” he says, holding a fist down to you. His eyes… they’re that same calming abyss of color that you remember from the other day. Your eyes widen, and a light blush hits your cheeks. You turn your head away and smile, bumping his fist with your hoof. “You’re pretty cool too, Anon…” “C’mon; let’s go get some food. I’m starving!” he laughs, running off behind Applebloom. … He thinks you’re awesome? Heh… get ahold of yourself, Scoots! You’ve gotta keep your head on straight! You speed off behind the two of them, to what you hope to be a good, apple-related dinner with your best friend, her family, and… …him. You could cut the tension in the room with a butter knife, and even THAT wouldn’t be enough to cut through it. You casually reach over for a slice of apple pie, everyone sans Big Macintosh eyeing you as you cut a slice and put it onto your plate. …Damn, this is awkward. Like, even more than that one time in Manehatten… and THAT was awkward… “So, um… Anon, what’s it like bein’ so tall?” Applebloom asks, chuckling a bit awkwardly as she tries making smalltalk at the table. You smile and take a bite of the pie, swallowing it and sighing happily before answering. “It’s not as interesting as you might think, really. All that’s different is you can see above everyone’s heads, that’s all.” “But yer able t’ pick apples right out of the tree like it’s nothing!” she exclaims. “Don’ tell me that ain’t interestin’ t’ ya!” You chuckle. Even after all these years, she’s still got that younger sister aura about her. Applejack decides to cut in. “Yeah, Anon; apples ain’t interestin’ enough for ya?” she asks, her words icy cold and her green eyes like daggers in your skin. You go back to eating without another word. You prefer keeping your bones intact where they are, thank you very much. “So, um… Anon,” Scoots mutters from across the table, “That was so cool how you were able to leap up and pick those apples from the top of the tree!” she exclaims, chuckling a bit nervously. “It was… awesome to see…” “You saw that?” “Well, yeah,” she scratches the back of her head with her hoof. “I may have heard you running and turned my head to look, and then I saw…” Oh shit. She’d better not blow your cover; you managed to hide that branch back in the tree as best you could. “What’s she goin’ on about, Anon?” Applejack asks, once again her eyes piercing through you. Even Granny Smith has her eye on you now, and it’s not something you particularly enjoy when your elders have that kind of expression on their faces. “Well, I… ran up to the tree…” “Yeeeah?” “Kicked up into the air from the trunk…” “Mmmhmm?” “And grabbed the apples from the top, before leaping back to the ground.” “Mmmhmm,” Applejack rubs her chin with her hoof. “Now, tell me this; how’d ya do it without gettin’ all cut up from th’ branches?” she asks, looking at your arms. “Y’all can’t expect me t’ believe those little things are from a stunt like that.” …Well, shit. “It’s true, they are!” Scootaloo chimes in, “I saw him do it myself, he was really careful, that’s all!” Applejack’s gaze leaves you for a moment, allowing you reprieve, as they turn towards Scootaloo. “An’ what’s stoppin’ ya from lyin’ t’ me?” Scootaloo sinks back in her chair. “Well, um…” “Sis, it’s true!” Applebloom responds now. “We all saw him!” Please work please work please work please work please work…! “…Well, alright,” Applejack sighs. “Just this once.” Oh sweet merciful CELESTIA thank you… You breathe a sigh of relief, taking another bite of your pie. You have to admit, despite the fact that she completely hates you with the burning passion of a thousand fiery suns, Applejack and her family can make some damn good apple pie. The rest of the dinner goes off more or less without any more hiccups, smalltalk between Applebloom and Scootaloo as to what they were planning on doing this summer, among other things. At last you stand up from your dinner, picking up your plate. “I’ll be happy to help clean the dishes if you like—” “Jus’ get outta here, Anon,” Applejack looks upon you with scorn. “Y’all did yer job, don’t do anymore than yer asked t’ do,” she says, her eyes never leaving you. You slowly set the plate back down, the light clinking of the silverware resonating through the room as you look around. “Um… alright, so I’ll just…” You begin your slow retreat to the door. “…be going, then?” Opening the door, you take one last look at the group before smiling nervously. “Thanks for the dinner. It was great. Really, it was.” That’s the last you say before walking out of there, hands in your pockets, breathing a heavy sigh of relief that you managed to get through that without any major injuries… You look down at your arm. …Maybe a few bandages are in order. Don’t want these to get infected with something. “Sis, why d’ya gotta treat him like that?” Applebloom looked up to her sister. “He’s just tryin’ t’ help, an’ ya just throw him out like trash!” “That man is no good,” Applejack replies, taking another bite of her apples and apple accessories-filled dinner. “Ah don’ want ya goin’ after him like ah did, it’ll jus’ end in heartbreak for ya.” “Yeah, maybe!” Applebloom stands up from the table. “But that doesn’t mean ya gotta treat him like trash just ‘cause he didn’t buck ya like ya wanted!” Applejack’s eyes widen and her pupils shrink a bit, before they glance at Applebloom. “Go t’ yer room, Applebloom. Y’all get no dessert t’night.” “Ah am a grown mare, Applejack, an’ that means ya don’t have any say in mah choices!” Applebloom cries out, before running out the door in hysterics. “Applebloom, y’all better get back here, or I’ll—” Applejack begins, standing up from her seat as well, but is cut off by Big Mac placing his hoof on her shoulder. “That’s enough, Applejack,” Big Mac states flatly, in his deep, calming voice. “Give ‘er time, she needs t’ be alone fer a while.” Applejack sighs, sitting down and looking up at her brother. “Alright, ah’ll trust ya on this one…” Both you and Granny Smith simply sit there, continuing to eat your dinner in silence. End Chapter 5 Author's Note Wow! Things really are beginning to heat up now... And we finally have some background as to why Applejack treats Anon the way she does. Now... where did sweet little Applebloom run off to? ~Wuten, the King of Spaghetti The Calm After the Storm... - Chapter 6Chapter 6 Dinner was… awkward. You finished your food, thanked them for feeding you, and promptly got out of there before any more chaos could unfold. As you exit, however, tons of things are running through your head… So you were right after all… Applebloom DOES like Anon… …Wait, why are you concerned about this? It’s not like you like him, or anything… But he’s still pretty awesome… Dang it, Scoots, this isn’t the time to be thinking about that kind of stuff! You need to get back home… To the treehouse… You unfold your wings, leaping up into the air and hovering, albeit slowly, towards the treehouse as your mind swam through all sorts of different things… Where did Applebloom go when she left? You hope she doesn’t get into too much trouble… As you approach the treehouse, you can hear sobbing coming from nearby. You turn your head towards the sound, and that’s when you see her… Applebloom’s a complete emotional wreck. Tears streaming down her face, she’s taken to curling up against a tree to bury her face in her hooves. In the moonlight, you can make out deep, ingrained hoof imprints in the bark. As your eyes wander lower on the tree, you see they become gradually less forceful and a lot more moistened. You silently land and walk over to her; she hears your hoof-falls along the grass, and she turns to look at you, pain and anguish evident in her eyes. Her voice is a bit quivered, but you can still hear her fiery spirit in it. “Wh… what d’ya want, Scootaloo? Ah’m not in th’ best mood t’ be doin’ anythin’ right ‘bout now…” she chokes out, hiccupping a bit as she collects herself. “Applebloom…” You hate seeing your friend like this. Applebloom’s always been the strong, sturdy one, always having a shoulder for you to rest on. But now… now she doesn’t look like she can even support herself at this point… “C’mon Applebloom, pull yourself together…” You try to act tough at this point, trying to put a smile on her face, but it doesn’t seem to be working too well… “Look, Applebloom… why are ya acting like this? You never get so worked up like this from what I remember…” “Yeah, well…” she glares up at you, “Maybe it’s hard work bein’ so supportive o’ ponies all the time! Havin’ t’ worry ‘bout their problems, an’ then when ah got some troubles m’self, nopony’s gonna be there fer me…” she goes back to sobbing, “Ah love ‘im, Scootaloo… what’s wrong with me?” You bite your lip and hesitate a bit before responding. No, you don’t want to admit it to her, not here, not now… “There’s nothing wrong with ya, Applebloom…” You sit down next to her, placing a hoof lightly on her back. “There’s a lotta stuff I don’t know, especially when it comes to your big sister and Anon butting heads at every turn, but… there’s gotta be some good reason for it beyond just not wanting to do… well, you know.” Applebloom sniffles a bit, before rubbing her eyes with her hooves and sitting up. “There… there is,” she says, looking at the ground. “Anon and sis, they…” she pauses briefly, before continuing. “Th… they din’t exactly break up on the nicest o’ terms…” Her voice is still quivering a bit, but you can tell it’s getting better. You keep your hoof on her shoulder all the same through this. “He… he an’ mah sis were like two seeds in an apple, but…” She shifts a bit, “Then he started hangin’ out with Rainbow Dash a lot…” You don’t really understand the apple simile, but you can assume from what she was saying what happened… “So she got jealous of Anon hanging around Rainbow all the time…?” Applebloom nods, sniffling a bit. “It was real bad, Scoots… She confronted ‘im on it, and…” she pauses, “There was a lot of yelling, ah don’ think ah ever heard Big Mac’s voice ever be that loud…” That sent a literal shiver up your spine. “So what… happened…?” Applebloom shakes her head. “Ah… ah don’t wanna talk ‘bout it anymore, Scoots,” she says, turning to look at you. “Thanks fer bein’ there fer me, though. Yer a real friend, y’know?” she smiles weakly at you, the wet streaks on her cheeks still visible in the moonlight. “Y-yeah, no problem.” “…Hey, Scoots?” “Yeah?” “D’ya mind if ah come in an’ sleep in th’ treehouse tonight? Ah dunno if ah feel very comfortable sleepin’ in mah room tonight.” You smile at her. “Sure. C’mon, it’s starting to get late.” You and Applebloom quickly make your way inside the treehouse, turning the light on so you’re not in complete darkness. That light doesn’t last long, however; the two of you eventually find that you’ve exerted yourselves a lot more than you had realized. A hard day’s work, a hearty meal, some heavy emotional stuff going down afterwards, and the two of you decide to just go ahead and call it a day. “Ya don’t mind if we share th’ same bed, right Scoots…?” Applebloom looks to you, smiling nervously. “There’s not really anywhere else t’ sleep an’ the floor ain’t exactly what most would call ‘comfortable’…” You shake your head. “Of course not, Applebloom! C’mon, we’re both friends, after all!” She smiles back at you, nodding before hopping up onto the bed. “Thanks Scoots, ah owe ya one,” she says, laying down on it, making sure that you have enough room to sleep as well. You flip off the light, slipping under the covers. “G’night, Scoots,” she mumbles out, and that’s the last you hear from her before she drifts off to sleep. But that’s not when you fall asleep, though. Oh no, there’s just too much running through your head all at once to warrant a peaceful night’s sleep. So it looks like there was more to that then you knew… First Applejack and Anon were together, and then they got broken up from his hanging out with Rainbow Dash, now Applebloom has a crush on him, and that’s creating a lot of tension between her and her sister, and all of this just because he wouldn’t go further with her sister… …Gah! This is too much for you to handle… At least for tonight… Maybe things will get better with time… probably best to just stay out of it for now… Yeah… maybe… Three months have passed since that night. Summer is nearing its end, and soon you’ll be starting work in Ponyville… But... who do you work for? More importantly, how will you be able to balance hanging out with your friends, and work at the same time? Something to consider when looking… End Chapter 6 Author's Note Sorry this is much shorter than previous chapters, but I at least wanted to get through the night and to the time skip, and this seemed like the most appropriate point at which to end this chapter. Give you a taste, but not the main course, if you will. Stay tuned. After all, a lot can happen in three months' time... ~Wuten, the King of Spaghetti The Party - Chapter 7Chapter 7 - The Party You are Scootaloo. And you hate your job… Sure, you had your doubts coming into it, but this… this was just ridiculous. One: the outfits they make you wear. Definitely not your thing… Two: the customers. Sure, most of them are nice, but then there are just those few that make you want to wring their necks in pure irritation… Three: You hardly get ANY free time at all! You wake up early in the morning, put on your work outfit, fly there, work, and work, and work… The only break you get is a ten-minute lunch break, if even that! And then it’s back to work… You’ve been at this for just a little over a week or two now, but you can already tell you’re going to hate it. Such is the life of a café waitress. “Hey Scoots, how’s it going?” But there is a little relief. “Going pretty well, what’ll ya have?” “Nothing too big. Can I get a muffin and some coffee?” He stops in here every morning to say hi to you and get some breakfast before heading out for the day. “Coming right up!” He pumps his fist into the air as you turn away, and you can see the smile on his face. You always make sure to pick out the muffin with the most blueberries just for him. It’s nothing really special, but it makes you feel a bit better knowing you did something nice for him each morning. You bring his breakfast to the table, and he smiles. “Thanks a lot!” he happily says, before taking a bite. You can see the look of pure joy on his face as you turn back around to serve the next customer. “Hey, Scoots,” you hear him call from behind you. “You wanna come and hang out this afternoon once you get off? Rainbow and I are gonna just chill out at my house, was wondering if you wanted to come over too?” Did… did he just invite you over? With RAINBOW DASH?! Oh my gosh… calm down, Scoots, gotta answer him with a cool response… “S-s-sure!” Oh yeah. Real smooth… You turn around and face him with a huge smile. “I get off at five, will that work?” “Sure! Just come right on over when you want to,” he says, drinking a bit of coffee before quickly setting it down, sticking his tongue out and blowing air on it, waving his hand towards it to cool it off. Heh, guess it was a bit hot… Sweet! You’re looking forward to this, definitely! Maybe this time… “Oh, by the way?” he grins at you. “I don’t think I’ve said it enough now, but you really do look good in that outfit.” You blush and your eyes widen, before turning away from him. “I-it’s not like I WANT to wear it or anything, I just have to for work!” He laughs. “I know, I know, but really? In all honesty I’m a bit surprised that they have the mares that work here wear maid outfits as part of their uniform, y’know?” Your blush does not go down. And neither do your wings. You’ve noticed that for a while now… he’s made that comment more than once before, but no matter how many times he does you always react like that… “I’m just poking a little fun, don’t worry,” he says, patting your head. “Now you should-” “Scoots!” you hear a voice call from the back. “We’ve got more customers than just Anon, y’know. Finish up what you’re doing and take a few other orders!” Your boss… He’s a nice guy at times, but you really don’t like how he gets nitpicky at each little thing, especially in the morning like this. Like, really? Outside of Anon, there’s only like two other tables! Surely the other waitresses could take their orders instead? Anon chuckles and smiles at you. “Hey, you hurry on along, I’ll see ya tonight, you hear?” You nod quickly, turning around. “Yeah, sounds good Anon!” Tonight is going to be awesome! But you know what that means… …Work’s gonna take even longer than usual now because you’re looking forward to something afterwards… You walk outside from the café, crack your knuckles and neck, and look around. The whole day off… what to do, what to do… The coffee Scoots gave you could fuel your body for DAYS if it weren’t for the fact you weren’t a night person. “Hm...” You rub your finger against your chin, pondering what could be done today… …Oh! That’s right, you almost forgot! Rarity said she wanted you to come by today for something. Probably to model for some new design. You grin, stretching your legs for a moment before taking off in a sprint; this time, you take great care to make sure you don’t run into any nearby ponies, or apple stalls for that matter… Things between you and Applejack still hadn’t really cleared up since then. Not that you expected it to, she’s hated you like that for a while now… You sigh, slowing to a brisk jog as you cross the bridge, Rarity’s boutique in the distance. No sense in getting all sweaty before you head over. After all, this is your favorite shirt you’re wearing. You travel at a slower pace than usual to the boutique, taking in all the sights and sounds of the transition from late summer to early fall. You always did love the colors of the leaves during autumn… You walk up to the boutique, knocking on the door. A few moments pass, and it’s opened by not Rarity, but her younger sister, Sweetie Belle. “Anon!” she exclaims in happiness, rearing up onto her hind legs to hug you. You laugh, squatting down a bit to help the height difference between the two of you. “It’s good to see ya, Sweetie Belle. How’re you doing?” She lets you go and lands back onto her hooves. “Great! Rarity’s upstairs, want me to go get her?” You smile and nod. “Thanks; she told me she needed me for something today.” The young mare giggles before trotting back inside. “RARITY! ANON’S HERE TO SEE YOU!” she belts out, shaking the nearby furniture with the sheer loudness of her call as she leaves to the upstairs. Damn, that mare’s got some lungs… You rub your ears briefly, before you hear the sound of a second set of hooves making their way down. “Anon! So good to see you, dear,” you hear Rarity’s voice come from the stairs as she trots down. “You’re probably wondering why I asked you to come over today, am I right?” “Yeah; what’cha need?” “Oh, it’s nothing too major,” she says, finally reaching the floor. You notice that she’s wearing a pair of ruby glasses and her mane has a bit of a wave in its curl. Actually, it looks pretty good on her. She makes her way over to the other side of the boutique, her horn glowing a light blue as she pulls out a rack of clothing… And keeps pulling… And pulling… Until finally it nearly spans the entire width of the room. “I’ve been hard at work these past few weeks. You should just SEE some of these designs, dear!” she exclaims proudly, levitating one over to you. It’s a gray suit with black pants and a white button-up shirt… A bit formal for your tastes, personally… “You… are free, right?” she asks cautiously, returning the outfit to the rack. “Y-yeah! Yeah, I’m free for a few hours, at least. I guess trying on a few wouldn’t hurt…” And those were your final words on the subject. Ohgodthatwasterriblewhythehelldidyoudothat? You stumble out of the boutique after what you believe was something around thirty different outfits. Rarity walks out with you, giggling at your groans of agony. “Come now, it couldn’t have been THAT bad, Anon. It’s clothing, after all,” she says, smiling. “How was that so physically taxing on one such as yourself? Besides, you just look wonderful now!” You look down at yourself; a draping white suit jacket with a few jewels tucked into the cuffs, a sleek black bowtie and long, black slacks with a pair of black loafers. These pants rode too far up your ass and you didn’t want to adjust yourself in front of Rarity, because that would be awkward. “You have no idea how much I hate when you do that…” You smirk down at her, and she smiles up at you and winks. “Anon, if you’re going to be living in this world, you can at least learn to enjoy the finer things in life. Why don’t you come with me to Canterlot sometime? You and I could have the most wonderful time there,” she says, as both of you stop. “Sorry, but it’s just not my thing. I like the simpler things in life, that’s all.” Her face scrunches up and you let out a hearty laugh. You enjoyed pushing her buttons every once in a while, even if she knew it was all in good fun. That was the best part. “Well, you run along now then, Anon, and be sure to tell Rainbow I said hello!” Rarity waves her hoof at you as you sprint off to your house, despite the awkward feeling of your pants riding up your ass. Shit’s uncomfortable, yo. Ugh, FINALLY you’re done! You walk out of the café, stretching out your wings and rolling your neck a few times. You couldn’t wait to get out of that stupid uniform. You hated the feeling of wearing clothes, personally; they looked nice, but they were way too uncomfortable for your tastes. You take a look at the sunset, before grinning and taking flight. Celestia really knows how to make the sunset look beautiful… You’ve gotten slightly better at flying in the past few months; now you can keep going for at least twelve minutes before feeling tired. No time to think about that now, though! Right now it’s time to party with Anon and Rainbow Dash! You shoot off into the distance, racing as fast as you can to Anon’s house. Hopefully they haven’t started without you… Beads of sweat are making their way to your forehead. You aren’t going to last too much longer… “C’mon Anon! Gimme all you got!” Rainbow growls tauntingly at you, urging you to keep going. She has no idea what you have in store for her. You give a few quick breaths, before you clench your teeth and push her further than you have all day. As soon as you got home, you got out of the suit that Rarity gave you. It was just too formal for what you had planned for today… “Hah! That your best? Please,” Rainbow grins, pushing back against you. This isn’t good, you’re not going to last too much longer… A knock at your door distracts her for a split second, and you take this opportunity to claim your prize. You push the last distance, slamming her hoof to the table, achieving victory over the pegasus. “Hah! I win again!” She grunts, and gives you a pouting look. “No fair, I got distracted!” “Rules are rules, Rainbow.” “Yeah…” she groans, standing up and trotting into the kitchen. Heh. Silly ponies. None can beat you when it comes to arm-wrestling. The knock comes again. Oh yeah, that’s right! Scootaloo’s coming over, that must be her. You stand up from the table and walk over to the door, opening it to see a young orange pegasus smiling up at you. “Ready for a night of parties, Anon?” “Heh, you bet I am. C’mon in.” You let her in and lead her into the main living room, complete with sofa, couch, and the table you and Rainbow had your bout with. “Wow, I’ve never been in your house before, Anon… It’s big…” “Heh. Want the grand tour?” “Really?!” “Sure! C’mon, I’ll show ya.” She leaps up in the air happily, before hovering behind you, the sound of beating wings droning out the sound of dishes clanking in the kitchen. Doing your dishes might make Rainbow think twice before challenging the Arm-Wrestling Champion of Ponyville. Hell yeah. Whoa… Anon’s house is huge… You’ve seen pretty big houses in Ponyville, but it’s like it grew twice the size on the inside than it is on the outside, this is awesome! He’s got a living room, a bedroom, a kitchen, a bathroom… what else could he possibly want out of a house? “Well, I could use some hot water in my shower during the mornings, but other than that I like it here,” he turns and grins down at you. Oh man, did you say that out loud?! He laughs at your expression and continues the tour. “And here is my personal favorite room. I’ve set it aside for guests, but it doubles as a workout room for when I don’t have anyone staying the night, which isn’t very often,” he says as the two of you enter another room. In every corner of the room you saw different kinds of what looked to be homemade workout equipment… weights, and even a huge wooden wheel on one side of the room… “Yeah, I had to improvise a bit on some things, but I think it’s kept me in shape, right?” he asks, grinning as he flexes his arm at you. Wow… he must be strong… You float over to the wheel, looking at it. “What’s this for?” “Running.” “Why do you need it when you can just run outside?” “Because I can stop whenever I want when I run outside. With this, though, I actually have to keep pace with it otherwise it’ll go out under my feet.” “But isn’t that dangerous?” “I laugh in the face of danger, don’t you know?” he grins and walks up onto it. “Just watch. You might want to step back a bit, though,” he says, and you do so. He starts out a bit slow, but ever so gradually he starts going faster and faster until… “Alright! Step back further, I’m hopping off!” You leap backwards and float in the air as he jumps off the wheel, landing on one foot before using both hands for support. “Hah… Whew… You see? It’s much more of a workout than I get from just running normally.” So that’s how he was able to run so fast… “Y’know, I’m surprised that it hasn’t fallen off of its hinges yet,” he says. “Attach some spikes to the outside of that thing, and you’ve got a recipe for disaster.” You can feel a shiver run up your spine at the thought. “Scary.” “Yeah.” “Hey Anon! I’m done with your freaking dishes,” you hear Rainbow call out from the other room. You turn to Anon with a raised eyebrow, and he grins down at you. “Lost a bet.” “Oh.” “Alright, be right there bro! Just giving Scoots here a tour of the house!” he calls out to her. “You show her your wheel?” “Yeah he did! It’s pretty cool!” He smiles down at you. “C’mon, let’s head into the living room. I’ve got some fun stuff planned for today.” “Okay!” You follow him out, taking one last look at the wheel before landing ant trotting behind him. What did he have planned for the three of you…? “You got the stuff?” “Buck yeah I did, what do you think I am, lazy?” Rainbow grins at you as you and Scoots walk in. “Obviously.” She puffs her cheeks out at you. You love pushing her buttons; it’s hilarious seeing her reactions to it. “Says the one that still can’t beat me in a race!” Oh boy, you were ready for this one. “I’ve got no wings. If it were a fair race without your wings, I would smoke you in a race before you even got halfway.” “That a challenge?!” she grins at you, leaping into the air with her hooves in a semi-challenging manner. “Nope. I’ve had enough exercise for one day, remember?” “Oh yeah,” she giggles, landing again. “Hard to believe you went through that many of Rarity’s outfits, huh?” “Yep. Now, you got the stuff, right?” You take three large steps across the room before leaping onto your couch, causing it to make a squishing noise and scoot across the floor a good half-foot or so. “Already told ya, I did,” she says, floating over to grab her saddlebag and floats back, dropping it on your gut. “Oof!” You grunt in surprise; you were about to stretch when she did that… But you look in the bag, and it looks like Rainbow delivered after all. You grin, and pull out two full bottles of the Apple family’s finest brew: Applejack Daniels. A bit haughty of Applejack to use her name on a drink, but you won’t argue because it’s the greatest thing that has ever graced your lips. You set them on the nearby table in the room, admiring the look of the bottles they came in. Nothing too fancy, but it just seemed… fitting. “Hey Rainbow, what’s the age required to drink this stuff?” She thinks for a moment. “Hm… she’s graduated class, right?” “Yeah?” “Yup, she’s old enough.” “Awesome. Scoots, you want some?” She looks at you with big eyes. “M-me?!” “Yeah you. C’mon, we have enough to go around.” “A-are you sure? I mean, I only graduated a few months ago…” “Of course I’m sure! Now c’mon over here.” You sit up and Rainbow plops down onto the sofa next to you. Scoots does the same, but a bit more hesitantly. Rainbow’s the first to go; she just takes one of the bottles and downs a good amount of it before stopping, letting out a deep sigh. “Thaaaaaaaaat’s the stuff…” she shivers. You’re next; you open the bottle and waterfall some of it, taking in the taste first before swallowing. The tartness of cider mixed with the sweet apples from the orchard makes for a taste better than anything you could have asked for. “Alright Scoots, your turn. You and I can share.” She gets look on her face, like she’s scared of getting germs or something. “What?!” “Yeah. Rainbow drinks more of this stuff than I do, so you and I can share. Here, start out with just a little.” You hand her the bottle, and she holds it awkwardly in her hooves, just looking at the label. She hesitates for a moment, but then quickly lifts the bottle to her lips, waterfalling a small taste before reeling her head back a bit, surprised by the taste. “Bleh! How do you two drink this stuff?” “Acquired taste, I guess. Rainbow’s been drinking this stuff a lot longer than I have though.” You grin at Rainbow, and she nods at you before taking another huge gulp. “Here, try it a bit slower this time, Scoots.” “…Okay,” she says, before lifting it to her lips once again, this time pouring much slower. It seems to do the trick, so you smile at her. “Well?” “It’s got a weird taste at first, but then it tastes both sweet and… tart?” she raises an eyebrow at you. “Yep, that’s the beauty of it all.” And so the three of you continue your enjoyment of the drink for a good hour or two. By the end of it, you have sunk deep into the cushions of the middle seat on your couch, and from the look of things, both Scoots and Rainbow have done the same. “Anon… my face feels funny…” Scoots mumbles, looking at the bottle before giggling. “Is this supposed to happen?” “Yup.” “Huh…” she smiles before cuddling up against the cushion, “I like it…” she giggles again, rubbing her cheeks against it. “Hey Scoots,” Rainbow turns to the orange pegasus, “How come I see you hanging around Anon all the time, huh? You tryin’ to take him away from me?” A what? Scoots immediately jumps to attention, and looks at Rainbow. “W-what?!” Rainbow laughs in her seat, her hooves wiggling in the air. “I’m kidding! Oh man, you should’ve seen your face there!” Scoots puffs out her cheeks angrily at Rainbow, before reclining back into her cushion. “Hey, I’m gonna head into the kitchen to get a bite to eat. You two want anything?” “Nah, I’m good,” Rainbow shakes her head. “What about you?” You turn to look at Scoots, and she shakes her head too, still enraptured by the comfort that is your couch It’s a fucking comfy couch, man. Standing up, you take a moment to balance yourself before walking to the kitchen. You haven’t eaten anything since you got home… “So.” “Huh?” “What’s up with you getting wingboners all the time around Anon, huh?” Rainbow’s looking at you, her eyes lowered a bit as if she’s peering at you for an answer. Your cheeks flush red, and your stupid self can’t keep it hidden… “Well, I… uh…” You fidget a bit in your seat. “Um, well… he’s pretty cool and all…” Rainbow grins at you. “You know what happened between him and Applejack, right?” You hesitate for a moment, and then nod, looking down. “So you know the kind of thing you would be getting into, huh?” You stop yourself for a moment, look up at Rainbow, and as if something clicked in your brain, nod. “Yeah, I know what I’d be getting into…” She smiles and holds up a hoof. “Well kid, just as long as you don’t take my bro from me, you’ve got my support,” she says. …Wait. What?! “What?!” “You heard me. I’ll help ya. But you’ll owe me big for it,” she grins. “Deal?” “D-deal! Thanks Rainbow Dash!” …You can’t believe it… you might actually have a shot at him! You bump against Rainbow’s hoof before Anon comes back in. “Hey, it looks like it’s getting pretty late out; want me to walk ya home, Scoots?” he asks, looking at you. “You seem pretty badly hammered, the way you’re swaying around like that…” Rainbow chuckles a bit and looks at Anon. “You should probably take her home, dude,” she says. “Wouldn’t want her to run into any trouble because you got her drunk off her flank, after all.” He smirks at her and walks over to you, ruffling her mane in the process before setting his arms under your shoulders, hefting you onto his back. “C’mon Scoots, let’s get you home.” “A-alright…” Your head is swimming at this point, you can’t even believe it… Anon’s taking you home? “I’ll need ya to point me in the right direction though,” he says as he opens the door. “Rainbow, I’ll be back in just a little while. Don’t empty my food while I’m gone like you did the other day.” “No promises!” she calls back to him. “Heh. Anyway, where to, Scootaloo?” he grins back at you, shutting the door behind him with his foot. “Um… y’know where the schoolhouse is?” “Yeah?” “Yeah… just on the other side of the big hill, inside all the trees, you can’t miss it…” “But that’s… Isn’t that part of Sweet Apple Acres?” “…” You’re silent for a moment or two, before responding. “…Yeah…” He stops for a moment, looking towards the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. …It’s nearly a mile from his house… You see a grin flash across his face. “Hey. Scoots.” “Yeah?” “Hang on tight.” He repositions you on his back and sets his arms under your hind legs, your front legs wrapped around his neck. “We’re gonna go fast.” That’s the only warning you get before he breaks into a full-speed sprint, your mane and tail whipping behind the two of you as he runs even faster than he did that day all those months ago when the two of you had your race… The speed, the adrenaline, the look of pure excitement on his face… it’s almost too much for you to take. You grin happily and shout “Woo hoo!” as the two of you speed through the center of town, heading right for the schoolhouse. With speed you think you’ve only seen from Rainbow Dash and maybe the Wonderbolts the few times you’ve seen them in Ponyville, Anon leaps into the air, jumping over the low fence of the playground, never breaking stride as the two of you make your way to the edge of Sweet Apple Acres… As you reach the trees, however, he begins to slow down. “Alright, now let’s see here…” he mutters when the two of you finally reach a walking pace. “Where is it?” “Um…” Ugh, it’s too dark to see anything… He walks into the trees, and the two of you wander for a good fifteen minutes or so before he finally spots something. “Is that it?” he asks, pointing forward. “Looks like it…” “Cool. C’mon,” he says, carrying you over to the treehouse. “Hey… thanks…” He sets you down gently, making sure you can stand properly. “No prob. We’re friends after all, right?” “Yeah…” He smiles at you. “Hey Scoots,” he begins, “You come on over any time you want, okay? My house is your house.” Your eyes widen and you look up at him, shocked. “R-really?” “Yeah. Just don’t empty my food and we’ll be cool,” he says, holding up a fist at you. But you don’t want that. Instead, you rear up on your hind legs and you wrap your arms around his waist, pulling him into a hug. “Thank you thank you thank you thank yo-” “Haha, alright Scoots, I get it, you’re grateful!” he laughs, hugging you back. “Now c’mon, I gotta head back to my house to keep Rainbow from eating all my food.” You let him go and give him the biggest smile you can muster at this point; you’re practically tearing up. No one’s ever done this since Applebloom said you could live in the treehouse all those years ago… “Alright, I’ll see ya around then Scoots,” he