Final Straw Ch.3

>"So let me get this straight Anon. You got yerself lost in the Everfree, and a deer helped get you out?"

"That's right."

>"This deer, you say it's your Spirit Guide or something?"

"Yes."

>"And he gave you a dream that told you to stop being 'beta', whatever that means?"

"Simply put, it means being pathetic, but yes."

>She lets out a sigh, and then gives a hearty laugh. "You seriously believe all that? I thought you had more brains than that Anon."

"What do you mean? It makes about as much sense as two p0nies who have been around for at least a thousand years raising and lowering the sun and moon."

>"That's perfectly normal here, Anon, and Ah don't reckon to know nothing about animals where you come from, but critters here a bit smarter from the sounds of it. That deer most likely spends time with Fluttershy, so he probably saw you needin help and led you out."

>That actually makes more sense, but in a depressing kind of way. Figures. Something crazy good finally seems to happen to you, and it turns out it's just normal crazy.

"So that deer wasn't my Spirit Guide?"

>She just shakes her head. "Just a normal deer, perhaps a bit smarter than others."

"Then why was he outside my house this morning?"

>"Maybe he wasn't the most generous of sorts and felt you owed him something? Or maybe he was just checking on you."

>Welp, so much for being Native American. You probably should've guessed that when you never cried when people threw their fries on the ground. At least you don't have to be angry about the raping of your people, especially since yours was doing the raping, and the reparation money you would never get from the white man.

"Oh well, it was nice being Native American while it lasted, at least I have pie to cheer me up." You go to get another piece of pie, but there's none left. "Or I did. You p0nies really need to have bigger serving sizes."

>"Not our fault yer twice our size and eat more than Derpy at an all you can eat muffin buffet."

>After a bit of small talk, you to break for the day, the sun low in the horizon.

>"Sorry about keeping ya here this long Anon, ah appreciate the help. We'll be taking tomorrow off, so feel free tah rest up."

"Applejack? Taking a day off work? I guess this is goodbye, I need to prepare for the End Days."

>"Oh hardy ha ha ha, very funny. Mah friends just pointed out ah'm working too much lately, and not so subtly reminded me of a time ah'd rather forget."

"You don't need to give me an excuse to take a day off. So I guess I'll catch you later AJ?"

>"If yer not busy tomorrow, how'd you like to meetup with me and the gals? Ah don't think ah've seen you anywhere but at the farm. Do you some good to get out."

>That's because it was unpleasant everywhere else, and that was putting it mildly. You were running out of excuses to avoid spending time with AJ's friends as well. You were pretty much down to 'I have explosive diarrhea', and a simple 'No'.

>Rarity held you at pretty much the same level of contempt as one would hold having explosive diarrhea.

>Twilight said every living thing in this world has at least some magic in it, except you, and that you were some kind of abomination.

>Rainbow Dash just wanted to crush your skull into pulp.

>Fluttershy always tried to give you her Stare. Apparently that has a huge effect on things, even dragons, but it just looks retarded to you.

>Pinkie Pie, in all fairness, seems to be the most tolerant and never says anything about you, but her mane and tail always goes flat around you, and while she tries to put on a good face, it always scrunches up into this nasty snarl which ironically is the one that bothers you the most.

"I think I'll just take tomorrow to do some errands and get some extra sleep."

>She looks a little down at your response, "Ah guess if ya got things to do, it can't be helped. Take care of yerself, ya here?"

"Sure thing, later." And once again you two go your separate ways.

>You walk through the town today on your way home, not giving a fuck after this morning. This time, however, everyp0ny is dead silent and are quick to get out of your way. It would seem your little outburst this morning turned their hatred of you into fear.

>It seems standing up to them helped put them in their place a bit.

>If you can't be loved, be feared, you guess.

>As you continue your walk through town, a raspy voice assails you.

>"Hey, you stupid monkey, I got a bone to pick with you!"

>Through clenched teeth, you mutter the name "Rainbow Dash". If she had a say in the matter, she'd probably choose one of you ribs.

"What do you want?" Not in the mood for her shit, you don't even try to hide your irritation.

>"I heard what you did this morning! Where do you get off talking to those two like that?! You gotta be a big man so you threaten a couple of mares?  Watch out guys! We got a badass over here!" The gathering crowd erupts into laughter.

>It doesn't take a genius to figure out the two mares you barely said a handful of words to this morning had spread word along the lines of big bad Anonymous threatened to eat them up with his razor sharp fangs and rend their flesh with his knife-like claws. But you weren't going to just take this shit.

