Middle Canterlot

by Azure-Spark

Episode 6: Prance-a-Lot

Middle Canterlot
Episode 6 - Prance-a-Lot

The afternoon sun shone at an angle through the window of Rose’s “dormitory”. The blue belly of her older sister poked out between between the curls of a blanket on the sofa. Azure rolled over a few times, smiling in her sleep. She drew the blanket close to her and snuggled into the soft fabric. Her tail flicked the air passively as she rolled back over. She buried her face into the seat cushions.

Suddenly the door slammed open, rattling the windows. “Azure! Azure!” called Rose from the doorway. She galloped across the room, dropping her books off by the door. Azure merely groaned and flicked her tail again. Rose scowled and jumped up onto the sofa. She shook her sister. “Come on, get up! This is important!” she shouted impatiently.

Azure rolled over, face to face with Rose, and slowly opened her eyes. Rose leaned in closer to her sister’s face, almost touching noses. Azure’s eyes shot wide open as she flailed in surprise. Rose jumped back. Azure rolled over the edge of the cushions and crashed to the ground.

Azure glared at Rose from upside-down on the floor. “This isn’t gonna be like that time you got me up in the middle of the night to go out for more apple juice, is it?” she groaned.

“No, no, this is really serious,” said Rose. “Besides, that was one time!”

“Those convenience store ponies still never got over it until the day we moved out, remember?” Azure shook her head as she stood up. “So what is it, filly?”

Rose paused and took a deep breath. “Well I was at school and somepony was talking about how awesome his brother is, and was like ‘My big sister’s way more awesome!’ and then we got to fighting and Ms. Primrose got mad and we said if we really wanted to see who’s olderbrotherorsisterwasmoreawesometheyhadtoproveitan—” She paused, gasping for air.

“Oh who the what now?” asked Azure, bewildered.

“You. This guy’s brother. Jousting match. Today,” Rose said between breaths.

Azure glared down at Rose. “What!? You know I’ve never ‘jousted’! I barely even know what that is!”

“I know I know I know!” said Rose, “It’s just that I was mad and I wasn’t thinking and and—” She closed her eyes and frowned. “I’m sorry, I should’ve asked you first.”

Azure tilted her head. “Wait, you ar— I mean, yes, you should’ve.”

“I should just go tell him it’s not gonna happen,” Rose mumbled. She slowly stepped towards the door.

“Now hang on,” said Azure, “I never said I wouldn’t do it.”

Rose quickly looked up with a huge smile on her face. “You mean you will?!” she asked.

Azure laughed. “Of course, ya silly!” she said, shaking her head. “I can’t let my little sister down like that. How’s it gonna look when you’re trying to make friends and ya go telling all kinds of stuff about me that nopony can believe?”

Rose darted to her sister and hugged her leg. “Oh thank you so much, Azzie!” she said.

“Now run along, you,” said Azure. She chuckled and shook her sister off. “I gotta get to practicing, right?”

“Oh, yeah!”

Azure started to take a step, but caught herself. “Uhh, heh, mind leading the way?” she asked.

Rose nodded and skipped ahead of her sister. As they left, Azure shut and locked the door behind them with magic. And of course, she grabbed an apple to snack on on the way, too.

---

Lyra looked up at the large entryway and frowned. “Now why did she ask us to meet her here?” she thought aloud. Bon Bon caught up to her, then paused to catch her breath.

“Well you didn’t expect her to be jousting in the street or something, did you?” she mocked.

Lyra frowned. “And what’s jousting again?”

Bon Bon shook her head. “Are you serious?” she asked. “Look, don’t answer that. You’ll see inside.” She smiled and walked inside. Lyra rolled her eyes as she followed.

Rose leaned on the front railing of the stands and watched Azure gallop around the center of the ring. Back and forth, back and forth, back and...

“You do realize there’s equipment involved in this sport, don’t you?” asked Octavia from far up in the otherwise-empty stands.

“Well yeah,” said Azure. “I figured it’d be pretty dumb if this was all there was to it.”

Bon Bon entered from the side of the ring. She watched closely as Azure made a passing turn in front of her. “Hi Azure!” called Bon Bon. Lyra followed in behind Bon Bon, looking around the arena skeptically.

“Heya,” Azure called in passing.

Bon Bon frowned. “Sorry we’re a little late!” she called to the other end of the central rail.

Azure scoffed. As she passed back around, she skid to a stop in front of Bon Bon. “It’s no problem,” she said with a shrug. “I’m still waiting for a few others anyhow.”

Lyra blinked and stared at Azure. “How long were you running like that?” she asked.

