//------------------------------//
// Chapter 6 - Freeze 
// Story: The Tourney 
// by Emo Rainbow 
//------------------------------//

Clarke watched as the ice witch woman lunged at him yet again, her claws reaching forward in a maniacal fashion, and sidestepped her just in the nick of time. Her claws drove into the plaster wall behind him, letting out a loud noise as they became stuck, and with his newfound opportunity, he began his counterattack. He sent a series of powerful blows to her head all while dodging her wild kicks from the side until a finishing uppercut pushed her back and out of the wall.

Kiki growled at him like an animal and dropped her hands low as her palms became filled with two orbs of icy magic. She threw the orbs into the air where they floated for a few seconds before sending out hundreds of sharp ice shards directly towards him. Clarke hopped backward and continued to narrowly dodge the shards as they landed behind him, but as he did Kiki practically slid across the floor on her icy boots to cut him off. 

She thrusted her right hand forward like a spear directed at his chest, but once again Clarke was barely able to avoid it, instead deflecting it to the side. Using her momentum he pushed her in the directions of the shards and used her as a human shield, and even though the razor ice merely bounced off of her harmlessly, he was still safe from the attack as it quickly lost power. 

Wasting no time after her failed attempt, Kiki spun around on the wet floor and sent the back of her hand flying towards him, and this time it was much faster than he was expecting. Clarke felt the claws scrape across his face, sending him flying through the air and into a pile of fruits several feet away. As soon as he made contact with the ground he rolled out of the way, predicting an attack from above, and narrowly dodged the powerful knee that Kiki smashed into the pile of bananas.

The moment he stood up she continued her assault, but this time he managed to catch her claws with his hands and hold his ground as they glared at each other. It seemed that they were evenly matched in strength, with neither gaining any distance on the other. Clarke could feel the drops of blood running down his cheek from the place he’d been struck, but based on the size and thickness of her claws he was glad he hadn’t been cut to ribbons in just one swipe.

“Clarke!” Fighter Swan called out as she watched him struggle against the woman, taking a step towards him out of fear until the blue colt cut her off instantly.

“Don’t.” He said robotically, the glowing eyes of his icy mask making him seem much more intimidating. Fighter took a step back as he stared at her, but in the corner of her eyes, she made sure to pay attention to Clarke’s struggle.

“Okay, okay…  Tremor, right?” She asked, receiving a curt nod from the colt. “Okay, let’s just talk.” She started as she tried to look him in the eyes.

“It’ll be over soon. She’ll take him, and you’ll be out. After that, we can move on.” He replied with grim finality, and even with the mask on she could tell that he was trembling.

“Or, or, we could just… not?” She asked with a hopeful smile. The colt tilted his head in confusion, his mind taking a moment to process what she said, until a loud smack echoed all throughout the store and drew both of their gazes. What they saw was Kiki in a lowered down stance charging towards one of the tilted aisles with Clarke hanging on her shoulder. She slammed him back first into the wooden shelves and proceeded to swipe and claw at him with feral anger and loud grunts. 

Clarke had his arms up, the claws quickly tearing through the sleeves of his jacket and bruising his arms, as he did his best to block her attacks. The pain was beginning to mount, and his impressive resilience was quickly fading away as a result of the onslaught. Fighter again tried to run to his aid, until the colt stepped in her path once more.

“I don’t wanna hurt you. Just go home and forget about it… please?” He asked slowly, his voice filled with sadness as he did. 

“Well… why don’t you!?” She said as she finally stood up to him with much more confidence in her stance. Tremor’s cold expression seemed to falter for a moment as she said this, but as soon as she saw it, it was gone. “I don’t wanna fight, but my friend needs me!” Her heart began to burn with a fiery determination, and as expected, her gem quickly glowed a bright green hue.

“Don’t do it.” He said as he watched her with growing dread, but it was already too late to talk her out of it. She looked across the back of the store to where Clarke was, his brown arms already growing redder and redder as he defended against Kiki's attacks, and the two shared a look. They both knew what needed to be done, and that words weren’t going to be enough to do it. Well, except for maybe one word. With a quick nod between the both of them, the store began to be filled with absolutely blinding pink and green lights of power.

“KACHIN!” The moment the spell left Fighter's mouth she felt the familiar sensation of a thin and cold substance covering her from head to hoof, and as she looked down at her body, she smiled at the armor that would decide this fight. 

A loud scraping sound echoed from the tossed shelves as Kiki's claws dragged across Clarke's metal arms and practically shattered on contact. Once they had broken, Clarke reached out and grabbed Kiki's arm and pulled her closer, where he then headbutted her so hard that she fell onto the ground in front of him. If they were evenly matched in strength while he was in his base form, then with Kachin he was practically untouchable. If there was any time to knock some sense into her, it would be now. 

