>A fat drop of rain hit you square in the nose, waking you up.
>You moaned and turned on your side.
>You vaguely remembered the prior night.
>You had killed a chicken, gotten high, and talked in verse with a zebra about... stuff.
>After the zebra, Zecora or something, had left, you had fashioned a crude wooden pipe for yourself.
>It was ugly but functional.
>You proceeded to smoke yourself into oblivion late into the early morning.
>Now you were being rained on again.
>You opened your eyes to see the sun high in the sky.
>Must be late afternoon.
>Wait, what?
>You looked around the sky only to see one small, dark cloud directly above your head.
>How's that for shitty luck?
>You grabbed your pipe and the bundle of what you hadn't had a chance to smoke and started towards town.
>It would be retarded to go back to Fluttershy's house, and you didn't think you could bring yourself to look her in the eyes now.
>As you walked the rain refused to cease.
"Son of a ..."
 
>You looked up to see that the cloud had followed you and was still directly above your head.
"Don't you think that's kind of petty Rainbow Dash?"
>Who else could control a cloud?
"With all of your boasting, I'd think that you would confront me like a man."
>A cyan head peeped over the edge of the cloud.
>"Like a what?"
"Never mind. Come down and talk to me. I'm pretty sick of being wet."
>She had been careless and irritating, but had probably not deserved the tongue lashing you had given her.
>The rain stopped and the pegasus dropped in front of you.
>"Look Anon, I- I'm sorry I almost crashed into you and that I ignored you at your party."
>You imagined that was pretty hard for her to say, and you were surprised she had spoken first.
>Unless she counted that as a win over you.
> Never mind, not that surprised.
"Honestly I did not expect you to apologize to me. I suppose it's my turn. I'm sorry that I yelled at you. My only excuse is that I was having a really shitty day. Could you please stop it with the rain? This is the only set of clothes that I have."
>She actually looked kind of guilty.
 
>"Uh yeah I'll stop. Are we even then?"
>She extended a hoof.
>You pounded it.
"Sure. So weather control. That's pretty cool. This place is sunny the vast majority of the time though. What do you do then?"
>She laughed.
>"I either train or chill." She leaned closer to you and lowered her voice. "Usually I just hangout somewhere where nop0ny can find me and make me do stuff."
>You had to laugh.
"So you're lazy then? Well you're talking to the master of chilling unproductively. What time is it by the way?"
>>"You must be pretty lazy. You slept until two in the afternoon, and looked like you were still going strong when I woke you up."
>The day was pretty much shot, and you sure as hell didn't have any plans.
"Hey are you hungry?"
>"Yeah, why?"
"Go get us something to eat and meet me back here next to the lake. We'll see if we can't kill the rest of this day off."
Her smile changed to a look of suspicion.
>"Why should I get you food?"
>You set your bundle down and gestured towards it.
"I will share this with you."
 
>She looked at the weed then back at you, clearly unconvinced.
>You sighed. You were hungry.
"We're starting over right? If you trust your friends then trust me. Besides I'll time you."
>She smiled at you in defiance.
>"Okay you're on, but this better be worth it and you better time me."
"I just started."
>Before you could finish your sentence she was gone.
>You shook the water out of your hair, picked up the prior night's prize and headed to the lake.
>You had solved two problems and were going to get food.
>Who ever said smoking and chilling wasn't a useful tactic to get what you wanted?
__________________________________________________
Twilight Sparkle's Point of View
>After Anon's party you had woken up in your bed.
>You had no idea how you got there or even how the party had ended.
>Your head had been killing you.
>Applejack had been pounding on your door.
>You mostly just nodded and tuned her out because she was yelling the whole time.
>Apparently Anon had burned something down.
 
