Fighter groaned as she slowly woke up to the sounds of loud beeps and the sensation of an extremely comfy bed beneath her. She slightly shifted from left to right beneath her covers until a sharp pain coursing through her body made her stiffen and let out a sharp breath of pain. After a minute or two, the pain subsided, leaving her now fully awake with a dull ache just out of reach on her back. She gave a frustrated grumble, then slowly lifted her head to see that she was in a decently sized hospital room with some machinery wired to her on the right, a large second-story window to the left, and several empty chairs across from her. Well mostly empty as she saw the curled up and snoring form of her uncle resting on multiple chairs shoved together into a makeshift nest.
Fighter winced in pain as she slowly allowed herself to lay down once again, the aftershocks of the gems spell causing her entire body to spasm and contract in pain from top to bottom. She let out a few labored breaths as she continued to search for a more comfortable way to lift herself, but thankfully she found a button on the bed frame that allowed her to raise the top half of the bed. With a better look at the room, now no longer needing to strain herself to get it, she could see a large cup of water on the sink counter next to the chairs. All of a sudden she was reminded of how thirsty she was, as her dry and sore throat cried out for nourishment. She licked her lips anxiously before looking up at her barren forehead and sighing in sad realization.
"Why couldn't I have been a unicorn?" She said while glaring at her head and flattening her ears.
With a hum of contemplation, Fighter carefully lifted her legs and tried swinging them off of the bed, but she immediately dismissed the idea when the pain proved too much for her to bear. She grumbled in frustration and looked around the room for any other solutions, quickly spotting an unattached wire hanging beside one of the powered down machines to her right. She figured that if it wasn't in use then nopony would mind if she borrowed it.
She snapped off the wire from behind the machine, rather easily if she might add signaling to her that it must have been designed that way, and proceeded to lay it down across her lap. She estimated it's length to be three and a half feet, just enough distance to reach her goal if she aimed just right. With her eyes narrowed in determination she slung back a majority of the thick wire and aimed her shot.
"Alright, one shot, one opportunity." She whispered to herself in a raspy voice as she tossed it across the room while keeping a small amount in her hooves to keep control. As it soared towards its target, time seemed to slow down to a crawl until she yanked it back at just the right time to cause the wire to snap at the end. With a quick whip she struck her uncle's flank, causing him to yelp in surprise and fall out of his chair bed in a clumsy mess.
“AH!” He screamed in surprise before quickly gaining his bearings and looking towards the bed. “Fighter? Did...did you wake me up?” He asked in groggy confusion while rubbing his eyes.
“Water.” She wheezed out with, albeit exaggerated, pain in her voice as she pointed to the filled cup by the sink. With a shake of his head and a tired yawn he picked himself up and grabbed the cup before bringing it over to the filly.
“Thank you.” She said gratefully as she downed the water in an instant.
“I know it must have been hard to speak,” He looked at her with a pained expression and rubbed his stinging rear end momentarily. “But did you really have to wake me up like that?”
“How else was I supposed to?” She asked as she handed him the empty glass. “There was nothing around but this detachable wire.” She said as she showed him the tool she had used as a makeshift whip. Lucky Day took a closer look at her tool and slowly looked towards one of the unused monitors beside her bed, and to the very thick torn wire slot she had gotten it from. His ears and heart dropped simultaneously as he looked on the damaged piece of equipment and quickly yanked the wire out of Fighter’s hooves.
“Hey, what gives?” She asked in confusion as she saw her uncle quickly roll the monitor across the room towards one of the tall curtains that hung from the ceiling and hid it behind the cloth.
“Okay!” He said with a clap of his hooves while turning to her. “We just need to make sure no one finds that. If they do, we just say it was broken when we got here,” Fighter’s ears dropped down as well once she realized what she’d done, but her self reflection was quickly shut down by her uncle. “What do we say if somepony asks what happened? Especially your mother?”
“It was broke when we got here?” She asked nervously, only to have her already disheveled mane ruffled by the stallion once again.
“Good girl,” He said before pulling up one of the empty chairs and sitting next to her bed. “So, how’re you feeling sweetie?”
“Oh, I’m fine!” She said happily just as her left shoulder began to cramp up, forcing her to grab onto it in pain. “H-honest…” Lucky watched her sudden shock of pain and tsked over and over as he slowly placed his hoof on her head and leaned her back against the bed.
