*BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! Click.* The familiar alarm blared until it was promptly silenced. Anthon groaned in exhaustion as he looked at the clock, and groaned again. 8AM; his new wake-up time. That USED to be when he went to sleep! 'Flipping schedules is a bitch....'

He went through his new morning routine, which involved the usual, but instead of spending so much time on the computer, he was planning to head to town, but noticed his pets were back. Fluttershy must've sent them back through the door upstairs. They were all nice and clean and groomed too, and especially happy. He hadn't seen them so happy since he took them to the groomer's last month. Guess he had a new one in Fluttershy. “How's my little babies? How's my doggies and kitties?”

Anthon spent some time smothering them in attention as he fed them, he also bought a bag of pet food in town just before the stall closed up. It was all organic, that he could trust from Equestria, and they ate it up like it was gourmet. Wanting to thank Fluttershy, and pay her for services rendered, he decided to leave through the door leading to her cottage. Upon doing so, he saw the mare flitting about with a large number of birds, talking to them about something as he approached. “Hey Shy!”

She squeaked, and the birds scattered, but when she saw it was him, she smiled softly as she calmed down and approached. “Good morning Anthon. Oh, that's a funny shirt.” Fluttershy commented on his green Lucky Shirt. It said so, and had a four-leaf clover, so of course it was lucky.

“Thanks, I have many like it. So what's the plan for today Shy? I noticed you returned my little friends and they were so happy. I was coming to get them today but you beat me to the punch.” Anthon smiled at how she beamed at his praise of her work with his pets.

“Oh, they were such darlings, it was no trouble. Jasmine has a constant headache though, so be nice to her.” Shy said imploringly in a tone he understood, making him sigh sadly about the news he suspected of his second-eldest cat; the psycho.

“I'd thought it was that...I'll make her final days relaxing as possible. So what do I owe you?” At the question, she was about to reject the offer, but he held up a hand. “No. I'm paying. I don't keep debts, I pay them. I have forty-five bits on me, so what do I owe you?”

Shy pouted at being forced to accept payment when she was honest about enjoying having watched over his pets. “Well...it really was no big deal. I didn't use many resources on them that would be worth any money...but for the time spent, I'll take five bits. It will let me buy another bag of animal food.” Anthon quickly reached into his left thigh pocket, took out his small bit bag, and counted out five coins to hand to her, which she...put into her side.

“What is that? I've noticed you ponies doing it a lot.” When Shy looked at him in confusion, he mimed putting his bit bag to his side, and she made an “oh” expression in comprehension.

“Everypony can do it. It's a sort of small magical storage we have. I don't know the specifics, but supposedly all creatures have it.” Fluttershy gestured for him to try, and Anthon looked incredulously at his bag of bits, and imagined it vanishing when he let go, and gawked when it simply was gone when he released it. He then pantomimed grabbing it, imagining he was holding it, and voila! It was back in his hand!

“AWESOME~!” He did so repeatedly with an excited grin. “This would solve SO many problems back home!”

“It's also why ponies don't need saddlebags for anything but larger items and when needing more things than a couple items. The storage can't handle much, but varies between ponies, so maybe the same is for you.” Shy stated, and then looked just above his head and giggled.

“What?” He finally noticed as one of the small birds Shy had been talking to landed on his shoulder, and then he turned his eyes up to see some tail feathers above his eyeline.

“They're roosting on you. They really like you.” Fluttershy said adoringly, but Anthon was having a slight panic/rage moment.

'Must...resist...rage...against...birds!' Anthon hates birds, always has. He has an active vendetta against pigeons specifically, but he does NOT like birds. “Please...Shy...get them. Off. Me.” His hard tone and clear building anger worried her, and she quickly flew up and persuaded them to leave him alone, and he took deep, cleansing breaths. “Sorry. I have a bad history with birds.”

“I understand. I actually have a phobia of dragons, but yours is much more volatile. Do you want to talk about it?” Shy offered, and he shook his head.