>After she left you back with blessed silence, you had been about to go find Anon when Spike came inside and handed you a package with a letter.
>The stationary had been the Princess' but the tone and the style was off.
>The letter had informed you that inside the package were the things Anon had been found with.
>The Princess had opted not to dispose of them, instead giving them to you for your studies.
>You had eagerly opened the package, forgetting about the oddness of the letter.
>Inside the box was a folding knife, a small notebook, and a worn, old book.
>You hid the knife in the back of a drawer and then inspected the two books.
>The old book was titled Leaves of Grass.
>You had opened it to find poetry.
>You shut it and set it aside.
>The best sort of writing in your eyes was straightforward and informative.
>Poetry was neither.
>You had then opened the notebook.
>It was filled with untidy and small scrawlings.
>For the most part it seemed like they were all of Anon's notes to himself.
>You had spent the following two hours reading through the small book.
>You didn't recognize all of the terms that Anon used, but from it you added to your image of Anon in your mind.
 
>There was the familiar sardonic sarcasm that Anon had adopted after receiving his partial memories back.
>There was also the same positive, driven curiosity he had first displayed to you.
>Near the end of the written parts of the notebook about two thirds of the way through it, there was a lengthy list.
>It was titled Shit to Look Into.
>You had no idea what most of the concepts and words meant save for a few mathematical terms.
>You had shut the small book, frowning, now with more questions then you had started with.
>You had read some of the other book, lingering on the pages that Anon had marked by folding the top corner.
>After an hour you gave up on that book.
>The imagery was moving but you didn't get most of the context.
>You asked yourself what you had learned about Anon.
>Though the knife had worried you, the two books painted a picture of a motivated but self deprecating p0ny.
>You were now fascinated by humanity more than ever.
>And Anon.
>Anon...
>You felt guilty every time you thought about him.
>After all you had gone along with the Princess' plan.
 
>The Anon who read that poetry and wrote that notebook seemed much more complete and less broken.
>He had hopes and ambitions and you had let Celestia take them from him.
>You wanted your Anon to remember what he lived for.
>In that moment you knew what you had to do.
>Anon meant more to you than did any abstract principles or possible dangers.
>You would have to be sneaky so he wouldn't learn of your involvement, so you couldn't just tell him.
>Twenty-four sleepless hours later here you were.
>You had surrounded yourself with all of the texts on psychological magic that the library had.
>You sure knew how to do research. Anon would be thankful for that.
>Opening your door, you decided that the bakery would probably be your best bet to track Anon down.
>You slipped outside into the chilly night air.
>It was time to right a wrong that you greatly regretted.
>For Anon.
__________________________________________________
Anon's Point of View
>When Rainbow Dash returned, she dropped a bag of food between the two of you and looked at you expectantly.
>Shit, you forgot to count.
"Uh... ten minutes and fifty four seconds."
>"Damn. I'm usually much faster. It's probably because of the food. So what are we doing?"
 
You picked up the loaded pipe and sat down.
>You lit it and passed it to her.
"Do what I just did.
>She took a massive hit and coughed.
>"Now what?"
"That's it. We're gonna smoke that and chill. And eat of course."
>After finishing the bowl, you both sat there wordlessly.
>The rest of the day slipped by quickly.
>The food was eaten quickly and you both just spent your time looking up at the sky and at the lake.
>She talked a bit about her aspirations to be in some group of pegasi called the Wonderbolts.
>You had listened but had been mostly zoned out.
>The two of you smoked most of the weed you had left.
>By the time it started getting dark, you were hungry again.
"Hey Dash, you wanna go to Pinkie's place?"
>She slowly turned towards you.
>"What for?"
 