“Take this!” She yelled as she faced her palm towards Clarke, firing off another massive ice spike the size of a football directly towards him. Clarke simply stood there confidently as the spike shattered against his metal chest, causing no harm or movement to him in the slightest. He could practically feel the regret piling onto her shoulders as she watched him shrug off what must’ve been one of her more effective attacks. 

Meanwhile, Tremor looked at Fighter Swan with pure terror as she stood before him in all of her metallic glory. Neither made a move while their humans fought, and Fighter could tell that there were mountains upon mountains of conflict happening in the boy's mind.

“Last chance Tremor…” She said cautiously as she tensed her muscles and steeled herself for a fight. Tremor began to hyperventilate as he looked at her, then at the ground, then at Kiki, and back to her in a matter of seconds. 

“I…” He looked like he was finally about to run from it all until the massive ice-covered woman skated across the ground, stopping next to him and placing her hand on his back.

“What the hell are you doing Tremor!? Get them!” Suddenly, a switch had flipped in the colt's brain as he received his orders straight from the woman's mouth. 

“GARASEI!” He repeated his spell, and the ice covering their bodies seemed to grow larger and stronger as he did. Fighter braced herself as he opened his mouth and let out a torrent of frosty air that made her metallic body grow stiff and slow as a result. She watched as Kiki jumped through the air in a blur directly towards her, her claws pointed out and looking ten times stronger than before. Time seemed to slow down as she grew closer, until Clarke managed to step in at the last second and block her attack with one palm effortlessly.

“No, you don’t!” He shouted as he pushed her back and rushed her down with a flurry of punches that hit every single one of their marks. Kiki continuously tried to swipe through his fists, but every time she was batted away and smacked instead. There was almost nothing she could do except grunt and flail angrily as he controlled her movements and momentum with practiced ease.

While Fighter was distracted with the spectacle that was Clarke’s speed and technique, she was blindsided by a tackle from the icy colt as he rammed into her head first and knocked her stiff body to the ground. He rushed towards her and prepared to stomp on her stomach, but before he could she rolled further onto her back and bucked upwards with her hind legs, shooting him straight into the ceiling so hard that he smashed the flimsy plaster and carried bits and pieces of it down on top of him.

Just as Tremor hit the ground, Kiki joined him in a similar state of pain as Clarke suplexed her into the tile, then sent her sliding towards the colt with a powerful kick to the groin. They took a moment to lie there in pain before stumbling back to their feet. The difference in power was apparent, and it seemed to them that the fight was already over.

“It’s over, end this. We’ve all caused enough damage as it is.” Clarke said as he slammed his fist into his open palm and rolled it around with a loud metallic clang. Both Tremor and Kiki looked at each other, with the former looking ready to pass out, and the latter panting like she’d lost a lung. However, to everyone's surprise, Kiki’s hard pants turned into hearty laughter.

“Ahahahahahaha! Oh no, we’re not even close to being done!” She said through clenched teeth as she placed a hand on Tremors back and squeezed, making the colt flinch. She looked down at him as the ice mask slowly began to shrink, and he could already tell what she wanted him to do. It was the very same thing that haunted him in his dreams, the spell that won them the last battle. She wanted him to use the fog.

“G-g-gaisau.” He whispered while shivering like a wet cat, his heart and spirit no longer guiding the spell as it did before. Regardless, his gem still glowed in response to his activation, and from deep within his stomach he felt a cold substance traveling up his throat. 

Clarke and Fighter watched nervously as Tremor opened his mouth and let out a torrent of thick, icy blue fog that fell onto the ground and began to create a massive circle around all of them. This fog was much darker and colder than the ice he let out earlier, and in one swift motion, all of the fog shot upwards and created a thick mist surrounding both of them that obscured their sight.

“This is… not good.” Fighter said nervously as she stood on her hind legs and placed her back against Clarke’s, her head reaching about halfway up his body. 

“Yep, very not good.” He agreed as they both looked around the deep fog surrounding them, unable to see anything further than elbow distance. Suddenly, Fighter gasped as she saw a pair of glowing yellow eyes in the distance that seemed to glare at her.

“Clarke, I think I see them!” She said as she tapped on his back in an attempt to get his attention.

“Yeah, me too!” He replied while not following her point. Curiously, she turned her head as much as she could to see what he meant, and what she saw were four glowing yellow eyes deep within the other end of the fog staring at them. The eyes quickly grew from four to six, to eight, to twelve, twenty-two, thirty-four, and soon it looked like they were surrounded by beady glowing eyes from all directions. 

“What do we do?” Fighter asked nervously as she reached for Clarke’s hand in an attempt to find some comfort. 