“No. I'd rather just stay away from any birds if possible. Thank you again Shy. So, like I asked before; what are your plans for today and tomorrow?” Anthon wanted to see if he could help. Since the celebration was tomorrow and prep was today, Mayor said the start of his tasks weren't until the day after tomorrow, so he had some time to kill.

“I'm in charge of the songbird choir at the celebration, so I'm spending today practicing. I'm not doing anything else today.” She informed him, getting a nod in response.

“Right then, I'll head to the farm and see if AJ wants any help.” Anthon then turned to the Doorway and entered after waving to Shy, using his house as a shortcut.

[@]

“Well darn, if'in Granny didn't send ya off yesterday, Ah could've had somethin' fer ya. But....” AJ apologetically hung as she looked behind her at the massive number of her relatives that were visiting, each doing something productive towards making the massive amount of food for the celebration. “We're kinda...overstaffed right now.” She smiled nervously, but Anthon didn't hold it against her; there were WAY too many ponies here right now.

“Don't worry about it, it's fine. I'm good for a few days and I have work after the celebration, so I'm not concerned with my expenses right now. That aside, I'd be in the way. I'm too big to move through so many ponies without stepping on somepony's hoof or tail.” Ain't that the truth?

“Well...Ah just don't like being made out as a liar. Ah said you were welcome here for a job and it turned out a hollow statement. And now when ya just want ta help, Ah can't let ya? It's not fair to ya.” AJ looked terribly guilty, but Anthon leaned down and forced her chin up to look at him.

“Hey, AJ, you don't have to do or promise anything. Heck, if anything I still owe you for that massage. I'm pretty good with my hands, so if you need one I officially have you in my “owe a favor” book, kay?” Anthon offered, feeling comfortable with it since she already helped him out, but he couldn't avoid grinning slyly at her blushing, remembering his words on the matter. “Hey, if I'm going to be here I've got to adjust my social views don't I?”

“W-well...still...the offer's...nice.” AJ smiled softly and snorted in amusement. “Well, Ah'll hold ya to it then. Next time Ah need a good rub down Ah'll be payin' ya a visit.” A couple of nearby mares all giggled, and she perked up in embarrassment. “Not like THAT!” She shouted to her teasing relatives, getting a jovial bark of laughter out of Anthon.

“Ah, relatives, love em, hate em, can't stand em, can't live without em.” Anthon stated, getting calls of here-here from nearly everypony that heard him, clearly getting him in their good books. “This reminds me of the last Robinson reunions a couple years ago. My aunt's house was packed full, near standing-room only. She didn't get enough RSVPs to prepare for the sheer number of pe-bovines coming.” 'Watch the slips Anthon, can't let the common pony know there's Doorways to an alternate reality, at least not until a proper security measure has been put in place to keep curious ponies out.'

“Well we Apples always have plenty of room, so the number of us coming to a reunion don't matter much in the end.” AJ stated as Applebloom suddenly scurried through the throng of adults with several other fillies and colts her age.

“See! Ah told ya there was a minnow-tour in town! Everypony, meet...uh....” AB blushed as she realized she hadn't asked his name, and Anthon grinned, deciding to save her.

“Anthon Robinson. I'm not a traditional minotaur either, so don't bother asking me about back home; I was raised differently.” Anthon had quickly formulated a complex plan last night to dodge questions of where he was from. He didn't know about where the minotaurs here were from, so until then he had to work off non-assumption, and make clear that he had little clue of his race's culture. AJ raised an eyebrow at him. She figured why he lied by omission, didn't change that she didn't like it. She let it go though; no need to get everypony all worked up about a whole other world, even Pinkie had enough tact to keep that quiet, she just said he was from out-of-country, not where he was from.

