The Alicorn Warrior

by iAmSiNnEr

Act I - Chapter 3 - The Calling Out

Twilight let out a small sigh as she glided down towards the little town.  It was a full two days’ walk due West from the Arena, but that suited her.  It was far enough away not to attract attention, as a tiny little hamlet she’d discovered herself only about six months after she was first captured.  It was a rare safe haven amongst the Badlands, where thieves, traders, killers, and so on all came to do business with each other.
And never, ever, steal, hunt, or whatever else, in or near the town.
Why?  The place was a very well-kept secret.  It didn’t appear on any map- only those that had been invited knew of its location.
Perhaps the biggest thing she was worried about was the map she’d sketched her friends.  If they had a good sense of direction, which she knew Rainbow at least usually did, her friends shouldn’t have had any difficulty finding the town…  unless they expected it to be closer to the Arena.  There was every possibility her friends would be late to the meeting she’d asked them for.
She glided in on silent wings, landing just beyond the limits of the town, and trotted in.  She was, as usual when she left the Arena, in disguise- it wouldn’t do to have just any pony, griffin, dragon, or whatever else realize just what she did during her time off.
The open-air cafe she’d marked out on her map was a very short walk from that entrance and, horn completely invisible and coat dyed magically blue-green, she trotted right in.  Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted her friends, looking much worse for wear than she remembered- which made sense, this was the Badlands- idly watching passersby.
As expected, they didn’t recognize her.  It hurt, in a small, petty kind of way, but…
No, wait.  She used a quick visual amplification spell; with her horn hidden, and the thaumic mask she’d worked into habit by now, nopony would know she was casting a spell.
She confirmed what she’d glimpsed.  Starlight Glimmer looked distinctly confused, and more than a little uneasy, as she scanned not just passersby on the street but everything and everypony around her.  She knew she was there- could sense her immense magical reserves, even as expertly hidden as they were.
She turned forwards, and trotted up to and into the building itself.
“Good evening, Gusty Serenity,” the chef greeted her.
“Good evening to you too, Cold Cuts,” Twilight answered, as always.  “How’s it been?”
He shrugged.  “Same as usual, mostly.”  He gestured out towards the cafe area with the knife floating in his aura.  “Been wondering about those mares and the drake, though.  They visited about a week ago- looked like they were searching for somewhat.  Returned last night, and have been watching the road all around ever since.  Been wondering how I should throw them out- one of ‘em has a lot of power.”
Twilight tilted her head at them.  So, they apparently hadn’t figured out that she’d written ‘3d’ in order to specify ‘3 days’.  Whatever- at least they got here.
Unfortunately, as she’d known when she’d drawn the map, she wouldn’t be able to appear to them as Twilight Sparkle.  Hopefully, they’d be able to figure out who Gusty Serenity really was.
“Huh,” she muttered.  “I’ll handle it.  Which one has the power?”
He smiled, and sighed.  “Brave as always, eh, Boss?  It’s the purple one.  She might even be able to give ol’ Sparkle a run for her money.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow.  “Oh?  Hmm.  I wonder if she could break Sparkle’s streak?”  Her public persona, Gusty Serenity, was an avid fan of the Great and Sneaky Sparkle, and always flew out to watch every match.
Cuts let out a derisive snort.  “As if,” he stated.  “We know Sparkle has a ton of power, but I know for a fact she’s taken out ponies with less than a tenth the power as they demonstrated themselves.  She don’t need that power.”
“True,” Twilight muttered, snickering internally.  Her record held a disparity of almost forty thousand times less power than her opponent- though that poor stallion hadn’t been very bright, either.  She’d practically scared him unconscious.
And against a wise and talented mare like Starlight, Twilight was genuinely curious if she’d be able to go with her normal methods, or if she’d be forced to dig into her immense Alicorn reserves.
But that was for another time.  She headed back out of the building, and trotted over to her old friends.  As she went, she snagged a notebook and ledger, so she looked like a server, rather than the owner of the entire place- or just any other customer.