"She told me she'll feed me for free, and I've yet to take her up on the offer. Baked goods sound pretty damned good right now."
>She looked over the darkening lake dreamily.
>"They sure do Anon."
"Uh we, I mean you, should probably walk. Let's get a move on. I'm hungry."
>She nodded and walked to your side.
>The two of you reached the bakery just as the sun went down completely.
>You knocked on the door.
>You heard a rustling from within then the door opened.
>"Anon! How's it going? Oh and hi there Dash."
"Hey Pinkie. Dash and I are here to stuff ourselves. Are you down?"
>"Yeah more food, less talk." Said Rainbow Dash.
>Within a minute the three of you were seated in the empty store with a massive plate of various foods on it.
>Dash was the first to dig in.
>It was then that you remembered something you wanted to ask Pinkie.
"Pinkie, I have a question and I really need to know the answer."
>"Ask away."
"Where did you hear those quotations you recited and who told you to follow me. I seriously want to know."
>"You're not going to let that go are you silly?" She sighed heavily. "I was walking around town the night after my birthday party. Out of nowhere, this really deep and super loud voice said 'Pinkie Pie!'"
 
>She looked up thoughtfully like she was trying to remember.
>"So at first I was scared and I almost ran, but I was more interested in meeting somep0ny new so I stayed. That voice told me to follow you, watch your back, and told me those lines would make a great prank on you. I still don't understand why it's funny but oh well."
>She shrugged.
"So you obediently followed orders that were given to you by a scary voice in the middle of the night?"
>"Yup! That's pretty much it."
"Why?"
>She shrugged again and laughed this time.
>"I dunno, it seemed like fun."
>Well that answered your question a little bit.
>You now knew that there was someone here, besides Pinkie, that was interested in you for some reason.
>You were no closer to their identity though.
>After giving a defeated sigh, you began to stuff yourself with whatever was closest to you.
>You heard a knock at the door. Pinkie rose to answer it.
>You turned to see Twilight walking briskly into the room.
>Her mane was a mess and she looked exhausted.
 
>"Hey Pinkie. Hey Dash. I need Anon. I can't explain now, but come with me."
>You gave the now smaller pile of food a forlorn look and stood slowly.
>Silently, you followed her out the door giving Pinkie and Dash a wave.
>Pinkie waved back and Dash was too busy to see. The door shut.
"Alright Twi, first of all, what happened to you? You look pretty rough. Secondly, why did you make me abandon that food? I've even been making some friends."
>She turned to you, and you noticed one of her eyes twitch.
>"I've been doing research Anon."
"Oh? What about?"
>"Magic. You and I are going to retrieve your memories. All of them."
>Since you had almost been running to match her pace, you reached the library within moments.
>She opened the door and pushed you inside.
>There were books open and everywhere.
"That's great news Twi. Why the hurry though?"
>She ignored your question and sat down on a chair, gesturing to another chair across from it.
>"I'm sorry to be so curt with you Anon. I've been awake for a long time and we need to do this before I fall asleep."
"Okay then. I take no offense. Tell me the plan."
 
>She nodded and picked up a list from the floor.
>"Since you have some magical capabilities, I am going to channel the necessary energy through both of us. Once I can direct the magic inwards, our separate consciences will become one. I will then do my best to see what's missing and what can be repaired. It's going to take a lot of energy, so we need to be quick and I will need to use whatever magical energy that still resides in you. Does that make sense?"
"Uh I guess so. What do you mean about becoming one? And some of my memories are pretty private..."
>She gave you a stern look, but you could see her face take on a lighter shade of purple.
>"All of my memories can be seen by you. There will be nothing private between us. There isn't really a way around it Anon. Do you trust me?"
>You shrugged. The reward was pretty great and privacy between friends was petty.
"Of course I do. More than probably anyone I've ever known. Tell me what to do."
>She nodded, but didn't stop blushing.
>"You can channel magic through your hands and I through my horn, so take my horn."
>You reached over the space between the two of you and gently grasped her horn.
 