He was quickly swept up by the tide of children, all asking questions that he could or could not answer, silly questions like how he got so big, why his horns were so sharp, childish things like that which needed some deflecting. When they started asking questions that he personally felt they had no right to even know to ask, he was grateful for the distraction of seeing a purple unicorn with a bipedal lizard of the same color but with green spines as he quickly made his getaway. 'Little tykes, cute, but dangerous.'

“Hello there.” He greeted, getting the mare and lizard to gawk as they looked up at his towering form. “Welcome to Sweet Apple Acres. You're new here aren't you?”

The mare was the first to recover, while the reptile kept gaping. “Yes. I am Twilight Sparkle, and I am here to oversee the preparations for the celebration. I'm just checking in on the food.”

“Well then, you're in luck; the Apples are having a reunion and are cooking up a storm. You'll find them all over there.” Anthon pointed towards the section of trees the family was in.

“Thank you good sir. May I ask your name? It isn't often we have minotaurs in Equestria...in fact...where's your nose ring? You look old enough to have earned one....” Twilight commented, getting Anthon to blink in surprise. Apparently, from what she just said; minotaurs had a similar tradition to pony cutie marks.

“Oh? Well, I just never got one. Didn't know it had some special meaning. I was raised differently, away from the motherlands. I don't know much of anything since my parents weren't minotaurs. Anyway, name's Anthon Robinson. I just came to town a few days ago myself actually.” 'This mare is incredibly intelligent...I'd better watch myself.'

Twilight blinked before she seemed to come to a realization. “Oh! You were raised by griffins then! That's a griffin name.” Say wha? “It would also explain why your first name isn't the metal of your nose ring, since you don't have one. And the achievement that earned it never happened, so your second name is different too then.” Uh.... “Well, let there be something said for those who break tradition, even if unintentionally. It was enlightening to meet you sir. Come along Spike.” Twilight walked past a stupefied Anthon, followed by a sympathetic Spike.

'What...just happened? Ugh...my head hurts....'

[@]

Anthon decided to get away from the farm for now; that mare was terrifyingly knowledgeable of things the average pony clearly didn't know. To avoid any further slip-ups and a potential existential panic attack for all parties involved, Anthon decided to try and find Rarity, beings she was the last of his new friends he knew he might be able to help out. After asking around, he was informed that she was in town hall, decorating.

“Wow...this is really classy Rarity.” Anthon commented as he entered the town hall past the reception lobby. Honestly, the town hall was really only used for special occasions like such, the actual offices of the hall were along the outer walls of the first floor. The evidence was that aside from the first floor, the rest of the several floors up were hollow save the balconies and ringing catwalks.

“Why, thank you darling. I do pride myself on my sense of design after all. I cannot say the same for you however, what with all that green.” Rarity sniped with a playful grin, and Anthon pretended to be insulted, putting his snout in the air.

“Hmph! The audacity! Green is the superior color! In fact, I wish my fur was green rather than russet. Then again, being a tertiary color perfectly between oranges and purples, it matches most greens and reds on the color wheel. You're just jealous of my superior color coordination.” Anthon flamboyantly posed in graceful motions, emphasizing the contrast of his russet fur with his green shirt and pants.

This got an amused giggle out of the fashionista. “Oh~ quit it you! I know quite a bit about color coordination, and somehow you make green work darling...even if it is the ugliest color.” She barbed as she went back to tying ribbons on the pillars, as she was almost done already, he knew this and decided instead to have some banter.

“If it is, indeed, the ugliest color, then I must truly be amazing to make it look good. So, my fair Rarity. Might I assume that you're flirting with me?” Anthon's voice because cleanly changed to that of an upper-crust noble, and Rarity looked at him in blushing surprise, both for the taunt and the impressive change in tone.

“Well! I never!” Rarity didn't deny it though, letting it hang as she smiled to herself, glad to have someone with sharp wit to clash against in friendly banter.

