I woke up slowly, barely registering the long shadows across the dim room. The furniture was barely visible as moonlight streamed through the window, but only just enough to help me see all the furniture.
‘Good evening sleepyhead.’ Starlight called in my ear faintly.
‘Evening?’ I asked, confusion setting in, ‘Why hasn’t Celestia made it sunrise yet?’
‘Because the princesses only just set the sun an hour ago. It’s the start of the night Dawn.’
‘Guess I was more tired than I thought.’ I replied as I stepped down off the bed sluggishly, taking some time to stretch my stiff limbs.
‘Don’t push yourself too hard. We probably haven’t gained much of any magic strength back.’
‘I won’t. It won’t kill me to not use magic after all. I’m just feeling a little hungry.’
Stepping out of my room, I headed down the hall toward the kitchen, hoping to assemble a small meal to tide me over until breakfast. Halfway there, a familiar voice called out from behind.
“Dawn? What are you doing at this hour?”
“Stalwart?” I turned around surprised. He stood a good ten paces or so away and seemed as surprised as I was. “Hey! I kinda wore myself out earlier today, and I was sneaking over to the kitchen to get a snack.”
“Ohhhh,” he patrolled on, continuing his walk until he posed in front of me, a mischievous smirk appearing on his face, “so you admit to intent to steal from the royal kitchen!”
“Now wait just a minute!” I protested, taking a step back. I looked between his eyes as I wondered if he was pulling my leg, or if I was actually in trouble.
“I hereby sentence you, as a royal guard pony, to walk with me for the rest of my shift for your crime! Now come, I’m going to be late to my next post if we don’t get moving!”
I laughed as I realized he was joking around, and I changed my path to match his and play along.
“So what were you up to that wore you out so much?” he asked as we rounded the corner and slowed down to a more leisurely stroll.
“Well, Silver wanted to get some more practice for his fighting, and so we met just outside the hedge maze and sparred a little bit.” I replied, feeling nervous once again. I wasn’t sure if it was appropriate to mention Silver’s demonstration this week or not, and the results of that fight still made me cringe. “The problem was… in the middle of our fight I pushed a little too hard, and somehow accidentally shot a laser at Silver.”
“Wait, that was you?!” Stalwart exclaimed, his face showed his surprise readily.
“I… well… yeah.” I mumbled, feeling thoroughly embarrassed as my gaze drifted to the carpeting.
“Well, so much for the rumor about an invader trying to make an attack on the palace.” He started to chuckle and look ahead thoughtfully. “The groundsponies were not very happy about it.”
“Don’t go to hedge maze anytime soon, got it.” I nodded, giving him a smirk.
“You’re up to two strikes in one day.” He smirked. “I wonder how we’ll correct this clearly evil pony I’ve caught.”
“Clearly, you should show mercy on the poor soul, as she has so graciously cooperated so far. She might even be grateful.” I replied, holding back the desire to chuckle at just how strange this conversation had gotten.
“Oh really?” he replied with a mock sinister smirk, looking along my entire body suggestively before looking ahead again.
“Not with that face you’re making though. It’d almost be enough to make a girl feel uncomfortable!”
He laughed as we walked down the halls together, heading toward a flight of stairs.
“You know, I don’t think I’ve asked this of you yet.” I started to chime as I realized he was wearing his armor like the other guards, “Why did you join the guard?”
“Oh? So what made you think of asking now?” He asked intrigued.
“Well, I saw your armor, and I guess it only just sunk in that you really were part of the guard. I know that those that joined the military had a lot of different reasons, so I thought I’d just ask you rather than assume.”
“Not much to tell really.” He replied casually as we walked up the stairwell. “My father was a Captain of the Guard, just as his father was. I wanted to keep that going, make my family proud. Ever since the changeling invasion, we’ve been trying to stay in touch more than ever. It worries my parents if they don’t hear from me each week anymore.”
“I see,” I replied solemnly as I heard him give a deep sigh, “So family means a lot to you, huh?”
“Well yeah, doesn’t it for you too?”
“Not as much as I thought it would… but what can you do but move on right?”
He shook his head, letting out a small snort, “I still think it’s stupid, letting you freeze just for being a unicorn. I can’t imagine spending a Hearth’s Warming Eve without spending the night by a warm fire with them.”
I felt my heart shrink back a little at his reply and looked down at the floor. It seemed as if he didn’t quite understand what I was really separated for, but as I looked back to his face, I realized that maybe that detail didn’t matter. He understood the real problem wasn’t why I was separated, but that I was separated in the first place.
“Hey Stalwart?” I asked quietly, thinking about that concept for a minute, “What’s your family like? How would you celebrate… what was that again?”
“You haven’t heard of Hearth’s Warming Eve? That’s a surprise.” He shook his head. “Well, each year, we take some of our plants inside and decorate their pots, we place one present down for each pot, and then we each tell a story before we’re allowed to open the presents. Pretty simple, but it’s our tradition. You see, my little sister always had to make up a story…”
I listened as he started to recount all kinds of details about his past Hearth’s Warming Eves. It became very clear he valued strong ties with all of his family. His little sister being timid and enjoying her little pets she kept taking care of, often little birds. His mother who enjoyed knitting but was really good with numbers. His father he looked up to very much, trying to retell his old war stories, including doing impressions of his father’s impressions that simply left me laughing.
His stories were nice, and made wistful feelings float by, but a couple hours had passed and we paused in what looked like a smaller refreshments room. Small snacks were in bowls on a counter and a faucet with cups nearby for water. Stalwart walked up to the snack bowls and grabbed one with his hoof deftly, offering some to me.
“No thanks, I’m not hungry, I’m more tired than anything now.”
“Well, that’s why we have these around. You sure you don’t want any?” he asked concerned.
“I’m sure.” I said, holding back a yawn. My hoof still rose to in front of my mouth out of habit, then I saw Stalwart’s brow rise along with his little smirk. “I’ll just eat a big breakfast tomorrow.”
“Sounds like somepony needs to get back to bed.”
“But I thought I was sentenced to the rest of your patrol duty to walk with you.” I joked in reply.
“I’m lightening your sentence on the grounds of good behavior. But don’t let me catch you trying to steal anything from our larder again, missie.”
“Missie huh?” I laughed, turning to head out the door, looking back at him with a smirk, “I think I’ll focus on the key words ‘catch you’ for now. Though I’ll clearly have to make it so it’s only a certain somepony that catches me at all… hmm.”
