• Published 23rd Mar 2014
  • 3,288 Views, 304 Comments

Contest of Champions - thatguyvex



The Lunaverse Six compete against champions from across the world in a test of skill, wit, and courage that will push them to their limits.

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Chapter 4: Pieces on the Board

Chapter 4: Pieces on the Board

For several long heartbeats the two mares merely stood there staring at each other, the magician from Ponyville and the kirin from distant Shouma. Trixie’s surprise at running into Dao Ming was complete and she found herself in the rare state of being at a total loss for words. Dao Ming seemed just as taken aback to find Trixie in this clearing. Blinking her silver eyes, Dao Ming was first to recover and her expression stilled, like a rippling pool suddenly turning smooth as glass.

“What are you doing here?” Dao Ming asked, tone tinged with a hint of accusation that made Trixie suddenly feel a spike of irritation.

“What am I doing here? Taking a walk!” Trixie said stiffly, “Do ponies not go for pleasant strolls where you come from?”

Dao Ming stepped forward, a silky, gliding movement that somehow managed to carry with it a sense of looming threat, “Where I come from a pony who took such a tone with a member of the Imperial Family would be facing the lash, if they were fortunate.”

Trixie laughed, a forced laugh, true, but she was practiced at making such things sound natural, “A good thing we’re not where you come from then. Besides, I could ask you the same question. What are you doing here?”

That seemed to put Dao Ming off balance as the kirin suddenly looked unsure, her eyes glancing towards the pillars near the edge of the cliff. Her tone was no less filled with a certain cutting arrogance, but it was now also colored with an undercurrent of uncertainty, “I felt drawn here. I cannot explain it. I sense no magic at work, but I found myself just... drawn here.”

Trixie blinked, then let out a much more natural, if somewhat nervous laugh, feeling like a nag for getting so defensive a moment ago, “You too?”

Dao Ming looked back at her askance, “Are you saying you were also drawn here?”

Trixie shrugged, “I went from wanting to get some food with my friends to suddenly having an overwhelming urge to go trotting along a path I didn’t know, to a copse of trees I didn’t recognize, to find a clearing I had no idea existed. I’d say, yeah, I was drawn here. Magic or not, something about this isn’t natural, especially if its happened to both of us.”

A light entered Dao Ming’s eye that Trixie had seen before, but in Twilight Sparkle when the inquisitive unicorn had come across a mystery. Dao Ming looked around the clearing with slow, deliberate turns of her head, eyes intensely scrutinizing the area. Trixie joined her in looking around, but whereas Dao Ming seemed intent on piercing every stray blade of grass with her gaze Trixie almost immediately focused on the stone pillars.

“Any idea what these are?” Trixie asked, tilted her head towards the stones.

Dao Ming gave her a surprised blink, which soon turned to an air of disgruntlement as she held her head high, speaking in a sharp tone, “You mean to tell me, so-called ‘champion’ of Equestria, that you don’t know the graves of those who came before when you see them?”

Trixie did a quick double take, looking over the short stone pillars with greater scrutiny, “Graves?”

Now that she was actually taking a moment to look them over Trixie was able to read some of the writing on the metal plaques set into them. None of the names were recognizable to her, but there were clearly marked years of birth and death, all from a time twelve hundred years ago. The time when the Warlord had terrorized the world with the very fortress that loomed in the distance. Through Trixie didn’t know any of the names, two did draw her attention, both of them towards the center.

These names drew her attention because the date of death was different on these two than the others.

’Dazzling Flourish
1311 - 1386 DE
Her heart never left her friends’

‘Sun Ming
1309 - 1392 DE
The Empire above all things, even blood.’

“These names,” Trixie said, voice becoming somewhat somber, “They belong to those who stopped the Warlord before. The champions the Contest is meant to honor.”

“Yes, that’s right,” said Dao Ming, approaching the grave of Sun Ming, bowing to it respectfully with her eyes closed. She then rose gracefully, giving Trixie a meaningful look, “Champions who have earned the title in every way.”

Trixie’s eyes narrowed at the unspoken implication that was hidden in Dao Ming’s faint tone of scorn. Trixie met the kirin’s stare with her own, holding her head up, “If you have something to say, then say it. I’m not in the mood for mincing words. I get enough of that from Night Court paperwork I have to deal with on a daily basis.”

Dao Ming gave the softest of snorts, barely within hearing range, and held herself up with a straight necked stance of pride and poise, “Very well, I shall honor your request and speak plainly. I am filled with severe doubts concerning the worthiness of you and your friends to be the champions of Equestria. I admit I have not seen enough yet to truly judge, yet how can I expect such... common ponies to be worthy of facing me in the Contest? I feel as if Princess Luna is directly insulting the Heavenly Empire and all other nations by fielding six... six peasants as the greatest her nation has to offer!”

Trixie felt her teeth grinding together as a low burning fire in her chest started to be not-so-low burning, her own eyes boring into Dao Ming’s, “We ‘peasants’ might surprise you. Although if you want to get technical, we’re knights, not commoners. We’ve earned that knighthood by facing threats you’ve never imagined. A massive red dragon with a serious grudge against our monarch, a pyromaniacal phoenix that wanted to turn my town into an inferno, basilisks controlled by a half-crazed madmare, a small army of salamanders, a giant berserk golem, a wendigo with parental issues, not to mention an flaming undead abomination called a lich. Me and the girls can hold our own.”

Dao Ming seemed unimpressed, her features passive and carrying a hint of smugness that was starting to really get under Trixie’s hide!

“An impressive list, yet how many of those foes did you rely upon others to help you defeat? Or the Elements themselves? How many foes have you bested by your own strength?”

“Enough,” said Trixie, scoffing, “You want the details, we’d be here all night, but you know what, I don’t have to prove anything to you. Tomorrow you’ll see for yourself what I and my friends can do.”

“I certainly hope so,” said Dao Ming, turning as if to leave, “I have every intention of seeing exactly what you and your companions can do and I do not wish to be disappointed. I won’t be holding back.”

“Good!” said Trixie with a small stomp of her hoof, and turning to leave as well, “I won’t hold back either!”

At that very moment a sharp wind billowed through the clearing, shaking the tree branches and mixing with the sound of the rolling surf in the bay. Trixie and Dao Ming both paused. At almost the same time they both turned back and looked at each other curiously. Dao Ming had a disgruntled frown as he said, “We still don’t know why we felt drawn to this place.”

Trixie was giving the graves a suspicious look, and said, “Yes, well, you started going off about how my friends are ‘peasants’, so you distracted me just before I was about to do some detailed investigating!”

Dao Ming turned her head away from Trixie as if she was smelling an unpleasant odor, “Don’t blame me because you become defensive when I point out the obvious. Besides what is there to investigate? They’re graves. Unless you are so blatantly vulgar as to suggest we exhume the graves of our predecessors I don’t think there’s much here to see.”

Trixie allowed herself a smug smirk, “Perhaps for somepony of... limited investigative skill. But I possess acumen beyond normal ponies. Behold!”

Her horn sparked with magic, and in a mere second Trixie wove her familiar magic sight spell. Her eyes flashed for a moment and with the spell in place Trixie started to examine the area, focusing on the thirteen grave stones. Dao Ming took a step towards Trixie, a light of curiosity in her eyes despite her frown.

“What are you doing? What magic did you just use?”

“Oh, trade secret,” Trixie said, enjoying the rankled look on Dao Ming’s face perhaps a bit too much. Some back part of Trixie’s mind was telling her she shouldn’t be intentionally nettling one of her competitors. It was pointless and a little petty... but then again this kirin had insulted Trixie and her friends. She wasn’t feeling in a generous mood. So she let Dao Ming stew while she examined the graves.

There was magic in the gravestones, but it was very simple transmutation magic, of a kind Trixie recognized as designed to preserve the stones to keep them from wearing out over time. The magic would ensure these grave markers would outlast the island itself if it came down to it. Trixie licked her lips, squinting as she looked more closely at the threads of magic interlacing the graves...

Then flinched as she noticed Dao Ming’s face literally right next to her own, also looking at the stones curiously.

“Do you mind? Personal space.”

Dao Ming looked at her flatly, but also with a flicker of embarrassment as she backed up and muttered something under her breath that might’ve been an apology. Trixie resumed her investigation while Dao Ming gave her some space with a small, irritated flick of her golden tail.

“So exactly how did you defeat Amaterasu?” Dao Ming asked, “The one you call the Tyrant Sun. The pink maned one said something that bothers me; that being warriors would have lead to your own defeat. I don’t understand that. What happened?”

Trixie thought she saw something in the magical threads inside the graves, a thread that looked different. Focusing on it she waved one of her hooves in a ‘shooing’ gesture at Dao Ming.

“I’m sure Lyra would love to tell you the story. Kind of busy right now. Short version is this; Corona could’ve squashed any of us flat like six... easily squashable things. I don’t know, Lyra’s the one who's good at storytelling. My point is Corona could squash anypony like that no matter how great a warrior they supposedly are! We won because my friends and I discovered each other, learned to care about each other, and the Elements of Harmony responded to those connections. Friendship. That’s what beat ‘Amatawhatever’.”

Dao Ming looked thoughtful for a moment, but then shook her head and started to pace while Trixie leaned in towards the middle grave stone. Trixie had to focus to pick out the specific thread of magic she’d seen, but once she did she realized there was more than one. In fact there were dozens of additional threads of magic underlying the basic magic that was preserving the stone’s condition. Trixie didn’t know what those threads were doing, but she recognized the type of magic, and who they belonged to.

“Well... that’s interesting,” Trixie said, turning off her magic sight and standing up straighter, stretching her neck.

“What? Or is that another ‘trade secret’ of yours?” Dao Ming asked, her tone only just shy of mocking. Or maybe that was just how Dao Ming usually sounded. Trixie was having a hard time telling.

“No secret, at least I don’t think it is,” said Trixie, gesturing at the grave stones, “Its just that there’s alicorn magic woven into these graves. I don’t know what the spell is doing, but I know it was put there by Princess Luna and Corona both.”

At that Dao Ming skeptically quirked an eyebrow, “How can you tell?”

“Oh, believe me, I know Princess Luna’s magical signature quite well. As for Corona’s magic, I’ve had probably more uncomfortable close encounters with her magic than any other pony alive today besides Princess Luna. Remind me to tell you about when we went to Tambelon sometime. I actually ended up... borrowing a bit of Corona’s magic during that fiasco.”

“Borrowed magic from... ugh, I can’t tell when to take you seriously or when you are pointlessly boasting and making things up.”

“Believe what you want. In any case I’m going back now,” said Trixie, “I have some questions to ask my mentor.”

Dao Ming seemed honestly surprised for a second, blinking at Trixie, “You intend to just ask your Princess openly about her past actions? She allows such questions?”

“Uh... yes,” said Trixie, glancing back at Dao Ming in confusion, “She’s kind of my teacher. Of course I can ask her questions. Its not as if I intend to interrogate her, I’m just curious what magic she and Corona put on these graves.”

Dao Ming got a strange look on her face, guarded, and if Trixie was reading the kirin right, which she had to admit was hard given how much Dao Ming seemed to try to keep herself under control, it seemed Dao Ming was... jealous?

“You must be close with your Princess, if she trusts you enough to answer any questions you’d have of her.”

“I guess so. I’ve never even thought about it. Luna’s always been pretty open with me,” Trixie said, wincing slightly, “Which, trust me, has its down sides. She’s as free with criticism as she is with praise. But, yeah, if I got a question to ask she’s never shied from answering them.”

“Well that’s... good,” said Dao Ming, eyes downcast for a second before she steadied herself and resumed her prideful posture, “If you learn anything important inform me. But do not think this means I will be gentle with you tomorrow. I expect you at your best.”

Trixie narrowed her eyes slightly, smiling thinly, “Oh, don’t worry, you’ll get it.”

----------

Up close the minotaur ship was even more impressive. While it wasn’t on par with the Shouma’s monolithic flagship the iron clad vessel still had an impressive length compared to the Equestrian sailing ships Cheerilee was familiar with. The metal ship rode low in the water, which didn’t surprise Cheerilee. She was curious about what the four pipe-like stacks rising from the metal deck were about. She noticed faint, coiling white smoke. Had to be steam power, she surmised. Her old boyfriend had made a few mentions of the value in the minotaur's advancements with steam, which rivaled some of Equestria’s best magic-tech.

There were a few burly, tall forms of minotaurs moving up and down gangplanks from the ship to the dock, unloading crates bare chested with impressive feats of raw strength, often carrying two crates apiece or more. A few of the bulls looked to be competing with each other over who could balance the most crates upon his shoulders at once, and Cheerilee found herself watching the display with a certain appreciation.

