>Life is a strange thing
>Stranger yet when you're living in Equestria, the playground for Gods, Titans, and Incarnations of the Elements of the Earth
>But life somehow managed to carve an existence out of it all
>And did it flourish
>Flora that consumed the planet. Tens of thousands of species, more numerous than all the grains of sand on a beach
>And fauna to match, with dozens of not just sentient, but sapient and intelligent races
>Some were even able to channel the rivers of ether that coursed through the world, and bend it to their will, letting them perform arcane arts, bend the Earth beneath them to their will, or command the four winds, to carry them to the heavens and beyond
>And it was because of this that Equestria became to be known as a realm of relative peace
>Relative being the key word to it all
>But life moves on, words burn to ash, bodies rot into dust, and the sands of time take their due upon it all
>But in one moment, relative to the grand scheming of the Gods, an insignificant managed to wound one who stood far above all mortals, but lied beneath the gods, with but a single plea
>"Just fucking kill me Dash."
>Something so crude, and so simple, had managed to accomplish only the Lord of Chaos, Discord, had done
>Make one of the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony fall from their grace
 
>It wasn't a grand event like it had been with Discord
>There wasn't a nefarious and devious plan set in motion that flowed from the natural stemming of how pony psychology worked
>It was a favor, a plea, a demand that was repeated over and over in the head of Rainbow Dash, the Element of loyalty
>It was one that not even her friends could ease, as it wasn't a matter of friendship
>It was a matter of Loyalty
>The question of where she was being loyal, was easily answered for her
>It didn't matter because she wasn't being loyal to a friend
>The question that she couldn't answer was, was if she was truly loyal, would she have killed him? Would she have finished the job? Would she have done as Anonymous requested and killed him, since that was what she pushed him to? What she told him to do. What she herself, demanded of, desired, and tried to bring about.
>That being his death.
>She was sure she wasn't his friend, but at the same time, it was like a matter of keeping a promise, one she failed to keep
>That was the question that burned in her mind, all throughout her one night stay at the Ponyville's Library, with one of her closest friends, Twilight Sparkle
>That was the question that burned in her mind when she told Twilight what happened
>That was the question that burned in her mind when she saw Twilight take a blanket from her closet, teleport without a spoken word, and to return ten minutes later, without said blanket
>It was this all that drove her to ask her friend, the meaning of Anon's words, though she knew what he meant by them
>And though she knew the answer, it still hadn't helped her sleep that night, when her thoughts danced between the duality of her disgust and hatred for Anon, and her new found pity, and self-loathing
 
>"Wake up Rainbow Dash, its 9:36 in the morning, don't you have Weather Duty today?"
>Stirred awake from the gripping of Twilights voice, you shake the sleep from your head
I'm up, I'm up. Jeez Twilight, give a mare a break,
>You knew that wouldn't likely happen, ever since being crowned one of the Princesses of Equestria, Twilight's never been more punctual,,, And unfortunately for you, more of a nark
>"I'm just trying to get you up Dash, you can't sleep all day you know, though you do pretty much do that already"
Well you try and be me for a day, try and do all the flying, work, and practice I do, and not find it hard to sleep.
>"Rainbow, I don't think it's a matter of you working hard, rather a matter of you just liking to sleep:
>Twilight seemed to take amusement in saying that, and while it hate to agree with her, you can't help but find it to be somewhat true
Yeah alright, fine, so maybe I do like to sleep.  But I can still do today's weather in 10 seconds flat, and be ready to take a nap afterwards
>A smile betrays Twilight's thoughts before she can speak
>"I have the utmost faith in that Dash, but you do really need to get going. Its 9:44 now, and you need to clear the weather before noon.
Yeah, yeah, alright, see you later egg head.
>And like that, you take off, flying though one of the windows Twilight has opened.
>Even though you loved to sleep, there was indeed one thing you loved more
>To fly.
>To feel the wind beneath your wings, to soar among the clouds and sky, to speed so fast, the ground beneath you muddied into beautiful streaks of greens and browns
>This was why Autumn was your favorite season, because when you flew, those same greens and browns, turned into a collage of auburns, reds, purples, greens, and golds
>It was something only somepony like you could experience, making it all the more special to you
>As you fly around to begin your shift, busting clouds to stabilize the humidity near Ponyville, you notice something
 
