AlaskanAnon in equestria ch. 12

>Consciousness comes to you slowly, like a diver making pauses in his ascent so he doesn't get the bends

>Nope, still dark out

>You don't want to wake up

>You want to sleep

>You're comfortable

>You detect another being making its way under your blankets

>...You could be warmer

>Still more asleep than awake, you wrap your arms around the warm, soft being and pull it close

>It releases a faint, satisfied sigh and cuddles up to you

>The sweet, sweet embrace of sleep envelopes you once again...

 

 

 

>The next time you wake up, you don't remember the night's incident

>You once again come slowly to consciousness

>There's something in your arms

>It's warm

>And incredibly soft

>And breathing...

>You open your eyes

>Purple

>Purple is all you can see

>...what

>Slowly, carefully, you reach up and feel the object attached to your face

>It's Twilight Sparkle

>Her rear hooves are hooked around your torso, just under your armpits

>And her front hooves are wrapped around the back of your head

>Her own head rests directly on top of yours

>...Well, if she didn't smell like you before, she definitely does now

>You had suspected SOMETHING would happen last night

>But nothing quite as crazy as this...

 

 

>YOu sit up, sill confirming the position of the purple mare

>This would be pretty fucking adorable if she was wrapped around someone else's noggin

>YOu can even imagine the smile that surely occupies her face right now

>It is at this moment that your inquisitive hands wake Twilight up

>"zzzzzzhuh?  ha ha, that tickles"

>You feel her head shift up, then pan about

>"Anonymous?  Anonymous, where are you?"

>The irony is killing you

ppppphhhhhrrrrrtttttt

>What the hell?

>Twilight shudders a bit with contained snickers

>If she wasn't awake then, she most certainly is now

>"HAAAH!  What -hee hee- what is that?"

pppprrhsshphspshsphpsh

>The fuck?

>This sends her into full on convulsions of laughter

>She peels off your face and falls backwards onto your outstretched out legs, kicking her hooves in the air

>You take it back

>That, right there

>...THAT's fucking adorable

>It now dawns on you what happened

>In trying to talk, you just gave her a pair of gigantic raspberries

 

 

>When her mirth has died down, you speak

Good morning

>She opens her eyes and notices you for the first time today

>"Oh, good morning Anonymous!"

Are you alright?

>"I... Yes, I -hee hee!- I think I'm good now..."

Great

>You fidget a bit

Would you mind getting off my legs?  I need to piss

>"I-hmmm?  Oh.  Oh, yes..."

>She rolls over off your legs, then slowly gets to her hooves

>You quickly flip the blanket off your feet

>...Your pants are still on, zipper still up

>Thank god

Immediately, grab your glasses and stick them on your face

>Sliding over to your boots and yanking them on, you stumble out the tent door

>You have to piss

 

 

>You come back inside considerably more alert, the cold, crisp air having burnt off your sleepy haze

>You quickly grab the rest of your regular attire and throw it on

>While you stoke the fire, Twilight goes outside to take care of her own bodily needs

>...Well, at least you know what your first objective for the day is

>You've got enough firewood to bank the fire for now

>But not enough for tonight

>Or tomorrow

>You persist in stoking the fire with your current supply, then move on to breakfast

>Today, you decide, the both of you will eat oatmeal

 

 

>Twilight comes back inside looking a little more refreshed

>You would ask her why she decided to make like a facehugger

>But then she probably didn't do so consciously

>She certainly told you she had no memory of how she ended up on top of your chest the last time

>So you're going to let it slide for now

>You retrieve a pot and hold it out to Twilight

Can you go fill this with snow?

>She seems glad for an excuse to get out of the tent

>"Yes"

>While she's occupied, you pull out all the necessary supplies for oatmeal

 

 

>Over breakfast, you decide to broach the subject of what to do for the day

So, did you have any plans for the day?

>Twilight Swallows her mouthful of oatmeal before replying

>"Well, no..."

>Good

Would you like to help me gather firewood?

>"I would love to"

Thanks.  We can get started after breakfast is done

>You go back to your oatmeal

>Today will be a good day

 

 

>When breakfast is done Twilight offers to do the dishes

>You oblige her and give her the soap

>While she scrubs with her magic you don your cold weather gear in preparation

>Snowpants, boots, jacket, gloves, all that good stuff

>You're putting your cloak on when Twilight finishes up

>While she puts on her own snow shoes you go briefly to the stove

>You pick up the thermos from yesterday and tuck it into your cloak

>Best to have something warm to drink while you're out in the cold

>For that matter, you may as well pack a lunch that's more than bread and cheese

Ready?

