>Anon #5
>Literally the fifth Anon rescued by the Human Immigration Initiative
>So far, your days have been spent playing with Shining Armor around the castle and annhilating the guards at games of ball-in-a-cup
>Everyday has been some new fun for you
>Until Cadance got ahold of your match
>She'd done this for the other four Anons, but only your match took so long to come and collect you
>She was going to be another day
>You hadn't even met this mystery mare yet, but Cadance could already tell you were nervous
>Right after an intense match of throwing cards into a hat, Cadance pulled you aside to talk to you
>"Anon, I know you've been anxious about this all, but I want to tell you it'll all work out fine. She's very excited to meet you."
"How are the other Anons doing?" you twiddle your fingers
>"One couple is planning a wedding already, they're all doing fine like you will. The wait must be killing you."
"I feel like she doesn't want to see me."
>"That isn't true, she's coming from a very far corner of Equestria to meet you."
"Why can't I know anything about her yet?"
>"It's for the best that you meet her when you meet her."
"What if she doesn't like me?"
>"That shouldn't happen."
"Shouldn't?"
>"The crystal heart isn't some magical spellcasting artifact that forces love onto everypony. It shows the best possible matches. Just go in there with an open mind and an open heart and you'll see she's the one for you just like you're the one for her."
>"Wait... What if she doesn't?"
>"She wouldn't be travelling across the country if she wasn't interested."
>Several hours later, after some O&O with Shining and his usual rpg squad, you were sneaking around the castle looking for some orange juice or other breakfast drink
>Cadance tapped your shoulder, scaring you out of your excellent hiding spot behind a potted plant
>"Anon, she'll be here in the morning."
"Already? Am I ready?"
>"You'll do fine, Anon." she places a hoof on your shoulder reassuringly
>You look around the corner
"Can you tell me about her."
>"I don't see why not. She's related to Luna."
"Wait, Celestia?"
>Cadance laughs hysterically
>"What?! No!"
"What else can you tell me?"
>Cadance puts some shades on you
>"You're going to need these. But I'm afraid I can't release any more until she gets here."
"Can I have some orange juice?"
>"Sure, it's in the kitchen."
"There's a guard outside the kitchen."
>"He'll let you in."
"Oh."
>You walk into the kitchen, past the guard with no issues, and get a cup of orange juice
>Cadance teleports off to go do some princess things
>You try to drink from the cup and have a retard moment, spilling it all down your chest
>The guard snickers at you
>Skipping right over the shameful "I ruined my own clothes" laundry and excited packing for tomorrow
>The next morning
>Breakfast is waffles with Shining, Cadance, and Flurry
>You get to be the older disappointment son for today
>Flurry makes some really intense eye contact with you
>Patrick Stewart's voice rings out in your mind
>"Greetings, human. Enjoying this meal with my family?"
>You look around
>"Look ahead, you oaf. It's me, Flurry Heart."
>You look at Flurry, who has stopped eating to stare at you
>"The others cannot hear us, but I have seen the future. I would suggest you run, Anon."
>Wait. Babies don't talk
>"I do, I'm attempting to warn you, you fool. You have only minutes to escape."
>You ignore Flurry's telepathic assault
>"Flurry, stop using telepathy on Anon. He's starting to twitch." Cadance says
>Suddenly it feels like a large clamp has been removed from your brain as Flurry crosses her arms and pouts
>"Sorry, Anon, she just learned how to do that." Shining adds
>For a few minutes you're able to enjoy breakfast with the royal family
>A guard excuses himself in and whispers to Cadance
>Lovebutt gets this wide grin and turns to you
>"Oh, it looks like you have a visitor, Anon." she says
>With Flurry giving you the stink eye, you proceed to get up
>Cadance eagerly drags you out of the room towards where two guards are posted
>They aren't crystal guards, they're black bats
>Like, so black that the only way to outline them was with purple
>Their armor is gold but is plated with some horribly colorful material
>"Anon, this is Luna's and Celly's sister, she's very excited to meet you." Cadance says, pulling you down the hallways as the guards followed
>Cadance rounds a corner into the foyer of the castle
>There stood an alicorn
>She was also black and colorful
>Good god, it hurt to look at her
>"Anon, this is Princess Neon Boom of the Kingdom in the Sky. Go say hi." she pushed you towards the mare
>The first thing you noticed was how tall she was
>Cadance was kind of big, almost as tall as you, but this new Princess stood over you
>She hasn't said anything
>You put the shades on again
>The princess shoots you a toothy smile
>Should you say something?