“Simple, we just need to run out of this dome,” He said as he watched the eyes surrounding them, each one getting steadily brighter with every passing second. The fog was unbearably cold, and despite their metallic bodies shielding their skin from pure hypothermia, he could feel his joints and muscles growing stiffer with the inactivity. “Stay close, Fighter. I mean it this time.” He gave her a determined glare that she returned with a nod of understanding. 

Clarke dropped her hoof and ran directly into the fog as fast as he could, ignoring the eyes glaring at him from all directions. The cold seemed to grow worse the further he ran, but he pushed on no matter how much he felt his body tearing and scraping against itself. He looked back to make sure that Fighter was still with him, but as soon as he did he heard a loud laugh approaching from behind.

“Haha!” Kiki laughed as she ran past him while slashing into his back with her claws, tearing into his metal coat with ease due to the lowered temperature. Clarke growled and spun around to face her, but by the time he had done so, she was already gone. With the hit and run cut short, he turned to Fighter in order to scoop her up into an over the shoulder carry, but just as before there was another quick attack. This time, a massive wooden crate soared through the fog and smashed against Fighters forehead, causing her to stumble back into Clarke’s arms as he grabbed her. 

From there, the attacks only spiraled out of control as a series of hard frozen fruits, and slashing claws berated them from beyond the fog. Clarke grabbed onto Fighter and curled around her as best as he could in order to take the full force of their attacks, and every time he thought he knew where they were coming from, a different pair of eyes came rushing forward to attack them. 

With each passing second, the attacks became faster, and the cuts grew deeper, until finally, Kiki became too impatient. She charged at him from straight ahead and tried to cut straight through his throat, but with a fierce punch to her claws, he shattered the ice on her hand. Clarke thought that he’d stopped her for good, until he saw her smiling beneath the mask. She charged forward yet again and shoulder tackled him right in the jaw, causing him to fall down and lose his grip on Fighter. The filly was too shell shocked and freezing to make a move against her assailant, and in an instant she was tossed further into the fog, effectively separating them in the worst possible way.

“Fighter!” He yelled as he charged at Kiki, only for the woman to slink back into the fog with ease due to the newfound shift in power and speed. Despite their attacker disappearing, Clarke continued to charge deeper into the fog as fast as he could in the direction closest to where he last saw Fighter. He heard clashes and scraping off in the distance as some form of fighting continued, but every so often they’d find their way back to him and slow his search even more. 

Eventually, he decided to just buckle down and fight them as soon as they came close, but that proved just as ineffective as the hardened grocery objects were used as distractions for Kiki to come closer and attack him. It felt like hours since they’d first started, and suddenly he felt a massive wave of fatigue washing over him as the metallic shell quickly faded away, leaving him completely exposed to the brunt of their attacks.

Finally, Kiki Charged in one last time and delivered a flurry of sharpened pinpoint blows to his abdomen, all the way up to his head before jumping up and drop kicking him in the chest. With that he slid across the frozen floor as the fog quickly faded away, his body aching, and his will to fight thoroughly tapped. Kiki walked over to him slowly and lifted him up to his knees, where she then grabbed onto his hair and kept him looking forward. What he saw was a massive pile of cans, frozen goods, and finally, a torn aisle shelf all piled on top of Fighter Swan, pinning her to the ground indefinitely. Beside her was Tremor, looking at Clarke sadly and doing his best to look anywhere but his eyes. 

“I win,” Kiki said as she panted heavily from the exertion they had all just undergone. “Tremor, could you do the honors?” She said as she pointed to Clarke, and suddenly the colt had no problem looking up at them.

“W-wait, w-w-what?” He asked in disbelief as he stepped away from them. 

“This is the only way to end it. You’ll have to do it eventually, so finish him off!” She demanded as she pulled on Clarke’s hair once again, lifting his head and exposing his bare neck. Tremor looked at them in horror, and suddenly the same gut-wrenching feeling he had been having all day resurfaced. The beaten looks on all of their faces screamed out at him to let it go. No matter who they were, or what had happened, there was no reason to take a life, and he wasn’t going to stand for this.

“No…”  He whispered silently as he looked down at the ground, before slowly raising his head and glaring at her. “We don’t have to kill them. I won’t do it.” 

“Tremor, that wasn’t a request. I said finish them off.” She replied angrily as she gripped harder into Clarke’s hair, causing him to wince in pain. As they continued to bicker about whether or not to kill him, Clarke was doing his best to summon any and all strength he had left. There wasn’t much, but there had to be something he could do to stop them. That’s when he met eyes with Fighter Swan once again, and saw her slowly raising her gemmed hoof into the air with a look of pain. She was planning something and only needed a few more seconds to do it, and while he wished he could help her stall for time, everything he had was gone. They could only hope for a miracle.