“It’s okay little one, the docs said you just have severe exhaustion, but it’s nothing too serious. You’ll be out of here before you know it.” He said reassuringly.
“What about you? I thought you were bleeding from the head?” She asked with growing concern as she noticed the lack of injury on her uncle.
“Oh, that. Well turns out it was just a flesh wound really, the worst I got was a sprained hoof,” He said as he flexed his hoof for her, but when she gave him a curious stare he quickly chuckled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, what I thought was a sprained hoof, turns out it was just another false alarm.”
“What about mom?”
“Oh! She had some minor horn and magic exertion, but with a little rest and no magic use she’ll be fine. She was released early, at her request, and she’s out taking care of something right now.” Lucky continued to explain happily. Fighter looked away for a moment and sighed in relief, but even if her mother and uncle were alright, there was still a nagging feeling in her heart. She lifted her bracelet clad hoof and laid it against her chest, rubbing it anxiously as her thoughts turned to the kind man who took the time to listen yesterday.
“And...Clarke?” She asked nervously as she lightly gripped her bracelet. It was at this point that her uncle became much more serious, and his happy smile from before quickly fell as a result.
“Right….him,” Fighter gave him a weird look at the way he addressed Clarke, but before she could even question it he continued. “Well, that’s kind of the thing your mom had to take care of. She should be back any se-” Suddenly Lucky Day was interrupted as the sound of the room’s door opening cut him off. They looked to the door and saw Sunny Day, Fighter's mother, entering with a look of exhaustion on her face.
“Huh? Oh! Fighter!” She exclaimed, the bags under her eyes becoming less noticeable as her face beamed with excitement the moment she spotted her daughter up and awake. Sunny wrapped her legs around the filly for a hug and planted a kiss on her forehead before feeling her slowly returning the gesture. “Did anything happen while I was gone?” She asked her brother curiously.
“What!? Nothing, nothing! Just...hanging out with my favorite niece! Right, Fighter?” He said nervously as he put on his biggest smile and nudged her back.
“It...was broken when we got here?” She asked, knowing full well what she was doing and trying her best to hide her devious smile in her mother's hug. Lucky let out a nervous laugh as his sister glared at him even harder, but Fighter held in her snickering for just long enough to break the hug and change the subject. It was fun to torment her uncle in such a way, but there were many more important things on her mind.
“Mom, Uncle Lucky said you were taking care of something...something having to do with Clarke?” She asked anxiously. Quickly her mother switched gears from her uncle, over to her.
“Well, yes and no. It’s just something important that happens to include...him,” Her mother said with slight apprehension. Fighter surprised her mother with a look of sadness, followed by a low grumble that was almost inaudible from how quiet and restrained it was. “What...what’s wrong honey?” She asked nervously, afraid that she’d upset her precious, bedridden daughter.
“He has a name, mom.” She said in frustration as she looked away from her and down at her bracelet again. Sunny gave her daughter a sorrowful look and lifted her hoof to try and pat her lovingly, but she ultimately stopped herself and just let out a sigh instead.
“Look, I came back to tell you two that I have to go somewhere for a little bit. Can you please keep an eye on Fighter while I’m out Lucky?” She asked her brother kindly.
“So keep doing what I’ve been doing for the past twelve hours?” He asked sarcastically.
"You were asleep when I woke up." Fighter said with a deadpan expression as she turned to him.
"Fighter, could you just, like, be cool? For once?" He said while waving his hooves around pleadingly. Both of the girls rolled their eyes at his antics, but as they did he noticed just how exhausted his sister looked in the light.
“What about you Sunny? Shouldn’t you wait here?” he said as he pointed at her eyes from across the bed. “You look like you haven’t had a rest since last night.”
“I’m fine, really I am,” she replied shakily, denying the obvious accusation. “Besides, when the princess requests your presence you can’t really refuse right?” Fighter snapped her head to her mother in shock, while Lucky simply dropped his jaw from the admission. Sunny couldn't help but giggle at the looks on their faces.
“She apparently heard about the incident and wants to talk to me personally about it. I was skeptical at first, but they eventually convinced me with this royal summons.” She said as she pulled a scroll with the royal seal on it out of nowhere and opened it up for them. They skimmed the contents and eventually settled their eyes on the bottom portion stating that her royal highness Princess Twilight had summoned her. “I’m about to head to the castle, which is where I’ll be. I’m a little nervous. I must look awful.” She said as she slowly started to mess with her mane, which was actually still as luscious as it was the day prior.
