The Olden World

by Czar_Yoshi

Friends Through Battle

Morena joined up with the group near the base of the central hill, descending north toward the outlying city proper. By that time, Valey was flying to stay off her hooves, Gerardo and Slipstream were chatting about the mechanics of trying to dodge a projectile in midair, and Starlight had returned to her familiar habit of riding on Maple's back, though this time sitting up attentively instead of reclining as if taking a nap.

She raised a thick purple hoof in silent greeting, and Wallace shouted back. "Hail, Morena! Care to join us for a little well-earned celebration?"

"Bring it!" Morena stomped hard enough to leave a depression in the hard-packed, dusty road. "What are we celebrating?"

"You missed out," Wallace teased. "Young Valey here has thrown off her handicap, and we decided to throw in a sparring match before dinner! I must say, it was promising."

Morena gave him a frank look. "How fine of powder did she grind you into?"

"Hah hah hah..." Wallace chortled, patting her on the back with a wing so forcefully that a lesser pony's spine might have snapped. "Oh, things didn't go that far. Her attacks were like a light breeze against my face, though she did a good job of landing them and seeking out weak spots."

"Hey!" Valey glared from above. "This light breeze beat up a crazy yak, and I'll get you too eventually!"

"That wasn't an insult, young hero," Wallace assuaged. "For I could actually feel them, and that's more than most unarmed combatants your size can say! And you landed plenty as well. Furthermore, I didn't have to reprimand you a single time for failing to dodge an attack you could have seen coming."

"Hmmph." Morena looked impressed. "Not bad! So, are you going to try to shepherd her through the tournament?"

Wallace slowly nodded. "If she remains undeterred, I think an explanation of what happens next would be in order."

---

The restaurant Wallace chose was a tavern with outdoor seating only, well-suited to Morena's large profile and the only thing that could possibly accommodate Wallace. The waitress looked slightly unhappy to see Starlight and Jamjars, but didn't dare argue age restrictions in front of such massive customers, and before any time had passed her back was to them in retreat.

"Nyugh..." Valey stretched and yawned, rubbing her forelegs. "Sure am gonna sleep good tonight... Seriously, though, I was good for more. You didn't have to call it there."

Wallace chuckled. "I told you, young Valey! Any more of that and we would have gotten in serious trouble for tearing up the lawn. I'd be happy to face you again, though now that I have a better idea of what you're capable of, we would have to seek out a more appropriate venue first. However, I stand by my verdict that with your present capabilities, a prolonged match would ultimately be in my favor, as you lack the stamina to outlast me and any way of finishing me through force."

Morena whistled. "Arena damage against her? What were you doing, shockwave attacks?"

"I was sorely tempted to!" Wallace laughed. "But no, those will have to wait for another day. Tell me, are you still insistent on pursuing entry to the tournament?"

Valey straightened her hat. "That's the plan."

"Then listen closely." Wallace's face grew serious, and Valey realized he was about to say something important. "The tournament is an event by nobles, for the entertainment of nobles, and nobles love complexity. As such, the rules at first glance appear quite baffling! However, there are two rules that matter above all. First! Winning is important. Much of the tournament's structure merely determines who you will fight next, or what will happen when you lose. If you are confident in your ability to take on anyone, you don't need rules! Winning every fight you are given will, ultimately, leave you at the top."

"Sweet. I can do that." Valey nodded.

"Secondly!" Wallace boomed. "Entertainment beats rules, and drama is entertainment. The more you advance, the greater you will loom in the public eye! The more you will be watched, and the harder your enemies will try to cheat to disable or disqualify you outside of battle. These challenges, you must survive as well."

Valey hesitated, then nodded again. "How hard would it be to keep my friends out of this? I'm not worried about jerks trying to get me, but if any of them got taken hostage when I'm not looking..."

Wallace sighed. "Hostage situations are rare, but I won't lie: you must be prepared for everything. A common tactic is for top fighters to disguise their true identity, to protect themselves from such heists. Others hire bodyguards, or try to identify potentially unscrupulous opponents first so they can be dealt with ahead of time."

"Okay, so let's say I can make myself unrecognizable. What next?" Valey nodded.

This time, Morena took over. "The tournament is divided into four rounds. First is pools, third and fourth are brackets with single elimination. If you don't know what those mean, we'll explain them when they matter. The second round is the one you care about, because it's when you'll be entering, as a Regent bearer. The idea is this: two hundred contestants made it out of round one. Two hundred and fifty six can go into round three. However many fighters show up with Regents will also be there. So, for the duration of the round, Regent fighters will be paired with fighters from round one. If the Regent wins, they survive. If they lose, they don't. And that goes on for however many rounds it takes for there to be only two hundred fifty six fighters left."