I listened to his laughter as I walked back toward my room, ignoring my rumbling stomach as I enjoyed our verbal sparring. As much as I was hungry, I kept having far too much fun going back and forth like this to want it to stop, and now sleep was a higher priority.
As I walked into my room, I thought about all the things we talked about, realizing just how different everything was, even the holidays. It didn’t feel like it was a bad thing, and my thoughts drifted to what it’d be like to be a part of Stalwart’s family during those celebrations.
I smirked and shook my head as I realized I walked into my room on auto-pilot. My bed was calling my name and just as soon as I climbed into bed and laid down, I felt my body being shaken.
“Dawwwwwwn.” Stalwart’s voice echoed.
“Five more minutes…” I grumbled
“Daaaaaaawn.” His voice called out again, with another voice’s snickering tickling my ear soon after.
I groaned and rolled over away from him, only to feel water trickling onto my neck!
“What the-” I squirmed, starting to sit up sleepily. The room was quite bright and Stalwart was standing by my bed, one hoof on the mattress, a glass of water in the other. “Stalwart, what’s the big id-”
“You have been sleeping all night and most of the day.” Stalwart said sternly, turning his gaze to my other small light blue visitor to my room. “School let out and this colt said he had an urgent message for you.”
“I didn’t say it was urgent…” The little colt shuffled at his feet, a wyvern necklace dangling around his neck. I stared at it intently, getting the nagging feeling it was familiar. Then it hit me this was the little boy who loved hearing some of that music of mine back at school! My mind cleared almost instantly as I jumped down off the bed, giving him my near full attention with my usual smile.
“I’m sure it is, if you wanted to deliver your letter yourself! You can do it.” Stalwart replied encouragingly.
“I, uhm, I wanted you to have this…” He said, holding out a letter toward me.
“Thank you!” I said, getting down off the bed and accepting the letter with my hoof, only to feel it start to slide. Quickly, I used my magic to catch the letter.
“To Meadow Dawn, from Glint” I read out loud from the cover of the letter, written in colorful childish handwriting. I couldn’t help but give him a smile as I opened the letter carefully and continued to read “Our school is doing a play. Can you come? I have two tickets for you.”
I looked away from the letter and saw Glint shuffling his hooves on the ground. Inside the envelope, there were two tickets, one saying ‘Admittance to play: Meadow Dawn’ with the other saying ‘Admittance to play: Dawn’s special somepony.’
“I’d be happy to come, when is it?” I replied, failing to hold back a small smile on my face as I wondered just how much of a couple we really looked like to others, or if this was a case of him not thinking I'd only have friends.
“We’re starting after lunch this Thursday.” Glint said, his eyes appearing to shine excitedly as he started to move around the room. “Who are ya’ bringing?”
“Well,” I paused giving Stalwart a smirk and a nudge with my elbow, “if I can, I’d love to bring this stallion right here.”
“Oh! Is he your special somepony?” He asked, looking up at Stalwart with awe.
“It’s more complicated than that,’ I chuckled, looking over to Stalwart with a gentle smile, ‘but he’s good enough for the part!”
“Well this is… sudden.” He hesitated uncharacteristically. I looked at him puzzled, not feeling sure why he didn’t play along like we had last night. He soon gave a smile to Glint, “I’m not doing anything that day, so sure, I accept!”
“YAY!” Glint yelled loudly in our room, dancing and hopping in place spontaneously, “See you then!”
We barely got the chance to react before he dashed outside, before poking his head back in to wave goodbye then ran off again.
I burst out laughing at his antics, never imagining the shy child I had known him to be had grown so confident.
“So, I’m your special somepony?” Stalwart asked, “When exactly did that change from your wanting to take it slow?”
“Well, it hasn’t changed just yet,” I smiled, still thinking of the colt’s reaction. “But really, you’re the one I know best, Silver’s going to be too busy this week, and I don’t want to go alone. Besides, you’ve been a good friend so far, and I enjoy spending time with you. Why, having second thoughts?”
Stalwart chuckled, “Not at all. I dare say I might even enjoy this break from routine this week.”
“Oh? A break from patrolling the corridors and protecting it from would-be robbers and spies? Whatever made that happen!”
“I’m sorry, that’s classified information, for my special somepony only.” He smirked as he accepted his ticket, tucking it into his armor and started walking toward the door.
“Now wait a minute!” I called out to him, feeling surprised at his reaction, “You never mentioned something about having a special somepony before!”
He gave me a knowing wink before walking out of the room, leaving me to wonder if he was still playing along or if he was actually being serious.
------
In spite of trying to keep myself available for Silver to spar against, my magic didn’t quite recover until late Wednesday, and Silver didn’t reach me at all by Thursday. I couldn’t help but feel antsy and even a bit bored as Stalwart, despite saying he had a break from his routine, was nowhere to be found. It wasn’t until Thursday at lunch that I managed to spot him. I was eating my food when he brought his tray and set it down at my table.
“Hi stranger!” He called to me as he sat down, much as I often had.
“Stalwart! What in the world has had you so busy lately!”
“I can’t talk about it yet, but I’ve been busy all week so far. Today, I get to rest up! Good thing that play is set for today huh?”
“Yeah, it’s a good thing all right! I checked in with the school yesterday, looks like the play is happening about an hour from now!”
“Good, just enough time to eat and then be on our way isn’t it?”
I laughed and made idle chat about what things their play could be about before we made our way to the school.
Lemon bloom was one of the teachers in the halls, guiding the guests to the auditorium. I made sure to give her a smile and nod as we walked along to the seating area.
“You know,” I started to mention to Stalwart quietly as the murmur of the audience went on around us, “I used to hate performing in these plays.”
“Don’t worry, everypony does.” He laughed quietly, “But the parents love it.”
“True…” I said, started to think about parents. It occurred to me that my parents really did enjoy seeing us perform or sing along for those plays, but that led me to an obvious question, “You don’t suppose Glint’s parents are here do you?”
“Well, I’d like to think they are, but it’s possible they’re not. Orphans aren’t common in Equestria, but it looks like they only let two ponies in for each student…”
Stalwart’s voice grew quiet as the curtains were drawn to dim the room. I watched as they closed them by magic, only to draw open the stage curtains and show the play. Much to my surprise, Glint was up front, speaking out as the narrator for the story, before darting to the backstage and getting a costume on to join as a backup role.
