Anon in Canterlot 3

>Day 320 in Canterlot

>The sun is starting its great arc through the sky

>Get up

>Spend a little time making breakfast for once

>You've got time and besides, you're a Court Adviser now

>You can afford to be late once in a while

>Eat your breakfast and head out the door

>Thankfully there haven't been any incidents since the parasprite scare in Fillydelphia last month

>You've been doing more relaxed work since then; talking to delegates mostly, some internal affairs

>You look at the sky as you walk to the offices

>...oh fuck

>A pillar of smoke is rising from the direction of the Gardens

>The messenger stone in your pocket starts buzzing like crazy

>Take it out and read the scroll that appears from it

>Oh good, the scroll says that Canterlot isn't on fire

>The smoke is just from a sleeping dragon

>Good

>Close call

>...

>Wait...

>You look at the scroll again

>”sleeping dragon”

>Yep

>That's what it says...

>Fuck

1/x

 

>Garnet Locket and Crystalbright are sitting in their offices when you rush by

>”Hey Anon, what's the rush?” Garnet pokes her head out of her door

Can't talk right now, Garnet, I've got something I need to handle right now

>You speed-walk through the offices to the conference rooms

>Like motherfucking deja-vu, it's Celestia and Luna with a couple other Advisers

>This has long day smeared all over it

>”Thank you all for coming on such short notice.” Celestia begins

>”As I stated in my letters, we've received reports of a dragon sleeping in the mountains near Ponyville”

>The Advisers start talking with one another

>”In response, I've sent my student Twilight Sparkle to handle the situation peaceably”

>What

>”Of course, should she fail to move the dragon someplace else, we'll be forced to take more... drastic measures”

>The Princess's tone drops to an unsettling grimness

>Twilight had better know what she's doing

>An Adviser speaks up

>”How can we entrust this to a filly?”

>Celestia looks around the room

>No one looks sure about this

>”Twilight Sparkle will come through. However, we also have to plan for a worst-case scenario”

>She opens the floor up for debate

2/x

 

>The Advisers talk for the next hour before deciding that, should Twilight Sparkle fail, a back-up plan will begin

>You all agree that the best course of action in that case is to send a brigade of unicorns out to subdue and transport the dragon to a different location

>The dragon will no doubt be enraged, which would put the ponies on the team in danger as well as incur the possible wrath of the dragons as a whole

>You figure that Equestria is probably not well-suited for fighting an army of dragons...

>However, there won't be much choice should Twilight fail

>100 years of smoke over Equestria is not ideal for a kingdom whose greatest resource is agriculture

>The meeting concludes and you head back to your office

>Crystalbright sticks her head out of her office door

>”Hey Anon, how'd your meeting go?”

It went, I guess. The Princess sent Twilight to deal with the dragon. We just had to come up with a back-up plan

>”Ah, let me know when you need those papers” You've noticed her tone towards you get a lot more businesslike in the past weeks

>It's your own fault, you haven't been spending nearly as much time her as you used to

>You've only been hanging out with her when it's you, Crystalbright, and Garnet together

>There just hasn't been that much time to spend with only one of your bros, between work and Octavia...

Hey Crystalbright?

>She pokes her head out again

>”Yeah?”

You want to come by later tonight for booze and movies?

>She perks up. You haven't done this with your bro in a while and it shows

>”If you change it up to movies and booze, I'm in”

>Good

3/x

 

>Your thoughts drift back to Octavia after you go back to your office

>A month ago you had that dinner with her

>Things sort of just happened after that

>You were an item before you knew it

>Crystalbright congratulated you, but it felt half-hearted

>Garnet went crazy with excitement when you told her

>An hour of questions later and she was still bouncing off the walls

>Apparently inter-species relations, while uncommon, are kosher here

>You shudder involuntarily

>As much as you enjoy spending time with Octavia...

>As many feels as come up when you spend time with Octavia...

>You don't like the idea of...well...

>Guh, you can't even carry the notion

>Oh well. You'll figure that problem out when you come to it

>...And hopefully that'll be a while...

>...A long while...

>...Shit...