Valey swallowed. "So fifty-six dudes with these tickets make it through, huh? How many will I be up against?"

"Lots," Wallace answered. "Remember, there can only be one number one. If you intend to be the best, you must become better than everyone else in the Empire!"

"Right. Bad question." Valey wiped her brow. "So what happens to the dudes from the first round, then? They're the ones I'd be fighting, right?"

"For round two," Morena answered, nodding. "It's complicated. As a round two pools fighter, you're somewhat safe. We talked about how the Regents work last week? The only way you can be knocked out in round two is if someone with a Regent beats you, and then decides to use theirs to disqualify you from the tournament. Otherwise, we keep our spots but instead fight for better seeds. Your seed is a number that determines who you'll be matched against in rounds three and four. Low seeds are better; lower seeds are matched against high seeds early and low seeds later. The first and second seeds, for example, can't face each other until grand finals. And anyone who survives round two and entered with a Regent automatically gets in the bottom fifty-six seeds."

Maple leaned toward the table, eyes glazed over. "My head hurts already," she murmured. "Regents are that golden card thing Valey has, right? The ticket that will let her enter the tournament?"

Wallace gave a reassuring grin. "Enter with disadvantage into the second round! And fear not if you lose track. As I said before, winning every battle put before you will always result in a straight path to victory!"

"Okay," Valey said, following along. "So if I lose at all in round two, then it's over, since I have this Regent thing. Good thing I don't plan on losing."

"Not quite," Morena corrected. "It's more complicated than that. There are two... tiers you have to go through. Your first fight as a Regent, you start out safe. Lose, and you're unsafe. Win at any time, and you go back to safe. Lose when you're unsafe, and you're dead. And unlike you, every opponent you fight in round two will be a pools entrant, and they're barred from using any Regents they may have anyway until at least round three. So as long as you're safe, it's impossible for a loss to knock you out. The opponents you get in each tier will also be decided by the seed rankings that are being calculated for your opponents. For example, if someone loses a battle against a Regent fighter who's safe, they'll probably end up fighting someone who's unsafe next."

"Buh?" Valey frowned. "If you have to lose to a scrub to get out, that could never end."

Wallace chuckled. "Yes, round two has been known to go on for upwards of ten battles. However, as the fights progress, the pool of opponents you can face shrinks and shrinks, tightening on the very top of the seed rankings! Once you've lost too many as a pools fighter in round two, you may not have another battle to redeem yourself, but as a strong contender for a top seed, I will likely find myself ending the games of Regent competitors all the way until enough have been winnowed!"

Morena nodded dangerously. "The odds aren't as low as you'd think that you'll run into one of us in round two. If you want to win, you'll have to prove you're better than us, or whoever beats us, at some point, but anyone who wants to enter with a Regent will be fighting stronger warriors like us from the very start. If you know you can't beat Wallace now, stay in safe so a match with him won't end you."

"Is anyone else as lost as I am?" Maple asked, watching and waiting for their food to appear.

Slipstream helplessly shrugged. "My job for years involved hours of looking at airline schedules and being able to explain to ponies what would take them where and when. It seems easy enough to me. Can I try to explain it to you later?"

"Eh, seems simple enough." Valey shrugged. "Lose two in a row and I'm out. The longer I'm in, the harder the fights get, and all I have to do is survive until there's only so many left and I'm good to go. Right?"

"For round two," Morena clarified. "Three and four are simpler, but who cares about them right now? Hey, waitress!"

She banged a hoof on the table, and the passing waitress jumped, glaring at her. "Your food will still take ten more minutes! Be patient, you gluttonous trough eaters!"

Gerardo raised a talon, taken aback, but Morena smirked. "It's fine, we're old friends. And it's worth the wait. Hmmmmmph..." She glanced at the clear sky and sighed. "Nice weather today, isn't it?"

Wallace nodded. "Funny, I just remarked as such earlier. You know what they say about thinking alike!"

"Is weather like this unusual?" Maple asked. "It looks picturesque to me, but I suppose I'm used to Ironridge and Riverfall, where it rains all the time..."

"Oh, hardly." Wallace grinned. "But does that make it any less deserving of being appreciated? All wonderful things should be! Speaking of weather, that reminds me of a time when we were grounded in a fierce thunderstorm and decided to take refuge in a nearby cave..."

Comments

[BurningSkies]

"Oh, hardly." Wallace grinned. "But does that make it any less deserving of being appreciated? All wonderful things should be! Speaking of weather, that reminds me of a time when we were grounded in a fierce thunderstorm and decided to take refuge in a nearby cave..."

Relatable.

[sploopy slooder]

the tourney rules seem almost as convoluted as their currency system. which is to say not TERRIBLY complicated, but there are some.....interesting design choices.