I had to admit, I was thoroughly impressed, landing not just one but two roles in the play was something I would not have expected in this shy little pony. I smiled and watched on as they performed their rendition of what they thought happened after the founding of Equestria.
As they performed, I had to wonder about what Stalwart said, that maybe he really didn’t have parents right now, and that’s why he had a hard time fitting in at first and the teachers were concerned about him. It made me all the more impressed and happy with his performance in the play, and I found myself enjoying the simple dialogue they were putting so much effort toward. The smiles on their faces as they went along, even if it wasn’t what their characters should be doing was likely, made it seem more than worthwhile to me.
Glint seemed like he was enjoying himself immensely. It was clear that it was hard work, but he did well despite being the center of most pony’s attention. I felt quite proud of him and cheered the performers on with everyone when he was finished.
All too soon, the play ended, making me forget despite the occasional forgotten line that it was a child’s play and I clapped enthusiastically like the rest of the audience and they quickly went down off the stage to visit their audience as the socializing began.
Glint rushed up to me as soon as he was able, a grin evident on his face. I had to hold back laughter as I saw him still bursting with so much energy.
“Well done there little guy!” I replied almost as eagerly, giving him a hug before rubbing my hoof on his head like a noogie.
“Thanks!” he half-yelled eagerly. Glint reached up to his necklace and held it up, “This charm worked just like you said! I practiced and practiced and practiced, and it was scary, but I did it!”
“Yes you did! I’m very proud of you Glint.” I smiled.
“You did good colt.” Stalwart smirked.
“Noooo, I believe the word you’re looking for is ‘awesome!’ Now say it with me Stalwart,” I smiled mischievously, “You did awesome.”
“You did good.” Stalwart repeated, looking like he was struggling to hold back laughter.
“Don’t worry,” I nudged Glint, “I’ll get him to say it later.”
“Well don’t forget to drop by more often! I miss seein’ ya!” Glint replied.
“I know. You did really well up there, you just might make me need to come back just to see you act more.” I winked.
“Yeah, I had fun.” He said, starting to settle down. “I wish I could keep doing that more!”
I started to reply about how he could, when I was blinded by a light coming from Glint. I raised my limb reflexively and turned away until the light passed. Much to my surprise, Glint now had a cutie mark on his flank, showing an outline of a face on a curved box that I could only imagine was supposed to be a stage.
“Well would you look at that!” Stalwart said encouragingly to Glint, “Congratulations.”
Others started to crowd around him and admired the mark, congratulating him.
“Uhm, Stalwart, what’s going on?” I asked him quietly.
“What, you don’t know?”
“If I knew, I wouldn’t ask…”
“Wait, you mean you-” Stalwart started to ask concerned before Glint came back to us, looking at me expectantly.
“So, are you coming?”
“Coming to what again? I must have missed it.” I asked, feeling a bit bashful I didn’t pay more attention to him when it was clearly a big deal to everyone else.
“My cuteseanera of course!”
“I uhm, sure! When is it?” I replied quickly. I couldn’t help but wonder what in the world I just heard, let alone what it meant.
“Well, I wanna have it tomorrow, but it’s probably gonna be over the weekend!”
“I don’t have any plans that I know of on the weekend, so yeah, I’ll come! Where do you want me to be and when?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll pick you up!” he said before showing off his mark innocently to the rest of his classmates.
I smirked and turned toward the exit, Stalwart coming with. As we headed toward the school’s front entrance and to the castle, I couldn’t help but wonder what I heard, or why it was so significant he got his mark if everyone got one.
“So Stalwart… you were about to ask something in the school?”
“Yeah.” He said, hesitating as we walked the streets of Canterlot. “You… don’t know what a cuteseanera is at all?”
“No… should I?” I asked, feeling a little nervous.
“Well, that’s… wow.” He replied, sounding stunned. “I knew you were sheltered, but… I thought everypony knew.”
“Well, I’d know if you told me.” I offered before smirking, “It’d be terribly rude of me if I’m supposed to bring presents or dress up and I don’t know to do that!”
“No, nothing like that!” He chuckled lightly as we started to continue our way up the hill. “It’s just that a cuteseanera is a big thing for a lot of families. It’s a celebration of somepony getting their cutie mark, and who they are. It only ever happens once in a pony’s life, may as well celebrate it, you know?”
“I guess.” I said quietly, thinking about the point in my life when I would have gotten mine. If it had to do with hope, and the moment I realized it was the core of my being, then it’d have to be one specific event. The parking lot and the discussion with the pastor as I confessed how hard it was to find work the last year, living out of my car. It was a strange night, but it brought me some solace to know that in spite of all my hardship, I could still hope for something better. He told me how I ‘ran on hope’ and that phrase struck a chord in me.
“So… when did you get yours that you didn’t get a cuteseanera of your own?” Stalwart asked gently as we resumed our walking.
“About a couple years back I think.”
“You think?”
“I wasn’t looking at the time, and I had bigger things on my mind.” I replied quietly.
“I can imagine. You haven’t exactly had it easy.”
“Yeah,” I replied, thinking about home, and how silver was adjusting as we walked into the palace grounds. Just then, I remembered silver’s demonstration again, and started to offer, “You going to be up to anything tomorrow?”
“Yeah, I-”
“Oi, Stalwart, good luck with tomorrow!” A voice called in our direction.
“Thanks! You all comin’?” He called out. I followed his gaze to spot his friends once more, Stang and Sable and the rest, wondering what he was referring to.
“Wouldn’t miss it! Show him what earth ponies are made of! Gonna sit with us tomorrow Ms. Dawn? We’ll save a seat for you just in case!”
I looked at them quizzically and Stalwart laughed as they went on their way. He eventually turned to see why I wasn’t answering.
“What, you didn’t hear? Silver’s going to be showing off his karate tomorrow to some of the guard. I’m one of the ponies they picked to show what we’re made of.”
I stopped and stood still, caught by surprise. The pony I was starting to get to know, really enjoying and thinking of him as becoming a close friend, about to fight off the only other human I know in Equestria. On the one hoof, I wanted to cheer on Silver, but as I looked at Stalwart I started really thinking. I had no clue who it was I should be cheering for, and as I looked at his face, I started to worry about him getting hurt. I knew nothing of his abilities, and it pained me to think he’d get hurt, considering the sample I got from Silver earlier that week.
“Hey, you ok?” his voice rang through my mind, shaking me from my fears, “What’s wrong?”