“Wow! This place is amazing!” They turned their attention to the voice, seeing Twilight only...her hair was so ridiculous, curled and whirled and puffed out of itself, Anthon was nearly as disturbed as Rarity upon the sight of it. “I'm glad to see you've gotten the décor done. That's one thing off the list. Oh, hello Anthon. Applejack was wondering where you went.”

“THIS CANNOT STAND!” Rarity interrupted anything else, suddenly levitating a surprised twilight into the air, trotting out the door with her. “I MUST give you an emergency makeover IMMEDIATELY!”

“HELP!” Twilight cried in terror as she was carried off against her will, Spike somehow levitating after them himself, followed by popping ethereal manifestations of hearts.

Anthon stood there for a while, trying to comprehend what just happened. And decided. 'Magic=fuck logic.'

[@]

Since he didn't have plans, his friends were all busy now and such, he decided to head to the library to pick up his weapons. He'd forgotten his sword, knife, and kukri there since the first night. Didn't want somepony just taking them. But when he entered the front door, he instead found the place fully decorated for a full-tilt Pinkie Party, and he nearly panicked. “Pinkie...who is this for? New unicorn?”

“Yeppers! I made this part just for her, and since she's going to be staying here, it's perfect to hold the party here!” Pinkie blew a party favor, and Anthon started having a contained panic attack.

“She's staying here? The place my front door leads to?” Anthon's rhetorical question took the wind out of the balloon Pinkie was blowing up, and she suddenly realized how busted the pretty-serious-secret-special-spacial-Doorway would be.

“Oh...um...she'll have to be let in on the secret?” Pinkie beamed, and Anthon groaned as he rubbed the bridge of his snout in annoyance.

“Whatever, I'm getting my blades in my house then.” Anthon went upstairs, retrieved his up-scaled weapons, and unceremoniously tossed them into his house right at the couch in the living room that faced the front door. He then debated going to his room in his house to while away the hours until near sunrise...but then again; he had no idea when exactly sunrise was here, it might not by synchronized with his world's day/night cycle, even if it is pretty damn close.

Then again, it'd been a long time since he'd read an actual book. He went back downstairs as other ponies began coming in, Pinkie didn't invite him on his request to be excluded from large parties, and judging from the number of ponies; it was going to be big and loud; two things he didn't like. So he quickly looked for a book that might interest him, and sure enough he found a book on minotaur culture, something quite relevant to him now. 'If I'm going to blend in I better try my hardest to.'

Anthon took it out, and noticed that the whole library was purely alphabetical based on title, no separation of subject matter, or fiction from non-fiction, or author, so on. 'Madness...I'll have to introduce the Dewy Decimal System to these ponies to help keep these sorts of institutions orderly. Finding something must be infuriating.'

With his book in hand, he retreated upstairs to the bedroom, where he closed the door and began to read. He didn't know what time it was, or how much time had passed, but that's the blessing and curse of being a binge reader. However, his absorption of knowledge was halted by an irate lavender unicorn bursting into the room, and slamming the door behind her with a huff, only for her to pause at seeing him sitting with a book open on the bed.

“...What are you doing up here?” She asked accusingly, and he rolled his eyes.

“Well, Twilight, I happen to be staying here at the moment. Not by choice mind you, as my circumstances have led me to find myself in a period of transition. A new stage of my life if you will.” He went back to his book, trying to ignore the mare, but she was insistent and pulled the book from his grasp quickly yet gently to avoid damaging it, getting a glare from him which she returned.

“While I appreciate someone else displaying an interest in knowledge, I have to ask you to leave. I am to be staying here by order of Princess Celestia during my visit to Ponyville.” She expected him to heed her, and leave, only for him to huff.

“And this affects me how?” Anthon's flippant disregard for her words made Twilight balk, and he grunted before he took off his shirt, and held it out to her. “Put this on, I have something I need to show you.”

