//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4 - The Beginning 
// Story: The Tourney 
// by Emo Rainbow 
//------------------------------//

Sunny stumbled through the pristine halls of the palace, the weight in her eyes growing heavier with every step she took. She continued following the guard as he escorted her further along their path towards the princess until the weight in her bags nearly caused her to trip and fall over her own hooves.

“Ma’am! Are you alright?” He asked with concern as he turned around and gave her a helping hoof for balance. Suddenly though, his look of concern turned into a look of curiosity as he continued helping her stand. “Hey… were your saddlebags always that big?” Quickly Sunny’s eyes shot open as she was flooded with an adrenaline rush. She needed to kick things into overdrive in order to get out of this one.

“Oh, yes it always was. I can’t believe it’s weighing me down now, of all times, but it’s just so hard to keep going. I have to though, I can’t rest until my family’s safe,” she looked up at the stallion as she heavily leaned into him and fluttered her magenta eyes. “Thank you so much for your help, I’ve always felt that you strong guards were never appreciated for the work that you do.” She said in a low voice as she shakily placed a hoof on his chest piece. It had been a long time since she’d attempted to use her feminine wiles on another pony, not since her husband had left, but luckily any rustiness she may have shown was superseded by this guard obviously not getting a lot of female attention.

“Just, lean on me if you need support ma’am, there’s no shame in it and I’d be happy to help!” The grey stallion exclaimed happily as she did just that, the unmistakable blush on his face telling her the performance was well received.

She leaned on him for the show as she continued to limp, but very quickly she realized that it was partially true. Things as simple as walking were starting to become more difficult, and her balance would definitely not have been as stable without the guard there for help. Still though, she persevered down the hall eventually hearing loud voices off in the distance.

"I mean is she crazy or something?! She must have a death wish to let that thing in here!" Cried the loud voice of a guard all the way at the end of the hall who seemed to be standing in a large group of ponies just outside of two massive doors. 

"I know! After last time we should've just skewered it the moment we found it, but no, obviously we gotta give that thing room and board. The princess dun lost her mind!" Said another one who seemed to be just as angry as the first. 

"Shhh! I can't hear a thing!" Said a third pegasus guard as he hovered next to the top of the door and pressed his ear against it.

"It's no use, totally soundproof," Said the first guard until he finally noticed Sunny and her escort approaching. "Hey, look alive you guys." As soon as he had said that, all of the guards that had previously been meandering around suddenly took off in different directions like mice with a light shined down on them, leaving only two to guard the door. Sunny could only look on in confusion at the strange occurrence that had just transpired.

“Here we are ma’am, are you sure you can take it from here?” The guard asked as he gently allowed her to stop leaning on him for support. She quickly shook herself free of the confusion and nodded to the stallion.

“I’m fine, thank you very much.” With a quick nod of approval the doors were opened for her entry, but the moment she stepped into the study she stopped. Before her was the human Clarke sitting on a sofa with a pencil and paper in his hand, and his head leaned back like he was sleeping. Across from him on the other side of the room was the princess in front of a blackboard babbling on about the origins of magic, though it sounded more like the introductory lesson unicorn children were given in preschool.

“So in summary, that’s what allows for the more hooves on manipulation of magic that unicorns are capable of, now pegasi and Earth ponies, that’s a different story…” She doodled a few more pictures on the board until her ears stood straight up and swiveled towards the door, shortly after being followed by her head.

“Uhh…” Sunny Day said in confusion as both her, and the guards outside, watched the two in the middle of their little study session.

“Oh Miss Day, you’re finally here. I suppose we can…” She was about to turn to Clarke and inform him that the lesson was concluded until he let out a loud snore. Calmly she picked up the chalk she was using to write and tossed it at his forehead, waking him up with a gasp. 

“The-the square root of pi!" He looked all around in surprise from the rude awakening, eventually regaining his bearings as the door behind Sunny awkwardly closed.

“Uh… right, your highness.” She said with a bow once she recovered from her initial confusion.

“There’s no need for that Miss Day, please have a seat.” Sunny stood up with visible apprehension and quickly nodded her head. She needed to make sure that she didn’t make a fool of herself in front of the princess, but it was easier said than done when she found herself instinctively staring at the Princess’ scarred face. 