“Well, I-” I hesitated, not wanting to give away my concern quite so readily, “I’m a bit surprised, that’s all!”
“You and me both! I’d been practicing like mad all this week. That play was a good idea for a break before the big day. Thanks for inviting me Dawn.” He said, reaching a hoof up to ruffle my head much like I had ruffled Glint’s.
“H-hey!” I tried to protest, moving my head from his hoof after a second and shaking it with a broad grin on my face. “I’m not a kid you know.”
“You say that but we both know you liked it.” He winked, starting to turn around and walk off down the barracks hall, “I’ll pick you up an hour before the match Dawn! Later!”
I wanted to call back to him, but my throat constricted and all I could do was noiselessly chuckle and turned to go to my room. My stomach rumbled, and I suddenly realized I stood a decent chance at getting a late dinner.
I barely registered what it was I ate or how long it was before I found myself back in my room. My mind had been consumed by thinking about the demonstration and the fears it spawned for both Stalwart and Silver. I tried not to worry, I kept telling myself about how Silver had his law enforcement training to go on, and Stalwart had been in the military for some time. Surely they were prepared and could take a blow or two.
Despite my worries, I slept peacefully that night, until the door knocked abruptly. Suddenly alert, I sat upright and looked toward it and tried not to panic.
“Morning Dawn!” Stalwart’s voice came before the door started to open and he came inside. “Oh hey, you’re actually awake!”
“Yeah,” I said quietly, realizing my heart tried to jump out of my chest for no reason, “I was a bit surprised there.”
“Sorry about that.” He apologized, looking at me with a look of concern. “You all right?”
“As all right as I can be. Worried about you both, but not much I can do about it. You ready?”
“Absolutely, mind joining me for breakfast until we have to go?”
“Sure, why not?” I nodded, the familiar clop of hoof on stone echoing in the room as I started to trot over to the door where he stood.
“You said you were worried, what about?” Stalwart asked as we headed over to the kitchens.
“Well,” I took a breath and tried to shrug. “I just don’t want to see you hurt, you know? It’s one thing to have a sparring match where you try to learn from each other, but-”
“But you don’t want us to go all out.” He said, opening the door for me. “I understand. Still, I don’t think you have too much to worry about. Medical ponies have been preparing for this all week, and I was a little surprised that Luna picked me for the Earth Guard.”
“Oh? Are you not one of the best available?” I asked as I gathered our food onto the trays with my magic and then did my best to carry both our trays with magic over to the nearest available table.
“Careful! You aren’t-” Stalwart’s voice echoed behind me as he suddenly grew quiet. I barely managed to set the one tray down, but I lost my grip on the other as soon as I tried to set the one down. I cringed, expecting a crash or clatter, but there was none.
“That… wash too closhe.” Stalwart said through gritted teeth.
I turned to face him and he had his head barely below my chest, gripping his tray in his teeth like he usually does, and he deftly maneuvered it to his spot nearby.
“Sorry… and thanks.”
“Just, try not to overestimate yourself too often ok?” He smirked, starting to eat very deliberately and slowly.
“So, why would you be picked then?” I prompted, noticing my hunger, and let myself wolf down what I enjoyed most.
“Well, Luna told me about the demonstration idea she had because of her dinner with you two, and she said since we knew each other, and I was above average but not among the best yet, I should be representing the earth pony guard.”
“Wait, she picked you because of your proximity to me?” I asked surprised and a bit concerned. It felt strange to allow for someone to be picked just because of their relationship. I tried to think back, and couldn’t remember whether Luna told us if she wanted to pick the best, or only some better examples that the guard had to offer.
“No, not quite. She said it was close between me and a rival of mine, but I edged out because I knew you, and she knew you would enjoy watching us both.”
I turned my attention to my food, but for the life of me I couldn’t get an appetite. I tried to keep eating because I knew I needed to, but the rest of my food started to taste less and less appealing.
“Don’t worry. We’re gonna be fine Dawn.” He said comfortingly, pulling my eyes back from my food to him. “Silver wouldn’t have been picked for this if he couldn’t take a few blows, and neither would I. Have a little trust, eh?”
I gave him a smile, trying to trust him. He was right after all. I played at swordfighting, knowing full well that I would run the risk of being hit in the head, damaging my glasses or a variety of other things. Putting things in that perspective made me take a breath and finally relax. What would happen would happen, and no amount of worrying would prevent it.
“There you go, that’s the Dawn I know.” He smiled appreciatively, “So then, think you’ll sit over by my friends today, or would you rather sit over by Sky Flare and her family?”
“Sky Flare? Who’s that?” I asked, wondering why in the world I would sit with a stranger’s family.
“The pony Silver’s been training all this time. Remember?” Stalwart replied with a raised brow.
“Oh, right.” I replied, half closing my eyes and smiling back at him. I hated when people asked me if I remembered things and I didn’t. It happened often and was yet another thing I neglected to memorize. “I think I’ll sit over by your end, if that’s all right.”
“That’s more than all right by my book!” He said with a broad smile. “Come on, we’re going to be late at this rate.”
I chuckled and followed him toward the appointed room. I didn’t know where we were headed, but I trusted Stalwart to guide me through the palace either way. It didn’t take long to notice a couple other guard ponies walking nearby, quickly passing them, chattering about the upcoming fight.
Butterflies started to sneak their way into the pit of my stomach as I wondered once again about the fight ahead. I found myself moving close to Stalwart to keep him in my line of vision more easily so I could focus on my anticipations of what could happen in the match, and hoped once again no one would be seriously injured.
I heard a chuckle nearby and the brush of Stalwart’s fur against my own, and I didn’t shy away from it. I was starting to really feel out of my element. I preferred smaller groups where each person can be noticed, not being part of a throng of masses. The hallways started to become more crowded with ponies chatting about the upcoming performance as we got closer to our destination.
I finally looked up and noticed nearly all of the ponies turning left at a pair of guards standing at the junction. Stalwart nudged my side and pointed toward the squad of friends, who were chatting among themselves.
“Hey, look, there they are. I got to get to the fighter’s area here or they’ll pull in my replacement. Have fun while you’re here, ok?”
“I’ll try. Stay safe, would you?” I asked him quietly as I tried to suppress my nerves, then nervously reached up to give him a kiss on the cheek. “For luck.”
He blushed briefly, but carried a broad smile and started to turn away as a slightly familiar voice came up to my side.
