Twiastasia

“This thing gives me the creeps.”

“Don’t you worry none now, these here trains are mighty machines. Heck, I ain’t known of any of em malfunctioning from here to Appleoosa since I was a filly.”

An unexpected lurch from the train caused the four creatures to buckle, their eyes darting around worriedly.

“J-just a bit bumpy sometimes, heh…”

Canterlot mountain could be seen from Ponyville, even bits of Canterlot Castle, but reaching the capital city was a different story. The train would need to wrap around the mountain several times, all while steadily increasing altitude, for the sake of stability and safety. By the accounts of Twilight’s friends, they said the train would pull into station sometime tomorrow morning. This left much time for the newly acquainted and reunited creatures to chat. And chat they did. Thankfully, the ponies mainly shied away from reminiscing about the past, now understanding that Twilight wouldn’t recall any of it. Much of the talking focused on Twilight’s peculiar new friends instead, and of their adventure back to Equestria.

“I must say, this Cabaluus sounds marvelous! Tell me, is it the capital city of Echidna? Is their princess just stunning? Ooh, how is the fashion scene there!? I’d love some foreign inspirations!”

The Echidnan natives could only keep up with the barrage of questions for so long.

“Cabaluus had a king, and I don’t think any of us know much about fashion-”

“Are the critters in Echidna scary, o-or are they cute? Ooh, I bet they’re cute aren’t they?”

“We usually always steered clear of the denser forests, never saw much wildlife-”

“How’s the racing scene over there? Any speedsters? I bet I’d leave ‘em in the dust! That reminds me! I gotta show you guys my coolest trick when we get to Canterlot!”

“Um, only foals really raced each other in Tamar-”

It was a losing battle.

Spike, still close by Twilight’s side, anxiously pulled at her hoof.

“Did you get to do a lot of reading while you were traveling? W-well, maybe you don’t remember, but you LOVE books, a little too much if you asked me, but-”

Twilight beamed. “A-actually I did! Well, some, anyway. While I was alone in Cabaluus, I, um, had some time to myself in their Royal Library, I read lots of stories. I even reorganized much of their shelves! T-they never knew it was me, but I’m sure they were thankful for it!”

Spike huffed jokingly. “Yep, sounds like you alright. How’d you know where books were supposed to go?”

Twilight scoffed as if it was obvious. “Tch, it’s easy once you start catching onto it. Science and history are usually thicker books and will have diagrams, while the novels are usually smaller and talk about, well, whatever!”

Her old friends shared a knowing giggle while Twilight continued on about some of the books she’d read, the train chugging ever forward towards their goal.

…

As evening turned to night, the ponies all eventually slinked away to sleep, the train carrying many bedcars. Despite the quickly budding friendships, the two groups of creatures largely stuck together. Twilight’s friends understood the reasoning and kindly let her decide where she’d sleep. Of course, Anon and Gile were going to take an unclaimed two-bunk room, but Fizzy interjected. Alluringly, she flicked her tail at Gile’s side, stopping him in his tracks.

“Anon~” The yellow mare sing-songed out, laying things on thick, “you don’t mind me taking Gile for the night, do you? You can have a room to yourself~”

“I- uh- huh. I… don’t?”

Gile certainly did not oppose, smiling smugly at his human friend. Out of sight from either Gile or Anon, Fizzy winked at Twilight, whispering “now’s your chance” in her ear as she led a certain pride-filled griffon to a nearby room.

Anon peeked from his bedcart’s door at the lone unicorn, now blushing intensely.

“Umm… Guess I got a free bed in here now if you’d like Twi.”

Twilight stammered, knocked out of her reprieve.

“U-uh, o-okay! Just let me… Get ready first! F-for bed!”

The mare stood in place in the hallway, her largely smiling a very weak facade.

“... Okay? I’ll just take the top bunk.”

With that, the human closed the door, and left Twilight to her own devices.

…

Gile unhooked his bag from his body, stretching in a way that showed off his muscles. Fizzy simply kept an ear to the wall, trying to listen into Anon’s room.

“So, looks like the pony finally wants a taste of the predator-”

Fizzy was quick to shoot the griffon down, not taking her ear from the wall.

“Shut up you big dork, I had to get you away from Anon so Twilight will talk with him, now c’mere and listen with me.”

“I get it, I really do- w-wait, huh?”

Fizzy was gentler now, looking to Gile. “Don’t sound so glum, big guy. Next chance I get, I’ll show you who the real predator is between us.”

That was enough to pull Gile out of the dumps. With a shrug and a smile, he took a seat beside Fizzy on the floor, ear up against the wall.

…

Twilight found herself surrounded by her friends. Her old friends. She wasn’t sure if they’d be able to help her, but, with Fizzy occupied with Gile… She just wanted to make sure she didn’t look silly in front of Anon.

So, after asking Rarity (who seemed to be the most experienced with this sort of thing purely based off of her looks and mannerisms), the white unicorn had dramatically declared an ‘emergency friendship meeting’ and summoned their friends together into the room.

“Ooh darling, this is so exciting! To think, our dear Twilight would travel the world with a handsome, exotic stranger-turned-friend on a quest to find home and reunite with us, and that she’d find love too! I, for one, am ecstatic at the news, and am eternally grateful that you chose to come to us for advice!”