says, stretching a bit before walking away, back towards town. “Okay! See you later!” You wave a hoof back at him before turning back to the treehouse… You trot up to the door and open it, closing and locking it before floating over to your bed, plopping down flat on it. Your head is spinning… you’re not sure why, but everything seems… warmer… “Anon…” Almost by instinct, you close your eyes and let your hooves wander, as if they were his strong, dexterous hands across your chest… His form standing over you, his breath against your neck as he massaged every inch of your body… As you continue, your hooves trail lower, to the biggest source of heat coming from you… End Chapter 7 Author's Note "Hey Anon, can I try your wheel?" "Sure Scoots!" Get on wheel It instantly breaks off the wall, and spikes jut out of the outside "Hey Anon." "..." "Let's roll." "Fuck yeah." Anon gets on and the two of you roll through the streets of Ponyville, wreaking havoc wherever you may roam VROOM VROOM BITCHES Confessions - Chapter 8Chapter 8 - Confessions The next morning, you wake up in a bit of a daze… “Huh…? What happened last night…?” You rub your eyes with your hooves, when you notice they seem a bit… different. They’re not soft like before, they’re… sticky? Like you poured syrup all over them and forgot about it? You look around the room; your bed sheets are completely strewn about, and you feel… light-headed. That’s when you look down. And you see it. “…WAH!” You kick what little bed sheets remained on your hind legs off, and immediately scramble up against the wall, still staring at your… …What did you do last night? Alright. So you… urgh, ‘cleaned up’ after yourself. Sick. You need to bathe. Seriously, you smell. “…Why did I do that?” You continue asking yourself this despite not having the answer yourself; it all just sort of… happened… You outstretch your wings, and try to liftoff from the clubhouse, but you find it more difficult than usual… your wings are too stiff to fly normally. Fine, fine… hooves can work too- You don’t even finish that thought before you tumble down the walkway to the clubhouse, smacking your head on the ground below. “Ow…” You rub your head and take a few moments to get re-oriented, but even then the world is still spinning a bit… Maybe heading out for a swim at the pond would help… the water always helped you just wash all your troubles away... Today, it may do that in a more literal sense as well. “Alright, lake, lake…” You mutter to yourself, trying to figure out how to navigate on foot to the pond. Your lack of wingpower doesn’t exactly help… After about fifteen minutes of wandering, you finally see a clearing in the trees, and… “Yes! The lake!” You gallop forward, leaping up into the air once you get to the edge, letting your wings carry you the extra few meters out into the water before landing, the water washing over you, all of your troubles going away… As you bring your head up from the water, however, a sound brushes across your ears. “Hey Scootaloo!” …Applebloom. “Mind if we join you?” another voice adds. Both Applebloom and Sweetie Belle are here! You turn around to them and wave a hoof. Luckily for you, the water has more or less rendered it not sticky anymore. “Hey! C’mon in!” They both gallop down from the trail and splash into the water. … There was a trail. …Smooth move, Scoots. “Ooh, this is niiiiice!” Sweetie Belle exclaims, floating onto her back and backpaddling over to you. “A morning swim?” “Y-yeah. It’s still pretty hot out, y’know?” “I’ll say!” Applebloom replies, diving underwater before coming up next to you. “Just because it ain’t summer anymore don’t mean we can’t still have fun, right?” “Duh!” You laugh, splashing her a bit before you see the look in her eyes. That fiery look of revenge, coupled by an almost wolfish grin. …Oh boy. And that’s when you go under. “Haha! Applebloom got you good, Scoots!” Sweetie Belle laughs as the three of you dry off on the shoreline. “Yeah. But only after I got her first.” You shoot a grin to Applebloom, who returns the same expression. “Yeah? Well I gotcha better!” she laughs, giving you a shove with her hoof. You grin back at her. “It sure was nice to get to have fun like this before summer ends,” Sweetie Belle smiles, looking up at the sky, the sun high up above the clouds. “We hardly ever do this anymore, girls.” “Yeah…” Applebloom replies, rolling over onto her back to stare up at the sky with Sweetie Belle. You do the same. “We might not even be able to do this as much as we do soon, since we’re graduated and all…” You let out a heavy sigh, closing your eyes and letting the heat of the sun dry your fur. “It’s not so bad, though. At least now we’ll be able to help out the town more than we could when we were just fillies.” “Yeah. I’m gonna help mah sis’ in the orchard when fall comes!” Applebloom exclaims. “Mhm. And Rarity will need help carrying all her sewing materials, so I can help her!” Sweetie Belle replies. Heh. Both of them are helping their sisters… “Well?” you hear Applebloom’s voice again. Oh, they were waiting for you. “Um… I guess I’ll still be working at the diner until my wings get stronger… Can’t have weak ponies working for the weather team, y’know.” You open your eyes, smiling at her. “Besides, who else is gonna serve Anon his breakfast every morning?” …Whoops; that kind of just slipped out…! You cover your mouth with your hooves, but it’s too late; the words have left your mouth and entered her ears. She stares at you for a brief moment, before chuckling a bit nervously. “Heh… yeah, I guess so…” You shake your head quickly, waving your hooves out in front of you. “I-I didn’t mean it like that, I just-” “No, it’s alright, really,” she says, blushing a bit and turning her head away, hiding a frown. Even after all this time, mentioning Anon still brings up memories of that night for her… She turns back to look at you. “How… is he?” “He’s, um…” Darn, you REALLY didn’t mean to do this. Now things are gonna be awkward between you two. “He’s doing well. Yeah…” Ugh… “…Oh…” she mutters. “Listen, Applebloom, I didn’t mean to… y’know…” “No, no, it’s fine…” she says, sighing a bit. “Must be pretty nice t’ see him every day…” “Eh, it’s really not all you think it is-” “Y’know, mah big sis told me I ain’t allowed t’ have him over anymore,” she says. You mentally cringe; you remember her telling the two of you this a few weeks back. She locked herself in her room and only came down when Applejack was outside in the orchard, got something to eat, then quickly galloped back to her room and locked it again. “I… know, Applebloom…” “B-but that’s okay!” she exclaims. “Because once ah get old enough t’ go out on mah own, Anon an’ I will show her, won’t we?” Okay. You need to get her to calm down and see reason, Scoots. Like, NOW. “Listen, Applebloom…” You take a deep breath before speaking again. “…What if your sister is right? Maybe he’s just not the one?” …Excellent choice of words there, Scoots. Real freaking smooth-talker you are. “…What?” Well, no turning back now. “I mean… I know you don’t like what your sister is making you do, but… what if she’s right in the end? I mean, family should come first, right?” She remains silent; the only sound between the three of you now is the light breeze through the trees. “Hey, um,” Sweetie Belle quickly cuts in, breaking the silence, “I should probably get back to Rarity, she might need some help…” she mutters, stepping away slowly from the two of you. “No, Sweetie Belle, I think she’ll be jus’ fine without ya for now.” She turns and glares at you. “An’ just what d’ ya mean by that?” Sweetie Belle shrinks back a bit, watching the two of you. “Well, if it creates a rift between you and your family, what’s the point?” You start getting your words more organized now, and you can finally press this coherently. “I mean, what’s the good of running off with someone like that, if you don’t have anyone to support your decision? And what if he said ‘no’? What would you do then?” “Well, I’d just move on t’ another stallion or someone-” “No, you wouldn’t, Applebloom, I know. I’ve seen you when you get like this. Remember the stallion you liked back in class, the one with the blonde mane and the sunglasses?” “Yeah? What about it?” she raises an eyebrow at you. “Yeah. Same thing here. You get so worked up and so focused on getting one to like you that you can’t handle them saying ‘no’, and cry about it and talk about it for weeks! And I know we’re your friends and all, but it can get a ‘little’ annoying after a while, in case you didn’t already know!” You stop yourself before you go further; you’re raising your voice a LOT more than you had planned. Applebloom is staring at you wide-eyed, before coming back with a retort. “Well what would YOU know about ‘family comes first’ then, huh?! Where’s YOUR family? Where’s YOUR sister that’s keeping you from the one you love because SHE fell in an’ out o’ love with him first?! Where’s YOUR grandma and brother that won’t even lift a HOOF t’ stop her from it?” she glares daggers at you now. “Well?!” You’re on the verge of screaming now, tears gathering at your eyes. “Well maybe I don’t need a family! Maybe I’m strong enough to head it on my own! After all, it’s what I’ve done since we were fillies. It’s what I’ve done my whole life, so MAYBE I know what I’m talking about!” Applebloom is silent. She sniffles a bit, before turning around and walking away slowly, head hanging down. Sweetie Belle stares at her as she walks away, before turning to look at you. “Hey, um… Scoots?” she asks, walking over to you and placing a hoof on your back. “You gonna be alright?” You let out a heavy sigh, wiping your eyes before watching her disappear into the trees. “Yeah, I’m alright. I just… I need some time alone, that’s all.” You push up into the air, flying away. At least by now, your wings are back to normal. But why were you so quick to stop Applebloom going after Anon? It couldn’t be that you… …The way you feel around him, that twinge you get in your chest whenever he smiles at you… And that look he gives you with his eyes… …And how you treated yourself last night to the thought of him… There’s only one possible reason for that… You can’t deny it any longer. You’re in love with Anonymous, a creature from another world. And there’s nothing you could say to yourself to convince you otherwise at this point, it’s too much to NOT admit now. Even RAINBOW could tell you liked him… You get a look of determination in your eyes. You know that Applebloom won’t like it, but you can’t wait any longer. You’re not sure of how he will react to it, but darn it, you need to at least try! At least you’ll know his answer. No time for second-guessing yourself! You remember he was telling Rainbow not to get into all his food last night, so maybe he needs more… Sugarcube Corner! Woke up in the morning, feeling like P. Diddy. Wait, who’s that again? You don’t know, but whoever it is, must feel pretty damn good. You partied hard with Rainbow last night, but Celestia knows you two can’t survive on alcohol and snacks forever. So, being the bro that you are, you’re in Sugarcube Corner getting some sweets while Rainbow’s out on weather duty. “Hey Pinkie!” You knock on the front counter. “Think you can hook me up with something good?” Pinkie comes out of the back room and up to the counter, placing her elbow on top of it and grinning at you. “Depends. What’cha got in return?” You smirk down at her. “Will this be enough?” You pull out a small bag of bits, setting it onto the counter. Odd jobs were hard to come by nowadays, but most of that money was made through bets. What can you say? You have a natural knack for the gambling arts. You grin at her. She grins at you. And then she leans up and boops you on the nose. “Sure! I can whip up something real fast for ya, Anon!” Pinkie giggles, zipping back to the kitchen. And that’s when you hear it. Once again, the sound of hooves scuttling about. No, these weren’t Pinkie’s… these were much smaller. Much more… dangerous. “Hi Nonny!” you hear a young filly’s voice come from behind you. Oh boy. It’s the Cake twins… “Hey kids!” You turn around to smile at them. “…What’s with the bag of flour?” “We’re gonna ask ya a few questions, that’s all,” Pound Cake grins up at you, shaking the bag of flour. Damn, it’s nearly as tall as he is… “Yeah! Questions…” Pumpkin Cake drags out the word, giving you a sly, mischievous grin. “Well, what kinds of questions?” “We’re curious,” she says, “You’ve been spending a lot of time with Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash lately. Do you… like them?” “Well sure I do, we’re best friends, after all-” “No no no, we mean, LIKE like them,” Pound Cake interrupts. “Like, back when you and Applejack used to spend a lot of time-” “Haha, okay! You know what time it is? Time for the little colt and filly to stop asking personal questions and not worry about-” “But we want to know!” Pumpkin Cake exclaims. “And you’re gonna tell us, or…” she grins, nodding at her twin brother, who shakes the bag intimidatingly at you. …Damn. And you just HAD to pick today to wear your favorite shirt. Again. When the hell are you going to learn not to wear your good clothes in places you KNOW they will be at risk, Anon? Well, too late now. You take a deep sigh, before looking down at them with a calm expression. “So, you two really want to know, huh?” They beam with excitement up at you. “Yes!” they both shout in unison. “Alright. Well, the reason is-” “Anon!” You turn to the door just as you hear it open to see a streak of orange and cerise come barreling inside. Ah, Scoots; you can always depend on her to save your butt. “Heya Scoots, what’s up?” “There’s something I gotta know, Anon. Something I’ve been meaning to tell you for a while now, but have been too scared to admit after learning what you’ve been through…” Your eyes widen a bit in surprise. Wait. Hold the fucking phone. She said “after learning what you’ve been through”. You’ve only told her about your relationship with Applejack. … Oh shit. She’s not here to save you. “Anon, I…” she struggles with her words a bit, and you can see it in her eyes. Please don’t say it, please don’t say it, please don’t say it… “…I think I’m in love with you.” End Chapter 8 Author's Note Sorry this took so long to get out, had to rework the middle argument section a bit. Hope it's worth the wait! Lust - Chapter 9Chapter 9 - Lust “Anon, I… I think I’m in love with you.” Well, there goes your plan for a quick escape. “Um…” “Haha, we knew it!” Pound Cake exclaims, pointing. “You two DO have a crush on each other!” “C’mon Pound, let’s go watch from a safe distance, don’t wanna get between the two lovebirds, y’know…” Pumpkin Cake winks at her brother, before they both quickly speed up the stairs, peering down at the two of you from the railing. C’mon dude, say something! “Well, uh… this is a bit sudden…” She perks up and quickly responds. “Look, I know all about your problems you had with Applejack a while back! But…” she pauses for a moment, “You shouldn’t let one bad relationship ruin the rest! That was years ago, wasn’t it?” You know, she has a point… still… “Scoots…” You walk up to her, and kneel down. “Scoots, you’re like, one of the coolest mares I know, really you are. But…” You place a hand on her head. “I just… don’t think of you in that way. You’re like a younger sister to me, y’know?” She looks at you with huge eyes, her mouth opening slightly in silence, before speaking once again. “B-but… I don’t!” she exclaims, stepping away and out from under your hand. “I’ve… I’ve only just been able to realize my feelings for you were this strong, Anon…” “I understand, Scoots, but I just-” “But what? You don’t feel the same way?” She begins to quiver her lower lip a bit, her eyes welling up with small traces of liquid. Oh man, not that… You hate when they do that… “But Anon…” You quickly reach forward to her, cupping her face in your hands. “Now listen, Scoots. You and Dash are probably the two mares that I hang out with the most. I don’t want something like this to come between-” “Dash? Wait, Anon, are you…!” she gasps, stepping back even further, almost out of the shop. “D-do you have a crush on Dash?!” “What?! No, of course not!” You’re losing her Anon, c’mon! Do something! “Scoots, I’m just not searching for anyone to be with like… that, right now. Please, understand and respect that. You’re one of the closest friends I have; I don’t want that fact to come between our friendship…” You hold out your hand to her. “Please, Scoots. Don’t force me to make a decision I’m not ready or willing to make.” You can see the look in her eye. It’s the same look Applejack had, all those years back; that a mixture of pain, anxiety, disappointment… it was almost too much for even you to bear. But, slowly, you see that look begin to fade, and she closes her eyes, letting out a heavy sigh. “…Yeah. I understand, Anon… I’m sorry I even brought it up, I honestly don’t know what came over me…” You put on a smile, outstretching your hand even further. “C’mon, Scoots. Want me to get you something too? Maybe a cupcake? A brownie?” She looks up at you, smiles for a moment, but then her gaze shifts to the side a bit. “…No thanks. I think I’ll be fine on my own. I need…” she pauses for a moment, looking down and then back at you, “I need to think this over.” You smile genuinely now. At least she was seeing reason now; good work, Anon! Lucky break, there. “Sure, Scoots.” “I’ll… I’ll see ya tomorrow then, Anon?” she asks, turning around to leave the shop. “Yeah. We’ll head out to the lake or something. You’ll like that, right?” She has an almost distant look about her, but she remains smiling. “Yeah…” she mutters, outstretching her wings. “I’ll see ya tomorrow, then…” And with that, she lifts into the air, flying off into the distance. “Wow… that was pretty heavy…” you hear Pinkie’s voice, and you see her staring at you, elbow on the counter, munching on a cupcake. “W-what?! You were here the whole time?!” “Nope! Just for that little ending bit. Something about ‘taking her to the lake’? Wow Anon, didn’t know you were so attached to a mare like that,” she winks at you, taking another bite out of the cupcake. “Or that you liked taking them to secluded areas like that…” “It’s not like that, not at all! And- wait, are you eating my cupcake?!” She stops chewing abruptly, her eyes wandering to the cupcake, then to you, then back to the cupcake, before coming back to you with an innocent grin. “Maaaaybe…” “C’mon Pinkie, that was mine!” She grins, puckering her lips at you. “C’mon Anon! You can still taste the chocolate…” “Ugh, c’mon Pinkie, really? After all that just happened?” She giggles, wiping her mouth with her hoof. “Heehee! Sorry Anon, but it was almost too much to resist. Here!” she sets the half-eaten cupcake on the counter. “You can have the rest, and I’ll get ya a new one!” She gets up and hops off to the back room, and you take this opportunity to sneak the half-eaten cupcake into the trash before she returns a few moments later with a fresh cupcake. “So Anon… do you really like Scootaloo, then?” You sigh, taking the fresh cupcake from Pinkie, leaning against the counter before taking a bite. It’s so delicious, but right now with everything that’s happened you can’t even fully enjoy it… “I don’t know, Pinkie…” You close your eyes, letting the chocolate-y goodness do its best to swallow up all of the drama that occurred here today. “I just don’t know…” He doesn’t love you. Why should he? The way you acted just then, the way you tried to force yourself upon him… Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Why can’t you do anything right?! You storm into the treehouse, slamming the door behind you before pounding your hooves onto the floor. “Why did I do that?! I blew my chance! Stupid Scootaloo, why did I even consider it in the first place?!” You slam your hooves down, tears in your eyes, before falling on your stomach in a heap of tears. “A-and… even after Rainbow Dash told me she would help me…” You look up at the poster on your wall of the rainbow-maned pegasus. Just staring at it… the proud smile on her face… it fills you with anger. “You said you would help me! Well?! Where’s your help now?!” You let out a battle cry as you lunge for the poster, ripping it off of its place on the wall, leaving behind a few torn paper shreds and a much cleaner wall as you crumple it up and proceed to slam your hooves as hard as you can against the crumpled paper. “WHY?! WHY DIDN’T YOU HELP?! YOU SAID YOU WOULD!” After a minute or two, you begin to slow down your punches… Tears streaming down your face, you slowly fall to the side, sobbing. “Why... why didn’t he say yes? I did everything right, I know I did…” You close your eyes, hugging yourself tightly into a curled position on the floor. As you lay there, you begin going through the situation again in your head… He said he wasn’t ready to make a decision. Why was that? That would mean that, at some point, he would have considered the idea of taking things further… “So… so there’s a chance that he still…” Of course, that’s the only explanation! “Oh Anon… you’re just playing hard to get!” You grin to yourself, and giggle shakily, still recovering from your sobbing fit from earlier. “Alright, looks like I just need to keep trying! Don’t worry, Anon, I’m a resilient little mare…” You giggle again, hugging yourself tightly and rolling over onto your back. “You can take your time, but you shouldn’t keep a mare waiting…” …Why are you saying these things? They’re so… not you, but… They feel REALLY good to say… And they’re making you feel all warm and giggly… You look down at your body, smiling. “One day, Anon will show me what it really feels like… what it feels like to be with someone…” You slip your hooves down your stomach, pressing your tongue against the back of your teeth in excitement and anticipation. You felt so good last night… could you do it again? Worth a shot. You bring your front hooves down between your back legs, letting out a light gasp when your hooves touch your sensitive parts… You had learned a lot in school about it, and a few conversations with other mares ended up sometimes going to the subject, but outside of that you didn’t really have any idea what you were doing right now. All you knew was it felt really good… You press a bit harder, brushing your hooves against your other set of lips even more, enticing another excited gasp from you. “C’mon Anon… you do love me, don’t you?” You close your eyes, envisioning his body towering over yours, his arms holding you tightly in a loving embrace… His warmth, his strength, his entire presence… it’s driving you to new heights. You let out a relaxed moan of pleasure, your lower legs twitching a bit as you continue rubbing your hooves between your hind legs. “Just a little more, Anon… just a little more and we’ll…!” You let out another gasp as you brush over an especially sensitive spot near the top. “Oh yeah… Anon, right there, do it right there!” You start panting as your hooves rub the spot mercilessly, the image of Anon looking down at you with a loving, yet playful face… And those eyes… you just can’t get enough of them… You roll over onto your stomach, picking up your lower half with your hind legs. Despite their trembling heavily from the experience, you manage to lift up just enough… “Do it, Anon! We’ll be together at last!” You reach under yourself, still rubbing furiously against your sensitive spot. The image of Anonymous shakes his head from side to side, leaning down to you. “I’m going to drive you wild first. You have to prove you can handle me…” “Yes! Yes Anon, I’m ready! I can handle it, I promise!” He shakes his head again. “Not yet, Scoots…” You can’t stop rubbing at this point; it’s almost unbearable NOT to. “I-I can’t live without you, Anon! I need you…” You finally can’t take any more; you let out a loud, gasping moan of pleasure as your body convulses, causing your legs to lose their hoofing and collapse to the floor. Your inner walls shudder and your body loses all sense of control as juices begin flowing slowly out of your sensitive areas… “A-Anon…” You open your eyes, turning your head to lay it on its side, looking out the window at the full moon. “I… love you, Anon…” You close your eyes, unable to continue your activities. In the center of the treehouse, you lay collapsed in a blissful heap. It really sucks that you’ll have to clean up the floor again tomorrow… End Chapter 9 Author's Note And so it begins. The Lake - Chapter 10A little something I'd like to add as a little something extra; this was the music I listened to on repeat while writing this chapter, I think it's fairly fitting to set the mood. Chapter 10 - The Lake No matter how long you live in this place, you will never forgive the builders of your house for putting a window RIGHT NEXT TO WHERE YOUR BED IS THAT CELESTIA’S SUNLIGHT CAN SHINE DIRECTLY AT YOU FROM. “Urgh… my head…” You sit up slowly, rubbing your eyes as they adjust to the now brightened room. Today was your rest day, and boy, did you need it… You stretch before getting out of bed and go through your normal routine of shower, shit, and shave; the ponies, despite having little to no knowledge of your species, were able to create a bathroom that could accommodate your larger size easily… Must be the minotaurs that stop by from time to time. You slip into a light t-shirt and some shorts. “Goin’ to the lake, goin’ to the lake…” you improv-sing to yourself; nobody’s around, not like anyone’s gonna hear… “Anon!” you hear an energetic voice from outside, followed by a knocking. Must be Scoots. You smile, slipping into some shoes and walking to the front door, opening it to see the bouncing, excited orange mare standing outside. “Ready for an awesome time? I know I am!” she exclaims, grinning. “Hah, me too! Lemme grab a few snacks and I’ll be right out; c’mon in!” You haven’t forgotten what happened between the two of you yesterday at Sugarcube Corner, but it looks like she’s held true to her word and isn’t letting that come between the friendship the two of you share. You smile, letting her inside your home while you head into the kitchen, collecting a few snacks, drinks, and a large cloth blanket into a bag, slinging it over your shoulder and walking back out into your living room. “Ready to go?” “About time!” she taunts, and you ruffle her mane before walking outside, shutting the door behind you two and heading down the trail to the lake. “So Scoots, I guess you slept well last night?” “Uh huh! Wanted to get up early for this, wouldn’t miss it!” she grins up at you, trotting beside you as you pass by ponies out about their business. “Cool. Got some snacks for us pre-made last night. I think you’ll like ‘em.” “Awesome!” The two of you continue down the trail to just outside Sweet Apple Acres, where the trail forks down to the barn and the Apple family’s home, and to the lake the other way. “I’d say ‘I’ll race ya there’, Anon, but you’re carrying food, so I’m not gonna,” she giggles as the two of you take the right trail, the lake slowly coming into view. “Heh, thanks.” As you get closer, though, her pace begins to quicken just a tad. “There it is!” she exclaims at last, breaking into a full gallop, her wings flapping and gathering even more speed, her form gliding along the ground before landing at the shore. “You coming, Anon?” You chuckle, walking over to a nearby tree and setting the bag down in the shade; despite it being near the beginning of autumn, the sun was still beating down on you full-force. Perfect for a day at the lake. Hm… the spot is fairly close to a small ledge, which overlooks the entire rest of the lake… This gives you an idea. “Sure! Gimme a sec.” Stretching, you pull off your shirt and shoes, before grinning wickedly at Scoots. She’ll never see it coming. Starting out slowly at first, you eventually break into a full sprint… Right. At. Scoots. Her eyes widen and she shows a mix of surprise, fear, excitement, and a lot of other things you don’t have time to take into consideration right now. Leaping into the air, you easily clear over her head, creating an enormous splash as you crash into the waters below. You stay underwater for a few more seconds, before coming up and taking a deep breath of fresh air, relaxing on your back as you float calmly on the lake. “Anon, you idiot!” she calls out from the shore. “You could’ve taken my head off doing that!” “But I didn’t, did I?” You turn to give her a grin, and she puffs her cheeks out in a pout before grinning. “So that’s how it’s gonna be, huh?” …Oh no. You recognize that look. It’s the same look that Rainbow gives you whenever she’s about to try something entertaining… at your expense. Quickly, you take a deep breath of air before diving underwater, watching the surface as a shadow casts across the sky, stopping for a moment before getting bigger… And bigger… …Oh shit. Swim, Anon! Swim for your life! You take a few well-timed breaststrokes before the orange blur of fur plunges into the depths of the lake after you, grin plastered on her face. Shit, shit, shit… time to kick it into overdrive, Anon! Kick! Stroke! Kick! Stroke! Kick- You hear a muffled yelp before surfacing for air, and you turn around to see a gasping Scoots struggling on the surface. “Scoots?!” You quickly swim over to her, helping her get back stable on the surface. “Scoots, you alright?” “Y-yeah, you just…” she coughs out a bit, before continuing a bit weaker, “…fell right for it.” SHIT. She grins, leaping and tackling you underwater, holding you under for a few seconds before pulling you up. “Gotcha, Anon!” “Not cool, I thought I smacked you with my foot or something?” “You did!” she grins, waving a hoof, “But I dodged it just in time, so it just hit my hoof. Worked great, huh? Had you going there for a sec, didn’t I?” This fucking clever mare. You chuckle, lightly punching her shoulder before both of you lay back and floating carelessly on the water. “Hey, Anon?” You feel her eyes looking at you, even though yours are closed. “Yeah Scoots?” “…Sorry about yesterday,” she mutters. “I dunno what came over me; really, it just sort of… slipped out.” You hear her breathe in deep through her nose. “Hey, don’t worry ‘bout it. We’re chilling out now, so it’s all good, right?” She’s silent for a moment or two, and then you hear her chuckle. “Yeah, Anon. Glad we didn’t let that get between our friendship, right?” “Yeah. Hey, you hungry?” “Nah, I’m no-” she begins, but her stomach has other plans, it seems. And it’s made its point known to both of you. The two of you burst out laughing, before you sink back vertically, swimming back to shore. “C’mon, let’s get something to eat.” She nods, following you back to shore. “You gonna dry off, Anon?” she asks when she reaches the shoreline, shaking the water off her, flapping her wings a bit to fling the water off. “Nah. I’ve got something for us to sit on in the bag; I’ll just sit on that.” She shrugs, floating in the air next to you. The two of you walk over and you reach into the bag, pulling out the cloth and laying it out in the shade. “So, what’d you bring?” she asks, sitting on the cloth. Brushing your feet off, you pick up the bag and then step onto the cloth, sitting down before reaching into the bag. “Something I think you’ll like.” You pull out a bottle of water for yourself and a thermos for Scoots; you filled it with juice for her last night. Unscrewing it, you hand it to her, before reaching into the bag once again… “C’mon Anon!” she pouts, “I’m dying to know!” You grin, pulling out your late-breakfast early-lunch meal. Two sandwiches, one for each of you. “Here ya go!” You hand her one, and she eyes it, tilting her head for a moment before taking a bite. You don’t think you’ve ever seen or heard that sound come from her. It was something akin to… a yelp and a moan? Dunno. “A-Anon, this is delicious!” she exclaims, looking at you. “What is it?” You shrug. “Human secret recipe. Like it?” “Do I? I love it!” she grins, taking another bite. Heh. Secret recipe. Motherfucking peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, man. Gets ‘em every time. “Glad to hear,” you chuckle, taking a bite out of your own sandwich, drinking from your water bottle. Silence envelops the two of you, sans for the sound of the lake and trees around you and the sounds of chewing. A rush of wind blows across your back and you shiver; you probably should have put on a shirt before you started eating. The shade was blocking the sunlight, after all, so there was nothing for it to cool off… Scoots looks up at you, before outstretching a wing up to cover your back. “Heh, you probably should have put on your shirt again, Anon,” she chuckles, blushing lightly before taking another bite. DON’T YOU BLOW THIS SCOOTALOO YOU’RE SO CLOSE DON’T BLOW IT!! Anon is counting on you to keep his back shielded from the wind! Okay, looks like it’s working so far… Another breeze comes, and like before, the wing shields you successfully. “Thanks, Scoots.” She nods silently, continuing to eat. Yet another breeze rolls on by, but this time you feel a light tickling on your back, causing you to stiffen up a bit. Scoot’s eyes widen and she immediately retracts her wing, hanging her head a bit. “Anon, I…” she mutters, still not meeting your gaze, “…I-” Before she can finish, she’s interrupted by a shrill cry coming from behind the two of you. Turning, you immediately see who it came from. … “Applebloom…?” End Chapter 10 Author's Note Hope you enjoyed! It's a bit more light-hearted than the previous few, so I hope it was a nice break from all the heavy stuff that's been and is going to be going down lately. ~Wuten Truths and Lies - Chapter 11Chapter 11 - Truths and Lies “…Applebloom? What’re you doing here?” “Ah should be askin’ HER the same thing!” the mare points her hoof accusingly at Scoots. “Applebloom, I… I’m here with Anon, that’s all it is. We’re just… eating,” she turns to her friend, chewing on a bite of her sandwich. “Yeah, but you’re…” “We’re -what-, Applebloom? What’s so wrong with that?” she asks, a bit more harshness in her voice. “Whoa, now, let’s all just calm down here.” Seriously, you can feel the angry vibes seething from both of them right now, the best thing to do in this situation is stop whatever sort of conflict could break out between them… “Let’s all just take a deep breath, and-” “No, Anon. This needs to be said,” Scootaloo interrupts you before you can make your point. She finishes her bite, sets her sandwich down, and stands up, turning to look at Applebloom. “Applebloom, we’re friends, best of friends, even,” Scootaloo begins with a smile. “We’ve both been through a lot together. School, dances, bullies… and I remember all of us sticking together throughout all of it. You, me, and Sweetie Belle.” Her smile falls to a more serious expression now, as well as her tone of voice. “I also know how you get when things never happen the way you want them to. It’s not a pretty sight, for anyone involved,” she sighs, “Especially when it comes to romantic things.” Applebloom starts to chime in, but Scootaloo continues unabated. “And despite all of that, we’ve still remained friends, but…” she looks down, before returning with renewed vigor, “But if you’re going to scream and throw a fit every time I’m seen with Anon like this, I don’t think I’ll be able to put up with it!” Applebloom’s brow furrows, and she takes a step forward. “Scootaloo, yer mah best friend too, an’ I know how YOU get when things don’t go yer way,” Applebloom mimics Scootaloo’s tone of voice. “Ah remember when YOU were at th’ graduation party, all alone sittin’ there, an’ Anon here came up t’ ya. That look in yer eye… it’s th’ same look ah have, ah know it is! Which means…” she grunts, stamping her hoof again, “That yer gonna do everythin’ in yer power t’ make sure ya get what you want!” Any semblance of calmness in the situation has gone out the window at this point. Scootaloo lunges forward at the mare, tackling and knocking her onto her back. “That’s not true, I’m not like that!” Scootaloo yelps angrily, raising a hoof up, ready to strike Applebloom. You need to