Most ponies found bipedals like the minotaurs a tad weird with their broad chests, dangling, thick arms, and bizarre many fingered hands. Cheerilee thought they were kind of cute. She chuckled to herself as a couple of fond memories of the time she’d spent dating a minotaur rose to the surface. While they might’ve parted ways she couldn’t deny it’d been a very interesting couple of months.

“Now there's a sight I ain't ever gonna tire of seeing,” said a strong, gruff, baritone voice behind her, one that was plucked right out of the memories she’d been thinking about.

Cheerilee turned her head, blinking in surprise, then giving the minotaur behind her a coy look as she noted he was staring at her flank with one hand appreciatively rubbing his chin between a thumb and forefinger while he gave a thumbs up with the other.

“Finely toned. Forgot to ask, but you still using them workout books ol’ Iron Will gave you, Cheer?” asked Iron Will with a wide smirk. Cheerilee returned that smirk, looking him up and down, enjoying the sight of his dark grayish blue skin over a muscular frame, a shock of black mane cut in a neat mohawk between his pair of large upswept white horns. He was even wearing the black business tie she remembered buying him as a birthday present, which she thought looked sharp on him.

“It’s all natural,” she said and quickly trotted up to give the large blue-gray minotaur a big hug, “It’s great to see you again Iron. Didn’t know you’d be coming out here.”

Iron Will actually looked a tad embarrassed, scratching his head with a faint hint of rosy heat in his cheeks as he returned her hug, literally pulling Cheerilee off the ground with one arm, much to a delighted little ‘eeep!’ from the mare before he set her back down.

“Didn’t know you’d be around either. I got quite the surprise, spotting you checking out the ship I came in on,” Iron Will said, nodding towards the vessel, “You doing some kind of tourist thing, or is this got to do with you being a teacher? Wish we'd had time to chat more back in Ponyville.”

A soft chuckle escaped Cheerilee as she watched Iron Will do a few... poses, as he talked. It was a minotaur thing. Posturing. Body language was important in almost every culture and species in the the world, but Cheerilee knew that minotaurs placed a special emphasis on the body as part of their way to communicate. Their poses, stances, bearing, all of it conveyed layers of meaning beyond just the words. Cheerilee probably knew more than the average Equestrian pony, but even dating Iron Will had only given her the bare bones notions of what the poses actually meant. Watching him pump his arms back and forth a few times, with an almost full pantomime of patting someone on the back told Cheerilee that well beyond his fond tone that Iron Will was happy to see here and keenly interested in knowing how she’d been.

“It’s going great,” she said with a warm smile, “I love my job, and have plenty of wonderful students. A few bullying issues here and there-”

Iron Will, through, cut her off, his pose suddenly shifting to one of keen interest and concern, one of his ears twitching as he knelt down to look at her more at eye-level, hands on his knees, "Bullying issues?"

Cheerilee did somewhat appreciate the concern in his eyes she didn't think it best to have that kind of conversation in such a public venue. Though now that she thought about it she wouldn't have minded hearing Iron Will's thoughts on the matter. She did have a few students who seemed to be a continuing problem when it came to picking on others and Cheerilee had to admit she was running out of ideas on how to address the problem. Perhaps getting a fresh perspective from someone of a different culture would be helpful. She gave Iron Will a relaxed smile, "Its something I wouldn't mind getting your take on, Iron, and we didn't get a lot of time to chat before you had to leave Ponyville last time, so how about we go get something to eat and we can both play catch up?"

“Ol’ Iron Will would love nothing more than to do just that Cheer, but I’m here on business, not pleasure, so it might have to wait a bit until I got a free hour,” Iron Will said, jabbing a thumb towards a few of the unloading crates, which Cheerilee noticed actually had an interesting logo on it; a pair of horns sprouting from a red business tie.

“For you, Iron, haven’t business and pleasure always been the same thing?” she asked with a wry grin, elbowing his shin, which is about as high as she could manage to elbow given his size.

“Iron Will doesn’t know what you’re talking about. My business is strictly business... even if I do enjoy my business.”

“So what business exactly are you conducting here?” she asked casually.

Iron Will’s big grin was a tad infectious as he gestured for Cheerilee to follow him and led her right up to one of his crates. He smacked it on the top, which caused spring loaded hinges to pop the crate right open, and he reached in, pulling something out.

“So glad you asked! Iron Will’s been one of the only minotaur’s that’s been out in the world, seen the sights, did some good PR with other races. So the Hedron of Alphas... uh... ‘asked’ me to do them a solid and be in charge of the festival end of things here at the Contest.”

What he pulled out looked like a miniature, plush doll made in the likeness of a big gray minotaur wearing a loincloth and leather harness, and carrying a sizeable, strangely shaped axe. Its small black button eyes looked at Cheerilee with an eerie sense of following her every move, yet somehow remained adorable.

“And of course that means one thing; merchandising!” said Iron Will with an infectious grin, and Cheerilee could almost see the coins clinking in the depths of his eyes.

Cheerilee couldn’t help but laugh, “Its cute. Who’s it supposed to be?”

“This here’s Steel Cage,” Iron Will said, “Alpha of War for the East Labyrinth and one of the champs here to strut his stuff for the minotaur race. Bet I can sell out of these little guys before the Grand Melee’s done!”

He chuckled, tossing the doll up and down a few times before lobbing it back into the crate, where it joined many other similar dolls of different minotaurs, “You ponies really go in for collectibles.”

Cheerilee considered her own collection of fish and couldn't really argue the point, and she was just glad to see an old friend, so she couldn’t keep the smile off her face as she watched Iron Will proudly display some of the other bits of merchandise he was planning to sell at the festival.

“Its good to see you’ve been doing well for yourself Iron,” she said, “I’ll definitely drop by your stall at the festival, maybe pick up one of those adorable Steel Cage dolls.”

“Ha! I might even give you a special discount,” Iron Will said, giving her a thumbs up almost as if mugging for an audience, then he leaned down and whispered to Cheerilee, “Just don’t go around telling everybody I did. Can’t afford to be handing out discounts to just anybody.”

“Don’t worry, I can keep your generous nature a secret,” Cheerilee said.

Suddenly there was a loud bellow from the top of the gangplank, a voice akin to a foghorn mixed with a thunderclap, “What are you all doing resting on your laurels!? There’s still cargo to unload, scrubs!”

From the ship stomped a true hulk of a minotaur, one who towered over the others by nearly two full heads of height. His arms alone were as large around as the barrel of a stout earth pony, and even his legs, usually one of the smaller parts of a minotaur’s body, looked large enough to punt a fully loaded wagon like it was a hoofball. The metal gangplank literally bent and groaned under his stomping steps as he marched down to the dock where all the gathered minotaurs had halted to stare.

Cheerilee wouldn’t have recognized this minotaur if she hadn’t just seen his adorable little doll rendition.

The real thing was not so adorable.

Steel Cage was white as a cloud but his hard, stone chiseled features set in a seemingly permanent frown was in no way soft or fluffy. Indeed Cheerilee imagined you could sharpen a spearhead on that cleft chin. Or just break the spear. His bulging pecs and biceps could’ve put carved statues to shame. He was wearing the very same leather loincloth and thick leather harness his doll had depicted, and the haft of a gargantuan axe was slung over his back. The axe’s truly prodigious size was only eclipsed by the beefy broadness of the minotaur that carried it as if it weighed no more than a common stick. Cheerilee also noted the axe’s broad, doubled headed blades were made from a darker metal that held a faint wave like pattern in its edge. She briefly went over her mental checklist of known alloys and came up blank. That both bothered and interested her.

Steel Cage got to the bottom of the gangplank, and instead of just stepping off, he jumped, landing with a cracking boom not far from Cheerilee and Iron Will, nearly knocking Cheerilee off her hooves. Steel Cage’s gray eyes narrowed and honed in on Iron Will, and the hulking minotaur stood up and curled his arms in a ridiculous flex that showed off all of his arm muscles and his back.

“Steel Cage is seeing a whole lot of gawking and not a lot of working!” he bellowed as his arms pumped a few times as he shifted flexes.

Iron Will blew steam out his nose and despite being dwarfed by Steel Cage, he raised his arms high above his head in a wide flex, stretching to show off his own tight abs.

“Iron Will works on Iron Will’s time! He ain’t no scrub and this cargo is his!”

“Is that right!?” Steel Cage fired back with a mind blowing curl of his arms, turning to face Iron Will fully as literally every arm and chest muscle bulged and pulsed, “Why don’t you come up and say that to Steel Cage’s face!?”

“Gladly!” Iron Will went right up to Steel Cage, until the two were chest to chest, through in Iron Will’s case that was more chest to abs, “Iron Will will move his cargo when Iron Will feels like it!”

The two locked eyes, and Cheerilee was caught between being worried for Iron Will’s safety, and being kind of entranced by the display of raw muscle bound testosterone. She did find minotaur musculature fascinating, and she’d never seen better examples of it than right now. It left her, admittedly, a tad sweaty.

The tension lasted for a few more seconds, the other minotaurs who’d been moving cargo gathering around to watch. Then Steel Cage cracked a giant grin, one that Iron Will matched, and in seconds the two were clapping hands together in a huge, hearty shake.

“Iron Will you little runt! How you been!?” Steel Cage guffawed, clapping Iron Will so hard on the shoulder it nearly broke planks in the dock.

“”Making money, making connections, and enjoying the sweet, sweet nectar of living it large,” said Iron Will.

“Ha! Always thought you were crazy for running off to go see the world, but sounds like you’re having fun with it. If the other Alphas think you’re the man to be putting together the festival then you won’t hear no complaint from me! Hahah! C’mere you!”

Steel Cage pulled Iron Will into a tight headlock, rubbing the other minotaur’s head in the manner one might tussle the hair of a kid brother. Iron Will rolled his eyes a bit at the treatment but let the bigger minotaur do his thing. Cheerilee had the feeling there were some more complicated minotaur social meanings going on here than she could pick up on, but Iron Will didn’t seem too bothered by it.

“So, who's the little pony here?” asked Steel Cage, tilting his head Cheerilee’s way, “You still into the four legged scene, Iron?”

Iron Will’s face briefly took on an annoyed cast, but it vanished fast enough as he said, “This here’s Blackcherry Lee Punch, one of the best pals Iron Will’s ever had! She showed me the ropes when I still didn’t know a pegasus from a unicorn!”

“That right? Wait, let me guess, she the one you got all steaming in the nostrils for?” Steel Cage elbowing Iron Will hard enough that Cheerilee suspected it had to hurt, not that Iron Will showed it.

“Whoa there, let’s just keep certain things on the down low, Steel-”

“Ha! She is! Gahaha! I knew you got hot blooded over foreign stuff, but even I was surprised when I found out you got down and dirty with a little pony! Never did ask how that was? So, little lady, how was my boy Iron here? Can’t figure it was that comfortable. He’s small for a minotaur but still way more than I figure a pony could handle.”

Cheerilee could see Iron Will’s anger rising like a steam pipe starting to be over pressurized, veins throbbing on his neck with a growing redness that probably was only half anger. She herself was a little taken aback by Steel Cage’s blunt, crassness, but if this was a minotaur Alpha... well saying what he thought probably came with the territory. All she knew from her contact with Iron Will was that the Alphas were like the minotaur’s nobility. It’d be the diplomatic thing to do to let the comments pass with good grace and self control.

Then again...

“I can ‘handle’ anything that comes my way just fine, but my and Iron Will’s time together isn’t really any of your business,” Cheerilee said, adopting a straighter stance, head high. The body language just wasn’t the same between quadrupeds and bipeds, but she was hoping the confident stance would translate over anyway.

Steel Cage didn’t seem to pick up on it, however, and instead gruffly chuckled and loomed over her, “Now don’t be like that little lady, just having some fun chatting with my old buddy, who I ain’t seen in years because he’s got a serious case of the tight pants for you crazy colored and tiny critters. Can you blame me if I’m wondering just how far he decided to take this obsession of his.”

“As far as he felt like, and again, not really any of your business,” Cheerilee said, not backing down, but before Steel Cage could respond Iron Will put a hand on his shoulder and actually turned the huge Alpha towards him.

“Steel, leave this be,” Iron Will said, jaw clenched tight, “Cheer and me ain’t a thing anymore, we’re just friends.”

Steel Cage went... oddly still, his flinty eyes suddenly glancing at Iron Will’s hand on his shoulder, “That sounded almost like you were telling me what to do, Iron. Pretty sure that can’t be the case, though. You’re too smart to do that.”