“I said no! I won’t do it!” Tremor said angrily as he stomped his hoof on the ground. That last act of defiance seemed to be the breaking point for Kiki, as she let go of Clarke’s hair and slowly walked towards Tremor menacingly. “Uh… well... what I meant was…” Tremor said in fear as he backpedaled away from her, but no amount of last-minute deals was going to save him. 

In one swift motion, she reached down and grabbed Tremor by the mane and lifted him up to eye level. She then punched him in the gut as hard as she could, causing him to wheeze out every ounce of breath in his lungs. Clarke thought she was going to drop him, but he was so very wrong. 

“You. Do. What. I. Say. You. Little. Bastard!” Each word was emphasized with a powerful gut punch, until the final one let out an audible crack as something within broke. Once she was finished, and Tremor was left barely conscious, she threw him against the wall like a balled-up piece of paper and ‘hmphed’ in disappointment. 

“Remember this next time I tell you to do something.” She said before turning back to Clarke and preparing her claws one last time. No more words needed to be said, no more time wasted. All that was left to do was to finish them off and gain the power boost from it. To Kiki, it was all finally over, at least, that’s what she thought.

“Soul Rip!” Fighter shouted from beneath the pile of junk with as much energy as she could muster. Suddenly, she felt every single bit of power within her body being drained in an instant and transferred over to Clarke, who in turn felt like he’d been hit with a second wind. His eyes narrowed, time slowed, and his feet finally regained the strength to lift his body back up. 

He felt calmer than he ever had before, almost like he knew exactly what to do in light of this new spell being cast on him. He extended his right arm as his gem began to swirl with a bright pink, and now green, hue. He felt warm energy flowing across his arm until it took the form of a brightly colored blade mimicking the colors of his and Fighters gems. Time was at a standstill, and no one even reacted to the newly made weapon as he slowly walked up to Kiki, and in one calculated motion, he stabbed the blade directly into her chest. 

“Ahhhhhhh!” She screamed as all of her icy powers and stamina drained from her in an instant. The once kneeling Clarke seemingly teleporting in front of her with a massive blade that drove straight through her entire body. It only took one second for the spell to complete, but once it did both Fighter and Clarke felt an otherworldly essence filling their hearts and revitalizing their bodies with newfound strength. 

Once Clarke withdrew the energy blade from her abdomen, he felt a massive sense of worry filling him as he watched her drop to the floor in an exhausted heap, gasping for air even harder than before. The worry quickly faded as he saw that she wasn’t bleeding profusely on the ground, telling him that whatever the spell had done, it wasn’t something meant to kill her. 

“What… did… you… do?” She wheezed out between pants as she desperately tried to crawl away from him. Clarke was about to ask if she was alright, until he heard several grunts of pain coming from his right.

“Hey Clarke, a little help?” Fighter said with a gasp as she attempted to lift the pile of junk that was pinning her down. 

“Oh my god,” He said as he ran to her side and lifted the massive pile just enough for her to crawl out of it. She uttered a thank you for his help and gasped for air as she laid down and stared at the ceiling. “Fighter! Are you hurt, are you okay?” He asked as he lifted her up gently and inspected her for any injuries. 

“Mmf, hey I’m fine. Quit it.” She said in annoyance as she batted away his hands, but as she looked at his worried expression, her reluctance to being checked quickly slipped away. She silently nodded to him and lifted up her forehooves in a t-pose to allow him a better look, but after a quick once over he found that she was relatively no worse for wear.

“Thank god you’re alright.” He said as he wrapped her in a tight bear hug that made her feel extremely happy. She buried her face into the crook of his shoulder and closed her eyes as the warmth of his hug enveloped her, the sensations he gave being almost identical to her mother's hugs. 

Their embrace was cut short as they heard a faint scraping noise slowly moving across the ground. Clarke looked up and saw Kiki dragging herself closer towards the wall where Tremor laid, and when their eyes met she only quickened her pace. Clarke slowly walked up to her, with Fighter Swan in tow, and in return, Kiki stumbled across the floor in a sad attempt to run away. 

“That’s enough, you need to stop this,” Clarke told her as she finally slammed into the wall and used it to help her stand back up. 

“No… I’m getting out of here. You’re crazy if you think I’ll let you kill me like a dog.” She said as she spit on the ground angrily.

“Are you serious!?” Fighter shouted angrily as she stomped on the ground, her tail swishing from side to side in frustration. “After what you did you should count yourself lucky you’re even conscious!” She said angrily, causing Kiki to scowl at her. 

“Can it kid, you don’t know what I’ve got in me. You’re just plain stupid if you think this is the end!” She yelled before slowly crouching low to the ground. Fighter and Clarke assumed that she was just losing control of her legs, but instead, they saw as she grabbed onto Tremor and tossed his unconscious body towards them like a sack of rocks. Clarke quickly lunged forward and grabbed him, but as soon as he did he saw Kiki running for the front door of the building. 