If there was one thing she was not prepared to see it was that, and the sight of such a thing unsurprisingly stopped her in her tracks. It was as if a grand illusion of safety had been shattered the moment she saw her, the thought of the princess being harmed so visibly making a shiver travel up her spine. She didn’t fully recover until Princess Twilight looked off to the side, hiding her scar, and coughed into her hoof.

“Oh my goodness! I am so sorry princess! Please forgive me! I-I-I didn’t…. I mean I…” She collapsed into another bow and continued stammering until the princess raised her hoof calmly.

“It’s alright, I understand the confusion, there’s no need to apologize. Please have a seat, Miss Day." Princess Twilight responded calmly. Without another peep, Sunny Day hung her head low and walked further into the room before sitting on the same sofa as Clarke. She made sure to keep as much distance from him as she could, even setting her saddlebag down directly between them.

“Glad you came when you did, I don’t think I could have lasted much longer.” He said jokingly to the mare in an attempt to alleviate the obvious tension he could see in her movements. He never really guessed it until now, but gauging from Sunny's reaction he figured the scar on the Princess's face was a new addition. Sunny gave no verbal response, and instead just looked at him cautiously in the same way one would look at a tiger being kept in a rusty and vulnerable cage. “...Right, so Princess, you said you had something to share?” He said awkwardly in order to change the subject.

“Yes, I believe it’s time to inform you both of what’s happening here,” She said as she finally pushed the board away and faced them with a more serious expression. “As well as what may escalate over the coming weeks.” Sunny and Clarke shared a look of apprehension at her sudden tone shift.

"Wait, what's happening? If you don't mind me asking, that is." Sunny said meekly from her seat.

"The reason I requested your presence was because there is something very dangerous happening as we speak, and as the summons said, your daughter is at the forefront," The Princess said as she gave a sorrowful nod. Sunny placed a hoof on her chest in shock, the expression on the Princess' face draining the words from her mind. "Allow me to explain in more depth what this all means, and I will answer any and all questions you may have about The Tourney." 

Suddenly the princess’ horn lit up with a deep purple glow as small orbs of magic manifested before her, dimming the lights of the room in the process. The orbs quickly took the form of small cartoon depictions of a pony, and a human respectively as they faced each other. The cartoons a pure black color in front of a magical white canvas as they moved.

“One pony, and one human, linked together by otherworldly artifacts unlike any other previously seen in Equestria,” The pony and human extended towards each other and shook hands, as they did a small white line representing the bracelets appeared on their wrists. “Together they become masters of the arcane arts, though the specific type and method of their powers differ greatly between each participant.” The human and pony took stances as if they were powering up, before jumping into the air and swirling around each other. Once they landed, the human extended his arm and levitated a small vase of flowers in front of him, while the pony stood on one leg and conjured several purple orbs of magic that orbited around her.

"The reason for this being that there are hundreds of ponies, and now humans, linked together and released upon our world. Their only purpose here it seems, is to fight in The Tourney, as it's known." The human and pony stood together and faced yet another human and pony duo across from them. They shook their fists and hooves at each other before charging and crashing into a large black mass that split into hundreds of pony and human cartoons all standing in a massive crowd.

"Out of the hundreds linked, only one team can be victorious," one by one, the duo's began to fade away into dust until only one pony and human were left standing. "At the end of it all, they will receive one wish of their own. A wish not bound by any laws of known limitation that can grant anything the heart desires." Finally the duo looked up as a small heart slowly descended onto them, before both finally dissolved into dust just like the ones before them. The lights slowly lit back up, followed by the princess finally powering down her horn. Clarke and Sunny were stunned into momentary silence as they processed this new information.

"I'm… afraid to ask, but how do they... whittle down the competition?" Clarke asked nervously. The Princess was silent for a moment as she looked away, and both Sunny and Clarke's eyes widened in sudden realization of what this meant.

A knot twisted in Clarke's gut as he felt the metaphorical target being placed on his back, and in the end all he could do was sit in silence as he came to grips with the situation. He gripped the sides of the sofa in anger and denial, closing his eyes and begging to wake up in his crappy bed at home, begging to be yelled at and fired for sleeping on the job, anything but this! It was too crazy to be true! There had to be an explanation, an explanation that didn’t involve entertaining the idea that he’d been roped into a battle to the death in a magical pony filled world! No matter how hard he wanted to forget it though, he could still feel the pain of the magic, and the soft cushions beneath him.