>"Ready"

Let's go then

>You push out the tent flap, Twilight close behind you

>Then you turn around and fasten it shut

>While Twilight looks on you pull out your shovel and bury the door

>Except for a small open spot next to the hedge to allow the fire inside to breathe

>Perfect

>Now no one will be able to find your tent while you're away

 

 

>After retrieving a few choice items from your stashes, you head out for the day

>Your initial search for dead, dry firewood depleted the hedges in a fair circle around your camp

>As a result you must trek deep into the maze in order to find more

>The walk is taking a while

>You would pop your head up and check to see if anyone's coming to the hedge maze

>But the snowfall is heavy enough that trying to see someone at that distance is pointless, even with binoculars

So, how do you want to do this?

>"Hmm?"

>Twilight is concentrating on walking in her snow shoes

>She's doing better than she was yesterday

>But she still walks almost painfully slow

Do you want to cut the wood, or load it into the cloak?

>"I'll do the loading!"

Sounds good

>Twilight eyes you curiously

>"So, how exactly DO you cut wood?"

I have an axe and a hatchet.  There's a bow saw in my truck too, but I forgot to grab that...

>You could tell her about your chainsaw, but you don't particularly feel up to answering a bunch of questions at the moment

 

 

>Now it's your turn

Twilight, do you mind if I ask a question?

>"Not at all.  Go ahead"

Is... storage expansion magic like this

>you flare out your cloak a bit

Common?

>"No, magic of that quality and worksp0nyship isn't common at all.  It probably helps that it was Rarity and I that created it, but even so, under normal circumstances it would have taken us a week or more."

>Well, that's good to know if you ever need a randomly generated magical artifact lickety-split

So, do you have any idea how much room is actually in there?  Or what happens if I exceed that limit?

 

 

>"Well, from what I felt when I was examining it, you should have about 20 to 30 square feet in there"

>This is good to know

>You should have enough room for firewood

>"I would like to examine it more thoroughly though"

>She looks up at you with apprehension in here eyes

>"Can I?"

>You chuckle a bit

>You won't have much to do after the fire wood is in anyway

Sure Twilight, why not

>"Yes!" she says triumphantly

Glad you're so enthusiastic

>The conversation peters off into silence

 

 

>Finally

>Here you are

>This is about as far as you got looking for wood last time

>Now you can start looking again

>You remove a hatchet and an axe from your cloak

>Then you take off the cloak itself and hold it out to Twilight, who takes with surprising reverence in her hooves and begins looking it over once more

>It turns the same purple it did last time

>It'll be her job to put the wood inside once you've chopped it out of the hedge

>You dig out a patch of snow down to the frozen ground

>Today, this will be your chopping block

>You press into the hedge, looking for the telltale orange needles of a dead branch

>Having located one, you separate it from the main column with a swing of your hatchet

>Your axe blade sings through the air as you chop it into chunks that will fit inside the stove

>Twilight takes each chunk when you finish and places it inside the cloak

>And so, you pass away the morning

 

 

Well, that should about do it

>You say to Twilight as you pick up your cloak after a modest lunch

Ready to head back?

>"Ready"

Good.  You go on ahead.  I need to... ah, take care of some business

>Twilight nods understandingly and trots off around the corner, leaving you to piss in peace

>So you unzip your layers and do exactly that...

>Until you hear talking

>"You really should get out of here, I think there's a monster about"

>You finish and zip up your fly

>There shouldn't be anyone in this maze but you and Twilight

>Right?

>You peer over the side of the hedge

>There's The purple mare herself

>And there's...

>A female guardsp0ny?

>The fuck?

>What reason would a guardsp0ny have to be in t-

>Oh

>Anonymous, you idiot

>If you hadn't been so busy thinking about how hungry you were last night

>You might have realized that taking one of the apparently-important "Elements of Harmony" into your shelter might prompt a search

>You turn your attention back to the scene in front of you

 

 

>The guardsp0ny is is too busy staring at your friend to notice you peering over the hedge

>Blushing just like Twilight, for some reason

>"Please come with me Miss Sparkle.  The Pr-"

>When she gets within 10 feet of Twilight, she staggers

>But then she recovers, and resumes her stride,a new glint in her eye

>The guardsmare walks right up to Twilight and puts her hoof under Twilight's jaw

>"Oh, I've got plans for you..."

>What

>The

>Fuck

>Are your pheromones really that powerful?