“She’s getting away!” Fighter said as she took a few steps in the direction she’d ran, but a quick whistle from Clarke brought her back around. “Huh?”

“It’s Tremor, he’s barely breathing,” He said as he raised the colt up to his ear and listened to his shallow and raspy breaths. “We need to get him to a hospital, now!” He said with urgency as he rushed for the emergency exit near the far back of the store. Fighter looked back towards the front where Kiki had left and shook her head in disappointment. That lady was going to be trouble for them if left alone, but they didn’t have any time to waste looking for her.

Fighter followed Clarke out of the back of the store and into the darker alleyway covered in the waning midday light. They must’ve spent half the day fighting in the store, it was almost hard to believe. 

“Where’s the nearest hospital?” Clarke asked as he turned to her in a panic.

“I-I don’t know! I just got here too, Clarke!” She screamed nervously as she tapped a hoof against her head, desperate for any idea to come. “Maybe… maybe if we run around town as fast as we can, we can find it, or at least get some directions.”

“I don’t know Fighter, I’m fast but worn out. We might not have time for that.” He said as he looked at the pained expression on Tremor’s face. Fighter resumed her thinking, until a strange premonition told her to check the bracelet once again. She lifted it up and browsed the screens within, and noticed an exclamation point flashing on the spells list. As she pulled it up, her eyes widened.

“We might not have to run. Maybe we can skate!” She said triumphantly as she ran up to Clarke and jumped onto his side in order to show him the screen more clearly. He looked at her like she was speaking nonsense until he looked at the bracelet and gasped in surprise.

“Do it,” he said with determination as he cracked his neck eagerly. Fighter got low and took in a deep breath, doing her best to find the familiar sensation in her heart before attempting their brand new spell.

“GARASEI!” She shouted, causing the ground beneath them to briefly rumble as she did. What followed was a familiar transformation, only this time they were the ones feeling it as the ice slowly engulfed their legs and face. Fighter kicked her hooves across the ground like she was on skates and smiled as she felt herself glide along the pavement with ease. She did a small twirl in front of Clarke until she skidded to a halt and faced him confidently, motioning for him to follow with a nod of her head. 

Clarke leaned down and kicked his feet just as if he would on ice skates, and thankfully all those times he’d taken the daycare kids to the ice skating rink had paid off as he glided across the ground just as Fighter did, albeit with slightly less grace. What followed was the two bursting out of the alleys surrounding the store and down the street at speeds neither could have ever hoped to reach on foot or hoof. 

Fighter stopped every so often on the side of the street to ask if somepony knew where the nearest hospital was, and every time they took more than a second to answer, she quickly moved on to the next one. Sure she might have looked like a weird mix between a pony and a wendigo like this, but that was no reason to go brain dead when being asked a simple question. Eventually, they ran into a pony who wasn’t too busy eating paint chips that was able to give them ample directions to the hospital, and with their destination locked neither wasted any time in getting there.

As they traveled down the street, Fighter turned into one of the massive buildings on the left of the walkway. Clarke noticed that it was the same exact one he’d come to yesterday, and suddenly he felt extremely idiotic. He'd make an effort to remember the path, so that next time they needed it they wouldn't waste any time.

“Help! We need help here!” Fighter screamed abruptly as she skated into the main lobby of the hospital like a bat out of Tartarus. Several ponies waiting on the chairs by the walls, as well as the receptionist at the desk, gasped in fright as they looked at her, but the moment Clarke skated in a few seconds later with an unconscious colt in his arms they immediately jumped from startled, to screaming in terror.

“We need help, please!” As he spoke, the ice finally melted off, revealing the fearful expressions beneath the faceless glowing demon mask. The receptionist slowly peeked his head over the desk as Clarke rushed up to him with Tremor cradled in his arms. There was a moment of silence as the stallion looked at the colt before quickly pressing a button on his desk and speaking into it. 

“On-call response team 2 report to the main lobby, I repeat team 2 report to the lobby.” His voice echoed throughout the hospital, and quickly he led them both to one of the automated doors beside his desk. Not two seconds after his announcement, the doors swung open as a group of four ponies wearing blue scrubs came in with a stretcher. They quickly took Tremor and placed him on top, then carted him in while bombarding Clarke with questions.

“What’s his name? What happened to him?” One of the nurses asked as she trotted at a brisk pace beside Clarke and the stretcher, a clipboard engulfed in yellow magic floating beside her as she did. 