“Y-yeah, sure thing Sunny. I’ve got Fighter.” Lucky said cautiously as he grabbed Fighter into a one-armed hug and held her like she was an emotional support teddy bear.
“Bring a big bag mom! Take some of the silverware and decorations! They won’t miss them, and we can sell them to ponies desperate for a taste of the good life!” Fighter shouted with excitement as her eyes filled up with stars from the opportunity.
“Fighter!” She said loudly as she shook the unrolled scroll at her daughter. Fighter looked down, ashamed at being called out for such a bad idea. Sunny Day coughed for a moment and put her scroll back into her saddlebags. "Only a little bit..." She mumbled under her breath before giving a sly smirk to her daughter.
All of them shared a slight chuckle at the joke. As their laughs petered off, Sunny looked down at her daughter with a sorrowful expression, then leaned over and gave her a big kiss on the forehead, along with another hug. "I love you." She said with only the sincerity a mother could imbue the words with. Fighter parroted the phrase, and with one last pat on the head, she was off.
As she stepped out of the room, her brief respite came to a close, allowing the Dread welling up in her gut to come back in full force. There was more to be said about the summons she'd been given. It was specifically about the safety of her family, and especially her daughter. She had no doubt in her mind that this ‘Clarke’ had something to do with it.
Only time would tell.
Clarke jolted awake as the last image of his dream, a massive fight inside of an enclosed room, flashed by like a violent car crash. He groaned with a mixture of sadness and anger at his rude awakening before it quickly turned into a low whine. He was no stranger to being awoken by his dreams, but every time without fail it would always lead to him waking up at the worst times in the middle of the night. He slowly lifted his arm to reach for the lamp on the nightstand beside his bed, but the moment he did he felt as though the entirety of his arm had come down with a case of rigor mortis as it popped and crackled from the small movement.
Clarke pushed through the pain and continued extending his stiff arm until he noticed a distinct lack of wooden table beneath his hand to guide him. Of course this was also nothing new, as he'd quite often move it without much thought throughout the day, so he continued to roll to the right in order to find it. He was determined to find that damned light and start his crappy day right, but that was until he suddenly rolled himself too far and fell onto the dense floor chest first.
"Uuuuaaaaaaagh!" He screamed in pain as all of his pain receptors fired off at once the moment he had slammed into the floor. As he laid there in agony, Clarke heard the sound of a creaking door opening up on his left and turned to face it. What he saw was a white pony with wings and covered in golden armor standing in the doorway and looking at him nervously.
"Oh...you're awake." The stallion said with a nervous tone as he simply stood there uneasily and looked around the well-decorated guest room. Meanwhile, as the pony continued to stare, Clarke simply dropped his face to the ground and moaned in sadness.
"It wasn't a dream!" He said in one long and drawn out groan as he lightly punched his fist into the carpet.
"Are you alright?" The stallion asked idiotically as Clarke continued to groan.
"Yeah… I'm fan-FUCKING-tastic! I just love screaming bloody murder and lying face first in the ground for fun!" He shouted angrily before flying into a coughing fit that only intensified the pain in his chest.
"A-alright! Geez! You don’t have to be so mean about it," The young stallion said as he jumped back from the man’s outburst. “Just… let me see.” He said as he cautiously approached Clarke and placed a hoof on his back. Quickly he applied pressure to the base of Clarke's spine in between two of the lower lumbar joints and twisted, causing an audible crack to escape his back.
"Aaaaaaaaah, fuck me!" Clarke said as he curled his back in pain and got onto his arms and knees. "What the hell?!" He screamed as he snapped his head to the side and glared daggers at the fearful guard.
"I'm just doing my job sir,” He said as he raised his hooves in defense. “The princess ordered me to aid you in such a way if you were to wake up in pain, you should be able to move more easily now." The stallion explained as he backed away from the man, the distance allowing him to calm down more easily. Clarke was about to mock him for his particular brand of 'help' until he realized that he was now able to move his joints much more freely than before. Granted his muscles were still violently sore from the spell that Fighter had cast on him, but they were no longer immovable as a result of the treatment.
"Th...thanks," He said as he finally stood back up, his wobbly knees forcing him to lean against, and eventually sit back down on the bed. They stared at each other for a moment before the guard resumed awkwardly looking around the room and attempting to whistle. "So… you said something about a princess?" Clarke asked as he wrapped his left arm around his stomach and leaned forward. The guard slowly stopped whistling and cleared his throat before answering.