>You don't like that tone of voice

>And evidently neither does Twilight

>"Gee, I sure hope that MONSTER doesn't come back for me!" she shouts, glancing frantically over her shoulder

>Oh you clever mare

>You pull down your goggles and wrap up your scarf

>Time for some fun

 

 

>You back up a bit for a running start

>Then you vault over the hedge, landing in the snow with a muffled thump

WRYYYYYYYYYYY!

>Unleashing your bone chilling shriek, you charge the hapless guardsp0ny

>Who promptly manages an about face and tries to run

>Too little, too late

>You cannonball into her and, with a grunt, launch her through the opposite hedge

>A second later, you hear the clunk of armor hitting armor

>"OW!  Where the hay did you come from?"

>"Doesn't matter!  Run!"

>Then the sound of hooves as your target ushers her companion off into the distance

>You rise slightly from the crouch your charge left you in

>Then you pull down your scarf and grin at Twilight

That monster-y enough for you?

>"It did work..."

We'd better get back to the tent

>"Really?"

Yeah.  This maze is probably full of guardsp0nies, and that tent's my best hiding spot

 

 

>You're a quarter of the way back to the tent when you hear shouting approaching your position

>"Come on Bolt!  We only want to have some fun!"

>"Yeah Bolt!  We're not going to hurt you..."

>You turn and begin to rise as Sunny Sky the guardsp0ny comes hurtling around the corner

>"Run you fools!" he yells at you

>You get to your feet and opt to follow his advice

>You can scare off one gauardsp0ny without too much trouble

>But the more you're seen the more likely they are to report you the princess

>You head off at a slow jog

>Neither Sunny Sky nor the mares pursuing him are going very fast through the deep snow

>Twilight gets up and tries to run as well

>She goes about as fast as Sunny Sky

>If you felt like it you could run way out ahead of both of them

>But you wouldn't do that

>You don't leave friends behind

>Instead, you pull up next to Sunny Sky

>And issue directions

>You know just the place to lose these mares

 

 

>Two jinks, a loop, and a double back later, and you duck down below the hedge line

Be very quiet

>You whisper to a panting Sunny Sky

>You strain your ears and listen carefully

>You can hear the persistent mares approaching the intersection

>You're around a corner off the right branch of the intersection, hopefully blocked from sight

>The mares thunder straight through the intersection and into a different part of the hedge maze

>You sigh with relief, and sit down next to the hedge

Hey Bolt, how's it going?

>"Oh, I'm just peachy"

Glad to hear it

>Sunny Sky pants a bit before his next vocalization

>"I don't know what the hay you did Anonymous, but every guardsmare in this maze is going head over flank for the nearest stallion"

>Oh, of course

That probably has something to do with my exploring this entire thing over the past few days...

>"You mean you spread your pheromones all over this maze?" asks Twilight incredulously

Yep.  

>You turn back to sunny Sky

So I'm guessing Celestia ordered the castle grounds searched once Twilight here didn't come back from her own little crusade?

>"Yes.  And she reminded us to keep an eye out for everyp0ny's favorite human too"

Just as I suspected

 

 

>"Twilight Sparkle, what possessed you to stay out here in the maze?"

>She shoots you a guilty glance

>"I-well, it's... complicated..."

It's because if she goes back to that castle she'll be the princess of love

>"WHAT?"

>Sunny Sky looks at you like you've got a dick growing out of your forehead

What what?  It's true.  Even the mares want her

>You can't help but laugh, just a little

>If Sunny Sky looked anymore confused his eyebrows would merge

>And you're fairly sure you could roast marshmallows on Twilight's face if you had some

I kid, I kid... Sunny Sky, do you know what pheromones are?

>"Vaguely"

For our purposes, pheromones are chemicals you emit into the air that play a part in your interaction with others

>You look over to Twilight, who manages a nod

Apparently, when estrus is on my pheromones tell all the females on this goddamn planet that I'm Celestia's gift to mares, come and get it!

>You look over to Twilight, who manages another nod

>"We've already been over this part..."

Yeah, you've seen it in action.  Twilight is here with me now because I had to snatch her last night in order to keep her from revealing my hiding spot to the rest of our friends, and in the process I literally covered her in my pheromones.  

>You pause and scratch the back of your neck

That answer your question?

>"Yeah..."

Good

 

 

>You start to get back up to your feet

You should probably get out of this maze before you become a father

>"You're right.  But what will you do?"

Hey, you remember my tent.  Ain't no one gonna find that thing

>"Fair enough"

>Sunny Sky turns to leave, heading for the passage

>Then he pauses, and turns his head back

>"So, what will you do when all this blows over?"