4/x

>You put your thoughts back to your job

>No time to think about shit like this

>The rest of the day is spent worrying

>Worrying about the dragon

>Worrying about Octavia and you

>Worrying about how much you're worrying

>5 o'clock can't come fast enough

>You're out the door as soon as the clock chimes

>You head home to get dinner

>At least your bro Crystalbright's coming over tonight

>Movies and booze will put your mind at ease

>You eat your food and look through your movie collection

>8 o'clock you hear a knock at the door

>Crystalbright comes in with a bag of Applejack Daniels bottles

>”Let's do this!” She looks enthusiastic

>You're glad

>You were beginning to think you'd fucked up somehow

>The two of you vault over the back of the couch and throw a movie on the TV

>Crystalbright opens the first bottle of Applejack Daniels

>The night is on

>And you are gonna get DRUNK

5/x

 

>By the time the second movie is over the fourth bottle is empty

>”Do you really like Octavia?”

>Crystalbright's voice is quiet

>Your drunk ass barely hears her

>She looks at you as the credits roll by

>”Anon? Do you really like Octavia?”

>Where's this coming from?

>”Hey! I'm asking you something, Anon!”

What? Yeah, of course I do.

>You don't even need to think about it

>Dat pone

>You see Crystalbright look down at the floor

She's...my special somep0ny

>Crystalbright winces like you've cut her with a knife

>She slowly gets down off the couch and starts walking to the door

>”It's getting late...I should go...”

>You look at the clock

>It's only 11...

>You turn around as the door closes

>Well there goes your buzz

>Now you KNOW you fucked up

>You look over at the bottles of booze left in the bag

>'Later, old friends. We have work tomorrow'

>You go to bed, disheartened

6/x

 

>Crystalbright doesn't come to work the next day

>Garnet says she came down with something

>You know she's avoiding running into you

>You slog through the day unenthusiastically until deciding to just leave around 3

>Garnet looks at you, concerned, but you assure her that you're fine

>Crystalbright's behavior doesn't make sense to you at all

>She's supposed to be your bro

>Shouldn't she be happy for you?

>Garnet was ecstatic when she heard the news

>Aquamarine gave you a high-hoof the second you mentioned it

>But Crystalbright?

>She barely managed to look up at you when you told the two of them about Octavia

>What was her problem?

>Walking down the street it hits you

>oh

>OH

>FUCK

>You're an idiot

>Your oblivious ass didn't see the reasons for any of that

>”She's in love with you”

>You whip around to see Garnet friggin' Locket standing behind you with a deadpan look on her face

How did- but you were- wait. You KNEW?

>”Anon, I've been that pony's best friend since we got our cutie marks. I knew longer than SHE did.”

>She sure is perceptive behind that facade of fan-madness and bubbly optimism

7/x

 

>Garnet looks at you with knowing eyes

So what am I supposed to do now?

>You're good in a crisis, but can't handle THIS? The hell is the matter with you?

>'Shut up, Brain. Not the time'

>She looks at you like you're stupid, which, to be fair, you are right now

>”You gotta follow how you feel, Anon”

>Great. Follow your heart? That's not cliché in the slightest

>You think about your bro. You think about staying up late watching movies and getting drunk

>You think about how she helped you save Canterlot from certain chaos

>Your bro means everything to you

>But your heart's not in it

>She's your bro. Nothing more, nothing less

>But Octavia...

>datdamnfeel.gif

>You can't shake it

>You look at Garnet after a minute

>She nods and walks away without saying a word

>She understands. Doesn't hold it against you

>You're not sure you'll be able to say the same for Crystalbright

>Look up at the sky

>Decide to get a late lunch at the cafe

>Gotta get your mind off this

8/x

 

>You take a seat at the counter and order your food

>'Any chance you'll let me do this later, Brain?'

>LOL nope. You fucked up with Crystalbright and you're fucked up with Octavia

>'Dammit, you're a dick, Brain'

>You're welcome

>'Fuck you'

>Your food comes out as you're mulling over the last couple days

>When did your life turn back into high school?

>Now one of your best friends is on the drama-train to shitsville

>”Something wrong, Anon?”

>It's Aquamarine.

>Confound these ponies, they show up out of nowhere

>”Garnet said you'd be here”

I figured. I guess you heard then?

>”About Crystalbright? Yeah, Garnet brought me up to speed.”

>The turquoise pony sits in silence for a second

>”So what are you gonna do?”

>That's a good question.

