Savage Anon (Part 2)

>Anon is mumbling more syllables to another namby-pamby story book one night

>Suddenly, a knock on the cabin door

>He closes the book quietly, and then puts it on the bookshelf very gently

>He tiptoes over to the door, and grabs his sword from the weapon rack

>He walks over to the door, and making sure to hide the sword from view, opens it a crack

>He looks down, and sees a certain baby dragon

"Hi Anon!" Says spike

>Anon looks out into the night as best he can through the crack

"Spike, it's very very late at night. What are you doing here?"

>He looks up at you and holds out a scroll

"I don't know, I just woke up tonight with this scroll for you. I guess Celestia wants this done in secret? She could just go for a regular courier and not interrupt my sleepy time..."

>While spike complains, Anon keeps looking out into the night

>Somethings not right here

>Anon stepped back and closed the door, unhooked the chains, and then opened the door

>He invited spike inside

>Once inside, he closes the door and locks it behind spike

>Some of the deadbolts are too high for Spike to reach

>Spike seems to notice this, and then notices Anon's sword in his hand

"uhh- Anon. What are you doing..?" Spike says, a hint of fear in his voice

 

>Anon turns around and looks at him

>Spike knows these are the eyes of a killer

"Spike. What was the first thing I said to you?"

>Spike shivers and gulps, then seems to be lost in thought for a second before answering

"I could make a fine pair of boots from you..?"

>Anon immediately smiles and relaxes.

"ha ha. Thank goodness Spike, I thought you were a changeling. You scared me."

"You're telling me..." Spike said, placing his scaly hand on his heart to feel his draconic heartbeat

>Anon asked for the scroll and Spike gave it up

>Anon read the scroll.

"Oh. Well than."

"What? What is it? What does it say?"

 

>Anon turns around and looks at him

>Spike knows these are the eyes of a killer

"Spike. What was the first thing I said to you?"

>Spike shivers and gulps, then seems to be lost in thought for a second before answering

"I could make a fine pair of boots from you..?"

>Anon immediately smiles and relaxes.

"ha ha. Thank goodness Spike, I thought you were a changeling. You scared me."

"You're telling me..." Spike said, placing his scaly hand on his heart to feel his draconic heartbeat

>Anon asked for the scroll and Spike gave it up

>Anon read the scroll.

"Oh. Well than."

"What? What is it? What does it say?"

 

>Anon looks down at Spike for a moment and then walks over to his chest

>He grabs a book-bag and fills it up with all the books he's borrowed from Twilight

>He gives the bag to Spike.

"Here. Put these back in the library. Hide them if you're worried about Twilight finding them."

>Spike looks at the book and then back to Anon

"Anon, are you leaving?"

>Anon looks at him stoically

"Anon! Tell me if you're going!"

>Anon sighs

"Yes Spike, I am leaving on a trip. I'll be gone for at least a few weeks. Don't. Tell. Anyone."

"But what about your Hero celebration at noon? And why do you get up so early anyway?"

>Anon sighs

"Spike, when you've seen what I've seen, sleep is a luxury."

>Spike is silent

>Anon prepares his things

"Are you leaving right now?"

>Anon nods as he works

"Seriously? Without saying goodbye?"

>Anon turns around and raises his voice a little, giving Spike a fright

"Spike, I don't want people to know I'm gone. They'll worry about me."

"And just disappearing into the morning for a month won't?"

>Anon begins to fasten on his travel clothes as he talks

"Spike, nobody will probably even visit me in a months time. I'll be fine."

>Spike sighed

>Anon worked quickly, packing some supplies and fastening his boot-straps

>He finally was ready.

>His axe was busted, and he wanted a lighter weapon for the road, so he took his sword.

>It slide into the sheathe easily

>He opened the door, and six ponies looked back at him

 

>He jumps back, grabbing at his sword, but of course calms down when he sees they are all ponies he knows

>There is lingering doubt in his mind however

"...Hello?" He said

>Pinkie Pie suddenly burst into tears, and Fluttershy patted her shoulder

>Rarity spoke up

"I cannot BELIEVE you're leaving! And before your big hero celebration!" She said in that typical voice

>Anon blinked

>How the hell

>Spike looked just as surprised

"How did all of you-"

>Twilight smirked

"I was up late last night, and right as I got into bed Spike burped out a scroll and woke up. He knew it was for you, so he ran off without TELLING ME." she said, glaring at the baby dragon

>Spike looked guilty

"But we understand the need for secrecy. So I only told all of us to come meet you before you left."

>Anon feels a bit moved, if a bit annoyed.