“You… you can’t be serious!?” Clarke shouted as he stood up from his chair, his emotions quickly getting the best of him. “Why? Why would something like this be happening to us!?” He asked, desperate for any kind of answer.

“I-I don’t know. Nothing like this has ever happened before in Equestria. It’s completely alien to any known laws or occurrences in recorded history.” The Princess responded sympathetically, but that did little to quell Clarke’s outburst.

“Then how do YOU know so much!? Who gave you this information? What gave you this information!?” He screamed accusingly.

“H-hey, calm down! Don't go shouting at the princess like that!” Sunny interjected angrily at the sight of the man screaming at her faithful ruler.

“That’s enough!” The Princess said with a loud and authoritative shout that quieted the others. “There have been several accounts of humans appearing all over Equestria, but only now have they been more and more frequent. They’re becoming reckless, none of them care if they're seen anymore, but in reality this whole tournament started almost 2 months ago.” She walked away from them and towards the window, where she looked out longingly to the garden in the distance.

“It was then that I first became exposed to this, and it was my partner who informed me of the Tourney’s existence. I failed to ask him how he knew before…” She trailed off and took a deep breath to calm herself. “The moment I knew it was true was when we were attacked by another team. The ferocity in which they did left lasting effects, as well as cleared any doubts I had.”  Clarke watched as she caressed her scar and stepped back as he practically felt the emotion in her voice skewer his heart. 

“Oh no.” He said as he placed a hand on his head while flopping back down onto the sofa in shock. Sunny looked at him in concern until a sudden flash of dread washed over her the moment she laid eyes on the pink gem strapped to his wrist.

“So...my daughter is…” She started as she looked away from Clarke and towards the slowly turning princess. “Marked? A member of some life or death game with no explanation as to why? She's just going to be hunted by these… these… maniacs!?” She asked in disbelief and anger. The princess was silent for much longer than either of them liked, but eventually she lifted her head with a look of determination.

“I understand that this is the last thing anyone ever wants to hear about their family’s future, but there’s a reason there are two of them,” She said while pointing to Clarke, who in turn pointed to himself in uncertainty. “They’re meant to keep each other safe, to be stronger when working together. So long as they do, and you stay within the safety of the city, no harm should ever come to them. Though I can’t lie… there are too many to count, and the battle is inevitable.”

Sunny and Clarke looked down in sadness, neither of them having the first thought of what to do next, and the room fell into an uncomfortable silence. Sunny felt her tired mind beginning to race until a certain idea popped into her head, stopping her in her tracks. Normally she’d never speak it aloud, but with her decreased judgment and foreign setting, she couldn’t stop herself from speaking her mind.

“But what if… there’s only one?” She asked, causing both Clarke and the princess to look up at her.

“I’m sure that…” The princess looked back at Clarke and slowly answered. “Only one needs to be ‘defeated’ as it were,” Sunny looked down for a moment, and Princess Twilight could practically see the gears turning in her head. “Though I can’t guarantee!” She hastily added. 

“She’s right,” Surprisingly, Clarke actually spoke up instead, his face no longer downtrodden and more resigned. “I heard Fiddler and Todd when they took Fighter. They said that they only needed to kill one of us, and they certainly didn’t want her…” He looked down at his fist and clenched it in anger. “They wanted me.” 

More silence followed his confession, and no one wanted to speak aloud what was being implied. To sacrifice one life for another seemed… horrid to think about, yet here they were discussing just that. Clarke let out a long sigh and shook his head before sitting up straight and grabbing their attention.

“Listen, I ain’t really good for much, but what I do know is that when lives are at stake sacrifices need to be made.” He felt his heart strain with every word he said, the fear of such an act making him want to run right then and there.

“Are you saying…” Sunny started, hoping that anypony else would finish the sentence for her. Clarke nodded softly, his voice getting quieter as he continued.

“I don’t want to, I don’t know who would, but I can’t see another way out of this.” He shut his eyes as he tried to cope with his new reality until a loud stomp snapped him out of his rut.

