Title:           Captain Anonymous - Chapter 34
Author:          somewritefag
Pastebin link:   http://pastebin.com/XfepL5Eq
First Edit:      Saturday 26th of September 2015 08:25:24 PM CDT
Last Edit:       Last edit on: Saturday 26th of September 2015 08:54:56 PM CDT

>The display before you switches scenes yet again
 
>You see an EM-53 being dismantled by engineers wearing protective suits, instantaneously realizing what's going on
 
"Pegasus..." you mutter almost inaudibly. "How did you get ahold of her?"
 
>"That is none of your concern. Quite a feat you and your friends were able to pull off, just the three of you and this hunk of worthless scrap metal. If your precious Confederacy's most powerful starships were similarly outfitted, they would cleanse our worlds and star systems of all life in a day. You realize of course, we cannot allow that to happen."
 
>You scoff.
 
"Genocide? You can't be serious, the Confederacy would never commit such atrocities..." you insist.
 
>"Can you be certain, Anonymous?"
 
"Even IF there are traitors in the ranks of the High Council, as you would have me believe, they will never gain that kind of influence. The Confederate Navy is acting to preserve the Confederacy with the least amount of life lost possible, not the other way around, they would ne-GAH!"
 
>"ENOUGH!"
 
>Another painful shock is administered, lasting twice as long, leaving you groaning and gasping for air
 
>"You asked what we want you to do. The answer is simple, Anonymous. You are to serve as our eyes and ears within the ranks of the Confederate Navy. Your willing cooperation would have been preferred, but it is not required. Though, it would have made things a bit less unpleasant for you."
 
>You hear mechanical whirring and clicking, feeling a panel in the chair behind your head slide open. You scream out in pain as you feel a device drilling into your skull, your entire body seizing up in exquisite agony. This lasts for several minutes before you finally feel the wound in your head cauterized and disguised.
 
>"Your sensory input will be monitored remotely from this point forward. Truthfully we have little interest in your quaint little Equestria, Anonymous. You can have that world all to yourself. What WE want is intel on the Navy's fleet deployments and tactical disposition. Given your new rank you'll be privy to information that shall prove to be invaluable to the True Way. You will act as our early warning system, among... other things."
 
>You grunt and groan in pain, still struggling against your restraints.
 
>"Let us emphasize, Anonymous, that ALL of your sensory input will be monitored twenty four hours a day. If you try to give any hint whatsoever as to what happened here today to ANYONE, if you try to tip off any of your superiors or friends, if you try in any way to slip out of your new collar and leash - and that includes any attempt at self-sacrifice or martyrdom in an attempt to deny us what we seek - we WILL come to your new home and ravage it without mercy as you so fear. Now go, return to your duties - and to your lovely Princess."
 
>You hear laughter before slipping into unconsciousness again.
 
>You spring up in bed in the middle of the night screaming, startling Twilight awake and nearly sending her into a panic.
 
>"Anon, what's wrong!?"
 
>You're drenched in sweat, your heart is racing, you feel like you can't breathe and your entire body is shaking. You cautiously move a hand to the top of your head, slowly running your quivering palm all the way over it and down the back of your neck. You feel a small lump where the wound was sealed and some sort of device implanted. It wasn't a dream.
 
"N...nothing Twily, just a bad dream is all," you stammer. You hesitate for a moment before snatching her up in your arms, squeezing her as tight as you can, crying into her fur. "I love you, I love you more than anything Twilight, I love you so much..." you whimper as you continue sobbing.
 
>"Shh, shh, it's okay Anon, it was just a dream," Twilight says softly, rubbing your back as you embrace her to try and comfort you. "It must have been absolutely horrendous, I've NEVER seen you this shaken up... please try to calm down... you're here with me, we're in Canterlot, we're together, we're safe, everything's going to be okay, shhhhh..."
 
>Eventually your weeping subsides under her caresses and you finally release her. She repositions herself in bed and wraps her wings around you, resting her chin on the top of your head.
 
>"Now go back to sleep. Your Twily is right here and she's never letting you go," she says, squeezing you tightly as you bury your face in the fur of her chest. Despite your feelings of rage and helplessness, you're eventually able to fall asleep with her there to comfort you.
 
>When you wake up in the morning you gently extricate yourself from Twilight's loving embrace, managing to not wake her up in the process. You swing your legs over the side of the bed, placing your elbows on your knees and your face in the palms of your hands. You can't even begin to think of any way out of this. The True Way is essentially holding all of Equestria hostage, you're terrified that if you make one wrong move they'll make good on their threat. No matter what you do going forward, you will end up betraying someone - either the Confederacy or Equestria.
 
