A Warrior's Calling

by Valiant_Daybreak

Chapter 6 - Party Ponies

My Dearest Student Twilight Sparkle,
What you have written to me is extremely interesting, but I am afraid I simply have too much to do at the moment to follow up on such a far-fetched hunch. While your theory concerning this individual is certainly plausible, it is not very likely, and I am afraid I cannot take the time right now to come and figure this out for myself. We are still in the process of rebuilding Canterlot after the recent chageling invasion, and that has to be top priority at the moment. My dear student, you must learn to trust other ponies. I know it's hard after what happened at your brother's wedding, but not every suspicious alicorn is a changeling! Give him a chance for now, and I'll look into it when I have time.

Twilight paced the floor as Spike read the letter, huffing slightly as he finished. “How can she just dismiss it like that!?” She asked no one in particular.

“Well,” said Spike, “she did say she would look into it when she had time... It's better than nothing...”

Ceasing her pacing, Twilight turned to face him. “That's true, I suppose, but if my hunch is right...”

“And what if it's not! Twilight, it's like the princess said... you can't just go accusing every suspicious pony you meet of being like Phadence.”

Twilight cocked an eyebrow. “I'm sorry... like who now?”

The dragon wrung his hands. “You know... Phadence. Phony Cadence?”

The unicorn sighed, shaking her head. Alluding to the previous conversation, she said, “I don't know Spike... There's just something... odd about that pony... I can't quite put my hoof on it, but something about him just feels like...”

“Twilight, stop.” Spike said, staring her right in the eye. “It's like the princess said, you're going to have to trust him!”

Twilight sighed again, before replying, “Okay Spike, I guess you're right. Maybe I should just...”

A knock at the door interrupted her sentence. Walking over to it, she opened it to find an extremely excited Pinkie Pie.

“Hi Twilight! Boy I'm glad you're home, cause if you weren't home, I'd have to come back later, and I've got a ton of things to do to get ready... Oh yeah! That reminds me! Here ya go!” She gave Twilight an envelope. “It's your invitation to the party this afternoon! I'm throwing it for this new pony I met today! He goes around dressed in this weird cloak like some sort of pony spy, but I know he isn't a pony spy because he said so, he's just new in town and he doesn't have very many friends so I thought I'd invite my bestest friends over so hopefully he can find some new friends!”

Pinkie Pie took a deep breath, replenishing her lost oxygen.

“Anyway, see you at the party! Be there, or be square!”

As Twilight shut the door, Spike asked, “So what was that about?”

“Oh,” Twilight began, “She's throwing some new pony a party... I tried to tell her I couldn't go but... Wait... dresses in a cloak...” She thought for a minute, before putting two and two together. “Pinkie Pie's new friend is Valiant!”

At the puzzled look on Spike's face, she explained, “Valiant is the name of that pony I was telling you about... The suspicious one?”

Spike smiled, “Well in that case, you should probably go!”

“What? Why?”

“Come on, Twilight! Pinkie Pie's party is the perfect place to get to know him! I'm sure once you've talked to him a bit more you'll stop all this Phaliant nonsense.”

Twilight stared blankly at Spike. “Phaliant?”

“Well... If his name is Valiant...”

“Yeah, Phoney Valiant, I got it.” Twilight sighed a third time before saying, “I suppose you're right, I'll go. Maybe I do just need to get to know him better...” Or maybe, she thought, I'll be able to find out what's really going on while I'm there...

“The fact you know the pony that invited me to this party reassures me to no end.” Valiant said as he and Fluttershy walked into town. “She was definitely... different.”

Giggling softly, Fluttershy said, “Well, Pinkie Pie is slightly different... but it's a good different! She's always trying to make everypony else laugh... and she throws the best parties!”

Valiant nodded thoughtfully, still turning yesterday's events over in his head. “She certainly was a nice pony... in her own... interesting way.”

As they walked in silence, his thoughts turned to memories of home, and the grand parties his family used to throw. He could nearly taste the food, could almost hear the after dinner speech his father always gave, could feel the joy and the rush of dancing until the moon was high in the sky! Since his country's fall, he had given up all hope of ever experiencing such things again. Now, he was being invited to a party, not because it was his duty as prince to attend, but because ponies wanted him there! It was a good feeling, one that began to warm his heart the moment it was thought.

Breaking the silence, he wistfully said, “It is a beautiful night.”

Smiling, Fluttershy replied, “It certainly is.”

The pair arrived to find the party in full swing, with the rest of the guests already in attendance. As they approached the door, Pinkie Pie, wearing a party hat, poked her head out and shouted, “Oh good you're here! Come in quick!”

Pulling Valiant inside, she shouted, “Everypony come here quick! This is the pony I was telling you about! He's new in town, so let's try to make him all welcome!”

After his eyes adjusted to the sudden indoor brightness, Valiant glanced around at the faces staring back at him. He breathed a sigh of relief as he realized he had already met everypony present. The blue pegasus who had raced him was standing a corner of the room, arguing with the orange salespony from the market, who was calmly sipping a glass of punch. Fluttershy's friend Rarity stood across the room, engaged in some sort of conversation with the extremely nice baker pony. Hmm... Valiant thought, I wonder if the other unicorn I met is... Ah. There. He quickly spotted the purple mare across the room, attempting to nonchalantly eat a cupcake, but very obviously watching him thoughtfully. Something about her makes me... nervous...

Putting on his most cordial smile, he said, “Nice to see you all again! When I heard the word 'party,' I was afraid half the town would be in attendance!”