With a simple lean and incline of his head Steel Cage changed his entire stance from jovially playful to deadly serious and to Cheerilee it seemed that every muscle on the ridiculously large minotaur had gone still and taunt as the surface of a volcano before erupting.

Iron Will, to his credit, looked ready to stand his ground despite the sudden trickle of sweat running down the side of his neck. Cheerilee, however, had no desire to see this turn violent. She placed a hoof on Iron Will’s arm and gently tugged it so he lifted it from Steel Cage’s shoulder. He looked at her and Cheerilee found herself unable to keep from smiling and feeling a bit of a warm spark at that look. Iron Will seemed both equal parts terrified and bravely willing to stand up for her, and when he looked at her it was with simple concern for her, rather than for himself.

“Cheer?”

“Its alright, no reason to fight over something like this. I know you said you were busy, but how about we go meet up with my friends anyway and get lunch? Much nicer way to spend our time, don’t you think?”

Iron Will looked ready to argue but Steel Cage responded first, bellowing out a laugh.

“Yup, that’s a pony for ya, Iron. No stomach for a little confrontation. Fine, fine, go play with your four legged squeeze, just as long as you still get your work done on the festival. I’ll forget you disrespecting me, this one time, because we’re such good buddies. Next time, through, its your teeth on the floor, got me?”

It was asked with such a casual, light air of friendliness, as if the tension from seconds ago had never happened. Cheerilee had to wonder if Iron Will hadn’t left his homeland not simply out of an interest in other cultures, but because he was tired of trying to figure out his fellow minotaurs. But then again she supposed she couldn’t really judge much based on just Steel Cage and Iron Will; they seemed like the occupied different places in minotaur society.

“Yeah, I got you,” said Iron Will, a sour look on his face that seemed to pass right over Steel Cage’s head as he let out another laugh.

“Ha! Good! Well, I’m off to that fancy looking monastery, see what the hubbub is about these other champions. Hoping I’ll find at least one of ‘em that’ll give me a good brawl. Later! Don’t break her, Iron. We’re here to promote ‘good relations’ or whatever. Figure their little moon princess will get mad if one of us hurts one of these pooftas too much. I'll have to check myself in the Grand Melee, just so I don’t hit one of them too hard and causes an international incident. Ha!”

As Steel Cage marched away Cheerilee watched him go and let out a small huff, “Hit one of us too hard? He really doesn’t have a clue just how durable an earth pony is, does he?”

Iron Will’s posture slumped slightly, as if he’d just finished a rough workout and was too tired to stand up straight, “No, no he don’t, but seriously Cheer, you sure know how to make a guy’s life more complicated. Ain’t good for my health, going nose to nose with Steel.”

Cheerilee laughed, patting his leg, “Hey, I appreciate the effort. Quite the gentlestallion.”

Iron Will coughed and adjusted his tie while looking away, “Ahem, that might’ve had something to do with a certain mare that taught me how to be one.”

The two shared a look, which led to a awkward silence. Eventually Iron Will rubbed the back of his head, pointing a thumb back at his crates, “Er, well, anyway, got a lot of work to do. Its real good to see you again Cheer. You going to be here the whole Contest?”

Cheerilee smiled knowingly, “Oh, I’m here for the duration.”

“Great! How about we get breakfast tomorrow, then? We can watch the Grand Melee together. If you know, you want to...”

“Love to, but I won’t be available at the time,” Cheerilee said, and at Iron Will’s crestfallen look she couldn’t help herself, but chuckled and decided to let the fellow in on the truth, “Not because I wouldn’t love to catch up with you Iron, but I’m in the Contest.”

Her words didn’t seem to immediately register with him. Iron Will’s eyes stared at her unblinking, and Cheerilee was certain she could hear the turning of the gears in his head. He opened his mouth to speak, then abruptly shut it, his face scrunching up in a wrinkle of hard thought. He opened his mouth again, shut it. Thought. Raised a finger, lowered it. Back to thinking.

“Iron Will? You okay up there, big guy?” Cheerilee asked, waving a hoof in front of his face.

“Yeah...” he said, voice oddly distant. He slowly straightened up, and when he looked at her gain it was with a worryingly serious expression, “So, just so we’re clear, you’re saying you’re one of the champs Equestria’s sent in. Which means you’re one of them mares that got one of them Element things I’ve been hearing about?”

“Pretty much. Kind of surprised you didn’t already know,” Cheerilee said, a little put off by his sudden seriousness. His whole posture had gotten rigid.

“Most ponies who talked about it just knew that six mares from Ponyville got these fancy jewels that kicked Corona’s flank, hard, and are pretty much all that’s standing between the country and an permanent summer vacation. Not like I had any reason to suspect one of these supermares would turn out to be you.”

“Supermares is exaggerating,” Cheerilee said with a wink, “Though I won’t stop you from thinking that if you want.”

Her want to lighten the mood seemed to go over Iron Will’’s head through as he flinched, almost as if she’d hit him, “Look, its great and all that you’re famous and all... but Cheer, you gotta be careful.”

“Carefull? Of what?”

“Steel Cage,” Iron Will said, voice hard as his namesake.

Cheerilee raised and eyebrow, “Why? Its just a friendly Contest, and he sounds like he’s seriously underestimating us ponies anyway.”

“That ain’t here nor there,” Iron Will said, “He was out of line, but he doesn’t know that, because the way he was acting is normal for an Alpha when talking to anyone lower on the totem pole. He’d never have really tried to hurt me or you because if he had, it’d be a loss of face. An Alpha that can’t dominate with sheer assertive presence ain’t worth being called an ‘Alpha. At least when dealing with lessers. But if you’re another Alpha, all bets are off. The second he finds out you’re also a champion... I don’t know for sure how he’ll act, but it’ll be a whole league different than what you just saw.”

Cheerilee wanted to laugh off Iron Will’s worries, but she knew him well enough to understand the difference between when he was jokingly serious and just straight serious. He was honestly worried for her. She didn’t know how to set his mind at ease, and she intended to take his warning seriously enough, but there was no way she’d be leaving the poor guy to worry about her all day either.

“I’ll be careful out there,” she said sincerely, “If it’ll help you relax, I won’t be fighting alone. I’m going to be beside my friends the entire time. The six of us aren’t pushovers and I don’t plan on challenging Steel Cage to any one on one action.”

“Good,” Iron Will said, and his serious demeanor slowly melted away as he smiled and relaxed his posture, “So, breakfast tomorrow before the Grand Melee?”

Cheerilee grinned, “Definitely.”

----------

Raindrops left the inn that her parents and little brother would be staying after she had finished making sure all of her stuff had been put away. She knew there was an open offer for staying at some monastery, but that notion didn’t appeal to her in the least. She’d rather spend her nights sleeping next to her family than some cold, empty place built into the side of a cliff.

She could still see Carrot Top, Lyra, and Ditzy along with Dinky finishing up lunch at the outdoor tables of a quaint looking restaurant across the street. Raindrops began to trot her way across the semi-busy street to join her friends at the cafe when she caught sight of somepony, or rather somezebra approaching her from down the street. Her eyes snapped wide as she recognized that not only was the zebra making his way straight for her, but it was a zebra she knew.

“Tendaji!” she called out, half in anger, half in surprise at even seeing the zebra stallion who’d been part of the fiasco in Oaton last year. She, Trixie, and Cheerilee had gotten caught up in a rather complicated situation in the small rural town of Oaton, dealing with monsters, smuggles, crazy mares, and dark magic. Tendaji had been an oddity amid all that chaos, some kind of agent working for the smugglers who Raindrops had gone hoof to hoof with. He’d vanished before they’d really finished their fight, with a vague promise that they’d meet again sometime.

Apparently that time was now, and Raindrops couldn’t have been less enthusiastic about it. She’d been kind of hoping the zebra would just forget about her. He looked about the same as the last time she’d seen him, through he was dressed more casually. He still had his black and white striped mane done up in thick, alternating braids, but instead of a leather vest containing dozens of pockets worth of alchemical pots and potions he was wearing a plain wool jerkin of a dark gray coloring.

Tendaji didn’t look startled or alarmed by being spotted, maintaining the same calm, controlled expression he’d worn back in Oaton. He merely nodded at her and trotted towards her as if he was merely greeting a friend on the street. Despite his casual demeanor Raindrops instinctually fell into a ready, wide Iron Hoof stance. She didn’t trust this zebra for a second and remembered well how fast he’d been when they’d fought.

The situation hadn’t gone unnoticed by her friends. Ditzy, Lyra, and Carrot Top all exchanged confused glances and Lyra was first out of her seat to come over to stand next to Raindrops while Ditzy remained seated with her daughter and Carrot Top stood, but looked hesitant to trot over.

“Friend of yours Raindrops?” asked Lyra as Tendaji halted a few paces away.

“Not even remotely,” said Raindrops flatly, maintaining her stance and eyeing Tendaji carefully, “What are you doing here?”

He halted a few paces in front of her, his expression unchanging as he dipped his head in what might have been a bow, “I am here for the same reason you are. To participate in the Contest. Through that is a secondary concern to meeting you here.”

Raindrop’s eyebrow twitched and she smiled in a way that was anything but friendly, “Funny. Seriously, what are you doing here? Are you so desperate to finish our fight that you stalked me all the way out here? It would’ve been easier to find me in Ponyville.”

“Okay, Raindrops, who is this guy?” Lyra asked again, looking more and more agitated as she eyed Tendaji up and down.

“My name is Tendaji,” he said, turning his eyes towards Lyra without turning his head, “I became acquainted with Dame Raindrops during the events that transpired in Oaton some time ago.”

Raindrops spat out a humorless laugh, “Became acquainted!? Is that how you describe what that was? You tried to hurt both me and my friends, and you were helping the criminals that were smuggling animals during that whole fiasco! What reason do I have not to arrest you, here and now, exactly? I’m pretty sure as a Knight I have the authority to do that.”

Tendaji shrugged as if he was unconcerned with the notion, “If you wish to place me under arrest that is your choice, though it might cause some incident considering I am here as a representative of the tribes of Zebrica.”

With a heavy snort Raindrops lowered her head, scuffing a hoof on the ground almost as if getting ready to charge, “You expect me to believe the zebras chose some random criminal as a champion? Horseapples!”

Suddenly a voice spoke from behind her, causing Raindrops to jump and wheel about.

“My husband speaks the truth.”

Behind Raindrops was a zebra mare, wearing light gray woolen wrappings, almost akin to a scarf but it covered her shoulders, chest, and forelegs. Like Tendaji her mane was done up in braids, hers being far longer and marked with colorful beads. Her cyan eyes locked onto Raindrops’ with an intense, measuring quality that made Raindrops uncomfortable, especially as the mare approached to within a hoof’s length from her. Lyra stepped forward, nearly blocking the mare’s path, holding a hoof out.

“Hold up. I need somepony here to start explaining, because my friend here looks ready to start cracking skulls, and I’m pretty sure it’d reflect badly on everypony to start a scuffle here in the street when we’re supposed to be representing the best of our nations. Let’s be nice and reasonable-ish. Raindrops?”

Raindrops grit her teeth but nodded, lowering her wings and relaxing her stance, eyeing both Tendaji and the zebra mare with narrow eyed suspicion, “Okay, fine. Start talking. Who are you and have you heard of personal space?”

“I am Aisha. Wife of Tendaji. And yes, I know of ‘personal space’. All too well, in fact. You doubt my husband when he says he is a tribal champion chosen to be here, but it is the truth. This I give my word upon.”

“And I’m supposed to just take you at your word?” Raindrops asked dryly, giving Aisha a flat stare. The zebra didn’t seem ruffled by Raindrops’ hard look.

“If you wish there is nothing stopping you from seeking a local authority figure to confirm our identity with,” Aisha said flatly, “My husband and I will gladly accompany you to do so.”

Raindrops narrowed her eyes, trying to spot any hint of insincerity in Aisha. The zebra mare’s tone had been nothing but open and frank. There was no deceit in the zebra mare’s eyes or stance. That didn’t necessarily mean she was telling the truth. There were skilled liars in the world, and Raindrops didn’t think she was so skilled that she couldn’t be deceived. But she’d be going to the monastery soon enough with the rest of her friends anyway and while there she could confirm Tendaji’s status. Even if he did turn out to be legitimately here for the Contest that didn’t mean she had to feel any less incensed towards Tendaji for what he’d been a part of back in Oaton. Her expression didn’t soften as she said, “I’ll drop it for now, but that doesn’t mean I have to like that he’s here. If he’d succeeded in taking me down then its possible an entire town would’ve suffered for it.”

She turned her glare towards Tendaji, “What were you doing in Oaton, if you’re some zebra that’s got enough clout to be named a champion?”