>You have no way of knowing how much of what you were shown by the True Way was genuine and how much of it was fabricated. You don't know who, beyond your beloved ponies, you can trust at this point. For the first time in your life you're faced with a true no-win situation that you have no clue how you're going to handle. Your first instinct is to try to warn someone - but who, and how? The True Way can see and hear everything you do now. It would have to be done in a way that's so subtle that whoever you're trying to warn probably wouldn't even be able to pick up on it. Your mind continues racing until you eventually feel a pair of hooves hooked over your shoulders and a kiss on your cheek.
 
>"Good morning, stud," Twilight says before hopping down from the bed, leaning forward and backward, stretching her back and wings before turning to look at you.
 
"M...morning Twily..." you manage to reply, not having changed your position at all. Twilight eyes you with a great deal of concern. Before she has a chance to ask if you're alright, you shake your head, stretching and yawning yourself, forcing a fake smile until Twilight seems satisfied that you're okay.
 
>"You know, Anon, I've been enjoying our visit to Canterlot, but maybe it's time we headed back to Ponyville. I think the stress of all that's happened is starting to really wear on you. I don't know if you remember or not but you woke up in the middle of the night with a pretty terrible nightmare, I almost couldn't calm you down."
 
"Oh..r..really? I don't remember that. Maybe you're right though, maybe we should just spend these next few days at home," you stammer.
 
>Twilight tilts her head at you, sitting on her haunches, her eyebrows furrowing, staring at you through squinted eyes.
 
>"Alright Anon, what's going on?" She demands.
 
"Nothing Twi, I'm fine, really, just-"
 
>She cuts you off abruptly
 
>"I know you better than that by now, Anonymous. You're not yourself this morning, and you were acting really strange all day yesterday. Why do I get the feeling there's a lot more going on here than you're letting on?"
 
>You roll your eyes at her and sigh.
 
"Oh come on, Twi, don't be so p..paranoid. Nothing's wrong, I just... like you said, I need more rest, I need to get away from... from everything."
 
>You can tell by the look on her face she's not buying it. She starts tapping a hoof on the floor, waiting for a more satisfactory response. Your eyes start to dart around, giving you away even more as you fumble for your next words. You cough loudly and clear your throat.
 
"I think it'll be good for us to get back to Ponyville. I think I'd like to spend some more time with your other friends when we get back."
 
>You hesitate for several moments before scratching at the base of your skull.
 
"Especially... Rainbow Dash... heh.. that... that" *cough* "PEGASUS..." *cough cough* "she's such a REBEL..." *COUGH* "maybe some quality time together will help me CAPTURE" *cough* "her heart, and finally earn her friendship..."
 
>Twilight's face contorts in confusion as you start to shake, almost immediately regretting your words. You were warned not to do this.
 
>"What does Rainbow Dash have to do wit-"
 
>Twilight's expression changes suddenly, as though struck by lightning as she catches on, her confusion replaced by dread.
 
>"Oh... well, Anon, you know... I was really hoping we'd get to spend some time ALONE. Is that... okay?"
 
"I'm afraid that's impossible right now, Twi. I... think you know why," you say with a sigh.
 
>"I think I'm starting to understand..." she hesitates.
 
>"How long?" she asks accusingly.
 
"I wish I could say..." you reply, staring at her pleadingly
 
>"I thought I could trust you," she says, her bottom lip quivering
 
"Yeah well, sometimes you never really know WHO you can trust... maybe sometimes you're better off not trusting anyone at all..."
 
>"How did we let it come to this?"
 
"I don't know, but there's nothing we can do about it now."
 
>Twilight does her best to muster an angry expression at you before she continues
 
>"Really Anon, if you've been cheating on me with one of my friends, I think I deserve to know how long it's been going on..." she says angrily, her horn beginning to glow as she snorts and paws at the ground
 
"I never wanted you, or anypony else, to get hurt, Twi... can you forgive me?"
 
>"In your dreams," she growls.
 
>You give a defeated sigh and nod.
 
"At least I can't hurt anyone there."
 
>Without warning Twilight pounces on you, laying you flat on your back on the bed, pinning you and slapping you across the face with a hoof as hard as she can three or four times. You just barely see her mouth 'sorry' to you a fraction of a second before you catch a blast from her horn, rendering you unconscious.
 
