//------------------------------// // Chapter 10: the Straight Path // Story: Marked // by Eisen //------------------------------// Twilight was interrupted from her reading by a soft toned voice in front of her. "Princess...?" It asked quietly. Twilight quickly closed the book and looked upwards. She was greeted by the face of Straight Arrow, the pale blue stallion from the jail. He put on a meek smile as she turned to him. "Straight! Glad to see the guards accepted my pardon!" she said with a relieved expression. "Thanks again, princess... and I'd like to talk about that, if it'd be alright with you," the stallion proposed, his tone still hushed. "Of course! What do you need?" she inquired, curious. "Well, I realize that if it weren't for you, I'd still be in that jail, and I'd like to try and make it up to you." he offered, his expression one of sincere regret. Twilight casually zipped the book back up in her saddlebag before responding. "What did you have in mind?" She asked cocking her head to the side slightly. "See, I mentioned that there was a letter that the fifth guy received, and I never saw its contents, but I never saw him destroy it either. It's a stretch, but I can show you the hideout. Even if the letter's not there, maybe there are other clues? The others are still in jail, so it should be empty." He explained, letting it all set in. She mulled this over in her mind, considering very briefly if this could be a trap, but her analysis of his tone, body language, and other factors convinced her that he wouldn't try anything like that, and he certainly wasn't nervous enough to indicate being forced to do something like that. "Are you sure, Straight?" the princess asked him, her hoof on her chin in thought. Arrow was quick to reply. "Of course, Princess! I got mixed up with the wrong crowd, and I feel I need this redemption. Truth be told, if I hadn't found you, I would have gone there alone and looked around anyway, reported stuff to the royal guards." Twilight smiled kindly and stood up. "Well, lead the way!" she agreed, her tone hopeful. Maybe she'd get to learn a bit more about who was coming after her! Arrow smiled and they walked out of the library, waving to Stamper as they left, and entered the chilly afternoon air. After they had been walking for a while, Arrow began to speak up. "Princess... I feel I should explain myself a little better. There's no excuse for crime but... I feel I should explain what led me there in the first place." Twilight was always interested in stories, so she nodded and trotted next to him with a kind, listening expression. "I told you in the interrogation room that I met Ruby a while back, and we hit it off. Well, that's partially true. See, Ruby and I grew up on the same street, and she was always kinda quiet, didn't smile much, but when I would practice archery, she'd always crack a grin. Well, she moved, and I didn't see her again until a few months ago. She was attending an archery contest, I found her after it was over, and we talked and caught up a bit," he explained. Twilight looked him over as they walked. He clearly remembered Ruby fondly, and his expression showed it, but it darkened slightly as he spoke again. "She still didn't smile much, and she'd become a bit reclusive. She really didn't have any friends that I knew of at the time, and overall, Ruby just seemed kinda down. So I started giving her free passes to all my archery contests. It wasn't much but, I got a hug and a smile out of that deal," he continued, his expression brightening with that last note. He went on. "After about a month or two, she came up to me with a big smile, and I thought something really good had happened. It was great to see her smile like that. She asked me if I'd like to make a few extra bits with her, and I wanted to see her happy, so of course I said yes..." He cringed a bit here, clearly thinking of a mistake. "She brought me to the thug hideout, and showed me off to her pals. They started asking me what my 'experience' was in stuff like this, and I... I didn't want to disappoint Ruby, so I lied. I told them that I had dabbled in thievery. I was a stupid foal, and I got sucked into their scheme. They said they needed a few extra hooves for some big gig, and apparently Ruby had told them about me. So... you know the rest..." he finished, sighing in disappointment. Twilight understood now. Straight Arrow was a stallion with a good heart. He did the wrong thing, but for the right reasons. He just wanted to help out another pony, he never intended harm. "I know I don't really deserve it princess but, can you ever forgive me? I know what you said in the room but..." He was cut off by Twilight giggling slightly, which caught him off guard. "Of course I forgive you, Arrow. Really all you did was grab my leg. It's clear you're not a bad pony, in fact you had good intentions! You'll be alright," she