Twiastasia

For the first time in maybe two weeks, Anon felt the absence of his constant shivering, and a weight upon his chest. As his brain slowly began to wake up for the day, his first thought was that Gile had thrown his leather sling bag on his lap in an attempt to conserve warmth, but Anon did not care to open his eyes. A man’s first good nights sleep in a while ought to be completed with a good nights sleep-in, but then he remembered Twilight. His eyes shot open.

“Twilight? Are you here- oh!” Anon was not expecting the unicorn in question to be sleeping soundly on his chest, her little snout breathing warm, tickling air right under his chin. ‘Great, if Gile sees this…’

With a cute stretch, the little unicorn rubbed her eyes. “Mmmh… Good morning Ano- Ah! I-I’m sorry!” With a little freakout, Twilight ended up fumbling on the ground beside the human’s blanket pile.
“I was just, um, well, you seemed so sick and cold last night that I, um, giving you some warmth?”

“... Is that a question?”

Twilight felt her face burn with embarrassment, but she wasn’t sure why. “Y- no! … A-are you feeling better? Gile said that… that happening to you was fairly normal when it’s cold, but I just wanted to make sure.”

Anon gave a little laugh. “Yeah, I’m alright. Well, might have a little cold, but really, it’s not much of a sickness or anything. I just don't have the fur or feathers to deal with wind or snow very well without clothes, and, well... “ He tried to make a show of things by raising his hands in the air, but found them well constricted by the blankets and dirt. “Um. They’re not the best, is what I’m getting at.”

“... Are you covered in dirt?”

Twilight nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah-hm! Gile said that the dirt would help keep you warm, so I thought, if I was gonna sleep on you, I should be dirty too!”

“He did- Ugh! God damnit! Gile! I told you this shit doesn’t work! Where is h-”

A claw slapped lazily at Anon’s face. “... Grmm, shut up Anon… Too damn early… And it does work I’veseenrabbitsdoit…” Gile trailed off.

“Rabbits dig into the ground stupid, they don’t cover themselves in dirt. Bah, Twi, if you could untie me from this blanket prison and help me clean the dirt off these sheets?”

…

Clumps of dirt flung from sheets as Twilight flicked them with her magic. The big stuff fell off easy, but it’d take more than a lashing to remove the smaller bits that clung to the thick fabric. It didn't matter, Anon was used to being dirty. ‘Rather it be dirt than blood’ he thought idly.

“So… You’re sure you’re not sick?” Twilight broke his trance.

“Positive. I’d say dip those blankets in the ocean, but I’ll just drape a few around me as we walk, and I don’t want freezing ice sheets on my back. Should’ve been doing that this whole time.”

Twilight draped one of the larger blankets around the human’s shoulders. It was a rough texture, like a potato sack, but it’d work. “Comfy?”

Anon flung a loose end over his shoulder, getting snug. “Mhm. Thanks Twi. Let’s get Gile up and get a move on.”

“H-hey. Um, wait.” Twilight grabbed at Anon’s hand. “Gile and I talked some, last night.”

‘He didn’t…’

Anon masked a scowl. “What of.”

“He just- mh… You two are really close, huh?”

“Oh jeez, he didn’t say he has the hots for me or something did he?”

“I don’t know what that means, but, I just… I’m glad you two met, a-and I’m glad that I get to travel with you both. Having friends- or just, ponies you can rely on, is a nice feeling.”

Anon took a knee and looked Twilight in her eyes. ‘Don’t get lost in them loverboy’ Gile’s voice echoed in the back of Anon’s head. “What’s with the emotion? We are friends Twi, don’t worry. And I’m sure you have a ton of friends worried sick about you back home, which is why I don’t like taking so many breaks or resting for too long.”

“I-I know we’re friends, but… I’m just thankful that you’re helping me at all. For months, you’ve shared your food with me, kept me safe… Well, I guess I just wanted you to know that.”

That annoying blush was back with a vengeance. ‘Come on you asshole, you’ve done too much bad to still have sappy emotions like this.’ Anon tore his gaze away and started back towards the camp. “I see… C’mon. Let’s wake up Gile and get moving.”

Anon could not shake the guilt in his mind.