"I don't know what the fuck you're talking about, but it sounds like a load of shit, so stop talking out of your ass. I know the two mares you're talking about, and if they weren't a couple of lying asses-"

>"Hey!"

"Ugh, no offense to any asses present."

>"Thank you." That shit's getting old real fast.

"-they'd have told you the truth, and that all I did was ask them to repeat what they said to me."

>"And why should I believe you over them?" She's in your face now, her breath close enough to smell, and while it admittedly smells nice, it's pissing you off.

"I could give you a hundred perfectly good reasons, make a pie chart, and have Celestia herself stand witness, and you'd still want a hundred and ONE reasons, a bar graph, and Luna as well. And even then you STILL wouldn't believe me, so what's the point trying to convince you?"

>"Ha! I bet you said all that cause you don't have a single reason. Big bad Anon indeed!" She puts her face close enough that you couldn't slide so much as a piece of paper between you two, and pokes you in the chest to emphasize her last words.

>The crowd cheers at her seeming catching you in a bluff.

 >You are about to absolutely flip your shit. This p0ny has practically made it her job in life to make you miserable, and today that ended.

"Rainbow, unless we're about to fight or fuck, you better get that hoof away and back the hell up." You squint to make yourself more intimidating. And it seems to work. Rainbow backs off a bit, red in the face. Whether from anger or embarrassment at the insinuation of sex, you don't know nor do you care.

>And the crowd mutters, seeing her reaction as sign of weakness. This whole thing reminds you of something right out of an Animal Planet or Discovery Channel special, with you and Rainbow Dash fighting for the Alpha position in the pack. This doesn't escape Rainbow, as she notices she's losing the crowd.

>"And what if I want a fight? I doubt you could last ten seconds against me!" And the crowd is hers again. They cheer her on, which serves to boost her her seemingly insatiable ego.

>Well that escalated quickly but you can't honestly say this wasn't going in the direction you thought it would. You could back down, but then you'd be worse off than you were this morning as they would think they could cow you down whenever they wanted. And a fight with Rainbow could only end badly, no matter the outcome. She wins, you get your ass handed to you and back to taking everyone's shit. Beat her, and you will have successfully trounced a national and local hero, and a good friend of your only friend. There was no winning here.

"If you want to fight, then you're gonna have to start it cause I actually have shit to do unlike a certain lazy, egotistical, one trick dyke p0ny who's got nothing better to do all day other than go around following hearsay and starting fights like the moron she is!" You just explode in her face, and hope to God that puts an end to this.

>That was a lie, you didn't have anything to do except eat and sleep.

>GASHUNK

>Clearly the noise a hoof makes when slamming into your face. It hurt less than you expected hooves to, but still has enough force to bust your lip and cause you to stagger back a bit.

>"Not talking so much now are you, huh?!" She wears a mug grin of superiority as she looks around the crowd, earning cheers and applause, or whatever you call that hoof stomping.

>Now you've lost it. You must have recovered or reacted faster than she expected, because you're on her. A hard straight right into her snout, and she goes down.

>The crowd gasps and goes dead silent.

"Come on Rainbow, don't tell me after all that bravado that's all you got. You've done pissed me off and got me riled up. I got a lot of stress I need to work out, so I hope it's not over already. "

>It's all she can do to just groan and roll on the ground. P0nies must have zero tolerance for pain. Guess it is over already. The crowd can only whisper, looking back and forth between each other and Rainbow Dash.

>It would seem they'd rather watch out for their own hides than come help their fallen hero.

>The whole scene is just disgusting. When Rainbow started this fight, the crowd was more than happy to cheer her on and be on her side, but now that she lost, it seemed they wanted as little to do with her as possible as they slowly began back away. You hated Rainbow Dash, but this was still pretty shitty.

>Reminds you of a song, and you almost wanna quote it. Well fuck it, you're drunk on adrenaline and rage, so why not? Not like anyp0ny is going to call you out, "Hey! You stole that from The Protomen!"

"Tell me now, is there a stallion among you here? Is there no p0ny who will stand up and try to fight? Tell me P0ny! Is there not one in all your ranks? Is there nop0ny who values courage over life?"

>They all back up further, their heads low in shame, but none willing to do anything against you.

>You begin making your way back home, without so much as a single peep coming from the crowd who are more than happy to scramble out of your way. This certainly wasn't going to end here, it was absolutely going to come back on you, of that there were no doubts. But as Martin Luther King Jr. said:

>"There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.”

