The Alicorn Warrior

by iAmSiNnEr


Act I - Chapter 8 - Past Enemies

The Alicorn Warrior

Written by iAmSiNnEr

Edited by Holtinater

Chapter 8- Past Enemies


Twilight awoke to hear the gentle snoring of Starlight leaning on her. They had evidently fallen asleep at some point last night after their talk. She smiled and closed her eyes. Waking up Starlight could wait for a while. 
“Psst!” someone whispered behind her. Twilight turned her head to see Spike at the doorway to the balcony. “Can I join you?”
Twilight smiled. “Of course, Spike.” Spike grinned and walked over to sit down next to her. “You’ve grown wings!”
Spike flapped his wings a little, before nodding. “Yeah, I got them two years ago. It was the weirdest thing ever!”
“I bet it was, Spike. It was also confusing for me when I first got my wings,” Twilight replied. “So, what has my number one assistant been doing these few years?”
Spike twiddled his claws. “Oh, you know. Traveling the desert, looking for you, that sort of thing?” 
Twilight wrapped a wing around Spike. “You all didn’t have to do that. I would have found my way back eventually.”
He closed his eyes. “But what sort of friends would we be if we didn’t come after you? I can’t be your number one assistant if you’re hundreds or thousands of miles away from me. I want to be there for you, you know. You raised me when I was young. I feel like it is time for me to grow up and become the assistant and brother you always needed.”
“Oh, Spike,” Twilight said lovingly. “You’ve always been my little brother and number one assistant. Even when I’m not around, I trust that you would keep things together in my absence.”
“Are you really not going to stay in Equestria? We want you back, Twilight. Ponyville, and us, we miss you. The castle isn’t the same without you in it. Equestria needs its Princess of Friendship back.”
Twilight laughed softly. “I’m still coming back, Spike. I was just laying out my options, but it is more likely that I’m coming back to stay in Equestria. Although I would make the trip back out here once in a while to visit my friends here.”
For a moment, everything was silent as both of them gazed at the scenery, enjoying each other’s company.
“Twilight, could you explain something to me?”
“Yes, Spike?”
Spike looked her in the eyes. “Isn’t it confusing, having that many different personalities and disguises? I can’t imagine having a different persona every day, it would drive me crazy!”
Twilight froze. “Different personas? I thought I was mostly the same!”
Spike shook his head. “You were a completely different pony. You were more confident, more laid back. You were nothing like the Twilight I knew.”
She glanced at Spike. “Really? I thought I only changed a little.”
Spike nodded. “Yeah! In Ponyville, you would make checklists almost every day! But here, you seem more relaxed, more in place than you ever did back in Equestria!”
Twilight considered him. “It seems I have changed more than I realized. But the Badlands certainly is a place for change. I had to adapt, you see.”
“I know that, Twilight, but you don’t seem like the same pony I used to know. Even so, I still love you the same.”
“Oh, Spike. Come here.” Twilight pulled Spike closer in for a hug. 
“What are you- oh.” Spike relaxed into Twilight’s hug. “It’s been so long since I’ve had a hug from you.”
“You’ll have all the hugs you want, Spike. I’m sorry I ever left you in the first place,” Twilight whispered. “Forgive me for not being there when you grew your wings. Forgive me for everything I missed when you were growing these four years.” For a moment, both Twilight and Spike just stayed in each other’s embrace, enjoying the view.
Starlight shifted and yawned. “Wha-what time is it?” She glanced at Twilight and realized that she was leaning against her. Yelping, she scrambled up and blushed. “It’s not what it looks like!”
Spike let out a snigger, and Twilight chuckled as Starlight tried to recompose herself. “It’s fine, Starlight. I let you sleep a while longer. As for the time, it is a few hours after sunrise.”
Spike stood up and admired the painting that was left on the side to dry. “You painted this last night, Twilight?” 
Twilight shook her head. “I just completed it last night. It has been six weeks in the making.” 
Spike glanced back at her. “Six weeks? You certainly work hard at your paintings, don’t you?”
Twilight smiled. “I like taking my time to work at them. Makes it more satisfying when I finally complete them.” 
Spike suddenly started. “Oh, right! I forgot why I came here in the first place! The girls wanted to tell me that Pinkie has prepared breakfast and they wanted me to wake you and bring you to the dining room they found!”
Twilight tried not to laugh. “I know where it is, Spike. I live here.”
“Oh. Right.” 
Twilight glanced at Starlight. “If you two are fine with it, I’ll teleport us there. Much faster that way.”
Starlight nodded. “I’m fine with that.”


Hard Line gazed out at the ponies currently revamping the arena, tearing down old parts and expanding them so that they could fit more contests at the same time. He smiled in satisfaction as he checked the plans. Everything was going as they should-
“Sir!” a voice called out. Hard Line turned to see his secretary, Knot, heading for him, urgency in his eyes. 
“What is it?” he asked. 
“They’re here, sir. They’re back again.” 
Hard Line’s eyes widened. “They’re back? What are they doing now?”
Knot’s eyes were grim. “They’ve started hunting down the ponies and creatures who fight in the arena, and so trying to discourage others from coming in and joining the contests.”
Hard Line growled. “Dammit. How many this time?”
“A hundred griffons. How do they keep getting more?”
Hard Line sniffed. “They’re not getting more, Sparkle just always sends them back with their tails in between their legs after giving them a sound beating and refuses to kill them. If they’re really hunting down our combatants this time, she’ll have no choice. She’s on vacation right now, but a carrier pigeon should be able to find her-”
“Already done,” Knot interrupted. “I’ve sent one already since the matter is urgent.”
Hard Line nodded approvingly. “I just hope she arrives in time.”