“Just friends eh? Wish I had friends who did that for me when I go out to fight.”
“You would if you didn’t keep chasing them away with your singing.”
I turned to these voices and saw Sable and Boer, and couldn’t help but smile at the familiarity of their taunts, not to mention Boer’s grounded nature. It would be a relief to at least be with those that Stalwart trusted and I had met before.
“Oh hey, ‘sup Guys?” I replied casually, attempting to ignore the jibes they threw amongst each other. If they did that with everyone, it only made sense not to take it seriously.
“Nothing, just watching Stalwart finally getting somepony of his own.” Sable winked.
“They said they were just friends as I recall,” Stang shook his neck, smirking at me, “which means there’s a chance she could enjoy a more direct stallion instead.”
I laughed, feeling almost at home already. It still embarrassed me slightly to be the center of attention once again, but it would be wrong of me to blame them or be embarrassed. I did choose to kiss stalwart for luck in view of his friends, though in hindsight, I wondered what in the world I was thinking.
“Listed friends and family of the competitors, please come to the front of the group, we are about to open the doors!” Someone called out loudly enough to be heard.
“That’s our cue!” Sable said excitedly. “How far do you think Silver’s gonna make it Petiso? Maybe making it past the one on ones?”
“I’m not sure.” Petiso replied simply.
“I doubt he stands a chance against Stalwart. Even if he could, I doubt he’d win when that stuck up little colt of a unicorn comes along.” Boer chuckled deeply, making my own chest rumble by our proximity.
“What about you Altai?” Sable pressed, clearly eager even in his posture to hear her opinion.
“I lack sufficient information.” She said quietly, in her matter-of-fact tone.
I chuckled. It felt good to have a happy group around, if nothing else because their easy-going nature was contagious. I looked around to see what other ponies are going to get in first, only to spot Breezy and Lemon Bloom! I started to head to them to say hi, when I noticed the reddish orange Pegasus with a red mane and tail glaring at us.
"Don't bet on that! There's no way Silver's going to lose to an Earth Pony, or even one of your Unicorn pals." She yelled out.
I looked at her startled. Yet when I watched, she quickly turned her head back to the door and flicked her tail, proceeding to ignore our group.
“We’ll see about that Sky Flare.” Sable chuckled quietly.
“Don’t worry Dawn, Stalwart’ll give Silver a good run for her bits, that’s for sure.” Stang added
“What’dya mean?” I asked before a loud voice started to bellow.
“Spectators may now find their way to their seats! The tournament will begin shortly!”
With that, he opened the doors and stepped inside. Everyone started to flow in to the sizable room. As we walked, the coolness of the unpacked sand felt wonderful under my hooves and I stared in open amazement at how such a large room could be contained in the castle. We crossed over to the section of the stands behind Stalwart and the two ponies with him, climbing the tiered layers of stone to get to the nearby seats.
Stalwart’s friends rushed to claim some of those seats, but the pegasus’ friends seemed to get there first, crowding a great deal of the space. Sable quickly reserved most of the seats to their side, presumably so that he could come visit them on his down time.
I quickly trotted to join him, wanting a front row seat for the same reason. Stalwart watched for me the whole time I approached, and gave a smile. I smiled broadly back, trying to show him that I trusted what he said earlier, and even starting to believe it. This event seemed to have the promise of good entertainment if I was willing to stop worrying!
“Awww, would you look at those two.” Sable’s voice said loudly enough for Stalwart and myself to hear.
I laughed, trying to take it in stride, but the embarrassment of the tease started to overwhelm my attempts to suppress. I closed my eyes and shook my head, grooves cool stone tickling my hoof as I shuffled my hooves idly to give myself some kind of distraction.
“Aye, she’s smitten alright.” Boer said, his voice seeming to rumble through my spine at this rate.
‘Told ya.’ Starlight’s voice chimed in.
‘Not you too!’ I mentally called back, then I perked my head up and tried to focus on his voice, tilting my head slightly like I used to with my phone back home. ‘Where’ve you been!’
‘Still recovering. I take longer than you since I don’t have a body, and I rely on your own recovery.’ He replied simply, ‘I also know that sometimes, you just want to be alone, and I want to respect that… though I hope you don’t mind me dropping by when others do unless you ask for me.’
‘I really appreciate that, thank you. I’m glad you’re recovering.’ I replied, turning my attention now to the empty arena, Silver appearing to converse with that pony who called us out for doubting him.
Now that Starlight was back, it was more apparent he was very excited at the prospects of this event. His excitement had been bleeding over to me, and I couldn’t help but wonder if I would have been feeling differently if we were separate. Even so, I was glad to have him nearby. I hadn’t realized it until he made his presence known, but I was worried about him.
My attention shifted quickly as I noticed all four of the combatants heading into the middle and the crowd seemed to grow quieter as the four of them met. The anticipation was acting like a rubber band across my chest as I tried to keep calm for when it would continue.
‘This is going to be great!’ Starlight said before cheering with the rest, not caring if he was heard or not.
"Fillies and Gentlecolts," Luna called, almost making my heart jump out of my chest at its sudden volume despite the lack of a microphone, "We will now begin the tournament! It will consist of seven rounds! To begin, we will witness a series of three one on one bouts! Should Silver Wing come out victorious, he will then face two opponents at once in three more bouts! If he has still not fallen by then, he will face all three of his opponents at once!"
“Yeah, you get em Stalwart!” Sable yelled next to me while the crowd roared.
“Show em what an Earth Pony can do!” Boer yelled out, more animated than I would have imagined him ever being, causing my ears to go flat against my head to protect my sense of hearing.
‘Come on Silver, show em what a human can do!’ Starlight yelled in response.
All of the contestants walked back to their respective areas, Stalwart walking straight toward me. I smiled gently, some worry coming back, but some confidence in him starting to come through, albeit with Starlight’s help because of his trust of Stalwart.
Stalwart winked and smiled back as the announcement from Luna rang again.
"Round one will be between Silver Wing and Stalwart Shield!"
“Well, here I go guys.” Stalwart said as the crowd cut him off.
Encouragement rang out from all sides, nearly deafening me as I watched him head out to the middle of the ring where Silver stood. I watched, somewhat amazed at the dexterity needed as they both stood up on their hind legs. Silver made an impressive sight, wings flared out behind him and Stalwart facing him with his slightly bigger frame. I was tempted to play some fighting music from one of my games, but it was difficult to think of one in the middle of all of the ruckus.