>When you open your eyes you're surrounded by a dense fog, making it impossible to see more than a foot or two in any direction. You hear a familiar voice speaking to you, instantaneously recognizing the Princess of the Night, but her words are indistinguishable and seem to echo indefinitely. You give a sigh of relief that Twilight seemed to get the message. If you're right, and you desperately hope you are, they shouldn't be able to monitor you here. You can speak freely without fear of being eavesdropped upon. You have no way to know for absolute certain, but it's a risk you have to take. You refuse to become a tool of the True Way. Besides, it's too late to change your mind now.
 
"Luna?" you call out, trying to waft away the dense mist surrounding you, stumbling around blindly and reaching out to feel for anything that might be obscured from your view.
 
>"Anonymous," her voice rings out loudly. A pair of brightly glowing eyes approaches you through the mist, and with a flap of her wings it's whisked away as she reveals herself to you. "Twilight Sparkle has informed us of a most disturbing developme-"
 
>You're quick to cut her off, trying to explain everything at once, the fear and paranoia in your voice overwhelmingly apparent.
 
"Luna, we don't have time, I was kidnapped by the rebels, they implanted some kind of device in my brain to monitor me. I'm pretty sure it only monitors my visual and auditory input but I can't be certain, they could be watching us right now. Equestria is in danger, and so are my people," you sputter out in a panic.
 
>"Calm yourself, Anonymous, it is doubtful anyone you may fear in the waking world would be able to penetrate into this realm. I have taken extra precautions before bringing you here this time to ensure our privacy. I would sense it immediately," Luna states confidently. "We are alone."
 
"Even if we are alone here, they could already be on their way. If they picked up on what was really going on between me and Twilight before she knocked me out, they could be preparing an invasion at this very moment. They made it very clear they would show Equestria no mercy if I tried to warn any of you about what they did to me."
 
>Luna frowns and glares at you
 
>"Then by your very actions, you have willingly placed Equestria in harm's way? For what purpose?"
 
"Luna, I don't know who to trust any more. They showed me some pretty damning evidence implicating the Confederacy in some kind of massive conspiracy to use me, and the ponies of Equestria, against their enemies by careful and calculated manipulation of events and circumstances."
 
>Luna sits on her haunches, listening intently as you continue.
 
"I didn't want to believe it, I still don't, I want to believe it was an elaborate ruse, an attempt to convert me to their cause willingly - but I can't be certain of that."
 
>You approach Luna and place a hand on her withers
 
"The only thing I CAN be certain of is that you and the rest of the ponies of Equestria are the only ones I can have any confidence in at this point. I had to do something, anything, to warn you of this threat as soon as possible, despite the risk. Hostilities are inevitable, and even if we can't stop it from happening, at the very least we can take steps to minimize casualties."
 
>"Casualties?" Luna says hesitantly, a troubled expression immediately falling over her, "but, surely Anonymous, there must be something that can be done. Your Confederacy will honor their treaty with us, will they not?"
 
"I don't know," you state bluntly, "we can't depend on them at this point. We're going to have to handle this on our own, and whatever we do, the first step is going to have to be to get this goddamned thing out of my head."
 
>Luna turns hear head away from you briefly
 
>"Our time grows short, you are beginning to awaken. What would you have us do?"
 
"DON'T let me regain consciusness," you bark, "even if you can't keep me in the dream world you need to keep me knocked out. Get me to a surgeon and have them take out anything that looks like it doesn't belong in there."
 
>"But... is there not a significant risk that you would be seriously harmed? Even our best doctors are still somewhat ignorant of your anatomy and physiology. Would it not be better to have your own people remove it?"
 
"They can't be trusted..." you say with an angry sigh.
 
"Please Luna, just do it, and in the mean time start getting ponies underground and into any other kind of shelter that you can. Spread the word to evacuate densely populated areas, disperse the population as much as you can, make it as hard as possible for those bastards to hurt any of them..."
 
>"Very well Anonymous, we shall begin to take..."
 
>Luna begins to fade, your surroundings slowly darkening as her voice becomes more and more distant, trailing off into silence rapidly before everything becomes pitch black
 
>When you awaken once more, your head is pounding and you feel extremely disoriented. Wherever you're at, it's dark, and you're lying on a rather uncomfortable hard surface. You can hear the muffled sounds of shouting, along with energy weapons fire. You occasionally feel and hear a deep rumbling, dirt and debris falling from above you. Eventually you figure out that you're in a cave, and from the sound of things your worst nightmare is becoming reality just outside.
 