“His name is Tremor, he was attacked viciously by a... in the stomach until he lost all of his breath. He fell unconscious soon after and might have a few broken bones.” He said, trying his best to move past his Freudian slip. Luckily it seemed there were many other questions she had that were far more pressing like his blood type, allergies, guardian name. He did his best to give her any information he knew, with Fighter there to fill in any gaps she could, and as they did he could already see the team placing a breathing tool over Tremors mouth and pumping into it generously.

It seemed like they were going to be in this for the long haul, and all they could do was hope that they made it in time.





Kiki stumbled away from the scene of the battle and kept a hand on the wall as she limped into a dark alleyway and hid among the trash cans to rest. Everything was going just fine until Tremor had to screw everything up, and now here she was at the end of her rope. She felt like at any second she’d just keel over and die, but the thought of the ordeal still kept a fiery rage burning in her cold heart.

She didn’t need Tremor to get her wish, she was strong enough on her own to make it to the end. Those cowards at the store wouldn’t have the guts to take him out, so as long as they protected him she’d have nothing to worry about on her end. She was powerful, smart, cunning, and resistant to many of the elements thanks to her powers. As soon as she recovered, she’d find some easier prey to get her strength up, then she’d come back for those metal bastards at the store. She’d never forget those faces.

She looked down at her bruised palms and slowly flipped them over to look at the frosted blue gem on her wrist. She’d already unlocked so many secrets with it thus far, so who knew what else was in store. She could track other fighters with it, so maybe if she tried hard enough, she could cast the spells without that brats help. Even if she couldn’t, this was just a minor setback. Nothing was going to stand in her way of the perfect wish, even if she had to go it alone. 

Suddenly, the sound of a rolling metal can drew her attention deeper into the alley, where the setting sun's light was unable to shine. She watched apprehensively as the can slowly rolled out of the darkness, and soon she could hear the menacing footsteps of someone approaching. They clacked against the stone slowly and methodically, like a metronome or a ticking clock. Her mouth grew dry as her nerves began to overwhelm her, but no matter how many steps she heard it was almost as if they never grew closer. 

Her heart rate increased as she stared at the dark veil at the end of the alley, her imagination filling her with horrific scenarios, until the mysterious newcomer finally revealed himself. It was a pale white man with a dark suit, black dress shoes, a dark blue tie, slicked jet black hair, and a smile that would put even the most desperate of car salesmen to shame. The heels of his shoes let out the distinct clacks she’d been hearing thus far as he slowly walked closer to her, but the moment Kiki stood up to face him, he stopped. 

“Who the hell are you?” She asked with as strong of a voice as she could muster as she felt the fatigue threatening to bring her back down to her knees.

“Well Ms. Bahod, my name is Olivier. We’ve been watching you for quite some time, and I must say you are prone to making quite a mess.” He said calmly as he placed both of his hands in front of his waist in a seemingly polite fashion, but just like with Clarke in the store, she could feel the overwhelming power radiating off of him.

“You’ve been… watching me?” She asked curiously as she took a very subtle step back. She wasn’t stupid, a fight with this guy would certainly mean curtains for her, so her only option was to run as fast as she could. 

“Yes, we’re trying to keep tabs on all of the people here, and let’s just say that you were the easiest to spot in a crowd,” He said as he lifted his empty hand and stared into it like he was holding something. “Though I must thank you for introducing us to a very interesting duo.” 

Kiki took the opportunity she was handed to take a large step back as his eyes were fixed on his hand. She attempted to turn tail and run, but she found herself stuck in the same position, staring at Olivier as he nonchalantly stared into his empty hand. Suddenly, a crackling noise filled her ears as a black unicorn with white frosted tips in her mane floated down from atop the building beside them and joined the man at his side. 

“You… you didn’t even say anything.” Kiki said as she tried her best to move out of her frozen state, but the weight on her shoulder kept her there like she was a statue.

“My partner Nightingale here prefers to be… soft-spoken. We can accomplish with a whisper, what others can with all that shouting and flare,” He said as he stepped closer once more, only this time his smile began to fade. “I suppose I should tell you why we’re here.”

“To kill me?” She asked through clenched teeth, and suddenly the man stopped in his tracks. 

“Heh, is it that obvious?” He asked with a sorrowful smile. “Trust me when I say that I take no pleasure in this, I’m simply doing what must be done. My wish will be used to bring prosperity to our world, and when I return to earth with everyone’s powers I will make sure you are all remembered for your sacrifice.” He jutted his arm out at an angle like he was preparing something big, and suddenly Kiki felt a strange sense of Deja Vu.

“Soul Rend.” The unicorn said calmly, almost in a whisper, that caused both her and Olivier’s gems to glow, hers a deep black, and his a bright white. Kiki couldn’t even follow what was happening before she let out a wheeze of breathless pain as she felt the sharp white blade of Olivier's hand tearing into her stomach just like before. This time it was different, however. It didn’t just feel like all of her stamina was being drained, it felt like everything about her was being sucked up through the gaping hole in her chest.

