The first thing Twilight felt when she opened her eyes was the warmth of the fire. She looked at her surroundings and started to panic but then remembered that someone had saved her. But she needed to know who and why they saved her. The girl slowly rose into a sitting position as she took in the room. It was mostly worn out and old but cozy thanks to the fire heart in the middle of the room and all the different pillows and couches around the room with shelves and small windows on the walls. Twilight located her stuff in a pile across the room. The girl quickly jumped off the bed to get to her stuff. But her legs and tail got tangled in the blanket and she fell nose first into the floor.
Kicking the offending fabric away with her legs, Twilight rushed to her bag and started roaming through it. Most of her belongings were either wet or completely destroyed by the water. "Where is it?" the monster whispered to herself as she turned both the satchel and her ruined dress inside out. But it wasn`t anywhere. Panic started to take hold of her as Twilight raised her hands to her head and grabbed her long tresses, gripping them with her powerful, monster strength.
"Are you looking for this?" came a groggy voice behind her. Twilight turned around ina whiplash to meet the owner of the voice. He was a very short bird monster like the one Twilight remembered from the few memories she has of the last few hours. But his feathers were more greyish green and his beak was also dull compared to the green of the other bird monster. He also had a long beard that was braided and was wearing a brown robe.
But what got her attention was the item in his hand. Her wand. Twilight jumped to her feet and rushed over to the armchair the monster was sitting on but the bird moved his hand out of reach and pointed his finger at her. "Now, now. We don`t want to be rude to our savior and host now would we?" the monster said with a grin. "No, we wouldn't." Twilight said with a hint of annoyance in her voice. "I`m Ludo, the master of this house." Ludo said as he pointed to the chair behind Twilight. The girl sat down with caution as she kept her eyes on Ludo.
"Why do you have this?" Ludo asked as he inspected the wand, turning it around and running his finger across the side with a bored expression. "Why do I have to tell you? It is my wand and it doesn`t matter to you where I got it from." Twilight countered back. She crossed her hands over her chest out of frustration but also to hide that she was still shivering.
Ludo didn`t look up from the wand and continued his interrogation. "Why do you have those cheek marks?" That question made panic rise in Twilight`s stomach. What does he know about those cheek marks? Does he know about the Butterfly family? But then she remembered something Glossaryck told her: The cheek marks are the universal sign of female royalty of Mewni. Twilight took a deep breath and spilled the truth. "I was born with them. I inherited them from my mother." she said with a straight face. The other monster was taken aback and dropped the wand to the floor out of shock. He slowly turned to face the girl and met bored gold-blue eyes. "What is your name?" Ludo asked with a small voice, his eyes as big as dinner plates.
"My name is Twilight Butterfly. It is a pleasure to meet you, Ludo." the girl answered as she finally broke a small smirk at Ludo`s widening eyes and his mouth hanging open. Twilight always has liked surprising others, usually with her skills but just being with a surprising heritage was a pretty fun thing! "Y-your name is B-Butterfly..." Ludo trailed off as he looked her over. She did have the signature long hair and the cheek marks but who was her mother? Wait. That shade of blue in her eyes and that face shape... Before she could blink, Ludo had grabbed the front of Twilight`s shirt and was holding a small dagger to her neck. "How? She left years ago." Ludo spoke with a glare that could freeze an ocean. "She left the territory, not the dimension." Twilight answered with her own glare.
"Brother, how is our guest..." Dennis stepped into the room but stopped in his tracks as he saw the two glaring at each other. He felt the tension in the room when the two pairs of eyes landed on him. "Big bro, can you explain to me what is going on?" the tall bird asked with a small voice as he felt himself shrinking under their shared gazes.
A few hours later, everyone was sitting around the heart, sipping drinks as the two brothers tried to wrap their heads around what Twilight just told them. "So, your mother is Star Butterfly and your father Toffee?" Dennis asked. Twilight nodded.
"You fled your home?"
Nod
"You are on your way to the Kingdom of Mewni to warn them or something like that?"
Another nod.
The group was quiet again for a few minutes. Ludo suddenly stood up and walked over to Twilight. Said monster looked up to meet his old, worn out eyes. "Can you show me a spell?" Twilight was taken aback with his childlike curiosity and excitement in his eyes. "Sure, of course." she answered with a small smile as she took her wand. Without speaking a word, the wand lit up and small sparkling butterflies started coming from the wand and floated around the room. Ludo looked at the colorful and glowing creatures with wonder as Dennis also looked at the butterflies with admiration. Twilight just smiled at the spell as one of the butterflies landed on her nose. She remembered her mother casting this spell when she was younger and couldn`t sleep. The beautiful creatures always calmed her down.
