Title:           Slowing Down p15 "The Element of Magic"
Author:          Hellmeister
Pastebin link:   http://pastebin.com/fVPDW636
First Edit:      Saturday 23rd of January 2016 10:46:55 AM CDT
Last Edit:       Last edit on: Saturday 20th of February 2016 10:02:29 AM CDT

ANON'S POV
 
>You wake up.
>Argh...Your head aches.
>And coupled with the fact that you can't remember much from last night, you'd say you went overboard with RD's little contest.
>Did you lose or win?
>You don't feel like a winner. You feel like someone threw a brick at your brain.
>You've had worse, though, so maybe you didn't lose.
>Your senses slowly return to you, and you can tell you're in a bed of some sort.
>What. A BED?
>...Hesitantly, you turn around to face the other side of the bed.
>OK.
>No one's in the bed with you.
>Phew.
>Wait, what if they left before you woke up?
>...OK, no more thinking about that.
>Time to answer a different question.
>WHERE are you?
>You look around the room.
>It's a room you haven't seen before, but then again, you haven't seen too many bedrooms in your lifetime.
>Wind blows in through the an open window.
>It smells Like straw, hay with a hint of apples.
>And that rooster sounds all too familiar.
>Eyup. You're in Applejack's house.
>You're not too surprised at the sudden change of scenery.
>You're the kind of drunk that goes places.
>...In who's bed, though?
>You take a look around the room.
>It's not Applebloom's, otherwise you wouldn't fit in the bed.
>Most likely, it's either AJ or Big Mac's.
>But now, back to the important question.
>Did you, sleep with, a PONY?
 
>Well, there's an easy way to find out.
>You look under the covers at your body.
>You're only naked above the waist, and your shoes and socks are missing.
>...As a precaution, you check under your trousers.
>No boxers.
>You definitely had boxers on underneath there when you had the drinking contest.
>So that means that either someone took your pants off, stole the boxers and put them back on again, you took them off yourself...
>...Or you slept with someone, and drunk you put them back on after doing the deed, hoping sober you wouldn't notice.
>You really don't like drunk you. He likes to make things difficult for sober you.
>Alright, so there's no way to prove that you DIDN'T sleep with anyone.
>You really hope you didn't.
>Where's your shirt?
>...Get out of her bed and look for it, stupid.
>Thanks, brain.
>You get out of bed, and feel an uncomfortable sensation down the back of your trousers.
>It feels like there's something there.
>You reach down in there, and find the offending item.
>You pull it out, and take a look at it.
>It's a feather. A white feather.
>Did this come from one of the pillows?
>Well, it's long and slender. Not the sort of thing you'd expect to be used to stuff pillows with.
>Wonder what bird it came from.
>You slip it in your pocket, being careful not to damage it.
>You get off of the bed, and walk over to the door.
>Ah. There are your shoes.
>They're neatly lined up against the wall, and your socks are inside them.
>There's a note written in cursive, balanced on top of the two shoes.
>...How the heck are you supposed to understand what it says?
 
>Did drunk you do that?
>That doesn't seem likely.
>Drunk you would've hung them on a tree branch outside for the sake of spiting you, and drunk you is only slightly smarter than sober you.
>Well, he IS technically more informed than you are.
>Too bad he doesn't share his memories with you, huh? You are the same person, after all.
>The more likely explanation was that someone else did it.
>And, more likely, somePONY else.
>You decide to put on the socks and shoes while you think.
>OK, you get it. Odds are you slept with a pony.
>The bigoted human side of you is telling you how to feel about that, but you feel...Differently.
>Not good, far from it, but not disgusted.
>You just feel...Guilty.
>You don't even know for sure that anything went on that night, but you've only just come to terms with having a crush on dash.
>If you did anything like that last night...Well, that'd be it.
>No more drinking contests. You couldn't risk it.
>Well, your footwear is on, and you have no shirt.
>You've got shoes, though, and you've probably HAD service...
>No, no. Don't make jokes like that.
>You open the door.
>You exit out onto the landing, and close the door behind you.
>It's a nice looking place. You've never been in the upstairs area before.
>Well, you have. But you don't remember that.
>Time to head downstair-
>Oh. It's Big Mac.
>He's staring at you, surprised look on his face.
>What did you do?
>...You have a theory.
>You look at the door you exited out of for any indication of ownership.
>On it is a wooden replica of Applejack's cutie mark.
 