Applejack put down her punch and replied, “Yup! I was a bit surprised myself! Why didn't you invite anypony else Pinkie Pie?”

Shrugging, she replied, “I guess I just didn't have the energy... Hey! Who wants to play pin the tail on the pony!?” She sprinted over to the wall, looking like anything but a pony who had run out of energy.

Valiant hung back as the ponies gathered at the other end of the room. Noticing his nervousness, Fluttershy approached and asked, “Don't you want to play?”

Shaking his head slowly, Valiant replied, “I... do not know how...”

Pinkie Pie, who had somehow appeared behind him, said, “It's not hard! We put a blindfold on you, then we spin you around until you're all dizzy, then you try to pin the tail on the pony!”

“I suppose I could try... but...”

“Great!” Pinkie Pie interrupted, fastening a blindfold over his eyes. “Ready?!” Without waiting for a reply, she said, “Here we go!” She spun him around 10 times, before stopping him and saying, “Alright! Go!”

The other ponies in the room began shouting directions at him, some truthful and some misleading. As Valiant struggled to make sense of it all, he heard Fluttershy's small voice calling at him to move in a certain direction. Concentrating on her voice only, he followed her directions, until he bumped gently into the wall. Reaching down carefully, he pinned the tail, stepping back and removing the blindfold to admire the fact that he had pinned it perfectly on the pony's..... nose.

Dumbfounded, he turned around until he was looking directly at Fluttershy. Giggling, she said, “I thought it looked like you knew what you were doing... so...”

Slowly, a grin spread over Valiant's face, which quickly turned into laughter. Soon, the entire room was erupting in a storm of giggles, chortling at the awkward placement of the pony's tail.

When the laughter had subsided, Valiant said, “I have not laughed quite that hard in a long time. Thank you all!”

With that, the party got into full swing. It had been a long time since Valiant had enjoyed himself so much. He almost wished the night would never end, but after three hours of partying, he began to realize how tired he was. Walking to the middle of the room, he said, “Ladies, I thank you for a truly wonderful evening! I have enjoyed myself tremendously, but it is a long walk home, and I am afraid I must...”

Pinkie Pie interrupted, “Why do you have to walk? Can't you just fly home? I mean, you haven't used your wing muscles at all tonight!”

Dead silence filled the room. Oh no... “I beg your pardon?” Valiant asked.

“Duh! You're an alicorn aren't you? You've got wings, why don't you use 'em?”

“APPLEJACK!” Rarity sputtered, as the earth pony sprayed her with a mouthful of punch.

Ignoring her, Applejack shouted, “He's a what now?”

“An alicorn! You know, has both a horn and wings? Most likely royalty of some kind? Isn't it obvious?! I mean, DUH! You can tell just by looking at him!”

Applejack looked at Valiant in awe, before asking, “Is... Is it true?”

Sighing, Valiant removed his cloak, allowing his wings some freedom. “Yes, it is true.”

“Well I'll be...” Applejack said, shaking her head in wonder. “And all this time I thought you were just an ordinary pony! I'm sorry if mah country demeaner offended you yer' high...”

“Stop!” Valiant shouted, before looking at the floor. “Please... I am an ordinary pony... I... I do not want special treatment from anypony, so please do not...”

“Tell anyone?” Twilight asked from the back of the room. Stalking forward, she asked, “And why not, may I ask? You said that before... you 'don't want any special treatment,' but why is that exactly?! Something about your story just doesn't add up! What are you hiding? Well?”

By this point, she had crossed the room and was standing in front of him, staring him directly in the eyes.

“I...” he began.

“It's just a little too convenient that you just 'happened' to be the 'last surviving member of your race,' isn't it? If everyone else died, why did you survive? Is that why you were so anxious for nopony to recognize you? I bet you're not even a prince at all! I bet you were responsible for all their deaths, weren't you!? In fact, why don't you just leave, before you do the same thing to us!”

“Twilight!” Fluttershy exclaimed.

Memories flooded back to Valiant: his friends, lying on the ground; his father, bleeding and dying... and his brother, standing over it all with a look of glee on his face. Emotions began to well up in him again, but this time they weren't emotions of sadness... but of anger.

“You want to know what happened?!” he yelled, startling Twilight so that she stepped back a few paces. “Fine! I will tell you! I w\ent to find help! After I had flown for a few hours, I knew something was wrong, so I turned back. By the time I got back, it was too late. They were all gone, and there was NOTHING I could do to save them!”

By this point, Valiant was practically screaming. “My brother; my cowardly, thieving, scheming brother had betrayed us all! I arrived at the castle in time to see my father draw his last breath, as his own son plunged a sword through his chest! I... I couldn't save them, so I fled! I wandered for months, looking for a place to settle down, someplace where I could forget the past! I disguised myself because I am a failure; not worthy of special favors! In fact, I am not worthy of anything! Thank you, my lady, for reminding me of that! Fare-thee-well!”

Valiant burst through the doors of the bakery, soaring up into the air and rocketing south, faster than he had ever flown before. Tears streamed from his eyes as he fled, running down his cheeks and falling to the ground below.

Inside the bakery, an extremely guilty feeling unicorn suddenly felt her eyes doing the exact same thing.

There you go guys. Sorry if my horrible writing style distracted from the emotion I tried to interject into this thing. What do you guys think of this new development? Think Valiant's still hiding anything? More plot advancements in the next chapter.

Good news for me: I get fall break this week! This translates to good news for you, as I will probably post the next chapter (which is kinda short anyway) a bit early... Hmm... Let's say Thursday. Alright! It's a date! See you Thursday!