“Stop…” The princess said as her scowling face seemed to be shrouded in darkness. “STOP THAT RIGHT NOW!” She yelled fiercely with a voice that shook the entire room, and made Sunny fall to her haunches. “Do you have any idea what you’re saying?” She said as she pointed to Clarke with a fire in her eyes.

“Y-yes?” He replied nervously.

“No! Nopony deserves that! Nopony should ever think that the only way forward is to just give up!” Princess Twilight shook her head, as she seemed incapable of even fathoming such an idea. “I’m working on a way to stop this right now, with no bloodshed required. So there is going to be another way, do you understand me!?” She asked him, and when his answer wasn’t fast enough she pressed even harder. “DO YOU!?” 

“Yes! Yes princess!” He shouted in fear as he saluted her. They looked at her in awe as she slowly calmed down, and suddenly both Sunny and Clarke were sitting side by side on the sofa awaiting further instructions.

“This will be a very trying time for everypony involved, but I will do everything I can to make sure nopony has to suffer, starting with this.” She pulled a few papers from the nightstand to her right and presented it to them. While Clarke still couldn’t understand the ramblings of the drunk Russian linguist who wrote it, Sunny could immediately tell and was floored by the proposition.

“Is this an official deed of ownership, meant for... me?” She asked as she grabbed the papers into her trembling hooves and looked at the princess on the verge of tears. 

“Yes it is, although it is missing one more thing,” She levitated a quill towards them, and after a moment of staring at it Clarke decided to hold onto it. “Notice that the official address and district listing are blank, a decision I decided to leave for you.” Sunny gasped at the opportunity and sputtered her words as she tried to get a thank you out to the princess.

“I-I-I don’t… this is… AAAAAAGHH!” She squealed with delight as she hopped on the sofa and instinctively hugged the nearest thing to her, that being Clarke. She held him for a moment before realizing what she was doing and breaking the hug with a blush of embarrassment, something both she and him shared for once. “Do you… mind?” She asked Clarke sheepishly.

“What?” He looked down at her, then at the quill in his hand before quickly piecing two and two together. “Oh, right.” With a quick exchange she wrote out the new address for her new home, a place she had been eyeing up for quite a while. If this was indeed no joke, then it’d be a literal dream come true.

“I-if this is too much princess, I’ll gladly change it.” She said while looking like a nervous wreck as she presented the papers to her, allowing the Princess to pick them up and inspect them. There was a long pause as she looked it over, but the moment a tiny smirk appeared on her face Sunny felt elation beyond compare.

“I’ll send word through my channels of the changed ownership. You’ll be a brand new homeowner in district five by tonight, Miss Day.” Clarke watched on with a smile as an out of season Christmas miracle unfolded before his very eyes. It was a nice distraction for him, but eventually their voices became muffled and faded as his thoughts lingered back to the ball of dread in his chest. What the princess said to him was nice and all, but simple yelling wasn’t enough to clear away all of his doubts. He looked down at the bracelet on his wrist, taking notice for the first time just how heavy it felt.

“Clarke?” 

“Huh?” He asked as he looked up and saw Sunny standing by the door and looking at him weirdly.

“I asked if you’re ready to go.” He looked around the room and saw no sign of the princess, and suddenly he wondered just how long he’d been stuck in his own mind. He decided that for now he could push those thoughts deep down in favor of more pressing matters. He nodded to her silently and followed out of the room, hoping desperately that more talks could be had along the way.






“Hnnngh!” Fighter grunted as she tossed and turned on her, not-so comfy anymore, bed.

“Stop it.” Her uncle said simply as he sat across the room from her and read from a cosmarepolitan magazine. Fighter huffed loudly and laid down on her right side with attitude, but not five seconds later she started to feel antsy and began shifting positions some more.

She laid on her other side, her stomach, and even kicked up her legs into various other positions and shapes. No matter how hard she tried though, she just couldn’t shake the uncomfortable feelings within her.

“Stop. It.” Her uncle said once more, this time looking up from his magazine with a stern glare.

“I just can’t help it uncle! I need to get out of this bed!” She said with frustration as she kicked off her covers and swung her hind legs off of the bed frame. That was as far as the filly got however as her uncle rushed over to the same side and quickly tossed her back over the edge.