>And that was now. You weren't going to just let them walk over you anymore, you weren't going to just let them say whatever they wanted, either.  You wouldn't start fights, but by God you'd finish them. There was no way you were gonna spend the rest of your life in p0nyland getting ridiculed and put down by a bunch of-

>Deer.

>Well a deer, and it's standing by the door to your house. A doe to be exact. With the day you've been having, you just decide to roll with it and not even question that it's there, just why.

"Look, if you're here cause your husband or whatever didn't want to ask for payment for helping me out yesterday, then I hope you like apples, cause that's all I got." But damn do you got them.

>You keep walking towards your home, and notice that pesky migraine from this morning coming back. Maybe you're allergic to deer? She just watches you the whole time as you open your door and enter, making no other signs of movement.

"I have had a crazy day so far, so why stop now? If you want to come in, be my guest, just wipe your hooves first. I'll go get, ugh, some apples to snack on." Did you mention how sick of apples you were getting? It's beyond you how AJ can eat them after working around them all day and actually still enjoy them.

>She does nothing, just staring at you. Yeah, that's not creepy at all. And that migraine is getting worse.

"Look, if there's nothing you want, I'll just say thanks and get some rest, cause I've had a hell of a day, and this headache I'm getting isn't making it any better. And if I can be frank, your staring is creeping me out, so either stop it or leave, please."

>You go get a snack for yourself, mmm apples, and some for your guest, but as you turn your back to the door, a voice which you can only assume is coming from the doe rings out.

>"They are many, and you are one."

>You turn quickly back to the door, and the doe is gone. You lived close to the forest, but it was still a fair amount of open ground that would see her if she walked off, or at least heard if she ran. The perfect words to describe not just this event, but the whole day comes to mind:

"What... the...fuck?"

 

 

>You awake the next morning after a less than pleasant sleep. Your dream last night was pretty much what you expect to go down in the near future. The p0nies who hate and fear you gather up and get rid of you in a very mobster like sense. Or maybe a white men in white cloaks and hoods sort of way? If this was your subconscious trying to warn you, it wasn't telling you anything you didn't already figure. But at least that headache was gone.

>Add into the mix what that deer said, assuming she actually said that and that you weren't just losing your mind, and there you have the beginnings of paranoia. You really need to find out more about that, or those, deer. You didn't know shit about the deer here, but even by crazy magic horseland standards there was something off about them.

>There were two ways to accomplish this: Go into the dangerous forest and aimlessly wander around till you find them, they find you, or something eats you. Or option two, go talk to Zecora and get the things you need to look good for the p0ny lynch mob later, killing two birds with one stone. Speaking of which, you sure hope they don't don't stone people to death here, that would be unpleasant.

>As tempting as getting eaten sounded, you'd have to go with option two. The idea of becoming a bowel movement wasn't exactly at the top of your to do list.  After a breakfast fit for a king, more apples, and with your mind made up, you make your way into the forest and promptly...

>...get lost again.

>Are you sure you knew the way to Zecora's? You could've sworn you've made your way to her hut dozens of times without issue, and now you're directionally challenged. You don't even remember passing the patch of poison joke, which was a landmark that you were on the right path, and it wasn't even that far into the forest! It's like you took one step in, and then spun around in circles and walked whatever direction you stopped.

>You can't help but feel some outside force is responsible, seeing as it should be kinda hard to get lost following an actual trail. You won't say you were the sharpest tool in the shed as AJ would probably say, but you'd like to think you're at least not legally retarded.

>"Look who it is, way out here! Are you lost, Anon my dear?"

>There is only one person you know who would go out of there way to rhyme their sentences.

"Zecora, thank God you're here. I have no idea how I've gotten lost for the second day in a row. I could blame it on having no sense of direction, but you don't really need one for following a clearly made trail."

>"If I did not know better I'd blame poison joke, but it does not work on human folk."

"Yeah, I've walked passed it, through it, hell, I've even sniffed it and never had a problem before, so it's unlikely I've suddenly grown a weakness to them."

>"You say you've been lost once before, perhaps you'd like to tell me more?" She raises an eyebrow. She knew it was odd for you to get lost going to her place. She's the one that helped you memorize and wear down a path. You could almost find your way blindfolded, you should know, she made you try. Aside from bumping into every other tree, tripping over every root, and hitting your head on every low branch, you could almost make it halfway.