“Kind of wondering that myself,” said Lyra, frowning, “If I’m remembering my lore right its pretty uncommon for the zebra tribes to bother with the events going on outside their territory in the first place.”

“You can place blame upon your Tyrant Sun for that,” said Aisha plainly, “The fact that one of our own people aids her has caused the tribes many difficulties. We are not as isolated as some might believe, or others might wish for. Zebrica depends upon trade as much as many other lands, and the fact that Zecora aids your wayward Princess causes issues that the Chieftains wished to clear from the slate. Tendaji and my father Nuru are here as champions of our tribe, the Peacewalkers. There are others who have come, representing their own tribes. You will likely meet them soon.”

Raindrops and Lyra both looked at each other, and even Carrot Top and Ditzy Doo both gained surprised expressions. Dinky simply appeared confused at the conversation, but the filly seemed to understand the conversation was also between the adults and was keeping quiet, simply listening intently.

“Wait, did you say Zecora?” asked Carrot Top, “Kind of obsessed with prophecy. Speaks in rhymes all the time. That Zecora?”

Aisha looked sharply at Carrot Top, “Yes, that Zecora. She who’d rather follow her own path to the exclusion of all sense, no matter who tries to reason with her. Hmph, so she still speaks in that rhyming manner? How a mare can be such a traditionalist and still so thoroughly ignore the edicts of her tribe is beyond me.”

“Sounds like you got a personal issue with her,” said Lyra.

Aisha, for a second, had a look of naked fury in her eyes, but it was quickly controlled to a more placid look. Raindrops suddenly felt an odd... sympathy for the mare. It wasn’t easy to keep that kind of anger wrangled. She was surprised at how fast and seemingly easy Aisha made it look as she said in a calm tone, “Zecora and I are of the same tribe. We are both sangoma, shaman, trained to serve the spiritual needs of our people. A duty she has forsaken for a mad vision of an alicorn whose connection to the sun has made her believe she serves the purpose of the tribes.”

“Wife...” said Tendaji, “Perhaps this is not the place to speak of such things. I merely came here to meet with Raindrops and arrange the terms of our battle.”

Aisha looked at him. There was no change to her calm features, just a simple, plain stare that she held on Tendaji until he visibly gulped and backed up a step, bowing his head.

“Of course, that can wait until you’re done speaking, my wife,” he said and pointedly started to find the surrounding architecture fascinating.

“As it happens, I am,” Aisha said, turning her gaze to Raindrops, “I merely wished to lay eyes upon the mare that’s caught the attention of my husband so thoroughly. Now that I have I can say that I have no reason to forbid him from engaging in this... distraction. In fact, after meeting you, Dame Randrips, I think it will do my husband some good, to do battle with you in this Contest.”

Raindrops didn’t know how to take that. She hadn’t known this mare for all of two minutes and the notion that Aisha had seemed to have weighed and measured her worth in that short span didn’t sit well with Raindrops. Aisha, having apparently spoken her piece, turned and cantered away as if she had no further care for what Raindrops and Tendaji did.

“Okay...” said Carrot Top, “That was weird.”

Tendaji had the phantom of a grimace on his face, “She is a forthright mare. This... is both why I love her, and at times, fear her.”

“Good for you. Now say what you came to say and get out of my mane,” said Raindrops, letting some of her anger spill into her tone, “I just want to enjoy one day with my friends before this Contest kicks off, and you’re spoiling the mood.”

“Very well,” said Tendaji, “I care little for the Contest itself. My only real interest here is you, and finishing our fight from Oaton.”

“Why?” asked Lyra, and at Raindrops’ hard look the unicorn smiled with a disarming shrug, “What? You might not care, but I’m kind of curious. Why’s this guy so hot to trade blows with you?”

“Because it is the foundation of my Path,” said Tendaji, which caused Raindrops to blink at him blankly. He frowned slightly, “I suppose that a pony would not fully grasp it. Every zebra finds a Path in life. Our Path is... akin to your cutie marks. It is our driving force, our purpose. A Path is made up of several foundations. Behaviors and goals that form the Path before us. One of the foundations of my Path is to strengthen myself by finding worthy opponents to do battle with. You are such an opponent, Dame Raindrops.”

Raindrops didn’t entirely understand why he thought she was a ‘worthy’ opponent, but the reason itself seemed simple enough. This whole ‘Path’ thing sounded a little strange, but if she was being honest she had to admit that if she had to explain a cutie mark to a species that didn’t have them it might sound strange as well. Out of impulse she glanced at his flank, noting that much like Zecora had there was a symbol there etched in darker gray tones upon his white and black striped coat. It looked like a... vine? Or a tree? It was hard to tell, given it was made of interlocking curved patterns of swirls and twists, peppered with smaller circular symbols that almost made Raindrops think of fruit.

Tendaji noticed her brief glance, “You wonder what it means?”

Raindrops looked away, “No.”

Lyra gave her a slight punch on the shoulder, “C’mon, Element of Honesty, even I could tell that was a lie.”

“Oh shut up,” said Raindrops, “Two seconds of curiosity doesn’t mean I want to chat with this guy anymore.”

Tendaji bowed his head, “I understand, and will leave if you wish it. Our battle does not require that we... like each other. I hope, however, that by the end of this you might at least understand me, as I hope to understand you.”

With that he walked past her and Lyra, going in the same direction his wife had gone. For a few moments Raindrops remained tense, until Lyra gave her a quick bump with her flank, “Hey, you going to be okay there, Raindrops?”

With the zebra gone Ditzy finally approached, looking pensive as she let Dinky climb onto her back. Dinky had an inquisitive look on her tiny features, “They looked pretty neat. Are all zebra black and white like that? I really liked the beads in the mare’s mane. I want to braid my mane like that!”

“Maybe when we get home, honey,” said Ditzy, briefly turning her head to nuzzle the filly before turning to Raindrops, not repeating Lyra’s question but clearly wondering if Raindrops was alright.

“I’m fine,” said Raindrops, concentrating on taking simple, deep breaths, “Just hadn’t expected him to show up here, now.”

“Well, if it’ll help, I’ll buy you a drink to help you unwind,” said Carrot Top, gesturing at the cafe, “We weren’t done eating, so why not join us? Forget all about creepy stalker zebra.”

“Seconded,” said Lyra, “Then we check out the festival grounds! I hear there’s tents with food and music from literally every culture being set up out there!”

“Shouldn’t we wait for Trixie and Cheerilee?” asked Ditzy.

“I can go find them,” said Raindrops, giving Carrot Top an apologetic look, genuinely embarrassed at her foul mood, “Sorry, but kind of lost my appetite. I’ll eat later tonight. We got some big social hoopla to do at that monastery later, right?”

“True,” said Lyra, “We get to dress up like at the Gala and rub shoulders with the other champs and bigwigs from the other nations. Should be fun. Or at least interesting. Wonder if we should wear our armor there?”

“Think I’ll just stick to my Gala dress,” said Carrot Top, “Not really comfortable with that armor yet.”

“Heh, you’ll need to get used to it soon, CT, we’re going to be putting it to real use tomorrow,” said Lyra, elbowing the other mare, who just nervously laughed it off.

Meanwhile Raindrops slowly took the air, her mind wandering as she began to keep an eye out for the wayward pair from their little troupe.

----------

Much later that evening the six mares from Ponyville found themselves approaching the large cliff that rose from the shore along the north end of the island.

From the outside the monastery looked as if somepony had literally taken an ice cream scoop and hollowed out an entire hoofball field sized portion from the side of the nearly sheer rock wall. Ditzy Doo looked about in awe, mirroring her daughter who was perched on her back, tiny hooves planted on Ditzy’s head as Dinky also gaped.

Pillars the size of castle towers ran along the entrance to the monastery, which Ditzy and her friends had reached by following a well paved path that’d taken them from the township of Hero’s Rest to the south, through the extensive festival grounds that covered the fields between the town and monastery. Past the pillars there was a vast chamber,like the mouth to cave fit for a dozen dragons. Massive iron braziers hung from the ceiling, fires blazing within to provide both warmth and light to the huge stone carved chamber which Ditzy realized must have just been the monastery’s entry hall.

They were not alone, as Princess Luna was there to meet them as they passed the pillars, with a number of Canterlot’s nobility following in the Princess’ wake like ducklings trailing their mother. The comparison seemed oddly apt to Ditzy as one of the mares, an elderly pegasus that Ditzy quickly recognized as Vicereine Puissance was dressed in a feathery and elaborate silver and white ensemble that gave her a distinctly swan-like look. Other nobles were harder for Ditzy to recognize, simply because she’d really only had a chance to meet any of them at the Gala last year, and she’d been kind of busy with other things during that time than socializing. The Vicerine, however, she was not likely to forget anytime soon. Puissance’s eyes did cross by Ditzy’s for a moment, and the Vicereine gave a small nod with an unreadable look on her face. Ditzy wasn’t sure what to make of it, really. The last time she’d met Puissance they hadn’t parted on bad terms per se, but the incident with the wendigo and Ice Heart had been... intense. Ditzy was actually eager to ask how the half-wendio foal was doing, though she heard about him fairly often from Dinky, who had a long distance friendship going with Ice Heart that was maintained via a magical scrying crystal ball that was on loan from Princess Luna.

Not knowing if it was okay to just speak up in such a formal seeming situation Ditzy just kept quiet for the time being, but returned Puissance’s nod with one of her own. .

“My champions,” Luna said with a respectful nod of her head, “I hope you are enjoying yourselves thus far and have had time to recuperate from our voyage?”

Trixie, who Ditzy had noticed had seemed rather distracted since she’d returned to the group, returned the Princess’ nod without really looking at Luna as she looked at the other people in the chamber. Ditzy was also noticing just how crowded this huge entry hall was. Dozens of groups of creatures ranging from griffins to diamond dogs occupied the chamber, mingling and chatting amongst themselves. Ditzy almost felt underdressed.

Knowing this was a social function she and her friends had dressed for the occasion. Ditzy had intended to just wear the dress she’d had for the Gala last year; given her limited budget it wasn’t as if she could buy a new one. But as it happened Ponyville’s resident seamstress extraordinaire, Rarity, had heard about the Contest and had offered to make outfits for Ditzy and her friends, free of charge. Ditzy didn’t know if any of her friends had taken Rarity up on the offer, but Ditzy had done so after a brief internal debate. She wasn’t usually up for accepting charity, but Rarity had made it clear that while it was a generous offer it wasn’t driven by pure altruism. Apparently she hoped to get her dress designs noticed by potential foreign buyers. Ditzy was happy enough to help, in that case, and so was wearing a simple but effective dress with a white blouse and three toned blue skirt that went modestly low.

Carrot Top actually was wearing her Gala dress and like Ditzy had a look on her face that said she felt a tad underdressed for the occasion regardless. Ditzy wondered if the farm pony had declined Rarity’s offer or was just holding off on wearing the other dress until later. Lyra had slipped out of the armor she’d been wearing before and was now clad in an outfit she’d claimed as a classic form of ‘bardic’ dress from the Renneighssance period of Equestria’s history. It looked to Ditzy like it might suit a stallion more with its tight fitting dark green pants and vest, a sharp cape, and pointed wide brimmed hat, complete with large white feather, but Ditzy was willing to admit Lyra made it work. Cheerilee and Trixie both looked more comfortable, the schoolteacher sporting a tight fitting satin affair that was trimmed with white lace and embroidered with a number of flowers, and Trixie wearing a rather long trailing cape in a darker shade of violet than her normal star-specked magician’s cape, along with a matching blouse of a lighter shade, both garments decorated with speckles of star dust streaks. Raindrops had opted for an unusual but fetching one piece dress that was a lighter shade of teal than her mane and tail, with a wide, open v-neck collar, and a short enough train that it didn’t restrict her legs at all. Ditzy could only assume these outfits had also been made by Rarity.

All six of them were wearing the ornate pieces of jewelry that represented the physical embodiment of their Element of Harmony, necklaces for five of them including Ditzy, and a tiara sitting atop Trixie’s head. Ditzy knew they didn’t intend to wear the Elements during the whole Contest, but just for this first evening. Trixie had said it’s be a poignant reminder of who they were. Ditzy wasn’t sure what that meant. She had a pretty good memory and was certain she wouldn't be forgetting who she was anytime soon.

“Yes, I think we have,” said Trixie in response to Luna’s question, “It’s been an interesting afternoon, for me at least. On that note, Princess, when you have a moment to spare from all this I really need to talk with you.”

