//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: Deception // Story: The Red Knight // by PhantomBulwark //------------------------------// Applejack was grinding her teeth again. Sunset knew the sound as well as she knew her own mind. It was a habit AJ had kicked for a long time, the fact that it had started up again did not bode well. AJ’s teeth continued to grind as she began pacing, and then, speaking. “Let me see if I’ve got this right. You’ve agreed to lose the tournament that is meant to feed us for the next two moons in order to impress the father of some lady you’ve only spoken to a handful of times?!” Sunset cringed, “… I’ve written her a few letters?” The older squire’s face turned an alarming shade of purple. “Tournaments are dangerous when you’re properly competing! Do you have any idea how dangerous what you are doing is? And what about the rest of us! If you die trying to prove a point to that pompous man what are we left with? The sun and moon help us if we get caught because you kill your fool-fucking-self!” “I’m not going to die; my armor is more than capable of handling the blows.” “Your armor has weak points,” AJ shrieked, “Dash and I raised you with more damn brains than that! You know very well all the ways you can wind up dead like this, don’t deny it!” “Well I can’t lose by withdrawing; Lord Night was very specific about that. I have to be beaten, completely trounced in each match.” “For Celestia’s sake Sunset, why? Why must it be this girl? You know you can’t marry her.” Sunset’s head snapped up, “why not?” she growled back, “why can’t I? I’m as proud and strong as any other knight!” “You’re not even a real knight!” Applejack dropped her head into her hands. “I love you like you’re my flesh and blood Sunset but please just this once can’t you see reason? You’re not a noble. You and I, and Dash, we’re nobodies. We’re the children of peasants Sugar cube and that’s all we’ll ever be.” Sunset swallowed thickly, “with enough faith a person can change their fate, AJ. Can’t you just believe in me?” “I wish I could. But there’ll be nothing left of you to believe in if you die trying to throw this tournament.” And with that, Applejack turned and retreated into her tent. Sunset stomped away from their camp, fuming. With gritted teeth she held in a scream and instead jabbed her spear at a nearby oak tree. There was a satisfying thud as the metal sank into bark. “May I ask what the tree did to offend you?” Sunset gave a startled yelp as she spun to face Luna. “Y-your highness!” She got halfway to a bow before the Princess waved a hand. “Do not bow, my friend. What troubles you?” Sunset shifted uneasily, “I will be losing the match tomorrow,” she answered bluntly. “I want to court Lord Night’s daughter, he’s ordered me to lose to prove myself.” Luna cringed and nodded, “I have known Night for a long while. He is stubborn and often full of himself. I am sorry to say you will not find him to be a man who changes his mind.” She reached and pulled the spear from the tree and raised a brow at the effort it took. “You are impressively strong.” Sunset smirked at the compliment, “let’s hope my strength will be enough to keep me in one piece tomorrow.” They talked for a while longer about nothing and everything. Sunset found that Luna was easy to speak to. The princess waxed poetic about beautiful women and about battle. She was far more relatable than Sunset expected. Sunset found herself returning Luna's trust with some of her own. She could not remember the last time she had spoken so easily to another person. She hardly even thought about what she might give away with her stories of her youth with Dash and AJ. When the sun began to sink, Luna bid her goodbye and good luck. Sunset returned to camp still burdened by the weight of her deal with the lord and anxious. Her sleep was fitful and when morning dawned both she and all of her company were in a foul mood. Dash had been uncharacteristically silent since Sunset had told them of her plan. She wouldn’t even look at her and Pinkie, who seemed to take all her cues from Dash, was following suit. Applejack was alternating between grinding her teeth and glaring daggers at Sunset. She loses. She loses and no one in her company can bring themselves to watch the carnage. The crack of lances breaking and the shouts of horror and glee from the crowd keep them all informed. They don’t need to look to know what is happening. After three matches the tournament officials question her but Lord Night intervenes and she’s permitted to continue. There are more than forty knights in town to compete. Unlike at Roan, here in Marechester there were many knights who were far more seasoned than her. Every last one seemed to hit like a battering ram. Twilight was practically shaking as she watched Ser Solaris take yet another blow from her opponent. Sunset had taken more punishment that anyone would deem fair and Twilight found that she hated her father and his arrogance in this moment. The lord was staring placidly down at the scene. Even Shining Amor had taken to looking away as Sunset took blow after blow. The final match was upon her. If she lost this one, she would be out of the tournament and she could rest. The thunder of hooves and the cheer of onlookers shook her. Her armor felt hot and overly heavy. She felt as if she was suffocating. There was an almighty crack as her opponent broke his lance on her shoulder. For the first time today, Sunset was unable to keep silent her howl of pain. The cry erupted from her chest like the roar of a wounded lioness. Her armor had not caved but the lance had broken in such a way that a shard split off. The splintered metal and wood was lodged in the exposed skin just beneath her arm. It had struck her between two ribs, lodged deep and sending a spray of blood across her side. With a snarl she yanked it from her skin, “Dash! I need some help here!” Her companions crowded around her, pulling her from her saddle. A tournament official approached them with a grimace. “Ser Solaris has been granted a fifteen minute recess to tend to her wound. If she does not return to the saddle in that time, she forfeits.” He hesitated for a long moment, “my lady, if I may be so bold, why do you subject yourself to this?” With a pained groan Sunset flopped into the chair AJ had brought her, “I am an idiot.” Twilight could stand it no longer. “Father please,” she pleaded, “she has endured this all without complaint. She has lost, just as you requested! Please end this; there is no need to torture her further.” Lord Night raised a brow, “you feel that she has proven herself? You feel that you know her heart? Tell me Twilight, how well do you even know the girl? Do you have any idea who she is? What she is?” “It doesn’t matter.” “She is a peasant. I have asked after her lineage, it is false. Her love for you is false. And I will end this façade.” Incensed by his callousness she shrieked, "It doesn't matter!" The door to their private section in the stands banged opened, interrupting her tirade. Princess Luna entered, her face unreadable. “Summoning me in such a way is highly irregular Night,” she growled. “What is it you want?” The noble smiled in a way that made his children’s hearts sink. “I’m afraid I have found a deceiver in our midst, my lady.”