intervene. NOW. “That’s enough, out of both of you!” Your tone gets their attention, and you quickly rush over to pull Scoots off of the earth pony, who gets up and stares angrily at you, small tears forming at the edges of her eyes. “If only… if only mah sis didn’t get t’ ya first, Anon! Then maybe ah would’ve had a chance!” THAT DOES IT. You set Scoots down, and look between both of them. “Is THAT what you think? Really?” “Um…well, yeah!” Applebloom replies, “That’s why she’s bein’ all mean t’ ya and stuff!” You let out an exasperated sigh, rubbing your brow. “You really are clueless, aren’t you…” You look to them again, your expression not showing any sort of concern for the situation at this point. “Do you even KNOW why she and I aren’t together right now?” “Well… no, not really…” Applebloom’s tone shrinks a bit. “Didn’t she, y’know…” Scoots chimes in, “Try t’ force herself on ya?” “In a way, yes. But that’s not the reason we split up. Do you want to know why?” They both nod their heads slowly in unison. “Then let me tell you why…” I’ve been in Equestria for most of my teenage life, so I was just then going through the changes into a man. I was a young teenager when I first met Applejack, and she really knocked me off my feet when we did. “Aah!” Applejack cries out in surprise, “What the heck are ya?!” She spins around and rears up, kicking you in the chest and sending you back quite a few feet, knocking you down onto your butt. “Ow! What was that for?!” “Oh…” she gasps out in surprise, approaching you. “Sorry ‘bout that… um… lemme make it up to ya? C’mon,” she gestures for you to follow her. “Would a nice, home-cooked meal make up for it?” “Well, I guess-” “Great! Here, ah’ll help ya,” she says, getting up right next to you. “Hop on mah back, ya prob’ly ain’t in no shape fer walkin’, huh?” You gingerly lower yourself down onto her back, before she begins a slow trot down the road to the farm in the distance. “Sorry ‘bout that. Name’s Applejack, what’s yours?” “Anon…” She chuckles. “Anon, huh? That’s a weird name…” The two of us quickly became best friends; we had so much in common back then. She loved hard work, I loved pushing my athletic limits, and, of course, both of us had our love for apples. But there was one moment, and it hadn’t become apparent to me until later, where she had revealed that she liked me more than just a friend… “Hey, Anon?” “Yeah? Sup?” “D’ya think we’ll be like this forever?” The two of you are lying out by one of the apple trees, staring up at the night sky through the branches. “What do you mean?” “Jus’ the two of us. Y’know, hangin’ out like this, night sky bright up there, not a care in the world?” You chuckle, sighing a bit, letting the cool breeze brush lightly against your face. “I dunno, AJ. We got our whole lives ahead of us, no telling what could happen.” She sighs in response back to you, before smacking the trunk of the tree, causing an apple to fall into her hoof. “Well, no matter what,” she says, taking a bite of the fruit, “Ah know we’ll always remember this.” “Yeah…” You close your eyes for a moment, breathing in deep… And then you let out the girliest yelp you can manage when an apple smacks you right in the nose. “Ouch!” Applejack lets out a loud, uncontrollable laugh, before turning to look at you. “Never change, Anon,” she says, giggling a bit before rubbing the welt lightly with her hoof. And for the longest time, we stayed like that. We were like brother and sister. It was almost impossible to see one without the other. I was… happy. I can only hope she was happy too. Given that she was the one to make the first move, I like to think she was. “Anon?” “Yeah?” “Ah…” she begins, but pauses for a moment. “You…?” “Ah… think ah like you,” she quickly spits out, before covering her mouth with her hooves. “Oh, that’s… great? I like you too.” “No, no, not like that!” she shakes her head before getting into your face. “Ah mean, ah LIKE like you. Like, more than just like…” “Wait, there’s a second like? When did this happen?” “Oh, you big idiot!” she exclaims, before pushing you down to the ground, pinning you under her. “Ah mean LOVE!” …Oh. At first it was a bit weird, being in a romantic relationship with my best friend. Though, as far as I was concerned, everything was going fairly well. She was smiling, I was smiling, and while we didn’t nearly roughhouse as much as we had when we were younger, I enjoyed spending time with her. But… the rest of her family wouldn’t be having it; something about not wanting her to “make a stupid decision and be involved with anything romantic with that alien”. I still don’t see why they were so apprehensive, but that’s… behind me, now. Applejack comes to you, wrapping her hooves around your waist and burying her face in your stomach. “It’s not fair!” she cries, and you can feel the wet tears start to sink into your shirt. “AJ? What’s wrong, what’s the matter?” “They…” she begins, wiping her eyes and looking up at you, “Mah family won’t give us their blessing on our love!” Your eyes widen. What?! Why wouldn’t they? “They… they told me t’ either break it off with ya, or… or they’d disown me!” The tears begin flowing once again. “Ah… ah dunno what t’ do, Anon…” You cradle her head against you, letting her cry all of her sorrows away, whispering softly to help calm her down. “Shhh… it’s okay, I’m here… let it all out…” “Anon, what… what’re we gonna do?” she asks, and you both sit down on the grass of the orchard. “Ah want t’ be with you, but…” You raise your hands once again to cradle her head lightly, tilting it to look into your eyes. “AJ. I love you too, more than anything in all of Equestria…” You plant a kiss on her forehead, smiling reassuringly to her. “But I know how much your life here is more important.” “B-but Anon, ah don’ wanna just break things off with ya. I love you!” You place a finger lightly to her lips, silencing her. “I know. But your family is more important to you. They need you. Certainly a lot more than you need me.” You smile, kissing her snout. “I’ve known you for too long to know that.” “But… what will you do?” she asks. “You can’t love me if I give you a reason not to.” Her eyes go wide. “Wh… wha?” “She wanted nothing to do with me after that. I was just some alien to her now, one that she believed played with her heart to further his own selfishness.” “What… happened? Between the two of you?” Scoots asks. “I had lied to her. A big one, one I had been keeping for a long time.” “What was it…?” Applebloom’s eyes were wide; what could have made her sister hate him so much after she had been in love with him? “It doesn’t matter now. It was from a long time ago.” “B-but it does!” Applebloom exclaims, pushing the issue further. “Ah gotta know! What was it that made mah sister hate you so much…?” You shake your head. “Maybe one day she’ll tell you. But for now I doubt she’d want to even make mention of it.” Walking over, you begin to pack up your things, before slinging it over your shoulder. “I had a lot of fun out here today, Scoots. Hope we can do this again sometime, before fall comes and it’s cold as the Crystal Empire.” And with that final quip, you make your way down the trail back to town. Mulling it over in your head, you sigh. “Applejack, despite what I said all those years ago, I still gotta hand it to ya.” You turn, looking at the barn up on the hill, and smile. “That was the best damn meal I’d ever tasted.” End Chapter 11 Author's Note A bit heavier this time around, but I hope it's worth it. Getting a bit more insight into Applejack and Anon's past interactions, as well as fleshing out Anon's character a bit more. He's not just your typical jock; he's a bit dense, but he can be loving and know when a situation is getting out of hand... Confrontation - Chapter 12Chapter 12 - Confrontation “You serious?” Rainbro asks, raising an eyebrow. “Did they really do that?” “Yeah.” “Well Anon,” she chuckles, relaxing back in the couch, nursing her cider once again, “Looks like you’ve got a few mares with their eyes on you.” “I know… and that’s not something I want right now.” “Hey dude, lighten up!” Rainbow nudges your shoulder. “Maybe you’ll find out it’s not as bad as you’re making it, huh?” “I don’t want to get between their friendships with each other. I think it’s best if I stay out of relationships with anyone.” Rainbow sighs, handing you the bottle. “Here. This’ll make you feel better.” Taking the bottle, you lift it to your lips and swig down nearly half of the bottle in one go, before handing it to Rainbow, who stares wide-eyed at the bottle for a few moments. “That help?” she asks, looking back at you. “Not really,” you sigh, getting up. “Hey, I’m gonna head out for a bit. I… I need some time to think this over.” “Want me to come with?” “…Do what you like.” Sighing again, you walk over to the front door, grab a light jacket, and head out into the summer night air, the smell of cut grass and flowers strong in your nose. Neither of those mares had ever acted that way towards each other, at least not in your presence. Especially not about something like that. Applebloom especially; you didn’t expect ANYTHING like that from her. How long were both of them suppressing those feelings? Sighing, you continue your walk. At this time of the year, you personally enjoyed these long walks at night, it gave you time to think to yourself. But tonight is different. Tonight you need to confront the mares on their behavior. It’s not too late at night, and you know how young mares love staying up late whenever they can doing whatever it is… well, mares do. You never really knew, nor cared to look into it. The trail slowly begins to taper off from stone, to gravel, to just a plain dirt road as you make your way up into the Apple family’s territory. The sky is clear tonight; it reminds you a lot of the illustrations in those books you had, back when you were learning how to read the fancy new way of writing these ponies had. Finally, a few steps from the door, you realize what you’re about to do. You’re stepping into the bear cage now, Anon. But it’s something that needs to be done. Hesitating for but an instant, you raise your fist to the door, and knock three times. Those few moments that pass between you knocking and the door opening are some of the most anguishing, suspenseful moments of your young life, you think to yourself. Finally, the door opens. It’s Big Macintosh. Oh sweet merciful Celestia, you’re glad it’s him. “H-Hey Big Mac,” you take a second to collect yourself before continuing, “Could I come in? There’s… something I need to talk with you and your sisters about.” He looks inside for a few seconds, and then turns to you and speaks. “It’s gettin’ late out, Anon. Y’better make it quick, don’t want ya catchin’ cold on yer way back,” he nods, his calm demeanor and deep voice soothing your nerves a bit. “Thanks. I won’t be long.” Big Mac steps back and lets you inside, where you’re greeted by the all-too-familiar living room of the Apple family. “Hey there, Applejack.” She turns to look at you, sizing you up. “Whad’ya want, Anon?” “We need to talk.” “About?” she asks, raising an eyebrow. “Ah thought ah said ya weren’t allowed in unless otherwise told, hm?” “AJ-“ ,ou stop yourself before you use that nickname, “…Applejack, it’s about your younger sister.” Her expression hardens, and she lowers her eyebrow. “What about mah sister?” You cautiously walk over to one of the chairs and sit down, making sure to keep an eye on her at all times. Big Mac has left the room at this point, so it’s just you and her. “Applejack, your sister has a crush on me.” “Ah know,” she says. “What of it?” “Not like a normal crush, Applejack. I’m talking about a CRUSH.” Her eyebrow widens again. “Ah don’t follow.” “Like… hm…” You’re really reluctant to compare the two, but… “Kind of like what you and I had going, only completely one-sided.” Her eyes widen a bit. “What happened?” Good, you’ve got her attention. Not quite broken past the hardy exterior of hatred she has for you, but at least you’ve made some progress to get her to listen. “Today, at the lake, I was hanging out with Scootaloo, eating lunch. And then I hear her come by and the two of them start bickering, until they finally came to blows.” You let out a heavy sigh. “And it was for no other reason than because I was eating lunch with her, from what I could tell. Can’t a guy have a picnic out on the lake without having to worry about mares attacking each other because of it?” Applejack seems to be getting the picture. “So you were at th’ lake, huh?” “Yeah. Why?” “Applebloom told me you an’ Scoots were out in th’ orchard ruinin’ next season’s harvest,” she says, scratching her chin with her hoof. “Naturally, ah go out to where she pointed, an’ see that a bunch o’ mah apples, not even ripe yet, had been pulled righ’ from the trees.” “What?! Who would do something like that?” “Been wonderin’ ‘bout that mahself fer a while now.” She turns her head to look up the stairs. “Applebloom!” she calls out, “Get down here!” The sound of hooves galloping along the ceiling is heard as the cherry-haired mare comes to the top of the stairs. “What d’ya want, sis?” “Did you lie t’ me ‘bout Anon and Scoots messin’ with the harvest?” Applejack gives her sister a stern look. “Anon here says he wasn’t doin’ anything o’ the sort. Now one o’ ya is lyin’ t’ me,” she says, looking back to you. “An’ ah don’t take kindly much t’ bein’ lied to…” She stands up from her seat, looking between the two of you. “Well? Who’s it gonna be?” she asks, brushing a few strands of her mane out of her face. “Which one o’ ya is lyin’ t’ me, huh?” It’s obviously Applebloom, you know that. But why is Applejack dragging this along? …Oh yeah. She hates you, and you already lied to her once before. But Applebloom doesn’t look like she’s going to crack anytime soon. Walking down the steps, she just keeps putting on that innocent look, shooting you a few faces when Applejack’s face is turned away. “Ah saw him, sis!” she exclaims, pointing a hoof accusingly at you. “He was out with Scootaloo an’ they were knockin’ off apples! Kept saying ‘This’ll show her to ruin our summer’ and things like that!” Your face is starting to get red with anger now. Blatant lying is one thing, but you never blame someone else for your troubles. Except for that one time in Trottingham. But that was totally justified, and doesn’t count. “That’s a lie, and you know it!” You’re addressing Applebloom directly now. “You and Scootaloo came to blows earlier today, Applebloom. You can’t tell me something isn’t wrong with that picture. The two of you are best friends, what would cause you two to suddenly start fighting like that?!” “Because o’ you!” she growls back, her eyes fixated on you. “Because Scoots thinks that because she's been gettin’ closer t’ ya, that she’s instantly ‘entitled’ to bein’ yer one an’ only mare.” She stamps her hoof on the ground. “Do ya have ANY idea how long ah was waitin’ fer ya?” You shake your head. “Well, let’s just say that Scoots ain’t the only one that’s had her eye on ya, Anon… mah big sis knows this too, an’ that’s…” She turns to look at Applejack, “that’s why she don’t want me t’ be near ya, ‘cause she’s scared that I’d make the same mistake that she made!” “That’s enough, Applebloom. You made yer point—” “No, sis. No, ah haven’t,” Applebloom interrupts her sister, turning to look at you again. “Anon, why can’t ya see that Scoots isn’t good for ya? That look she keeps givin’ ya… it just ain’t normal,” she says in a calmer tone. “It ain’t a good thing; I can’t put my hoof on it but it just ain’t good…” “Alright, I think I’ve heard enough.” You let out a sigh. “Applejack, your sister lied to you to try and frame me and Scootaloo for whatever reasons she had. But that’s just what it was: a lie.” Applebloom’s ears drop a bit at your tone. Applejack nods, her eyes still fierce against yours, but behind that hard exterior, you know she understands that you’re telling the truth here. Besides, you love apples. You wouldn’t dare do something like that, even if you were pissed at Applejack for whatever reason. “Applebloom, I know you have those feelings for me, I’m not stupid. I know Scootaloo does, too; she even admitted it to me the other day.” Her eyes widen in surprise. “Then why—” “Because I wanted to do my best to keep our relationship as friends, so she wouldn’t end up in the same situation Applejack and I were in back then.” Applebloom looks between the two of you. “Anon, ya never really did elaborate on that…” she sheepishly replies. “What exactly did happen between both of you?” You shake your head again. “I’m not exactly in the right position to talk about that at this time. Ask your sister if she feels comfortable about it.” Patting her head, you step around back towards the front door. Before you open it, you hear Applejack’s voice. “So yer just gonna up an’ leave like that, huh?” Your eyes widen, and you turn to look at her. She flashes you a grin. “Didn’t even say goodbye, ya jerk,” she says, waving a hoof dismissively at you. “Jus’ get outta here, Anon.” Pausing for a moment, you continue opening the door before smiling back at her. “See ya, AJ.” You see her brow twitch a bit at that, but she just scoffs this time, turning away. “You know how ah hate that nickname,” you hear her say as you leave. Walking out into the brisk night air, you breathe in through your nose, and exhale a deep sigh of relief, before continuing on your way. Tonight went a lot better than you thought it would. You’re actually managing to leave the Apple family’s home while not in a casket; and in one piece, no less. Welp, time to go talk to Scootaloo now. Ugh, you were afraid of this… Applebloom’s words didn’t fall on deaf ears. You had noticed that look she gave you as well, and it looks like you weren’t alone in your suspicions. You have to confront her on that. If you ever plan on having this friendship stay the way it is, she needs to stop seeing you as that kind of person. The trees are pretty thick in this part of the orchard, you remember. Hopefully Luna’s moon will be bright enough for you to be able to find your way around… After meandering on and off the path unknowingly for about ten minutes or so, you finally come to what you hope is the tree house that Scootaloo has made her home. At least, you hope it’s the right one. You’re not sure if there are any other tree houses in the orchard, and you wouldn’t want to come across something you didn’t want… Like that time with the hornet’s nest. But we don’t talk about that anymore, Anon. Too many bad memories. And pain. So much pain… Both mental and physical. You had to stay in the hospital for at least a week and a half after that just because of the trauma it caused to your younger self. You still have nightmares of them from time to time… No time for that, though! The last thing you want to be thinking about are hornets and their huge stingers, piercing your— You feel a shiver run up your spine. Time to stop thinking about that sort of thing. Approaching the tree house, you eye the walkway up. It’s a bit strange, but nothing you can’t manage. You take the first step and immediately a loud creaking noise is heard. It scares a few birds in the distance, even. “Hello?! Who’s out there?” you hear a female’s voice come from inside the tree house. “Scootaloo? It’s Anon; can I talk with you for a bit?” “Anon?! Wh-what are you doing here?” she stammers a bit, and you can hear her clamoring about in the tree house as you make your way up. “Listen, I know we’ve had a lot of weird stuff happen the last few days between the two of us, and I just…” Your words trail off when you see her. The moon may be obscured by the trees, but you can tell something isn’t right. Her eyes are bloodshot and her mane and fur is completely ragged; more than that, her entire body is trembling. “Oh Anon, I’m… I’m sorry you have to see me like this, I…” she turns away, “I swear this isn’t how I look normally…” Well, you can obviously see that. But there’s definitely something amiss… She has a… different look in her eyes this time around. Not one you’re familiar with. “S-so, um… what’d you want to talk about, Anon?” she asks nervously. “Well, I was wanting to talk to you about earlier today, but if this is a bad time—” “Oh, no! No, not at all!” she quickly replies, opening her door further. “Come in, please! Can I get you anything? We’ve got a few snacks lying around, I think…” she says, running back inside the tree house. “No, that’ll be fine; I’m not planning on staying for very long. Just a quick word and I’ll be going.” Going against the hunch telling you to get the ever-living fuck outta here and try another day, you opt to be the polite one and take her up on her offer. Walking inside, you immediately notice the size difference between the tree house and the Apples’ home; you can barely stand at full height in here without smacking your head against something. “So, what’d you want to talk about, Anon?” she asks, sitting down on the floor. You do the same. “I wanted to talk about what happened earlier today, at the lake.” She’s silent for a moment, before replying. “…Oh.” End Chapter 12 Author's Note Here we go! We have a few more chapters left, so hang in there a little longer! ~Wuten Escalation - Chapter 13Chapter 13 - Escalation “Well?” She seems a bit surprised by your request. “Well?” she replies back, raising an eyebrow. Why is she doing that? She knows damn well what you want to talk about. “What caused you and Applebloom to suddenly grow to be so angry at each other today?” “Um… well,” she stutters a bit, before continuing, “I don’t know myself, honestly… it just sort of happened…” “Scoots, you and I both know that’s not the case here. Something had to have been going on for a long time between the two of you for things to get like that so quickly.” She’s silent for a moment, as if considering whether or not to speak. “Well, the other day, she and I- um, I guess it was yesterday, but yeah,” she stutters, trying to put her words together. “Applebloom and I, well, we kind of had a little… fight? I guess? Yeah, I think that’s what it—” “Scoots.” She stops mid-sentence, and looks at you. “You and Applebloom had a fight yesterday? What about?” “…Well…” she pauses, turning her head to the side, and in this instant you take the chance to admire all of the Rainbow Dash posters she has around the tree house. You knew she looked up to your bro, but you never thought she’d have posters. Hell, you didn’t even know Rainbow HAD posters made of herself. That’s pretty cool; maybe she could hook you up sometime… “…And that’s really all it was, now that I think about it,” Scoots turns back up to look at you. “What do you think, Anon?” Wait… shit. You weren’t listening. Damn it, Anon, you really need to work on that… Quick! Damage control! “Uh… yeah. Now that you’re telling me, I’m sure it’s all just a minor thing.” C’mon… She raises an eyebrow, before shrugging. “I dunno what got into her, honestly. She and I have been such good friends, but…” she looks down at the floor, “She’s been acting pretty weird whenever we said your name, or mentioned you, or saw you passing by…” “Weird?” “Yeah,” Scoots nods, standing up. “It’s a bit of a long story, and well,” she stretches, letting out a long yawn, “It’s late, and the floor isn’t exactly the most comfortable place to sit for a long time.” You chuckle and nod. “Want to tell me another time?” She shakes her head. “Oh no, it’s completely fine. But… are you sure you don’t want something? I can whip us both up something pretty quick, if you like.” “No thanks, I—” Your stomach gives its own opinion before you can even finish yours. “Ah… um… If it’s not too much trouble?” Her expression quickly lights up, and she grins happily. “Sure, Anon! Here, you can sit over there while I fix up something for us,” she points at her bed. It’s small, but it looks sturdy enough to support your sitting on it, at least. “Promise you won’t try anything?” You chuckle, standing up and walking over to the bed, sitting down. She shoots you a mischievous look. “I dunno, Anon… you are pretty good looking, even by mares’ standards,” she winks, before going back to some kind of makeshift stove-like appliance. “How’d you guys get something like that up here in a tree house? Isn’t it… y’know, a fire hazard or something?” “I should ask you why you had a hamster wheel in that bedroom of yours,” Scootaloo winks. “…It’s an exercise item.” Scoots chuckles, before shaking her head. “Sweetie Belle and Applebloom helped make it a few years back, when we were just fillies. Twilight also helped once we got it built, so it runs on magic energy. See?” she presses a button, and sets a kettle on it. A dim light flickers beneath the kettle, which you can only assume is some kind of magical flame; it’s too dark to see from where you are. “Huh. So, what was this about Applebloom acting weird? Sounded like you had a story behind it?” “Yeah,” she nods. “This only happened a few years ago, too. There was a colt in our school,” she begins, placing a bag of tea leaves into the kettle. “Big guy. Really good at sports and athletics and all that stuff. Really hard worker, too, so I can see why Applebloom would have taken a liking to him back then,” she says. “Sounds like he was pretty popular, then?” “Yeah. The fillies really did like him. But it got to his head; I couldn’t stand being around him because he wouldn’t stop talking about himself…” She shakes her head. “But Applebloom kept insisting that he was the best thing that had ever happened to her. Kept saying how they were going to gallop off into the sunset, and all that stuff,” she sighs. You nod, urging her to continue. “Well, did she ever try to gain his affection?” She nods. “I can’t even count how many times she did. And it would get more complicated with each failed attempt. She actually tried to sabotage his other relationships to make herself look better in his eyes!” You raise an eyebrow. Really? Would Applebloom really do something like that? “The worst part of it was, every time he shot her down, she’d get this weird look in her eye… I can’t really explain it, but it was like she was determined to get him to love her, no matter what the cost…” She shivers a bit. “Scary, looking back on it.” “What happened to the colt?” She shakes her head. “I dunno. He just went and disappeared one day; everyone said he moved away to Manehatten or some other big city.” “…And Applebloom?” “Didn’t get over it for months,” she lets out a heavy sigh. “She had two other coltfriends after that, but neither of them worked out in the end. One dumped her for another mare, and the other was dumped by her for insulting her family’s line of work, saying he’d never be caught dead working on an apple farm…” That makes you cringe a bit; you didn’t really like the Apple sisters, but for someone to insult their way of life? That’s going a bit far. “Two weeks later he just… vanished. Not a single pony in town knows what happened,” she chuckles, as the whistle of the kettle resounds through the tree house. Taking it off the stove, she pours two glasses of tea. “Sugar?” “No thanks, I’m fine. Don’t need to be up all night.” “You sure? Don’t want you dozing off while you’re here,” she chuckles. “Plus, you’ll need energy to get back home, right?” …Hm. She makes a good point. “Alright, only a little bit, then.” She nods, rummaging around and then pulling out a small bag of white powder, pouring a small amount into each teacup. “And here you go,” she nods, picking up the cup of tea with two hooves, bringing it to you. Smiling, you take it from her and take a sip… HOT. VERY HOT. YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE DONE THAT. Setting the cup down in your lap, you do your best to not show the immense pain burning your esophagus… “Careful, Anon. You’ll want to blow it first,” she chuckles, walking back to grab her own cup. Yeah. Thanks for the early warning, Scoots. Really fuckin’ helped. “So… she feels the same way about me, then?” She nods slowly. “I think this is the worst it’s been, though, from what I remember. She’s been like this before, but she’s NEVER actually lashed out at her friends for it, even when we all shared the same feelings,” she says. “I’m honestly pretty scared right now, Anon. I’m scared that she’ll try to hurt me in some way because of her feelings for you,” she looks up, and out the window, the Apple family’s farm sitting calmly through the trees, far away from the two of you. You take a slow sip, making sure not to burn your tongue again, before responding. “Scoots.” She jumps a bit at your sudden serious change of tone, and then turns her head to you. “Yes, Anon?” “If she tries something, anything at all, to hurt you or any other friend of hers, you come find me. Got it?” Her eyes widen. “Anon…?” “I won’t stand for my friends getting hurt because she doesn’t get her way. It’s wrong, and someone who treats their friends like that isn’t a friend of mine.” She sets her cup down on the floor, before leaping to embrace you on her bed, knocking you back. “Oh, thank you, Anon! Thank you so much! I won’t ever forget this!” “GAAAAAAHHHH!!” Hot cup of tea, plus lap, equals EXCRUCIATING PAIN. SO MANY HOT NEEDLES PIERCING EVERY CELL IN YOUR GENITAL REGION IS NOT A VERY PLEASANT FEELING. And, you don’t exactly have a lot of time to react, as the recent orange ball of fur has sent you tumbling back, smacking your head against the wall. “S-SCOOTS, NOW IS NOT THE TIME! PAIN, VERY MUCH PAIN!” Scootaloo immediately shoots up into the air, blushing heavily before realizing that she just spilled hot tea all over your pants. “Oh my gosh, Anon, I’m so sorry!” she exclaims, dropping down to the floor to help you. “I just… oh, it’s all over…” she mutters. “NO TIME. TURN AROUND, DON’T LOOK.” She jumps, and turns around, shielding her eyes. In one swift motion, all that heat is gone from your crotch region… “Ahh… much better…” Whew… that was WAY too close. You could have suffered permanent damage to your little Anons… …Okay, maybe not permanent, but still. “Anon? Is it safe to look now?” Scoots asks, still facing the other way. Well shit, you’re in a bit of a predicament. On one hand, you’ve ended all conversation with Scoots, and have your wang out in the open on her bed. On the other hand, you’ve got hot tea all up in your pants, and you are NOT going to go through that again. “No.” Going with option one. She lets out a groan, slumping down to the floor while looking the other way. “Sorry about that, Anon…” she mutters. “It’s okay, Scoots. Do you have something I can wipe this off with?” She shakes her head. “Not really… ponies don’t usually wear clothes like you do, so we don’t really have things to get that stuff out…” Shit. This isn’t good. “Damn… okay.” You slip your feet through the holes of your pants and underwear, taking off your jacket. Setting them aside, you wrap your jacket around your front, covering your crotch area temporarily. “Alright, it’s safe. I’m gonna set these out to cool off and dry, alright?” She nods, turning around. She eyes the pants and underwear, and then notices your jacket. “Need me to set them on a tree branch outside? Least I can do after… well, drenching you in hot tea,” she lets out an awkward chuckle. “That’d be great, thanks.” Handing them over to her, she quickly zips outside, out of sight. Whew… that was a close call. Good thinking with the jacket, Anon. Oh… my… gosh… You’re holding Anon’s pants. And his… …No! Scootaloo, you need to control yourself! But… he’s right in there; the only thing standing between you is a thin jacket covering his…! That’s it! You won’t wait any longer! Swerving up onto the roof, you set out his pants and underwear, giving each a long sniff in the crotch before bringing a hoof down between your hind legs, brushing it lightly along your opening a few times, causing you to pant lightly in anticipation. Alright… you’re ready. You’re doing this. Floating up into the air, you breathe in deep, and sigh, calming yourself. “It’s now or never!” Flying with speed that Rainbow Dash would be proud of, you make a loop around and burst into the tree house, the sight of Anon’s finely-toned buttocks too much for you to handle. With less grace than you would prefer, you crash into Anon a second time, slamming both of you into the wall this time, with enough force to knock both of you unconscious… Well… at least you tried… Author's Note Summer was merely a setback. Next chapter is the thrilling conclusion. ~Wuten Climax - Chapter 14 (warning: non-consensual shenanigans)Chapter 14 - Climax Custom-composed music by Tyko, for atmosphere as you read this chapter... Also, a warning to those reading: non-consensual shenanigans ahead. Feel free to skip this if you don't want to stomach it. You awaken to being thrown rather forcefully down on the ground, jolting you awake. Jerking your head around, you’re still in the tree house, but— “Glad yer awake, Scootaloo,” you hear a female’s voice come from inside the tree house. Your eyes widen, and you slowly turn around to see Anon and Applebloom… on your bed. Anon is tied to the bedposts, with rope binding his mouth from speaking. And Applebloom, she’s… “I wanted ya t’ be awake t’ see that Anon loves me, an’ me only…” she growled, and it wasn’t until just now that you realized… Anon’s jacket has been strewn down to the floor like garbage, and his entire lower half is completely naked… This is your first time ever seeing Anon’s… ‘thing’, out in the open… or anyone’s ‘thing’, for that matter. He struggles against the bindings, and grunts out angrily in resistance, but you can’t understand a word he’s saying… Applebloom looks back to him. “Ah told ya, Anon… ya love me, ah know you do…” she whispers, lowering herself down against him, sliding against him. “Ya just don’t know it yet…” No, she’s… She’s going to do it…! Grunting, you try to stand on all four hooves, but it looks like you’re not all together yet… there’s nothing you can do… “Ooh, yer gettin’ bigger than ya were before?” she grins down at him, leaning her head down to his. No… she’s… You can’t even bear to look right now. Turning your head, you close your eyes tight. In the blackness, you hear Anon’s grunts of displeasure, contrasting Applebloom’s growls of pleasure at finally getting her prize after all this time… And then everything is silent. You hear a small shuffling of movement, and then Applebloom’s blissful cry of both pleasure and pain as she takes what you had been wanting all this time… All that working so hard to craft a relationship with Anon, to be ruined in this moment with Applebloom taking by force what you had wanted him to give… …No! No more! Applebloom’s gasps of bliss resonate through your head, fueling your will to make them stop… for good. Through sheer force of will, you manage to stand on all four hooves, your eyes now transfixed on the mare that had once been your best friend. “NO!” you let out your battle cry, startling Applebloom as you launch yourself at the two of them, slamming right into Applebloom’s side, causing her to topple over off the bed, the force of the blow smacking her head against the floor. There, her body twitches as unconsciousness takes her, her side visibly bruised from your charge. Landing on the bed, you take a few moments to collect yourself, slowing your breathing before letting out a heavy sigh, looking at the crumpled, unconscious mare that had been your friend all these years. Not after this stunt, though. This went way too far. With your voice quivering, your body visibly shaking, and your eyes fierce with anger, you growl out, “Consider our friendship over, Applebloom.” You huff in her general direction, before turning back to Anon, and his… …Oh wow, it DID get bigger than it was earlier… Looking up at him, you crawl up to his face, doing your best to work the rope off of his mouth. Pulling it away, he coughs off to the side, before looking up at you. “Th-thanks, Scoots…” he manages to get out, panting a bit. “I really owe you one for saving me like that…” You smile down at him, tears in your eyes before hugging his head. “No, Anon.” You lean back up, still smiling weakly down at him, before glancing briefly