>Is she going to say anything?
>"He-"
"Hi."
...
"Sorry, you go first."
>"Hey."
>Cadance may decide to step in and help
>Neon opens her mouth like she's going to say something but closes it
>"Would you... come with me?"
"Where?"
>"Uhh, a walk. It's kind of warm in here."
>It didn't seem all that warm
"Okay."
>Neon turns to walk, wrapping a wing around your back and enveloping you in eye-damaging vibrance
>"See you two later!" Cadance called as Neon left the room
>While she walked with you, she was trailed by two of those edgy bat guards
>She turned to you, examining you closely as if looking for any defects
>"So you're one of those humans Cadance has been going on about."
"What was she saying?"
>"She said some good things and some bad things, mainly good. Mostly talking about a whole world of lonely horsebandos for us lonely girls."
"How did you find out?"
>"With Luna's recommendation I got into the very first trial run of the Initiative."
"Are you excited?"
>"Are you?"
>Neon turns a corner, stopping across a busy plaza from the stadium and sitting at a bench
>You sit down next to her on the small bench design for ponies
>"I'm really sorry about the wait, it's just I arrived by barsoom and they can take forever to travel at night."
"It's no big deal."
>"Be honest, I don't look ridiculous, do I?"
"What do you mean?"
>"The colors and everything."
"Oh yeah, you do."
>"O-oh..."
>You lean into the princess
"That's not to say you're not cute, because you are."
>"Th-thanks, Anon." she leans into you as well, wrapping her wing around your back once more
>For a while, you sit and talk with the princess
>She is very sweet actually
>"So yeah, in all of 700 years I've never even gotten a kiss."
"Well shit, I'm on a 23 year streak."
>A forlorn Neon smiles
>"A lifetime is a lifetime, isn't it?"
>You nudge her side with your elbow
"Don't be so sad, Cadance hooked you up with a pretty good special somepony."
>"You're kind, Anon. I have a feeling we're going to enjoy being together."
"I think so too."
>Neon sure does enjoy winghugs
>"I was hoping you'd come back with me."
>You shrug
"I'd love to. Do we need to tell Cadance?"
>"I already know!" Cadance said right behind you, scaring both you and Neon off of the bench
>"Land's sake, Cadance! Don't scare me like that!"
>You brush yourself off
>Neon steps over and helps you up, being a bit more of a hinderance to you actually standing back up
>"Are you okay, Anon?"
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine."
>"Well if you two are going to be off, I'd wish you the best of luck, but you don't need it." Cadance skips off happily, singing into the distance
>"Oh gosh, I'm bringing a colt home!" Neon sung in a giddy tone
>She walked with you, her wing pushing you to walk a little faster as she half-skipped in excitement
>A barsoom is a boat with large feather-like wings protruding from the side that allow it to glide over sunlight
>It works best in the daytime, when sunlight is plentiful, but at night they are slow and low to the ground
>As Neon brings you aboard her vessel, you wave goodbye to the Crystal Empire
>They probably didn't see it, though
>"It'll take about a week to get back home, so we have time to talk." the royal rave says
>Without so much as a formal departure, Neon's guards board the barsoom and the crew takes off
>She seems unaffected by the sudden lurching of the ship, whereas you needed to be braced to keep standing
>To which the princess kept a tight grip on you with her wing
>You wonder how strong her wings are, briefly imagining what inescapable snuggling you'd be forced through
>She seemed nice enough, and Cadance allowed it
>"Do you want to go down?" she asked, but her voice was drowned out by the roaring winds above deck
"What?" you call out, despite being right next to her
>She turns red, "Not like that! I meant below the deck!"
"What?"
>She walks you into the cabin and sits down on the desk
>"I figured I should bring you inside, it's a little too windy out there."
>Your ears pop from the altitude
"Thanks."