assured, which brought a smile to his face. "Thank you princess! Heh... growing up, my dad always taught me that I should try to make right my wrongs before doing anything else," he said with a smile. Twilight was a bit curious now about this fellow. "Wise words indeed! What about your mother?" she questioned, trying to make conversation. He hesitated, then looked down. "Sombra got her when I was young, before we were sealed away..." he trailed off. Twilight's ears drooped as she quietly apologized, to which he nodded and smiled lightly. He stopped and turned his head up, signaling for her to stop too. "We're here," he told her. They sat before a plain, one story house, with cruder gray crystal walls and semi-round windows. Arrow walked up to the door and carefully opened it, walking in and then gesturing for her to follow. Her horn ignited slowly, and she ducked inside. Nothing. Almost an hour of searching had yielded nothing. There were 7 rooms, one living room with a table, chairs, and some playing cards, 4 bedrooms, one bathroom, and one weight room. The boss's bedroom was simple enough, with a bed and nightstand, which was filled with gold and jewels, likely all stolen. He had some clothes folded on a dresser, and two mirrors. One on either side of the room. The room next door was apparently Ruby's, as it had a desk by her bed, a carpet on the floor, and a desk. Inside the desk were some lock picks, a bag full of bits, a drawer full of stolen trinkets, and in the top drawer, a black crystal heart-shaped necklace, an arrowhead, and some tickets to archery events. On the floor in that room was a small sleeping bag, which evidently was for Arrow. The third room was rather difficult to sort through. There were clothes strewn about, of all different sizes, and a chest which contained a large number of cleaning supplies on one end, and a large assortment of knives and handcrafted sharp objects in the other side. One end of the room held wood shavings, while on the bed stand next to the old mattress, there were fairly ornate wooden carvings standing on end. Arrow informed her that this room belonged to the green pony. The bathroom yielded nothing of interest, and the weight room was equally empty. Not even a feather could be found there. Finally, they did a search through the next room, which had nothing but a military cot in the back, which was cleaned of any hair or feathers, and a desk in the exact middle of the room, with a burnt candle on the top. The drawers contained nothing, which disappointed the two explorers. They sat together in that room, thinking over the whole place. Twilight, hoping to brighten the mood in contrast to the setting sun outside, mentioned the things in Ruby's drawer. "Hey, she saved those tickets and an arrowhead, that must mean something, right?" she tried. Arrow sighed and smiled weakly. "I guess she was a better friend that I first thought..." he trailed off. "Was? Who's to say that you two can't still be friends?" Twilight proposed calmly, as she stood and lit the candle with her horn to brighten the room. "She's a criminal, and by now she knows I'm not. I don't have a chance to talk with her now," Arrow said with a drooping head. Twilight huffed. "Well maybe she just needs someone to show her the way! It's clear she at least respects you... I think it's worth a shot to try and stay her friend. Maybe with you, she'll see the light!" she said triumphantly, accenting the word "light" with a glow of her horn. "You think so?" Arrow asked, hopeful. "I know so!" Twilight said with a wink, and trotted around near the walls. He brightened up, his face beaming at this idea. "You're right! I shouldn't give up now! Thanks princess!" he exclaimed, seeming to be warmed with hope. She nodded with a smile, then took a deep breath. "Hey, do you smell something off?" she asked, sniffing as she walked along the walls. "Not that I can smell..." he said, curiously looking around. He poked his head under the desk to search for the source, when he exclaimed "OH!" and bumped the table when he brought his head up. She came over to the desk. "Are you okay?" she asked calmly, looking to see him pull a piece of paper out and plop it on the desk. "I'm fine, but look what I found!" He said, squinting to try and read. Twilight's horn glowed to provide some more light, and he began to read. "It says... 'too late' ?" With that word, there was a mighty crash, and the gray pegasus slammed down from a weak spot in the ceiling, tackling Arrow to the floor beside the desk and executing a decisive kick on the princess simultaneously. The pegasus had his hoof on Arrow's neck, and looked towards the princess through black, unblinking shades. "NO!" Twilight shouted, scrambling to get up in time! But the pale blue pony barely managed to utter "Ruby" before the gray pegasus cleanly pressed down with a snap, and Straight Arrow was gone.