at Applebloom. “She was only able to get you first… because I was trying to beat her to it.” You straddle his waist with your hind legs, lowering yourself down against his shaft. You feel it twitch slightly under you, and it sends a shiver down your spine as to what you are about to do… His eyes widen when he realizes what you mean by that. “…Scoots, no. No, I don’t want this,” he begins to look around frantically. “Scoots, I know how you feel about me, but you don’t have to do this,” his voice cracks a bit. “Not you, Scoots. Please…” You shake your head, picking yourself up off of him and adjusting his shaft up against your second pair of lips. “I’m sorry, Anon. But I love you too much to hold myself back…” And with that, you drop yourself down onto his shaft, taking in every last bit of him, down to the very last inch. A shock of pain rockets through your body; he’s bigger than your body was ready to handle. Much bigger. But that always happens the first time, you remember from school. He’s unable to suppress a moan escaping his throat, and he grits his teeth as you continue to slowly gyrate yourself against him, looking down at his shaft, a few trickles of blood making their way down. You did it. You really did it… you’ve given him all of yourself, and now… “Don’t worry, Anon… I’ll make it feel good, I promise…” He turns his head to the side, his eyes clamped shut as he flings insults and curses everywhere, but you don’t care at this point. You’ve drowned out all sound from your hearing, and all that you can hear is his body speaking to yours… And his body is urging you further. The pain is starting to subside, now. With reinforced vigor, you bring yourself up to have just the tip of his length inside you, before slamming down once again, just like before. You let out a yelp of pain once again, but it’s not as bad as it was the first time. You can do this! Continuing the process, you gyrate your lower body against his, slowly dragging your way up the shaft and slamming down once again, sending shockwaves of ecstasy through you. Each time, the amount of pleasure caused by it numbs the pain more and more, until you feel something coming over you… It’s… it’s a real orgasm! Your body begins to shudder, but you’ve prepared yourself for this moment. Letting out a blissful cry, you slam yourself down to the hilt of his shaft, your insides clenching around it like a vice. You reel your body back, the feeling of a true orgasm overtaking you… Your head becomes woozy, and you collapse onto Anon’s chest, your juices coating his entire waist. “A… Anon, that was… amazing…” He doesn’t respond. You look up at him, and see he’s still looking to the side, brow furrowed, not meeting your gaze. “You still haven’t reached your limit yet, have you?” you smile, easing your body back up into the cowgirl position it was in before. “Well, don’t worry about that, Anon… Scootaloo’s gonna take good care of you.” You give him a sly wink, before beginning the thrusting once again. This time, there is no pain; your body has been able to adjust completely to his length distorting the natural shape of your inner walls, and all that remains is pure bliss with each time his shaft rockets against your cervix. “Mmmph, so good…” you let out moans of pleasure each time the feeling of fullness reaches your brain. But your cravings do not stop here… no, you want more… you need more… Leaning yourself down against Anon’s body, you begin to thrust your hips down against him, grinding for a second or two each time you slam down, making sure every last bit of him is enveloped into your warm insides. He’s stifling his moans and grunts now, you can tell from the way his throat moves and his mouth just barely breathes out air. Pressing your ear to his chest, you can hear the vibrations much more clearly. “You… like this, don’t you? It feels good?” You follow this up with a long, hard thrust down, completely enveloping him into you, and you hear it come not from his chest, but from his mouth itself. And it’s the most carnal thing your ears have ever heard. You know for a fact now that he’s enjoying it, even if he won’t admit it. With renewed vigor, you begin thrusting your hips down harder and faster onto him, leaving him no room to recover. You wanted him inside you. You got him inside you. And now you want one more thing… “Anon… I wanted to thank you, you know… for showing me kindness all those months ago…” You’re panting now, and you can tell he’s nearing his own limit as well. “Ever since then, I’ve been trying to make it up to you…” His fists are clenching against the ropes holding him, but they don’t budge. “And now, I… I think I’ve finally learned how to do it…” For the first time since the two of you started, his eyes open, and they look directly into yours. “I want to take you to the ends of Equestria, Anon… use my body to satisfy your every desire, your every craving… I will make you love me, and only me…” His eyes widen, and now that the initial tension of the beginning has passed, you hear him speak clearly to you. “Scootaloo… I will never love you.” You shake your head, thrusting even harder now. “No… you love me… I know you do…” Slamming your flank against him in one aggressive thrust, he lets out a loud grunt. “I love you, Anon…” You feel the same overwhelming feeling of pleasure begin to build up within you. “I love you…” Your body clenches tightly on Anon’s shaft; this time, he’s going to know you love him… “I love you!” You repeat that same mantra over and over, both aloud and in your head, as your second orgasm takes hold. “I LOVE YOU!” Taking in all of Anon once again, your insides clench even tighter against him than the first time. But, that’s not all that happens. Despite all his protest, all of his resistance, all of those things he was denying… Anon lets out a loud, pleasured moan, and thrusts his hips back up into you. And then you feel it. One, two three, four, five, six, seven… eight… He… he really did… Your insides are overcome with a feeling of pure warmth as you feel his juices mixing with yours, deep within your womb. Expending all of his seed inside you, Anon is panting heavily now, his body slumping back down onto the bed. “See, Anon…?” you place your front hooves on your lower belly, caressing it before him. “I feel them all inside me… it’s so warm…” He looks up at you, wide eyed, and then down at where the two of you are joined as one, before gritting his teeth and squinting his eyes closed, looking up at the ceiling. It must be a lot for him to take in. He’ll come around. Laying down on his chest, you fall asleep, his length still twitching inside your inner depths… It happened. Again. First, it was Applejack. You both tried making it work, but in the end neither of you were right for each other. Now, not only was it her sister, but her sister’s best friend— Well, former best friend, at this point, you suppose. Did you love her? Was your mind playing tricks on you all this time, and you just didn’t know? Maybe this is just how ponies show affection; not like you would know either way, you can’t remember your own childhood, wherever you came from... The whole “what happens behind closed doors” thing didn’t help either, and Cheerilee’s class on sex education, while a bit strange to be getting taught that from a friend of yours, wasn’t very specific on these sorts of things. One thing’s for sure, though; as far as you know, you didn’t want this. No matter what Scootaloo says, no matter what she believes, you didn’t want this. You don’t love her. …Right? You’re not getting out of here anytime soon, it looks like. With Scootaloo content with leaving you tied up here, and Apple Bloom knocked out, you’re stuck. What you wouldn’t give to have Rainbow Dash here. She’d know what to do… …Or anyone, for that matter. Looks like you’re on your own on this one. Exhaustion is taking you now, though… your body isn’t obeying your mind… As your eyes close, you let out a heavy sigh. “I’m so alone…” That’s all you mutter as exhaustive sleep overtakes you, the warmth of the mare’s body on your chest the only comfort you have against the cold night air. Author's Note And now, time to provide all of you with the original request's message, posted exactly one year ago today (October 30th, 2012): Link to the original post "Someone needs to do a story where Scootaloo rapes Anon. Broken and despondent, she falls madly in love with him when he is the only one who shows her kindness. Scootaloo becomes obsessed and when he begins to avoid her because of her perceived clingy attitude, her obsession and paranoia grows...fed by her developing lust and fear of abandonment. Terrified at the prospect of losing the only being to show her any kind of positive attention, Scootaloo succumbs to her paranoia and lust..." A delivery one year in the making, but a delivery nonetheless. For those who have followed this story since the beginning, I hope you've enjoyed the wild ride. Because we're not done yet... ~Wuten For those still mad, I direct you here.
Introductions - PrologueHello, everyone, and welcome to my story. Before we begin, I feel it's appropriate to let you know that this was a request sent to me by an anonymous user on 4Chan. Expect to see some mature themes in this (which should be apparent by the rating), and eventually something... unexpected. With that said, onward to the reading! ~Wuten, the King of Spaghetti Prologue Alone. You were so alone. You are Scootaloo, and you just graduated from Cherilee’s class. They’re throwing a huge party outside of the school right now, and you’re sitting outside the party, looking up at the sky. The sunset really is beautiful. Celestia and Luna really are the best of sisters. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle graduated with you too… their families were so proud of them. Not yours, though. Your family never even knew you graduated… “Hey, what’re you doing all the way over here?” you hear a male’s voice come from above you. It was HIS voice. That thing that showed up a few years ago… He called himself “Anonymous”; supposedly, he didn’t even remember anything from where he came from or who he was. He didn’t even know his real name; “Anonymous” was just a name that he came up with by himself after nearly a month of going without a name. The only thing you knew about him was he lived out on the outskirts of town. He was pretty good friends with Rainbow Dash, too, it seemed. She was your idol, yes. But she didn’t know what you went through. Most likely, the only one that could ever truly understand your pain would be… that human. “Hey, did you hear me?” That voice again. He was speaking to you. “Huh? What?” You spring back into activity, looking around before your eyes land on him. He’s a giant; nearly taller than that Minotaur that came through years ago. He wore strange clothing when he was out in public; it was… different. You didn’t quite know how to describe it, but they seemed to fit him. “Oh, sorry; must’ve started daydreaming, that’s all.” You rub the back of your head nervously with your hoof; you didn’t want him to know you were thinking about him. “Heh, that’s silly,” he says, walking up to you. Despite growing a few feet during the last few years, you still barely stood above his waist at full height. “I asked what you were doing all the way out here, that’s all,” he asks again, looking down at you. You look back up at him, and his eyes… they’re staring right into yours. It’s as if they’re piercing right through your body, yet… the expression he has is warm, welcoming… “Well, um…” You stutter a bit, transfixed by his gaze, unable to think coherently for a few moments. “M-my parents are, well…” Your bottom lip begins to quiver a bit, hesitation getting the better of you. You didn’t want to say it. It was too embarrassing for you, to say it while everyone else’s parents were here. Sure, they were most likely paying no attention to you at this point, but still, it didn’t feel right… “I understand,” he says, giving you a warm smile before placing a hand on your head. “I know that feeling, too,” he speaks once again, before sitting down next to you. You do the same, and close your eyes as you let him brush his fingers through your fur. “You… do?” “Yeah. I don’t even remember where I came from, after all,” he says, his fingers causing you to melt under them. “So I know the feeling of not having a mother and father to be there. You and I are a lot alike, in that way.” “We… are?” You open your eyes and turn to look at him, a surprised expression on your face. Nobody had ever told you that before. Sure, they tried to comfort you at times… but none of them were empathetic to your feelings. “Yeah, we are,” he says, smiling at you. “When I first came here, do you think I befriended pe-… Er, ponies, so easily?” he asks you. You shake your head; you remember watching from afar as a filly, while he would be isolated by many of the ponies for his strange appearance. Sure, eventually they warmed up to his presence to where they didn’t completely ignore him, but still you could see the hurt expressions he would have at times when they would intentionally try to isolate him from the rest. “Hey, what’s your name, kid?” he asks, and you turn to him with a warm smile, returning the one he gave you earlier. “My name’s Scootaloo. It’s really nice to meet you.” He smiles and stands up, patting your head. “I’m Anonymous, and it was nice meeting you too,” he says, before walking off into the graduation party, mingling with the other graduates. “Anonymous…” That name… it soothed your bad mood almost immediately. You stand up, stretch your wings a bit, and walk into the party behind him. You’ll have to find a way to make it up to him someday. End Prologue And with that, the story can truly begin.
Graduation - Chapter 1Chapter 1 You are Anonymous, and you are a human living in a world filled with colorful ponies. You came here a few years ago, and yet you have no memories of your former life on Earth. All you had coming here were the clothes you were wearing, and… well, your charming good looks. At least, YOU considered yourself to be rather charming. I mean, the ponies seem to like you. Sure, it took a while to warm up to you, but now you and the ponies are cool, right? Huh. This party’s cool and all, but… you kind of felt bad for that one pony earlier, the orange one that seemed all alone. What was her name again? It started with an “S”, you know that. Huh… Fuck, you’re terrible with names. The fact that these ponies had such strange names didn’t quite help the situation for you, either. At least most of them had a similar name to a trait of theirs. Rainbow Dash with her mane and her insane flying speeds, the entire Apple family… … No, best you don’t remind yourself of that. You turn to one of the graduated mares and smile, congratulating her. She has a gray mane and is wearing sleek, blue glasses. Her mane is in two braided tails, and she holds an air of superiority about herself. “Of course I graduated, who do you think I am? A ruffian like those three “Cutie Mark Crusaders”? Ridiculous!” she exclaims, huffing and walking away. …Well. That was rude. Learn to take a compliment, damn… You sigh, before looking around. Where was she… Ah, there she is! “Yo! Cheerilee!” She turns around and smiles, her face instantly lighting up at the sight of you. “Oh, Anonymous! So good to see you!” she exclaims happily, approaching you. “What brings you here?” “Saw there was a party. Figured, “Why not,” and headed over. That’s okay, right?” She lets out a giggle, and nods. “Of course, Anonymous; this is an open party for the town, after all.” “Cool. So hey, um… who is that orange one? The pegasus with the pink and purple mane?” “Oh, Scootaloo? She’s another graduated student of mine,” Cheerilee says, her smile faltering a bit. “She had difficulty when she was younger, learning to fly. She was teased by many of the other pegasi because of it…” Damn. That’s brutal, especially for a kid… “Ouch… sounds like she’s had it pretty rough. What about her parents, why aren’t they here like the other graduates?” Cheerilee shakes her head. “It’s a long story. But they’re no longer here, it seems,” she says. You don’t press the issue further; you have a fairly good idea of what could have happened to them. “It was many years ago. Poor young Scootaloo has been growing up all on her own…” Your eyes widen, and you turn to look around for a moment, before leaning in closer. “All by herself? Didn’t anyone try to help her?” “Of course we did,” Cheerilee responds, her voice softening to a low whisper. “But she wouldn’t have any of it. That mare’s stubbornness can even be compared to that of Rainbow Dash at times!” Heh. That’s saying something, definitely. Two hours have passed, and still next to nobody has come to congratulate you, save for Sweetie Belle and Applebloom. Cheerilee too, but she’s your teacher, she’s supposed to do that, or something. Then there’s… HIM… You haven’t been able to take your eyes off of him since he came to comfort you earlier. It’s like… he’s got some sort of spell over him or something. Wait. Wait, Scoots. Backup; what the hell are you thinking? You couldn’t actually… …But he was so nice to you before… Gah. You need to sleep on this, it’s happening too fast… Maybe it’d be best if you don’t stay at this party. “Hey, Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, I’m not feeling too well. I think I’m gonna go ahead and head home for the night. That alright with you two?” The two mares turn and smile at you, nodding. “Sure, Scootaloo; you go ahead and do whatever ya need t’ do ta feel better, alright?” Applebloom says, the bow in her hair still just as large as it was years ago when the three of you were just fillies. “Yeah, don’t worry, we’ll cover for you,” Sweetie Belle replies, placing a hoof on your back. The two of them… they were true friends. Applebloom could probably relate to you not having parents anymore, but then again she has her older sister and Big Mac to look after her… Sweetie Belle has her entire family, as well. Even though they couldn’t truly empathize with your situation, you knew that they were the closest things to family that you had. You’d do anything for them. “Thanks you two, I owe you big for this.” You nod at them, before outstretching your wings and turning around, when you’re suddenly stopped by two ponies in your way. “Where do you think you’re going, blank-flank?” one giggles, a grin across her face. Her mane is a light violet, with a large, white streak down the middle. On her flank, was an intricate design of a tiara. Diamond Tiara. And the other one with glasses… Silver Spoon. “What do you two want?” Applebloom turns to face them, your two friends stepping in front of you. “I don’t think we were talking to you, were we?” Silver Spoon scowls angrily at Applebloom. Sweetie Belle turns to look at you, and nods. “We’ll handle things here. You get your rest, Scootaloo.” …They were going to defend you against these two ponies? It almost brought tears to your eyes. Seriously, you owe them big time now. “Thanks, both of you…” You push off with your hooves, flapping your wings a few times before hovering away from the party. However, this isn’t before a certain bipedal creature takes notice of your absence… You take landing after about seven minutes or so of flying, landing up against a nearby tree along the road. Pressing your back against it, you sit and catch your breath for a moment before you prepare to take off again. For some strange reason, you always had difficulty flying. You never were able to figure out why, but usually after ten minutes of consistent flying, hovering, anything exerting your wings, you ended up plummeting to the ground, unable to continue. Sure, you tried to work up stamina to this; after all, what kind of pegasus can’t fly, huh? Nonetheless, it’s better than what you were able to pull off as a filly. Ten minutes, as opposed to hardly even a minute at all, is definitely something to be proud of… “Hey, what’re you doing all the way out here?” … Is it…?! You turn your head to face the voice, and sure enough, there he is. He must have seen you leaving the party… “What? Oh, um… I got sick, that’s all.” You need to get out of here, quickly. You can’t let him see you fly to where you li- “Oh? Would you like me to help you get home?” …Damn. “N-no, that’s alright, I can fly on my own…” He eyes you for a moment. “You sure?” You nod back at him, getting to your hooves. “Yeah… Don’t worry, I’ll be just fine.” He hesitates for a moment, before nodding. “Well, alright. Hope you get home safely. Get some rest, okay? That’s the best thing for when you’re sick.” You smile at him, outstretching your wings. “Will do, don’t worry.” He smiles, before turning and raising a hand. “See ya later,” he says as he walks away from you. You wave back with a hoof, before taking flight. “Bye!” You hover in the air for a few moments, watching him walk away before flying off. Whew… that was a close one. You didn’t want him to see where you lived, that’s for sure… It only takes a few minutes after that, but soon you arrive at your home, a smile on your face. You land, and walk up the wooden steps into the house, before opening the door and stepping inside. It hadn’t changed much in the last few years, but you didn’t care; it was home, after all. This was where your true family lived, even though the two of them didn’t know it… The Cutie Mark Crusaders. The two fillies that, years ago, took you into the group the three of you created. It was more than just a group to you, though; it was a family. A TRUE family, not one of blood, but of bonds created through friendship. Over the years, this friendship blossomed further, and now you couldn’t see yourself without them standing by you every step of the way. Sure, you idolized Rainbow Dash for her speed and her awesomeness, but she wasn’t quite as “family” to you as the Crusaders were. If something bad happened to Rainbow Dash, you’d be sad, yes… But if anything were to befall the other Crusaders… you don’t want to think of what would happen. Speaking of which… you hope the two of them are doing alright. Hopefully they didn’t get into any trouble when confronting those other two mares… You breathe out a heavy sigh, before closing the door. As you do, however, a large crack opens from the sky, and a thundering roar can be heard from above you, causing you to jump in surprise. Then… the rhythmic pitter-patter of rain begins to hit the roof of the tree house. Great… this area’s needed rain for some time now. It’s been at least a week or two since the last rainfall. You look around, and turn on a small light. Immediately, your… “personal” furnishings of the clubhouse are illuminated by the dim light. Wonderbolts and homemade Rainbow Dash posters… toy figures, and even a rainbow wig that you used to wear when you were a filly. You smile, and walk over to your makeshift bed in the side of the clubhouse, slipping under the covers and poking your head out the top. Giving your Rainbow Dash poster on the ceiling one final look, you close your eyes with a smile and begin your dreams about flying high, soaring across the clouds… And standing on the green, lush grass below you… a tiny figure watches your ever-graceful gliding with a smile on his face… End Chapter 1
Races, Mares and Crashes - Chapter 2Chapter 2 A few days have passed since the graduation party now. The best part about graduating? You have time off from school for a few months before you go up to Cloudsdale to work with the other pegasi in the weather factory! You’re going to put those months to good use, though; first things first, you need to find Applebloom and Sweetie Belle. They’ll probably have an awesome idea for what you guys can do! You open your eyes and lift yourself up out of bed, outstretching your wings a bit and shaking your head quickly. “It’s time to go!” You flip the covers up and hop down to the floor, when you suddenly slip and fall, smacking your head on the hard, wooden surface. “Ow…” Mental note for later; be more careful when getting out of bed… You push yourself up off of the floor, and that’s when you notice something… different. Your wings, are they more… powerful? You’re not flexing them for show, no, but they feel like… well, you could fly for a lot longer than usual… Maybe… You rush outside and take flight, noticing just how easier it is for you to fly this morning. What could be the reason for it? You decide not to question something good, and instead choose to put it to good use. Time to find the other Crusaders! Sweat beads along your bare-naked chest and forehead, your breathing staggered as the two of you continue on. “C’mon, is that all you’ve got, Anon? Faster!” Rainbow Dash calls out to you, urging you to keep going. Keep going… Almost there… Woo! You finally made it! You pump a fist to the air as the two of you reach your predetermined checkpoint, just outside Ponyville, and you collapse to the ground. “Hah, awesome job Anon, I think we beat a record that time!” she laughs, and you turn to look at her, an exhausted grin on your face, as the two of you bump fist to hoof. She looks around, then up to that huge city in the clouds, and then turns to you. “Hey, so you’re just gonna rest here?” You nod, your fist falling to the ground as you breathe in and out heavily, your heart rate slowly returning to normal. “Yeah. I’m gonna go ahead and do some stretching, then head on into town. Might grab a bite to eat from Applejack’s stall or something, too.” “Alright, so I’ll see ya later then, alright Anon?” You smile and nod, stretching your arms before walking off. Rainbro was such an awesome pony to hang out with. The two of you had just finished your morning run; she would fly alongside you, while you would do your best to keep up with her. She was quite obviously faster than you, but kept her pace with you to help keep you company while you ran. Besides, having wings and racing against someone whose running isn’t exactly fair, right? Rainbro waves at you with one hoof, before flying off towards Cloudsdale to begin her daily routine of controlling the weather. …Though, you both knew that usually consisted of 95% sleeping on clouds, and 5% actual effort on her part. Still, she always did what she was assigned to do that day quicker than any other pegasus you had seen in the few years you’ve been here; that, in and of itself, should be more than enough to justify her actions in your eyes. You chuckle lightly, before beginning your stretches; flexibility is key for keeping yourself fit, after all… Is that… Anonymous? What’s he doing? “Oh! Hey Scootaloo!” he calls out to you, waving with his open hand while he leans his entire upper body to one side, reaching for something on his foot… “Hey Anonymous, what’re ya doin’?” You swerve around and land, flexing your wings a bit before retracting them. He stands upright again, walking over to you. “Eh, stretching after my morning run. You?” You turn your head a bit to the side, averting his gaze slightly. “Just flyin’ around. Was going to find Applebloom and Sweetie Belle to go do something today.” “Oh? Sounds like you’ve got a fun day planned ahead,” he says, chuckling a bit. “You feel better from last night, then? I was worried after the storm began that you might not have gotten home before it hit.” Your eyes widen and you look at him in surprise. He… he was worried? For you? But he hardly even knew you! “Uh, I ah… Yeah, I got home in time. Not like a storm would have stopped me, though!” You stutter at first, but then return with a confident tone and grin on your face as you stare up at him. Into… his eyes… What is up with him and his eyes? They’re… they’re like pools of water that you can peer into and see into an infinite calmness… You don’t even pay attention to what color they are; they’re just… beautiful. Fitting of him… ...Wait, he said something! And you weren’t paying attention, you idiot! “Um… sure.” “Great!” he exclaims, pumping a fist into the air. “Let’s go, c’mon, I bet I can beat you there!” he says, sprinting off down the road towards Ponyville. …Ugh, what have you gotten yourself into this time, Scootaloo? Run, run, run! You laugh as the orange pegasus follows close behind, your voice booming through the streets of Ponyville as the two of you make your speedy way through town. “Wait up!” you hear her call out to you. She’s definitely straining to keep up now. “Sorry, no can do! It’s a race, after all!” She lets out a groan, but you return it with a laugh, even turning around to run backwards. “C’mon, is that the best you’ve got?” Her eyes widen when she turns back to look at you. “Wah! Anon, watch o-” …Too late. You go tumbling over a food stall, and land flat on your back, the stall toppling over with you. “Anon, what’re ya doin’ runnin’ inta my stall for?” you hear from a certain mare’s agitated voice. …Oh no. Applejack. You could handle it when she was in a good mood. Bad mood, though… watch out. “Uhm… I, uh…” You stumble over your words (kind of like how you did that stall, heh), trying to figure out the right combination to go with that won’t end up sending you to the hospital. Applejack had always… tolerated you. Not to the point that the two of you were friends, it was more of “You-get-your-shit-done-and-get-out-of-my-face” kind of deal. Not that any of that mattered anymore; you knew just as well as she did that you did that out of your own stupidity. “I… sorry…” “Hu-what, sugarcube? Din’ quite catch that. Might want to SPEAK up a bit?” she asks, putting a hoof to her ear, never taking her olive green eyes off you. Shit. You really blew it this time, Anon. You can feel the malice practically SEETHING through her teeth. “…Sorry for crashing your stall, Applejack. Didn’t mean to, I swear!” “Didn’t mean to? You just destroyed two weeks worth of apple buckin’! You best have some way t’ pay for it, or ah’m gonna have ya work on the farm until your legs are jelly!” Oh fuck, not that. ANYTHING but that. You remember last time she had you working on the farm. You couldn’t walk straight for nearly a month. You also had blisters on your feet because she made you do it barefoot. You’ve gotten used to assuming this little extra bit was just out of spite. “Listen, AJ, I really am-” “What the HAY did you jus’ call me?!” Shit. You’re breaking every fucking rule you’ve figured out during your time here, Anon! Rule #1: “AJ” is reserved for her close friends only. You are not a close friend. Avoid using that name at all costs. Rule #2: Apples are like family to her. Breaking stalls, stepping on, tossing out half-eaten, it doesn’t matter to her. If you disrespect apples in some way, you incur the wrath of that mare. Rule #3: Apple-bucking hurts like a motherfucker. Always wear shoes. ALWAYS. Wow, Applejack’s really grilling him hard… Maybe you should say something on his behalf, maybe take some of the blame off of him? Wait, why would you do that? He was the one who ran into the stall, not you! It was his own fault, not yours. And yet… You feel as though you should step in for him. Maybe… “Um, miss Applejack?” She stops for a moment and looks up at you. “What d’ya need, sugarcube? Ah’m a bit busy at th’ moment.” “I know, it’s just… It wasn’t entirely Anon’s fault. See, we sort of agreed to a race, and when I couldn’t keep up, he turned around and started running backwards to try and get me to speed up, and… well…” “And so he ran into mah stall?” she asks, shooting him a quick glare, before returning to you. “S’that what yer sayin’?” “…Yeah… pretty much…” She lets out a heavy sigh, before turning to him. “Anon, yer not gettin’ out o’ this one that easily. Show up at th’ farm at sunrise, ah’m puttin’ ya t’ work.” You can see his eyes shrink to the size of pinpricks in fear, and the occasional stuttering as he tries to reason with the mare. But it’s no use; everyone knows that Applejack’s as stubborn as ever when it comes to decisions. “An’ don’t you think yer gettin’ any special treatment either, young lady. Yer showin’ up for apple buckin’ too; maybe you can show Anon a thing or two ‘bout buckin’ that he hadn’t seen yet,” she says with a grin. Great. There goes your first week of summer break. You let out an audible groan, and Applejack shoots you a look. “Now don’t you start complainin’; accordin’ to ya, yer just as responsible fer mah stall bein’ totaled as he is for doin’ the totalin’,” she turns to Anon, who has since gotten to his feet. “Show up at sunrise, th’ both of ya. Ah’ll have Big Mac show y’all which orchards need buckin’ when ya get there.” Ouch. Well, could be worse. At least you’re doing it with Anon. End Chapter 2 And there's chapter 2. Hope you all are enjoying this story so far, I feel like this could very well be my best work, depending on how I play things out... ~Wuten, the King of Spaghetti