…

The cold of the southern Echidnaen coast ebbed with each passing day as the trio marched the dull beaches. Eventually, the gray sands gave way to more verdant pastures, and grassy plains turned to lovely foothills. Anon felt some sense of dejavu, seeing such things, but could not place them. With no dirt road to guide them towards civilization, the bandits relied on Twilight all the more, her topographical skill put to the test. As rations diminished, the friends took to scavenging wild berries and the rare game, while Twilight took to grazing when the grass seemed healthy enough. She disliked the idea of her predator friends hunting at first, but quickly warmed up to it, understanding the necessity.

“... Hey, Anon?”

The human looked over at Twilight as they walked. “Hm?”

“Where’d you get those hoof-covers?”

“... You mean my boots?”

Twilight blushed. “I-if that’s what they’re called…”

“Ah, sorry. Our mother at the orphanage made them for me. They were actually why I wanted Gile to wait on his plan to run away. The ones she had made for me before barely fit at the time and were falling apart.”

The griffon feigned a look of shock. “You really had us spend another two weeks in that torture den while mommy dearest made you new shoes? You really were her favorite!”

“Tch, please. I’m pretty sure she only had them made for me in the first place because she hated how my feet looked.”

“Well, don’t blame her if that’s the case. He’s got five of his little wigglers on each paw Twi! Isn’t that so weird?”

Twilight batted Gile with her map as he laughed.

“But yeah, I just kept growing, and no one was sure if or when I was gonna stop. Hell, I didn’t even know, so I wanted to make sure I had some new stompers before we braved the world on our own. Fuck, how old were we Gile? Thirteen?”

Gile popped a berry in his beak. “Think so. Never really knew your age, so who knows. Who cares, actually.”

Twilight got quiet.

“... Thinkin’ about something Twi?”

“Oh- nothing important, really. Just wondering, well, what my age is.”

Both creatures turned to study the unicorn.

“Well, you have your cutiemark, and you’re obviously not a filly.”

“You don’t have the eyebags old creatures have.”

“But you are pretty big.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

Anon quickly covered his tracks. “U-um, no, I-I just meant, uh-”

“Oooh, I think he’s calling you fat, Twilight…”

“I’m not!”

“... Is that a bad thing?”

Anon put his hands behind his head as he walked. “Twi, do yourself a favor and never listen to Gile. I stopped a long time ago and it’s helped me immensely in life.”

“Puh-lease, you’d have died years ago if not for me. Remember that run in with the evil serpent god?”

“See, he’s making up stories again-”

“How can you two joke about death so easily? I-I may not remember much, but that doesn’t seem right.”

Anon studied the sunset sky, the dim orange painting sharp wisps of color through the dark purple clouds. That old pony they met at that tavern so many months ago had said that Equestria’s goddesses were the ones who lifted up the sun each morning, and lowered it for their moon. He guessed it was just a gift for the rest of the world that the goddesses let their warmth be shared beyond Equestrian borders.

“... Adventurers just see it too often, I guess. It’s a dangerous life, and if you’re not prepared to see yours flicker out, it isn’t the life for you.”

“But… but why is there danger at all? Why are someponies evil? Why do they do what they do?”

“Well… Stuff like that just became normal, I guess. Some creatures started doing it, and others had no choice but to follow, or else just be another victim.”

Gile spoke up now. “But for that same reason, some recognized that such things were wrong, and go out to stop evil wherever they find it, so it can’t take root moreso in the world. Besides, not everything that does bad is necessarily, well, evil. A wolf may hurt an innocent pony in the woods, not because it’s evil, but because it thought the pony was a threat to it’s pups. Stuff like that. I guess you can’t remember learning such things, but that’s just the world, Twilight. Not everything is good or evil.”

Anon tutted. “Hm. Very true, scholar Gile. Maybe if you knew how to write, you could’ve been a great philosopher.”

“Haha, shut up monkey.”

“So… Is that why you two became heroes? You saw how things were wrong in the orphanage, and went out into the world to try and ensure that what happened to you, may not happen in the future?”

Anon and Gile shared a guilty look, unseen by Twilight.

“... That may be a cause, sure.”

The little unicorn’s eyes sparkled. “That’s so… beautiful.”

“Easy there T-”

“I-I hope, when we get to Equestria and I get my memories back, I can be a hero like you guys.”