“Oh,” Octavia called out, “Almost an hour straight now. Still without a lance or any armor, mind you.”

Lyra smiled and laughed. “Really!? Since when were you athletic, Az’?”

“Well how else do ya think I got along homeless for so long?” Azure asked rhetorically. She leaned back and smiled proudly.

“Dumb luck?” Octavia interjected.

Azure looked up at the stands to say something back when the door opened again; Primrose had arrived..

“I’m here, I’m here,” she said, clearly exasperated. “And I found the book you asked for.” She had a small book floating by her side with the words “Learning to Joust” written on the cover.

Azure trotted happily over to Primrose, taking the book with her own magic. “Thanks, Primrose! I don’t know where I’d be without ya sometimes!” she proclaimed.

“Probably not here,” Primrose muttered under her breath.

Bon Bon put one hoof on the floating book. “Go, keep practicing,” she said, “I’ll read over this for you and tell you what you need to know.”

“What, you think she can’t read?” asked Octavia.

Bon Bon scowled at Octavia. “No, I just thought I’d help out however I can,” she insisted.

Lyra grabbed the book away from Bon Bon with magic. “Come on, let’s go read in the stands, bookworm,” she mocked playfully, nudging her friend in the right direction.

Primrose trotted up to Azure just as the latter was about to start galloping again. “I’m only going to ask this once,” she said. “Are you sure you have to settle this silly argument this way?”

Azure nodded. “Silly or not, my sister’s pride’s on the line here.”

Primrose raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure it’s your sister’s pride?” she asked.

“Okay, so it’s mostly mine,” admitted Azure. “Still, I was looking for some excuse to get some good exercise in this city. It’s been too long, and I think I’m going soft from it.”

“Soft?” asked Lyra, now next to Rose on the railing.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” Primrose thought aloud.

“I feel like I’m getting out of shape, all right?” said Azure. She frowned at looked down at herself.

Bon Bon smiled cheerfully on Rose’s other side. “Don’t worry, Azure, you look great!” she said, looking up from the book.

“You’re just sayin—”

“Look,” Primrose interrupted, “I still don’t think this is the best way to handle the situation, but I’m not going to waste time trying to talk you out of it.”

Azure frowned and turned to Primrose. “I’m sorry?”

Primrose just shrugged and walked away towards the stairs to the stands.

Bon Bon frowned too, watching the teacher sulk away. “Well, maybe she doesn’t like the violence of it all,” she said. “This is a pretty violent sport.” Lyra perked up and tried to peer at the book from behind Rose. Octavia chuckled to herself in the back.

“All right, give me a quick run-down,” said Azure.

Bon Bon nodded, then turned back to the book. “According to this, it’s pretty simple,” she began. “Two ponies charge each other on either side of that center railing and try to knock each other over with lances. First one whose belly hits the ground loses.”

Lyra stared blankly at Bon Bon. “So,” she said, “it’s two ponies running at each other with sticks.”

“There’s a lot more to it that that.” said Octavia.

Lyra turned around to face her as Bon Bon spoke up anyway. “Well there’s armor at least, although I really don’t know how much that helps,” she said, frowning.

“And of course there’s tilting, and legal versus illegal strikes, among other things,” Octavia explained. She had finally left her seat and was slowly making her way to join the others while carefully dodging the leftover food scraps from the previous event.

“All I care about outta that is what I can and can’t do that’s within the rules,” said Azure. She quickly shook her head once as she tried to process all of the information.

“You want to aim for the other pony’s chest,” said Octavia and Bon Bon in unison. They looked at each other, then back to Azure.

“Was that so hard?” Azure mocked. She turned to the weapons rack behind her, hidden away from the main arena, and picked out one of the practice lances. She levitated it over into the light to show the group, then levelled it towards the far end of the field. “Am I doing it right?” she asked.

“Well,” Bon Bon started uneasily.

Octavia smacked a hoof to her face. “Far side, Azure. You get a shield to cover your inner side.”

Azure blinked, surprised, then flipped the lance over to her left side. “I guess that just makes sense now doesn’t it.”

“Are you sure this is a good idea, Azure?” asked Octavia. “You clearly have no idea what you’re doing. Besides, you’re challenging the ‘Champion!’”

“Hey, have some faith, all right?” Rose snapped.

Octavia shrugged. “Why get excited over a likely failure? Doesn’t that make the disappointment that much worse?”

Bon Bon shook her head. “Well its just something friends do,” she said softly.