Princess Luna’s eyebrow twitched slightly, but she otherwise maintained a relaxed demeanor as she said, “Of course. The Abbess of this monastery wishes to meet with all of the champions, so we shall introduce the six of you to her first, but afterward you’re free to do as you please so we can speak then, Trixie. Most the other champions and the dignitaries from their respective nations are already here, and you’ll be free to dine and mingle with them as you will.”

Puissance stepped forward, her own sharp eyes glancing over Ditzy and her friends with a critical eye,”You will all be representing Equestria itself at these games, and I, along with the entirety of the Night Court, trust all of you to act accordingly on this auspicious occasion. Of course if any of you wish advice or accompaniment in speaking with the higher profile dignitaries I am available to assist in that endeavour.”

There was a faint stiffness to the Vicerine’s words but Ditzy tried not to think anything of it. The Vicereine was the picture of proper cordiality. Given what had happened back during the winter Ditzy wouldn’t have been surprised at a colder demeanour from Puissance. Ditzy managed a friendly smile for the Vicereine, to which Puissance’s expression of schooled politeness didn’t change, but she did seem to meet Ditzy’s gaze for a few moments longer than she did the others, almost as if Puissance was acknowledging Ditzy more so than the other Element bearers. Princess Luna cast a sidelong glance at Puissance, but made no comment. .

“Yes,” said the statuesque white coated unicorn stallion on Princess Luna’s other side, who Ditzy recognized as Viscount Blueblood, “I suppose we ought to help our Element Bearers put on a good show. Hmph, assuming we haven’t already made fools of ourselves by treating the local terrain like a foal’s playground.”

The last was said while giving a hard glance over his shoulder at another pony in the Princess’ entourage of nobles, an earth pony stallion with a plain grey coat and lighter brown mane, who at Blueblood’s look smiled in an embarrassed, sheepish manner, rubbing the back of his head.

“I did apologize to the monks, Viscount,” the brown stallion said, “And to be fair, they didn’t actually seem to mind me climbing the cliff.”

“What I’d like to know is why you thought climbing it was a good idea in the first place,” Blueblood persisted, waving a hoof, “It’s a cliff for Luna’s sake! Ahem, pardon me, your Majesty. But my point stands, why would a supposedly respectable Baron of the Night Court go charging up a vertical rock incline like its a foal’s jungle gym?”

This time another pony spoke up, a mare who was standing by the Baron. Ditzy was struck at the distinct resemblance to Ponyville’s resident shut in, Fluttershy, though this pegasus mare was clearly more into her middle years. She had the same buttery yellow coat and pink mane, and she was wearing an elegantly flowing dress the color of spring grass.

“Baron Mounty Max’s hobbies are hardly worthy of interrogation, Viscount. Indeed in his home province mountain climbing is a common pastime, and it does keep him in good shape. He can hardly be blamed if he saw an opportunity to indulge a hobby, especially considering the point of this endeavour is to share of our cultures with the other nations. Consider that the Baron was merely demonstrating a part of Nulpar’s culture.”

“That’s stretching it, Duchess...” Ditzy heard Puissance mutter softly, but if anypony else heard they did not’ respond. Princess Luna herself, however, probably did, and she cleared her throat loudly to get the nobles back on track.

“Regardless now that our Knights and champions are here, we can meet with the Abbess and begin our part in the evening’s festivities. If you girls are ready?”

“We are,” said Trixie, though Ditzy couldn’t help but notice the way Trixie continued to appear distracted.

Luna led them deeper into the chamber, the Night Court nobles actually falling in behind them to Ditzy’s surprise. Dinky stayed quietly perched on her back, being well behaved, though Ditzy could sense her daughter’s excitement. The little filly practically buzzed with barely contained energy and Ditzy knew she’d need to cut her daughter loose soon so she could get some of that energy out. She thought that perhaps she should have left Dinky with Raindrops’ parents back in Hero's Rest, but Dinky had wanted to see the monastery. Ditzy’s only condition for bringing Dinky along had been that the filly be on her best behavior, since they’d be meeting with so many other people from different lands.

“Mamma, look, its the deer!” Dinky whispered with a smile, keeping her volume to her proper ‘indoor voice’ as she pointed.

Ditzy looked and indeed saw a number of cervids gathered around one of the large, lengthy tables that’d been set up in the chamber. There were more than Ditzy recalled visiting Ponyville, and surmised that many of them might be nobles or other important deer sent to view the Contest and mingle with other nobles. Among the gathered cervids were the champions who’d come through Ponyville. Ditzy rather quickly spotted Wodan, because it was impossible to miss the giant moose, and she also was fast to spot Sigurd. The dark colored dvergar took note of the ponies passing by and gave Ditzy a small nod, raising a drink in acknowledgment, and Ditzy returned the gesture with a smile.

“HO! Lady of Moon and Stars!” shouted Wodan with a laughing bellow, raising a mug of foaming liquid, “Come, join us! You and all your little ponies! These monks have mead enough here to drown even the bottomless belly of Wodan!”

Luna waved a wing, smiling, “Soon enough, my friend, though you know I do not drink. I’ll let my champions test the limits of your endurance, if they are so inclined.”

“Yeesh, does that guy just subsist on alcohol alone?” asked Lyra.

“Practically,” Luna replied with a soft sigh. Glancing at the nobles of the Night Court she spread her wings, using them to gesture towards the various crowds, “I will lead our champions to the Abbess. I would like the rest of you to resume mingling among your peers from the other nations.”

“Yes, yes, of course,” said Blueblood, holding his head high and with a look as if he was having a hard time fully digesting the word ‘peer’, “Through if it’s all the same to the rest of you I think I’ll keep a minimum safe distance from the cervid delegation. A little too much body tossing going on over there for my taste.”

“Body tossing?” Carrot Top began to ask, then there a roar of laughter followed by a crash as one young elk, possibly Frederick himself by the mane, went flying across one table to smash into another, apparently the loser of a hoof wrestling contest with a female moose almost as large as Wodan. Carrot Top just blinked, “Never mind.”

Blueblood sighed, “So uncivilized.”

Baron Max merely gave the deer an intrigued look, “I suppose I can go mingle with them. I’m used to a little rough housing. Think I might go talk with that Wodan fellow. He seems a friendly sort.”

Beside the Baron the pegasus that Ditzy knew was Duchess Fragrant Posey looked slightly alarmed and gulped, “I’ll accompany you. Just in case...”

She didn’t say in case of what, but Ditzy didn’t miss the way the Duchess’s eyes flicked towards the Baron with a hint of concern that went well beyond the professional.

“I will be mostly speaking with the delegation from Shouma,” said Puissance, “There have long been aspects of their culture I’ve found to be of interest, and our trade arrangements with them could use some discussion. Far too many rare goods that still do not make it to Equestrian markets due to trade restrictions I cannot fathom.”

“Be careful, Vicereine,” Luna said, not unkindly, “Those from Shouma can be a touchy bunch, and the ancient trade agreements with them stand because of the respect shown to their desire to keep certain commodities within their own borders.”

Puissance merely nodded noncommittally, “Of course. I shall be the soul of caution, Princess. I doubt they can object to a few simple questions and light discussion.”

With that the nobles split off to their own areas of the interest and Ditzy along with her friends continued to follow Princess Luna.

The vast chamber only seemed to get more crowded to Ditzy’s eyes the deeper they went. If the cervids were making a racket through merriment and drinking then it was the griffins seemed ready to bring the cavern down around them with their hollering, which seemed to be as much arguing with each other as making merry, almost as if they were one and the same thing. Ditzy caught sight of smaller, more unusual groups as well. A small group of half a dozen zebra were occupying one of the tables, silent and seemingly contemplative, as if doing their best to ignore the noise around them.

Ditzy was kind of surprised to see the zebras here, “There really are folk from all over the world here.”

“Seriously,” said Lyra, smiling wide and practically bouncing on her hooves, “I’ve seen diamond dogs out in the festival grounds and even a dragon or two lounging about. I didn’t even think the dragons would care about this gig.”

“Strictly speaking they do not,” said Luna, “But a few tend to show each time the Contest occurs. Even among the dragons curiosity is a powerful motivation. They don’t bother competing, but they do enjoy observing.”

Finally reaching the back of the room Ditzy could see a vast set of carved tablets, hewn from the very stone of the wall, all flanking a wide set of steps dug into the wall that led upwards at a steep incline. A number of creatures in brown robes awaited them. Ditzy counted perhaps ten of the monks, all of various species. One of them, an elderly and gentle looking unicorn mare whose coat was as gray as her mane, through the streaks of faint rose suggested the mane had once been a different color. The mares eyes were clear and alert, kind but unblinking and oddly intense as they looked over Ditzy and her friends.

“Champions, allow me to welcome you to this sacred place of remembrance,” the old mare said as she bowed her head, the monks behind her mirror her movement, “I am called Serene and I am the abbess of this monastery. It is a true pleasure to meet the mares who have done so much for Equestria.”

She spoke with a slight accent that Ditzy couldn’t quite place, but it wasn’t from anywhere in Equestria’s heartland that she could tell. Latigo, maybe? Not Cavallia. This sounded more northern to Ditzy’s ears.

“Its our honor to be here, abbess Serene,” said Trixie.

“Pretty sweet place you’ve got, too,” said Lyra, looking at the tablets with naked curiosity shining in her gold eyes, “What’re those?”

Abbess Serene smiled, not unlike a grandmother entertaining an energetic grandfoal, “They are our monastery's chronicles. Upon them is carved the names and deeds of all the champions who have come to participate in the Contest of Champions. Your names shall also be carved upon these stones when the Contest has ended.”

Ditzy took a longer look at the tablets now. There were plenty of names, but more than that she noticed each name had a rather long set of deeds chiseled beside them. While a part of her knew that strictly speaking she shouldn’t feel intimidated by that, it was hard not to feel a tad... out of place, realizing her name was going to be carved next to the rest of these names of great champions.

Raindrops had glanced at the tablets as well, but only briefly before turning her attention to the Abbess, “Do you know all the champions who are currently here for the Contest?”

Abbess Serene gave a small tilt of her head, still smiling pleasantly, “Of course. I have the pleasure of knowing the names of all who come to this sacred isle to honor the Contest.”

“Then it’s true there’s a zebra champion here named Tendaji?”

Ditzy raised an eyebrow, recalling the encounter in the streets of Heroes’ Rest. She didn’t quite understand why Raindrops seemed so personally interested in the zebra, or he in her. She knew of the events that’d happened in Oaton because Trixie certainly liked retelling the tale, but Raindrops seemed a little more incensed towards the zebra than such a brief encounter she had with him back then warranted. Then again, Ditzy had gotten pretty steamed at certain mob ponies that’d tried to take her muffin away from her, and Raindrops had always had trouble with her anger, to the point where she’d even let herself get brainwashed by a crazy doctor pony to try and fix it.

Maybe anything that reminded Raindrops of her own anger tended to stay wedged under her hide? Ditzy wanted to give the other pegasus a comforting hug, and made a mental note to maybe talk with her later when things had quieted down for the night.

“Tendaji, yes,” said Abbess Serene, “One of four sent from the tribes of the zebra. He represents the Peacewalker tribe. He is most well known as a healer, actually. Many villages have been spared from disease due to his efforts.”

Raindrops frown was so sharp it could have cut stone, “... I see. Thanks, Abbess.”

At that moment Ditzy felt her daughter’s hooves tighten around her neck in a small hug, “Hey, momma, can we eat soon?”

Ditzy suppressed a small laugh. They’d had a large lunch, but it had been a number of hours since then and Dinky was a growing girl still. More than that, the simple presence of her daughter helped her remind herself that she might not be some grand hero who’d slain dragons or anything, but her deeds consisted of one of the most important and difficult tasks of all; raising a child as best she could.

She nuzzled her daughter, saying, “Soon, muffin.”

Abbess Serene was wearing a kindly and somewhat amused expression, “If you are hungry then I shall not keep you from enjoying the fare my monks and I have provided. I merely wished to welcome each honored champion personally. I will be familiarizing you and your fellow champions with the rules of the competitions to come, but for now, enjoy yourselves.”

Lyra certainly didn’t need further urging, grinning wide and pumping a hoof, “Alright, time to mingle. Wish I could’ve brought Bon Bon in.”

“I did extend her an invitation,” said Luna, looking somewhat embarrassed, “Didn’t I?”

"Oh, you did, no worries Princess,” Lyra said with a sad smile, “My Bon Bon’s just a hard worker, and has a lot of stuff to prep for the festival tomorrow. I’d be out there helping her out, but social obligations of a champion and all that.”

Raindrops rolled her eyes, “That, or an obsessive compulsive need to avoid manual labor.”

