//------------------------------//
// Act 1 - Chapter 11 - Aftermath 
// Story: The Alicorn Warrior 
// by iAmSiNnEr 
//------------------------------//


The Alicorn Warrior


Written by iAmSiNnEr


Helped by Gastredner


Edited by Stinium_Ruide


Chapter 11- Aftermath






After the commotion earlier, the day wound down surprisingly fast. Retrieving the money for an initial down payment on the mercenaries, arranging for the safe storage and transportation of the prisoners to Trikon Town had been troublesome, those griffons didn’t want to go quietly. 

After last-minute discussions with Hard Line in regard to the arena during Twilight's absence, that saw her and her friends return to her abode no earlier than the early evening. Somewhat exhausted—mentally, magically, and physically—they did not bother with a lavish meal and after a short, slightly awkward dinner, her friends excused themselves to their beds and Twilight found herself alone on the little balcony she so liked.

Hidden into a niche and mostly covered with a heavy tarp to blot out the sun, Twilight rather liked to spend her evenings here, hidden away from prying eyes while being able to gaze upon the tips of the surrounding mountains and the mostly empty sky.

 The setting sun illuminated the mountain tips in fierce reds, oranges, and yellows, and she quite enjoyed not just the looks, but also the sudden drop in temperature, savoring the short time between the hot and cold phases of the day. 

And, with the troubles and turmoils of the day draining away into the silence and rest of evening and night, only the sound of the wind and the occasional desert critter rustling through the empty streets could be heard.

Without the silence, the soft hoofsteps in the corridor behind her might have gone unnoticed. With it, they might as well have been thunderclaps in Twilight's ears. She only needed to crane her neck a bit to see the hooves' owner in the doorway, her right front hoof raised, yellow ears laid back, shoulders and pink tail tucked in and a look in her eyes Twilight never wanted to see in the eyes of a pony she considered very dear to her. 

"Still afraid of me?" she asked. Fluttershy looked away for a second before closing her eyes, scuffing her hoof on the floor two, three times, and taking a deep breath. Squaring her shoulders, she slowly walked onto the balcony, stopping only once she reached the floor next to Twilight's recliner.

"I don't want to be," she said, "but I tried to sleep and...e-everytime I close my eyes…"

Twilight rolled her head back straight and took some seconds to look at the sky, her gaze finding the moon's edge slowly rising above the mountains.

"The griffon?" she asked, before looking back at Fluttershy to see a meek nod.

"I always knew that I'd changed," Twilight began, "but I don't think I knew just how much I would have changed until I met you again. I don't really know what to think about it right now."

Twilight sat up to properly face Fluttershy before continuing.

"Strangely enough, I would have thought you to be one of the more understanding," she said to Fluttershy's utter astonishment. Twilight raised an eyebrow. "You are working with animals, Fluttershy. Maybe things are more different than I seem to remember, but I'm sure nature in Equestria isn't much less violent than here in the Badlands."

"B-but animals don't kill needlessly, Twilight," Fluttershy murmured, pawing at the ground, "and…ponies are not animals. I think..."

"No, you're right—we're not simple animals. That is why we strive not to kill. But it is necessary from time to time, as regrettable as that may be. As for the griffon…" Twilight trailed off, furrowing her brow while looking at the ground.

"Don't you think I tried? I do not remember the face of every griffon I threw out of the arena time and time again, but I can tell you: Most of today’s assailants weren't some innocent bystanders swept up in something terrible. I've rebuffed them more than once, gave them more than one chance—and yet they keep coming, threatening me, the arena staff, the people living close by…and now you."

"That doesn't mean that k-killing them is necessary, Twilight," Fluttershy countered, looking straight into Twilight's eyes. "There are always other ways if only we look for them hard enough! Like that prison!"

Twilight snorted. “These are the Badlands, Fluttershy. There aren’t really prisons, or anywhere to keep anybody we think are evil. The only one out there is Trikon Town, and that’s provided you pay for their stay.”

"Pay? W-what happens if you, you know…?" asked Fluttershy.

"They go from the paid-for confinement to the open confinement," Twilight answered.

"T-that doesn't sound so bad…"

Twilight had to repress an urge to roll her eyes. "Open confinement is called that because it is an unroofed slave labor camp, Fluttershy. The only thing it is open to is the sun. Sleeping conditions are appalling too; they sleep on the ground with no bedding. I”m already being very nice to the griffons paying for cells for them to stay in.”

"W-what!?" Fluttershy yelped. "That's horrible! Why doesn't anyone do something about that?"

"Who should do something about it?" Twilight asked wearily. "This is not Equestria, Fluttershy. The Badlands does not have a centralized government. There is no Royal Guard keeping the peace, no laws to determine how prisoners are kept or what is to be considered a just punishment for a crime."