>A violet blob in the same field you left that bucker Anonymous in
>Lying on the ground, crying
>>waiting for the death he begged you for you for
>You shake the thought from your head, and begin your decent to the ground. At least you can haze him for not returning Twilight's blanket that she graciously provided for him to keep warm with
>As you near it, you notice that Anon isn't there, and it doesn't look like any pony has been in the area for quite some time
>You land and begin a slight trot to the blanket
Anon! You here?
>The only answer your call gets is that of the wind. Not surprising since the field is on the edge of the Everfree forest, and not many things are willing to stay near it
>You reach the blanket, and see it's positioned in a way that makes it look like it was draped upon somepony
>It seems strange, but you cast the thought aside.
>You give the blanket a feel, and can tell it's still pretty warm. Anonymous must have slept here for the entire night. What a pathetic pile of crap. Couldn't even bring himself off the ground to drag his sorry ass home.
Well, might as well grab the blanket, go to Anon's house to see if he's home, and get him to return it to Twilight. Maybe I can push him a little farther, see if he'll actually grow a bucking spine to try and stop me
>You grab the blanket, fold it up. It's not an easy task, but it doesn't take you long enough before you have the blanket on your back, and you're flying in the direction you know Anon's little shack of a home is
>As you fly, you consciously try to block out your thoughts questioning if you were a little too harsh to him. He deserved every word and you know it.
>>Were you just trying to convince yourself of that now, or did you actually believe it?
>Your train of thought dissipates as you reach Anon's home
 
>It's a shabby looking thing. Put together by Anon himself, and with what tools he could borrow from Applejack's brother, Big Mac,
>She wasn't too happy that he was willing to give out the Family's property to random ponies, much less ponies or "humans" like Anonymous
>She said she didn't hate him, but never felt comfortable around him either, you couldn't blame her though, Anonymous was kind of a creep
>But Big Mac seemed to stand firm on his position that Anon was at least a decent enough human, by pony standards. He surprised everypony when he told this straight to Applejack's face, in front of everybody in the Town Square, and did it with a sense of conviction not commonly seen from the simple Apple farmer
>You reach the door, and give a rough knock. Didn't want to talk in on him doing whatever deprived acts he performs in there
>You wait a few minutes before you try again
>The answer is the same. Complete silence akin to that of what you found in the field
Anonymous! Come on out, I know you're inside! You left Twilight's blanket out in the field you jerk, least you could do is return it.
>Again, silence
>You peak into one of the adjacent windows and see not a living thing stirring inside
>You return to the door and try to open it, finding it unlocked
Idiot monkey. What is he trying to do? Living so close to the Everfree, and leaving the door unlocked? Moron is going to bring something out of the Everfree, and we're going to have to deal with it, like that one time Trixie brought out a bucking Ursa Major
 
>You explore the inside of the shack, well shack wouldn't be the right words after you've taken a look at the inside.  Cabin seems to work better
>On the outside the cabin looks like it was roughly built.
>Logs unfinished and unpainted
>No real furnishings on the outside, no fence, no deck, no power
>Even the windows seem old and worn
>On the inside you see that Anon actually did some work to make the place livable
>The walls had beautiful paintings hanging from them, Anon probably stole them because you know he doesn't have that kind of talent, and nopony has ever seen him do much of anything outside
>He somehow got plumbing
>From the looks of it, he actually built a chimney, surprisingly not burning down the place in the process of being used, if the cold pile of ashes are anything to judge it by
>And the furniture and appliances he has, are rather well made
>You can even see that his silverware is hoof made. There's no way Anon could have bought this
>How much more has he stolen?
That's it
>You march to the only other door in the cabin, leaving it the door to his bedroom
>Without doing the courtesy of knocking, you enter
>And are shocked to see the room looking as if nopony has touched it in days
>The bed was made, and had long since gone cold
>The window was shut with the curtains drawn
>His dresser was filled
>Even the desk was clean and bare, not even a piece of spare paper
What the buck is going on?
 