>You soon find Celestia standing over you, motherly concern on her face as her horn illuminates the surrounding area. She looks off to the side and speaks softly.
 
>"Twilight, I think he's starting to come to..."
 
>The cave shakes violently again, and this time you notice hushed whimpers, the crying of a few colts and fillies, seeing groups of ponies huddled together in fear. Twilight teleports to you immediately upon hearing Celestia's words. She takes a hand between her hooves, looking into your eyes in a mixture of bewilderment, fear, and relief. You try to sit up, only to find the pain in your head becoming unbearable when you try to do so.
 
"Twi? UGH... what's happening? How long have I..."
 
>"Shh, don't move, you still haven't completely healed from the surgery..." she says to you barely above a whisper
 
"How long, Twi?"
 
>"You've been out for ten days, you almost didn't survive..."
 
>You immediately try to sit up again only to be forced back down by Twilight.
 
"Twi, I need a full briefing on the situation," you groan through clenched teeth, "afterwards we need to get to the ship so I can-"
 
>"We're not going anywhere any time soon, Anon," Twilight interrupts. "The fighting out there is too intense, we can't risk it. We're pinned down in here for the time being."
 
"Pinned down by WHO?" you demand, your frustration growing.
 
>Before Twilight can respond you hear the sound of a magical forcefield dropping, and the frantic shouting of a familiar stallion's voice
 
>"Clear the way, we've got wounded!" Shining Armor yells out immediately before re-establishing the shield protecting the cave entrance.
 
>"Get them to the triage area," Luna orders the rest of the guards. "What happened?"
 
>"A firefight broke out near the middle of the evacuation route, we were caught in the crossfire. I threw up a shield and we all ran for cover but several refugees had already been hit, we almost didn't get out of there alive."
 
>You force yourself to your feet, gently pushing past Twilight, walking through the darkness toward the sound of Shining's voice. When you get close enough to see him, your eyes go wide taking in his appearance, his horn flickering along with Luna's to illuminate the way, escorting several guards and civilians deeper into the cave. Shining is wearing his armor, which is scorched and melted in some spots, the fur around his face slightly singed. You ignore the pain and walk briskly along with them.
 
"Shining... what..."
 
>"Not now Anon, we need to take care of these evacuees."
 
"What can I do to help? I know basic first aid, at least let me-"
 
>Amongst the panicked muttering and fearful whimpering of the wounded refugees you hear a little filly crying and coughing. Your heart immediately sinks, you know that voice. You hurry toward her, Shining Armor alongside you. When you reach the source of the crying you find her draped over an injured unicorn guard's back, eventually she's set down gently on a cot in the more well-lit triage area that had been set up within the network of caves. You drop down to your knees at her side as a doctor begins tending to her, quickly rushing around and giving directions to nurses and emergency personnel surrounding him.
 
>"We've got a priority one victim here," he shouts before barking more orders. The little filly is soon surrounded by ponies that work frantically to stabilize her. There's a deep rumbling that only continues to grow in volume and intensity, shaking everything around you before ending in a loud explosion, large rocks, dirt and debris falling from the ceiling above. You throw your body over the little filly to protect her as the other ponies scramble out of the way, and when the dust finally settles everything is eerily quiet, you're in total darkness. You've been cut off from the rest of the ponies in the cave, a large wall of fallen boulders nearly surrounding you. Shining Armor barely had time to deflect some of the falling debris, creating a small pocket around the three of you, but not before you'd been struck by several falling rocks.
 
>You know at a minimum you've broken a couple of ribs, and are probably worse off than that. You cough and sputter, trying to waft away the thick dust in the air with your hand before finally seeing a bright light and Shining's face. You turn and gently shake the little filly now laying unconscious on the cot.
 
"Jasper, sweetie, come on, you gotta wake up..." you plead.
 
>She groans and whines, her eyes barely cracking open. The pained expression on her face softens slightly when she sees you. Shining has already set to work frantically trying to clear the fallen debris around you, levitating some of it out of the way, blasting the larger pieces into more manageable fragments.
 
>"Captain..." she coughs, her voice weak and raspy as she tries to turn her broken little body toward you
 
"Shhh.... easy.... easy little one... just hold still until we can get the doctors back here again, you're gonna be okay..."
 