Pastries and Pranks - Chapter 3Chapter 3 “Well, damn.” Anon grunts, placing his hands on his hips as he walks alongside you. That… could have gone better, definitely. Now you’re stuck doing hard labor for the next few days on the Apple farm. Could be worse, though; at least you and Anon will be doing it together. “Sorry…” Your ears droop down in shame and you look at the ground as the two of you walk. He sighs, and places a hand on your head, scraggling your mane a bit. “No worries, it’s just a few days hard work, right?” he smiles at you. “I’m sure we can do it.” Your eyes widen and you look up at him in surprise. Not five minutes ago he was on the ground getting the grilling of a lifetime from Applejack, but here he is now, cheery as ever. “Yeah…” You kind of feel bad… if it hadn’t been for you not keeping up with him, he probably wouldn’t have ended up running into the stall in the first place… “Hey, you hungry at all? We still haven’t finished our race to Sugarcube Corner yet,” he says, rolling his shoulders. Oh. It’s on now. “Now you’re talking.” You grin and shoot off past him, that few-second head start giving you the boost you need to stay ahead of him. Now that you actually KNOW where you’re racing to, you’re going to smoke hi- He just took off past you. …Whoa, he’s fast… REALLY fast… By the time the two of you reach the entrance of Sugarcube Corner, he’s easily an entire five or six feet ahead of you, maybe even more than that. “C’mon, Scoots, you gotta do better than that!” he laughs, readying his shoulder for impact. Wait, is he…! You hear a loud *THUD* as Anon slams himself up against the door of the bakery. Yep… he did. Failed to pull it off, but still did. You slowly land on your hooves, flapping your wings a few times before retracting them back at your sides. You look at him with a smarmy grin. “That’s two things you nearly broke today, Anon; careful Pinkie doesn’t end up making you bake for her for the next few days too!” He laughs at this, and scraggles your mane once again. “Don’t you worry about me, Pinkie and I are good friends,” he says, as he opens the door to the bakery… There’s flour everywhere. So much, oh man… Did the twins get into the kitchen again? They always seem to make a mess… “Oh! Hey Anon!” Pinkie’s voice can be heard from the other room, “Sorry about the mess, the twins got into the flour and decided they were going to play…” Called it. “It’s alright Pinkie, I’m just coming in here with Scootaloo to get a quick snack, that’s all,” he says, looking to you before cautiously stepping inside. And that’s when he gets hit. An entire bag of flour, dumped right on top of him. You quickly duck out of the way of the impending powdery doom, landing in a small bit on the floor, but that pales in comparison to what Anon went through… He coughs, tossing up a cloud of white smoke, before looking down at himself. “Aw, man! Really?” he glares up at the door. Turns out the twins had set up a kind of bucket-of-water prank, but with an open bag of flour instead. Anon, in this case, just happened to be the unsuspecting victim in a series of childish pranks… And there they are now. They’re small, but you can see their little heads as the filly and colt both rush around the second floor, giggling to themselves at Anon’s expense. Even you can’t help but stifle a giggle at the sight. Anon just looks ridiculous! “Guh, now I’m gonna have to get this stuff washed out of my clothes, and that’s gonna be such a pain…” he groans, trying to brush the flour off his clothes but to no avail. He sighs, giving up the futile attempt at cleaning himself off. “Hey, Scoots?” Your ears perk up a bit; did he just call you by that nickname? “Could you give me a hand? I need to get this stuff off of me, and it’s just…” he tenses up a bit, “Everywhere…” he shudders. You nod; as hilarious as it is, it must feel pretty uncomfortable. And to have to wash that stuff off… Ouch. “Sure, Anon, I’ll help ya out.” He nods and gives you his thanks as you help pull off his shirt, his arms and face still pale white from the flour, whereas his chest is- …This is the first time you’ve seen it up this close. He really does have quite a toned chest… No! Stop those thoughts! Bad Scootaloo! “Ugh… I liked this shirt, too…” he sighs, before shrugging. “Ah well. Pinkie!” “Yeah, Anon?” the pink pony asks, her head stretching into the doorframe, a smile on her face. “Is it alright if I use your bathroom to try and get this stuff out? In the meantime, Scootaloo can chill out here. That okay?” “Okie dokie!” Pinkie grins, before retracting her head out of sight. He smiles and turns to look at you. “You’re alright with that, right? I won’t be too long.” You nod. Might as well. “Sure, go on ahead. Need any help?” He chuckles and shakes his head. “Nah, I can take it from here,” he says, taking a few steps inside, a few white imprints on the floor from his shoes trailing behind him. “I’ll be right back.” And with that, he disappears behind the wall, leaving you alone in that room. You sigh, walking over to a nearby table and sit down. You are not alone in this room, however… The soft pitter-patter of hooves returns… They’re coming from both sides! “Miss Scootaloo, are you friends with Mister Anon?” you hear a childish female’s voice come from the darkness before both the filly and colt appear, leaping and grabbing your forehooves, dangling on them. “Huh? I guess I am…” “Oh yeah? What’s his favorite color?” the colt asks, grinning proudly up at you. “Well, um… is it blue?” “Heehee! Nope!” Pumpkin Cake exclaims, the two of them letting your hooves go, before sitting at the table with you. “His favorite color is orange!” she giggles. Your eyes widen a bit. Really? “Oh? How do you know that?” She grins, seeing as she has your attention now. “He told me! He LOVES orange! This much!” She stretches her hooves out as far as she can to her sides. “Yeah! And he’s got a-” Pound Cake begins, but is interrupted by a loud, annoyed groan from the other room. “…You think we used too much flour?” Pumpkin Cake turns to her twin brother. He thinks for a few moments, and then they both grin at each other. “Nah,” they both say simultaneously, before giggling and scurrying off. Huh. So his favorite color is orange… “Gah, this is annoying! It’s turning into dough before I can get it out!” you hear him yell out angrily. …You should probably go and help him. Today is not your day, Anonymous. Your favorite shirt. Ruined. Turned into a common pastry dish… And tomorrow you have back-breaking hard labor for Applejack… things just aren’t going your way today. You let out a heavy sigh, holding up your now-doughy shirt. A manly tear trails down your cheek. This shirt had been with you since day one… “Hey Anonymous?” you hear a voice behind you. Your tender moment with your former shirt is quickly interrupted, your tear ducts suck up that manly tear, and you turn to look at the pegasus behind you. “Oh, hey… what’s up?” you ask, hiding the fact that you had shed any sort of fluids out of your eyes. “You need any help? I heard you yelling from down the hall,” Scootaloo says, smiling up at you. You sigh, dropping the shirt in the water again, before slumping into a nearby chair. “There’s no saving it, Scoots. It was my favorite shirt, too…” She groans at your melodramatic display, before walking over to the soaking shirt. “You put it in water with all that flour on it? Why didn’t you just beat it out and use a wet cloth first, Anonymous?” she asks, turning to look at you. …Wait. Why hadn’t you thought of that? Damn, this mare seems to know her stuff. “So, you mean… it can be saved?” “It’ll take some work, but yeah, nothing major. Gotta get the dough off of the shirt first, though,” she grunts, picking the shirt up out of the water. “Just get a rag or something and scrub it off; that should do the trick as far as the dough is concerned…” She tosses the dough-covered shirt over to you, and you catch it. “After that, you’ll just have to get the rest of it out through some other means… Water isn’t gonna do you much good here.” “Wow… thanks Scoots, didn’t think you’d be the one telling me about this kind of stuff.” She grins at you. “Just because I’m younger than you, doesn’t mean I’m stupid when it comes to this,” she says. “Now let’s get this taken care of.” The two of you spend the next hour or so violently scrubbing the dough out of both your shirt and pants. It took a while, but you finally managed to get all of the dough out of your shirt, and managed to save your pants without making the same mistake twice. They lived to be worn another day. You couldn’t be happier. Later on, the two of you are walking out of Sugarcube Corner, each of you with cupcake in hand and hoof, heading back to your house. “Thanks again for helping me back there, Scoots. I owe ya one.” She grins back at you. “Heh, no prob, Anon,” she says, taking a bite out of her cupcake. A comfortable silence, save for the sound of chewing, is shared between the two of you as you enjoy your cupcakes, before Scootaloo finally ends it. “Is your favorite color orange, Anon?” she asks, turning to look at you as the two of you walk. “Yeah, it is. How’d you figure it out?” She’s silent for a moment. “Wild guess, maybe. I dunno.” “Well, for a wild guess, you were pretty spot-on.” You laugh before taking another bite of your cupcake, looking up at the evening sky, the sun just barely peaking over the treetops. “Guess so,” she giggles, taking another bite herself. “So, you like running?” she asks. “Yeah... I guess back on Earth I was really athletic, or something. I’ve always loved the feeling of the wind rushing across my body while running. It’s almost unreal.” She nods, looking back down to the ground. “Yeah… it’s awesome.” “Must be pretty amazing, having a pair of wings and all. Being able to do all of that stuff… I can’t even begin to imagine it…” She suddenly becomes silent as the two of you walk, before finally reaching your house. “Hey, listen Scoots. Really, thanks so much for helping me out today. I seriously owe you one.” You kneel down and hold up a fist to her. “You really are a lifesaver.” She hesitates for a moment, before lightly bumping your fist with her hoof. “Anon, I…” she mutters. “Yeah?” She stops herself visibly for a split second, before shaking her head. “Nevermind,” she exclaims before turning around and running off, before taking off into the sky. …What was that all about? Not that you can focus on that right now. Rainbow Dash should be getting off weather duty soon, which means more bro stuff with her, before… apple-bucking on Applejack’s farm… You shudder at the mere thought of what may happen to you. Stupid stupid stupid! How could he be so insensitive?! You grit your teeth in anger before shooting over the treetops towards the CMC clubhouse. Seriously, he KNOWS that you can’t fly well! Why would he say something like that?! Except… you can’t be completely mad at him, for SOME strange reason… He says something like that, you should feel angry at him, but you can’t feel angry enough as you feel like you should be at him, and now you’re starting to be angry at yourself for not being able to feel an appropriate amount of anger for him… WHY IS THIS SO DIFFICULT?! You groan, before landing softly at the entrance of the CMC clubhouse. Opening the door, you trot inside and close it behind you, locking it. The three of you established a few years back that if the door was locked, that meant that one of you wanted to be left alone, and this would be an easy indication of it. It usually happened with Applebloom after Hearts and Hooves Day; she’d lock herself in for a few days, and just sit there, sulking… not a lot of stallions liked her accent very much… You sigh, turning on a light and walking over to your bed, leaping up onto it and burying your face into the pillow. Stallions didn’t even notice you, for that matter… They all had their eyes on much prettier mares than you… Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, and even Sweetie Belle at times had more luck with getting stallions to like them than you did. But that didn’t matter to you, you didn’t care what they thought about you. To Tartarus with getting stallions to like you! Just because you’re a bit more tomboyish than other mares, that doesn’t mean they can treat you like that! You roll over onto your back and stare up at your ceiling, at a huge poster of Rainbow Dash flying. …Wonder what she and Anon are doing… Must be fun… You sigh, closing your eyes. You need your rest. Tomorrow, you’re helping Anon with apple-bucking. That’ll be… fun… End Chapter 3
Apple-Bucking Season - Chapter 4Chapter 4 The next day, you wake up to the sound of a knocking on the door. “Scootaloo? You in there?” you hear the voice of Applebloom from the other side. Oh… darn! You forgot to unlock the door this morning! What time is it? “Wha-! What time is it, Applebloom?!” You quickly rush over to the door, slamming it open, your disheveled mane and fur taking Applebloom by surprise. “Erm… sun came up about an hour ago, came out here t’ grab a few things,” she says, raising an eyebrow at you. “Y’all alright?” You shake your head quickly, realizing it’s your friend. “Uh… yeah. Yeah, I’m alright!” You say, chuckling to yourself. “Never better!” She shrugs it off, and smiles at you. “So, ya ready t’ help out in the orchard today?” she asks, walking inside and opening a few windows. “Applejack’s really needed some help lately, ever since we got some new land on the south orchard a few years back. Remember?” Oh yeah, you remember! Applebloom wouldn’t stop talking about it for weeks; she definitely seemed excited for her sister. “Is… is Anonymous out there already?” “Yup!” she exclaims, smiling at you. “Ah’m sure he’s waitin’ on ya t’ help out with it,” she says, grabbing a few books. “Ah’ll be comin’ out t’ help ya also, but I got a few things t’ take care of in the house first.” You nod, quickly going over to fix up your disheveled mane. “So where are they now?” You turn to your friend, who’s placing the books into her pack. “They’re out by the farm last I checked,” she says, going to the door. “Takin’ a break, but you know my sister…” She sighs, walking down the steps. “She prob’ly already has him out workin’ again…” You quickly speed out behind her, walking alongside Applebloom on her way up to the farm. “So what’s that book you got there, anyway?” “Nothin’ big, jus’ somethin’ that Granny Smith wanted me t’ get,” she says, grinning happily. “Granny and I are gonna be workin’ on somethin’ good fer dinner tonight, so we gotta make sure we finish up fast!” She turns to you. “Maybe ya might like t’ come on over for dinner tonight? Maybe bring Anonymous too, if mah big sis will let ‘em,” she says, her face beaming. Dinner? With Anonymous? It’s more likely than you might think! You grin back at Applebloom. “Sure! Just make sure you can keep up with us… wouldn’t want you to get tired from all those apple trees you gotta buck.” She takes this as an implied challenge and grins back at you. “Yer on! Ah’ll meet ya at the orchard!” she exclaims, before speeding off towards the farm. “Meet with mah big sis before ya start! She’ll tell ya where to go!” She calls back at you before disappearing over the hill. You nod, beating your wings a few times before lifting up off of the ground, floating into the air. There! Leaning against the barn wall in the shade; you’d recognize that hat anywhere. You quickly speed down to the barn, landing softly on the grass below. “Well, hey there Scoots,” you hear that familiar mature Southern accent, and see the orange mare eyeing you, chewing on a grass stem. “Hope y’all are ready for a hard day’s work,” she says. “Ready as I’ll ever be!” You grin, extending your wings in an intimidating stance. She lets out a chuckle, before spitting out the grass she was chewing on and giving you a grin. “Good ta hear.” She points out to the south, and you see a small movement coming from a tree in the distance. “That’s where Anonymous is working,” she says. “His legs are strong, but he ain’t strong enough ta work effectively without help. That’s where you come in,” she says. “Help him buck the trees and collect the apples. Do yer best ta finish as much as ya can.” “Aye aye!” You hold your hoof up in a mock salute, before speeding off towards Anonymous. Finally, the two of you will get to hang out on your own! Maybe you’ll finally get some insight on why Applejack doesn’t like him, too… Your legs are screaming at you. Then again, you shouldn’t be surprised; after kicking roughly fifty trees as hard as you can, of course your legs are going to be tired. Good thing it’s just the beginning of summer, though; it’s not gotten NEARLY as hot as it could be right now. You knock the last apple from the tree that you can see, before wiping your forehead and moving to stick them into the basket. “Anon! Wait!” you hear an all-too-familiar voice call from the distance. You turn and see Scootaloo, barreling towards you through the air. She has a grin on her face rivaling that of Rainbow’s whenever the two of you are racing, and probably- SMACK! While you were deep in thought, she was trying to stop herself from crashing into you. Being the ignorant one you are, however, you didn’t notice her not being able to pull it off, and ended up getting slammed in the torso, sending both of you falling to the ground. You slam your back hard into the ground, letting out a pained grunt. “Whoa, kid! Watch where you’re flying next time…” You cough, catching your breath after you got the wind knocked out of you from this pegasus. “Oh gosh, I’m so sorry!” she exclaims, trying to help you back onto your feet. “I was trying to get here as quickly as possible, but when I arrived I wasn’t able to slow myself down…” she mutters, her ears drooping a bit in sadness. You sigh, patting her on the head. “It’s alright, Scoots. Just be careful next time, alright? We’ve got a lot of trees to go through, after all; I’m gonna need all the strength I can get.” She smiles up at you and nods, before lifting up into the air. “I’ll get the ones that are higher up in the trees that don’t get shaken off by your kicks, alright?” You chuckle; it seemed a bit unfair, but hey, at least she’ll be helping you get it done. Three kicks per tree should do the trick if she’s telling the truth. “Alright, sounds like a plan.” “Woohoo!” she exclaims, flying up into the air and beginning to go over the last few trees in the area you’ve kicked already, snagging the last remaining good apples from the tops of the trees. A few hours pass before anything of note is spoken between the two of you. “Hey, Anon?” she looks down at you, dropping an apple into the nearby basket. “Yeah Scoots?” “I was just wondering; why does Applejack treat you like she did back in the market? She doesn’t seem to treat any other pony like that…” You sigh; she’s bound to figure it out eventually. “Well, it’s a long story, Scoots… you might want to land for this. I think we both need a rest before finishing up the orchard here.” Both of you take shelter under the shade of a nearby large apple tree, both of you taking one apple each out of the basket; it’s just two apples, after all. What’s it gonna hurt? “It all started two years ago…” End of Chapter 4 Author's Note Hope you all enjoyed! This is the first time I'm posting a story in FIMFiction's new layout, so let's see how this formats... ~Wuten, King of Spaghetti
Trees, Apples and Awkward Dinners - Chapter 5Chapter 5 “Look, Scoots. Before I tell you, you need to know something,” he says, looking down at you with a serious tone in his voice. “Sure… what is it?” “I… well, Applejack and I… we had a bit of a relationship. Nothing too serious, but it’s important to the story,” he says, looking to the apple in his hand. “You… and Applejack?” “Heh, hard to believe, isn’t it?” he chuckles, wiping his forehead. “What can I say; I’m a sucker for Southern charms… Anyways,” he says, taking a bite from it. “The two of us were going steady for… I want to say somewhere around six months. Looking back, I’m surprised it even lasted THAT long,” he sighs. “Why? What happened?” “Guess you can say I love Southern charms, but there’s a limit to that affection,” he says, taking another bite. “Applejack wanted to take our relationship further than I was ready for. I refused, and she, well…” he swallows the bite, “She hates me for it.” You scratch your head in confusion. Why would Applejack hate him for that? Sure, if he stopped being her special somepony, she’d be mad, but you never thought it’d be like this… “Why does she hate you for it, though? It’s been a long time since then, hasn’t it?” “I’m not entirely sure myself, Scoots. All I know is—” he begins, but he’s interrupted by the sound of another mare coming out to the two of you. “Scootaloo! Anon!” Applebloom called out from the hill as she galloped down, finally reaching the two of you. “What’re y’all doin’? We gotta get this buckin’ done, an’ quick!” she exclaims, looking around. “Relax Applebloom, we were just taking a little break is all. We’ve been at this nonstop, after all,” Anon smiles down at her. “You’re here to help us, I assume?” “Eeyup! Mah big sis’ wanted y’all t’ do it on yer own, but ah couldn’t jus’ leave y’all out here alone without any help!” Applebloom exclaims, smiling back at him. “Well then, let’s hurry and get this done; the faster we do, the more time we’ll get to rest,” Anon grins, cracking his knuckles, his eyes fierce with determination. You smile and hold out a hoof to them. “All for one, one for all!” Applebloom nods and smiles, pounding her hoof against yours. Anon does the same, clenching his hand into a fist and pounding as well, completing the triangle. “Let’s go!” he yells, and immediately the three of you begin spreading out, collecting as many apples as your hooves (or in his case, hands) can get a hold of. During this time, you slow your pace every so often to look back at Applebloom. Every single time you do, you catch her stealing looks at Anonymous while she bucks at the trees… …Could she…? No, she couldn’t be; her sister would be completely opposed to— … THAT’S WHY APPLEJACK HATES HIM SO MUCH! You are screaming to yourself on the inside; no wonder she holds a grudge! Her sister has a crush on Anon! It’s the only explanation you can come up with, it must be! But… she’s your friend. You won’t ask her about that now, with him within earshot. You’ll wait until tonight, pull her aside and ask her then. This may very well be the reason behind Applejack’s hate for Anon; if it is, you could mend the relationship between everyone! And Anon, he’ll… he’ll thank you for doing it, you know he will! It’s settled, then! Tonight, you finally get this all straightened out. “And a-one, and a-two, and a-three…” You really do love having hands. It makes for so much more convenient apple-picking, in your case. Kicking trees is effective at times, but you figure you managed to collect enough apples to warrant your legs a good rest. You look up at the tree; looks like there’s two apples left on this one, but they’re especially high up… Nothing you can’t handle! You squat down and leap high into the air, snagging both apples at the same time, before crashing down to the ground, apples in hand, mission accomplished. “Nice one, Anon!” you hear Applebloom call from across the orchard. You turn and wave at her, tossing the apples into the basket. Looks like there’s not too many trees left… You look around for a clear path to one, and see a perfect spot. Time to get a running start. You sprint at the tree, making sure to get as much speed as possible… Go! You bring your leg up against the tree, and use the momentum to shoot upwards, grasping for a branch to support you. Bingo! Got one. You climb into the tree, shaking all of the branches, sending apples toppling down and landing softly on the grass. Yeah… this is a much easier way to get apples than kicking the tree… That is, until you hear a cracking noise under your feet. …Looks like you’ll have to get better at choosing branches to support your weight. The branch gives way, and you fall rather clumsily to the ground, right into the branch. A few cuts and bruises, but other than that you feel just fine. The tree on the other hand… You look to the branch you broke off, and to the tree… Yeah, that was a good third of the tree you just broke off. Way to go, smartass. You should probably stick to the ground from here on out… It’s been about an hour since the three of you split up, and since then you’ve cleared what was left of the orchard. All of you meet up at the end, and kick the last tree in unison, causing all of the apples to fall at once. “That was awesome!” Anon shouts, pumping his fist into the air. “And just in time too!” Applebloom smiles, looking at the sunset. “Looks like it’s almost nighttime now. Let’s all head inside, Applejack said you both can stay for dinner!” she exclaims, running off toward the barn, leaving just you and Anon behind. You wipe your head with a hoof. Wow, that was a workout… “Hey, Scoots?” You look up at Anon; a smile is on his face. “Thanks for the help today, you’re a pretty awesome mare, y’know that?” he says, holding a fist down to you. His eyes… they’re that same calming abyss of color that you remember from the other day. Your eyes widen, and a light blush hits your cheeks. You turn your head away and smile, bumping his fist with your hoof. “You’re pretty cool too, Anon…” “C’mon; let’s go get some food. I’m starving!” he laughs, running off behind Applebloom. … He thinks you’re awesome? Heh… get ahold of yourself, Scoots! You’ve gotta keep your head on straight! You speed off behind the two of them, to what you hope to be a good, apple-related dinner with your best friend, her family, and… …him. You could cut the tension in the room with a butter knife, and even THAT wouldn’t be enough to cut through it. You casually reach over for a slice of apple pie, everyone sans Big Macintosh eyeing you as you cut a slice and put it onto your plate. …Damn, this is awkward. Like, even more than that one time in Manehatten… and THAT was awkward… “So, um… Anon, what’s it like bein’ so tall?” Applebloom asks, chuckling a bit awkwardly as she tries making smalltalk at the table. You smile and take a bite of the pie, swallowing it and sighing happily before answering. “It’s not as interesting as you might think, really. All that’s different is you can see above everyone’s heads, that’s all.” “But yer able t’ pick apples right out of the tree like it’s nothing!” she exclaims. “Don’ tell me that ain’t interestin’ t’ ya!” You chuckle. Even after all these years, she’s still got that younger sister aura about her. Applejack decides to cut in. “Yeah, Anon; apples ain’t interestin’ enough for ya?” she asks, her words icy cold and her green eyes like daggers in your skin. You go back to eating without another word. You prefer keeping your bones intact where they are, thank you very much. “So, um… Anon,” Scoots mutters from across the table, “That was so cool how you were able to leap up and pick those apples from the top of the tree!” she exclaims, chuckling a bit nervously. “It was… awesome to see…” “You saw that?” “Well, yeah,” she scratches the back of her head with her hoof. “I may have heard you running and turned my head to look, and then I saw…” Oh shit. She’d better not blow your cover; you managed to hide that branch back in the tree as best you could. “What’s she goin’ on about, Anon?” Applejack asks, once again her eyes piercing through you. Even Granny Smith has her eye on you now, and it’s not something you particularly enjoy when your elders have that kind of expression on their faces. “Well, I… ran up to the tree…” “Yeeeah?” “Kicked up into the air from the trunk…” “Mmmhmm?” “And grabbed the apples from the top, before leaping back to the ground.” “Mmmhmm,” Applejack rubs her chin with her hoof. “Now, tell me this; how’d ya do it without gettin’ all cut up from th’ branches?” she asks, looking at your arms. “Y’all can’t expect me t’ believe those little things are from a stunt like that.” …Well, shit. “It’s true, they are!” Scootaloo chimes in, “I saw him do it myself, he was really careful, that’s all!” Applejack’s gaze leaves you for a moment, allowing you reprieve, as they turn towards Scootaloo. “An’ what’s stoppin’ ya from lyin’ t’ me?” Scootaloo sinks back in her chair. “Well, um…” “Sis, it’s true!” Applebloom responds now. “We all saw him!” Please work please work please work please work please work…! “…Well, alright,” Applejack sighs. “Just this once.” Oh sweet merciful CELESTIA thank you… You breathe a sigh of relief, taking another bite of your pie. You have to admit, despite the fact that she completely hates you with the burning passion of a thousand fiery suns, Applejack and her family can make some damn good apple pie. The rest of the dinner goes off more or less without any more hiccups, smalltalk between Applebloom and Scootaloo as to what they were planning on doing this summer, among other things. At last you stand up from your dinner, picking up your plate. “I’ll be happy to help clean the dishes if you like—” “Jus’ get outta here, Anon,” Applejack looks upon you with scorn. “Y’all did yer job, don’t do anymore than yer asked t’ do,” she says, her eyes never leaving you. You slowly set the plate back down, the light clinking of the silverware resonating through the room as you look around. “Um… alright, so I’ll just…” You begin your slow retreat to the door. “…be going, then?” Opening the door, you take one last look at the group before smiling nervously. “Thanks for the dinner. It was great. Really, it was.” That’s the last you say before walking out of there, hands in your pockets, breathing a heavy sigh of relief that you managed to get through that without any major injuries… You look down at your arm. …Maybe a few bandages are in order. Don’t want these to get infected with something. “Sis, why d’ya gotta treat him like that?” Applebloom looked up to her sister. “He’s just tryin’ t’ help, an’ ya just throw him out like trash!” “That man is no good,” Applejack replies, taking another bite of her apples and apple accessories-filled dinner. “Ah don’ want ya goin’ after him like ah did, it’ll jus’ end in heartbreak for ya.” “Yeah, maybe!” Applebloom stands up from the table. “But that doesn’t mean ya gotta treat him like trash just ‘cause he didn’t buck ya like ya wanted!” Applejack’s eyes widen and her pupils shrink a bit, before they glance at Applebloom. “Go t’ yer room, Applebloom. Y’all get no dessert t’night.” “Ah am a grown mare, Applejack, an’ that means ya don’t have any say in mah choices!” Applebloom cries out, before running out the door in hysterics. “Applebloom, y’all better get back here, or I’ll—” Applejack begins, standing up from her seat as well, but is cut off by Big Mac placing his hoof on her shoulder. “That’s enough, Applejack,” Big Mac states flatly, in his deep, calming voice. “Give ‘er time, she needs t’ be alone fer a while.” Applejack sighs, sitting down and looking up at her brother. “Alright, ah’ll trust ya on this one…” Both you and Granny Smith simply sit there, continuing to eat your dinner in silence. End Chapter 5 Author's Note Wow! Things really are beginning to heat up now... And we finally have some background as to why Applejack treats Anon the way she does. Now... where did sweet little Applebloom run off to? ~Wuten, the King of Spaghetti
The Calm After the Storm... - Chapter 6Chapter 6 Dinner was… awkward. You finished your food, thanked them for feeding you, and promptly got out of there before any more chaos could unfold. As you exit, however, tons of things are running through your head… So you were right after all… Applebloom DOES like Anon… …Wait, why are you concerned about this? It’s not like you like him, or anything… But he’s still pretty awesome… Dang it, Scoots, this isn’t the time to be thinking about that kind of stuff! You need to get back home… To the treehouse… You unfold your wings, leaping up into the air and hovering, albeit slowly, towards the treehouse as your mind swam through all sorts of different things… Where did Applebloom go when she left? You hope she doesn’t get into too much trouble… As you approach the treehouse, you can hear sobbing coming from nearby. You turn your head towards the sound, and that’s when you see her… Applebloom’s a complete emotional wreck. Tears streaming down her face, she’s taken to curling up against a tree to bury her face in her hooves. In the moonlight, you can make out deep, ingrained hoof imprints in the bark. As your eyes wander lower on the tree, you see they become gradually less forceful and a lot more moistened. You silently land and walk over to her; she hears your hoof-falls along the grass, and she turns to look at you, pain and anguish evident in her eyes. Her voice is a bit quivered, but you can still hear her fiery spirit in it. “Wh… what d’ya want, Scootaloo? Ah’m not in th’ best mood t’ be doin’ anythin’ right ‘bout now…” she chokes out, hiccupping a bit as she collects herself. “Applebloom…” You hate seeing your friend like this. Applebloom’s always been the strong, sturdy one, always having a shoulder for you to rest on. But now… now she doesn’t look like she can even support herself at this point… “C’mon Applebloom, pull yourself together…” You try to act tough at this point, trying to put a smile on her face, but it doesn’t seem to be working too well… “Look, Applebloom… why are ya acting like this? You never get so worked up like this from what I remember…” “Yeah, well…” she glares up at you, “Maybe it’s hard work bein’ so supportive o’ ponies all the time! Havin’ t’ worry ‘bout their problems, an’ then when ah got some troubles m’self, nopony’s gonna be there fer me…” she goes back to sobbing, “Ah love ‘im, Scootaloo… what’s wrong with me?” You bite your lip and hesitate a bit before responding. No, you don’t want to admit it to her, not here, not now… “There’s nothing wrong with ya, Applebloom…” You sit down next to her, placing a hoof lightly on her back. “There’s a lotta stuff I don’t know, especially when it comes to your big sister and Anon butting heads at every turn, but… there’s gotta be some good reason for it beyond just not wanting to do… well, you know.” Applebloom sniffles a bit, before rubbing her eyes with her hooves and sitting up. “There… there is,” she says, looking at the ground. “Anon and sis, they…” she pauses briefly, before continuing. “Th… they din’t exactly break up on the nicest o’ terms…” Her voice is still quivering a bit, but you can tell it’s getting better. You keep your hoof on her shoulder all the same through this. “He… he an’ mah sis were like two seeds in an apple, but…” She shifts a bit, “Then he started hangin’ out with Rainbow Dash a lot…” You don’t really understand the apple simile, but you can assume from what she was saying what happened… “So she got jealous of Anon hanging around Rainbow all the time…?” Applebloom nods, sniffling a bit. “It was real bad, Scoots… She confronted ‘im on it, and…” she pauses, “There was a lot of yelling, ah don’ think ah ever heard Big Mac’s voice ever be that loud…” That sent a literal shiver up your spine. “So what… happened…?” Applebloom shakes her head. “Ah… ah don’t wanna talk ‘bout it anymore, Scoots,” she says, turning to look at you. “Thanks fer bein’ there fer me, though. Yer a real friend, y’know?” she smiles weakly at you, the wet streaks on her cheeks still visible in the moonlight. “Y-yeah, no problem.” “…Hey, Scoots?” “Yeah?” “D’ya mind if ah come in an’ sleep in th’ treehouse tonight? Ah dunno if ah feel very comfortable sleepin’ in mah room tonight.” You smile at her. “Sure. C’mon, it’s starting to get late.” You and Applebloom quickly make your way inside the treehouse, turning the light on so you’re not in complete darkness. That light doesn’t last long, however; the two of you eventually find that you’ve exerted yourselves a lot more than you had realized. A hard day’s work, a hearty meal, some heavy emotional stuff going down afterwards, and the two of you decide to just go ahead and call it a day. “Ya don’t mind if we share th’ same bed, right Scoots…?” Applebloom looks to you, smiling nervously. “There’s not really anywhere else t’ sleep an’ the floor ain’t exactly what most would call ‘comfortable’…” You shake your head. “Of course not, Applebloom! C’mon, we’re both friends, after all!” She smiles back at you, nodding before hopping up onto the bed. “Thanks Scoots, ah owe ya one,” she says, laying down on it, making sure that you have enough room to sleep as well. You flip off the light, slipping under the covers. “G’night, Scoots,” she mumbles out, and that’s the last you hear from her before she drifts off to sleep. But that’s not when you fall asleep, though. Oh no, there’s just too much running through your head all at once to warrant a peaceful night’s sleep. So it looks like there was more to that then you knew… First Applejack and Anon were together, and then they got broken up from his hanging out with Rainbow Dash, now Applebloom has a crush on him, and that’s creating a lot of tension between her and her sister, and all of this just because he wouldn’t go further with her sister… …Gah! This is too much for you to handle… At least for tonight… Maybe things will get better with time… probably best to just stay out of it for now… Yeah… maybe… Three months have passed since that night. Summer is nearing its end, and soon you’ll be starting work in Ponyville… But... who do you work for? More importantly, how will you be able to balance hanging out with your friends, and work at the same time? Something to consider when looking… End Chapter 6 Author's Note Sorry this is much shorter than previous chapters, but I at least wanted to get through the night and to the time skip, and this seemed like the most appropriate point at which to end this chapter. Give you a taste, but not the main course, if you will. Stay tuned. After all, a lot can happen in three months' time... ~Wuten, the King of Spaghetti