>Anon hasn't been here for quite some time.
>But if he's not here, then where is he
>>And why should it matter after all that you've done to him
Well, might as well return Twilight's blanket. Hey, maybe if I'm lucky, this will be the last time I'll ever see anything of Monkey boy's
>>Because if you think about what you did too much, you might end up feeling sick
>The trip to Ponyville is largely uneventful
>The wind was peaceful, and thanks to your morning work, the weather seems to be rather nice
>Ponyville seems to reflect this with having so many ponies out and about, bustling here and there
>It's a good thing you're a Pegasus, otherwise you'd be walking to Twilight's
>And the sooner you can get rid of this soiled blanket, the better
>When you reach the Library, it looks no different than how it was before
>You don't even bother knocking, not when you can fly through another one of the open windows
Hey Twilight, I found your blanket this morning. Not that big of a shock but Anon left it out in the field, I didn't even see him out there either, so he must have left in a hurry
>You announce
>Twilight's steps can be heard from the second floor as she descends
>"What do you mean Dash? That blanket was left for him? And what do you mean you didn't see him?
Well, when I was working the weather so that everybody could have an awesome day, I saw the same blanket you left with last night, minus Monkey boy. I can't make heads or tails of it.
>Twilight's face scrunches up, and she lets loose a sigh
>"Dash why do you keep doing this?"
>Twilight's tone seems to reflect that of a mother scolding her child
What are you talking about Twi? All I did was grab your blanket because Anon was too much of a jerk to bring it back to you.
>"Dash, I'm talking about that. Why must you be so cruel to him?
>Wait, was Twilight actually defending Anonymous?
 
Me? Cruel? Twilight, Anonymous deserves everything that he gets, and so much more for what he's done
>Twilight's tone seems to rise in anger
>"Then tell me Dash, what did he do to deserve the way you're treating him. What kind of justification for your actions can you come up with?"
Well let’s see Twilight, he's a creep, he's a jerk, he lies, he steals, he hurts ponies, he eats meat which is reason enough to dislike him, he's a lazy piece of crap who never leaves his home, and dear Celestia is he spineless
>"How dare you Rainbow Dash"
>It seemed in your ranting, you lost your focus on Twilight, because now when you see her, you can see that she's filled with seething rage
>"How dare you, I have not once seen Anonymous commit any of the crimes you accused him of. Not once, not ever, not within the two and a half years I've known him!"
>What the buck is wrong with Twilight
What the buck do you mean two and a half years? He's been only here for barely two
>"Don't you try and change the subject on me Dash. And since you asked, when Anonymous first came to Equestria, he lived with Celesta and Luna in Canterlot for four months, before he came to Ponyville, where he stayed with me for two. I'm surprised you never noticed since you seem to have devoted your life to making his a living bucking Tartarus!"
>You try to say something, but Twilight cuts you off before you can make out anything coherent
>"And you know why he eats meat Dash? BECAUSE HE CAN'T LIVE WITH OUT IT!"
>There was at last, something you could use
Horse crap, I've seen other meat eating races eat things other than meat. Gilda used to bucking eat beans and tofu when we were in Flight School
Not much more guys. And it's going to get better soon. Less dialogue, and more exposition.
 
>"Anon's species needs to have high protein diet, something that Equestria nor Ponyville can readily provide for him, we came to find out about that in Canterlot when he tried to live off of meat substitutes. I slowly watched become incredibly sick and ill from it. Finally, one night, he caught the flu, and in his current state, he almost died from it, something I'm sure you would have loved to see, Dash.
>Twilight's lying, and you know it, there's no way that could have happened
Yeah, right. I'm sure he was just faking it
>"Dash, his body gets certain things from eating meat that some kinds of omnivores can't get from a Vegan diet. But it doesn't matter, what matters is the fact that you've done thing but torment and harm Anonymous when he's been in Equestria, and for what reason? Because you can? Because honestly I can't see any other reason why."
>>Did you even need a reason to be cruel to him?
>"And now what? Let me guess, you actually went out and killed him this morning?"
>The thought of him begging you crosses your mind again, and brings you back to your conversation with Twilight
Buck no! I would never kill him. Besides, I didn't even see him at his house either when I went looking for him
>"Oh that's nice, so you went out looking for him too. What more do you want Dash? Is death not enough for you? Just how much more must you desecrate and ruin him?
>What remained of the anger and outrage you first held when Twilight heard of your accusations, has slowly melted, leaving you feeling tired and weary
You know what Twilight, fine, I admit it. I hate Anonymous, but you know what, I don't care. He didn't deserve to live. He didn't deserve to...
>Before you can finish, the door bursts open and Spike comes running in
>"Twilight! Come on. There's a fire on the edge of the Everfree. The Mayor has issued a state of alarm, and is asking all able ponies to help the Fire Fighters!"
>Oh no...
 