“Oh no, you are not going anywhere. There’s no way you're fully rested yet! You’ve only been here a half a day!” He scolded with more authority than usual.

“Come on Uncle Lucky! You’re supposed to be the cool one!” She complained as she flashed her best puppy dog eyes.

“There’s a time for cool, and a time for drool...of boredom,” He said awkwardly as he rolled his hoof around in thought. “And right now, it’s drooling time.” She gave him a weird look due to the strange analogy, and even he realized that it was definitely an… unexpected sentence to come out of his mouth.

“Riiiiight,” She said with an unsure expression before sighing and flopping onto the bed lazily, much to the relief of her uncle. “I guess I’ll just wait here, even though I feel perfectly fine!” 

“Yes you will, because that’s what you need right now.” He said as he patted her head comfortingly. “You’ll be fine, and I’m sure you can convince the doc that you’re ready to go when your mother gets back, but until then you just have to wait.” Uncle Lucky finally left her side and returned to his seat, but all Fighter could think about was how unfair this was. Her mother was able to excuse herself, yet she couldn’t? This was discrimination against young ponies, and she’d make sure to write a strongly worded letter to the parliament. Or she could just keep complaining, that sounded like a good plan too.

Feeling bored, she idly lifted her left hoof and gazed into the shimmering gem fused to her. She stared at it for a moment as she recalled the first time she saw it, the overwhelming sense of calm that washed over her. She also recalled the bright glow and rings it gave out every time those… powers were activated, by both her and Fiddler. There was no way that these things weren’t the cause of these strange occurrences, and that only made her wonder what other secrets it held.

“Hey Uncle Lucky,” she called out calmly, causing him to look up from his reading material yet again. “Where did you find this bracelet?” As she asked she idly dragged her hoof over it back and forth as it slowly let out more vibrations that were similar to the day prior.

“Oh… I uh, found it in a very upscale jewelry store, you don’t want to know about it here.” He answered sheepishly as he flipped his magazine back up.

“Really? But it’s so… weird.” She said as she stared into the gem, it’s smooth exterior seemingly staring right back at her.

“Well that’s the honest truth! I assure you that’s where I got it, nothing but the top of the line for my niece.” He said with a strange chuckle that Fighter couldn’t help but squint at. Ultimately she dropped her questioning and instead focused on the bracelet even harder, as she felt an overwhelming urge to continue fiddling with it. 

As she placed her hoof on the surface of the gem she felt a warm feeling gracing her frog, and with it even faster vibrations than before. She lifted her hoof and watched the gem glow brighter and brighter with the same green light she had seen the night prior. She feared what may happen, since she didn’t want to suddenly become covered in metal once again, but without anywhere else to run from the bound gem she could only watch and hope for the best. 

“AH!” She screamed as a strong burst of green magical light flew out towards her. She shielded her eyes fearfully, but after a few moments of nothing she slowly peeked over her leg and dropped her jaw at the sight. What she saw being projected out of the gem, and directly above her hoof, was a small screen made of green magic that looked like it came straight out of a science fiction comic. On it was a diagram of a bipedal creature, one that looked eerily like Clarke, with its arms and legs spread out, and directly beside it was a long list titled ‘spells’.

“Fighter? What happened?” Lucky asked cautiously, while still not getting out of his chair.

“The bracelet! The bracelet’s all weird, see?” She said as she jumped towards the foot of the bed and practically hanged her upper body off of it in order to show the screen to her uncle. He looked at her, then to her wrist, and back to her in silent confusion.

“Uhh, right. It’s… green?” He asked with a shrug.

“The screen, can’t you see it!?” She pleaded while pointing directly towards it. Lucky leaned forward and hummed as he squinted at the bracelet, making sure to place an inquisitive hoof on his chin just for good measure.

“Nope, now get some rest. You’re obviously seeing things.” He commented as he once again returned to the same magazine page he had been attempting to read for the past ten minutes. Fighter let out a groan and hung her head in disappointment before flopping back onto the bed fully, this time on her stomach and looking forward at the gem.