“Wh-what? Why? And won't that shirt smell like-?” Twilight zipped her lips when he glared at her even harder, and deciding not to upset the burly, muscular minotaur, she awkwardly took the massive cotton garment in her magic, and fed her head through the neck of it, as well as her forelegs through the arms. It draped on her like a robe, and she had to use her magic to bunch up the stomach of it so she didn't step on it. “Okay...what are...you...?”

She wasn't answered as he walked past her, opened the door, and turned right, the opposite of the way downstairs. “Hey! I looked at the floor plan of this place before I got here, there's nothing that way save...a....” Twilight froze as she saw him standing before an out-of-place brown mahogany door in a living oak tree, where everything was made of oak. He grabbed the oddly pony-unfriendly knob, and turned, getting a loud click as the tight, nearly grating latch opened. When he opened the door, Twilight's eyes widened at the improbability.

A home. A home inside a closet. “Welcome to my home Twilight Sparkle. Mind the first step, it's rather disorientating.” Then he entered, and where there was once a mighty minotaur, there was now a clearly unhealthy and overweight upright primate with no fur, save the dark patches along his chest and the mop of a mane on his head. “Well? I can't explain with you standing out there.”

“W-will it hurt?” Twilight asked as she used her magic to scan the Doorway, fascinated at the readings she was getting. “Amazing...this is a stable Discordant-Class spacial disruption! Why hasn't the academy been notified of this?”

“Because the anomaly only occurred a few days ago, and has persisted since then. Now, are you going to come in or do I have to pull you in like I did that Royal Guard Captain?” At his words, he got a look of acknowledgment from the mare.

“You met Shiny?” She asked, and with that she idly stepped into the Doorway, not considering what she was doing until she was through, and wobbled on her sudden position of standing on two unfamiliar legs. Thankfully, for some reason, his shirt remained the same size it was when he wore it as a minotaur...he still couldn't understand how his house worked it's mysterious magics.

She was basically like Rarity, but her breasts were obviously much larger, near AJ's size actually. Her straight long hair draped down her back over her ample rear like a cascade of dark purple streaked with pink, and her sharp, intelligent features were quite mesmerizing. She also had a healthy tan like her brother, odd, considering her bookish nature. Must be the genetics. “Welcome to the other side of the Doorway. You'll adjust quickly if prior experience has anything to say.”

Twilight looked down at herself, and wiggled her fingers in awe. If she hadn't seen Anthon change from a minotaur into one of these beings, she'd likely be sitting on the floor, squealing like a scared little girl right now. However, when she looked at her green cloth-covered mams, she was about to grope them curiously when he informed her they were teats, and she quickly abandoned exploration, she was a scientist, not a pervert. “What's going on here? I mean, this is amazing, but...I have so many questions.” Suddenly, her horn flared and a notepad and pen flew through the air from his mom's computer desk in her study adjacent the kitchen and living room. “Huh? I was trying to conjure a scroll and quill.”

“Okay, we'll start there. Perhaps with an intellectual to help me with this, we can define the base differences in magic between your world and mine. We've got a lot to cover before the celebration in the morning. Want some salad?”

[@]

It was incredibly refreshing to speak with someone as smart as Twilight Sparkle. She asked all the important questions, and while she tended to go off on tangents and make wild theories to be proven later, she helped him deduce many things he'd been completely lost on since this all started.

The magic of the Doorways was isolated as the source being from his side of the connection, meaning either somehow he, or the house itself had spawned them, and sought out the most relevant links through the ether between realms in response to how he perceived each door subconsciously.

He viewed the front door as being a gate to possibility, and what held more possibility than knowledge? So it linked to Golden Oaks library. He was lucky it did so, because if he wound up in the Royal Archives, things would have gone south fast for him according to Twilight.

He always saw the garage door as being a grand, generally unwanted expanse, as he rarely ever used it and the noise of it kept him up. So it was linked to a mountainside; a source of both scenic joy for him, and trepidation at the height of it.

His “pet pantry” was simple, because he viewed it as the source of food for animals, it led to a place abundant with wild animals, such as a deep forest.