“Begin!” Luna’s voice rang through the stadium, and then there was silence.
My heart started to pound in my chest as the two of them seemed to stay still, and then watched a sudden series of movements from both of them. Stalwart gave a yell and approached Silver, only to have silver do something, and Stalwart moved in response.
I’d be lying if I said I really understood what was going on, but neither of them seemed to be hurting each other, even with one point where Silver seemed to stagger backward and his wings flared out more than they already were! I started to feel myself pick up on the excitement of those around me, some of the calling and cheering picking back up again.
I gasped when I saw Silver elbow Stalwart in the back of the head, staggering him to his knees. I looked over to Stalwart’s friends, worried for him, but then they started cheering again! I looked back only to see Stalwart still fighting, going at it with a lot more energy than I would have expected. Worry started to seep back in as I wondered if they were going to seriously injure each other at this rate.
I watched as Silver slid backward along the sand, dashed at Stalwart, who dropped down onto all fours and Silver suddenly stopped his onslaught.
"Round one goes to Silver Wing!" Luna’s voice came across the room.
The crowd yelled out and the seats themselves rumbled as I watched everyone around me stomp their front legs into the ground. It was almost unsettling how the seats rumbled and I tried to ignore the unsettling feeling of a minor earthquake as I watched Stalwart slowly trot back to us.
‘Yeah! Go Silver! That’s what I’m talkin’ about!’ Starlight half yelled in my head. I winced in response, wondering if there was ever a point I was that vocal.
‘How can you even see anything if you’re not here anyway!’
‘Really? You pick now to ask? I use your horn and your senses as I always had.’ He replied annoyed.
"There will be a five-minute break before the next match!" Luna called, "Medical ponies, please see that Stalwart Shield is able to continue in the next set!"
I wanted to ask Starlight more, but he was right, this wasn’t the best time or place. I kept my eyes locked on Stalwart, looking him over to see if he was noticeably injured, but I didn’t see anything, even a bruise.
‘He’s fine Dawn, you’ve got a tough boyfriend there.’ Starlight teased.
‘Come on, he’s not my boyfriend!’
‘Yet.’ Starlight added before Stalwart got within talking distance
“I guess I shouldn’t have tried to take him on his own terms huh?” Stalwart asked, a smirk apparent on his face.
“Always next time.” Stang chimed just before the medical ponies tried to tend to Stalwart.
“I’m fine, really.” He said sitting down and taking the glass of water offered from the light blue nurses.
“If you say so, doesn’t seem like anything’s broken.” The male nurse said as he poked at the place Silver last hit.
“Believe me, I’ll tell you if anything is.” Stalwart said, waving them off. The male took the glass and walked off to refill it. The other nurse looked at Stalwart for a little while longer then followed suit.
“Gonna go with the shield yet?” Boer asked.
“Aye, I may have to. He’s good.” Stalwart nodded, turning to look back at me and giving a smile before turning to the center ring
‘Of course he’s good. We’ve been fighting for millennia, you think we wouldn’t be good at fighting?’ Starlight protested with a proud voice.
‘I’m not sure that’s a bragging point Star.’
‘It is what it is,’ He replied, a shrug apparent in his tone, ‘it’s not like we’re the ones doing the fighting right now anyway. Recognize your heritage and move on. After all, mom’s parents are from Italy and Germany, doesn’t mean that we’re-‘
“Round two will be between Silver Wing and Skyros!" Luna called, causing a cheer from the pegasi in the room and a break in our discussion while the dark Pegasus flapped his wings once and appeared to glide over to the middle of the ring.
I shook my head in disbelief and took a second look at him, just now noticing a proper sword was in his mouth. It wasn’t wooden like I had practiced with Silver before, being metal instead. It didn’t reflect light well, so I could only imagine it was not sharp, but I looked between it and Silver and had to wonder how in the world he expected to get out of it unscathed.
I missed the signal to start the fight as the Pegasus dashed straight at Silver and he seemed to slide in response, avoiding the blow. I strained to watch in the far end of the arena, only to see him up on the ceiling!
In almost no time at all, they both were moving quickly at each other to the point I couldn’t follow. Suddenly there was a crash and a spray of sand that happened on the right side of the arena, and after a few seconds, I saw the dark Pegasus on the ground, silver still floating in the air with an occasional flap of his wings.
The stunned silence was deafening until almost all at once the crowd roared its approval, clearly impressed with the performance. I couldn’t hear anything being said at all until finally, with much relief for my poor ears, the sound abated.
“Round two also goes to Silver Wing! We will take another five minute reprieve at this time!"
“Ouch,” Stalwart said, wincing, “Silver’s karate even works in the air. Doesn’t look good.”
“You’ll get em next time Stalwart!” Stang chimed in.
“Don’t give up before the fight is half over Shield.” Boer added.
“I calculate your odds of success at the next round at approximately 11 percent.” Altai added cooly.
“Oh come on Altai, your calculations rarely work for this kind of thing!” Sable protested.
Stalwart and I started to chuckle as they bickered about what chances he had against Silver depending on the partner he had.
“What do you think Dawn, how well do you think I’ll fare?” He asked, giving me his near full attention.
“Well, I think-” I started to answer, when we were interrupted by the next announcement.
"Round three will be between Silver Wing and Malican! Let us see how well magic competes with such an unusual fighting style!" She announced,
“You think what?” Stalwart asked as he watched the white unicorn with red hair stride to the middle casually.
“Well,” I paused, thinking about it. I didn’t know how he fought, but I knew he wouldn’t be able to handle everyone, “I think you could definitely win with all three of you, but if it was just you and somepony else…”
“Don’t think I could win against him even with help?” He asked, a mischevious twinkle in his eye.
“Well, no, that’s not,” I paused, flustered and looking around bashfully, “I think you could get it done if you were able to keep him on the ground… maybe with the pegasus’ help?”
Stalwart looked back thoughtfully, “That’s not a bad idea…”
“Begin!” Luna’s voice rang out, causing us to remember the match was still going on.
I stared as suddenly the sword floated darkly just above his head and pointed straight at Silver. It looked menacing, to see it snap in place and hang there, ready to strike.
“H-he’s not planning to stab Silver is he?!” I asked Stalwart quickly
Stalwart stayed quiet, his eyes focused on the match as I tried my hardest not to get out of my seat.