>You just exited his sister's bedroom, without a shirt, in the morning, right in front of him.
>Huh.
>Well, it could be worse.
>At least drunk you didn't decide to put any 'different' clothes on, before you passed out in bed.
>You decide to break the silence with the classic line.
"This...Isn't what it looks like."
>You can almost hear the canned laughter.
>He continues to stare, silently.
>Wait, was he sober the night before?
>Did he see what you did?
>...Do you want to know?
>Eh, time for a curious cat to die.
"Did you...Do you know what I did last night?"
>OK. That. Did not come out of your mouth the way you wanted it to.
>"Nope."
>He swiftly moves on downstairs, blushing profusely.
>Canned laughter turns to applause, and the title card "Everyone loves Big Mac" flashes on screen.
>Enough internal sarcasm for today. Too much is unhealthy.
>You decide it's best to not go downstairs immediately after saying what you just said, as that would mean lurking around the same room as him.
>A door opens.
>You saw which door it was.
>Don't. Move.
>Applebloom exits her room, dressed in apple patterned pj's.
>She stretches like a cat, canters off to the stairwell, and descends.
>You can breathe, she didn't see you.
>"Hey, everypony! Ahnon's Awayke!"
>Oh. 'Anon's awake.'
>They know all about what you did last night, don't they.
>This, is going to be a long morning.
 
>They made you breakfast. None of them said anything.
>Mostly because you didn't ask any questions. You learned your lesson.
>You finished your breakfast, Mac silently walked over to the door, held it open, and you went out.
>No words.
>You're almost impressed.
>It's cold out. And gusty.
>Kinda wish you had a-
>The door opens, and a T-shirt is tossed with oddly precise factoring of wind speed and it's direction, and it drapes over your side, held there by the wind.
>"If y' find Appuljayck, tell hur thayt we'll be holdin' down the fort! See y' latur, Anony-mouse!" Applebloom says cheerfuly with a wave.
>With that, the door closes.
"Anonymouse." You laugh.
>RD better not catch wind of that. You kinda like 'Champ.'
>Applebloom may be the youngest, but she has the strongest southern accent out of all of them.
>It works for her.
>You're pretty sure that she simply struggles with your full name, though. Her accent just 'helps'.
>Well, time to check on your house to make sure no one's broken in.
>...Oh yeah!
>You've got to meet up with pudding today. At the market.
>You've got a strange feeling that work isn't going to happen today.
>Applejack being missing can only mean one thing.
>She got drunk too.
>You gaze at the grey skies and feel the chill wind.
>You're sorta glad you won't need to work.
>You can only hope Applejack doesn't blame you for the whole affair and takes it out on your paycheck.
>Exiting the gate to the farm, you can't help but feel a little sad about not putting some effort in to your job.
>It's probably something to do with your pride. You know you don't need to, but, you want to.
>Weird how it's possible for someone to WANT to feel exhausted and terrible.
>You want to earn your meals, though. And the past few days have been a little lax in that regard.
>Whatever, just shrug it off, you gotta check on your house.
>And for once again, in a 4 day period, you pray that pony thieves aren't a thing.
 
TWILIGHT'S POV
 
>You're really glad you don't have to compete with Rainbow Dash.
>You were afraid that since she hung out with him all the time, and dedicated a lot of the time she could've spent with friends she SAVED THE WORLD WITH, that she had some kinda crush on him.
>But you trust her, as one would trust a old comerade. Because, she kind of is.
>She lies sometimes, but she has a strong pride. She'd definitely be more forward about liking somepony.
>It's funny how you trust her, even though you just lied to her up front about what you were going to do.
>Better safe than sorry, you guess.
>Time to go to Applejack's farm, and continue your search for Anonymous.
>Who knows what's happened to him!
>You recieved a letter from Celestia telling you that she had returned to Canterlot safely, so you're not too worried in that department.
>She also praised you for 'a wonderful party', but you know she's just being polite.
>You sigh.
>Do you...Really need somepony like Anonymous in your life?
>You have a lot of work to do, even more thanks to what he helped do.
>And yet, you believe you...Need him.
>He's so facinating. He has always been, even before you got to know him, when he only just 'appeared'.
>He answered as many questions about the human world as he could, sharing knowlege of his technology...
>He even showed you his Watch!
>You have watches with hands to tell the time, but his, is astounding.
>He calls it 'LED', and it displays the time in numerical format! And it's so small! So compact, so efficient!
>You really should do a more dedicated study into it when you have the time. He mentioned something about the 'batteries running out', so you could possibly help with that.
>He even showed interest in the equine world!
>Of course, you were more than willing to allow him to borrow some books.
>Some, he borrowed so often, you gave them him. As a gift!
>You must have won some points with him with those.
>And with such...Sophisticated topics, too. He truly is a kindred spirit...
>And you'dve thought he wouldn't be into physical labor. But he is!
>He is, and he's athletic, smart, and funny...H-handsome...
>...But what are you?
>There's so much about him that's wonderful, a-and...You don't know how to compete.
>Even with your magic, which he lacks, you feel so...Inadequate.
 