The crawlspace was a bit more esoteric. In it he stored old memories, childhood keepsakes and things often forgotten, as he admitted to having poor long-term memory. So it was a barren dirt desert; a representation that something else was here once, and now it is barren, dead, forgotten or uncared for.

His parent's room was also simple. He viewed it as a safe haven, a place to go for guidance and protection, where all in the house were welcome. So it leading to Fluttershy's was absolutely understandable when he described her as being a motherly caretaker that could make the most bitter person smile under her care.

Simply speaking of the upstairs bath nearly sent Anthon into a panic attack, requiring Twilight to talk him through some breathing exercises. He'd always hated that bathroom, as he'd had nightmares of using the tub, only for it to fall through the floor and kill him, or in reverse; fall through the ceiling and kill him as he bathed in his own bathroom. It connected to his most potent fear; heights. He refused to keep speaking of it, and Twilight moved on.

The guest room leading to a winter wonderland was the oddity, as he said he had little attachment to the room itself, but rather that it was the place his visiting family stayed when on vacation and didn't want to get a hotel. With some prompting, he admitted it probably had to do with his love of his family, and since one of his most cherished memories he would never forget was the one time he was snowed in on the east coast; the whole town buried under several feet of snow. A beautiful sight he'd cherish to his death. It was grasping at straws, but the Doorway decided to use the wintery region to reflect his good memories.

Last, his dad's office led to a dark cave, studded with glowing fungus and gemstones. He hated his father's desperation to cling to the past, how it left his life barren, and devoid of purpose. The cave represented the false hope of riches and the depths one can fall to trying to obtain them, getting lost on the way.

This cinched it; Anthon made the portals, the Doorways were the catalysts.

Anthon was besides himself in astonishment, he didn't even consider that HE did it.... “How? I mean...there's no magic in this world, not that any knew of....”

“And you, Anthon, are the lucky one in who knows how many who accidentally tapped into his magic on a despairing desire for a change.” Twilight smiled as she continued to take notes, having recorded the whole conversation from start to finish, and having filled a good bit of the small notepad. “Don't feel so shocked about it now that you know Anthon. Unicorns can do all kinds of damage when they have their first flares of magic.”

“But making Doorways to a complete FUCKING alternate universe?! That just...doesn't make sense!” Anthon griped, groaning as he rubbed his temples. “Ugh...ponies...drive me crazy....”

“Welcome to Equestria. Get used to it.” Twilight stated slyly.

“Hey, Twilight?” They heard Spike's muffled voice, and then they heard the scrabbling of him trying to reach the knob of the admittedly large door by Equestrian standards. “Ugh, why is this door so big? Twilight? I heard you in there, why are you in a closet?”

“Reasons! What is it Spike?” Twilight asked as she approached the door, Anthon following. He just noticed with a snicker how the huge shirt was like a nightshirt, ending halfway down her thighs.

“It's almost sunrise! Are ya really gonna miss it?” Twilight opened the door, causing a lampshade wearing Spike to gawk at them. “Wh-who are you? Where's Twilight?”

“It is me Spike. No time to...oh no!” Twilight rounded on Anthon, and began ineffectively pounding on his chest since she was a bit shorter than him. “You jerk! You distracted me from my problems with interesting data!”

“Ow, hey, what? Jeez, cut it out! The moobs are sensitive!” He shielded himself from her onslaught until she huffed and moaned in despair.

“Now what am I going to do? Nightmare Moon is supposed to return soon, and I'm no closer to having a clue how to save the world from eternal night!” The last two words caught Anthon's attention.

“Really? Eternal night?” He asked interested, and she turned around to look at him.

“Yes, eternal night. Robbing us of the sun for all eternity.” Twilight was disturbed that he seemed to grow excited at the prospect.