“What’s something friends do? Make jokes? Play games?” asked a goofy voice from above her. The ponies in the stands turned their heads up to see Derpy hovering above them, comically dipping her ear closer as she had been listening. Even Primrose chuckled to herself as she finally reached the top of the stairs and saw her.

“Derpy!” Rose exclaimed. She jumped back off the railing and spun around to face her. “When did you get here?”

“A few minutes ago,” Derpy replied with a nod. She pointed behind her toward the open windows on the upper wall. “I just didn’t wanna interrupt anything,” she said. She flipped dramatically in the air, settling with a plop in a seat two rows behind the first. Rose giggled.

“Oh no you don’t!” called Azure from the ring. She smirked mischievously at Derpy. “Last one here, you get a special prize,” she said.

Derpy jumped up excitedly and glided down to Azure, narrowly missing Octavia’s mane. “What do I get? What do I get?” she asked zealously.

“Close your eyes...”

Derpy crossed, then shut her eyes, still smiling. She felt something bulky and padded shoved over her head. She opened her eyes in surprise. Looking down, she could see extra-padded and worn armor covering her. A quick head motion knocked the face guard of a helmet down in her face.

“You get to be the practice dummy,” said Azure. She poked the target painted on the center of the chestplate with the lance to test it.

“Wh-what?” asked Derpy. Her voice echoed in the helmet.

The next thing she knew, Derpy was sitting at one end of the field with a lance leaning against her. Azure was at the other end, on the other side of the rail. She paced at the ground with one hoof. Derpy tried to move one more time, but could barely even twitch her leg from all the padding and armor that had been slapped on her.

“I hope that’s enough,” Bon Bon mumbled. She tensed up in anticipation.

“3, 2, 1, charge!” shouted Rose, jumping at the end.

Azure leveled her lance at Derpy and took off. Derpy blinked inside her helmet. She was unsure how exactly to brace herself.

Outside of Azure’s notice, the tip of her lance slowly started to fall. Around the midpoint of the field it caught the dirt, and hard. The weapon stopped, but the pony kept going. Her legs caught around the lance as it swung over, sending her in a wide arc through the air until she was slammed into the ground by the base of the weapon.

Lyra winced at the impact, but couldn’t quite stifle a laugh. Bon Bon gasped and leaned further over the railing. Rose was rolling in laughter just behind her.

Octavia rolled her eyes. “You don’t ‘tilt’ from horizontal, Azure!” she called out.

Azure just lay there dazed for a moment. Derpy leaned over the railing to look at her. “Are you okay, Azzie?” she asked through her helmet.

Azure shook off the feeling. Her lance rolled lazily off of her. “Y-yeah,” she said, slowly standing on quivering legs. “This is why I’m practicing, r-right?” she asked.

Bon Bon smiled uneasily at her from the stands. Primrose and Octavia rolled their eyes. Lyra was desperately holding back more laughter.

Rose poked her head above the railing, catching her breath. “Whoa, okay, what’d I miss?”

---

“Single file lines, please!” called out somepony from the ticket booth. The crowd was getting thick outside of the arena and was bustling with talk of bets and combatants. Azure and her friends had cleared out just in time to avoid the hustle-and-bustle of this rush, and on their return they were glad they did. Well, most of them were.

“Umm, if you all don’t mind, I’m going to take a little shortcut I know to get to our section,” said Octavia, shying away from the crowd.

“I still can’t believe you have an entire section reserved for just you, ‘Tavi,” said Lyra.

Octavia shook her head. “What? I like to watch the sport. Besides, it’s the only way I can guarantee I won’t have to, well, touch the common rabble, should I have to get up for any reason,” she said. “Don’t worry, you’re all a good ways above ‘rabble’ as far as I’m concerned.” She turned away towards the edge of the crowd and indignantly muttered lower than anypony else could hear, “And it’s Octavia. Nothing short of it.”

Lyra stared at Octavia with a puzzled expression while she left. “Thanks?”

Azure laughed to herself. “Believe me, that’s as much of a compliment as I’ve heard from her,” she said. She stepped away from the others and stretched out her legs. “All right, I should get going myself, don’t ya think?”

“Have fun, Blue!” said Derpy, hovering and waving from the back of the group.

“Good luck!” said Bon Bon. She hugged Azure quickly. “We’ll be rooting for you!” she added.

“Have fun with that stick swingin’, Az’,” Lyra joked. She nudged Azure and added, “Really, try to have fun out there.” Then she and Bon Bon turned towards a concession stand.

“Hope ya don’t flip over again!” Derpy added innocently. She bounced to the ground and trotted after the other two.