“Hey, I’m totally able, and willing, to help with the candy making,” said Lyra defensively, through from the way she winked it was clear she wasn’t taking any real offense, “I just don’t want to distract her while she’s working. I can be quite the distraction, after all.”

“We know,” said Cheerilee, flicking her tail at Lyra’s flank. Trixie just put her hoof to her face and let out a small groan.

Abbess Serene glanced at Princess Luna, not quite raising an eyebrow, “You’ve chosen... interesting champions.”

Luna just gave a tiny, knowing smile at that.

----------

Grimwald was bored. He hated being bored. It left him with that skittering feeling behind his skull, like there was a bunch of little bugs trying to scratch their way free. The feeling would soon spread to his limbs, he knew, and he’d begin the tapping. When his talons started tapping he knew he’d soon need to find a way to... satisfy them, and that wouldn’t do in a nice, clean, polite environment where it wasn’t socially acceptable to stab people.

Alcohol helped some, and there was plenty available. He’d already tried his luck with some of the Elkhiemer’s potent brews and had himself a nice buzz going, but it wasn’t enough. The deerfolk were rowdy and loud, and Grimwald liked that, and if there wasn’t any social niceties to be worried about he was sure he could’ve found a brawl with one of them, or a nice big of sweaty bedroom fun with one of their females, but nope, his wife was watching him like a hawk. Or a griffin. A griffinhawk. Villette. Lovely Villette. So pretty, dangerous, and outright mean spirited that Grimwald found her to the just the right kind of mate. She kept him on his toes and he could fully enjoy enraging her, like he was doing right now by playing a bit of eye tag with the flanks of some of the nearby ponies.

Villette hated it when he did that. And he loved every second of her ire.

Helped fight the boredom.

He was at the end of one of the many tables the creepy brown robed monks had set up. Grimwald could not grasp why anyone would choose to be a monk. Sounded like the dullest life imaginable. They made a good spread, however, he couldn’t deny that. He stabbed a nearby fillet of some southern tropical fish and munched away as his eyes scanned about the crowd casually. This table was largely occupied by an assortment of those fanciful looking kirin types and the ponies who apparently were exotic because they lived on a different continent. Grimwald didn’t really see the difference, aside from clothing and the far too dainty way these folk tended to eat. Except for the dark furred kirin fellow who was part of the royal family. Him and that bird fellow destroyed any food they encountered.

That big fancy “Empress” of the kirin’s was nowhere to be seen through. He hadn’t asked, just listened, because of course someone else asked the obvious questions, so he got his answers just by being a nearby shadow.

“I have heard many great tales of the kirin,” said one quite elderly looking pegasus mare that Grimwald could tell by inflection of tone alone was a high ranking noble of the pony’s so-called ‘Night Court’, “I look forward to seeing with my own eyes your Empress. When might she be gracing this gathering with her presence?”

The dark coated kirin finished downing a cup of clear alcoholic liquid that Grimwald had heard was called ‘sake’ and addressed the old pegasus, “The Empress will be here when she will be here. Which may be soon. Or it may be for hours to come. Depends on her mood and how grand and entrance she decides to make.”

“She is fond of making an impact,” said the black bird. Grimwald considered the strange creature, who besides his upright posture and bipedal nature looked so much like a large crow. The bird, the ‘tengu’ as Grimwald understood his species was called, had an amiable enough, but Grimwald could feel the casual tension inside the tengu’s body. This one was worth watching, Grimwald thought.

The old pegasus mare nodded at the responses she got as if she’d expected them, “A understandable and laudable trait in one of her station. I then shall anticipate her arrival with great interest.”

“Ooooh, what’s this? It smells good,” said a happy, chirpy voice from nearby.

“I... think it’s fish?” said another voice, female like the previous one, “Is this fish?”

The speakers, Grimwald saw now that he craned his neck to look, was a young pegasus mare, gray coated with a long shock of bright blonde mane. On this pegasus mare’s back stood a little unicorn filly, who seemed perfectly comfortable and balanced there despite the way the adult mare moved about. The filly’s coat was a very light, grayish purple, and the similar colored mane immediately bespoke of a familiar relation to the mare she rode.

Grimwald might have guessed the mother and daughter pair if he hadn’t already made himself familiar with who the gray pegasus was.

Ditzy Doo. Bearer of the Element of Kindness.

One of his potential targets. Facts and little bits of information about the mare flitted through his mind from the papers he’d received before coming here. Gray pegasus, around early twenties in age, strabismus, no other known medical conditions. One daughter, unicorn, illegitimate, possible weak point. Occupation; mailmare. No known combat ability. Minimal threat. Potential weak link of group.

He didn’t think much of the ‘facts’ he’d been provided. Real people were rarely so easily summed up. Grimwald smiled to himself.

---------

“That is indeed fish, young friend!” said a pony(?) who was seated across from Ditzy with such a happy, bellowing voice, that it almost made her jump. Blinking at him, only managing to focus one eye on him while the other did its thing, wandering off towards the ceiling, she noticed he wasn’t a pony at all but rather a kirin. His elegant, ivory pair of horns and the scales upon his neck marked him as one of the equines who carried the blood of dragons.

On her back Ditzy felt Dinky lean forward, forehooves plopping on top of her mother’s head as the foal examined the spread on the table, “Why are there fish on the table? Does... does fish taste good?”

The dark kirin laughed, something he seemed to do for literally any reason at all, “Ha! Fish is among the greatest staples of our diet in the Empire! We’ve perfected the art of the many different flavors and styles. By all means, small one, try some!”

Ditzy frowned slightly, peering at the various available bits of food. A lot of it looked undercooked, or not cooked at all. Was that safe? A lot of it was wrapped up in leafy green bands that Ditzy was pretty sure was seaweed, the bits of fish packed inside of little white grains of rice.

Fish was an extremely rare food among ponies. Ditzy didn’t even think any of her Ponyville friends knew that it was occasionally sold in Cloudsdale as a delicacy. She’d eaten it once or twice while she’d lived in Canterlot, mostly as a result of hanging with friends from Cloudsdale. Fish was terribly expensive, and Dinky had certainly never had it. Ditzy didn’t object to Dinky trying some of this Shouma fish, and she was tempted herself. The few times she’d eaten it the fish had always been cooked. As weird as it seemed to eat meat, if the Shouma ponies could do it, well... curiosity overrode trepidation.

She loaded a plate for both herself and Dinky and sat down. Next to her she noticed that Vicereine Puissance was also partaking of the available fare, through only in small amounts, almost as if doing so was simply a formality. The Vicereine did look Ditzy’s way and give a curt nod of acknowledgement.

“Dame Ditzy, I do look forward to seeing you perform in the Contest,” the old pegasus noble said with an even, polite tone.

“Th-thank you, Vicereine,” Ditzy said, giving Puissance a small smile, “I hope I can do my part. By the way, how is Ice Heart and the others in, uh,,, the retreat doing?”

She avoided calling it the ‘Vault’, opting for a more comfortable sounding term in the company she and the Vicereine were currently in. Puissance’s collection of unusual ponies and the isolated lifestyle they were kept in was a sore spot between the two but Ditzy was determined to not let that get in the way of being polite, especially while in the presence of the foreign dignitaries.

Puissance didn’t miss a beat or show any hint of concern about the topic, “Ice Heart is doing very well, as are the others.”

There was a small pause, as if Puissance had to briefly debate with herself, before she added, “Orangerie has asked about you occasionally. Shall I tell her you are well?”

Ditzy found herself smiling brightly, remembering the energetic mare with a special talent, and in some ways obsession, with oranges.

“Tell her I’m doing great. Maybe... I could write her a letter sometime?”

Puissance had a very neutral tone as she said, “Sometime, perhaps.”

Ditzy suppressed a sigh, figuring that was the best she would get from the Vicereine.

Suddenly the dark furred kirin leaned forward, “Pardon the intrusion, but you’re a Dame? As in an Equestrian knight? Are you one of the mares that ruffled Dao Ming’s mane so much?”

Ditzy blinked, glanced at her daughter who was so enamored with figuring out which end of the seaweed wrapped fish to bite into first that she was hardly paying the conversation any mind, and looked back at the kirin, “Um... yes? Was she upset about something?”

Thinking back on it Ditzy supposed the kirin noble who’d met with her and her friends on the ship had seemed a tad put out, though Ditzy had no idea why that would be. The dark kirin laughed.

“Not upset, but certainly put off balance; a state I’ve rarely seen the Imperial Heir in. I think she was expecting you mares who bear the Elements of Harmony and battled the great Amaterasu herself to be a bit more outwardly impressive,” he chuckled, and made something of a impromptu bow from his seated position, “I am Lo Shang, eldest adopted son of Empress Fu Ling, and younger brother to the Imperial Heir, Dao Ming. A honor to meet one of our western cousin’s champions. The tengu to my right who’s pulling ahead of me in our race to devour all the food before us I believe you already know as Kenkuro.”

The tengu raised his beak from a wide bowl of rice, the dextrous feathers of his wing setting aside a pair of chopsticks as he smiled at Ditzy, Dinky, and Vicereine Puissance, “Forgive me for not introducing myself properly. I lose all sense of control and propriety in the presence of good food. I am Kenkuro, Blade of Heaven to the Imperial Throne of the Heavenly Empire.”

Vicereine Puissance gave a barely perceptible tilt of her head as she leaned forward, “Blade of Heaven? I have studied much of Shouma’s history and culture, yet that is a title I am not familiar with. Is it a title of nobility?”

Kenkuro’s eyes were little more than unblinking pools of ink as he said, “No, Vicereine. It is a unique station and responsibility, tied specifically to the blade Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi.”

He rested his wing feathers upon the blade sheathed through the blue sash he wore across his robes. It seemed like a plain enough blade to Ditzy’s eyes, with none of the gleaming silver inlay or gems she normally associated with the kind of swords told of in Equestrian fables. The hilt was plain leather, with a black circular guard whose only decoration was a strange looking tree and a long necked bird.

“Unfortunately,” Kenkuro said, “That is all I am allowed to say on the matter. Consider me, for all intents and purposes a... knight, yes, that is what they are called in your realm is it not? A knight, who serves a special purpose for the Empress. That is all that can be said on the matter.”

To Ditzy’s eyes she could see the slight hint of irritation creep across Puissance face but it was masked so quickly it was barely more than a phantom, “I see. I apologize if my prying has given offense.”

Kenkuro shook a wing in a gesture very much like a pegasus might use theirs akin to a limb, “Not at all. I am certain you understand that there may be matters among your own court you could not discuss openly with outsiders but would not take offense if one ignorant to your ways asked such questions. Speaking of which, I am curious, what position of authority do the bearers of the Elements hold in your court?”

“Oh, we don’t, uh, really have any,” said Ditzy. She noticed Puissance gave her a slight sidelong look that... wasn’t quite sharp, but held a hint of concern. Ditzy self consciously cleared her throat, “I mean, we can go to the Princess about emergency stuff, now, and I guess we’re knights, but we’re not nobles or anything.”

“What Dame Ditzy is trying to say,” explained Puissance, “Is that the Element Bearers hold a special place of judicial authority that is separate from titles of ennoblement. They are not a political force so much as a small, elite unit capable of investigating and dispatching potential threats to the overall stability of Equestria, and have the right to directly approach Princess Luna about any such matters while bypassing the... normal channels of authority.”

Kenkuro smiled. Or at least Ditzy thought he did. it was hard to tell with his dark beak seeming to blend seamlessly into the rest of his body, “Ah... perhaps we are not so different, then, you and I, Dame Ditzy.”

Ditzy just mutely nodded, uncomfortable and embarrassed. To hear Puissance tell it, it was as if she and her friends were like the Shadow Bolts or something. She didn’t feel like the description really fit. Then again, she and her friends had been doing exactly what Puissance had described, including the issue between the Vicereine and the wendigo last winter.

She put a wing around her daughter, taking comfort in at least Dinky’s innocent enjoyment of the evening as the filly ate away happily, ignoring the conversation around her.

“Nervous?” asked a smooth male voice next to her and Ditzy nearly jumped as a griffin with white feathers tinged a dark, bronze color, similar to his coat. He wore an iron grey doublet with a purple wing sigil on the breast. His brown eyes looked at her with a twinkle of keen amusement.

“I, um... yes?” Ditzy said, smiling and shrugging, “I guess I am a bit.”

“Whom might we have the pleasure of speaking with?” asked Puissance, her demeanor shifting in a way Ditzy almost didn’t notice as the elder pegasus almost seemed to take a defensive stance, moving slightly closer to Ditzy.

The griffin smiled in a way that sent slight signals of unease through Ditzy’s spine.

