Twiastasia

There was no lock on the door to Room 112. Typical Drachen cost-cutting. Regardless, Anon still decided to kick the door in. These are the seconds that followed.

A full moon shone bright through the window in the room. Three small beds lined the wall to the right, each separated by a small nightstand with a lamp. Twilight had been shoved into the corner of the room on the left, bound and gagged. With the noise from the door crumpling under Anon’s boot, the sleeping forms of The Black Stripe fumbled in their blankets wildly, so rudely awakened from their sleep. Gile leapt for the nearest bed, pinning the body down and looking for his moment to kill and move on. Anon rushed the bed on the far side, instantly recognizing the tricorn hat on the side of the night stand. His dagger in hand, he’d take no chances with Zara.

As she collected her barings, the human threw a punch reinforced by the weight of the weapon in his hand to her head. Angling the throw upward, the business end of the blade delivered a mean cut to her cheek. Anon would not give the leader of The Black Stripe a chance to retaliate though. His dagged already overhead, he plunged it into her chest, stabbing repeatedly.

A body collided into his back as he heard Gile snarl. Another life, the griffon had taken. Pale Parma had thrown herself at Anon, howling with rage at seeing the death of her friend. Gile was quick to assist before Parma could do much of anything, his claws digging deep into the unicorn’s back. Her hooves couldn’t do much to Anon now. He finished the job, and ended The Black Stripe’s last remaining member with a blade deep in her heart.

“G-ghosts… “ Zara gurgled out, trying to reach for her crossbow on the floor in vain. Anon nudged the weapon under the bed with his foot.

“Should’ve made sure we were dead before kidnapping our friend.”

The frantic clopping of hooves up the stairs alerted the thieves, and they spun on their heels, weapons poised and ready for another fight. Anon nearly threw his blade as Fizzy Taps appeared in the doorway, her face screaming ‘scared bravery.’ Her eyes were glued shut, a cash register held overhead in her hooves.

“AAAAHHH DON’T HURT MY FRIENDS YOU ASSHOLES!”

Blindly, she threw the box into the room, the thing clanging on the floor with a loud ‘thunk.’

She opened her eyes, horrified. “D-did I- Holy shit!” Disbelief was written across her face as she surveyed the room.

“AAAAAHHH FIZZY DON’T GO UP THERE THERE’S CRAZY KILLERS ON THE LOOSE AND DO NOT THROW MY BIT REGISTER AT THEM!”

The mare at the front desk quickly followed behind Fizzy, horrified.

“BY THE FUCKING HEAVENS! WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT NOT GETTING BLOOD ON THE SHEETS!?” She pointed an incredulous hoof at Fizzy, who had a large smile slowly growing on her face. “A-AND YOU! I TOLD YOU NOT TO THROW THE REGISTER!” As quickly as her perplexed rage had came, it was replaced with fear as she quivered on the floor. “P-please don’t hurt us!”

“You… You two seriously did it. T-the Black Stripe… Wow…”

Twilight, who’d be awoken in the scuffle, was not thrashing about wildly. Anon fell to her side, removing her blindfold and gag.

“Twilight! Are you okay!? They didn’t hurt you did they?”

Her eyes were wide, and her mouth agape.

“... A-anon?”

He started working on her bindings.

“Just hang on Twi, don’t worry, they’re gone now.”

She recoiled at the blood on Anon’s hands, screaming in terror.

“T-they were right! Oh my Celestia, they were RIGHT!”

Anon stopped, adrenaline still running wild in his blood. “What? What are you talking about?”

Her eyes darted around the room. In the static moonlight, she saw everything. Much more than she ever wished to see.

“Y-y-you’re a murderer! Y-you’re a murderer and a liar and a thief!”

Realization quickly washed over Anon.

‘Oh shit.’

Gile slowly took a seat. He tried to speak calmly, but his own adrenaline and exhaustion made his words come out forceful. “Twilight… They tried to kill us and take you away. We have no idea what they were gonna do with you.”

“T-they were gonna bring me home! To Equestria! They were heroes! They were heroes and you murdered them!” Tears welled up in Twilight’s eyes as she dry heaved, resisting the urge to vomit.

Fizzy approached, the receptionist mare ‘eep!’-ing as she did so. Her voice was much gentler. “Twilight… I know you and I didn’t really get a proper chance to meet at first, but… The Black Stripe was not who they claimed they were.”

“H-how do you know that!? Who even ARE you!? HOW DO YOU KNOW ME!!??”

Fizzy winced at the yelling, but continued on. “I-I used to live in Tamar. It was a horrible city. Partly because of the creatures who lived there, but mainly-” she pointed a hoof at the beds “-because of them. I don’t know what lies they fed you, but they were monsters.”