The Party - Chapter 7Chapter 7 - The Party You are Scootaloo. And you hate your job… Sure, you had your doubts coming into it, but this… this was just ridiculous. One: the outfits they make you wear. Definitely not your thing… Two: the customers. Sure, most of them are nice, but then there are just those few that make you want to wring their necks in pure irritation… Three: You hardly get ANY free time at all! You wake up early in the morning, put on your work outfit, fly there, work, and work, and work… The only break you get is a ten-minute lunch break, if even that! And then it’s back to work… You’ve been at this for just a little over a week or two now, but you can already tell you’re going to hate it. Such is the life of a café waitress. “Hey Scoots, how’s it going?” But there is a little relief. “Going pretty well, what’ll ya have?” “Nothing too big. Can I get a muffin and some coffee?” He stops in here every morning to say hi to you and get some breakfast before heading out for the day. “Coming right up!” He pumps his fist into the air as you turn away, and you can see the smile on his face. You always make sure to pick out the muffin with the most blueberries just for him. It’s nothing really special, but it makes you feel a bit better knowing you did something nice for him each morning. You bring his breakfast to the table, and he smiles. “Thanks a lot!” he happily says, before taking a bite. You can see the look of pure joy on his face as you turn back around to serve the next customer. “Hey, Scoots,” you hear him call from behind you. “You wanna come and hang out this afternoon once you get off? Rainbow and I are gonna just chill out at my house, was wondering if you wanted to come over too?” Did… did he just invite you over? With RAINBOW DASH?! Oh my gosh… calm down, Scoots, gotta answer him with a cool response… “S-s-sure!” Oh yeah. Real smooth… You turn around and face him with a huge smile. “I get off at five, will that work?” “Sure! Just come right on over when you want to,” he says, drinking a bit of coffee before quickly setting it down, sticking his tongue out and blowing air on it, waving his hand towards it to cool it off. Heh, guess it was a bit hot… Sweet! You’re looking forward to this, definitely! Maybe this time… “Oh, by the way?” he grins at you. “I don’t think I’ve said it enough now, but you really do look good in that outfit.” You blush and your eyes widen, before turning away from him. “I-it’s not like I WANT to wear it or anything, I just have to for work!” He laughs. “I know, I know, but really? In all honesty I’m a bit surprised that they have the mares that work here wear maid outfits as part of their uniform, y’know?” Your blush does not go down. And neither do your wings. You’ve noticed that for a while now… he’s made that comment more than once before, but no matter how many times he does you always react like that… “I’m just poking a little fun, don’t worry,” he says, patting your head. “Now you should-” “Scoots!” you hear a voice call from the back. “We’ve got more customers than just Anon, y’know. Finish up what you’re doing and take a few other orders!” Your boss… He’s a nice guy at times, but you really don’t like how he gets nitpicky at each little thing, especially in the morning like this. Like, really? Outside of Anon, there’s only like two other tables! Surely the other waitresses could take their orders instead? Anon chuckles and smiles at you. “Hey, you hurry on along, I’ll see ya tonight, you hear?” You nod quickly, turning around. “Yeah, sounds good Anon!” Tonight is going to be awesome! But you know what that means… …Work’s gonna take even longer than usual now because you’re looking forward to something afterwards… You walk outside from the café, crack your knuckles and neck, and look around. The whole day off… what to do, what to do… The coffee Scoots gave you could fuel your body for DAYS if it weren’t for the fact you weren’t a night person. “Hm...” You rub your finger against your chin, pondering what could be done today… …Oh! That’s right, you almost forgot! Rarity said she wanted you to come by today for something. Probably to model for some new design. You grin, stretching your legs for a moment before taking off in a sprint; this time, you take great care to make sure you don’t run into any nearby ponies, or apple stalls for that matter… Things between you and Applejack still hadn’t really cleared up since then. Not that you expected it to, she’s hated you like that for a while now… You sigh, slowing to a brisk jog as you cross the bridge, Rarity’s boutique in the distance. No sense in getting all sweaty before you head over. After all, this is your favorite shirt you’re wearing. You travel at a slower pace than usual to the boutique, taking in all the sights and sounds of the transition from late summer to early fall. You always did love the colors of the leaves during autumn… You walk up to the boutique, knocking on the door. A few moments pass, and it’s opened by not Rarity, but her younger sister, Sweetie Belle. “Anon!” she exclaims in happiness, rearing up onto her hind legs to hug you. You laugh, squatting down a bit to help the height difference between the two of you. “It’s good to see ya, Sweetie Belle. How’re you doing?” She lets you go and lands back onto her hooves. “Great! Rarity’s upstairs, want me to go get her?” You smile and nod. “Thanks; she told me she needed me for something today.” The young mare giggles before trotting back inside. “RARITY! ANON’S HERE TO SEE YOU!” she belts out, shaking the nearby furniture with the sheer loudness of her call as she leaves to the upstairs. Damn, that mare’s got some lungs… You rub your ears briefly, before you hear the sound of a second set of hooves making their way down. “Anon! So good to see you, dear,” you hear Rarity’s voice come from the stairs as she trots down. “You’re probably wondering why I asked you to come over today, am I right?” “Yeah; what’cha need?” “Oh, it’s nothing too major,” she says, finally reaching the floor. You notice that she’s wearing a pair of ruby glasses and her mane has a bit of a wave in its curl. Actually, it looks pretty good on her. She makes her way over to the other side of the boutique, her horn glowing a light blue as she pulls out a rack of clothing… And keeps pulling… And pulling… Until finally it nearly spans the entire width of the room. “I’ve been hard at work these past few weeks. You should just SEE some of these designs, dear!” she exclaims proudly, levitating one over to you. It’s a gray suit with black pants and a white button-up shirt… A bit formal for your tastes, personally… “You… are free, right?” she asks cautiously, returning the outfit to the rack. “Y-yeah! Yeah, I’m free for a few hours, at least. I guess trying on a few wouldn’t hurt…” And those were your final words on the subject. Ohgodthatwasterriblewhythehelldidyoudothat? You stumble out of the boutique after what you believe was something around thirty different outfits. Rarity walks out with you, giggling at your groans of agony. “Come now, it couldn’t have been THAT bad, Anon. It’s clothing, after all,” she says, smiling. “How was that so physically taxing on one such as yourself? Besides, you just look wonderful now!” You look down at yourself; a draping white suit jacket with a few jewels tucked into the cuffs, a sleek black bowtie and long, black slacks with a pair of black loafers. These pants rode too far up your ass and you didn’t want to adjust yourself in front of Rarity, because that would be awkward. “You have no idea how much I hate when you do that…” You smirk down at her, and she smiles up at you and winks. “Anon, if you’re going to be living in this world, you can at least learn to enjoy the finer things in life. Why don’t you come with me to Canterlot sometime? You and I could have the most wonderful time there,” she says, as both of you stop. “Sorry, but it’s just not my thing. I like the simpler things in life, that’s all.” Her face scrunches up and you let out a hearty laugh. You enjoyed pushing her buttons every once in a while, even if she knew it was all in good fun. That was the best part. “Well, you run along now then, Anon, and be sure to tell Rainbow I said hello!” Rarity waves her hoof at you as you sprint off to your house, despite the awkward feeling of your pants riding up your ass. Shit’s uncomfortable, yo. Ugh, FINALLY you’re done! You walk out of the café, stretching out your wings and rolling your neck a few times. You couldn’t wait to get out of that stupid uniform. You hated the feeling of wearing clothes, personally; they looked nice, but they were way too uncomfortable for your tastes. You take a look at the sunset, before grinning and taking flight. Celestia really knows how to make the sunset look beautiful… You’ve gotten slightly better at flying in the past few months; now you can keep going for at least twelve minutes before feeling tired. No time to think about that now, though! Right now it’s time to party with Anon and Rainbow Dash! You shoot off into the distance, racing as fast as you can to Anon’s house. Hopefully they haven’t started without you… Beads of sweat are making their way to your forehead. You aren’t going to last too much longer… “C’mon Anon! Gimme all you got!” Rainbow growls tauntingly at you, urging you to keep going. She has no idea what you have in store for her. You give a few quick breaths, before you clench your teeth and push her further than you have all day. As soon as you got home, you got out of the suit that Rarity gave you. It was just too formal for what you had planned for today… “Hah! That your best? Please,” Rainbow grins, pushing back against you. This isn’t good, you’re not going to last too much longer… A knock at your door distracts her for a split second, and you take this opportunity to claim your prize. You push the last distance, slamming her hoof to the table, achieving victory over the pegasus. “Hah! I win again!” She grunts, and gives you a pouting look. “No fair, I got distracted!” “Rules are rules, Rainbow.” “Yeah…” she groans, standing up and trotting into the kitchen. Heh. Silly ponies. None can beat you when it comes to arm-wrestling. The knock comes again. Oh yeah, that’s right! Scootaloo’s coming over, that must be her. You stand up from the table and walk over to the door, opening it to see a young orange pegasus smiling up at you. “Ready for a night of parties, Anon?” “Heh, you bet I am. C’mon in.” You let her in and lead her into the main living room, complete with sofa, couch, and the table you and Rainbow had your bout with. “Wow, I’ve never been in your house before, Anon… It’s big…” “Heh. Want the grand tour?” “Really?!” “Sure! C’mon, I’ll show ya.” She leaps up in the air happily, before hovering behind you, the sound of beating wings droning out the sound of dishes clanking in the kitchen. Doing your dishes might make Rainbow think twice before challenging the Arm-Wrestling Champion of Ponyville. Hell yeah. Whoa… Anon’s house is huge… You’ve seen pretty big houses in Ponyville, but it’s like it grew twice the size on the inside than it is on the outside, this is awesome! He’s got a living room, a bedroom, a kitchen, a bathroom… what else could he possibly want out of a house? “Well, I could use some hot water in my shower during the mornings, but other than that I like it here,” he turns and grins down at you. Oh man, did you say that out loud?! He laughs at your expression and continues the tour. “And here is my personal favorite room. I’ve set it aside for guests, but it doubles as a workout room for when I don’t have anyone staying the night, which isn’t very often,” he says as the two of you enter another room. In every corner of the room you saw different kinds of what looked to be homemade workout equipment… weights, and even a huge wooden wheel on one side of the room… “Yeah, I had to improvise a bit on some things, but I think it’s kept me in shape, right?” he asks, grinning as he flexes his arm at you. Wow… he must be strong… You float over to the wheel, looking at it. “What’s this for?” “Running.” “Why do you need it when you can just run outside?” “Because I can stop whenever I want when I run outside. With this, though, I actually have to keep pace with it otherwise it’ll go out under my feet.” “But isn’t that dangerous?” “I laugh in the face of danger, don’t you know?” he grins and walks up onto it. “Just watch. You might want to step back a bit, though,” he says, and you do so. He starts out a bit slow, but ever so gradually he starts going faster and faster until… “Alright! Step back further, I’m hopping off!” You leap backwards and float in the air as he jumps off the wheel, landing on one foot before using both hands for support. “Hah… Whew… You see? It’s much more of a workout than I get from just running normally.” So that’s how he was able to run so fast… “Y’know, I’m surprised that it hasn’t fallen off of its hinges yet,” he says. “Attach some spikes to the outside of that thing, and you’ve got a recipe for disaster.” You can feel a shiver run up your spine at the thought. “Scary.” “Yeah.” “Hey Anon! I’m done with your freaking dishes,” you hear Rainbow call out from the other room. You turn to Anon with a raised eyebrow, and he grins down at you. “Lost a bet.” “Oh.” “Alright, be right there bro! Just giving Scoots here a tour of the house!” he calls out to her. “You show her your wheel?” “Yeah he did! It’s pretty cool!” He smiles down at you. “C’mon, let’s head into the living room. I’ve got some fun stuff planned for today.” “Okay!” You follow him out, taking one last look at the wheel before landing ant trotting behind him. What did he have planned for the three of you…? “You got the stuff?” “Buck yeah I did, what do you think I am, lazy?” Rainbow grins at you as you and Scoots walk in. “Obviously.” She puffs her cheeks out at you. You love pushing her buttons; it’s hilarious seeing her reactions to it. “Says the one that still can’t beat me in a race!” Oh boy, you were ready for this one. “I’ve got no wings. If it were a fair race without your wings, I would smoke you in a race before you even got halfway.” “That a challenge?!” she grins at you, leaping into the air with her hooves in a semi-challenging manner. “Nope. I’ve had enough exercise for one day, remember?” “Oh yeah,” she giggles, landing again. “Hard to believe you went through that many of Rarity’s outfits, huh?” “Yep. Now, you got the stuff, right?” You take three large steps across the room before leaping onto your couch, causing it to make a squishing noise and scoot across the floor a good half-foot or so. “Already told ya, I did,” she says, floating over to grab her saddlebag and floats back, dropping it on your gut. “Oof!” You grunt in surprise; you were about to stretch when she did that… But you look in the bag, and it looks like Rainbow delivered after all. You grin, and pull out two full bottles of the Apple family’s finest brew: Applejack Daniels. A bit haughty of Applejack to use her name on a drink, but you won’t argue because it’s the greatest thing that has ever graced your lips. You set them on the nearby table in the room, admiring the look of the bottles they came in. Nothing too fancy, but it just seemed… fitting. “Hey Rainbow, what’s the age required to drink this stuff?” She thinks for a moment. “Hm… she’s graduated class, right?” “Yeah?” “Yup, she’s old enough.” “Awesome. Scoots, you want some?” She looks at you with big eyes. “M-me?!” “Yeah you. C’mon, we have enough to go around.” “A-are you sure? I mean, I only graduated a few months ago…” “Of course I’m sure! Now c’mon over here.” You sit up and Rainbow plops down onto the sofa next to you. Scoots does the same, but a bit more hesitantly. Rainbow’s the first to go; she just takes one of the bottles and downs a good amount of it before stopping, letting out a deep sigh. “Thaaaaaaaaat’s the stuff…” she shivers. You’re next; you open the bottle and waterfall some of it, taking in the taste first before swallowing. The tartness of cider mixed with the sweet apples from the orchard makes for a taste better than anything you could have asked for. “Alright Scoots, your turn. You and I can share.” She gets look on her face, like she’s scared of getting germs or something. “What?!” “Yeah. Rainbow drinks more of this stuff than I do, so you and I can share. Here, start out with just a little.” You hand her the bottle, and she holds it awkwardly in her hooves, just looking at the label. She hesitates for a moment, but then quickly lifts the bottle to her lips, waterfalling a small taste before reeling her head back a bit, surprised by the taste. “Bleh! How do you two drink this stuff?” “Acquired taste, I guess. Rainbow’s been drinking this stuff a lot longer than I have though.” You grin at Rainbow, and she nods at you before taking another huge gulp. “Here, try it a bit slower this time, Scoots.” “…Okay,” she says, before lifting it to her lips once again, this time pouring much slower. It seems to do the trick, so you smile at her. “Well?” “It’s got a weird taste at first, but then it tastes both sweet and… tart?” she raises an eyebrow at you. “Yep, that’s the beauty of it all.” And so the three of you continue your enjoyment of the drink for a good hour or two. By the end of it, you have sunk deep into the cushions of the middle seat on your couch, and from the look of things, both Scoots and Rainbow have done the same. “Anon… my face feels funny…” Scoots mumbles, looking at the bottle before giggling. “Is this supposed to happen?” “Yup.” “Huh…” she smiles before cuddling up against the cushion, “I like it…” she giggles again, rubbing her cheeks against it. “Hey Scoots,” Rainbow turns to the orange pegasus, “How come I see you hanging around Anon all the time, huh? You tryin’ to take him away from me?” A what? Scoots immediately jumps to attention, and looks at Rainbow. “W-what?!” Rainbow laughs in her seat, her hooves wiggling in the air. “I’m kidding! Oh man, you should’ve seen your face there!” Scoots puffs out her cheeks angrily at Rainbow, before reclining back into her cushion. “Hey, I’m gonna head into the kitchen to get a bite to eat. You two want anything?” “Nah, I’m good,” Rainbow shakes her head. “What about you?” You turn to look at Scoots, and she shakes her head too, still enraptured by the comfort that is your couch It’s a fucking comfy couch, man. Standing up, you take a moment to balance yourself before walking to the kitchen. You haven’t eaten anything since you got home… “So.” “Huh?” “What’s up with you getting wingboners all the time around Anon, huh?” Rainbow’s looking at you, her eyes lowered a bit as if she’s peering at you for an answer. Your cheeks flush red, and your stupid self can’t keep it hidden… “Well, I… uh…” You fidget a bit in your seat. “Um, well… he’s pretty cool and all…” Rainbow grins at you. “You know what happened between him and Applejack, right?” You hesitate for a moment, and then nod, looking down. “So you know the kind of thing you would be getting into, huh?” You stop yourself for a moment, look up at Rainbow, and as if something clicked in your brain, nod. “Yeah, I know what I’d be getting into…” She smiles and holds up a hoof. “Well kid, just as long as you don’t take my bro from me, you’ve got my support,” she says. …Wait. What?! “What?!” “You heard me. I’ll help ya. But you’ll owe me big for it,” she grins. “Deal?” “D-deal! Thanks Rainbow Dash!” …You can’t believe it… you might actually have a shot at him! You bump against Rainbow’s hoof before Anon comes back in. “Hey, it looks like it’s getting pretty late out; want me to walk ya home, Scoots?” he asks, looking at you. “You seem pretty badly hammered, the way you’re swaying around like that…” Rainbow chuckles a bit and looks at Anon. “You should probably take her home, dude,” she says. “Wouldn’t want her to run into any trouble because you got her drunk off her flank, after all.” He smirks at her and walks over to you, ruffling her mane in the process before setting his arms under your shoulders, hefting you onto his back. “C’mon Scoots, let’s get you home.” “A-alright…” Your head is swimming at this point, you can’t even believe it… Anon’s taking you home? “I’ll need ya to point me in the right direction though,” he says as he opens the door. “Rainbow, I’ll be back in just a little while. Don’t empty my food while I’m gone like you did the other day.” “No promises!” she calls back to him. “Heh. Anyway, where to, Scootaloo?” he grins back at you, shutting the door behind him with his foot. “Um… y’know where the schoolhouse is?” “Yeah?” “Yeah… just on the other side of the big hill, inside all the trees, you can’t miss it…” “But that’s… Isn’t that part of Sweet Apple Acres?” “…” You’re silent for a moment or two, before responding. “…Yeah…” He stops for a moment, looking towards the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. …It’s nearly a mile from his house… You see a grin flash across his face. “Hey. Scoots.” “Yeah?” “Hang on tight.” He repositions you on his back and sets his arms under your hind legs, your front legs wrapped around his neck. “We’re gonna go fast.” That’s the only warning you get before he breaks into a full-speed sprint, your mane and tail whipping behind the two of you as he runs even faster than he did that day all those months ago when the two of you had your race… The speed, the adrenaline, the look of pure excitement on his face… it’s almost too much for you to take. You grin happily and shout “Woo hoo!” as the two of you speed through the center of town, heading right for the schoolhouse. With speed you think you’ve only seen from Rainbow Dash and maybe the Wonderbolts the few times you’ve seen them in Ponyville, Anon leaps into the air, jumping over the low fence of the playground, never breaking stride as the two of you make your way to the edge of Sweet Apple Acres… As you reach the trees, however, he begins to slow down. “Alright, now let’s see here…” he mutters when the two of you finally reach a walking pace. “Where is it?” “Um…” Ugh, it’s too dark to see anything… He walks into the trees, and the two of you wander for a good fifteen minutes or so before he finally spots something. “Is that it?” he asks, pointing forward. “Looks like it…” “Cool. C’mon,” he says, carrying you over to the treehouse. “Hey… thanks…” He sets you down gently, making sure you can stand properly. “No prob. We’re friends after all, right?” “Yeah…” He smiles at you. “Hey Scoots,” he begins, “You come on over any time you want, okay? My house is your house.” Your eyes widen and you look up at him, shocked. “R-really?” “Yeah. Just don’t empty my food and we’ll be cool,” he says, holding up a fist at you. But you don’t want that. Instead, you rear up on your hind legs and you wrap your arms around his waist, pulling him into a hug. “Thank you thank you thank you thank yo-” “Haha, alright Scoots, I get it, you’re grateful!” he laughs, hugging you back. “Now c’mon, I gotta head back to my house to keep Rainbow from eating all my food.” You let him go and give him the biggest smile you can muster at this point; you’re practically tearing up. No one’s ever done this since Applebloom said you could live in the treehouse all those years ago… “Alright, I’ll see ya around then Scoots,” he says, stretching a bit before walking away, back towards town. “Okay! See you later!” You wave a hoof back at him before turning back to the treehouse… You trot up to the door and open it, closing and locking it before floating over to your bed, plopping down flat on it. Your head is spinning… you’re not sure why, but everything seems… warmer… “Anon…” Almost by instinct, you close your eyes and let your hooves wander, as if they were his strong, dexterous hands across your chest… His form standing over you, his breath against your neck as he massaged every inch of your body… As you continue, your hooves trail lower, to the biggest source of heat coming from you… End Chapter 7 Author's Note "Hey Anon, can I try your wheel?" "Sure Scoots!" Get on wheel It instantly breaks off the wall, and spikes jut out of the outside "Hey Anon." "..." "Let's roll." "Fuck yeah." Anon gets on and the two of you roll through the streets of Ponyville, wreaking havoc wherever you may roam VROOM VROOM BITCHES
Confessions - Chapter 8Chapter 8 - Confessions The next morning, you wake up in a bit of a daze… “Huh…? What happened last night…?” You rub your eyes with your hooves, when you notice they seem a bit… different. They’re not soft like before, they’re… sticky? Like you poured syrup all over them and forgot about it? You look around the room; your bed sheets are completely strewn about, and you feel… light-headed. That’s when you look down. And you see it. “…WAH!” You kick what little bed sheets remained on your hind legs off, and immediately scramble up against the wall, still staring at your… …What did you do last night? Alright. So you… urgh, ‘cleaned up’ after yourself. Sick. You need to bathe. Seriously, you smell. “…Why did I do that?” You continue asking yourself this despite not having the answer yourself; it all just sort of… happened… You outstretch your wings, and try to liftoff from the clubhouse, but you find it more difficult than usual… your wings are too stiff to fly normally. Fine, fine… hooves can work too- You don’t even finish that thought before you tumble down the walkway to the clubhouse, smacking your head on the ground below. “Ow…” You rub your head and take a few moments to get re-oriented, but even then the world is still spinning a bit… Maybe heading out for a swim at the pond would help… the water always helped you just wash all your troubles away... Today, it may do that in a more literal sense as well. “Alright, lake, lake…” You mutter to yourself, trying to figure out how to navigate on foot to the pond. Your lack of wingpower doesn’t exactly help… After about fifteen minutes of wandering, you finally see a clearing in the trees, and… “Yes! The lake!” You gallop forward, leaping up into the air once you get to the edge, letting your wings carry you the extra few meters out into the water before landing, the water washing over you, all of your troubles going away… As you bring your head up from the water, however, a sound brushes across your ears. “Hey Scootaloo!” …Applebloom. “Mind if we join you?” another voice adds. Both Applebloom and Sweetie Belle are here! You turn around to them and wave a hoof. Luckily for you, the water has more or less rendered it not sticky anymore. “Hey! C’mon in!” They both gallop down from the trail and splash into the water. … There was a trail. …Smooth move, Scoots. “Ooh, this is niiiiice!” Sweetie Belle exclaims, floating onto her back and backpaddling over to you. “A morning swim?” “Y-yeah. It’s still pretty hot out, y’know?” “I’ll say!” Applebloom replies, diving underwater before coming up next to you. “Just because it ain’t summer anymore don’t mean we can’t still have fun, right?” “Duh!” You laugh, splashing her a bit before you see the look in her eyes. That fiery look of revenge, coupled by an almost wolfish grin. …Oh boy. And that’s when you go under. “Haha! Applebloom got you good, Scoots!” Sweetie Belle laughs as the three of you dry off on the shoreline. “Yeah. But only after I got her first.” You shoot a grin to Applebloom, who returns the same expression. “Yeah? Well I gotcha better!” she laughs, giving you a shove with her hoof. You grin back at her. “It sure was nice to get to have fun like this before summer ends,” Sweetie Belle smiles, looking up at the sky, the sun high up above the clouds. “We hardly ever do this anymore, girls.” “Yeah…” Applebloom replies, rolling over onto her back to stare up at the sky with Sweetie Belle. You do the same. “We might not even be able to do this as much as we do soon, since we’re graduated and all…” You let out a heavy sigh, closing your eyes and letting the heat of the sun dry your fur. “It’s not so bad, though. At least now we’ll be able to help out the town more than we could when we were just fillies.” “Yeah. I’m gonna help mah sis’ in the orchard when fall comes!” Applebloom exclaims. “Mhm. And Rarity will need help carrying all her sewing materials, so I can help her!” Sweetie Belle replies. Heh. Both of them are helping their sisters… “Well?” you hear Applebloom’s voice again. Oh, they were waiting for you. “Um… I guess I’ll still be working at the diner until my wings get stronger… Can’t have weak ponies working for the weather team, y’know.” You open your eyes, smiling at her. “Besides, who else is gonna serve Anon his breakfast every morning?” …Whoops; that kind of just slipped out…! You cover your mouth with your hooves, but it’s too late; the words have left your mouth and entered her ears. She stares at you for a brief moment, before chuckling a bit nervously. “Heh… yeah, I guess so…” You shake your head quickly, waving your hooves out in front of you. “I-I didn’t mean it like that, I just-” “No, it’s alright, really,” she says, blushing a bit and turning her head away, hiding a frown. Even after all this time, mentioning Anon still brings up memories of that night for her… She turns back to look at you. “How… is he?” “He’s, um…” Darn, you REALLY didn’t mean to do this. Now things are gonna be awkward between you two. “He’s doing well. Yeah…” Ugh… “…Oh…” she mutters. “Listen, Applebloom, I didn’t mean to… y’know…” “No, no, it’s fine…” she says, sighing a bit. “Must be pretty nice t’ see him every day…” “Eh, it’s really not all you think it is-” “Y’know, mah big sis told me I ain’t allowed t’ have him over anymore,” she says. You mentally cringe; you remember her telling the two of you this a few weeks back. She locked herself in her room and only came down when Applejack was outside in the orchard, got something to eat, then quickly galloped back to her room and locked it again. “I… know, Applebloom…” “B-but that’s okay!” she exclaims. “Because once ah get old enough t’ go out on mah own, Anon an’ I will show her, won’t we?” Okay. You need to get her to calm down and see reason, Scoots. Like, NOW. “Listen, Applebloom…” You take a deep breath before speaking again. “…What if your sister is right? Maybe he’s just not the one?” …Excellent choice of words there, Scoots. Real freaking smooth-talker you are. “…What?” Well, no turning back now. “I mean… I know you don’t like what your sister is making you do, but… what if she’s right in the end? I mean, family should come first, right?” She remains silent; the only sound between the three of you now is the light breeze through the trees. “Hey, um,” Sweetie Belle quickly cuts in, breaking the silence, “I should probably get back to Rarity, she might need some help…” she mutters, stepping away slowly from the two of you. “No, Sweetie Belle, I think she’ll be jus’ fine without ya for now.” She turns and glares at you. “An’ just what d’ ya mean by that?” Sweetie Belle shrinks back a bit, watching the two of you. “Well, if it creates a rift between you and your family, what’s the point?” You start getting your words more organized now, and you can finally press this coherently. “I mean, what’s the good of running off with someone like that, if you don’t have anyone to support your decision? And what if he said ‘no’? What would you do then?” “Well, I’d just move on t’ another stallion or someone-” “No, you wouldn’t, Applebloom, I know. I’ve seen you when you get like this. Remember the stallion you liked back in class, the one with the blonde mane and the sunglasses?” “Yeah? What about it?” she raises an eyebrow at you. “Yeah. Same thing here. You get so worked up and so focused on getting one to like you that you can’t handle them saying ‘no’, and cry about it and talk about it for weeks! And I know we’re your friends and all, but it can get a ‘little’ annoying after a while, in case you didn’t already know!” You stop yourself before you go further; you’re raising your voice a LOT more than you had planned. Applebloom is staring at you wide-eyed, before coming back with a retort. “Well what would YOU know about ‘family comes first’ then, huh?! Where’s YOUR family? Where’s YOUR sister that’s keeping you from the one you love because SHE fell in an’ out o’ love with him first?! Where’s YOUR grandma and brother that won’t even lift a HOOF t’ stop her from it?” she glares daggers at you now. “Well?!” You’re on the verge of screaming now, tears gathering at your eyes. “Well maybe I don’t need a family! Maybe I’m strong enough to head it on my own! After all, it’s what I’ve done since we were fillies. It’s what I’ve done my whole life, so MAYBE I know what I’m talking about!” Applebloom is silent. She sniffles a bit, before turning around and walking away slowly, head hanging down. Sweetie Belle stares at her as she walks away, before turning to look at you. “Hey, um… Scoots?” she asks, walking over to you and placing a hoof on your back. “You gonna be alright?” You let out a heavy sigh, wiping your eyes before watching her disappear into the trees. “Yeah, I’m alright. I just… I need some time alone, that’s all.” You push up into the air, flying away. At least by now, your wings are back to normal. But why were you so quick to stop Applebloom going after Anon? It couldn’t be that you… …The way you feel around him, that twinge you get in your chest whenever he smiles at you… And that look he gives you with his eyes… …And how you treated yourself last night to the thought of him… There’s only one possible reason for that… You can’t deny it any longer. You’re in love with Anonymous, a creature from another world. And there’s nothing you could say to yourself to convince you otherwise at this point, it’s too much to NOT admit now. Even RAINBOW could tell you liked him… You get a look of determination in your eyes. You know that Applebloom won’t like it, but you can’t wait any longer. You’re not sure of how he will react to it, but darn it, you need to at least try! At least you’ll know his answer. No time for second-guessing yourself! You remember he was telling Rainbow not to get into all his food last night, so maybe he needs more… Sugarcube Corner! Woke up in the morning, feeling like P. Diddy. Wait, who’s that again? You don’t know, but whoever it is, must feel pretty damn good. You partied hard with Rainbow last night, but Celestia knows you two can’t survive on alcohol and snacks forever. So, being the bro that you are, you’re in Sugarcube Corner getting some sweets while Rainbow’s out on weather duty. “Hey Pinkie!” You knock on the front counter. “Think you can hook me up with something good?” Pinkie comes out of the back room and up to the counter, placing her elbow on top of it and grinning at you. “Depends. What’cha got in return?” You smirk down at her. “Will this be enough?” You pull out a small bag of bits, setting it onto the counter. Odd jobs were hard to come by nowadays, but most of that money was made through bets. What can you say? You have a natural knack for the gambling arts. You grin at her. She grins at you. And then she leans up and boops you on the nose. “Sure! I can whip up something real fast for ya, Anon!” Pinkie giggles, zipping back to the kitchen. And that’s when you hear it. Once again, the sound of hooves scuttling about. No, these weren’t Pinkie’s… these were much smaller. Much more… dangerous. “Hi Nonny!” you hear a young filly’s voice come from behind you. Oh boy. It’s the Cake twins… “Hey kids!” You turn around to smile at them. “…What’s with the bag of flour?” “We’re gonna ask ya a few questions, that’s all,” Pound Cake grins up at you, shaking the bag of flour. Damn, it’s nearly as tall as he is… “Yeah! Questions…” Pumpkin Cake drags out the word, giving you a sly, mischievous grin. “Well, what kinds of questions?” “We’re curious,” she says, “You’ve been spending a lot of time with Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash lately. Do you… like them?” “Well sure I do, we’re best friends, after all-” “No no no, we mean, LIKE like them,” Pound Cake interrupts. “Like, back when you and Applejack used to spend a lot of time-” “Haha, okay! You know what time it is? Time for the little colt and filly to stop asking personal questions and not worry about-” “But we want to know!” Pumpkin Cake exclaims. “And you’re gonna tell us, or…” she grins, nodding at her twin brother, who shakes the bag intimidatingly at you. …Damn. And you just HAD to pick today to wear your favorite shirt. Again. When the hell are you going to learn not to wear your good clothes in places you KNOW they will be at risk, Anon? Well, too late now. You take a deep sigh, before looking down at them with a calm expression. “So, you two really want to know, huh?” They beam with excitement up at you. “Yes!” they both shout in unison. “Alright. Well, the reason is-” “Anon!” You turn to the door just as you hear it open to see a streak of orange and cerise come barreling inside. Ah, Scoots; you can always depend on her to save your butt. “Heya Scoots, what’s up?” “There’s something I gotta know, Anon. Something I’ve been meaning to tell you for a while now, but have been too scared to admit after learning what you’ve been through…” Your eyes widen a bit in surprise. Wait. Hold the fucking phone. She said “after learning what you’ve been through”. You’ve only told her about your relationship with Applejack. … Oh shit. She’s not here to save you. “Anon, I…” she struggles with her words a bit, and you can see it in her eyes. Please don’t say it, please don’t say it, please don’t say it… “…I think I’m in love with you.” End Chapter 8 Author's Note Sorry this took so long to get out, had to rework the middle argument section a bit. Hope it's worth the wait!