“Let’s see here.” She said silently as she touched the green screen experimentally, and unsurprisingly she found that it directly seemed to interact with her touch. With the first tap against the screen, specifically on the diagram, the human depiction grew until it took up the entirety of the image where directly above it read out ‘Clarke status’. Curiously, Fighter continued to tap on it, specifically on the different areas of the body that were labeled, and eventually found that she could hone in on the status of his limbs, torso, and head. Each time she did an in-depth diagram of its status, as well as veins and muscle groups, were laid out for her. She quickly backed out of the status page once she got a little too much information than she was prepared for. 

As she returned to the initial menu on her screen, she refocused her attention on the long list on the right side taking up only about a third of the screen labeled ‘spells’. With a smile she tapped on it and expanded the list, noting that the very first spell listed on the top left was the very same one she had used last night, ‘Kachin’. The list was filled to the brim with what looked to be empty slots where spells were supposed to go, but only the first two on the left were filled in. The second spell in the list, titled ‘Soul rip’ caught her attention, as the name stood out as something very odd, almost sinister really. 

She warily tapped onto it, in the hopes that it would explain the function as the status screen before it, but to her shock nothing happened. She did the same with ‘Kachin’ but once again there was no change or explanation for what the spells did. It dawned on her that the only way to know for sure was to… test it out, but she wasn’t sure if she ever really wanted to test out something called ‘Soul Rip’. Fighter shook her head clear of the haunting thoughts the name alone brought to her and closed out of the spell list, once again bringing her back to the main screen. 

“Okay… uh, how do I close you?” She questioned as she looked for something that would indicate the closure of the screen, an x or a button of some kind. She rotated her hoof curiously and tapped on the gem several times, yet the screen just wouldn’t disappear no matter what she tried. Finally, out of desperation, she smacked the gem against the metal bed frame lightly, but almost immediately she wished that she never did as a searing pain gripped her heart. It was only a fleeting moment, so quick and quiet that her uncle hadn’t even noticed, but for her it felt like an eternity of frozen time as her heart stopped, leaving her in a state of panic and pain afterward. 

She took continuous deep breaths as she clutched her racing heart, the beats pounding against her chest being a solid reminder that she was still alive, and slowly she laid down on her back. She looked at her bracelet with terror that she had never felt in her entire life, the very idea of what could happen to her if this little green trinket were cracked, or Luna forbid broken, making her shiver like a newborn foal. On the plus side however, at least the screen disappeared.

Deciding to take her uncle's advice, Fighter pulled the covers over her and got some much-needed rest after the little scare she had just put herself through. She drifted off almost immediately, and after a few more hours of sleep, she awoke once again, only this time it was due to the room being filled with voices that refused to quiet down. She slowly peeked through her eyelashes at the dark room, the darkness of the night sky from beyond the window being the main cause, and spotted several ponies as well as a familiar scarfed human.

“...It’s just unbelievable! I mean, why in Tartarus would any of this be happening?” The sound of her uncle's voice brought her further out of her sleep, causing her to yawn silently and begin rubbing her eyes.

“Like we said, we don’t know,” Clarke answered with a very serious tone, noting to Fighter Swan that whatever happened while they were gone must have been pretty serious.

“Yeah, and until the princess can stop it we can’t tell Fighter, alright?” Her mother said with worry in her voice.

“Can’t tell me what?” Fighter asked as she stretched her legs. She heard a chorus of surprised shuffles as they all stepped back and looked at her in shock. “You guys are super loud you know.” She commented as she finished her stretch and looked at all of them.

“Well kid, it’s complicated grown-up stuff. We just don’t want to bore you with the details is all. Heh, heh.” Clarke said with a chuckle as he tugged on his striped scarf. Fighter squinted at him, unconvinced of his answer, and immediately she could read the worry on his face.

“Okay sweetie, if you must know we were just informed by the princess that our living situation is going to be… dodgy for the next few weeks.” Her mother finally chimed in as she approached the bed. 

“What's… that supposed to mean?” She asked with a yawn interrupting her sentence. 

“It means that we’ll tell you more tomorrow... at our new home,” She said as she hoisted the filly out of the bed and onto Lucky’s back. “For now you go back to getting some shut-eye okay?” Fighter nodded in agreement, the grogginess making her a lot less inquisitive than usual, and leaned her head against Lucky's fur. Sadly, she found the positions there very uncomfortable.