>"Who would've guessed my special somepony was in another universe entirely." she laughed
>The ship rocked to the side
>"Luna told me how well she and her human got along, she said I should at least apply."
"And you got me."
>Neon's smile faded
>"What's wrong?"
"I was just thinking a princess would do a lot better than some average guy like me."
>"Well it's been longer than five minutes and you haven't found an excuse to take off. So I'd say we're doing great so far."
>Neon grabs you with her magic and pulls you into her lap
>It felt like pins and needles across your entire body
>Ponies usually sat in your lap, this was different and it scared you
>With you in Neon's lap, she held you close to her chest like you did with ponies
>"Cadance told me you didn't get to see much on Earth in the line of beautiful places."
"Not really, it was pretty gray."
>"We're passing by Cloudsdale if you want to see it."
"What's that?"
>"It's a pegasi city in the clouds."
"Holy shit what? Let's go!"
>You scramble out of her lap, dropping to the floor with a dull thud and go back to the deck of the ship
>She was right, there was a pegasus city all in the clouds
>There were little clouds that had been shaped into buildings and bridges connecting clouds and a cloud stadium
>And one large cloud had a liquid rainbow pouring out of it
>And all of the little winged ponies were flying around the city
"Oh my god! Look at all that!" you stare in awe at the city
>"Don't have anything like that on Earth?"
>The only thing that could compare to Cloudsdale was maybe-
>Nothing
"Nothing like this."
>"Oh! I know this great place for food in Cloudsdale, you wanna stop?"
"Yeah, that sounds good."
>The barsoom lurched as it turned towards Cloudsdale, the wings folding back as it slowed down to dock
>A few pegasi passed over the ship curiously as it came to a stop
>Neon took a careful step out onto the pillowy surface of the cloud
>You followed suit, only to drop through the cloud
>As you came out the underside of the cloud you struck the solid roof of a cloud home below
>Ah, solid ground
>Seconds later, the princess lands next to you
>"Anon, are you okay?" she lifts you up
>You wait for the pain to go away before moving
"Yeah... Feel fine."
>She sighs, giving you a crushing hug
>"Thank goodness, you had me worried for a minute."
>She brings you back onto the ship and pulls out a large book
>"I know there's a spell for cloudwalking in here..." she mumbles, nosing through the pages
"Cadance didn't need a spellbook, I don't Twilight did either."
>Neon huffs in frustration
>"My talent isn't memorizing every spell ever invented like Twilight."
"Sorry."
>"No, it's just. Magic is hard."
"I wouldn't know."
>"I can't find it. We can just order out, I guess."
>A guard takes off to get what you assume is her usual order
>You place your arm across Neon's back
"Nothing wrong with that."
>"Yeah but-"
"But what?"
>"I was wanting a date, or something like a date."
>You almost touch her mane, but opt against sticking your hand into the mysterious void and just scratch behind the alicorn's ear instead
"You already have me, no need to try and win me over."
>"I..." she stops, giving you a shrug and silence
"What?"
>"This isn't like my yakyakistani comics. There's no way a sweet colt just falls out into a mare's lap and suddenly they're in love."
"I mean, Cadance kind of passed me off to you."
>"A colt like you needs to be wooed."
"Listen, the fact that you think that means a lot to me, but you've already gotten ahold of my heartstrings."
>"How? We haven't even held hooves, or those spidery hoof things you've got."
"Because you've been nothing but nice to me since we met, no one has ever been excited to see me except for you. It's random little things, they just mean a lot to me. It shows you care, and I haven't really ever had anyone else in my corner like that before so I'm going to be there for you too."
>"That's- You're really going to stay? I haven't driven you off with... you know, everything?"
"I'm staying."
>Neon's face reddens
>"Where have you been all my life?"
"For most of it I didn't exist at all, but then I existed in another universe, now I'm here."
>One of the guards returns with a takeout box
>Neon looks into the box and then back at you
>"You guys can eat stuff like cheese and flowers, right?"
"I think so."
>"How do you not know what you can eat?"
>You shrug
"I've never eaten flowers before."
>"I can try to pick the flowers out."
"What kind of flowers are they?"