Lust - Chapter 9Chapter 9 - Lust “Anon, I… I think I’m in love with you.” Well, there goes your plan for a quick escape. “Um…” “Haha, we knew it!” Pound Cake exclaims, pointing. “You two DO have a crush on each other!” “C’mon Pound, let’s go watch from a safe distance, don’t wanna get between the two lovebirds, y’know…” Pumpkin Cake winks at her brother, before they both quickly speed up the stairs, peering down at the two of you from the railing. C’mon dude, say something! “Well, uh… this is a bit sudden…” She perks up and quickly responds. “Look, I know all about your problems you had with Applejack a while back! But…” she pauses for a moment, “You shouldn’t let one bad relationship ruin the rest! That was years ago, wasn’t it?” You know, she has a point… still… “Scoots…” You walk up to her, and kneel down. “Scoots, you’re like, one of the coolest mares I know, really you are. But…” You place a hand on her head. “I just… don’t think of you in that way. You’re like a younger sister to me, y’know?” She looks at you with huge eyes, her mouth opening slightly in silence, before speaking once again. “B-but… I don’t!” she exclaims, stepping away and out from under your hand. “I’ve… I’ve only just been able to realize my feelings for you were this strong, Anon…” “I understand, Scoots, but I just-” “But what? You don’t feel the same way?” She begins to quiver her lower lip a bit, her eyes welling up with small traces of liquid. Oh man, not that… You hate when they do that… “But Anon…” You quickly reach forward to her, cupping her face in your hands. “Now listen, Scoots. You and Dash are probably the two mares that I hang out with the most. I don’t want something like this to come between-” “Dash? Wait, Anon, are you…!” she gasps, stepping back even further, almost out of the shop. “D-do you have a crush on Dash?!” “What?! No, of course not!” You’re losing her Anon, c’mon! Do something! “Scoots, I’m just not searching for anyone to be with like… that, right now. Please, understand and respect that. You’re one of the closest friends I have; I don’t want that fact to come between our friendship…” You hold out your hand to her. “Please, Scoots. Don’t force me to make a decision I’m not ready or willing to make.” You can see the look in her eye. It’s the same look Applejack had, all those years back; that a mixture of pain, anxiety, disappointment… it was almost too much for even you to bear. But, slowly, you see that look begin to fade, and she closes her eyes, letting out a heavy sigh. “…Yeah. I understand, Anon… I’m sorry I even brought it up, I honestly don’t know what came over me…” You put on a smile, outstretching your hand even further. “C’mon, Scoots. Want me to get you something too? Maybe a cupcake? A brownie?” She looks up at you, smiles for a moment, but then her gaze shifts to the side a bit. “…No thanks. I think I’ll be fine on my own. I need…” she pauses for a moment, looking down and then back at you, “I need to think this over.” You smile genuinely now. At least she was seeing reason now; good work, Anon! Lucky break, there. “Sure, Scoots.” “I’ll… I’ll see ya tomorrow then, Anon?” she asks, turning around to leave the shop. “Yeah. We’ll head out to the lake or something. You’ll like that, right?” She has an almost distant look about her, but she remains smiling. “Yeah…” she mutters, outstretching her wings. “I’ll see ya tomorrow, then…” And with that, she lifts into the air, flying off into the distance. “Wow… that was pretty heavy…” you hear Pinkie’s voice, and you see her staring at you, elbow on the counter, munching on a cupcake. “W-what?! You were here the whole time?!” “Nope! Just for that little ending bit. Something about ‘taking her to the lake’? Wow Anon, didn’t know you were so attached to a mare like that,” she winks at you, taking another bite out of the cupcake. “Or that you liked taking them to secluded areas like that…” “It’s not like that, not at all! And- wait, are you eating my cupcake?!” She stops chewing abruptly, her eyes wandering to the cupcake, then to you, then back to the cupcake, before coming back to you with an innocent grin. “Maaaaybe…” “C’mon Pinkie, that was mine!” She grins, puckering her lips at you. “C’mon Anon! You can still taste the chocolate…” “Ugh, c’mon Pinkie, really? After all that just happened?” She giggles, wiping her mouth with her hoof. “Heehee! Sorry Anon, but it was almost too much to resist. Here!” she sets the half-eaten cupcake on the counter. “You can have the rest, and I’ll get ya a new one!” She gets up and hops off to the back room, and you take this opportunity to sneak the half-eaten cupcake into the trash before she returns a few moments later with a fresh cupcake. “So Anon… do you really like Scootaloo, then?” You sigh, taking the fresh cupcake from Pinkie, leaning against the counter before taking a bite. It’s so delicious, but right now with everything that’s happened you can’t even fully enjoy it… “I don’t know, Pinkie…” You close your eyes, letting the chocolate-y goodness do its best to swallow up all of the drama that occurred here today. “I just don’t know…” He doesn’t love you. Why should he? The way you acted just then, the way you tried to force yourself upon him… Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Why can’t you do anything right?! You storm into the treehouse, slamming the door behind you before pounding your hooves onto the floor. “Why did I do that?! I blew my chance! Stupid Scootaloo, why did I even consider it in the first place?!” You slam your hooves down, tears in your eyes, before falling on your stomach in a heap of tears. “A-and… even after Rainbow Dash told me she would help me…” You look up at the poster on your wall of the rainbow-maned pegasus. Just staring at it… the proud smile on her face… it fills you with anger. “You said you would help me! Well?! Where’s your help now?!” You let out a battle cry as you lunge for the poster, ripping it off of its place on the wall, leaving behind a few torn paper shreds and a much cleaner wall as you crumple it up and proceed to slam your hooves as hard as you can against the crumpled paper. “WHY?! WHY DIDN’T YOU HELP?! YOU SAID YOU WOULD!” After a minute or two, you begin to slow down your punches… Tears streaming down your face, you slowly fall to the side, sobbing. “Why... why didn’t he say yes? I did everything right, I know I did…” You close your eyes, hugging yourself tightly into a curled position on the floor. As you lay there, you begin going through the situation again in your head… He said he wasn’t ready to make a decision. Why was that? That would mean that, at some point, he would have considered the idea of taking things further… “So… so there’s a chance that he still…” Of course, that’s the only explanation! “Oh Anon… you’re just playing hard to get!” You grin to yourself, and giggle shakily, still recovering from your sobbing fit from earlier. “Alright, looks like I just need to keep trying! Don’t worry, Anon, I’m a resilient little mare…” You giggle again, hugging yourself tightly and rolling over onto your back. “You can take your time, but you shouldn’t keep a mare waiting…” …Why are you saying these things? They’re so… not you, but… They feel REALLY good to say… And they’re making you feel all warm and giggly… You look down at your body, smiling. “One day, Anon will show me what it really feels like… what it feels like to be with someone…” You slip your hooves down your stomach, pressing your tongue against the back of your teeth in excitement and anticipation. You felt so good last night… could you do it again? Worth a shot. You bring your front hooves down between your back legs, letting out a light gasp when your hooves touch your sensitive parts… You had learned a lot in school about it, and a few conversations with other mares ended up sometimes going to the subject, but outside of that you didn’t really have any idea what you were doing right now. All you knew was it felt really good… You press a bit harder, brushing your hooves against your other set of lips even more, enticing another excited gasp from you. “C’mon Anon… you do love me, don’t you?” You close your eyes, envisioning his body towering over yours, his arms holding you tightly in a loving embrace… His warmth, his strength, his entire presence… it’s driving you to new heights. You let out a relaxed moan of pleasure, your lower legs twitching a bit as you continue rubbing your hooves between your hind legs. “Just a little more, Anon… just a little more and we’ll…!” You let out another gasp as you brush over an especially sensitive spot near the top. “Oh yeah… Anon, right there, do it right there!” You start panting as your hooves rub the spot mercilessly, the image of Anon looking down at you with a loving, yet playful face… And those eyes… you just can’t get enough of them… You roll over onto your stomach, picking up your lower half with your hind legs. Despite their trembling heavily from the experience, you manage to lift up just enough… “Do it, Anon! We’ll be together at last!” You reach under yourself, still rubbing furiously against your sensitive spot. The image of Anonymous shakes his head from side to side, leaning down to you. “I’m going to drive you wild first. You have to prove you can handle me…” “Yes! Yes Anon, I’m ready! I can handle it, I promise!” He shakes his head again. “Not yet, Scoots…” You can’t stop rubbing at this point; it’s almost unbearable NOT to. “I-I can’t live without you, Anon! I need you…” You finally can’t take any more; you let out a loud, gasping moan of pleasure as your body convulses, causing your legs to lose their hoofing and collapse to the floor. Your inner walls shudder and your body loses all sense of control as juices begin flowing slowly out of your sensitive areas… “A-Anon…” You open your eyes, turning your head to lay it on its side, looking out the window at the full moon. “I… love you, Anon…” You close your eyes, unable to continue your activities. In the center of the treehouse, you lay collapsed in a blissful heap. It really sucks that you’ll have to clean up the floor again tomorrow… End Chapter 9 Author's Note And so it begins.
The Lake - Chapter 10A little something I'd like to add as a little something extra; this was the music I listened to on repeat while writing this chapter, I think it's fairly fitting to set the mood. Chapter 10 - The Lake No matter how long you live in this place, you will never forgive the builders of your house for putting a window RIGHT NEXT TO WHERE YOUR BED IS THAT CELESTIA’S SUNLIGHT CAN SHINE DIRECTLY AT YOU FROM. “Urgh… my head…” You sit up slowly, rubbing your eyes as they adjust to the now brightened room. Today was your rest day, and boy, did you need it… You stretch before getting out of bed and go through your normal routine of shower, shit, and shave; the ponies, despite having little to no knowledge of your species, were able to create a bathroom that could accommodate your larger size easily… Must be the minotaurs that stop by from time to time. You slip into a light t-shirt and some shorts. “Goin’ to the lake, goin’ to the lake…” you improv-sing to yourself; nobody’s around, not like anyone’s gonna hear… “Anon!” you hear an energetic voice from outside, followed by a knocking. Must be Scoots. You smile, slipping into some shoes and walking to the front door, opening it to see the bouncing, excited orange mare standing outside. “Ready for an awesome time? I know I am!” she exclaims, grinning. “Hah, me too! Lemme grab a few snacks and I’ll be right out; c’mon in!” You haven’t forgotten what happened between the two of you yesterday at Sugarcube Corner, but it looks like she’s held true to her word and isn’t letting that come between the friendship the two of you share. You smile, letting her inside your home while you head into the kitchen, collecting a few snacks, drinks, and a large cloth blanket into a bag, slinging it over your shoulder and walking back out into your living room. “Ready to go?” “About time!” she taunts, and you ruffle her mane before walking outside, shutting the door behind you two and heading down the trail to the lake. “So Scoots, I guess you slept well last night?” “Uh huh! Wanted to get up early for this, wouldn’t miss it!” she grins up at you, trotting beside you as you pass by ponies out about their business. “Cool. Got some snacks for us pre-made last night. I think you’ll like ‘em.” “Awesome!” The two of you continue down the trail to just outside Sweet Apple Acres, where the trail forks down to the barn and the Apple family’s home, and to the lake the other way. “I’d say ‘I’ll race ya there’, Anon, but you’re carrying food, so I’m not gonna,” she giggles as the two of you take the right trail, the lake slowly coming into view. “Heh, thanks.” As you get closer, though, her pace begins to quicken just a tad. “There it is!” she exclaims at last, breaking into a full gallop, her wings flapping and gathering even more speed, her form gliding along the ground before landing at the shore. “You coming, Anon?” You chuckle, walking over to a nearby tree and setting the bag down in the shade; despite it being near the beginning of autumn, the sun was still beating down on you full-force. Perfect for a day at the lake. Hm… the spot is fairly close to a small ledge, which overlooks the entire rest of the lake… This gives you an idea. “Sure! Gimme a sec.” Stretching, you pull off your shirt and shoes, before grinning wickedly at Scoots. She’ll never see it coming. Starting out slowly at first, you eventually break into a full sprint… Right. At. Scoots. Her eyes widen and she shows a mix of surprise, fear, excitement, and a lot of other things you don’t have time to take into consideration right now. Leaping into the air, you easily clear over her head, creating an enormous splash as you crash into the waters below. You stay underwater for a few more seconds, before coming up and taking a deep breath of fresh air, relaxing on your back as you float calmly on the lake. “Anon, you idiot!” she calls out from the shore. “You could’ve taken my head off doing that!” “But I didn’t, did I?” You turn to give her a grin, and she puffs her cheeks out in a pout before grinning. “So that’s how it’s gonna be, huh?” …Oh no. You recognize that look. It’s the same look that Rainbow gives you whenever she’s about to try something entertaining… at your expense. Quickly, you take a deep breath of air before diving underwater, watching the surface as a shadow casts across the sky, stopping for a moment before getting bigger… And bigger… …Oh shit. Swim, Anon! Swim for your life! You take a few well-timed breaststrokes before the orange blur of fur plunges into the depths of the lake after you, grin plastered on her face. Shit, shit, shit… time to kick it into overdrive, Anon! Kick! Stroke! Kick! Stroke! Kick- You hear a muffled yelp before surfacing for air, and you turn around to see a gasping Scoots struggling on the surface. “Scoots?!” You quickly swim over to her, helping her get back stable on the surface. “Scoots, you alright?” “Y-yeah, you just…” she coughs out a bit, before continuing a bit weaker, “…fell right for it.” SHIT. She grins, leaping and tackling you underwater, holding you under for a few seconds before pulling you up. “Gotcha, Anon!” “Not cool, I thought I smacked you with my foot or something?” “You did!” she grins, waving a hoof, “But I dodged it just in time, so it just hit my hoof. Worked great, huh? Had you going there for a sec, didn’t I?” This fucking clever mare. You chuckle, lightly punching her shoulder before both of you lay back and floating carelessly on the water. “Hey, Anon?” You feel her eyes looking at you, even though yours are closed. “Yeah Scoots?” “…Sorry about yesterday,” she mutters. “I dunno what came over me; really, it just sort of… slipped out.” You hear her breathe in deep through her nose. “Hey, don’t worry ‘bout it. We’re chilling out now, so it’s all good, right?” She’s silent for a moment or two, and then you hear her chuckle. “Yeah, Anon. Glad we didn’t let that get between our friendship, right?” “Yeah. Hey, you hungry?” “Nah, I’m no-” she begins, but her stomach has other plans, it seems. And it’s made its point known to both of you. The two of you burst out laughing, before you sink back vertically, swimming back to shore. “C’mon, let’s get something to eat.” She nods, following you back to shore. “You gonna dry off, Anon?” she asks when she reaches the shoreline, shaking the water off her, flapping her wings a bit to fling the water off. “Nah. I’ve got something for us to sit on in the bag; I’ll just sit on that.” She shrugs, floating in the air next to you. The two of you walk over and you reach into the bag, pulling out the cloth and laying it out in the shade. “So, what’d you bring?” she asks, sitting on the cloth. Brushing your feet off, you pick up the bag and then step onto the cloth, sitting down before reaching into the bag. “Something I think you’ll like.” You pull out a bottle of water for yourself and a thermos for Scoots; you filled it with juice for her last night. Unscrewing it, you hand it to her, before reaching into the bag once again… “C’mon Anon!” she pouts, “I’m dying to know!” You grin, pulling out your late-breakfast early-lunch meal. Two sandwiches, one for each of you. “Here ya go!” You hand her one, and she eyes it, tilting her head for a moment before taking a bite. You don’t think you’ve ever seen or heard that sound come from her. It was something akin to… a yelp and a moan? Dunno. “A-Anon, this is delicious!” she exclaims, looking at you. “What is it?” You shrug. “Human secret recipe. Like it?” “Do I? I love it!” she grins, taking another bite. Heh. Secret recipe. Motherfucking peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, man. Gets ‘em every time. “Glad to hear,” you chuckle, taking a bite out of your own sandwich, drinking from your water bottle. Silence envelops the two of you, sans for the sound of the lake and trees around you and the sounds of chewing. A rush of wind blows across your back and you shiver; you probably should have put on a shirt before you started eating. The shade was blocking the sunlight, after all, so there was nothing for it to cool off… Scoots looks up at you, before outstretching a wing up to cover your back. “Heh, you probably should have put on your shirt again, Anon,” she chuckles, blushing lightly before taking another bite. DON’T YOU BLOW THIS SCOOTALOO YOU’RE SO CLOSE DON’T BLOW IT!! Anon is counting on you to keep his back shielded from the wind! Okay, looks like it’s working so far… Another breeze comes, and like before, the wing shields you successfully. “Thanks, Scoots.” She nods silently, continuing to eat. Yet another breeze rolls on by, but this time you feel a light tickling on your back, causing you to stiffen up a bit. Scoot’s eyes widen and she immediately retracts her wing, hanging her head a bit. “Anon, I…” she mutters, still not meeting your gaze, “…I-” Before she can finish, she’s interrupted by a shrill cry coming from behind the two of you. Turning, you immediately see who it came from. … “Applebloom…?” End Chapter 10 Author's Note Hope you enjoyed! It's a bit more light-hearted than the previous few, so I hope it was a nice break from all the heavy stuff that's been and is going to be going down lately. ~Wuten
Truths and Lies - Chapter 11Chapter 11 - Truths and Lies “…Applebloom? What’re you doing here?” “Ah should be askin’ HER the same thing!” the mare points her hoof accusingly at Scoots. “Applebloom, I… I’m here with Anon, that’s all it is. We’re just… eating,” she turns to her friend, chewing on a bite of her sandwich. “Yeah, but you’re…” “We’re -what-, Applebloom? What’s so wrong with that?” she asks, a bit more harshness in her voice. “Whoa, now, let’s all just calm down here.” Seriously, you can feel the angry vibes seething from both of them right now, the best thing to do in this situation is stop whatever sort of conflict could break out between them… “Let’s all just take a deep breath, and-” “No, Anon. This needs to be said,” Scootaloo interrupts you before you can make your point. She finishes her bite, sets her sandwich down, and stands up, turning to look at Applebloom. “Applebloom, we’re friends, best of friends, even,” Scootaloo begins with a smile. “We’ve both been through a lot together. School, dances, bullies… and I remember all of us sticking together throughout all of it. You, me, and Sweetie Belle.” Her smile falls to a more serious expression now, as well as her tone of voice. “I also know how you get when things never happen the way you want them to. It’s not a pretty sight, for anyone involved,” she sighs, “Especially when it comes to romantic things.” Applebloom starts to chime in, but Scootaloo continues unabated. “And despite all of that, we’ve still remained friends, but…” she looks down, before returning with renewed vigor, “But if you’re going to scream and throw a fit every time I’m seen with Anon like this, I don’t think I’ll be able to put up with it!” Applebloom’s brow furrows, and she takes a step forward. “Scootaloo, yer mah best friend too, an’ I know how YOU get when things don’t go yer way,” Applebloom mimics Scootaloo’s tone of voice. “Ah remember when YOU were at th’ graduation party, all alone sittin’ there, an’ Anon here came up t’ ya. That look in yer eye… it’s th’ same look ah have, ah know it is! Which means…” she grunts, stamping her hoof again, “That yer gonna do everythin’ in yer power t’ make sure ya get what you want!” Any semblance of calmness in the situation has gone out the window at this point. Scootaloo lunges forward at the mare, tackling and knocking her onto her back. “That’s not true, I’m not like that!” Scootaloo yelps angrily, raising a hoof up, ready to strike Applebloom. You need to intervene. NOW. “That’s enough, out of both of you!” Your tone gets their attention, and you quickly rush over to pull Scoots off of the earth pony, who gets up and stares angrily at you, small tears forming at the edges of her eyes. “If only… if only mah sis didn’t get t’ ya first, Anon! Then maybe ah would’ve had a chance!” THAT DOES IT. You set Scoots down, and look between both of them. “Is THAT what you think? Really?” “Um…well, yeah!” Applebloom replies, “That’s why she’s bein’ all mean t’ ya and stuff!” You let out an exasperated sigh, rubbing your brow. “You really are clueless, aren’t you…” You look to them again, your expression not showing any sort of concern for the situation at this point. “Do you even KNOW why she and I aren’t together right now?” “Well… no, not really…” Applebloom’s tone shrinks a bit. “Didn’t she, y’know…” Scoots chimes in, “Try t’ force herself on ya?” “In a way, yes. But that’s not the reason we split up. Do you want to know why?” They both nod their heads slowly in unison. “Then let me tell you why…” I’ve been in Equestria for most of my teenage life, so I was just then going through the changes into a man. I was a young teenager when I first met Applejack, and she really knocked me off my feet when we did. “Aah!” Applejack cries out in surprise, “What the heck are ya?!” She spins around and rears up, kicking you in the chest and sending you back quite a few feet, knocking you down onto your butt. “Ow! What was that for?!” “Oh…” she gasps out in surprise, approaching you. “Sorry ‘bout that… um… lemme make it up to ya? C’mon,” she gestures for you to follow her. “Would a nice, home-cooked meal make up for it?” “Well, I guess-” “Great! Here, ah’ll help ya,” she says, getting up right next to you. “Hop on mah back, ya prob’ly ain’t in no shape fer walkin’, huh?” You gingerly lower yourself down onto her back, before she begins a slow trot down the road to the farm in the distance. “Sorry ‘bout that. Name’s Applejack, what’s yours?” “Anon…” She chuckles. “Anon, huh? That’s a weird name…” The two of us quickly became best friends; we had so much in common back then. She loved hard work, I loved pushing my athletic limits, and, of course, both of us had our love for apples. But there was one moment, and it hadn’t become apparent to me until later, where she had revealed that she liked me more than just a friend… “Hey, Anon?” “Yeah? Sup?” “D’ya think we’ll be like this forever?” The two of you are lying out by one of the apple trees, staring up at the night sky through the branches. “What do you mean?” “Jus’ the two of us. Y’know, hangin’ out like this, night sky bright up there, not a care in the world?” You chuckle, sighing a bit, letting the cool breeze brush lightly against your face. “I dunno, AJ. We got our whole lives ahead of us, no telling what could happen.” She sighs in response back to you, before smacking the trunk of the tree, causing an apple to fall into her hoof. “Well, no matter what,” she says, taking a bite of the fruit, “Ah know we’ll always remember this.” “Yeah…” You close your eyes for a moment, breathing in deep… And then you let out the girliest yelp you can manage when an apple smacks you right in the nose. “Ouch!” Applejack lets out a loud, uncontrollable laugh, before turning to look at you. “Never change, Anon,” she says, giggling a bit before rubbing the welt lightly with her hoof. And for the longest time, we stayed like that. We were like brother and sister. It was almost impossible to see one without the other. I was… happy. I can only hope she was happy too. Given that she was the one to make the first move, I like to think she was. “Anon?” “Yeah?” “Ah…” she begins, but pauses for a moment. “You…?” “Ah… think ah like you,” she quickly spits out, before covering her mouth with her hooves. “Oh, that’s… great? I like you too.” “No, no, not like that!” she shakes her head before getting into your face. “Ah mean, ah LIKE like you. Like, more than just like…” “Wait, there’s a second like? When did this happen?” “Oh, you big idiot!” she exclaims, before pushing you down to the ground, pinning you under her. “Ah mean LOVE!” …Oh. At first it was a bit weird, being in a romantic relationship with my best friend. Though, as far as I was concerned, everything was going fairly well. She was smiling, I was smiling, and while we didn’t nearly roughhouse as much as we had when we were younger, I enjoyed spending time with her. But… the rest of her family wouldn’t be having it; something about not wanting her to “make a stupid decision and be involved with anything romantic with that alien”. I still don’t see why they were so apprehensive, but that’s… behind me, now. Applejack comes to you, wrapping her hooves around your waist and burying her face in your stomach. “It’s not fair!” she cries, and you can feel the wet tears start to sink into your shirt. “AJ? What’s wrong, what’s the matter?” “They…” she begins, wiping her eyes and looking up at you, “Mah family won’t give us their blessing on our love!” Your eyes widen. What?! Why wouldn’t they? “They… they told me t’ either break it off with ya, or… or they’d disown me!” The tears begin flowing once again. “Ah… ah dunno what t’ do, Anon…” You cradle her head against you, letting her cry all of her sorrows away, whispering softly to help calm her down. “Shhh… it’s okay, I’m here… let it all out…” “Anon, what… what’re we gonna do?” she asks, and you both sit down on the grass of the orchard. “Ah want t’ be with you, but…” You raise your hands once again to cradle her head lightly, tilting it to look into your eyes. “AJ. I love you too, more than anything in all of Equestria…” You plant a kiss on her forehead, smiling reassuringly to her. “But I know how much your life here is more important.” “B-but Anon, ah don’ wanna just break things off with ya. I love you!” You place a finger lightly to her lips, silencing her. “I know. But your family is more important to you. They need you. Certainly a lot more than you need me.” You smile, kissing her snout. “I’ve known you for too long to know that.” “But… what will you do?” she asks. “You can’t love me if I give you a reason not to.” Her eyes go wide. “Wh… wha?” “She wanted nothing to do with me after that. I was just some alien to her now, one that she believed played with her heart to further his own selfishness.” “What… happened? Between the two of you?” Scoots asks. “I had lied to her. A big one, one I had been keeping for a long time.” “What was it…?” Applebloom’s eyes were wide; what could have made her sister hate him so much after she had been in love with him? “It doesn’t matter now. It was from a long time ago.” “B-but it does!” Applebloom exclaims, pushing the issue further. “Ah gotta know! What was it that made mah sister hate you so much…?” You shake your head. “Maybe one day she’ll tell you. But for now I doubt she’d want to even make mention of it.” Walking over, you begin to pack up your things, before slinging it over your shoulder. “I had a lot of fun out here today, Scoots. Hope we can do this again sometime, before fall comes and it’s cold as the Crystal Empire.” And with that final quip, you make your way down the trail back to town. Mulling it over in your head, you sigh. “Applejack, despite what I said all those years ago, I still gotta hand it to ya.” You turn, looking at the barn up on the hill, and smile. “That was the best damn meal I’d ever tasted.” End Chapter 11 Author's Note A bit heavier this time around, but I hope it's worth it. Getting a bit more insight into Applejack and Anon's past interactions, as well as fleshing out Anon's character a bit more. He's not just your typical jock; he's a bit dense, but he can be loving and know when a situation is getting out of hand...