“It’s been so long since I had some of Pinkie’s pancakes!” Twilight said happily as she slowly consumed the flat cakes topped off with syrup that Pinkie had gotten from who knows where.
“You can have more!” Pinkie cheerfully said as she dropped more onto Twilight’s plate. 
“Thanks, Pinkie,” Twilight replied. “So, how have you girls been doing these years? Fine, I hope?”
Applejack shrugged. “It wasn’t a picnic, but Ah survived just fine. Ah don’t know about the rest, though.”
Rainbow glanced at Fluttershy. “We’ve been okay. It would have been harder if we weren’t together, but we were, so we found you, like, in no time!”
Rarity sighed. “Does ‘no time’ translate to three and three-quarters years, Dash? I find that it doesn’t.”
Rainbow huffed. “You know what I mean!”
Fluttershy glanced at Twilight. “So, when can we go back home? I’m sure my animals are missing me,” she mumbled. 
Twilight smiled. “No worries. We can go as soon as you are ready. Before we leave, I’ll have to settle some things first so that we can-” she never finished her sentence. A pigeon flew through the window and smacked right into her face. “What-”
The pigeon hovered there. It chirped and waved a claw that had a letter tied to it. “A note?” Twilight frowned. “I told Hard Line that I was on vacation! What could possibly warrant him sending a carrier pigeon?” Using her magic, she pulled the letter from the pigeon and opened it to read it.
As she scanned the letter, her eyes widened. “They’re back?” she muttered. “Dammit. I thought, after the last time, they wouldn’t want to try again…”
“Who’s back, Twi?” Rainbow asked, looking at her. She turned to meet Rainbow’s gaze, concern apparent in Rainbow’s eyes. 
Twilight sighed. “You know how I took over the arena forcefully from the old owner, Quick Leash? Well, we bit off more than we could chew. It turns out he was backed by a griffon crime organization that was heavily invested in that arena for their profits. Since then, they’ve been sending their members in every few months to try and reclaim the arena. Normally, they would just try to sabotage the arena, but this time, they’re hunting down the contestants.”
Twilight got up. “I have to go and help. I’ll be back later,” she turned. “I’m sorry for interrupting this, and leaving right before we can go back home, but I promise I’ll be back.”
Rainbow got up. “Wait just a minute, we want to help-” In a flash of light, Twilight was gone. 


Twilight appeared next to Hard Line in a flash of light, the air displacing around her as her teleport set her down there. “Where are they?” she demanded.
“That was fast,” Hard Line commented. “I wasn’t sure if the carrier pigeon would get to you in time.”
“I was in the area. Cut to the chase, Hard Line,” Twilight said. “Where are they?”
Hard Line glanced at Knot. “Tell her, Knot.”
Knot looked at Twilight. “The biggest group is headed straight for the arena, whereas smaller groups have broken off to look for our contestants. I’ve already warned our contestants to stick together to prevent them from being picked off one by one, so that’s taken care of. Unfortunately, this means that the arena is undefended, and the staff and workers that are currently here are easy pickings for the group that’s headed our way, which is why we need your help. Apologies for disturbing your vacation.”
Twilight waved him off. “This is an emergency, and since I facilitated the change in management, I should be here. This time, I’m ending it here. I might have to leave the Badlands to return to Equestria due to a new development, and I’m not allowing all my hard work to go to waste.”
“A new development?” Hard Line asked curiously. “You were unbanished?”
Twilight shook her head. “Something else. For now, let’s settle the problem once and for all.”
Hard Line nodded. “Agreed.”
“There they are,” noted Knot, glancing beyond the walls of the arena. “They’re almost at the gates.”
“Tell the workers to leave via the back entrance,” Twilight decided. “I want no innocents in this mess.”
Knot nodded. “It shall be done.” He flapped his wings as soon as he finished speaking, already on his way to the workers in order to inform them of Twilight’s decision.
Twilight glanced at the gates. “And here they come.” The gates swung open, and fifty griffons stepped into the arena. Once they saw Twilight, some of them looked wary, but they stood their ground. 
A burly griffon stepped forwards. “Return the arena to our organization!” he demanded. “Or face the consequences!”
Twilight shook her head. “When the arena was under your organization’s management, so many creatures died. I will not have more of that.”
The griffon sneered. “Such heroism. Do you know what happens to heroes, Sparkle? Do you think you’re a hero? Is this what this is?”
“I just wanted this place to be better,” Twilight stated firmly.
“You wanted power,” The griffon nodded. “Yes, you just wanted power. You say you want this place to be better. You did a coup! You did a hostile takeover from our management! You caused more deaths than there would have been if you had just let us continue!”
“Wrong,” Twilight snarled. “There was a death almost everyday. If you do the math, there would have been almost a thousand and a half deaths by now. I only killed two hundred of you griffons.”
The griffon laughed. “The statistics don’t matter, Sparkle. Let me tell you a story about a hero. There was a country once that was under siege by another that was only winning because they had a monster on their side. The prince of the country under siege learned to fight just to help save his citizens. He killed the monster and became a hero. Do you know what happened to him? Do you?”
Twilight shook her head.
“He was exiled,” the griffon sneered. “Even after he had saved his country, he was exiled from it. Heroes never get a good ending. So, do you want to be a hero?”
Twilight considered him. “He still saved his country, right? Even if the hero never gets the good ending, at least they do save someone.”
The griffon smiled grimly. “Well. It seems that I have failed to persuade you. Time to die. You’ll find that we aren’t the same griffons as we were when you last faced us.” He lifted his sword into the air, and the griffons charged.