Oh, don't worry

>You give a winning smile

I'm sure we'll think of something

>"Well, good luck to you then"

>And with that he turns and heads off through the hedge

>You turn to Twilight

Come on Twilight, we need to get back to the tent

>"let's go!"

Atta mare

>You slowly lead Twilight off through the hedges, wary of the slightest noises

 

 

>Avoiding the guardsp0nies on your way back to the tent proves easier than expected

>Stallions you can hear coming a mile away because of the mares trailing them

>And the mares not trailing stallions tend to talk rather... loudly about what they'll do once they get their hooves on one

>...Twilight avoids looking at you when you pass those particular mares

>You don't blame her

>There are a few times when you have to press through the hedge and into the next row to avoid being seen

>But by and large you remain unseen

>Your stealth, however, vastly slows down your rate of travel

>The sun is just setting when you finally make it back to familiar clearing that houses your disguised tent

 

 

What do you want for dinner?

>You ask Twilight as you shovel away the snow blocking the tent door

>"I'll have whatever you care to dig out"

Alright

>With the door finally clear, you let Twilight inside

>Then you go out to your food stores

>You collect a variety of fruit and vegetables, along with some bread and a little cheese

>Then you fill a pot with snow for water later

>There is the matter of maintaining the tent disguise

>The color of the tent itself doesn't exactly blend with the snow

>And you can't bury the door from the inside

>What does blend with the snow is your cloak

>quite well, actually

>So you remove it and hang it over the doorway of the tent

>There

>Much better

 

 

>You sweep your cloak aside and enter the tent

>Twilight has her snowshoes off and is sitting on her blankets by the stove

>You sit down and begin removing your own snow shoes, setting the sack of food and snow filled pot beside yourself

>Twilight goes immediately to the sack

Hungry?

>"Very"

I'm going to make soup

>You say, gesturing to the pot

Could you set that on the stove while I get these off?

>"Certainly"

>She levitates the pot over to the stove

>When you finally have the rest of your gear off, you reach up and light the lantern hanging from the ceiling

>Then you go to the door and open it

>Extracting a few sticks of firewood from the cloak, you go to the stove

>"Why is your cloak over the doorway?"

Disguise.  I can't bury the tent from the inside

>"Clever"

>Inside the stove is a nice bed of coals

>Good

>Coals are smokeless

>You feed the sticks to the coals

>Gotta keep the fire going for the night

 

 

>After stoking the fire, you check the pot

>Seeing that the snow is melted, you retrieve your ingredients and chunk them up

>Then dump them all in the pot

>While the soup simmers, you make a terrifying realization!

>You have the rest of the night ahead of you

>And nothing to do with it

>You can see the same thoughts passing through Twilight's head

So Twilight, what sort of tabletop games do you have in Equestria?

>"That's a rather broad question.  We have a great variety of board games; trouble, hooves and ladders, oligarchy-"

Do you have Chess?

>"I don't think we do"

Well, since we've got all this time on our hands

>You say, gesturing to the tent in general

Would you like to play a few games with me?  I can teach you how to play

>"Sure, I'd love to learn a new game"

 

 

>You first go over to your cloak, and extract the small camping table, setting it up in front of Twilight

>Then you pull out most of your ammo boxes and stack them on top of it

>Hey, there's something you can do tomorrow

>You can load up all the .45 mags

>Anyway, Chess now

Chess is played on a checkered grid of one inch squares, 8x8

>You begin to explain, removing a sharpie from your pocket

>You pick up one of the ammo cans on the table, intending to use it as a straight edge to draw a chess grid

>But when you go to write on the table Twilight gasps

>"No!"

What?

>"You don't have to draw on the table!  Here"

>Her horn lights up, and an 8x8 purple grid appears a few inches above the table

>It's even checkered darker and lighter purple

>You whistle a bit

Impressive

>Her blush goes down a few shades of red

>"This is nothing compared to what my brother can do..."

Yeah, and I can't do it at all.  That's fucking amazing Twilight

>"Well, thank you"

>You turn to the ammo cans

Anyway, chess is played with 32 pieces; 16 pieces per player.  I don't have a chess set with me, so these will have to use these instead

 

 

 

>From the ammo boxes you withdraw 8 regular and 8 handloaded .45 cartridges, 4 Rainbow Dash, AppleJack and Rarity shells, and two Twilight Sparkle and standard slug shells

>Then you begin setting them out on the board

There are six types of chess pieces: pawns, castles, knights, bishops, kings, and queens.  Each player gets 8 pawns, a king and a queen, and 2 of everything else.