“Can I get something for you, ladies?” she asked- and quickly teleported a ‘pre-inked quill’ into the ledger, as she’d purposely forgotten one on the way out.  It was one of her inventions as the eccentric (and very rarely in town) ‘Smoking Gears’ unicorn that ‘lived’ on the other side of town.  It was a regular quill, with a small, enchanted pouch of ink attached to the tip, such that just the right amount of ink would trail out onto the tip as she wrote that she wouldn’t have to dip it in ink…  and her writing wouldn’t fade out, either.
Hopefully, Starlight would notice even a masked teleportation signature from this close, and realize that she wasn’t really the pegasus she looked like.
Starlight didn’t look at her, though, busy scanning the next door neighbor’s yard.  It was a school playground, where all the town’s colts and fillies were playing under the watchful eyes of all four teachers.
After Starlight, Twilight expected Pinkie to be the first to look at her.
She wasn’t.  Instead, it was Rainbow Dash, who looked at her for a few seconds, sizing her up, before answering.  “A menu?” she asked, sounding both irritated and bored- a combination that, as near as Twilight could remember, usually meant trouble was on the way.
“Oh, I’ve got those right here,” Twilight stated, before running a quick teleport to transfer a menu into her ledger as she opened it.  “Six adult pony menus, and will the Spykoranovantilosaurus Rex be taking an adult or junior menu?”  Hopefully, that’d jog somepony’s memory.  Or confuse Spike enough for him to call her out to the others.
“Ahh,” Rarity muttered, turning to her.  “Um, he’ll take a junior, please.”
She hoofed out the menus, teleporting more in underneath as she went, such that the teleports were completely hidden, and she ended with an empty ledger.  Theoretically, at least one of them would notice.  Spike wasn’t even looking at her, staring down the street.
Rainbow tilted her head.  “How…  How did these menus fit in that ledger?”
“Mm?  Oh, it’s enchanted.”
“Ahh,” Applejack muttered.
Twilight very nearly winced.  The Element Bearer of Honesty had just eaten a lie, and not called it out.  Was her disguise magic just that powerful, or had Applejack lost her touch with her Element?  “So, can I get you something to drink?”
Pinkie Pie twisted in place, from where she’d been staring down the street like a statue, didn’t even glance at the menu, and ordered the dish that happened to be of Twilight’s own invention.  “Daisy banana cream pie.”
Twilight took it in stride, and scribbled it on her notebook.  “Would you like something to drink while you wait for it?”
“Pumpkin cream sundae.”
“Going for all the sweets today, are we?” she chuckled.  “Anypony or Rex else?”
“What in the world is a…  whatever that was Rex?”
“Hmm?  Oh, it’s a dragon breed.”  She nodded respectfully to Spike.  “I recognized him instantly as a Spykoranovantilosaurus Rex.”
This time, Spike turned sharply to stare at her.
“Ahh…  I’ll take, um…”  Rarity began, opening and quickly paging through the menu.
“Pony menu?” Fluttershy muttered softly.
She nodded.  “Yes.  It contains the same stuff as all the other menus, it’s just been organized so the things that would be appetizing to a pony are up front- and the ones that won’t be remotely appetizing are all on the back cover.  You can still order anything you want, though.”
Starlight pointed a hoof at her ledger.  “That’s not enchanted.”
“I know.”
Applejack looked up from where she had opened her menu.  “Why’d you say it was?”
“Why’d you ignore the lie?”  Twilight didn’t miss how everypony- and Spike- all looked at Applejack.
“I didn’t know it was a lie,” Applejack argued.  All eyes shifted to Twilight.
“You’re the Element Bearer of Honesty.”  It wasn’t a question.
Silence reigned for almost ten full seconds.
“How…” Rarity began.  “How do you know…?”
Spike stood up.  “Spykoranovantilosaurus Rex,” he stated.  “That’s not my breed.”
“Oh?” Rainbow asked, as all eyes shifted to Spike.
“That’s my name.  Which means…”  He jumped up on the table, and pointed directly at Twilight.  “You’re Twilight.”  All eyes shifted to Twilight.
Twilight grinned, and turned sideways, posing so they could see her cutie mark.  “Well of course not,” she informed them.  “I’m Gusty Serenity, the manager and owner of this fine cafe.  Though, I do watch every one of the Sneaky Sparkle’s matches.”  As she spoke, she felt Starlight probing her with her magic.
Then, exactly as expected, Starlight spoke.  It wasn’t an accusation, nor a question, but a statement of fact.
“She’s Twilight.”