>You place your hand behind her head to try to comfort her, immediately feeling a warm dampness and eliciting a sharp whimper from Jasper as you quickly withdraw it. Your palm shakes as you slowly turn your hand over to examine it, seeing it covered in blood.
 
>You have no clue what you're wearing, but you tear a piece of your garment off and gently apply pressure to the back of her head, causing her to whimper and cry. You take a hoof in your hand and stare directly into her eyes.
 
"Jasper, I need you to stay with me. Stay awake for me baby, can you do that?"
 
>The little filly is trembling, responding after calming herself from a coughing fit
 
>"Captain I'm sleepy... I just wanna..."
 
>Her eyes start to close again
 
"No no, Jasper, hey," you shake her, "hey, listen, I know you're sleepy but you gotta stay awake until the doctor gets back. That's an order, young filly."
 
>You look over your shoulder at Shining.
 
"How much longer?"
 
>"We're buried pretty deep Anon, I'm trying... just keep talking to her..."
 
>Her pulse is becoming weak and erratic, her breaths shallow and infrequent.
 
>"I'm so sleepy..." she whines as her eyes close. Once again you shake her to keep her conscious.
 
"Jasper... JASPER... come on sweetheart, stay with me... stay with me, PLEASE stay with me..." you beg, tears flowing freely and dripping onto her. She doesn't respond this time. You feel for a pulse, press your ear against her chest.
 
>Nothing.
 
"No no NO NO! JASPER!" you begin to panic, gently rolling her onto her back and beginning chest compressions, stopping occassionally to softly cup her little snout in your hands and breathe into it before returning to your compressions.
 
>Shining begins to work more frantically to clear a way through the debris, digging with his hooves along with his magic. Jasper still isn't responding to any of your attempts to rescuscitate her.
 
"DOCTOR!!! NURSE!!! MEDIC!!!" you cry out desperately, "Anypony... please..."
 
>It feels like an eternity passes before Shining finally meets another pony that had been digging from the other side. The moment you see a hole open up you scoop Jasper up in your arms and scramble toward it.
 
"SHE'S NOT BREATHING! PLEASE!" you sob.
 
>You pass her through the opening and she's immediately taken by the doctors and nurses. You hear chaos outside as they desperately try to revive her. You pace helplessly, it's going to be at least another minute or two before you and Shining are able to get out yourselves. When the way is finally cleared enough to allow you through you push past every thing and any pony in your way, rushing over to where they'd taken Jasper. Everyone's quiet, a couple of the nurses are sniffling as they walk away. The unicorn doctor levitates a sheet and slowly pulls it over her face, shaking his head and wiping a tear from his eye. He doesn't have time to remain there and grieve, quickly rushing to tend to his next patient.
 
>You rush over to the bed and immediately pull her out of it, setting her on the ground and kneeling next to her.
 
"NO!" you scream mournfully, "SHE'S JUST A BABY!"
 
>Once again you start your compressions, your entire body shaking in physical and emotional anguish
 
"one.. two.. three.. four.. five.. six.. seven.." you repeat over and over until you reach 30 before adminstering rescue breaths, checking her airway with your fingers to make sure it's clear.
 
>This continues for several minutes, with no signs of life whatsoever from Jasper. Shining Armor approaches you and pulls at your shoulder, but you violently push him away and turn back to Jasper.
 
"one.. two.. three.. four.. five.. six.. seven.. COME ON BABY, COME ON... fifteen.. sixteen.."
 
>You completely ignore the further rumbling and shaking of the cave. You have to save Jasper, that's all that matters right now, you HAVE to save her.
 
 
"one.. two.. three.. four.. five......"
 
 
"one.. two.. three.. four.. five......"
 
 
"one.. two.. three.. four.. five......"
 
>Still nothing. You pick up her limp body and immediately run toward the entrance of the cave, only to be knocked on your ass when you run head-first at full speed into the protective barrier.
 
"Shining, let me out, if I can get her to the ship there's still time to-"
 
>"Anon..."
 
"Shiny please, open the fucking DOOR, I have to get her to the ship, it's her only hope, I have to-"
 
>"Anon....."
 
>You pull Jasper close to your chest and start kicking at the forcefield as hard as you can.
 
>"ANON!"
 
>You finally fall to your knees, sobbing uncontrollably, rocking the lifeless filly in your arms, holding her close to you. You feel an armored hoof on your shoulder as Shining sits on his haunches next to you. This wasn't supposed to happen. None of this was supposed to happen.