Each piece has its own unique way of moving about the board and eliminating other pieces; the ultimate objective in of the game is to capture

>You hold up a slug shell

your opponent's king before he captures your own.  Make sense so far?

>She looks at you with eyes hungry for knowledge, for distraction

>"Yes"

>You quickly finish setting up the board

>Your pawns are regular .45 cartridges; Twilight's pawns are the handloads

>You use the Rainbow Dash shells for castles, the AppleJack shells for the knights, the Rarity shells for bishops, the Twilight Sparkle shells for queens and the slug shells for kings

>You differentiate your shells from hers by having your shells sit on their bases and hers sit with their bases up

>You pick up one of your .45 cartridges

Now, this is the pawn, widely considered the weakest of all the pieces.  It can only move forward, towards your opponent's side of the board, and even then only one square at a time, unless it's turn one...

 

 

...And that's how the king moves.  

>You set the slug shell in its place on the board, then lean back and stretch your arms

If you have any questions, I would request you ask me over dinner, 'cause I think it's almost done

>Twilight nods to you

>Then she lowers her spectral chess board down to the table

>And keeps going right through it, the pieces on top sitting on the table in perfect formation

That's pretty slick

>You get up and head over to the cloak

>And soon enough you're both blowing on bowls of hot soup

>"So what's the history of chess?  And why did you bring it up?"

>Those are fair questions

Well, chess has been played and debated over for hundreds of years all over my world.  We still don't quite know exactly who invented it.  

>You pause to consume some of your soup

I brought it up because I enjoy a good game on occasion, and I figured you'd like this sort of thing

>"Hmmm.  Well, you're right there; it looks like a very interesting game indeed"

>The conversation peters off as you both quickly finish your dinner

>When the dishes are done and put away, you motion Twilight over to the table once again

Ready?

>"Ready"

>She brings the chess board back up

 

 

>Five games later, and you're ready to go to bed

>Twilight's a quick study

>She lost her first few games

>But the fourth she almost had you

>And she did win the fifth

Well, that was a good game

>You yawn for emphasis

But I think it's about time for bed

>Twilight yawns with you

>"Bed sounds good right about now"

>Twilight helps you put the chess pieces and table back in your cloak

>You withdraw wood with which to bank the fire for the night

 

 

>"Oh pegasus feathers" says Twilight as you're turning off the lamp

What's the problem?

>"My blankets are wet"

ALL of them?

>You ask as you crawl into your bed

>"Yes..."

Well, hang them up in front of the stove

>You consider your options while she does as you ask

>Finally, she finishes

>You've made your decision

>As she walks dejectedly back over to her bare sleeping pad, you call out to her

Come here

>She turns to you

>"W-what?"

>You hold up the edge of your own blankets invitingly

>Twilight is floored

>"B-but I thought you didn't want...."

I... well, it's a lot to take in, alright?

>She numbly nods

But it gets cold at night, especially now that I have to keep the fire low.  So come here

>She takes half a step towards you, then stops

>"you do remember this morning, right?  N-not that I don't want to or anything, I-I just-"

Twilight, I know from experience you're going to end up in this bed one way or another

>You grin at her

This way you don't have to get cold in the process

 

 

>Twilight's sold

>She trots over to your bed, carrying her still dry pillow, and makes her way beneath your blankets

>You obligingly slide over and make room for her

>A hoof brushes against you, and is then quickly withdrawn

>She places her pillow under her head and rolls over, facing away from you

>The compulsion must be intense

Good night Twilight

>"Good night Anonymous"

>A few minutes later, a snore to your left tells you Twilight has finally gone to sleep

>And you're not far away yourself...

>Until a warm body snuggles up to you, pressing into the crook of your own

>...You can't place it

>But all this is eerily familiar

>This isn't so bad

>Having the extra warmth and all

 

 

>You're just on the brink of closing your eyes when the form next to you suddenly tenses

>Then it starts to push away from you

>"OhCelestiaI'msosorryAnonymousIdidn'tmeantodothisI'msorryI'msorryI'm-"

>You really want to be sleeping right now

>So you do the first thing that comes to your near-comatose mind

>You reach up and take the surprised purple mare's face in your hands

sssshhh Twilight

>You mumble

>She immediately ceases her struggles

>"b-b-b-but you-"

Relax.  You'll end up doing this again the minute you fall asleep anyway

>"Y-you mean I can-"

Yes.  It's okay.  Go ahead, so we can both get some sleep

>All at once, Twilight's tenseness melts away

>She presses back up against you

>"could... could you..."

>Sure, why not

>You wrap your arms around her, and she gives a little sigh

>Now you can finally get some sleep...