Confrontation - Chapter 12Chapter 12 - Confrontation “You serious?” Rainbro asks, raising an eyebrow. “Did they really do that?” “Yeah.” “Well Anon,” she chuckles, relaxing back in the couch, nursing her cider once again, “Looks like you’ve got a few mares with their eyes on you.” “I know… and that’s not something I want right now.” “Hey dude, lighten up!” Rainbow nudges your shoulder. “Maybe you’ll find out it’s not as bad as you’re making it, huh?” “I don’t want to get between their friendships with each other. I think it’s best if I stay out of relationships with anyone.” Rainbow sighs, handing you the bottle. “Here. This’ll make you feel better.” Taking the bottle, you lift it to your lips and swig down nearly half of the bottle in one go, before handing it to Rainbow, who stares wide-eyed at the bottle for a few moments. “That help?” she asks, looking back at you. “Not really,” you sigh, getting up. “Hey, I’m gonna head out for a bit. I… I need some time to think this over.” “Want me to come with?” “…Do what you like.” Sighing again, you walk over to the front door, grab a light jacket, and head out into the summer night air, the smell of cut grass and flowers strong in your nose. Neither of those mares had ever acted that way towards each other, at least not in your presence. Especially not about something like that. Applebloom especially; you didn’t expect ANYTHING like that from her. How long were both of them suppressing those feelings? Sighing, you continue your walk. At this time of the year, you personally enjoyed these long walks at night, it gave you time to think to yourself. But tonight is different. Tonight you need to confront the mares on their behavior. It’s not too late at night, and you know how young mares love staying up late whenever they can doing whatever it is… well, mares do. You never really knew, nor cared to look into it. The trail slowly begins to taper off from stone, to gravel, to just a plain dirt road as you make your way up into the Apple family’s territory. The sky is clear tonight; it reminds you a lot of the illustrations in those books you had, back when you were learning how to read the fancy new way of writing these ponies had. Finally, a few steps from the door, you realize what you’re about to do. You’re stepping into the bear cage now, Anon. But it’s something that needs to be done. Hesitating for but an instant, you raise your fist to the door, and knock three times. Those few moments that pass between you knocking and the door opening are some of the most anguishing, suspenseful moments of your young life, you think to yourself. Finally, the door opens. It’s Big Macintosh. Oh sweet merciful Celestia, you’re glad it’s him. “H-Hey Big Mac,” you take a second to collect yourself before continuing, “Could I come in? There’s… something I need to talk with you and your sisters about.” He looks inside for a few seconds, and then turns to you and speaks. “It’s gettin’ late out, Anon. Y’better make it quick, don’t want ya catchin’ cold on yer way back,” he nods, his calm demeanor and deep voice soothing your nerves a bit. “Thanks. I won’t be long.” Big Mac steps back and lets you inside, where you’re greeted by the all-too-familiar living room of the Apple family. “Hey there, Applejack.” She turns to look at you, sizing you up. “Whad’ya want, Anon?” “We need to talk.” “About?” she asks, raising an eyebrow. “Ah thought ah said ya weren’t allowed in unless otherwise told, hm?” “AJ-“ ,ou stop yourself before you use that nickname, “…Applejack, it’s about your younger sister.” Her expression hardens, and she lowers her eyebrow. “What about mah sister?” You cautiously walk over to one of the chairs and sit down, making sure to keep an eye on her at all times. Big Mac has left the room at this point, so it’s just you and her. “Applejack, your sister has a crush on me.” “Ah know,” she says. “What of it?” “Not like a normal crush, Applejack. I’m talking about a CRUSH.” Her eyebrow widens again. “Ah don’t follow.” “Like… hm…” You’re really reluctant to compare the two, but… “Kind of like what you and I had going, only completely one-sided.” Her eyes widen a bit. “What happened?” Good, you’ve got her attention. Not quite broken past the hardy exterior of hatred she has for you, but at least you’ve made some progress to get her to listen. “Today, at the lake, I was hanging out with Scootaloo, eating lunch. And then I hear her come by and the two of them start bickering, until they finally came to blows.” You let out a heavy sigh. “And it was for no other reason than because I was eating lunch with her, from what I could tell. Can’t a guy have a picnic out on the lake without having to worry about mares attacking each other because of it?” Applejack seems to be getting the picture. “So you were at th’ lake, huh?” “Yeah. Why?” “Applebloom told me you an’ Scoots were out in th’ orchard ruinin’ next season’s harvest,” she says, scratching her chin with her hoof. “Naturally, ah go out to where she pointed, an’ see that a bunch o’ mah apples, not even ripe yet, had been pulled righ’ from the trees.” “What?! Who would do something like that?” “Been wonderin’ ‘bout that mahself fer a while now.” She turns her head to look up the stairs. “Applebloom!” she calls out, “Get down here!” The sound of hooves galloping along the ceiling is heard as the cherry-haired mare comes to the top of the stairs. “What d’ya want, sis?” “Did you lie t’ me ‘bout Anon and Scoots messin’ with the harvest?” Applejack gives her sister a stern look. “Anon here says he wasn’t doin’ anything o’ the sort. Now one o’ ya is lyin’ t’ me,” she says, looking back to you. “An’ ah don’t take kindly much t’ bein’ lied to…” She stands up from her seat, looking between the two of you. “Well? Who’s it gonna be?” she asks, brushing a few strands of her mane out of her face. “Which one o’ ya is lyin’ t’ me, huh?” It’s obviously Applebloom, you know that. But why is Applejack dragging this along? …Oh yeah. She hates you, and you already lied to her once before. But Applebloom doesn’t look like she’s going to crack anytime soon. Walking down the steps, she just keeps putting on that innocent look, shooting you a few faces when Applejack’s face is turned away. “Ah saw him, sis!” she exclaims, pointing a hoof accusingly at you. “He was out with Scootaloo an’ they were knockin’ off apples! Kept saying ‘This’ll show her to ruin our summer’ and things like that!” Your face is starting to get red with anger now. Blatant lying is one thing, but you never blame someone else for your troubles. Except for that one time in Trottingham. But that was totally justified, and doesn’t count. “That’s a lie, and you know it!” You’re addressing Applebloom directly now. “You and Scootaloo came to blows earlier today, Applebloom. You can’t tell me something isn’t wrong with that picture. The two of you are best friends, what would cause you two to suddenly start fighting like that?!” “Because o’ you!” she growls back, her eyes fixated on you. “Because Scoots thinks that because she's been gettin’ closer t’ ya, that she’s instantly ‘entitled’ to bein’ yer one an’ only mare.” She stamps her hoof on the ground. “Do ya have ANY idea how long ah was waitin’ fer ya?” You shake your head. “Well, let’s just say that Scoots ain’t the only one that’s had her eye on ya, Anon… mah big sis knows this too, an’ that’s…” She turns to look at Applejack, “that’s why she don’t want me t’ be near ya, ‘cause she’s scared that I’d make the same mistake that she made!” “That’s enough, Applebloom. You made yer point—” “No, sis. No, ah haven’t,” Applebloom interrupts her sister, turning to look at you again. “Anon, why can’t ya see that Scoots isn’t good for ya? That look she keeps givin’ ya… it just ain’t normal,” she says in a calmer tone. “It ain’t a good thing; I can’t put my hoof on it but it just ain’t good…” “Alright, I think I’ve heard enough.” You let out a sigh. “Applejack, your sister lied to you to try and frame me and Scootaloo for whatever reasons she had. But that’s just what it was: a lie.” Applebloom’s ears drop a bit at your tone. Applejack nods, her eyes still fierce against yours, but behind that hard exterior, you know she understands that you’re telling the truth here. Besides, you love apples. You wouldn’t dare do something like that, even if you were pissed at Applejack for whatever reason. “Applebloom, I know you have those feelings for me, I’m not stupid. I know Scootaloo does, too; she even admitted it to me the other day.” Her eyes widen in surprise. “Then why—” “Because I wanted to do my best to keep our relationship as friends, so she wouldn’t end up in the same situation Applejack and I were in back then.” Applebloom looks between the two of you. “Anon, ya never really did elaborate on that…” she sheepishly replies. “What exactly did happen between both of you?” You shake your head again. “I’m not exactly in the right position to talk about that at this time. Ask your sister if she feels comfortable about it.” Patting her head, you step around back towards the front door. Before you open it, you hear Applejack’s voice. “So yer just gonna up an’ leave like that, huh?” Your eyes widen, and you turn to look at her. She flashes you a grin. “Didn’t even say goodbye, ya jerk,” she says, waving a hoof dismissively at you. “Jus’ get outta here, Anon.” Pausing for a moment, you continue opening the door before smiling back at her. “See ya, AJ.” You see her brow twitch a bit at that, but she just scoffs this time, turning away. “You know how ah hate that nickname,” you hear her say as you leave. Walking out into the brisk night air, you breathe in through your nose, and exhale a deep sigh of relief, before continuing on your way. Tonight went a lot better than you thought it would. You’re actually managing to leave the Apple family’s home while not in a casket; and in one piece, no less. Welp, time to go talk to Scootaloo now. Ugh, you were afraid of this… Applebloom’s words didn’t fall on deaf ears. You had noticed that look she gave you as well, and it looks like you weren’t alone in your suspicions. You have to confront her on that. If you ever plan on having this friendship stay the way it is, she needs to stop seeing you as that kind of person. The trees are pretty thick in this part of the orchard, you remember. Hopefully Luna’s moon will be bright enough for you to be able to find your way around… After meandering on and off the path unknowingly for about ten minutes or so, you finally come to what you hope is the tree house that Scootaloo has made her home. At least, you hope it’s the right one. You’re not sure if there are any other tree houses in the orchard, and you wouldn’t want to come across something you didn’t want… Like that time with the hornet’s nest. But we don’t talk about that anymore, Anon. Too many bad memories. And pain. So much pain… Both mental and physical. You had to stay in the hospital for at least a week and a half after that just because of the trauma it caused to your younger self. You still have nightmares of them from time to time… No time for that, though! The last thing you want to be thinking about are hornets and their huge stingers, piercing your— You feel a shiver run up your spine. Time to stop thinking about that sort of thing. Approaching the tree house, you eye the walkway up. It’s a bit strange, but nothing you can’t manage. You take the first step and immediately a loud creaking noise is heard. It scares a few birds in the distance, even. “Hello?! Who’s out there?” you hear a female’s voice come from inside the tree house. “Scootaloo? It’s Anon; can I talk with you for a bit?” “Anon?! Wh-what are you doing here?” she stammers a bit, and you can hear her clamoring about in the tree house as you make your way up. “Listen, I know we’ve had a lot of weird stuff happen the last few days between the two of us, and I just…” Your words trail off when you see her. The moon may be obscured by the trees, but you can tell something isn’t right. Her eyes are bloodshot and her mane and fur is completely ragged; more than that, her entire body is trembling. “Oh Anon, I’m… I’m sorry you have to see me like this, I…” she turns away, “I swear this isn’t how I look normally…” Well, you can obviously see that. But there’s definitely something amiss… She has a… different look in her eyes this time around. Not one you’re familiar with. “S-so, um… what’d you want to talk about, Anon?” she asks nervously. “Well, I was wanting to talk to you about earlier today, but if this is a bad time—” “Oh, no! No, not at all!” she quickly replies, opening her door further. “Come in, please! Can I get you anything? We’ve got a few snacks lying around, I think…” she says, running back inside the tree house. “No, that’ll be fine; I’m not planning on staying for very long. Just a quick word and I’ll be going.” Going against the hunch telling you to get the ever-living fuck outta here and try another day, you opt to be the polite one and take her up on her offer. Walking inside, you immediately notice the size difference between the tree house and the Apples’ home; you can barely stand at full height in here without smacking your head against something. “So, what’d you want to talk about, Anon?” she asks, sitting down on the floor. You do the same. “I wanted to talk about what happened earlier today, at the lake.” She’s silent for a moment, before replying. “…Oh.” End Chapter 12 Author's Note Here we go! We have a few more chapters left, so hang in there a little longer! ~Wuten
Escalation - Chapter 13Chapter 13 - Escalation “Well?” She seems a bit surprised by your request. “Well?” she replies back, raising an eyebrow. Why is she doing that? She knows damn well what you want to talk about. “What caused you and Applebloom to suddenly grow to be so angry at each other today?” “Um… well,” she stutters a bit, before continuing, “I don’t know myself, honestly… it just sort of happened…” “Scoots, you and I both know that’s not the case here. Something had to have been going on for a long time between the two of you for things to get like that so quickly.” She’s silent for a moment, as if considering whether or not to speak. “Well, the other day, she and I- um, I guess it was yesterday, but yeah,” she stutters, trying to put her words together. “Applebloom and I, well, we kind of had a little… fight? I guess? Yeah, I think that’s what it—” “Scoots.” She stops mid-sentence, and looks at you. “You and Applebloom had a fight yesterday? What about?” “…Well…” she pauses, turning her head to the side, and in this instant you take the chance to admire all of the Rainbow Dash posters she has around the tree house. You knew she looked up to your bro, but you never thought she’d have posters. Hell, you didn’t even know Rainbow HAD posters made of herself. That’s pretty cool; maybe she could hook you up sometime… “…And that’s really all it was, now that I think about it,” Scoots turns back up to look at you. “What do you think, Anon?” Wait… shit. You weren’t listening. Damn it, Anon, you really need to work on that… Quick! Damage control! “Uh… yeah. Now that you’re telling me, I’m sure it’s all just a minor thing.” C’mon… She raises an eyebrow, before shrugging. “I dunno what got into her, honestly. She and I have been such good friends, but…” she looks down at the floor, “She’s been acting pretty weird whenever we said your name, or mentioned you, or saw you passing by…” “Weird?” “Yeah,” Scoots nods, standing up. “It’s a bit of a long story, and well,” she stretches, letting out a long yawn, “It’s late, and the floor isn’t exactly the most comfortable place to sit for a long time.” You chuckle and nod. “Want to tell me another time?” She shakes her head. “Oh no, it’s completely fine. But… are you sure you don’t want something? I can whip us both up something pretty quick, if you like.” “No thanks, I—” Your stomach gives its own opinion before you can even finish yours. “Ah… um… If it’s not too much trouble?” Her expression quickly lights up, and she grins happily. “Sure, Anon! Here, you can sit over there while I fix up something for us,” she points at her bed. It’s small, but it looks sturdy enough to support your sitting on it, at least. “Promise you won’t try anything?” You chuckle, standing up and walking over to the bed, sitting down. She shoots you a mischievous look. “I dunno, Anon… you are pretty good looking, even by mares’ standards,” she winks, before going back to some kind of makeshift stove-like appliance. “How’d you guys get something like that up here in a tree house? Isn’t it… y’know, a fire hazard or something?” “I should ask you why you had a hamster wheel in that bedroom of yours,” Scootaloo winks. “…It’s an exercise item.” Scoots chuckles, before shaking her head. “Sweetie Belle and Applebloom helped make it a few years back, when we were just fillies. Twilight also helped once we got it built, so it runs on magic energy. See?” she presses a button, and sets a kettle on it. A dim light flickers beneath the kettle, which you can only assume is some kind of magical flame; it’s too dark to see from where you are. “Huh. So, what was this about Applebloom acting weird? Sounded like you had a story behind it?” “Yeah,” she nods. “This only happened a few years ago, too. There was a colt in our school,” she begins, placing a bag of tea leaves into the kettle. “Big guy. Really good at sports and athletics and all that stuff. Really hard worker, too, so I can see why Applebloom would have taken a liking to him back then,” she says. “Sounds like he was pretty popular, then?” “Yeah. The fillies really did like him. But it got to his head; I couldn’t stand being around him because he wouldn’t stop talking about himself…” She shakes her head. “But Applebloom kept insisting that he was the best thing that had ever happened to her. Kept saying how they were going to gallop off into the sunset, and all that stuff,” she sighs. You nod, urging her to continue. “Well, did she ever try to gain his affection?” She nods. “I can’t even count how many times she did. And it would get more complicated with each failed attempt. She actually tried to sabotage his other relationships to make herself look better in his eyes!” You raise an eyebrow. Really? Would Applebloom really do something like that? “The worst part of it was, every time he shot her down, she’d get this weird look in her eye… I can’t really explain it, but it was like she was determined to get him to love her, no matter what the cost…” She shivers a bit. “Scary, looking back on it.” “What happened to the colt?” She shakes her head. “I dunno. He just went and disappeared one day; everyone said he moved away to Manehatten or some other big city.” “…And Applebloom?” “Didn’t get over it for months,” she lets out a heavy sigh. “She had two other coltfriends after that, but neither of them worked out in the end. One dumped her for another mare, and the other was dumped by her for insulting her family’s line of work, saying he’d never be caught dead working on an apple farm…” That makes you cringe a bit; you didn’t really like the Apple sisters, but for someone to insult their way of life? That’s going a bit far. “Two weeks later he just… vanished. Not a single pony in town knows what happened,” she chuckles, as the whistle of the kettle resounds through the tree house. Taking it off the stove, she pours two glasses of tea. “Sugar?” “No thanks, I’m fine. Don’t need to be up all night.” “You sure? Don’t want you dozing off while you’re here,” she chuckles. “Plus, you’ll need energy to get back home, right?” …Hm. She makes a good point. “Alright, only a little bit, then.” She nods, rummaging around and then pulling out a small bag of white powder, pouring a small amount into each teacup. “And here you go,” she nods, picking up the cup of tea with two hooves, bringing it to you. Smiling, you take it from her and take a sip… HOT. VERY HOT. YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE DONE THAT. Setting the cup down in your lap, you do your best to not show the immense pain burning your esophagus… “Careful, Anon. You’ll want to blow it first,” she chuckles, walking back to grab her own cup. Yeah. Thanks for the early warning, Scoots. Really fuckin’ helped. “So… she feels the same way about me, then?” She nods slowly. “I think this is the worst it’s been, though, from what I remember. She’s been like this before, but she’s NEVER actually lashed out at her friends for it, even when we all shared the same feelings,” she says. “I’m honestly pretty scared right now, Anon. I’m scared that she’ll try to hurt me in some way because of her feelings for you,” she looks up, and out the window, the Apple family’s farm sitting calmly through the trees, far away from the two of you. You take a slow sip, making sure not to burn your tongue again, before responding. “Scoots.” She jumps a bit at your sudden serious change of tone, and then turns her head to you. “Yes, Anon?” “If she tries something, anything at all, to hurt you or any other friend of hers, you come find me. Got it?” Her eyes widen. “Anon…?” “I won’t stand for my friends getting hurt because she doesn’t get her way. It’s wrong, and someone who treats their friends like that isn’t a friend of mine.” She sets her cup down on the floor, before leaping to embrace you on her bed, knocking you back. “Oh, thank you, Anon! Thank you so much! I won’t ever forget this!” “GAAAAAAHHHH!!” Hot cup of tea, plus lap, equals EXCRUCIATING PAIN. SO MANY HOT NEEDLES PIERCING EVERY CELL IN YOUR GENITAL REGION IS NOT A VERY PLEASANT FEELING. And, you don’t exactly have a lot of time to react, as the recent orange ball of fur has sent you tumbling back, smacking your head against the wall. “S-SCOOTS, NOW IS NOT THE TIME! PAIN, VERY MUCH PAIN!” Scootaloo immediately shoots up into the air, blushing heavily before realizing that she just spilled hot tea all over your pants. “Oh my gosh, Anon, I’m so sorry!” she exclaims, dropping down to the floor to help you. “I just… oh, it’s all over…” she mutters. “NO TIME. TURN AROUND, DON’T LOOK.” She jumps, and turns around, shielding her eyes. In one swift motion, all that heat is gone from your crotch region… “Ahh… much better…” Whew… that was WAY too close. You could have suffered permanent damage to your little Anons… …Okay, maybe not permanent, but still. “Anon? Is it safe to look now?” Scoots asks, still facing the other way. Well shit, you’re in a bit of a predicament. On one hand, you’ve ended all conversation with Scoots, and have your wang out in the open on her bed. On the other hand, you’ve got hot tea all up in your pants, and you are NOT going to go through that again. “No.” Going with option one. She lets out a groan, slumping down to the floor while looking the other way. “Sorry about that, Anon…” she mutters. “It’s okay, Scoots. Do you have something I can wipe this off with?” She shakes her head. “Not really… ponies don’t usually wear clothes like you do, so we don’t really have things to get that stuff out…” Shit. This isn’t good. “Damn… okay.” You slip your feet through the holes of your pants and underwear, taking off your jacket. Setting them aside, you wrap your jacket around your front, covering your crotch area temporarily. “Alright, it’s safe. I’m gonna set these out to cool off and dry, alright?” She nods, turning around. She eyes the pants and underwear, and then notices your jacket. “Need me to set them on a tree branch outside? Least I can do after… well, drenching you in hot tea,” she lets out an awkward chuckle. “That’d be great, thanks.” Handing them over to her, she quickly zips outside, out of sight. Whew… that was a close call. Good thinking with the jacket, Anon. Oh… my… gosh… You’re holding Anon’s pants. And his… …No! Scootaloo, you need to control yourself! But… he’s right in there; the only thing standing between you is a thin jacket covering his…! That’s it! You won’t wait any longer! Swerving up onto the roof, you set out his pants and underwear, giving each a long sniff in the crotch before bringing a hoof down between your hind legs, brushing it lightly along your opening a few times, causing you to pant lightly in anticipation. Alright… you’re ready. You’re doing this. Floating up into the air, you breathe in deep, and sigh, calming yourself. “It’s now or never!” Flying with speed that Rainbow Dash would be proud of, you make a loop around and burst into the tree house, the sight of Anon’s finely-toned buttocks too much for you to handle. With less grace than you would prefer, you crash into Anon a second time, slamming both of you into the wall this time, with enough force to knock both of you unconscious… Well… at least you tried… Author's Note Summer was merely a setback. Next chapter is the thrilling conclusion. ~Wuten
Climax - Chapter 14 (warning: non-consensual shenanigans)Chapter 14 - Climax Custom-composed music by Tyko, for atmosphere as you read this chapter... Also, a warning to those reading: non-consensual shenanigans ahead. Feel free to skip this if you don't want to stomach it. You awaken to being thrown rather forcefully down on the ground, jolting you awake. Jerking your head around, you’re still in the tree house, but— “Glad yer awake, Scootaloo,” you hear a female’s voice come from inside the tree house. Your eyes widen, and you slowly turn around to see Anon and Applebloom… on your bed. Anon is tied to the bedposts, with rope binding his mouth from speaking. And Applebloom, she’s… “I wanted ya t’ be awake t’ see that Anon loves me, an’ me only…” she growled, and it wasn’t until just now that you realized… Anon’s jacket has been strewn down to the floor like garbage, and his entire lower half is completely naked… This is your first time ever seeing Anon’s… ‘thing’, out in the open… or anyone’s ‘thing’, for that matter. He struggles against the bindings, and grunts out angrily in resistance, but you can’t understand a word he’s saying… Applebloom looks back to him. “Ah told ya, Anon… ya love me, ah know you do…” she whispers, lowering herself down against him, sliding against him. “Ya just don’t know it yet…” No, she’s… She’s going to do it…! Grunting, you try to stand on all four hooves, but it looks like you’re not all together yet… there’s nothing you can do… “Ooh, yer gettin’ bigger than ya were before?” she grins down at him, leaning her head down to his. No… she’s… You can’t even bear to look right now. Turning your head, you close your eyes tight. In the blackness, you hear Anon’s grunts of displeasure, contrasting Applebloom’s growls of pleasure at finally getting her prize after all this time… And then everything is silent. You hear a small shuffling of movement, and then Applebloom’s blissful cry of both pleasure and pain as she takes what you had been wanting all this time… All that working so hard to craft a relationship with Anon, to be ruined in this moment with Applebloom taking by force what you had wanted him to give… …No! No more! Applebloom’s gasps of bliss resonate through your head, fueling your will to make them stop… for good. Through sheer force of will, you manage to stand on all four hooves, your eyes now transfixed on the mare that had once been your best friend. “NO!” you let out your battle cry, startling Applebloom as you launch yourself at the two of them, slamming right into Applebloom’s side, causing her to topple over off the bed, the force of the blow smacking her head against the floor. There, her body twitches as unconsciousness takes her, her side visibly bruised from your charge. Landing on the bed, you take a few moments to collect yourself, slowing your breathing before letting out a heavy sigh, looking at the crumpled, unconscious mare that had been your friend all these years. Not after this stunt, though. This went way too far. With your voice quivering, your body visibly shaking, and your eyes fierce with anger, you growl out, “Consider our friendship over, Applebloom.” You huff in her general direction, before turning back to Anon, and his… …Oh wow, it DID get bigger than it was earlier… Looking up at him, you crawl up to his face, doing your best to work the rope off of his mouth. Pulling it away, he coughs off to the side, before looking up at you. “Th-thanks, Scoots…” he manages to get out, panting a bit. “I really owe you one for saving me like that…” You smile down at him, tears in your eyes before hugging his head. “No, Anon.” You lean back up, still smiling weakly down at him, before glancing briefly at Applebloom. “She was only able to get you first… because I was trying to beat her to it.” You straddle his waist with your hind legs, lowering yourself down against his shaft. You feel it twitch slightly under you, and it sends a shiver down your spine as to what you are about to do… His eyes widen when he realizes what you mean by that. “…Scoots, no. No, I don’t want this,” he begins to look around frantically. “Scoots, I know how you feel about me, but you don’t have to do this,” his voice cracks a bit. “Not you, Scoots. Please…” You shake your head, picking yourself up off of him and adjusting his shaft up against your second pair of lips. “I’m sorry, Anon. But I love you too much to hold myself back…” And with that, you drop yourself down onto his shaft, taking in every last bit of him, down to the very last inch. A shock of pain rockets through your body; he’s bigger than your body was ready to handle. Much bigger. But that always happens the first time, you remember from school. He’s unable to suppress a moan escaping his throat, and he grits his teeth as you continue to slowly gyrate yourself against him, looking down at his shaft, a few trickles of blood making their way down. You did it. You really did it… you’ve given him all of yourself, and now… “Don’t worry, Anon… I’ll make it feel good, I promise…” He turns his head to the side, his eyes clamped shut as he flings insults and curses everywhere, but you don’t care at this point. You’ve drowned out all sound from your hearing, and all that you can hear is his body speaking to yours… And his body is urging you further. The pain is starting to subside, now. With reinforced vigor, you bring yourself up to have just the tip of his length inside you, before slamming down once again, just like before. You let out a yelp of pain once again, but it’s not as bad as it was the first time. You can do this! Continuing the process, you gyrate your lower body against his, slowly dragging your way up the shaft and slamming down once again, sending shockwaves of ecstasy through you. Each time, the amount of pleasure caused by it numbs the pain more and more, until you feel something coming over you… It’s… it’s a real orgasm! Your body begins to shudder, but you’ve prepared yourself for this moment. Letting out a blissful cry, you slam yourself down to the hilt of his shaft, your insides clenching around it like a vice. You reel your body back, the feeling of a true orgasm overtaking you… Your head becomes woozy, and you collapse onto Anon’s chest, your juices coating his entire waist. “A… Anon, that was… amazing…” He doesn’t respond. You look up at him, and see he’s still looking to the side, brow furrowed, not meeting your gaze. “You still haven’t reached your limit yet, have you?” you smile, easing your body back up into the cowgirl position it was in before. “Well, don’t worry about that, Anon… Scootaloo’s gonna take good care of you.” You give him a sly wink, before beginning the thrusting once again. This time, there is no pain; your body has been able to adjust completely to his length distorting the natural shape of your inner walls, and all that remains is pure bliss with each time his shaft rockets against your cervix. “Mmmph, so good…” you let out moans of pleasure each time the feeling of fullness reaches your brain. But your cravings do not stop here… no, you want more… you need more… Leaning yourself down against Anon’s body, you begin to thrust your hips down against him, grinding for a second or two each time you slam down, making sure every last bit of him is enveloped into your warm insides. He’s stifling his moans and grunts now, you can tell from the way his throat moves and his mouth just barely breathes out air. Pressing your ear to his chest, you can hear the vibrations much more clearly. “You… like this, don’t you? It feels good?” You follow this up with a long, hard thrust down, completely enveloping him into you, and you hear it come not from his chest, but from his mouth itself. And it’s the most carnal thing your ears have ever heard. You know for a fact now that he’s enjoying it, even if he won’t admit it. With renewed vigor, you begin thrusting your hips down harder and faster onto him, leaving him no room to recover. You wanted him inside you. You got him inside you. And now you want one more thing… “Anon… I wanted to thank you, you know… for showing me kindness all those months ago…” You’re panting now, and you can tell he’s nearing his own limit as well. “Ever since then, I’ve been trying to make it up to you…” His fists are clenching against the ropes holding him, but they don’t budge. “And now, I… I think I’ve finally learned how to do it…” For the first time since the two of you started, his eyes open, and they look directly into yours. “I want to take you to the ends of Equestria, Anon… use my body to satisfy your every desire, your every craving… I will make you love me, and only me…” His eyes widen, and now that the initial tension of the beginning has passed, you hear him speak clearly to you. “Scootaloo… I will never love you.” You shake your head, thrusting even harder now. “No… you love me… I know you do…” Slamming your flank against him in one aggressive thrust, he lets out a loud grunt. “I love you, Anon…” You feel the same overwhelming feeling of pleasure begin to build up within you. “I love you…” Your body clenches tightly on Anon’s shaft; this time, he’s going to know you love him… “I love you!” You repeat that same mantra over and over, both aloud and in your head, as your second orgasm takes hold. “I LOVE YOU!” Taking in all of Anon once again, your insides clench even tighter against him than the first time. But, that’s not all that happens. Despite all his protest, all of his resistance, all of those things he was denying… Anon lets out a loud, pleasured moan, and thrusts his hips back up into you. And then you feel it. One, two three, four, five, six, seven… eight… He… he really did… Your insides are overcome with a feeling of pure warmth as you feel his juices mixing with yours, deep within your womb. Expending all of his seed inside you, Anon is panting heavily now, his body slumping back down onto the bed. “See, Anon…?” you place your front hooves on your lower belly, caressing it before him. “I feel them all inside me… it’s so warm…” He looks up at you, wide eyed, and then down at where the two of you are joined as one, before gritting his teeth and squinting his eyes closed, looking up at the ceiling. It must be a lot for him to take in. He’ll come around. Laying down on his chest, you fall asleep, his length still twitching inside your inner depths… It happened. Again. First, it was Applejack. You both tried making it work, but in the end neither of you were right for each other. Now, not only was it her sister, but her sister’s best friend— Well, former best friend, at this point, you suppose. Did you love her? Was your mind playing tricks on you all this time, and you just didn’t know? Maybe this is just how ponies show affection; not like you would know either way, you can’t remember your own childhood, wherever you came from... The whole “what happens behind closed doors” thing didn’t help either, and Cheerilee’s class on sex education, while a bit strange to be getting taught that from a friend of yours, wasn’t very specific on these sorts of things. One thing’s for sure, though; as far as you know, you didn’t want this. No matter what Scootaloo says, no matter what she believes, you didn’t want this. You don’t love her. …Right? You’re not getting out of here anytime soon, it looks like. With Scootaloo content with leaving you tied up here, and Apple Bloom knocked out, you’re stuck. What you wouldn’t give to have Rainbow Dash here. She’d know what to do… …Or anyone, for that matter. Looks like you’re on your own on this one. Exhaustion is taking you now, though… your body isn’t obeying your mind… As your eyes close, you let out a heavy sigh. “I’m so alone…” That’s all you mutter as exhaustive sleep overtakes you, the warmth of the mare’s body on your chest the only comfort you have against the cold night air. Author's Note And now, time to provide all of you with the original request's message, posted exactly one year ago today (October 30th, 2012): Link to the original post "Someone needs to do a story where Scootaloo rapes Anon. Broken and despondent, she falls madly in love with him when he is the only one who shows her kindness. Scootaloo becomes obsessed and when he begins to avoid her because of her perceived clingy attitude, her obsession and paranoia grows...fed by her developing lust and fear of abandonment. Terrified at the prospect of losing the only being to show her any kind of positive attention, Scootaloo succumbs to her paranoia and lust..." A delivery one year in the making, but a delivery nonetheless. For those who have followed this story since the beginning, I hope you've enjoyed the wild ride. Because we're not done yet... ~Wuten For those still mad, I direct you here.
