>There was some movement around him, a couple of voices, all soft and full of concern.
>Anon just sat there slumped against the door.
>At some point maybe after the first or second hour people began to leave out the backdoor.
>A few of his closer friends stuck around, trying multiple times to talk or break through to him, none of them touched him.
>That was until Daniel slowly reached a hand out, and clasped Anon’s shoulder.
>Anon was startled, jumping against the door and reflexively going for his .45 again.
>Daniel however remained calm, slowly pushing the gun back into its holster.
>”C’mon bro, lets go have a smoke.”
>Anon stayed stationary for a few moments.
“Y-yeah...”
>He shakily got to his feet and went out to the front porch, Daniel followed close behind grabbing a few craft beers from the table left over from the party.
>Daniel opened both and handed one to Anon, he then proceeded to light two cigarettes before handing one to Anon.
>There was a few moments of silence, Anon was slowly coming back together.
>Things were harder here than he could have imagined, granted, he didn’t have to scavenge for food or be held at gunpoint.
>He knew that there would be an adjustment period, but he didn’t expect it to be at the forefront of his life.
“You know what… I’m gonna have to take a rain check for tomorrow, don’t want an unexpected touch to turn into a guard investigation do we?
>Daniel slowly began to chuckle, Anon slowly joined it the mirth, there was no joy behind it.
>It was the sort of laugh that said ‘I don’t know how else to react’.
 
>The door slowly creaked open, Anon looked over his shoulder, the door quickly closed again.
>It opened again, just a crack, enough to see a deep purple eye framed by slightly lighter purple fur.
>Anon reached over and opened the door the rest of the way, Twilight came off her hind legs and settled herself on her four hooves.
“H-hows Pinks doing?”
>Anon said this as he sat down on the porch, Twilight came over and sat down next to him.
>Outside of arms reach.
>”She’s fine, Tim’s with her in the kitchen…”
>Daniel took a final drag before dropping his cigarette butt in his empty beer bottle.
>”There should be a first aid kit in the kitchen; I’ll go give to them… And get us a couple more brewskis… You want anything Twilight?”
>”No, I’m fine thank you.”
>Daniel left Anon and Twilight alone on the porch.
>There was a few moments of silence, Anon sucked down the last of the cigarette, catching some of the filter in his drag.
>With that he dropped the butt into Daniels improvised ash tray.
>”Do you always carry that thing?”
>A couple moments of silence, Anon slowly drew the sig, he saw Twilight flinch a little at the sight of it.
>He dropped the mag and cleared the chamber, he flicked the slide release letting the gun close on an empty chamber.
“I can’t leave home without it… I try every day… I make it to the door and just lock up.”
>He stared blankly at the empty gun in his hands for a few minutes.
“The closest I ever got was holding the door handle… I couldn’t even undo the lock.”
>He flipped the gun in his hand offering to Twilight, real human weapons had only been examined by Shining Armor and Celestia.
>Everyone else got to see or hold replicas and make believe that they weren’t lethal.
 
>She was hesitant to take it; it was already a rare occurrence for a pony to buy one of the humans replica weapons.
>Those that did were always big fans of the book series.
“It’s perfectly safe, I cleared it and everything. It’s little more than a paper weight right now.”
>Her horn lit up and she took it up in her magic.
>”Oh wow it’s really heavy, you carry this every day?”
“Every day.”
>She slowly rotated it in her magic, she was very careful not to muzzle sweep either herself or Anon.
>Tim must have told her the basic safety information.
>Anon still found it odd that Tim and Twilight were in item, he had spent so long watching them through a screen.
>Forming and shaping his own ideas and opinions of them without their input or knowledge.
>”Wait a second… I thought you couldn’t leave the house without this? Well you’re outside the house right now… and you-“
“I got a second one on me.”
>Anon reached down into his boot and pulled out a tiny single stack 9mm, he presented it to her and put it back in his boot.
>”How did I never notice this? Do all humans carry this much stuff?”
“I don’t know why don’t you ask Tim!”
>She was shocked to say the least; Anon put his head in his hands and spoke again in a much softer tone.
“I’m sorry that was uncalled for and cruel… I’m sorry.”
>There was a few more minutes of unbearable silence, Twilight felt like she should say something.
>She didn’t know what to say, she wasn’t that close to Anon, their only relation was that of boss and worker.
>This was the longest she had ever talked to him without discussing work.
“Let’s get inside, as nice as the stars are Equestria is a far bit colder than earth.”
>Anon opened the door for Twilight and followed her in, he stopped for a moment to look around his small living room.
>There were streamers everywhere and a big handmade sign in the back, food and drink all ready to be consumed and left untouched.
>Everyone was ready to have a good time.
>Was, past tense.
>Anon let out a small sigh and turned into the kitchen.
>Daniel had his head in the cupboard, presumably trying to find Anon’s store of booze.
>Tim was going through the first aid kit.
>Finally there was Pinkie holding a bag of frozen peas to her eye, the rest of the ponies were sitting or standing around her.
>Pinkie was resting her head against Flutter shy while Rarity was rubbing her hoof into Pinkies back.
>Both AJ and Dash turned their muzzled head and gave Anon something close to a death glare.
>Anon had to stop himself, he could only see the wild expression of a feral in their eyes.
>Tim looked up, his expression tired and worn, deep bags under his eyes.
>Tim was probably in his mid-twenties but Anon could see the crow’s feet and lines beginning to appear on his face.
>He calmly placed the first aid kit on the table, handed Flutter shy a bottle of anti-inflammatory pills and a glass of water.
>He stood up, tall and straight, he leaned to Anon and cupped his hand to whisper.
>”I think you should leave.”
>Anon looked down at his feet for a moment before responding in an equally low voice.
“That… That seems like a wise idea.”
>Anon turned and to head out the door. Before he left he grabbed his hydration pack.
>He never had a ‘bug out bag’ until he came here, he thought he would be using it if Pale Face fixed the portal.
>Never did he think he would use it because of personal issues.
>He was going out for a while, he didn’t know where, but he just needed to get out.
>All he did was walk around, eventually winding up in some fields outside of Ponyville.
>The night was cold; winter would be upon them in a month or so.
>He pulled the blanket off the top of his hydration pack, tossed the pack up a tree on the edge of the forest.
>He then climbed his way up the tree, undid his belt and secured himself in place, before settling in for the night.
 
>He awoke the next morning covered in dew, Anon shook the blanket dispersing the water particles.
>He lowered his bag down, and then followed in suit.
>Once the blanket was secured again he reached into the pack and pulled out a pack of crackers.
>He had more substantial food in his pack but the town was in sight so there was no point.
>Slowly, he ate his crackers while watching the town, stopping every few bites for a sip of water.
>It was very peaceful, very idyllic, the colors blending nicely to form a calming atmosphere that was lost to him last night.
>Once his crackers were finished he stood up and began to walk back to Ponyville.
>As he passed Flutter shy’s cottage Anon glanced over at the window, she was peeking out the window only showing one eye.
>He gave a slight wave; even from a distance he could see her pupil contract as she ducked back under the window.
>Anon let out a huff and kicked a rock in front of him, as he did so he felt some lose bits shift around in his pocket.
>It was maybe enough for a pastry or two; if he stopped by he could also apologize to Pinkie.
>As he progressed into Ponyville proper he began to get weird looks from the ponies, he couldn’t quite put a finger on what they were meant to convey.
>He was still unfamiliar with their body language, but the humans were a different matter.
>He knew the look of pity.
>He tried to shake it off as he jumped up the steps to Sugar Cube Corner.