When the butterflies dissolved into sparkles and finally disappeared, Dennis turned to Twilight. "What are you going to do when you get to the capital? Your cheek marks give away that you are not a normal monster." Twilight came out of her thoughts and turned to him. "I know. I will conceal my marks with some paint or make-up and go to the castle as a traveler from the north and tell them that danger is lurking in behind the mountains." she said with a determined tone. She had to do this or innocent blood will be spilled by a twisted lizard and a damaged princess.
"But how do we know you are not lying?" Twilight and Dennis turned to Ludo, who had been quiet until now. "How do we know you are not lying? What if you are just a spy? I can`t deny your heritage but I can suspect your intentions and motives." Ludo spoke with a dangerously calm tone.
"Then, how can I prove myself to you?" Twilight asked. Both brothers were surprised, to say the least. they expected her to plead her case but apparently, she wants to prove by action. "Why do you want to prove yourself? It would be just easier to lie or something." Ludo said as he rolled his eyes. "I know my parents are dangerous and they have raised me to be a weapon but I am my own person. I want to show that I can be trusted." There was no hesitation in her eyes and no cracks in her voice.
"Ugh, my head hurts. I get it, you are bold and honest. I`m going asleep. Good night!" and with that Ludo left the room. Twilight could only be surprised as she stared at the closed door the short monster had banged closed. "Sorry about him. My brother gets easily bored with heroic people." Dennis spoke with a sheepish smile. Twilight lightly blushed and looked down at her lap. "I am no hero. I just want to make things right." She suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up. "Risking your life to come down from the north and warn a nation, that you believed to be the enemy for the longest time, to spare thousands of lives is a pretty heroic thing to do. If that is not something a hero does in your mind, I don`t know what is." Dennis said as he patted her back. The girl broke a smile as she looked at the fire. "Well, if you put it like that, it kinda does sound like something a hero would do."
She didn`t know what to think anymore. At first, Twilight just wanted to prevent a war. But now she is starting to comprehend the details. She is saving an unknown kingdom. A kingdom that is part of her blood. That thought brought another question to her mind. How is she going to warn them? This is too big of a deal to just give a guard and hope it reaches the king and queen. But going in person means she will have to face the royals, her grandparents. It was such an alien concept to Twilight. Never in her wildest dreams did she imagen that the king and queen of Mewni are her grandparents. Are they going to see through her and figure out who and what she is? Or will they think that she made the story up and kick her out of the castle? Now she is getting a headache. Maybe she should follow Ludo`s example and get some sleep.
"Dennis, thank you for everything. But if you don`t mind, I would like to go to bed." Twilight finally turned to her companion and smiled at him with gratitude. Dennis smiled in return and nodded, standing up himself. "You are very welcome. Good night, Twilight." Twilight watched him leave and when he disappeared from her sight, she fell down onto the bed and groaned in pain. Her head and ribs were on fire. Curse her mother and that painful blast!
In the morning, Dennis applied some ointment to her wounds and made breakfast. "I got it!" Ludo suddenly burst into the room with a smile that screamed `I murdered someone and got away with it!`. "What did you get?" Dennis asked as he placed the plate with breakfast in front of Twilight at the table. "I know how she could prove herself!" Ludo exclaimed as he jumped onto the table and throwing his hands wide like he just became the king of the world. Twilight swallowed her food before asking "What do I have to do?" "I`m glad you asked. You have to retrieve something for me. From the Castle of Avarius." Dennis spat out his tea as he looked at his brother with wide eyes and a dropped jaw. "Bro, you are asking her to rob our family`s home?!" he shouted as he grabbed Ludo`s shoulders and shook him back and forth. Even Twilight had to raise an eyebrow at that. "Now let me explain. I`m not asking her to rob them per say, just to bring me something I forgot there when they kicked me out." Ludo said with a childlike smile.
Before Dennis could shout at him again, Twilight spoke up. "I will do it. What do I have to get?" Dennis paled at her words while ludo did a little happy dance on the table. "It`s nothing big, just a box of my belongings." Ludo said. Twilight nodded and stood up. "I am going to find some suitable clothes. Be right back." and she left the room.
"I don`t know what you are thinking brother but I honestly thought you believed-" "Of course I believe her." The short monster cuts his brother off. "Then why are you sending her to our family`s castle?" Dennis asked as Ludo sat down on his chair, which was higher than the other chairs at the table. "Consider this making her due. We took care of her and let her stay the night, now it is her time to do something for us." Dennis stared at his brother for a while before shaking his head and turning back to the oven. "You never change, brother." Ludo just smirked at the taller bird`s back.
"But you know you love me."