>"You don't know what you can eat, what does it matter?"
"I think some flowers are okay to eat."
>"I'm just gonna pull them out for you."
>A moment later, Neon passes you a decimated grilled cheese, sans any flowers
>It was pretty good
>She looked to be enjoying hers much more, eating very loudly
>After a few seconds she noticed you looking
>"Something on my face?"
"Nope."
>"You've never seen Equestria outside of the Empire?" she asked between bites
"Only been here a few days."
>"The Empire is pretty cool, but you should see my kingdom."
>Her wing wrap around your side again, dragging you into her embrace
>"Don't tell Cadance but mine is a lot cooler." her breath was warm on your ear
>"You're- You smell kind of good. A little salty."
>Neon Boom you need to stop, this is going too fast
>Her mouth was right next to your ear
>Nothing happened
>"Sorry..."
>Neon turned back to her sandwich, her wing loosening its grip on you
>You felt slightly relieved, but also a little let down
>She didn't talk much to you for the rest of the evening
>You're left wondering if you'd done something to offend her
>Good job, Anon
>You fucked it all up in under a day
>Then a weird situation came up
>Where would you sleep?
>Also you didn't know your way around the ship
>As the sun sunk below the horizon, the barsoon sunk down above the ground, soaring just above the treetops as if they were an ocean
>You stepped below deck and checked around the ship
>Eventually you came across a room with two guards at the door
>"Stop right there, Anon."
>One guard knocked on the door and opened it a crack
>"Princess, Anon wants to see you."
>You hear a quiet, muffled reply
>"Y-yeah, let him in."
>The guard held the door for you
>Neon Boom was in her pajamas
>They were a light pastel pink, which contrasted with her insane coloring
>"Hey Anon." she says
"What happened?"
>Neon sighs and looks at the ground
>"I gave you some space, I went a little over the line earlier."
"You didn't do anything, you're fine." you try to calm her
>"I just- I was thinking I almost went too far and scared you off."
>You walk over to the princess and touch her nose
>Royal boop
"It'll take a lot more than that to scare me off. We've got Cadance's blessing so I'm not going anywhere."
>"I'm sorry for giving you the cold haunch."
"It's fine, I do have a question for you though."
>"What?"
"Where am I sleeping tonight?"
>Neon looked at the ground
>"Well, since I thought you needed some space, I had the guards prepare a cot for you in the guest room."
"I think some space is the opposite of what we need right now.",
>The rave princess met your gaze anxiously
>"As in, sh-sharing a bed?"
"Yeah."
>"Oh! I've always slept alone, do you like snuggles?"
>Neon scuttled to her bed and laid down, holding up the blanket for you
>You pull off your shoes and climb under the blanket next to the alicorn
>With Neon next to you in bed, any cold you might've felt was washed away by the heat she radiated
>Her wing came down, draping across your body like another blanket entirely
>Her wing curled around, hooking itself on your chest and slowly pulled you away from the edge of the bed and towards her
>"You like to snuggle, right?" she said quietly as the lights dimmed
"Y-yeah."
>You realize you were the little spoon here
>Neon's body wrapped along your back perfectly
>One wing forced itself under you while the other came over top
>It was just as you'd predicted, the winghug
>With Neon's limbs grabbing onto you, and her wings binding you, you couldn't move
>The rave princess' chin sat right on top of your head
>Somehow, you two fit together like puzzle pieces
>"You going to sleep?" Neon whispered quietly as if she'd get in trouble if she were heard
"Yeah, goodnight."
>"I'm gonna hold you all night then."
>You finally got used to the constriction and were able to get some sleep after a few hours
The next morning
>You're in for a rude awakening as Neon Boom rolls over on top of you and gets out of bed
>Damn, she was heavy
>"Morning, Anon." she says, pulling you out of bed
"Yeah, morning." you begin to get a shirt on
>Neon notices this and helps you out with magic
>Under under a second, you'd been dressed entirely
>"We'ge got a whole day ahead of us." she grinned, getting close and rubbing her face against yours
>You and Neon made your way up to the top deck
>It was beautiful as ever, the golden dawn, the crisp morning air, the mountains stretching into the sky