>Twilight's attention is dawn to the little drake standing in the door way
>"Spike, go get Pinkie and tell her to warn Fluttershy, so that she can get out, and that she can warn her animal friends of the oncoming fire, so they can get out. Afterwards, I need you to run to the Apple Farm and Warn Applejack. We may need her or Big Mac to stop the fire, and if the Everfree starts on fire, then we may have to help them from preventing the Orchard and entire Farm from starting on fire.
>Fear flashes in his eyes, before he closes them, takes a deep breath, and opens them revealing a look of determination
>"You can count on me Twilight!"
>Spike gives a cute salute, before he runs out of the Library, shutting the door behind him
>Twilight gives a genuine smile, as she watches Spike leave, before the door shuts, and she turns to you with a look of complete and utter disgust
>"Rainbow Dash, I will only ask you this one time. What in the name of the Sun and Moon, did you do? And what did you mean when you said "he didn't deserve to die'?"
>Wait, can't be assuming that you actually hurt Anon
I didn't do anything Twilight, you know th.
>As you finish speaking, Twilight's magic grabs a hold of you, and throws you to the wall, pinning you there
>"I said I would only ask once Dash, you're making me break my word. I don't like it when ponies make me a liar. I will ask you again. WHAT. DID. YOU. DO. TO. ANONYMOUS?"
>Every word that she shouts is punctuated by a sudden spike in the force pressing you against the wall. The pain blurs your eyes, and makes it hard to see
>But one thing is clear as day, the look Twilight's giving you is one you've never seen before, and you hope you never will.
>Besides the sharp pain you're feeling from Twilight's magic, and the anger you're feeling for Anonymous, you feel something you never imagined you'd feel about one of your friends.
>Fear
 
>It hits you harder than you could have thought possible. Harder than what Twilight's doing to you.
>The patter of your tears seems to snap Twilight out of her rage, as you feel the pressure being exerted, drop considerably
I... I don't know where he is Twilight. I don't know.
>You hiccup
I don't even know why there's a fire. I just went to his house, and checked inside to see if he was home, that's it...
>The tears flow more freely, and you feel Twilight release her magic, dropping you to the ground.
>You curl up into a ball as your mind fights against itself
>You did this
>You killed Anon, you must have
>Anon deserved death
>What kind of Element kills?
>The same kind that didn't do anything
>>Does it even matter?
>You don't hear Twilight leave the library
>You don't see Fluttershy's house burn to ash, nor do you hear her pain as she cries into Pinkie's tender embrace
>You don't see the Apple's and the rest of Ponyville as they fight to protect the farm that started their beloved town, nor do you feel the pain of the flames that slowly raze the pastures
>You don't stand beside your friends as they stare into the heart of the fire, a lonely little cabin, spitting of blue and green flames, as the great paintings and tools of an unknown artist, burn
>You don't feel anything as your sky blue coat turns a pale gray, and your mane and tail takes varied tones of the same monochromatic as your coat
>As much as you want to, you can't, you won't, you don't deserve to
>Not because you won't ever know if it was your fault, the fire or Anon's disappearance, not that it matters
>No, it's because you won't ever be able to answer Twilight when she asks you if Anonymous is dead
>Because he already was
>>Just like you are now
 
>Life moves on
>As does all things
>Life burns to ash, and ash into glass
>And glass rots into dust, and dust into life
>That is how it's worked since the dust of starts, decided to stand up, and walk upon the earth, instead of living on its knees in fear
>That was the strength of life, but its cruelty was with words, for they were thought given imperfect form.
>And not all that lives, is alive, because there are those who walk among us that are dead.
>Their hearts may still beat, their lungs may still draw air, but their minds are dead, or rather, that is how the world decides how they should be
>Some may come back to the realm of the living with the aid of the alive
>"C'mon Dash, you said you were going to help me, Apple Bloom, and Sweets show off our Cutie Marks to everybody in town!"
>It doesn't happen often, sometimes they're just too far gone to be saved
>"Alright squirt, but remember, you three said that you would help AJ help with the replanted saplings."
>And some walk through the fires of hell, only to reach the end and say "This, I like this. I will make this my home."
>But for those who make it
>"Wait, what’s the date? Oh yeah, it's May 25th. ALRIGHT SQUIRT. RACE YOU THERE!"
>They will most certainty come out different
>"Dash are you okay?"
>In some ways, stronger, and some weaker, like that of the re-forging of steel
>"Yeah, *sniff* I'm fine"
>But no matter what happens, we must not forget the dead men who stand beneath us all, making sure that the ground we step on doesn't cave under us
...
>On the personal desk of Princess Celestia, sits a pile of open envelopes
>There lies a solitary letter, stained by tears
>Inside is a masterfully painted picture of the Everfree Forest, facing out from a field that lies on its border
>The date that the letter was sent reads May 2~th
fin