>She looked you right in the eyes.
>"Ready?"
>You gave her a grin that she returned.
"Ready."
>A brilliant and bright violet light enveloped your eyes and your mind.
__________________________________________________
Twilight Sparkle's Point of View
>This was the first time you had been in anyp0ny's mind besides your own.
>Dim, swirling images moved around you on all sides, and distorted murmurings overlapped making them impossible to distinguish from each other.
>You observed the nearest moving picture.
>In it was a young Anon looking sadly into a dingy mirror.
>You shook your head.
>That's not why you were here.
>You willed yourself forwards, weaving your way between the various captured moments of Anon's life.
>Within moments, you found yourself at a sheer drop.
>Everything ceased at this one point, like a large chunk had been lifted from the rest of the expanse.
>You took another step towards it and blinding white light engulfed your vision.
 
>The Princess.
>Not only did she cleanly remove whatever used to be in that hole, but she left some sort of magical field around it.
>The light grew to be painfully bright.
>You screamed and lost consciousnesses.
__________________________________________________
Anon's Point of View
>Only two descriptive words came to you.
>Purple and organized.
>You found yourself in a long, violet-tinged, and clinical feeling hallway.
>So this was how memory was set up.
>Or maybe not. Maybe this was just Twilight's own visual representation of her mind.
>You had no idea, as all of this was conceptually above your head.
>Turning to the nearest door, you reached for the handle but stopped yourself.
>Why not?
>You were here, and learning more about your closest friend couldn't hurt right?
>You opened the door to see a large stallion patting the viewer on the head affectionately.
>Must be her father or something.
>You closed the door and moved on.
 
>The next door opened to a view of P0nyville from above.
>Watching the scene you felt...nervousness and anticipation.
>Huh feelings too?
>You couldn't help but be a little worried about how Twilight was doing.
>You had felt some pretty shitty emotions in your time.
>The next door you opened you were suddenly taken with both the emotions and what you saw.
>You stood at the front of a large room being looked at harshly by four p0nies with clipboards.
>A cart on which rested an egg was rolled in.
>You felt fear and anxiety.
>For a good twenty seconds the screen showed Twilight trying to hatch the egg from every angle possible.
>Nothing.
>You were overwhelmed by shame.
>Suddenly...triumph.
>The egg hatched and the view rose into the air, bright white light filling the screen and room.
>Everywhere the screen pointed, there was some form of magical chaos.
>Celestia herself appeared and the light faded, the screen going dark.
>You left the room.
>Damn Twilight was pretty powerful.
>You smiled.
 
>She scared the hell out of the judges too.
>You walked to the door at the end of the hallway.
>This one wouldn't open.
>Well now this one you had to see.
>You tried your best to focus on the image of the door swinging open.
>You put your hands against it and it slowly opened.
>You laughed with delight.
>More magic! Controlled even.
>This room was dimly lit and had various screens covering the walls.
>You approached the first one.
>The screen showed a dark room and as it turned you saw that the room was full of books.
>A book was picked up, and a single tear fell upon its page.
>Hopeless loneliness came from this screen.
>You looked away. You were very familiar with that entire scene.
>Moving on you approached the next screen and saw yourself.
>You were sitting at a table in the library in your boxers looking pretty disheveled.
>Must have been when you first arrived.
>From this you felt fear mingled with anticipation and excitement.
>You moved on.
 
>The next screen showed you proudly smoking a cigarette in front of the screen smiling at Twilight.
>There were many emotions attached to this one.
>Excitement, surprise, disgust... guilt?
>And something deeper...
>You leaned towards the screen when the light around you suddenly dimmed to black.
>You opened your eyes to find yourself back in the library.
>Twilight was on the floor in front of you.
>Quickly you took a knee and shook her.
>There was no response.
>You put your ear to her chest.
>She was breathing slowly and had a slight pulse.
>Fuck.
>Whatever happened was probably your fault and she had just been trying to help you.
>Fuck.
>You picked her up, brought her to the nearest couch, and gently placed her on it.
>You then pulled up a chair to make sure you could see her breathing.
>After covering her with a blanket you found, you sat down, picked a random book, and began to read, glancing at her every now and then.
>Fuck.