Twilight wanted to plant her head into the comfy cot bed and never lift it back up again.

“O-oh, well, I-I don’t know much about courtship or love Rarity…”

“Gotta agree with Fluttershy on this one, Rares. All that mushy stuff is your area, why’d you go gettin’ us all outta bed fer this?”

“Psh, speak for yourself AJ! I know plenty about baggin’ stallions! It’s simple Twi: All ya gotta do is-”

“Rainbow! This is not about ‘bagging’ stallions! This is about love in bloom, and more importantly, helping Twilight express her feelings! Now, we all have advice we can share with our friend here, even on the more… passionate side, should things come to it between you two. Now:” Rarity clopped her hooves together. “Let’s begin.”

…

The quiet creaking of the door awoke Anon. Years of being a jumpy, paranoid thief carries more advantages with it than simply fast hands, after all. His guard was poised, ready to hop out of bed and tackle the intruder if need be, until he heard Twilight’s soft voice call out.

“A-anon? Are you awake?”

A wave of relief washed over him. “Mmh, am now. Quicker to bed, quicker to Canterlot Twi…”

“I know that, but… can we talk?”

‘Oh boy…’ Anon thought. With a grunt, he slid open the thin curtain of his bed, seeing Twilight slowly close the door behind her. After a few tries, she dimly lit the room with a nearby oil lamp. “Sure thing.”

The little purple unicorn was the splitting image of calm cool collectedness. Here was a Twilight Anon had never really seen before. Her posture was upward and focused, her face free of concern or fear, her poise elegant and refined. As Anon silently took in the almost regal sight, Twilight spoke again.

“I… want to kiss you.”

“...”

It’d be a minute or so, until Anon reacted.

“... W-what?”

With that, Twilight’s illusion fell apart.

“Ooh I knew this was a bad idea! I-I just, I felt so bad about not trusting you after what happened in Drachen, a-and I thought it was guilt at first, b-but then I started blushing and I talked to Fizzy about it and she told me it was like-like and I overheard you and Gile that night talking about how you felt about me-”

“Twilight, Twilight please. It’s alright. I- w-wait, you heard us?”

Twilight fiercely shook her head, the deep red of blush painting her cheeks. “I-I heard you… well… also like-like me…”

“... What is like-like?”

“I-I have no idea! Nopony explained anything!”

Anon sighed, sitting upright and making some room on his bed. “C’mere, sit with me… I think I can help with a few things.”

Nervously she did. Rarity (and Rainbow) had told her that if a stallion you like invites you to his bed… ‘It’s go time,’ whatever that meant. The white unicorn had scolded her rainbow friend before she could elaborate. Twilight noticed Anon’s jacket and smaller jacket were laid out on the floor nearby. She’d never seen him without his clothes.

“So… I’m gonna assume we feel similarly about each other here, right?”

Though Twilight couldn’t really be sure, she nodded her head slightly. Anon gently petted her back, trying to put the mare at ease.

“Well… I think we should tread carefully with this stuff for now, a-atleast until you get your memories back. I… I don’t want you to make a choice now, then live to regret it later.”

“I-I’m in control of myself Anon-”

“I know you are, but you’re still inherently misguided. Neither of us know how you used to feel.”

“B-but it’s not about how I used to feel! Even if I do get my memories back, I’m not gonna forget you, or Gile, or our adventures!” Twilight shrank back a bit, surprised by her outburst. “I’ll still be me, just… more of me. The real me. I don’t think remembering my past is gonna stop me from feeling these feelings, so… I-I want to do this. Y-you make me happy, and I feel so protected when I’m with you, a-and I know now that you’re always gonna be by my side to keep it that way, even if you weren’t planning that at the beginning…”

Anon took the embarrassment in stride.

“... I guess, but… you sure? You know my own past now too, even the parts I wanted to keep from you. I’d understand if-”

“Yes! I-I am sure. I want to be sure, a-and… I-I want you to feel the same way. You do, don’t you?”

“I do, believe me, it’s just… Gile was right when he talked to me about this stuff. You are… so much more than me. Even if you can look past some of the things I’ve done, it doesn’t change the fact that you’re a very important pony with a very important job. I’m just a nobody, even if I’m no longer a thief.”

“You aren’t a nobody to me.”

Twilight wouldn’t give Anon the chance to respond, as her lips met his, snuffing out any other objections he might’ve still had.

They stayed like that for a good while, slowly warming up to the feeling and venturing to explore each other’s mouths. The kiss was only broken when Twilight pulled away, gasping for breath.

“... You know you can breathe out of your nose during stuff like that.”

“... Oh.”

The rumbling of train tracks was the only noise to be heard for a while after that.

“So… A-are we married now or-”

Anon burst out laughing, making Twilight jump.

“Haha, oh, n-no Twilight… It’s a start though.”

With that, the human wrapped his arms around the little pony, pulling her onto his chest for round two. Twilight quickly melted in Anon’s grip, wrapping her hooves around his neck, savoring the feeling. The subtle rocking of the train provided lovely ambiance to the two creatures in the dim light of the cab, gently bringing them to sleep on the way to Canterlot.