Title: Captain Anonymous - Chapter 4 - Judgement Author: somewritefag Pastebin link: http://pastebin.com/kmXPTGqH First Edit: Sunday 9th of August 2015 09:38:35 AM CDT Last Edit: Last edit on: Sunday 9th of August 2015 12:17:21 PM CDT                                         Captain Anonymous - Chapter 4 - Judgement -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   >You’re led out of the castle in chains, paraded down the streets of Ponyville until you reach the town square. Some of the guards from the Crystal Empire have already set up a stage and a set of stocks. A massive crowd has already formed. Word of your sentence and upcoming punishment had spread like wildfire in the short time it took to get from the castle to the town square, drawing nearly every pony in town to witness it. Most of the gawkers seem more curious about what you are than what is about to happen to you. Some of them look on with twisted smiles on their muzzles, eager to see you writhing in pain and begging for mercy, shooting you disgusted looks and shouting expletives at you.   >Shining Armor’s horn glows, and he retrieves a sizeable coiled up whip from his saddlebag. He oils it and snaps it in the air a few times, each crack louder than a gunshot, causing you to flinch. He then speaks to you, loudly enough so that every pony there can hear him.   >"Captain Anonymous, of the Sol Confederacy Deep Space Expedition Vessel 28, a human, of the planet Earth. You have submitted fully to the authority of the Crystal Empire and been found guilty of the charge of espionage conducted by the men under your command. Additionally, you have waived the right to legal counsel, and have accepted the punishment of public flogging as well as banishment from the Crystal Empire."   >Shining Armor raises the whip high above his head   >"The punishment for this offense is eighty lashes. Do you have anything you wish to say before your sentence is carried out?"   "No, your highness. I only wish to, once more, apologize deeply that we offended you and broke your laws. I'm ready to accept your sentence."   >Shining Armor snaps the whip in the air again, then draws it back as if he’s about to inflict his first, full-force, painful lash.   >"Then as Prince of the Crystal Empire,"   >You close your eyes and grit your teeth in preparation for the agony you’re about to suffer, trembling in nervous anticipation. To your surprise, it never comes. Shining coils up the whip and returns it to his saddlebag.   >"I grant you mercy, and hereby formally pardon you of all charges and dismiss your sentence."   >There are boos and yelling from the crowd as you're freed from the stocks. You look directly into Shining Armor’s eyes with a blank stare and no idea what to feel. His expression and demeanor, on the other hand, have softened a great deal since your discussion at the castle.   >"Any being noble enough to take responsibility in the way that you did and never made any attempt to escape our judgement, despite being given ample opportunity to, deserves a second chance. If, and when, you're ready, Cadance and I would be happy to personally take you on a tour of the Crystal Empire.”   >Shining bows to you before continuing.   >”I also hope you can accept our sincerest apologies over this entire incident. I deeply regret the damage we caused to your ship and any harm we may have inflicted on your crew."   >You simply offer a nervous smile and nod your head at Shining Armor. The crowd has already begun to disperse. Twilight eventually appears before you with a relieved look on her face.   >"I'm glad you didn't have to take that punishment," she offers, looking away as she rubs the back of her neck.   "I'm surprised you care," you snap back at her.   >"You were willing to accept a really harsh and painful punishment, all in the name of friendship," she continues. "I guess even as the Princess of Friendship there are still some things I've yet to learn, I've never really seen anything like that. I’m… I'm sorry." She offers you her hoof, still looking away, "Can you forgive me for judging you so harshly from the beginning?" She looks up at you in shame, her ears flat against her head. You take her hoof in your hand, shaking it gently.   "Of course, Twilight," you offer with a warm smile.   >Celestia and Luna offer their regards as they, too, prepare to depart from the scene. Neither of them seemed the least bit surprised that Shining granted you mercy in the way that he did, as if that was the obvious outcome from the very beginning to them. Twilight motions for you to follow her to her castle.   >"So, your people won't be back for you for how long?" she asks casually.   "I can’t know for sure, but it sounded like the damage was pretty serious. Your technology is, well, beyond our comprehension to be honest. There are many things about you that we are curious about. From what my first officer told me, they won't be back for at least several months. Something about unexpected secondary effects caused by your weapons. If I might ask, what exactly is that technology based on? It seems pretty devastating."   >Twilight looks up at you quizzically. “Technology? What do you mean? There wasn’t any kind of technology involved in the incident with your ship, Anonymous, those were magic-based attacks.”   >You raise an eyebrow in confusion.   "Magic?"   >"Yeah, just magic. It's something every unicorn here has the power to manipulate," she looks up at you as if she's having to explain to you that grass is green. “How is it possible that a race as advanced as yours doesn’t know about magic?”   "Well, we have heard of magic where I come from, but it’s nothing like this. The type of magic that you are apparently able to wield doesn't exist where I come from," you state in confusion, “when we talk about magic it’s all make-believe, smoke and mirrors, deception, illusions, all for entertainment. It's not an actual force that can be controlled or harnessed to be used.”   >Twilight seems completely baffled, utterly perplexed that any world could possibly exist without magic.   “If you don’t have magic, then who raises and lowers the sun and the moon where you come from, and how do they do it? How do you control the weather and the seasons?”   “What do you mean? Those are all naturally occurring events on every other planet I’ve ever been on, we have no control over them. The sun rises and sets as our planet turns, and so does the moon. The seasons change when our planet is at different points in its orbit around our sun. There’s nothing magical about any of it, it’s just the way things are.”   >Twilight shudders a bit as she replies.   >“Your home must be a really terrifying place. We have a place here where things work that way, without magic, and the weather and other events aren’t controlled by ponies, it’s called the Everfree Forest, and many of Equestria’s most fierce and dangerous beasts dwell there. I can’t imagine living in a place where the whole world is like that.”   “Actually Earth is a really beautiful place. Sure it has its dangerous creatures and some places with treacherous weather and geography, but they’re easily avoided.”   >When you finally arrive back at her castle, you sit with her and continue your discussion. You’re both fascinated by what the other has to say. Your conversation lasts for hours, covering a wide variety of topics about each other’s cultures, traditions, etcetera. She offers you a cup of tea at one point, which you graciously accept. The two of you continue talking into the wee hours of the morning.   >When your exhaustion begins to show, Twilight leads you to guest chambers that are just as luxurious as you'd imagined, fit for a princess. When you slip into the bed you audibly sigh, trembling slightly, in shock and disbelief at how comfortable it is. You fall asleep nearly instantly.   >For the next few days, Twilight is glued to you, squeezing every iota of information she can out of you about your people, other races in the Confederacy, absolutely everything that you know. Her curiosity is insatiable, no bit of information you have in your head is too small or insignificant to be of interest to her. When you venture outside of the castle you still get nasty glares and suspicious looks from some passersby, though it seems at least a few ponies have begrudgingly accepted your presence, or just ignore you altogether.   >Despite the fact you’re still an object of repulsion, disgust, and fear for nearly every other pony in the world, Twilight, begins to grow closer to you each day. You feel it, too. In the way she talks to you, her demeanor around you, and the way she even laughs and has fun with you. You would even go so far as to say she's your friend at this point. Or at least, the closest thing to a friend you currently have on this world.   >When the days begin to pass into weeks and you exhaust every other topic of conversation possible, you begin to share other things with each other. Increasingly personal things, some of which nobody else even knows about. You share all your hopes and fears, your dreams and nightmares, your secret shames and embarrassments. You don’t know why but you feel completely comfortable telling her all of your deepest darkest secrets, and she seems to feel the same way.   >As even more time passes, the two of you become increasingly at ease in each other’s personal space. At one point during a playful conversation you even grabbed her and tickled her, causing her to squirm and laugh, before blushing and moving away from you. You quickly apologize to her, thinking you'd made a mistake and gone too far by touching her without her permission, half expecting to get a hoof to the face. Instead she assures you that everything's alright, and you didn’t offend her or do anything wrong.   >After making it clear that you hadn’t screwed up, she invites you to go out to eat with her, your first meal outside of the castle. You expect to be taken to a high-class hoity-toity snobbish kind of restaurant, given that she’s a princess. It’s quite a surprise when she takes you to a fast-food joint instead, saying it's one of her favorite places to eat as she unabashedly pigs out in front of you. You can’t help but wonder how many ponies have seen this side of her – unashamedly indulging herself in something she enjoys without a care in the world about what anyone might think.   >As the two of you continue to grow closer, many ponies seem jealous of your friendship with the princess, causing them to dislike you even more. Her closest friends begin to warm up to you gradually, at a minimum accepting your presence if not enjoying it at times, though it’s hard to tell if any of them trust you or not. They still keep their distance for the most part. Though you’ve come to deeply enjoy Twilight’s company, you begin to wonder when your comrades will be returning for you, sometimes staring into the night sky hoping to see a bright flash signaling the arrival of a starship.   >You've toured the Crystal Empire as Shining Armor and Cadance's guest, actually more than a few times. Over the course of your visits, any hostility that might have been lingering between you and Shining Armor over past events eventually evaporates. You also begin to visit Canterlot on a somewhat regular basis, spending time with Celestia and Luna, making friendly conversation and marveling at their magical manipulation of the sun and the moon. To your surprise you even meet a griffin, not even aware that there were any other sentient beings besides ponies on this world.   >More time passes and you begin to explore even more of Equestria, including some of the more dangerous places. Twilight is at your side more often than not these days, often accompanying you on your travels, and sometimes one or more of her friends even tag along. They still don’t seem very eager to talk to you though.   >Six more weeks pass, and still not so much as a peep from anyone back at home   >Twelve more weeks have passed. You try to remind yourself that the ship took heavy damage and it might still be a while before they’re able to make it back, you just have to be patient.   >Another sixteen weeks pass, and it begins to show that you’re becoming increasingly homesick. Regardless of the friendships you’ve cultivated, few though they may be, and the breathtaking experiences you’ve had here, you’re ready to get back home, or at the very least back on the bridge of your ship. You haven’t been planetside for this long in years, and part of you is longing to get back out into space, to continue to explore and discover. You’re also eager for formal diplomatic negotiations between the Confederacy and Equestria to commence, no doubt in your mind that the planet will quickly become its newest member, initial hostilities having been resolved long ago. As time continues to pass your homesickness becomes a heavy burden on your heart. You begin to carry your radio on you at all times, trying to convince yourself that you’ll hear a familiar voice emanating from it any day now.   >Twilight eventually senses that something's wrong and that you’re hurting, but she's not quite sure what to do to comfort you. She knows you miss your home, but when she catches you staring into the night sky, sometimes for hours at a time, at times on the verge of tears when certain memories pass through your thoughts, you always insist you’re fine when she asks if you’re okay or want to talk about anything. She arranges for Pinkie Pie to throw you an Earth-themed party to try to cheer you up, which goes comically awry given Pinkie's complete and total misinterpretation of what your home is like, though the attempt is endearing and heartwarming.   >Week after week passes without any word from home. You fall into an increasingly deep depression, spending a lot of time simply laying in your room or sitting on a balcony staring up into the sky. Twilight finds it increasingly difficult to get you to partake in any kind of activities with her, and she voices her concern over you now and then, but you simply brush her off and say you’re fine. Regardless, Twilight still does her best to keep you company and comfort you. You're thankful that she actually cares enough to even try.