“Can’t… sleep,” She said tiredly, the fear of complete consciousness growing within her as the perfect sleeping mood began to fade. Looking up she saw Clarke and her mother staring at her in confusion, so she quickly extended both of her hooves upwards. “Carry me?” She asked.

“Sure thing honey.” Her mother said in a babying tone as she approached, only to be cut off by her daughter shaking her head no and pointing her hooves to Clarke.

“Uhhh,” He said nervously as he looked over to her shocked mother. Clarke was no stranger to helping sleepy kids to their parents' car, or even onto the nap time mats, but it was always awkward whenever the kids at the daycare would ask for him to do something for them directly in front of their parents. Luckily Sunny looked away with a grumble and backed off, so with a heavy sigh, Clarke reapplied his smile and reached for the filly.

“Sure thing kiddo, but I thought you hated heights?” He asked as he scooped her up and cradled her in his arms. It was a tad awkward, since she was actually much larger than he initially thought, but nevertheless, she was still light enough for him to carry without much difficulty. 

“Not… that scared.” She said tiredly as she grabbed the dangling bit of his scarf and tucked it behind her to act as a pillow. With a little bit of fidgeting, Fighter managed to find the perfect angle to sleep, and in a matter of moments she was dozing off in his arms. Clarke looked away from the snoozing filly and towards her family, immediately feeling the weight of their gazes on him as he cradled the girl. 

“So…” He started with a nervous cough as he tried not to be crushed under the glare of her mother.

“Yeah, Imma head home now that all this is wrapped up,” Lucky said as he rotated his neck. “Just let me know if you need help with anything, alright Sunny?” 

“Will do Lucky, and thanks." She walked over and shared a quick hug with him before he left, and as he stood by the door for a moment he looked back at Clarke with the most intense look he’d seen from the bat pony all night. It wasn’t one of anger, malice, or judgment, just one of understanding. Without another word the stallion left the room, as well as the others, in silence. 

"I… suppose we should get going?" Clarke asked nervously, as he tried his best to keep the topic away from the current bundle of complications in his arms. Sunny gave him a sideways glance and let out a heavy breath through her nostrils before leading Clarke out of the room. 

What followed had to have been one of the most awkward experiences of Clarke's life, as he walked beside the unicorn mother through the dimly lit streets while holding her daughter in his arms. Every time he looked down at the peaceful filly he couldn’t help but feel slight pangs of guilt for what had happened to her. One thing was for certain though, he knew that deep down he’d do anything to keep that smile squarely on her face, no matter what.





Loud footsteps rang out through the empty closed off street, its echoes melding in with the chirps of crickets that persisted through the night. The footsteps were followed by a chorus of hoofsteps as the man and pony stepped down the street turned crime scene. Though blocked off, the guards stood no chance of stopping them from getting a closer look.

The man, a caucasian male with slicked-back dark hair, as well as a deep black suit and dress shoes, walked up to the crumbled remains of the apartment complex that had barely managed to stay on its feet following the attack. There were large signs and tapes barring anyone from entry, not that he intended to enter the shoddy building, as well as piles of torn debris that looked like the aftermath of a hurricane. The man placed his hands in his pocket and donned a look of contemplation.

"Well, I guess the Tourney has finally come to Canterlot, huh?" He turned to the side and looked at the dark jet black unicorn mare that had joined him on the right side. She was almost entirely black, save for some white highlighted tips in her mane, bright blue eyes, and an image of a blue Phoenix as her cutie mark. She hummed in agreement as she vacantly stared at the crumbled building before them, the silence only being undercut by the sounds of wind passing by. 

"So… should we switch cities? Canterlot might not be the safest place to lay low anymore." The man said with calm curiosity as he stared at the building. 

"No." The mare replied simply, her short and sweet attitude making the man chuckle. 

"You're right, it's inevitable that we'll be roped in again. No need to skip town yet again when things are ramping up so fast," He talked as he turned away from the building and walked down the street, his companion following him wordlessly as he did. "Besides, we won't be the ones looking for trouble. We'll just be the ones who end it if it comes our way." The mare gave another hum of agreement as they ventured down the dark street, their clothes and colors hiding them exceptionally well in the night.

The Tourney had truly begun, and they were confident in their assured victory. All they had to do was bide their time.