"But, t-those poor beings…why would anyone do that?"

"Because running a prison is neither cheap nor easy, especially out here. Look around, Fluttershy. Finding water can be hard, and there is little in regards to edible plants or animals to be found. And unlike in Equestria, there are no taxes to help you provide for your prisoners. So, unless someone pays for them, you have to get what money you can get from the prisoners themselves."

Fluttershy shook her head. "There has to be a better way, Twilight. Maybe someone just needs to show them how to do it, why a government is good. Can't you do anything about it? You are a princess!"

"I was a princess in Equestria, Fluttershy. Here, I am respected, yes—but not because I run around and try to set up my own government. The people like me because I entertain them without harming others needlessly."

Twilight stood up and went to the balcony's railing, beckoning Fluttershy on with a hoof to follow. Once she heard her friend's hoofsteps stopping next to her, she continued. "If you were to follow this street down to its end, you'd find a nice little alchemist's shop on the right side. It is run by a rather nice elderly pegasus, and they do not sell anything too dangerous or ethically questionable in nature."

"That doesn't sound so ba—" Fluttershy began before Twilight interrupted her.

"They do sell unicorn horns, though. Pegasus flight bones, too, the last time I was there."

Twilight could see Fluttershy's eyes growing wide. "U-unicorn h-horns? B-but, to get that…" she started, before falling silent.

"Yes, you'd have to sever it off a unicorn's head. I actually have an agreement with them: They don't…source…it from living beings or anyone from this community, and I don't raise a fuss. That's what I can do, Fluttershy: Try to get the people to agree on what many would consider common decency. Sometimes, I can strong-hoof some of the more aggressive ones into keeping out of here or sway public opinion in a certain direction. But I'm not a princess here. And neither a mayor or any other kind of official. I guess the best description would be to say that I'm the extraordinarily mild-mannered schoolyard bully interested in the public good."

Twilight stepped back from the railing and sat down once more. "If I were to try and start my own government, the people would come together and question what it is that gives me the right to do that, Fluttershy. And, truthfully: What am I to say to that? That I deserve their unquestioning loyalty and to rule over them because I consider myself virtuous? That being an alicorn makes me inherently better than them?" 

Twilight shook her head. "No, there's nothing I could say to them to get myself that kind of power. I'm doing what I can and, maybe, if I were to keep it up for some decades, or maybe centuries, people would agree to it. But right now, it is much too early for something like that. I'd not be seen as the benevolent ruler—I'd appear to be the power-hungry tyrant instead."

"I can see myself in you, Fluttershy. Back then, when I had just arrived. I would think and say the same things and, if I'm being honest, there is a surprisingly large part of me that still seems to agree. I wouldn't have sent those griffons to Trikon's otherwise. And yet, at the same time, I now have the experience to know just how naive it is, to see the myriad of ways it could all go wrong and they would come back to hurt me or the people living and working in and around my arena. And I can't help but wonder: Am I wrong? And, more importantly, if I am: Which part of me is wrong? The merciful Equestrian who gives chance after chance, no matter how undeserving the recipient may be? Or the realist from the Badlands, trying to be good within reason?"

Fluttershy still hadn't moved from her place at the railing, but her ears had attentively followed Twilight. The latter got up and went the few steps to her friend’s side.

"Or maybe, Fluttershy…maybe the rules are simply different, here and in Equestria. Maybe I'm right and wrong at the same time. But I don't think I'll be able to find any answers to that this evening. But seeing Equestria again might help—I've certainly missed it and its ponies very much. So…I'm sorry, Fluttershy. I'm sorry you had to see this just to find me, and I'm sorry if I have ever made you afraid. Especially as I am very thankful. I did not think I would meet you or my family ever again, and now, you've given me that chance. And who knows? Maybe we actually will find a way to improve the situation here. So…thank you, my friend." Twilight said before hugging Fluttershy. The pegasus, to her credit, only froze up for a split second before putting her own forelegs around Twilight.

Twilight held the hug for several seconds, eyes closed, and allowed herself a short reminiscence of the time before. Not long after, she and Fluttershy released the hug, but Twilight stayed close. "If you go into the kitchen, you'll find a small, green pot in the right most cupboard. In it are some roots of a desert plant growing further out. Put two in a cup and add some hot water—they are relaxing and will help you find your sleep. They usually do the trick for me," she said before trotting over to the corridor's entrance. "Good night, Fluttershy."

"Good night, Twilight," Fluttershy responded, still standing at the railing, but now looking at the alicorn vanishing into the corridor. The night fell silent again—silent enough for Fluttershy’s rather sharp hearing to catch Twilight mumbling to herself:

"Or maybe, we'll find out I've changed even more than I thought."