"Yes, Princess Twilight Sparkle. She requested for you to be taken into custody and kept here in the castle until you awoke. She wanted to meet with you as soon as you did." The stallion explained calmly, his earlier oblivious tone being quickly hidden with poise and military bearing.
Clarke looked around the dark, yet pristinely decorated room, and placed his hands into the soft marshmallow of a bed he sat on, making a ‘not bad’ expression as he did so. This princess certainly knew how to treat her guests, that was, assuming he was a guest and not a prisoner there. He assumed that he’d get his answer soon enough, there was no reason to poke the bear when he was just barely waking up.
"Alright, what about Fighter Swan?" Clarke asked, noticing the stallion's look of confusion at his question. "Little pink girl, with blonde hair done in braids? If last night wasn't a dream, she should have been there."
"A dream?" the guard said while looking at Clarke like he was crazy. "Well I don't know who that is, but I'm sure the princess will be able to answer any questions you have." The guard deflected the question with a forced smile, but all that did was cause Clarke to sigh in disappointment and roll his eyes.
"Well, can you at least tell me where the hell I am?" He asked with waning patience.
"You're in Canterlot Castle." He answered simply as if Clarke knew what that meant, causing him to sigh once more while slowly placing his palm against his face as he did so.
"I’m sorry, but you’re saying that like I’m supposed to know what a Canterlot is," Clarke responded angrily, wincing as his frustration made his gut ache even harder.
“Eh, heh… right. Well you’re in Canterlot, the capital city of Equestria, and this is the castle… of Canterlot,” He explained awkwardly as he turned around and headed for the door. “That’s the gist of it, but I’m sure the princess will be able to thoroughly answer any questions you have, she’s really smart.”
“Alright, let’s go meet this princess.” Clarke obliged the naive guard's eagerness to move on, as he had already grown tired of the talking. He decided it’d be simpler to just wait it out for now and ask the princess everything he needed to know, it did seem like the quicker option, as it was either that or twenty questions with a skittish guard.
As they stepped into the pristine white corridor Clarke gasped at the sight of the glistening walls and decorations all around him. It looked like something straight out of a history book of ancient castles, while still having a slightly modern accent to its long flowing window curtains and portraits. Speaking of windows, just across from the door of his room was a massive window with the bright midday sunlight shining through.
Clarke placed his hand against the glass and looked out onto the castle grounds below, and the sight simply took his breath away. Dotting the landscape outside of the window were multiple ivory spires, as well as green grass and statues dotting the garden looking area below. There were winged ponies flying all over the place, as well as a multitude of horned and barren ponies scampering around below them. He could barely even comprehend how something so beautiful could ever exist.
“Uh… excuse me,” Clarke snapped away from the beauty before his eyes and looked over to the guard as he waited there anxiously. "It's this way." The guard said while pointing down the hallway.
"Right...right." Clarke gave one last glance out of the window before slowly turning away and following the guard down the halls. The walk continued in silence for most of the way, with the occasional direction given by the guard, and Clarke took this moment to think about things.
How could any of this be real? Was it possible that this was all one big elaborate dream, one that was just unbelievably detailed and lucid? As much as he wanted to believe that, he knew it couldn't be true. He’d never experienced both pain, and beautiful scenery in a dream without waking up, and simultaneously having the mental fortitude to even question it. This was no dream, but if that was the case, then what was this? Why was this happening to him? Did he truly turn into freaking colossus yesterday night and fight alongside a tiny pink pony in a miniature kitchen? A brief glance at the bracelet around his wrist quickly reinforced that memory as fact.
“Hey, so what’s your name?” Clarke asked abruptly in an attempt to take his mind off of his burning existential crisis. The stallion flinched a little from Clarke’s sudden question, but quickly recovered with a nervous smile.
“Oh, it’s Sham Shield.”
“Well Sham Shield, I just wanted to apologize. I shouldn’t have lashed out at you like that earlier, and I’m sorry.” Clarke admitted, the feeling of guilt within him slightly being lifted as a result.
“Oh,” The pony looked almost surprised that he’d apologized to him, but thankfully his confusion was quickly replaced with a smile. “That’s alright, I would have screamed my guts out too if I was in pain.” Clarke smiled from the accepted apology, and continued following his escort in silence as he led him through the beautiful castle. After what felt like an eternity of walking and idle chit chat, they finally traveled down a long hallway that ended in an ornate purple door with two guards standing outside of it.