>You're always so...Nervous around him.
>You never really know what to say. At first, you spoke clearly, with athority and respect...
>But that tone shifted when you started to develop your crush.
>You started to stutter, and with every stutter, you grew even more embarresed.
>Despite your best efforts to reherse what you would say to him, it never turned out right.
>You've messed up so often around him, that you can barely say "Hi," without screwing up.
>Rainbow hangs around him all the time, talking, taunting, joking...
>How does she...Even BEGIN?
>You can't imagine saying anything like she does. She has so much confidence in the way she speaks.
>It's such a shame you don't trust anypony else with these feelings. You can't!
>What if the pony you tell has a crush on him too? Who wouldn't, you mean, he's only got EVERYTHING.
>No, you have to keep making moves. Before somepony else makes a move first.
>This is a game of chess, where you don't have time to think it over.
>You have to keep moving, keep up the pressure.
>Can you imagine? Losing him...?
>No, he's...He's MADE for you!
>He has so many interests that you share! You like books, you both are avid persuers of knowlege, and you just...His personality just works with you.
>You've had crushes in the past, but you held your ground, in favour of that one, true somepony...
>You're NOT making a mistake. It's him. He's the one.
>Winning him over will be one of the toughest challenges you've ever had to overcome.
>But you will, no, you MUST win!
>And if you were to lose him?
>Y-you could always go back!
>Yep. You could go back in time, and...And...
>No...You couldn't. It wouldn't work.
>You have to win him over, and it has to be perfect.
>And the Gala! The plans you could make!
>There are supposedly an infinite amount of timelines, limitless possibilities and futures that could occur at any given time...
>Please let this be the one he becomes yours!
 
>Oh. You've just been flying around aimlessly for a while.
>You must've gotten flustered again.
>Well, there's no time to lose.
>You'll ask him. You'll ask him to go to the gala as his...D-date!
>No, NO! WAIT!
>Shouldn't you plan, first, before doing that? Rashness is your worst enemy. You've only got one shot at this!
>But what if somepony asks him to the Gala before you do? What if he's already got a date?
>...No, that's HIGHLY unlikely. Not just anypony gets to go to the GALA.
>You'll play it safe, for now.
>Ah! There he is, walking along the path back to his house.
>OK, deep breaths.
>Phew.
>Alright. Time. To. Talk.
>You swoop down to his side.
>You land so softly that he doesn't seem to notice your presence.
>You walk silently beside him for a while, taking a few extra moments of mental preparation.
>Reluctantly, you clear your throat.
>You make him jump, and he looks around, and finally, down at you.
>"Oh! Twilight, hi."
"H-hi-lo, Ano-An-nonymous!"
>He laughs.
>He's isn't laughing AT you, is he?
>"You've still got that stutter you told me about? Sorry to hear that."
>Oh, yeah. The excuse.
"Y-yeah! Uh, uh...It hasn't gone, ah, away yet."
>You don't miss a beat, and move on to a little friendly gesture.
"Ah, Anon-y...Nuhhh...C-can I just call you Anon?"
>He gives you a patient smile.
>"Twilight, I keep telling you to call me Anon. You're my friend."
>Yep, you're his friend! Not too close, but he trusts you and likes you.
>You let out a nervous laugh.
"Y-yes, of course." You clear your throat again.
 