“No sun blinding my eyes? No sunlight burning my skin? No more busybodies getting all hopped-up on vitamin D to annoy me?” Anthon stopped, and then frowned. “No sun, no heat, no vitamin D...lack of energy, nutrition, encroaching freezing cold, and if somehow, life persisted for generations, eventual blindness.... This Moony character doesn't think things through I think.”

“Exactly. So...I know it's a lot to ask, but if things go to plop, I could use some help from a strong minotaur.” Twilight instantly knew it would be a good idea to have some muscle, even if against Nightmare he couldn't do anything.

“Yeah, I hope to make Equestria my new home away from home. I don't want it to freeze over after I just discovered it. Onward my lady, I will follow closely.” They departed through the door, Anthon closing it behind them.

[@]

Anthon got his shirt back before they had even gone downstairs, and then followed the crowds to town hall. Anthon was incredibly uncomfortable with the enormous crowds, and stayed to the back with Twilight. He mostly tried to keep calm and ignored the others as he took out his phone, and looked at the time. A few moments before sunrise at 5:30-ish on the 21st of June, 2010. The Summer Solstice...huh...he hardly paid attention to that since the States didn't have a holiday on it like most other countries.

Mayor Mare drew attention to herself on stage. “Welcome ladies and gentlecolts! To the Summer Sun Celebration!” Everypony cheered save Twilight and Anthon, who instead looked around warily.

“Oh no....” Anthon looked to Twilight at her despairing statement, and she pointed a hoof up and out a window. He looked up, and saw four huge stars moving in and around the huge moon, which he just noticed had a very distinct dark imprint on the face in the shape of a unicorn head, but when the stars hid behind it, the shape was gone, and the moon became as blank as the one he knew from back home, making his eyes widen.

“Without further ado, please give a warm welcome to our benevolent ruler; Princess Celestia!” At Mayor's statement, Fluttershy's songbird choir started up, and Rarity pulled the rope next to her up on the balcony Celestia was supposed to be behind, only for her not to be there.

“I think the apocalypse just kicked off. What should we do Twilight?” While everypony else was panicking, Anthon turned to Twilight for a plan of action, and she seemed lost too. When he was about to try and get her to give him an answer, everything grew darker as a nebula of ether spawned up on the balcony, forming into an alicorn darker than the night, her hair the night sky brought to life, garbed in armor a silvery blue of a full moon on a clear night. “Twilight, I'm going to get up there, and try to wrestle her into submission, you draw her attention.”

“What? No! Anthon!” Twilight whispered harshly at him as he ducked into the shadows while Nightmare was focused on the ponies. His natural and acquired stealth from moving in heavy boots all the time carried over to his new form, his hooves barely clicking as he seemed to glide over the wood stairs and floors of the balconies. Soon, he was behind her, and Twilight was playing for time by questioning her the plausibility of an eternal night that didn't eventually kill them all.

However, when it seemed Nightmare was about to lash out, he pounced on her in a full-body tackle, wrapping his arms around her neck, getting a shocked whinny out of her as he crashed her through the railing, and spun around into an improvised body slam into the first floor where the ponies scattered from the impact point. It was just then as the adrenaline high dropped, that he realized he'd jumped off the second floor, and clung tightly to the groaning mare for comfort. “Heights...just...second floor...jumped....”

“Who...dares? Nightmare looked back over her shoulder at the cowering minotaur, both upset, yet bewildered how he'd tackled her bravely, and yet now cowered and held her like a lifeline. “Unhand me you brainless bull!” She tried to wriggle free, but he'd pinned her wings, she couldn't move with him against her back, and each attempt to move tightened his hold on her neck, choking her. “Re...lease...me!” She started to black out until she remembered her magic, and quickly cast the first thing to mind, blinding everypony in a flash of dark blue light.

Author's Notes:

And thus does the story TRULY begin, as Anthon is becoming more and more absorbed into the world he apparently accidentally sought out on his own initiative.

Magical surge, scary stuff no?