“Grimwald Var Norvik, lord husband to lady Villette of the Norvik aerie, and champion of the Kingdom of Shaldwrick, at your service my ladies.”

Across the table Lo Shang laughed his bellowing laugh, “Think that puts us up to, what, eighteen, nineteen griffin champions? How many of you are there?”

Grimwald’s smile didn’t fade as he glanced towards Lo Shang, through Ditzy wasn’t certain it didn’t get just a touch more uneasily wider, “A lot. And the champions here are almost all of the central Kingdoms, aside from myself representing the border Kingdom of Shaldwrick.”

Ditzy blinked, “Why’s that? And, uh, sorry for asking if this sounds rude, but what’s the difference between a central and border kingdom? Aren’t they all pretty much the same?”

A dry chuckle escaped Grimwald, a sound that to Ditzy was sort of like the rasp of sandpaper, “Are all your pony provinces the same? Even all serving the moon-flank, I bet there’s plenty of differences between Equestria’s carved up baronies and duchy’s and whatever other ‘ys’ are out there. Each owing allegiance to a different noble, yes? Not so different for us griffins, only for us each Kingdom has its own king and or queen, and basically runs itself. There’s loose treaties keeping it all together...” his eyes gleamed with a sharp flash of something Ditzy didn’t quite recognize. Amusement? Hunger? “Of course our treaties are as convoluted as a bog and probably worth less than the paper they’re written on.”

“Pardon,” said Vicereine Puissance with a sharp note in her voice, “I don’t think we need to sour the meal with talk of griffin politics. I can well imagine that Dame Doo has little interest in whatever... message, the central Griffin Kingdoms are trying to send with the current arrangement of champions from your lands.”

Ditzy frowned slightly, “Well, I actually kind of am curious, Puissance,” she said, blinking, and adding, “Vicereine Puissance. I just wanted to know what the difference is between the Griffin Kingdoms, and why this ‘central’ and ‘border’ stuff seems important.”

Puissance looked at her, a measuring look, a look Ditzy had seen from the Vicereine before, as if the older pegasus were weighing and judging every hair on Ditzy’s head. Eventually the Vicereine waved a wing as if to say ‘by your leave’ and continued to watch. Ditzy gave her a small smile of thanks and turned back to Grimwald, who was looking at her with a pleased look of his own.

“If you want to know details, well, I’m the bird to talk to,” he said, raising a talon and rubbing two claws together, “When it comes to the dirt behind the thrones I’m well versed. The short and sweet truth of it is that there are really two sets of ‘Griffin Kingdoms’. There’s the central Kingdoms, where a wealth of resources of the old Griffin Empire was concentrated and was divided between the leaders of the coup that fractured Old Yuri’s empire and to this day remains the center of power and culture by most griffin’s standards. Then there’s the border Kingdoms, along your Equestrian border, the border with Elkhiem, and the ocean coasts to the north and east, where settlers, pioneers, and an endless supply of misfits who didn’t fit in so well with the central Kingdoms ended up. The border Kingdoms are rougher, less prosperous, more monster and bandit ridden, and usually smaller and weaker than the central Kingdoms. By griffin cultural standards they’re the runts, while the central Kingdoms are the big girls and boys on the block. Central Kingdomers look down on the Border Runts, and the Border Runts chaff at that. Been that way for a long time, a nice simmering stew that’ll eventually... boil over.”

Lo Shang suddenly leaned forward, the dark coated kirin’s eyes turning intense, “So there is no unity among the griffins?”

Grimwald shrugged, “There was never any unity among griffins. Not in our blood. We fight, tussle, scuffle, and kill for dominance. That’s our nature. Old Yuri tried to change that and look where it got him. You can’t fight instinct.”

Ditzy felt a weight inside her as she lowered her ears, saying, “You make it sound like the griffins will end up fighting each other no matter what. Hasn’t the Griffin Kingdoms held together peacefully for a long time?”

“A long time, yeah,” said Grimwald, “Just long enough to start a little itch in the blood of every griffin who knows deep down that competition and rivalry is what makes us feel alive, not cooperation and sharing. Just you watch, bright eyes. You see what happens tomorrow during the Grand Melee. I guarantee you that my griffin brethren will go for each other’s throats first, and they're even all central Kingdom. They’ll be looking to show which griffin is the top predator, the toughest bitch or badass in the crowd. All as a show to the Border Runts and the rest of the world that the griffins are ready and raring to spill some blood.”

Ditzy didn’t like the way he said that with such finality and eagerness, as if the idea of griffins hurting each other was something both unavoidable and a thing he looked forward to. The picture he painted made it sound like the Griffin Kingdoms were on the verge of... of going to war with each other. The idea disturbed Ditzy to her core and she wasn’t even a griffin. Strictly speaking if the Griffing Kingdoms went to war it wouldn’t necessarily affect Ditzy immediately or directly, but that didn’t mean she liked the idea of any kind of war. There was no guarantee such a war wouldn’t spill over towards Equestria. More than that...

“That’s not why we’re here, is it?” asked Ditzy, and Grimwald gave her a curious look, and Ditzy spoke on, nervous but passionate as she spoke, “We’re here to show each other our best. To make friends and have fun. So you griffins shouldn’t try to hurt each other, right?”

Grimwald’s eyes stared into hers, and he let out a small huff of a laugh, and actually patted her on the head, “You’re adorable.”

Puissance’s eyes flashed with indignation for a second as she said, “Now see here, lord Norvik, you are stepping out of the line.”

Ditzy raised a wing towards Puissance, turning to look at the Vicereine with a grateful smile, “It’s okay, your Grace. I have this.” She then took a deep breath and very gently pushed his talon off of her head with a hoof, maintaining a calm and firm tone, “I’m serious. The point of us being here is to make friends. I’d like to help do that for everyone, pony, griffin, or otherwise.”

“A sweet notion, bright eyes, but you’re thinking like a pony,” said Grimwald, “Not going to get you far when dealing with my kin.”

At that moment another griffin sauntered from the crowd and to the table, a sleek black coated female with dark, stormy gray feathers and the sharpest, thinnest, mean eyed look Ditzy had ever seen on... well... anyone. The griffiness came up to Grimwald and actually gripped his arm with a talon so hard Ditzy thought she might’ve seen blood drawn.

So sorry to interrupt,” the griffiness said with a forced, thin smile, “But my husband is wagging his tongue more than he should. Besides, husband, your presence is required back at our table. Now.”

If the harsh grip on his arm bothered Grimwald at all he didn’t show it as he grinned at his wife, “Why Villette, my love and light, all you need do is ask and I’ll follow you anywhere. Especially if a bedroom or broom closet is involved.”

Villette actually growled and all but dragged him away, leaving Ditzy looking quite confused.

Lo Shang popped another piece of seaweed wrapped fish into his mouth and said, “That was... odd.”

Kenkuro nodded, “Quite. And I thought the politics of our own courts were strange.”

Vicereine Puissance said nothing, but Ditzy could see in the Vicerine’s eyes that there were wheels turning. Dinky, thankfully, was still happily munching away at the fare on the table, having paid the conversation no mind. Ditzy let out a breath she hadn’t realized she been holding and decided to put the griffin and the disturbing conversation from her mind.

But she couldn’t entirely shake the bad feeling that’d lodged itself in her heart, now.

----------

By the time the room started to tilt slightly to the left Carrot Top considered the possibility that she had perhaps had too much to drink. She wasn’t usually that much of a social drinker, but this was a part and the company was... encouraging.

“Non non non!” said Trixie, her Neigh Orleans accent creeping further into her voice as the evening, and the number of empty mugs on the table, grew long, “There was at least a hundred Salamanders! All of them breathing fire! Right Carrot Top? That’s how it was, oui?”

Carrot Top, having only been paying half attention to Trixie regaling their tablemates with the story of the Salamander incident in Canterlot, or rather beneath Canterlot, last year only glanced up from her own mug of fresh, foamy ale to blink blearily at Trixie.

“Huh? Oh, oh yeah, uh... I guess it could’ve been a hundred? I wasn’t really taking the time to count them. Fighting for my life and all that.”

“Impressive, no matter the numbers, noble Dames of Equestria.”

Frederick’s voice was a tad slurred as well, the elk prince having gone a straight hour battling stomach to stomach with Trixie in a duel of intoxication. So far Carrot Top was putting odds in Trixie’s favor. Her friend might have been delving into her accent slightly but she was still clearly in control as Trixie raised her mug and drank deep, maintaining a pleased and confident smile as she did so.

“We are impressive, aren’t we?” Trixie said, then Carrot Top saw her friend’s expression turn a tad sour, “Not that everypony seems to share that view.”

“What’s wrong?” Carrot Top asked, but Trixie just waved her hoof and was smiling once more.

“Nothing. It’s nothing. Don’t know why I even care what that mare thinks. We’ve proven ourselves so many times already, haven’t we Carrot Top? We don’t need approval from some high and mighty kirin!”

Trixie’s voice suddenly got high and nasalas she apparently started to imitate what she perceived to be the tone of the one who’d earned her ire, “Oh look at me, I’m a kirin from the mysterious east. I’m snooty and judgmental. I walk like I have a ten foot pole jammed up my tail hole!”

“Uh, maybe you ought to slow down with the drink, Trixie. You’re getting a tad excitable,” said Carrot Top with a disarming smile.

Trixie blew out a huff of air, seeming to deflate a bit as she tapped a hoof on her mug, “You’d be excitable too if you spent any time with that mare. Augh, I know I shouldn’t let it get to me. I’m better than this! But its still so irritating. After all we’ve been through I just don’t like the notion that I, or any of my friends, can be looked down upon.”

“Are you sure she was even looking down on us?” asked Carrot Top, having already easily guessed that Trixie was talking of Dao Ming. Carrot Top hadn’t felt all that insulted or anything by the kirin noble’s behavior.

“Felt like it to me, but... pfft... maybe I am overreacting...” Trixie grimaced and then gave Frederick an apologetic look, “My apologies but I’m afraid I have to cede this round to you. Right now it seems me and alcohol won’t mix.”

Frederick had a sympathetic look on his face, holding up a hoof and draining his own mug before saying, “Think nothing of it Dame Trixie. I know better than most that mood and drink need to align, like the stars in the sky. A bad mix of mood and drink can make for a bad evening just as much as a good mix of the two can lead to a wonderful one.”

Trixie inclined her head in a small makeshift bow, “My thanks for your understanding.”

There was a slight crash nearby as a pony went sailing overhead, landing on the table nearby with a loud ‘Oof!’. Carrot Top had to blink a few times before she realized she was looking at the familiar face of Baron Mounty Max as he slowly picked himself up off the table and proceeded to wipe his clothes off.

“Oh, note to self; wear something more stain resistant when engaging in diplomacy with a moose,” the baron said to himself as he hopped off the table.

A bellowing laugh drew Carrot Top’s attention to the approaching form of Wodan, the moose joined by the hovering form of the yellow pegasus Carrot Top had seen with the baron earlier. Duchess... Posey? Yes, Fragrant Posey. Fluttershy’s aunt. The duchess flew up to Max, a mixture of admonishment and relief on her face.

“Are you alright?” Fragrant asked Max with forehooves crossed as she hovered in front of him. The baron had a coltish smile on his face as he rubbed his shoulder.

“Nothing that won’t mend by morning,” he said, grinning at Wodan and extending his hoof, “Nicely done. Hope I at least gave you a challenge.“

“Ha! Was a well fought match! I appreciate running into one of you pony nobles who’s willing to engage in a little fun instead of spending the whole evening talking about nothing! Hahah! We could go again, lad, if you’re feeling keen to get the better of mighty Wodan?”

There was an exchange of looks between Max and Fragrant, a look that Carrot Top noted was held for a good long moment and carried with it weight beyond a simple casual glance between colleagues. Max rubbed the back of his head and chuckled nervously, “I think certain ponies want me to remain intact for the remainder of the evening. Perhaps another time?”

“I’ll look forward to it,” said Wodan, then looked over at Carrot Top and Trixie, “Ah, Dames, having fun are we? I trust the young prince is behaving himself and only hitting on you every other cup?”

Frederick rolled his eyes, waving a hoof, “Oh come off it old one, I have some sense of decorum. I’ve only hit on Dame Trixie once or twice, and Dame Carrot Top half a dozen. I’m the picture of restraint!”

“You’ve been hitting on us?” asked Carrot Top, puzzled. She hadn’t really noticed anything that she could call advances over the course of the evening.