"A-Anonymous." You put in as much authority as you can muster into your voice. "W-would you like some help, g-getting back home?"
>He looks pensive for a moment, seemingly puzzled.
>Ah, maybe you weren't specific enough!
"I-I, of course, I mean some, eheh," You gesture with your horn enticingly, "M-magical. Help."
>Yes, yes, he seems to understand now.
>"You mean like, teleportation? Sure! I am in kind of a hurry to reach my house, I guess."
>He stands still, and waits for you.
>His belief in your abilities fills you with a tingling warmth that swells in your breast.
"A-allright, ah...Y-you ready?"
>He nods.
"OK!" You almost squeak.
>You channel magical power into your horn, and set the co-ordinates of the teleportation spell to his house.
>It's not hard. You've seen his house a bunch of times. From afar, and from inside!
>You bet he'll like it if you teleport him INSIDE his house! He didn't tell you to do that, but that's why he'll enjoy it!
>And so, you do, and in a flash of light, his and your position, along with some surrounding air, are magicaly transported.
>The light disperses, and he looks around.
>"Thanks, Twi. You saved me a lot of time."
>Oh, he's so GRATEFUL!
>As long as you keep doing things for him, he'll accept you as a potential partner and be more willing to agree when you ask him out!
"O-oh, it's...N-nothing, Anon." You pause briefly, then realise the oppertunity. "Ah! As...As long as I'm here, uh...Would you like to...R-read a book, together, prehaps?"
>He seems to consider it for a moment, and smiles.
>"Well, I suppose I haven't got much else to do. Sure."
>YEEEESS!
>Agh, you're so happy.
>You need to commit moments like these to memory.
>Every last detail. Every last scent in the air, the texture of the floors, you'll need to make this as immersive a memory as possible!
>For future reference, of course.
 
ANON'S POV
 
>Twilight's pretty cool.
>She's let you have a few books about the equine race, and always seems more than happy to read them with you, to you, or you to her.
>She really. REALLY, likes reading. Even the same books.
>You look back at her, following behind you happily.
>She's looking everywhere, as if it's her first time up the stairs, and they were some kind of, magical, super-spiral...Rainbow staircase or something.
>You smile over at the awe-filled grin plastered across her face.
>She's a good friend.
>She also knows Rainbow really well. They've been friends for a long time.
>You'dve thought she'd be sick of all of the stories you've asked her to tell you, but she recited them all proudly, no matter how many times you asked.
>If you ever decide to make something of the crush you have on RD, she'll be the first you'll ask for relationship advice.
>She seems to know a lot, and solves disputes between friends all the time.
>You're not sure romance is a strong point of hers, but all things considered, all she would need is a push.
>You walk along the the landing over to your bedroom door.
>Twilight gives an excitable little squeak as you get there, accompanied by a small giggle.
>How can she enjoy these visits so much?
>Considering a lot of what you do at these times is sit down, relax and read books to each other, it's hardly something to get pumped up for.
>But she does this all the time. Every time she comes over to read some books with you, she's always this excited.
>No, scratch that. She's even MORE excited today.
"Hey, uh, Twilight?"
>"YES? I-I mean...Y-yes?"
>You scratch your head, unable to grasp the mare's behaviour.
"You seem, uh...Really peppy today. Did, something good happen?"
>She pauses, seemingly thinking about it. Still smiling though.
>Well, you say that, but she hasn't stopped moving at all. She's sort of skipping in place, like a kid.
>You've seen ponies do it before, young and grown, so you assume it's s sort of 'happy dance'.
>"Y-you could say that."
 