 

>Anon bows a little

"Thank you all for your kind words, but I really must be go-"

>Suddenly, Pinkie stops crying and smiles

"Oh yeah! We bought gifts!" she says, before whipping out a small bag

>She first brings out a small jar of rainbow colored-jelly

>Applejack speaks

"That 'uns from me, sugercube. It's one of our last jars of Zap-Apple jam, so enjoy it."

>He nods to her gratefully and takes the bottle, wrapping it in some clothes to protect it in his pack and puts it away

>He turns his head and sees Pinkie holding a knife in her mouth

>He halfway reaches to his sword, but instead just looks at her awkwardly

"Pinkie, why do you have a knife?" He asks

>She spits it out and smiles

"It's a carving knife! We use it at Sugarcube corner sometimes when working with fruit for our treats, but I think you'll have more use for it."

>He nods and takes the knife, slipping it into his belt

>Then, Rarity whips out a fabulous purple cloth with gold trim

>Anon takes it, and unfolds it

"It's a cloak, dear. One side is purple and looks good, but I know how you wilderness people like to blend in, so the other side is camouflaged

>Anon turns it inside out and sees the camouflage, and admires how well it is made and how well it really fits in

"Thank you, Rarity." He says, before putting it on with the camouflage side out.

>Next, Fluttershy with a small roll of simple cloth

"Magic Bandages." She says quietly.

>Anon is stunned most of all by this gift. He didn't expect Fluttershy to have this

>Twilight looked over at Fluttershy with a strange look also

"I got them a while ago. They are very expensive, but can heal wounds much quicker then normal. And if you have any left.. please... bring them back." She said, hoping not to offend him but also wanting her treasure back.

>Anon nods to her, the promise made.

 

>Next up was Twilight

>She gave him a book

>He struggled to read the title in the light

"The Art of.. The Art of Pony..."

>He squints, he can't make out the last character

"Twilight, what is the last character here mean?"

"It's "Warfare." The Art of Pony Warfare."

>He stands with a blank face

"...I've never seen that character before."

"For obvious reasons." Twilight added

>He thanks her and put the book away in his pack too.

>Finally, it's Rainbow Dash's turn

 

>Rainbow Dash looks at Anon and the others

>She gives an exasperated shy

"Alright. Just take it."

>She hands you what appears to be a dream-catcher.

>The three feathers at the bottom are all blue

>Anon look at them and then back to her

"Yes, they are mine. It's an old Pegasus tradition. It's stupid I know. I just couldn't think of anything else to give you. It's supposed to give whoever holds it good dreams, but if its damaged the one who made it will get horrible nightmares. So.. please be careful..." She trailed off

>Anon nods, the gift may have just been sentimental, but it was obviously important to her and so it was important to him

>He puts it away gingerly, and turns to all of them again

"Thank all of you. So much."

>They nod

"We'll walk you back to town, Anon. Then, you'll go on your way. Nobody else in town is the wiser."

>Anon nods and gets to walking

>They walk down the path in silence

 

>As they walk in silence, Anon looks at the little ponies around him

>He almost feels a tear come to his eye, there is always a chance you won't come back

>Suddenly, as you walk into town

>You hear voices and calling

>You hand grips your sword

 

>Suddenly, Ponies everywhere

"BYE ANON!" They call

>What the fuck?

>Your eyes lock onto Rarity

"What? I only told one or two other ponies..." Rarity said with a bit of a guilty smile

 

>As Anon wades through the pastel sea of ponies

>The mayor approaches Anon

"Anon! We hereby award you with the ultimate hero award!"

>She fumbles Anon a nice medal

>Anon shake her hoof awkwardly as they are broken apart by the crowd

>Anon keep walking and wading through the sea

>Soon, Anon gets to the edge of the town and the crowd disperses

>They wave and call after Anon

"Goodbye Anon! Wish you luck!"

>Anon hear Applejack the loudest

"You better come back now, you hear!"

>Anon nods and smiled, finally turning around waving back at them

>You begin your journey, feeling a great joy in your heart

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>Anon walks for a few hours as the sun slowly comes up

>He is a bit annoyed, he avoided the Ponyville train station because he didn't want anyone to know he was leaving, and so was going to board a train at the nearby city of Manehatten.

 

>Anon walks through the town, towering over the little ponies around the streets and sidewalks

>People here were damn rude, and many didn't seem intimidated by his size.

>Finally, he reached the train station and boarded.

>Soon, he was on his way

 

>Anon made sure he sat in the back of the train-car, and was thankful few others shared his car.

>He stared off into space for a while, but after the train got started on his journey he brought out the book Twilight had given him.