Twilight was quickly falling into a panic attack. “T-that’s exactly what they said about Anon and Gile! A-and they were right!”

“... Here. Let’s get you out of these ropes and out of this room, talk downstairs yeah?”

Twilight didn’t resist as Fizzy removed her magic restrainer and untied her bindings. It was a trick however, as Twilight quickly scuttled to her hooves, and grabbed Anon’s blade with her magic, backing herself into the corner. She held the knife out at Anon, making sure to point it at the three at least once.

“I-I’m SICK of being lied to. Y-you all better tell me the truth. Right now.”

…

Anon held up his hands, Gile and Fizzy following suit.

“T-twi…”

Twilight thrusted the dagger a little closer to Anon.

“Don’t call me that.”

“... Twilight… When… When Gile and I found you in Cabaluus-” Gile looked frantically at Anon, but he continued “-we told you we were adventurers. Heroes, even. That wasn’t true. Ever since we ran away from the orphanage, we’d been pickpockets. Thieves. We stole whenever and wherever we could to survive. Few months ago, we were in Fizzy here’s tavern in Tamar. We ever just planning on getting drunk, stealing some more, then leaving town like usual. Some old stallion ran into the place, screaming his head off about a ‘Twilight Bounty,’ trying to worm his way into getting a slice of the reward just because he told us about it… When we first decided to start looking for you, we were only in it for the reward-”

“You told me in Cabaluus there was no reward.”

“I lied. The reward is so big, Gile and I would live like kings for the rest of our lives. So, we spent I don’t know how long trying to catch your trail. When we did find you… I had thought you were just some clueless mare trying to escape life in the Cabalaan slums, but Gile convinced me otherwise. Honestly, I can’t say for certain even now if you’re her, but…” He looked over at what remained of The Black Stripe “... I think you are, a-and even if you aren’t, if you decide to come with us to Equestria still… Life will be better there. For us all, I think.”

Fizzy spoke up now. “You never got to meet that old stallion. Once Zara figured she had squeezed out all his knowledge of Equestria, she had Parma tie his hooves up and left him on the side of some nameless path in the middle of Echidna. Said the rations were wasted on him, since he was too old to pull the cart.”

“Pull the- how do you know what happened to him!?”

“Because Anon and Gile were last seen in my bar. The Black Stripe gang is much bigger than just those three. They were just the heads of the ruling crime syndicate in Tamar. They had informants everywhere, and somepony in my bar had heard Anon’s drunk ramblings about lookin’ for you that night. They knew I had spoken to them at length, and that the old stallion had been entertaining patrons all night about stories of Equestria, stories about you.”

“... What about me.”

“... I don’t know how much of it was true, since he claimed to have never been to Equestria, but… He said you were the sungoddess’ sole pupil, and that one day, you’d be the ruler of Equestria.”

Twilight’s eyes went wide as she slowly hung her head.

“... You’re lying.”

“Were you the sungoddess’ pupil? I don’t know. Were you gonna be the future ruler? I don’t know. That’s just what he had said. Eventually, Zara and her goons raided my tavern and questioned me. Guess they thought they could squeeze more information out of me, because Zara stabbed me with one of her crossbow bolts and dragged me along with them…”

Fizzy had to look away, turning to the floor. She trapped at the scar on her chest.“... Watched my bar and home burn down before my eyes as I clutched my wound. They patched it up eventually, but… T-that wasn’t what hurt. In Tamar, The Black Stripe let you own property. They showed me they could take it away too.”

“Stars above! Fizzy, they burned down the bar!?” The receptionist pony, still in the doorway, gasped in horror. Anon wanted to hug Fizzy, but knew it’d probably be a really bad idea.

Gile craned his head to Fizzy, bloodied claws still raised. “U-umm. Fizzy? You know this pony?”

Fizzy nodded with a short, melancholic chuckle. “Told you two numbnuts the first time we met that I had family in Drachen. This is Hoovesfeld Street, and the mare who won’t stop yelling is my cousin Cozy Delight.”

“S-so… You’re friends with these guys Fizzy?”

Twilight knocked the blade against the wall. “Keep telling the story.”

“A-ah, sorry about that. Anyway, they dragged me, the old stallion, and some fellow Black Stripe lowlife stallion of theirs across the Echidna, lookin’ for these two.” She smiled genuinely at Anon. “I guess Zara’s hunch about you was right, knowing you’d lead her to Twilight, but I had no idea why she’d think that. I guessed it was because you were an alien or whatever the Tartarus you are. I had a lot of time to think about these two while they held me against my will. Oh hey, if you want some actual proof-” Fizzy presented her back, the dark bruises and scars making Twilight’s face pale “-there it is. Also, I’m putting my hooves down now. I think I’ve proven my story well enough. Besides, nothing much really changed after that, until we all met up. I had been pulling the cart for half a day at that point, through the night. The other stallion had ran off the night before after he took more food than he was supposed to. Got a real bad beating from Gwen. Personally, I was happy to see one of their own take a beating for once, but then it left me all alone to pull their cart. By the time Gwen had locked eyes on Anon’s form in the fog, I had collapsed. Thought that was the end for me there. When I woke up, found these two turned to pincushions by Zara, barely alive.”