"Well, what happened?"
>She stops skipping for a second, taken aback.
>"Ah!, Uh...I just, urm...Found out..." She trails off.
"Hm?"
>She opens the door to your room using her magic.
>"I-I'll tell you later." She smiles nervously and enters your room.
>What she means by that is most likely, 'I'll forget about it if you don't remind me to talk about it' later.
>You follow in after her.
>She immediately makes herself at home, and hops onto your bed.
>After rolling around a bit, she stands up and walks in a small circle, trying to get comfortable.
>Eventually, she lies down on her side, and sighs contentedly.
>She always seems so eager to go for the bed.
>In her line of work, she must be in a perpetual state of exaustion, so it's no suprise.
>You look around the room, admiring it proudly.
>You see the same bedroom every day, but it's still arguably the most comfortable place in the world.
>The only argument being, wherever Rainbow decides to sleep.
>Due to her lifestyle, that place could be anywhere, though.
>You'd offer to check out her bed, but not only would that give her ideas, but you're not completely OK around heights.
>...Why are you thinking about sleeping with Rainbow dash?
>You've had the experience, and you enjoy the idea. But you've got a guest.
"OK, what should we read today?"
>Twilight seemed to be in the process of breathing in your bed covers, but abruptly rises to attention upon hearing the question.
>"Oh! Wh-what about biology? I could give you some perspective if you have any questions! O-or maybe some Daring Do! You put a bookmark in the page we were on, right? Ah, or maybe..."
>You laugh.
"I think some Daring Do would help pass the time. Thanks."
>"Y-yes!" She excitedly claps her hooves together. "I can't wait!"
>Daring do it is.
>You go over to the bookshelf and look for the book in the series that has a bookmark sticking out of it.
>You find it, and bring it over to the bed.
 
>It was a pretty good way to kill time, you have to admit. Reading on your own is not nearly as fun as reading with Twilight.
>The book in question, was; "Daring Do! The Chalice of Bacchus!"
>It followed the escapades of the titular Daring Do, on a quest to find the fabled Chalice of Bacchus, former drinking goblet of the God of Wine.
>It is said the one who would drink from the cup would gain charisma so aluring, one could charm the gods themselves. At the cost of an never ending state of drunkeness.
>Of course, there are a few in the world who wouldn't even think of that as price of any description, and Daring has decided to secure the chalice, to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands. As she often does.
>It's pretty good. A lot of the content featured in the book seems to find inspiration from Greco-Roman Mythology, but since this is the equine world we're talking about here, the inspiration is probably mere coincidence.
>The fact these are based off true escapades as well, leads you to think there is more of a connection between the human world and this one than you thought.
>You're a good ways into the book by this point. Daring has gotten captured again.
>It's thrilling stuff. You have to thank Twilight for introducing you to the series.
>Since you have a friend present, you can read and think out loud, and since Twilight knows a lot of trivia about the series, she makes some interesting comments.
>She seems to enjoy listening to you read. You've suggested if she could've read it to you, but she blushed and stuttered a lot while doing so, so you decided to read it for story's sake.
>Through some parts, she doesn't say anything at all. She almost seems to drift off.
>She says she really likes what you do with the character's voices, and laughs when you use your RD impression for Daring Do's voice.
>She's quite tactile in her enjoyment too. Sometimes she puts her front legs over your shoulders, and reads over your shoulder.
>She seems to fall asleep more often than she usually does when she does that though. She must really be exhausted.
>That, or you must be pretty damn comfortable.
 
>You kept an eye on the clock, making sure to keep track of time, and when it seemed to be near the time you had to meet up with Pudding, you finished the page, put a bookmark in it and closed the book.
>"Awww..."
>You laugh.
"Come on, Twi, we've been reading for hours, now. Time for you to go home."
>She sighs, sleeply. "Okay..."
>You go over to the bookshelf and put the book back on the shelf.
>She's still lying on the bed, and streches her hooves out in your direction.
>"Could you...Carry me...?"
>You grin at her.
"I've got somewhere to be, Twi. I can't carry you all the way back to your castle."
>She continues to hold her legs out.
>"Just to Ponyville..."
>You sigh.
"Alright, but don't fall asleep again."
>She grumbles something under her breath, and waits for you to approach her.
>Hoisting her up by her torso, you hold her to your chest, and walk out of your room.
>You carry her downstairs, and she drapes her head over your shoulder lazily, bouncing gently with every step.
>You ruffle her hair a little.
>...Guess this reminds you a little of when you were carrying Rainbow Dash.
>She's a little heavier than RD - not like you'd tell her that - but it's more or less the same feel.
>You're not far from Ponyvile, so you drop her off near the enterance.
>She did, indeed, fall asleep again, so you settle her down on a bench.
>You check your watch.
>Almost time to meet with pudding.
>You brought some money with you, obviously. You need another one of those pies.
>...But seriously, how the heck did he know you ate that pie?
>Eh, that'll be one of the things on the Agenda, you're sure.
>You walk on over in the direction of the marketplace.
>Hope he doesn't mind you being fasionably early.