"Here we are." The guard said with relief as they finally approached the door. With a silent nod from the other guards, they slowly opened up the room and allowed them both entry, before closing it softly behind them. Once inside, Clarke couldn’t help but smile at the consistently top-notch interior design.
There were several bookshelves along the walls to the right, as well as a fireplace on the left that was currently empty, and a large window with the curtains down across from the door. In the middle was a large empty chaise lounge couch surrounded by piles of pillows and blankets on the ground where a massive pony laid. She was much larger than any other Clarke had seen thus far, so much so that even sitting down she was still slightly taller than the guard next to him. She was a nice lavender color and her two-toned purple mane was flowing in a non-existent wind as she calmly read a book and sipped some tea that was just floating right in front of her. The only thing that drew more attention than her beautiful visage, was a large scar that traveled from her chin all the way up the left side of her face to her eyebrow. Clarke was certain there was a story behind a wound like that.
"Your highness, I’ve brought the… guest." The guard said as he bowed, his slight pause before saying guest making Clarke feel a little uncomfortable. The princess looked to them both and smiled warmly at them, but Clarke was ashamed to admit that he could not stop staring at the left side of her face.
"Thank you, Sham Shield. You can leave us alone now." She said happily as her book closed on its own and gently floated onto the ground next to her. The strange floating object finally managed to draw Clarke's attention away from her face, but all that accomplished was adding another question to the long list he had already begun to compile.
"But princess," He said with worry as he looked up at her calm smile then back towards Clarke's awed expression. "I...understand." He said with a quick nod before standing up and reluctantly leaving the room. It was now Clarke and the princess all on their own, and he’d be lying if he said he didn’t feel just the tiniest bit intimidated by the javelin horned equine before him.
"So… is this the part where you tell me I'm not a prisoner? Ya know… before you lock me up in the dungeons?" Clarke asked sadly as he rubbed his arm, doing his best to gauge the empathy of this princess. If there was one thing he remembered from history class, it was that most royalty only cared about one thing, themselves. The Princess simply smiled at him again and tilted her head in amusement. "I wouldn't be surprised, what with the way everyone's acting around me."
"Well, you're half right. I am telling you you're not a prisoner, but I'm certainly not gonna lock you up," She replied as the still floating cup of tea also gently landed on the ground next to her. She gave a few quick shimmy's against the pillows she was laying on until she was a good distance away from the empty sofa, before gesturing to it with her hoof. "Please, take a seat. You must be exhausted." She said with the same warm smile she'd had since he'd gotten there.
"Well...alright, but just letting you know that I fully expect the other foot to drop, or rather, hoof to drop." He said skeptically as he warily accepted the seat offer and provided his aching legs with some much-needed rest.
"I can't say I blame you," She said with a giggle as she looked away for a moment before an expression of deep thought overtook her. "I certainly know now more than ever to be extremely cautious of others." She donned a thousand-yard stare as she looked towards the wall.
"Do you though?" Clarke blurted out without thinking, causing the princess to shake her head and look at him in confusion.
"I'm sorry, did you say something?" She asked him without hesitation. Now the tone in her voice didn’t exactly make it clear whether she asked that as a question, or a threat, so Clarke decided to air on the side of caution and quickly move past it.
"Nothing! Nothing at all Princess… please continue?" He said with a smile.
"Sorry about that, I've found that I've become more...aloof lately. I just wanted to speak with you once we knew you were alright, as I'm sure you have a lot of questions." She said with a sincerity in her voice that Clarke had never experienced before, not even back on Earth. Still, despite the polite and obviously troubled soul in front of him, he needed to keep his guard up.
"Now why would you go and do that?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. She brought a hoof to her chin in feigned thought before answering him.
"I suppose I simply like to see the best in every creature, no matter what they look or sound like. I always do my best to approach others with kindness, especially when I spot possible misunderstandings. Besides," She lifted her left hoof, which had previously been curled inwards and hidden from view, to reveal a familiar-looking bracelet with a dark ocean blue gem on top of it. "It isn't the first time I've answered someone's questions about Equestria."
Clarke tensed up all of his sore muscles the moment he saw her bracelet, an action that caught the princess's attention when he had. He began to breathe heavier as the flashbacks of Todd and Fiddler's sadistic smiles and overwhelming power came back to him. Even if he was still recovering his body instinctively prepared to defend itself.