"Well, the first time was late yesterday, a bit before sundown. It was pretty much the same then as it was this time, one moment I'm following the path, next I know I'm utterly lost. If it weren't for some strange deer that at the time I mistook for my spirit guide, if you know what those are, I don't know how long I'd have been stuck here."

>"Of spirit guides I have some mind, they are well known among Zebra kind. But that you claim this of that deer, I must admit sounds awfully queer."

"Yeah, AJ told me pretty much the same thing, that it was probably just a deer that hangs around Fluttershy and that she guessed it realized I was lost and helped me out. Having been surrounded by nothing but crazy for several months, I just jumped to the craziest choice being the most likely seeing as that's been the case for everything else so far."

>"I guess with that I understand, and that you have little knowledge of this land. I've also heard of quite some plight, you and Rainbow had a fight. Violence is not the way, hear what Zecora has to say. We understand the p0nies hold you in low regard, and that restraint can be very hard, you mustn't give in to threats and words, unless your brain is as small as a bird's! She may have thrown the very first hoof, but you should take that as your proof, that you stand on better ground, than one who just wants to pound. For the one to use violence as the first resort, is the one even hope can't court. While I won't say you were in the wrong, there are better ways that could have gone. I won't tell you what you should realize, but it may be good to apologize."

>How the fuck does this zebra just make up these rhymes on the spot? It would've taken you like half an hour to make that shit up while staring at your monitor back on Earth. And how did she learn about that fight already?

"Yeah, I probably shouldn't have knocked her on her ass, and I'm not even talking about that kind of 'ass', so don't even start."

>You don't bother looking, you know he's there.

>"Sorry, my mistake." A mule walks out of a bush then right back into, seemingly pulling a Houdini.

"Anyways, there's a quote from back home, 'The tyrant will always find a pretext for his tyranny, and it is useless for the innocent to try by reasoning to get justice, when the oppressor intends to be unjust.' There was no point arguing with Dash, anything I said she would've just thrown it in my face or ignored it. And if I might ask, how do you know that already?"

>You didn't want to admit it, but you only knew that line from a Law and Order episode.

>"A fight with Rainbow is a big deal, word moves faster than a quarray eel. Apple Bloom my little friend, came to tell me of the end. Of a mean Anonymous who had a fight, with the p0ny who so loves flight."

"Figures the CMC would spread word of this to the far corners of the land. I guess I shouldn't be surprised when Celestia pays me a visit."

>You laugh at the your joke, but it hits you. That might actually happen. You didn't just deck a p0ny in some backwater village, you decked a friend of the Princess' protege and an Element of Harmony.

>Damn , you are fucked.

"Damn, I am fucked." Fighting the town was bad enough, but the thought of fighting a being who moves the Sun? Might as well kill yourself now.

>The growing worry on you face at the mention of Celestia doesn't escape Zecora.

>"I wouldn't worry about the Princess, it'll only cause you undue stress. To the Elements she has strong ties, but even for them will stand no lies. If Apple Bloom's words are indeed true, then no trouble should come to you."

"I guess that makes sense, thanks Zecora."

>"It is my pleasure dear Anon, to help you with the path you're on. If advice you ever need, come to me, a friend indeed. Now with all that out of the way, why in the forest are you astray?"

>All this talk about the fight, and you had completely forgotten why you were even here.

"Thanks for reminding me, I had two reason. First I was running low on a few things, so I was gonna come to you for the usual."

>You tell her about the morning with the first deer outside, the headaches, and the deer later that afternoon.

>"The items I have I'll give to you, to others must wait until they brew. But if what you say of the deer is true, then for some reason they stick to you. At the least I'm very sure, for them you have some allure. Beyond this I cannot say, what purpose in you they claim. These are not normal deer, but as to how is still unclear."

>Well, that's not as much help as you were hoping to get on that subject, but at least she didn't call you crazy.

"Thanks for the help again Zecora. If it's alright, I'll just tag along with you till you finish whatever it is you're out here for since I need to go to your place anyways."

>"Good Anon I do say, please feel to come and stay. I would greatly enjoy the company, and later we two may share some tea."

"Sounds good to me. As long as it isn't hay tea or something."

>She nods, and the two of you set off for Zecora's hut.

 

>Unbeknownst to Anon and Zecora, several pairs of eyes have been watching them.

>"We are sorry, we did not know the zebra would come. Should we follow?"

"That will be unnecessary. Good things come to those who wait, and all we need to do is wait and give him nudges here and there. Eventually the p0nies we chase him out, and he will have nowhere to go but to me."

>"As you wish, my Queen."