‘To be fair, almost anything could be a lance if-’ Starlight started to speak before the sudden movement caught our attention.
Silver had leapt back, only barely missing the sword, which had stopped at where he was.
“He’s… playing with Silver?” I asked concerned.
“I’m not surprised.” Stalwart replied with narrowed eyes. “Malican has a reputation for beating anypony other than another unicorns quickly, and even then-”
We both paused as the dance really began. Silver sidestepped another stab and started to bring his limbs up to block swing after swing. No matter what happened, the sword moved around his limbs to hover just short of hitting him.
“Why isn’t the match over? Mal has shown he would have hit Silver a couple times already…” I asked.
“Because Malican is a showoff, and enjoys showing his superiority at every chance he gets. I don’t know how he’s even lasted in the guard with that attitude.” Stalwart said simply, continuing to watch as the crowd cheered Silver on, then sat up in surprise.
I looked over to the two of them, only to see Silver had gotten the handle in his mouth and had it clamped down hard, his stance getting lower and lower to the ground, resisting being dragged back toward his opponent
‘Yeah Silver! That’s what we’re talkin' about!’ Starlight echoed as similar cheers came from all Stalwart’s friends other than Altai, who remained quiet.
‘What happened! What’d I miss?’
‘Silver bit down on the handle and won’t let go, and Malican isn’t doing anything about it other than try to yank it back!’
“And that,” Stalwart added with uncanny timing, “is why he hasn’t advanced. One of his weaknesses is that he does not move or do anything with his body, just his magic. That in addition to not listening to his superiors more than he has to.”
“Why not?”
Stalwart shrugged, but the mood seemed to sour and I watched the fight once again. Silver suddenly let go of the sword and dashed right after it as it slung itself toward Malican. Silver flew quickly enough that as his foe finally managed to stop the sword, his knee hit Malican’s head, and they both toppled into the sand.
Much of the audience groaned at the impact as we watched, silence starting to creep over it until Silver could be seen springing upright and appearing ready for more.
"And round three goes to Silver Wing!" Luna called while the crowd roared its response, the stands rumbling once more beneath my hooves, "There will be a ten minute break before the next match is to begin!"
“Well,” Stalwart stood up and stretched, “That’s more than enough rest for me. Shame Silver has to go through so much with less time, but who’s to argue with a princess?”
I watched him as he picked up his shield and put it onto his armor. I tried to look again, but I couldn’t see how it was held in place. He then picked up a mace and put it on the other side of his armor, and turned in my direction.
“Here’s to hoping that luck will kick in about now.” He winked.
“Yeah… good luck.” I said, looking over to Silver.
The poor guy was fighting three opponents in six battles, and seemed to be doing fine, but in just a small span of time, he had rubbed his face numerous times. I couldn’t help but wonder if he would be all right, and then there was Stalwart. Looking at him, I didn’t want to see him hurt either. He had his armor on all this time, just like every other day. Even so, I couldn’t help but let my worry creep in as Starlight’s excitement pounded through me.
“50 bits on Stalwart stopping Silver here and now.” Sable said to Stang.
“Hey, that was my bet!”
I laughed and turned to face them, glad to hear some silliness and wanting to be distracted by it. Altai was shooting them a cool smirk, as if she thought differently but new better, while Petiso was rubbing his chin, as if still deciding.
It seemed like we had only just started the break, and yet Luna’s voice boomed out once more.
"Round four will pit Silver Wing against the combined abilities of Stalwart Shield and Skyros!" she called out, “Now we shall witness how well Silver Wing fares against two opponents at once!"
“Good luck Stalwart. Try not to get too hurt out there.” I called to him. He winked back and strode to the middle of the arena without another glance.
“See? Dawn thinks our boy’s gonna lose!” Sable chuckled. “Maybe she isn’t interested in him after all?”
“I didn’t say that!” I protested quickly.
“No, no Sable, you have it backwards!” Stang replied as if to soothe things over, “She doesn’t want to see him hurt, right?” I nodded in reply and he smirked, “She doesn’t want him hurt because she does like him.”
‘Yep, he’s spot on!’ Starlight smirked, ‘better watch him, he’s a real ladies man right there.’
I couldn’t manage much more than a blush between them all as I turned my attention to the arena, despite their snickering. Skyros and Stalwart both ready, Stalwart with a mace in his mouth, Skyros the Pegasus with a short spear against his chest
"Round four may now begin!"
Skyros seemed to dash straight at Silver once again, just like before. Silver flew up, immediately leaving Stalwart behind as Skyros went to follow.
“Stupid.” Petiso grunted, “He made this just like the one on one he had earlier leaving Stalwart on the ground. Should have stayed low enough where Shield could be of help!”
“Why didn’t he?” I asked quickly as they continued their aerial battle, Silver dodging a stab and getting kicked instead.
“Probably used to working with other pegasi. Took for granted Stalwart could-” He hesitated as he watched the battle.
I barely turned my head in time to see the dash by Skyros met with a sudden grab by silver and they started to plummet. I watched in horror as they fell to the ground, only just starting to flap their wings too late and they both hit with a thud.
The crowd seemed to wince and I looked on, worried about what happened to them both. Soon, Skyros stood up, hesitated, and then started to head back to his corner. Silver himself standing up and wincing as he stood up to take on Stalwart.
"And with that, Skyros is out of the match. Now it is down to Silver Wing and Stalwart Shield!"
Silver flew slowly toward Stalwart up to a small distance away and rose up once more onto his hind legs.
Stalwart, weapon at the ready, had been watching as they started to topple and without any further pretense after the announcement, he dashed at Silver. He swung and missed, while Silver counterattacked, seeming to push Stalwart upward and almost immediately lost his grip on his mace, with Silver tossing Stalwart onto his back several feet behind.
I groaned on the inside as Stalwart yelped at the blows, not wanting to hear him in pain like that. Silver dashed toward the mace and tossed it behind him as he readied himself for the next phase of the battle.
Stalwart got up quickly, only to charge right at Silver.
‘Stalwart you fool, no!’ I thought loudly.
‘Your boyfriend’s pretty clever, watch.’ Starlight replied.
Stalwart had charged Silver and just ike before, Silver tossed him and Stalwart rolled into the toss and ran after his weapon.
‘See? Don’t worry… Though Silver’s gonna win.’ he continued with an audible smirk.