She continued to silently cry as her very soul was torn apart and sucked up by the man, and as she looked into his eyes, she could see the regret filling them. Finally, he pushed her off of his blade, letting it vanish from sight as the blue magic from her bracelet flooded into his until it was engulfed in the sea of white. She trembled helplessly as she hovered her hands over the gap in her chest, the pain within, and the damage it caused being far more permanent than Clarke’s.

“You will be remembered, Kiki. I promise.” He said as he knelt down beside her and placed a comforting hand on her head. Finally, as she closed her eyes for the final time, her entire body turned to dust and faded away. The last pieces of her very essence were torn apart and scattered, with it’s last remains going to the man beside her.

They watched as the frosted blue gem strapped to her wrist fell into the pile of ash. Once it touched the ground, a bright white ring circled around it and seemingly sucked it in like a black hole until there was nothing left of the magical artifact. Olivier and Nightingale looked at it disinterested, as it wasn't the first time they'd seen the mysterious disappearance of the gems, and quickly the man reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a small book. He flipped open to a page within, the left side filled with various names, and started at the very top of the next. With a long sigh, he wrote the name 'Kikilani Bahod' at the very top, before closing and stowing it away calmly. 

"What do you even plan to do with all those names?" Nightingale asked as she already began walking deeper into the alley towards the shadows they'd emerged from.

"When I return to earth, I'll find their loved ones. I will offer my condolences and make sure I do everything in my power to gain their forgiveness." He mumbled with audible remorse in his words. Before every life he took, he remembered to find their names, and keep them safe by his heart. 

“Hmm… admirable.” Nightingale said as they were finally shrouded in the darkness that covered their trek back to the hideout.

“Of course, as the future king of my world, I have every obligation to these people’s loved ones. They gave their lives on the field of battle, all in order to make sure I get my wish,” He said as he looked back at the pile of ash one last time. “This is the very least I can do in return for their sacrifice.”





Clarke and Fighter Swan sat in the dim candlelit dining room, with Fighter atop two boxes stacked on each other, and Clarke sitting on a broken radiator they found in the broom closet. Both of their heads were hanging low as they stared into their fancy stolen palace cups filled to the brim with water. The silence was deafening, yet it said so much about both of their thoughts, as they came to grips with the horrifying reality of today’s grocery shopping adventure.

After admitting Tremor into the hospital, answering their questions, and waiting for him for a few hours, they finally left for home. They were lucky to have done so at such an opportune time, because who knew what kinds of questions, or accusations, his parents may have had if they’d met. The doctors said that he was going to be fine… eventually. The beating he’d sustained, as well as untreated injuries from some time ago, made it difficult to time when he’d fully recover. All they could do now was offer him their best wishes, and pray that Kiki would leave him alone for good. Wherever she was.

“We almost died,” Fighter blurted out, her whisper sounding like a shout when piercing the veil of silence hanging over them. Clarke only craned his eyes upward to glance at the downtrodden filly, before looking down at his glass and nodding in agreement. For some reason, this fight was even more draining than the first, even after they’d used three spells in the span of an hour. He was still terribly sore, and he could only imagine how Fighter was feeling, but he was nowhere near the vegetable state he was on the second day he was here. So why? Why did his heart feel heavier than ever before?

“Clarke… why didn’t you tell me?” She asked in her most sincere voice. No pretenses, no tricks, no fake emotion, just the question waiting for an answer. Clarke slid his cup off to the side and laid his hands together before answering, his head and eyes still not raising for a minute or two. 

“I just… wanted to spare you. I hoped that over time I could… ease you into the reality of it all. I didn’t want to crush your ambition with the truth about what we had to do,” He said before shaking his head and laying it against his palm as he chuckled. He ridiculed her mother for the very same thing last night, and here he was doing the same, only ten times worse. He guessed that today's episode of ‘the screwed up life of Clarke’ was sponsored by the word hypocrite. “But now I see that I was only protecting myself. I didn’t have the heart to tell you the whole truth, and I nearly got us killed today. I’m so sorry for that.” Fighter’s jaw dropped ever so slightly as she watched the man hold back his tears.

“Clarke, it’s okay. I sort of… already knew I guess.” She reached out and touched the hand still on the table, before sitting back down and waiting for him to look at her. 

“You did?” He asked in shocked confusion, unsure of what to do.

“Well, kind of? It was just an idea really. After the way Fiddler and Todd acted, spouting off about killing and stuff, I had a hunch that they weren’t the only ones. It only grew when you told me about the Tourney, and today pretty much sealed it.” She explained before sipping from her cup. Clarke, however, was nothing short of stunned when she’d finished her explanation.