"Woah, Woah! It's okay, you're not in any danger." The princess said as she quickly lowered her hoof and picked herself up ever so slightly for emphasis. "L-let's start over okay, totally calm and normal. My name's Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Equestria." She said before nervously gesturing towards Clarke with a wide and anxious smile. He slowly relaxed his body and winced as he did so before taking a few deep calming breaths.
"I'm… Clarke," He replied shakily as he continued trying to calm his heart rate back down. "Clarke Velasquez."
"Good," Princess Twilight said as she laid back down and sighed in relief. "I can already tell you've had a run-in with some other contestants. I can assure you though, that I mean you no harm." Clarke gulped down the lump in his throat and gave her a curious glance.
"Contestants?" He asked shakily.
"Yes… contestants in The Tourney of course," She looked at his baffled expression for a moment before finally realizing what this meant. "You...do know about The Tourney, right?" She replied just as confused as he was.
"Does it look like I know what you're talking about?" He responded with a constant expression of unease. Princess Twilight looked off to the side with a slightly somber expression and layered her hooves on top of one another.
"Oh dear. The Tourney is...a very dangerous thing," She looked at him nervously and switched her gaze between him and the door. "It really is a long explanation though, so I think it's best if we wait for our next guest before I explain it to you, she’ll be here soon." She continued with a smile.
“She? Do you mean… Fighter… Swan?” He asked curiously unsure of what answer he was expecting.
“Oh, no. It’s her mother, Sunny Day. I understand that you and the filly are partners, but I think it’s best if we refrain from informing her just yet.” The princess replied. Clarke mouthed out the word ‘partners’ in confusion, but quickly cast it aside for now as he ruminated on this ‘Tourney’ she spoke about. Whatever it was, it must have been pretty serious if the Princess was so shaken by just the mention of it.
"Okay, well in the meantime could you please tell me where I am?" He said with a hint of desperation in his tone.
"Oh! Well you're in Equestria." There was a long pause as they stared at each other, Clarke’s eyes beginning to twitch as a result, until the princess lifted her cup of tea and took a loud sip.
"Seriously? Why do you ponies keep answering like that? I have no clue what Equestria even is. Is that the planet? A country? Didn’t you say you’ve done this before?" He said with audible frustration in his voice.
"Oh! I’m sorry, I just assumed you knew of Equestria's existence already. That seems to be a trend with the humans I've met," Clarke felt a little off by the fact that she’d said the plural for humans, but it was rapidly quelled when she suddenly gasped, her eyes filling up with stars. "Does this mean you have zero knowledge of our history or society!?" She said as she sprung to her hooves in excitement.
"Uh...yes?" Clarke said warily, his answer causing her to step forward with a smile. "Uh...no?" He said, once again causing her to step forward and smile even wider. "Personal space!" He cried out as he raised his hands in defense and leaned back against the sofa. The Princess suddenly hopped backward and squealed in delight as several books from the shelves behind her flew into the air, some landing next to him while others landed near her.
"Oh boy, we have a lot to go over. Don't you worry though Mr. Velasquez, I'll teach you everything you need to know about our world, country, magic, the races, oh this'll be so much fun!" She said as a random blackboard appeared in a flash of purple light, causing Clarke to flinch.
"Clarke is fine, but…” Clarke stared wide-eyed at the demon objects all orbiting the princess while being covered in a deep purple glow. “What the hell!? Things are floating, and appearing out of nowhere!" He stammered in fear as he watched the Princess work happily.
"Don't worry, that's just my magic. You'll learn all about it in section thirty-seven of my lesson plan. It’s always fun to educate newcomers to this wonderful land, but sadly I haven’t had many chances to do so. Until now that is." She said happily as she ignored his confused sounds and questions. Clarke experimentally lifted the cover of one of the books and saw some strange scribbles on the inside, noting how it looked like a mix between pig Latin with words and symbols that sometimes flipped backward in no coherent fashion.
"So, are these books supposed to look like a coked-up third grader wrote them, or….” He asked curiously as he flipped through it. Suddenly the chalk floating before her slammed onto the board's holder before she turned to look at him.
"Wait, you're saying that you can't read Equestrian?"
"Uh...I think?" She shook her head and chuckled as a pair of cute glasses floated from one of the many nightstands and landed on her face. Clarke could only watch on with unfathomable dread weighing on his heart.
"Oh, we have a lot of work to do."