"The Book of Pony Warfare." he whispered to himself

>He opened the first page and a strange paper fell out

"What is this?"

 

>You read the front of the paper slowly and carefully

>It's something Twilight added into the book

*I've added this paper to the book as a table of contents, as this old manuscript seems to lack one

>Anon nods and scans through the table, trying to find a selection relating to his current mission

>Then, he found it

"Zebra War Tactics. Page 167."

 

>He flips to the page

>And begins reading

>After looking at a few simple illustrations, he then begins to read the text

"Ancient Zebra Tactics. Before the days of Celestia and Luna, the three pony tribes united to form their society, and had to work on many threats. One of the most important was the Pony vs Zebra wars."

"Under the leadership of the experienced and talented Pegasus warriors, the strong soldiers of the Earth Pony tribe and the Battle-mages of the Unicorns were tasked with defending the tribes new lands and property. One of their greatest foes were the Zebra tribes, which were united at the time by the fearsome Zebra king."

>Anon skipped a little of the text until he found a bit about Commander Hurricane, the most famous general from the pre-Celestia/Luna times.

 

>The text soon narrated the tale of the death of commander hurricane

"When battling a Zebra general, but not the king, Commander Hurricane struck him down. He was still alive though, and Commander Hurricane spoke to him.

>However, as they spoke, a Zebra nearby silently raised a spear coated with some dark blue poison- a mix of healing herbs and poison joke, which changed the healing properties to dangerous ones. The Poison Joke and its cures were unknown to pony kind at the time."

>Anon flipped the page

"As he spoke to the Zebra, the Zebra commander's eyes flicked to the right for a split second, and Commander Hurricane turned a split-second too late as the spear impacted her leg."

"She ordered her soldiers to kill the two of them, but she soon became sick."

"She began to make mistakes, still making great plans but always making a tiny basic mistake that ruins the whole plan. For one example, she executed an amazing sneak attack on a powerful Zebra encampment, but she forgot to send food with that army and the siege failed almost instantly."

>Anon thought to himself, mentally noting that Zebras will fight dirty.

>Because of his slow reading, they reached the station almost right after he finished reading. He prepared his things.

 

>Anon soon got off the train and looked around

>He was now in a savanna-like environment

>The town was populated by a mix of Ponies and Zebras

>He looked around and soon found a small detachment of guards in some makeshift shelters nearby the town walls

>The guards are expecting him.

"Hello, Anon." The sergeant says

>Anon gives him a quick warrior salute, and then speaks

"Any information on the broke-hoof tribe?"

"They were last seen to the west."

>Anon thanks him, and then looks at the guards

"Any chance any of you would like to join me?"

>They shake their heads

"Sorry Anon, but we are just hear to guard the town from and raids by the rouge chief. Celestia wants you to take him down, not us."

>Anon nods again and thanks them, before heading off to the west and the setting sun.

 

>Anon keeps walking until the sun starts to set over the horizon

>He finds a small place to make camp

>He sets up a small fire-pit and gets out some of his supplies.

>He takes out a small box of crackers and unscrews the lid of the zap-apple jam.

 

>He dips the crackers and tries it out

>Damn, that's quite a kick on it

>He eats a few more crackers with jam before screwing the lid back on

>He soon takes out some dry beef jerky and just chews on it while staring into the fire

>He soon lays down and looks up at the stars, but before he drifts off he suddenly remembers something.

>Reaching into his back, he grabs Rainbow Dash's dream-catcher and hangs it nearby him

>He soon drifts off to sweet, calming dreams.

 

>Anon feels something fall on him

>He wakes up groggily, the impact making him angry

>It was the dream catcher

>He opened his eyes

>Suddenly, a sharp stick is coming towards his face

>He reacts immediately, jumping best as best he can

>The sharp stick accidentally catches the dream-catcher, and it is flung into the dying fire

>It is early morning

>Anon gets to his feet quickly, and sees who he is fighting

>It is a zebra

>His hoof looks cracked

 

>Anon reaches for his sword as the Zebra attacks again with the stick

>He blocks it with the blade, his shield laying too far away to use

>he quickly jumps forward and slices the Zebra on the face

>The zebra falls

>Anon steps up and raises his sword, ready for the kill

>The zebra raises his hooves

"I yield! Please do not make me killed!"

>You pause, but step back and allow the Zebra to get up a little

>You step on his leg when he tries to get up all the way

"Why should I let you live, Broke-Hoof?"

>The Zebra looks up at you with a sad expression, the blood reddening the white hair on his face

"I will help you kill the chief. I have with him a beef."

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END PART 2