Gile let out a “d’awww” and Anon scooped Twilight up in his arms.

“You already are one of us Twi, your past be damned. I mean, a little pony like you? Traveling across Echidna? That’s a heroic feat itself!”

Twilight giggled, covering her face. “Only because I’m with you two. I couldn’t do it on my own.”

Anon looked down at the unicorn in his arms. “Nonsense Twi. You’re a hero, don’t forget it.” He punctuated his words with a boop.

The once snickering griffon now looked at the pair with worry in his eyes. ‘Anon... ‘

…

“Ahem.”

Anon found himself counting up his bits again.

“Ahanonem.”

It had been a little over a month since they’d last seen a town, which was odd, but not entirely surprising. Really, he had no reason to be counting his bits. He knew he had not spent any.

“AHE- Anon I’m not doing this again.”

“You gotta just let cute moments be cute, Gile.”

“We said we’d talk about your feelings after a week, and it’s been like, a month.”

Anon fixated on a particularly shiny bit. “I felt, since I don’t love her and I also have no feelings, that I shouldn’t bore you with my words.”

“Dude! This is serious!”

Twilight lay by the dying campfire, snoozing soundly a few yards away from the thieves.

“Not gonna marry her-”

“ -but you do love her!”

“Maybe as a friend loves another friend, or a father loves his temporarily adopted daughter.”

“Anon, please, be serious with me. I’ve never seen you with a broken heart, and honestly, I have no idea how to help an alien with unrequited love.”

“You don’t know that it’s unrequited.”

Oops.

Gile was shocked. “I knew it.”

“I-I’m just saying! Look, okay, I’ll level with you.” Anon stashed his money away, looking his friend in the eye. “Let’s say I loved her, yeah? Let’s say that I loved her, and she didn’t love me, or she thought she did, then got her memories back and remembered she had a husband. In this totally hypothetical and not true scenario, I back off, maybe pick up writing sad poetry, and that’s that. I think we both know that I have the will and mutual understanding that you do to know that the money comes first, and everything else comes after.”

Gile flopped down on his back, forelegs splayed outwards. “Fuck. Why don’t I believe that.”

“Because you’re paranoid. Look man, stop worrying about small stuff like that. I’m not trying to romance the mare and take her away to a better place with all the bits in toe. We are trying to bring her to a better place to share the bits with each other and live that life we so desperately want. Honestly, whatever happens inbetween where we currently are, and where we want to end up, doesn’t matter as long as the end result is the same for the both of us, which, mind you, it is.”

“I just don’t like being in the dark about this Anon! This is potentially a whole new development in the plan and you’re leaving me out of it by not telling me, which is never how we did things before.” Gile looked at Anon. “Please, as my brother, tell me the truth.”

“... Alright. Yes. I do like her. I like her a lot. She’s, well, adorable; you know that. She’s smart, even with her current condition, you can tell she was destined for success. I like how wondering she constantly is, and her mannerisms. Heh, remember when she said she recategorized Cabaluus’ royal library? I thought she was just lying to save herself then, but with how she just sucks up information, and how she’s always studying that map… I don’t doubt her anymore. But mainly… Those eyes man. Those fucking eyes. I just… I don’t know. Never felt like that about another creature before.”

Anon scanned Gile’s face, deep in concentration.

“So… Yeah. I do like her. I wouldn’t call it love, but like? Definitely.”

The griffon closed his eyes, relief washing over him.

“... Thank you.”

Anon murmured an embarrassed “no problem…”

“And you’ll let me know if that escalates further?”

“O’course Gile. I shouldn’t have kept it from you to begin with, it just… It was a new, weird feeling, and I didn’t know how to take it. I still don’t really. But! I’ll let you know from now on.”

“Thanks Anon… So…”

The griffon’s eyes gleamed playfully. “Think she likes you back?”

Anon put his head in his hands, but laughed alongside his friend. “Let’s save questions like that for after we get her home.”

Gile sprang up from the ground and patted Anon on the back, yawning.

Neither would notice the nosy unicorn, blushing madly and viciously feigning sleep nearby as they settled down for the night.

…

Nor would they notice the distant pony-driven cart on the horizon, shrouded in the eerie darkness of the night.