Silver whipped his wings into action and dashed after him, flipping around into a movie style kick. Stalwart saw the attack coming and pushed himself at Silver, using his own built body to counter it. Silver’s kick backfired into making him land in the sand once again, while Stalwart appeared unaffected, picking up his mace and facing Silver once again.
Despite the odds that Silver was facing, I was definitely hoping for Stalwart to pull through. He made some headway and Silver’s tactics weren’t working as well any longer. The crowd had gone wild at the stunts pulled, but seemed to quiet down tremendously, some small odd cheers making its way as the gab slowly closed to a few steps away and stopped.
They stared at each other for a minute, seeming to weigh each other’s defenses and catching their breath for the next phase.
Suddenly, Stalwart rose to his back legs and started to kick his front legs at Silver, jabbing several times as Silver continued to dance in front of him. What happened next was once again too fast for me to follow until Silver somehow had Stalwart in a stranglehold, and then started to use his wings to try lifting him into the air.
I gasped and looked at Stalwart extremely concerned. I didn’t think Silver would actually try to choke someone! His opponent wasn’t a human, he had no way of knowing how much they could tolerate before risking real damage or death!
I tried my hardest not to panic, knowing there were several medical experts nearby, but my distress only heightened as he dropped his mace and Silver lifted Stalwart up as he thrashed, and after continuing a moment longer, dropped the now limp Stalwart to the ground.
"An impressive display," Luna called as the medical staff rushed toward Stalwart, "And round four goes to Silver Wing. We will take a ten minute break before the next match."
I looked at him intently, watching them check on his limp form and charging their horns every now and then until he finally was splashed with a glass of water and woke up groaning. It wasn’t much longer before he shook himself free of sand and walked over to our corner slowly.
“Guess I got my shield handed to me, huh guys?” He said sheepishly, starting to already go back to normal.
“Stalwart Shield… You…” I started to say, only to bite my words and slumped back onto my seat, not even realizing when I had left it.
“She was itching to run and help our boy.” Stang said behind me, his voice smirking.
“Barely could keep in her seat, almost leapt into the arena when you were lifted.” Sable laughed.
“Oh really?” He asked, looking at me with concern of his own.
I couldn’t meet his gaze, and looked down at the ground, feeling embarrassed enough to heat the room up several degrees. I didn’t even need Starlight to chime in either, I could sense his own feelings on the matter almost instinctively, where he too thought that I was that involved, and always had been. His excitement at watching the next match was almost comforting, and I focused on that feeling, drawing from it so I could hide from that embarrassment a little longer.
“Dawn,” Stalwart’s voice called, “I’m fine, it’s ok.”
I looked up to him and smiled sadly, still not happy about his close call. Even as the next match started, I tuned it out, not wanting to see how it would unfold. I stared at Stalwart, repeatedly looking him over to make sure that he really wasn’t hurt. The stress hit me far harder than I realized, and I did not want to see him push himself any further than he had to.
My numbness to everything else seemed to speed up time as I watched him carefully, and it had only seemed like minutes before I heard the next announcement.
“…face Stalwart Shield and Malican!”
“Wait, what?” I jumped, surprised. Stalwart already started to get up and strapped a short spear to his side before striding out to the center of the ring.
My heart sank as I watched them get ready, and barely even registered that Malican lifted four weapons into the air. I continued to watch Stalwart, trying to shake that numb feeling. No matter what happened, either Silver was going to somehow avoid being beaten by the vengeful unicorn, or if he made it through that, he and Stalwart were once again going to hurt each other more than they already had. I wanted it to stop, but I was powerless to stop it.
Stalwart rushed at Silver, unimpeded as Malican’s blades dashed along with him. Silver retreated quickly, and Stalwart and Malican both moved to chase. Stalwart tried to keep his distance, but his teammate did not.
“Malican, what are you doing!” Some of the unicorns in his corner tried to call out, much to the agreement of several nearby.
Malican continued to swing each weapon, but they were all sluggish and Stalwart hung back, unable to move in because of the frenzy that the unicorn swung at. They may have been easy to avoid, but he wouldn’t have any more desire to be hit by it than Silver.
Stalwart prepared himself as Malican tired himself out and practically allowed Silver to knock him out when he had no more magic left. Once again, Stalwart had a one on one with Silver. My heart wrenched as I shifted in my seat. Now their hurting each other was almost certain, I could only hope they held back.
Their movements were too fast for my worried mind to keep up, even as I watched it in front of me. Silver seemed to be hitting Stalwart repeatedly until he got one solid blow on his underside. They both seemed to falter, and then Stalwart fell first, quickly followed by Silver.
“This match is a draw, victory to Silver Wing for having the disadvantage!” Luna called out as I rose to my hooves. “Medical ponies, see to all of the contestants, we’re ending the match here. Well done indeed!”
There was an abrupt flash of green in front of me and I found myself on the sand of the arena floor. I looked ahead to Stalwart, surprised and glanced back to the stands several feet up. Sable stared openly as Altai rubbed her chin thoughtfully. I shook my head and looked back at Stalwart and Silver, worried about how they were doing, and unsteadily got to my hooves to rush toward them.
‘Did we really just…’ I asked Starlight quietly, knowing he knew what I meant as I slowed down to a walk as I approached the medical ponies.
‘Yeah. Didn’t you mean to?’
I shook my head no in reply, forgetting he wasn’t talking out loud already. A nurse raised a hoof and tried to block my way to him, so I stood in place to watch their progress.
'They really didn't hold back... did they Star?' I asked quietly.
'No... They really didn't. They're gonna be fine Dawn. There's several ponies here. See? Your boyfriend's getting up already.'
I ignored the jibe as I watched Stalwart shake his head groggily, struggling to his knees before staying down on the ground. The medical ponies were getting stretchers for both Silver and Stalwart. I walked toward Stalwart with the others, seeing Blue Breeze glide down toward Silver with that orange Pegasus.
"Hey. I got 'im in the end, eh?" He chuckled, wobbling slightly as he was placed on the stretcher. He winced as they hit a sore spot, and I shifted to the side, ready to walk with them once he was moving.
"You silly, stupid stallion." I barely managed to chuckle, stepping forward to stay close, looking over to Silver. He wasn’t moving, and was also being put on a stretcher, accompanied by the other three. “Come on, let’s get you some rest this time.”
He nodded and passed out on the stretcher as they lifted it off the ground, and we all walked toward the infirmary and waited outside as they started their work.