“You’re… something else Fighter,” She hummed in confusion as he said this, silently asking him to elaborate as she tilted her head. “Not in a bad way! I just mean… I’ve never met anypony as smart as you.”

“What?” She said as she slid her empty cup away as well. “Thanks, but I’m not that smart. There’s plenty of ponies smarter than me.” She said as she rubbed her hooves together and looked away in embarrassment, her pink cheeks somehow growing visibly darker from the blush. Clarke just leaned his head to the side and smiled at her.

“Well, I certainly wouldn’t’ve put the pieces together unless it was spelled out for me. That’s for sure.” She looked up at him nervously, but quickly looked away when she saw his smile. She wasn’t used to receiving compliments unless they were from her mom, or were about how cute she was. She quickly shook her head free of those thoughts and placed her hooves back on the table, an action that made Clarke let out an ‘oh’ of anticipation.

“At any rate, I accept the terms of defeat. I lost the bet, so from here on out I’ll follow your plans of staying inside and planning out every step we take. You were right.” She said as she lowered her head in defeat. Clarke was taken aback by her admission and coughed into his hand before extending an open palm to her.

“I appreciate it, Fighter, but honestly I’d say you were the one who’s right,” She looked up at him the same way he looked down at her, and now it was his turn to explain. “Today was scary and downright foolish, but it was a great learning experience. Now we know that pushing through with raw strength isn’t enough, and that our stamina isn’t infinite.”

“Yeah, but… we almost died.” She said as she shifted uncomfortably in her seat, the words feeling terrible every time she said them. 

“And that isn’t your fault.” She looked up at him in surprise as she heard those words. It was like a weight she didn’t even know was there had been lifted. “We’re going to have to go out again, it’s inevitable, but until then we can prepare. We can train to use our powers and not lose stamina, as well as get used to the one we stole from Kiki.” Fighter looked down at the gem on her leg and smiled.

“Yes! Then the next time we go out there we can make sure we win. When we do…” She looked down at her hooves and nodded with determination. “...we can make sure that ponies like Tremor will never get hurt again. We can put an end to this, and make everyone see that we don’t need to fight!” She declared triumphantly, garnering a fist slam into the table by Clarke.

“Damn straight!” He said as he grabbed onto his cup and pointed it towards her in the universal gesture of revelry and companionship. “We’ll save the ones who don’t want to fight, and to the ones that do, we’ll beat some sense into them!” Fighter smiled and grabbed onto her cup…. with one hoof? Questions for later.

“Yeah! We’ll find a way to end this peacefully!” With that, they slammed their cups together and laughed triumphantly. It was true that neither of them knew how they were going to do it, but at the moment it hardly seemed to matter to them. All they knew was that today was a game-changer, and they were finally going to start playing. Only this time, they’d be playing by their own set of rules. 

“I’m home!” Sunny shouted as the sounds of the front door opening and closing echoed through the empty house. She tiredly dragged her hooves across the floor until she stood at the doorway to the dining room, her eyes baggy, and her mane a mess as she leaned against the wall. 

“Hey, mom! Good day at work?" Fighter asked with a smile as both her and Clarke looked over to her happily.

“Ha! Well, it certainly was… a day… that happened,” She said with a long sigh. She looked up to both of their smiling faces and could tell they were a bit bruised and frazzled, but that was no different for her daughter than white on rice. What was a strange sight was the absolutely massive, and seemingly genuine, smile on her face. A smile that Clarke seemed to be sharing. “So what’s got you all smiling and junk?” She asked with slightly more sass than she intended.

“Oh, nothing…” Clarke started as he lowered his empty cup and looked over to Fighter. “We just had a really strong bonding moment today.” Fighter looked over to him as well, and they both shared a respectful nod.

“Okay?” Sunny said, feeling a little awkward about the situation until the growl of her stomach thankfully brought in a change of subject. “Well, that’s good, cause I’m starving. Did you guys have enough to get what you needed at the grocery store?” As she asked the seemingly innocuous question, she quickly noticed the smiling faces of the duo dropping in an instant.

Their jaws dropped as they sat there, speechless and unable to move in the face of her bomb of a question. It seemed that in all of this time, they completely forgot the entire reason they left the house today, and they were going to need a very good explanation for her mother. 

Sunny squinted at them as they shared nervous looks with each other, then chuckled to herself as she realized what this meant. “Let me start you guys off by saying that I know what you’re about to say is a lie, and that you have ten seconds to prepare.” She said with a raised hoof before dropping it to the ground and looking at them expectantly.

“Well, that’s more time than usual at least,” Fighter muttered before her and Clarke immediately leaned forward on the table and started scheming. If there was one other thing they learned today, it was that they were either too brave, or too stupid to give up. 

It was probably the latter.