"... I think she was after us at first because I stole some shiny gem off her as we left Tamar."

... Fizzy really, truly, wanted to rattle Anon for that comment, but she figured it was water under the bridge now, considering...

Gile grumbled “I got the worst of it. Fuckin’ clipped my wing…”

“She nearly clipped your heart, idiot! She would’ve pierced Anon’s, had he not had those bits! They left all three of us for dead. I was able to remove the bolts and patch up their wounds with those blankets you guys had, though.”

Twilight briefly eyes the makeshift ‘bandages.’

“... Look Twilight. This morning was the first time I’ve seen these two in months, and I’d only ever met them once before that. I… I know they’re thieves, that much is true, but… They’re the nicest thieves I ever met. When they had gotten their bearings together after almost dying, the first thing on their minds was saving you. Tartarus, I even tried talking them out of it! A lot! I knew what The Black Stripe could do, and I saw what they had already done! I’ve lived in Tamar for most of my life, The Black Stripe had always been a factor there. Never, ever had I heard of ponies, griffons, whoever, surviving a bad encounter with them. I was certain it’d be suicide. But they didn’t care. They wanted to protect you, even if it meant their deaths…”

Fizzy made sure Twilight was looking in her eyes now.

“I can’t… I can’t rightly say they were heroes before. By all accounts, from what Anon said, they weren’t. But they gave me hope to come here and fight for a better future, even when I thought it was certain death. They risked their lives once to protect you, and risked them again to stop The Black Stripe. I’m certain they’re gonna risk their lives again, but… They do it for you. Not for the reward.”

The yellow pony gave the two thieves a smile.

“To me, they are heroes.”

The magic holding Twilight’s dagger slowly flickered out of existence as she mulled over the mare’s words. It clanged to the floor, the pony who had held it following suit. Twilight fell to her haunches, staring directionless at the oaken floor.

Could it be true…?

The tension of the room calmed with Twilight’s backing down. After a while of silence, Twilight spoke again.

“I… I can’t believe you two. Y-you lied to me from the very beginning… Those months we traveled together, all the conversations and jokes, t-the… warmth I felt from no longer having to worry about who I was and what I’d do to survive… It was all based on a lie.”

Gile figured he should say something now, the collective exhaustion from the past 24 hours seeping in to everyone.

“Yes, we did not have the noblest intentions in mind at first. We wanted the bits, but not to create more bad in the world. We didn’t want to be thieves anymore. W-well, I did, but Anon convinced me otherwise. With that much money, we could start better lives, in the land of gods and heroes. There’s no future for good creatures anywhere in Echidna. This land has no sense of morality, no care for those unwilling to fight back… Those feelings seep into the creatures who live here.”

“... If it means anything, our main goal stopped being the reward a while ago. We had lied to get you to come with us, and we had kept that lie up through our journey, but everything else? Those conversations and jokes, the banter and the fun? That was as true as the sun rising tomorrow. We meant it when we said we never had any friends besides each other. Shared suffering brings creatures together like that, I suppose. But… You broke the mold. You showed us that Anon and I didn’t have to face the world back to back. In time, I-I had stopped thinking it was us and you, our precious ticket to endless riches. You were just, well… Part of the family. One of us.”

The griffon sighed and closed his eyes. “I hope you can understand what that means to us.”

“It’s the truth, Twilight. Without you, I know exactly where we’d be and what we’d be doing. Stealing where we could, just trying to live another day. We have a future we can fight for now, but we, I-I need you to be a part of it.”

Anon’s voice shook, a rare thing to hear. “Please, come with us now, and we’ll be the heroes you thought we were. You still have to get home, and I want to help you find the answers of your past. I… I want to be there, with you. If you’ll let us.”

Silence reigned in the room for a long while before Twilight spoke again.

“... Wash the blood off your hands first. Then I’ll decide.”

With that, the purple unicorn took her leave from the room, stepping into the one adjacent, and shutting the door behind her.

All creatures present held their breath at the scene. They held their tongues for a time, the melancholy of Room 112 settling into their bones. It was Gile, who’d break the silence. He butted an elbow in Anon’s side.

“Tartarus dude, I really hope that wasn’t your attempt at formally asking her out.”