>”You can't just avoid each other forever,  Anon. Some point you're gonna have to talk about it”

I know. I know how Crystalbright feels, but-

>”But you've got to think about Octavia. Not to mention YOUR feelings”

>Your feelings

>She's right, you know. As much as it's going to hurt Crystalbright, you've got to go with your feels

>And your feels are all Octavia

9/x

 

>You've made your choice. This isn't some movie, it's real life

>You can't just throw your feelings for Octavia out when your best friend drops her own on you

>”We get it, Anon.” She puts her hoof on your shoulder

>”But you're gonna have to confront this with Crystalbright at some point”

I will, Aqua.

>You will

>Well? You gonna wait around or are you doing this now?

>'Shut up, Brain'

>Drop your money on the counter and get up

>”She's at her house”

Got it

>You start out the door

Oh, and Aqua?

>”Yeah?”

Thanks

>You walk to Crystalbright's house determined to set things right

>Your friends have always been there for you

>They helped you when you needed them most

>Time to return the favor, at least to one of them

10/x

 

>As you make your way to your friend's house your mind sets to thinking about what's happened

>You've known Crystalbright and the others for almost a whole year now

>They were the first ponies to accept you after Celestia put you on Emerald's team

>Your first friends in Equestria

>You thought you had a good thing going

>Looking back, it's obvious

>The late night movies, the teasing comments, the “always there for you” attitude

>Your stupid ass just didn't see it

>Didn't want to see it

>So much for that “insight” Celestia always said you possessed

>It couldn't have helped that you so readily started seeing Octavia

>No wonder her congratulations were so unenthusiastic

>Dammit, you're an asshole for not seeing it earlier!

>But it's too late now

>You're not about to break it off with Octavia

>Just have to talk to Crystalbright and get everything out in the open

>Then you can move past this and get on with your life

>...hopefully

11/x

 

>Crystalbright doesn't answer the door the first time you knock

>You just hear shuffling until you knock again

>The door opens slowly

>Crystalbright looks like she's been up all night

>Her eyes go wide when she sees you

>”A-anon?”

Mind if I come in?

>She nods silently as she opens the door the rest of the way

>You walk in and look around the room

>”Was there something you wanted, Anon?”

>Ok, showtime, Anon

>Just say what you were going to say on the way over here

>Relax, and for the love of Celestia don't screw this up

I want to know how you feel about me

>You could cut the tension with  a knife

>It takes Crystalbright a second to respond

>”I- what-” She sighs

>”I guess it's out in the open now, huh?”

>She walks over to a chair and takes a seat

Garnet and Aquamarine put it together for me

>She looks down

I'm sorry I didn't see it earlier, Crystalbright, if I'd known...

>You look at her. She's looking at you with hopeful eyes

>Hoping against hope. You can see that much

...If I'd known your feelings earlier things might have been different

>Her face falls as you go on

But I just can't...

>Hope you're ready to dig yourself out of this hole

12/x

 

>Your friend has such a pained expression on her face

>You're just confirming what you both know, but that can't make it hurt less to hear

>The two of you talk for a solid hour

>When you've finished you get up to leave

>Best not stick around too long; she'll need time...

>As you walk to the door you hear her ask

>”Anon... If it WERE different, if I'd told you earlier...do you think...”

Crystalbright...we both know I can't give you an answer to that

>You leave the house

>As you close the door you hear Crystalbright begin softly sobbing

>That's not going to make the walk home any easier...

>You start thinking about Octavia again

>Did you do the right thing?

>Of course you did

>What are you even asking?

>Octavia means too much...

>Your heart knots thinking about it

>Wait...

>Access feels.rar

>Analyzing files...

>You're in love with Octavia aren't you

>Your jimmies are rustled

13/x

 

>You feel a sudden motivation

>Start walking purposefully to Octavia's house

>It's 5 o'clock, so she'll be getting out of her practice session about now

>The streets seem a blur to you as you move through them

>You've got your mind focused on one thing only

>Getting to Octavia before your courage wears off

>You come up to her house as she's walking there herself

Octavia!

>She turns, surprised to hear your yelling

>”Anon? What are you doing here? Don't you have wor-

>She cuts herself off as you scoop her up from the ground

>The gray pony looks at you in confusion as her face turns red

>You look her right in her lavender eyes as you bring her closer to you

I love you

>Ok, NOW her face is red

>”Wh-where's this coming from?”

>Were it not for that smile on her face you'd be worried. But you can see how happy Octavia is right now

I got to some thinking today is all. Made me realize how much you mean to me

>She closes her eyes, still smiling in your arms

>”...I love you too, Anon”

>You stand there holding Octavia in your arms for a while in contented silence

>Maybe now everything will be okay?

End