Frederick’s soft green eyes looked at her with an amused twinkle as he winked, “I confess it is perhaps unfair of me to do so when you might not even be aware of me doing it. I forget the culture of ponies is one of flattering appearance. Were I pony I should compliment how your mane is the lustrous color of fire, or that your dress clings ever so secretly to the curves of your body?”

Carrot Top gulped and self consciously found herself straightening her dress. Trixie made a mock gagging sound.

“No offense prince Frederick, but thank Luna you haven’t been doing any of that,” said Trixie, who then thoughtfully rubbed her chin, “So, wait how have you been hitting on us?”

“Stories,” said Mount Max suddenly, drawing all eyes to him. He looked a tad taken aback by the attention but went on to say, “I read about it when I was studying up on Elkheim culture in preparation for coming to this event. Correct me if I’m wrong, but the cervid races’ courtship rituals involves an exchange of tales of one’s deeds. Um, how many stories have you been telling the prince of your exploits, Dames?”

Carrot Top felt a faint tinge of hat on her cheeks as she said, “Oh, uh... a few. A lot. Actually he’s been having us pretty much tell him everything we’ve been doing since becoming bearers for the Elements of Harmony.”

Wodan clucked his tongue, shaking his massive head, “Prince Frederick, you embarrass us with such foolery.”

“It’s all in good fun,” said Frederick defensively, suddenly sounding much younger than his appearance.

“Is okay,” said Carrot Top, stepping between the two, having to bend her neck a bit to look up at Wodan, “Really, I don’t mind it. Its all in the name of learning about each other’s cultures, right?”

Wodan grumbled but nodded, “Spoken truly. Still, don’t let the young prince run too wild among you. He’s a young buck to be sure but still, prince or no prince, don’t hesitate to give him a good thwack on the nose if he gets out of line.”

Carrot Top smiled pointedly, “Certainly.”

“Very well then, baron, duchess, would you like to come and hear the tale of how I battled the ice wyrms in the Hoarfrost Peaks?” asked Wodan, and Baron Mounty Max raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

Wodan chuckled, “No, I’m not courting you. It only counts if I got you to tell me stories of your exploits as well, and we were both drinking.”

“Then I think we’d be honored, Wodan,” the baron said, and with bows to Carrot Top, Trixie, and Frederick the two nobles departed with Wodan.

Trixie nodded to Carrot Top, “On that note I’m off as well.”

“Leaving me alone with the fair flame-haired Dame?” asked Frederick, “Trusting me alone with your friend’s honor?”

Trixie half laughed, half snorted, “I think Carrot Top can hold her own against you. Don’t underestimate her.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” said Carrot Top, giving Trixie a rueful look. Trixie winked at her.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, my friend,” Trixie said. Coming from Trixie that actually was decent advice, at least where Frederick’s advances would be concerned. Granted Carrot Top couldn’t blind the prince with flares of magic light or turn invisible and buck him in the nethers, but Carrot Top was fairly certain the prince was actually harmless. He was a flirtful type, but for all his jesting about her looks she’d noticed that since she’d met Frederick outside her Everfree alchemy cabin that this elk had always looked her in the eyes. His own eyes had never actually roved over her body, as some more wanton types might let theirs. He’d so far, for all his joking, been respectful of her.

She didn’t think she had anything to worry about, so she was able to smile with full confidence as she took up Trixie’s former seat after the magician left and took up Trixie’s own still half full mug of ale.

“Well then, prince, I’ve told you tales of my deeds. Let’s hear a few of yours.”


----------


Night had embraced the world under Princess Luna’s direction just an hour ago. She performed the act in full view of the many champions and delegates visiting the monastery, on the very steps leading to the main chamber where many still drank and dined. It had been a good evening. A good start, but Luna’s estimation, despite there being a few potential... issues.

The griffins were tense. Which wasn’t unusual. Griffins were almost always tense, and rowdy. Luna knew well that there was brewing between the Griffin Kingdoms, and she’d been up north on more than a dozen diplomatic visits to the griffin’s lands to try and help smooth those tensions. She had no desire to see her northern neighbors clawing at each other, especially over something like the growing differences both economic and cultural that was becoming evident between the Griffin Kingdoms along the border and the ones more centrally located. She didn’t think anything would happen soon, however. The proverbial tinder box wasn’t quite ready to light up, and she had high hopes that the Contest would go to help douse any potential sparks.

The zebra who had arrived for the Contest seemed more than eager and willing to mingle and prove the goodwill of their people. Luna had seen a number of them mingling with nobles among her Night Court, who so far had been acquitting themselves well. After the events at the Grand Galloping Gala she’d seen a distinct attempt by the majority of the nobles of her court to improve themselves and live up to the ideals she’d hoped for to begin with. Particularly she continued to be impressed by the efforts of a certain young Baron. She’d been unable to hide a pleased smile when she’d seen him and Wodan having a mock wrestling match to “improve international relations”.

Her own champions had looked as if they’d enjoyed themselves as well, but Luna couldn’t help but worry about the six mares from Ponyville. Luna was the last who would ever underestimate the courage and determination of those six, and had seen time and again them overcome incredible odds, but this was a whole new stage for them. The world might not have been at stake but they’d soon be facing the world’s best as if it were at stake. Luna sincerely hoped her mares would be up to the challenge.

“Princess Luna?”

It was Trixie. Luna had felt the unicorn approach her once the moon had been raised, and everypony had resumed their mingling. Luna, instead of going back inside, remained out on the steps as Trixie trotted up. Luna quickly noted the pensive tension her apprentice and adopted a calming, welcome smile and tone.

“Yes, you wanted to speak with me when we had the chance,” Luna said, extending a wing and gesturing down the steps, “Come, let us walk. The night air is crisp and is good for clearing minds.”

Soon the two were trotting along the waving, grassy fields between the monastery and Heroes Rest. The town itself was now alive with countless warm, orange lights from lit lamps, outlining avenues and buildings. The scores upon scores of tents making up the festival grounds were similarly lit, and among those lights Luna spotted some of the brighter beams of electrical spotlights; some of the newer technological marvels to come out of the minotaur lands.

The sky above was perhaps not her best works, but Luna thought she’d done a decent job with the contestations tonight.

She and Trixie walked in silence for a few minutes, both mares just enjoying the pleasant night breeze and sights, but eventually Trixie halted, sitting down on her haunches at the top of a small ridge that looked over the town.

“Sorry to drag you away from the party, but glad you decided to get us away from it for a bit,” Trixie said, wiping a bit of sweat off her brow, “A tad crowded in there.”

“Don’t crowds please you?” Luna asked.

“Oh, they do,” Trixie said with a familiar, cocky smile, fading after a moment, “Still tiring. Going to need plenty of beauty sleep for tomorrow.”

“It would be wise,” Luna agreed, “But you didn’t wish to engage in small talk, no?”

Trixie nodded, “I don’t know how important this is, or if I’m just being paranoid. But the past year or so has taught me, among many lessons, that you can’t be too careful when it comes to magic. Today something very strange happened and I wanted to get your thoughts on it.”

Trixie briefly recounted how, upon arriving on the island, she’d felt a strange compulsion to wander, and in so wandering had been drawn to a copse of trees and the graves of the thirteen champions who had originally defeated the Warlord and Rengoku Fortress. More than that, Dao Ming had also been inexplicably drawn there, and when Trixie investigated the graves she found strange magic in it that felt very much like Luna’s own.

Luna was quiet for a long time after Trixie was done recounting what had happened, the alicorn’s mind’s eye snapping back through the many centuries, twelve hundred years and more. She forced herself out of that reverie, pushing aside countless rapid images of both people and events long since passed. Trixie was looking at her with a mixture of patience and concern.

“Princess Luna...?”

“I’m fine. I apologize,” Luna said, closing her eyes, “At times the memories I’ve gathered over time can be... overwhelming. The pillars you and Dao Ming found were indeed the graves of the brave souls that gave their lives defending us from the Warlord’s ambition. Eleven buried the day the dark fortress fell, their lives spent in fighting their way to the fortress’ core to face its master. The other two, the survivors; Dazzling Flourish, and Sun Ming. The former was a promising young student under my sister’s tutelage, and the later was the daughter of the Warlord herself, desperate to reclaim her country’s honor and stop her mother’s madness. They survived the battle, and only a long time later were their bodies buried alongside their comrades on this island.”

Luna held up her left hoof and lit her horn with magic, forming a detailed illusionary image of the island hovering above her hoof.

“The magic you sensed inside the pillars is one of several key arrays that form the magical barrier my sister and I created around Rengoku after it fell.”

Several points lit up on the image of the island, five forming a star pattern of a massive magic circle that encompassed the entire island. One of the points was where the graves were located. Trixie noted of the other four one was in the town of Heroes Rest, two were at far points along the northeast and southeast end, one apparently beneath a hill in a forest, and the other in a sea cave. The final point was just east of Rengoku itself on a small peninsula.

“How big is this barrier?” Trixie asked, glancing towards the distant, dark shape of Rengoku that was like an incy blotch on the east horizon of the island. Even as she asked she activated her magic sight spell, to Luna’s cautioning voice.

“You might not want to do that-” Luna began.

“GAH!” Trixie blinked, shaking her head and rubbing at her eyes as her senses had been overwhelmed by what had looked to her like a magical sun sitting right where Renkogu was located, “What... what was that?”

Luna laughed lightly, “That is what a barrier formed by two alicorn Princesses looks like. I thought you said you’d learned to use caution where magic is concerned, my student?”

Trixie just blew a raspberry at the Princess of the Night.

Luna, when she got her laughing under control, said, “The barrier is transparent until one gets close to it. Its self sustaining, partly because of the grounding points in the array. Like pitching a giant magical tent.”

Trixie nodded, finally getting her eyes to, well, not stop seeing spots, but at least allow her to see something other than red and purple magic glow.

“Okay, that explains the magic in the graves,” Trixie said, “But that still doesn’t explain why Dao Ming and I were drawn there. Any ideas, oh great, immortal alicorn Princess?”

Luna gave Trixie a playful smack with her wing but responded in a serious tone, “Truthfully I am at a loss to explain that. I can’t think of any reason you, let alone both you and the Shouma Imperial Heir, would end up feeling an urge to wander to that exact spot at that exact time. However I do not believe in coincidence, at least not coincidences that large. There is no doubt a reason, and since it will help put both our minds at ease once everything has winded down tonight I will go and investigate the graves myself. If there is any unusual magic there, I’ll find it.”

“Thank you, Princess,” Trixie said, taking in and letting out a large breath, “I’ve got a strange feeling about all of this.”

“We should return, before our absence is overly noted,” said Luna, but then she paused as she noticed something unusual. A marked increase in the ambient light. It only took her a moment to realize what was happening as she snapped her head around to look towards the east horizon... a horizon where she’d just raised the moon after the sun had been lowered by her sister, and where the sun was now rising once more.

Trixie’s mouth was gaping as she now also noticed the fresh sunrise, trying to push down a sudden icy panic rising in her as she imagined the kind of widespread hysteria it would cause for the sun to be rising when it shouldn’t be.

Suddenly a large, midnight blue wing flowed around Trixie in a comforting embrace, Luna maintaining a poised, calm demeanor that helped Trixie get her own thoughts in order. Looking at the sunrise again Trixie noticed several things that were off about it. For one the light wasn’t covering the entire horizon like a natural sunrise would. Instead the light seemed concentrated at a limited area to the east, and the way it was getting brighter wasn’t spreading as much as the actual sun would.

Finally, Trixie could narrow her eyes a bit and see that while there was a point of bright light approaching that looked like the sun, it was silhouetted by an object inside the light, some kind of rapidly approaching... ship? An airship? No, there was no balloon. No sails. It looked like a golden, flying ark.

“Is it Corona?” she asked, “This isn’t an actual sunrise. Could it be somepony else?”

Luna shook her head, mainly because she already felt the magic of her sister, and it was close, and getting closer.

“No, there is nopony else in the world whose magic feels like this. A false sunrise to herald her coming. There can be no doubt. My sister has arrived.”

Author's Note:

Six months... yikes. I sincerely apologize to those of you out there who've been stuck waiting that long for me to get this story going again. I didn't actually intend for it to take this long, but a perfect storm of real life distractions combined with a number of issues I had writing the chapter itself combined to make this take far longer than it should have. I'd also intended to get to the Grand Melee this time around but a number of pieces needed to be placed on the board before I could do so, hence the name of this chapter. Hopefully this is still an entertaining read and the things I'm setting up for the future will pay off. Hopefully I can get the next chapter out a lot quicker, now that i'm over the hump this chapter put in my way. As always feel free to leave any comments letting me know what you guys think; I'm open to any and all thoughts and critiques. Until next time, Lunaverse.