…

“So, lemme get this straight.” Cozy Delight, owner of the Cozy Delights Inn, took a swig of her private reserve cider. The barrel had been a godsend for nights like this. “You’re gonna be traveling with these theives- um, creatures now? That’s dangerous Fizzy!” Anon and Gile shot a foul look at Cozy for her slip up. She retreated inward a bit, blushing. “Eheh… I-I mean, I heard the story and all, but I meant more the traveling itself! You could get killed out there mare!”

Cozy had found the kindness in her heart to share her keg with the rest of the party, as well as abstain from alerting the guards of Drachen about the three dread equines upstairs. Fizzy swore up and down that they truly were evil ponies, and deserved what they had received and more, which had been enough to stay her cousin’s hoof. The four creatures sat around a table downstairs where the air was cleaner, while Twilight assumedly got some well earned rest in another room. It had been a miracle that the Inn was mostly empty that night, or else the two thieves may not have been able to clean their hands of the issue so easily. There was still the matter of disposing of the bodies, but… Drachen was no place for good creatures either. No one would express much shock at uncovering some recently dead in a nearby river. And once those who knew of The Black Stripe had identified the bodies…

Well, it was speculated that there would be many changes occurring in Tamar, when news eventually reached the city.

“Can’t go back to Tamar, Cozy. Nothin’ left. Besides, what else can I do? Would you take me in here?”

The innkeeper seemed insulted. “O-of course I would! You’re family! That’s ‘bout all we got to keep in Drachen! Plus, you’re tough, so you could scare off the rabble when they come in making demands and promising to buy out all your rooms for the night…”

Fizzy cocked her head. It seemed snarkiness ran in her family…

“Mare, you wait till we get to Equestria, and we’ll mail you enough bits to rent out all your rooms for a year.”

“Hmph! And here I was under the impression you weren’t in the hero business for the bits, Mister Gile.”

“We’re not. But no one ever said anything about not gladly accepting the reward at the end of this all, right Anon?”

The human had been quiet since the scene in Room 112. The look on Twilight’s face was fresh in his memory, as were her words.

‘Thief. Liar. Murderer.’

All of those claims were true now. Yesterday, he had only been a thief and a liar. It… Hurt. It hurt falling down to this land’s level of depravity, and it hurt seeing his friend so betrayed. Anon did not regret what he did, those ponies were evil and he and Gile stopped them from doing evil further, but… How much better was he?

Gile patted his friend’s shoulder, concern written across his face. “Look man, we did what we had to. For Twilight, remember?”

The human took another swig of cider. “She’ll never look at us the same way again.”

“That’s not true Anon. We always kept her away from the darker parts of Echidna. Partly for her protection and our ease of travel, but mainly because we didn’t, well, want her seeing that stuff. She really got an eyeful of it on both sides today, and that has her shook up. Once we get back on the road, and she has time on her own to think about things, she’ll realize that… Sometimes, somethings just have to happen. It was for our protection as much as hers. Look, say, we’d somehow managed to restrain those mares in there without killing them, left them there, and ran into the night with Twilight. They’d eventually get freed and be on our tail moreso than before. And they’d make sure we were really dead next time.”

“I know that Gile, but Twilight doesn’t, and I have no idea how to explain that to her, implying she’d even listen. Even if she did… Things would never be the same.”

Fizzy gently put her hoof atop Anon’s hand. “... Nothin’s ever the same as it once was, no matter what. There’s always things changing, ponies doing things they come to regret. Everypony, regardless of how they get burned, grows and changes from the things the world throws at them. Things will be different Anon, and wounds will need to heal, but I think your friendships will be stronger than ever once they do.”

An odd warmness permeated through the creatures at these words, and a calmness eased their troubled minds. The sun was beginning it’s rise, and gentle rays of light shone through the windows of the Inn. Anon wasn’t fully convinced by his friend’s words, but they had done enough. He sighed and downed the last of the cider.

“It’s good stuff, Cozy. Thanks for, um, not calling the guards on us. Sorry again about all the blood.” He slid some bits over to the mare, tipping generously for a spare room. “Consider this our first payment on the inn. There’ll be a lot more coming soon.”

The human took his leave upstairs, entering an empty bedroom. Gile shrugged slightly at the innkeeper and followed.

Alone now, Fizzy turned to find a room too, but was grabbed in a great hug by her cousin, trying to keep her tears at bay. “I-I told you never to go to Tamar, you idiot… N-now you’re planning on, what, just hopping across the world with three strangers? Travelin’ gets you killed in Echidna, you gotta stay put and blend in with the crowd…” Cozy tensed, feeling at the rough scars etched along Fizzy’s back. “Heavens, j-just look what they did to you… You’re gonna get yourself killed runnin’ off with creatures like that, don’t care how good they are…”

Fizzy could only rub her cousin’s head, whispering kind words in her ear.