Primrose looked at Azure, then shook her head. She followed the others without a word.

Before Azure had a chance to react, she felt Rose prodding her side. “You can do it, right?” she asked with a hint of sadness in her voice.

Azure laughed haughtily. “Hey, have I ever let you down before?”

“Well—”

“On second thought, don’t answer that,” Azure corrected herself. “The point is, you shouldn’t worry. This kind of thing, this is just fun for me. Running, magic, and a chance to win something, especially for my little sister.” She ruffled Rose’s mane gently.

Rose smiled and looked up to Azure.

“Hey, Rose!” called Lyra. “Can you come here already? Azure needs to get inside, or so Bon Bon’s telling me!” Bon Bon glared at Lyra, then smiled toward Rose.

“Go,” said Azure. “I’ll be fine.” She pushing Rose into the crowd. With one last look back, Rose galloped off to join the others.

“Okay, so there’s the B sections—”

“And the A sections are front-row—”

“What’s that G section doing there?”

“Well I think that’s the cheap seats... well it could be—”

Rose stared bemusedly at Bon Bon and Lyra while they bickered over the pamphlet map. “What’s taking so long?” she asked Primrose.

Primrose shook her head and laughed. “You know, given how I got lost on the stairs earlier, I can’t really blame them, but still,” she mused.

“What’s it, a map?” asked Rose.

“I think so,” said Primrose. A moment later she realized what the filly was getting at. “Yes, yes it is.”

Rose nodded. She trotted underneath the map that Lyra had floating between her and Bon Bon. “Gimme that!” she said impatiently, jumping up and snatching it in her mouth.

“Hey!” said Lyra. Primrose held her back with a hoof.

“Trust me, she knows what she’s doing,” Primrose reassured.

Lyra looked at Primrose quizzically, but turned to watch anyway. Rose spread the map out on the ground. She stepped back and closed her eyes; her horn started to glow. In a moment, she swiveled on her hooves sharply to her right, wobbling around one particular direction for a moment before settling. She reopened her eyes and aligned the map once more. She turned to the arena, then back to the map, then back to the arena again. After a few more cycles of this she traced a route on the map with her hoof. She then traced it over again in the air in front of the stadium.

“Follow me!” she yelled, briskly shoving the pamphlet back to an awe-struck Lyra. Bon Bon was equally amazed, but followed without question. Derpy twirled briskly in the air before following just behind Bon Bon. Perhaps uncomfortably close, especially with her silly grin.

“Told you,” said Primrose, nudging Lyra forward.

Lyra looked at Primrose with a raised eyebrow. “Well we’ll see,” she said. “We’ll see.”

The official looked at his clipboard, skimming down to the bottom of a second page. “Entrant number eight,” he said, “Azure, right?”

She nodded.

He looked at her skeptically. “Well congratulations, you’re the first mare we’ve had in a long time.”

“Well that’s not a problem, is it?” she asked.

He shook his head. “Just saying, watch yourself out there, ma’am.”

“Hey, I can take care of myself!” she retorted, but the official was already distracted with his next order of business. She rolled her eyes and moved on.

Azure was led by a pair of younger workers from the arena down to a darker, stone-walled room. The only light shining in was from a few small windows on the side. Well that explains the late-afternoon showtime, she thought. That’s gotta be about the only time we can get any sunlight in here.

The workers pulled her over to the side of the room, between the corner and a young colt shivering in his armor. He looked at her for a moment, then quickly turned to face to the far wall when he saw her meet his gaze.

“Hold still!” growled one of the workers. Azure couldn’t help but squirm while they fastened the simple chestplate to her. Even worse was their evident quest to find a helmet that fit over her mane securely.

It’s times like these I’m glad I’m not the kind of pony who gets all particular about her mane, she thought to herself as she tried to hide her annoyance. Finally, the workers found a helmet that both fit close enough and still lined up properly to let her horn free.

“Uhh, thanks,” she tried to say, but they had already left to help the next pony.

“D-don’t worry,” whimpered the colt next to her. “They’re just b-busy.”

“Hah, thanks.” she looked at him. He cowered away. “Uhh, something wrong?” she asked.

“I didn’t want you t-to think I was s-staring,” he practically whispered.

“Why would I— oh,” she said. She rolled her eyes as she remembered what the colt earlier had told her. The pony next to her looked down again.

A clanking noise from the entrance of the chamber caught Azure’s attention. In fact every pony in the room looked up to watch what was happening. A relatively tall-statured stallion confidently stepped just inside, sporting much more elaborate and covering armor than any of the stock that had been available for the other entrants. He stepped into one of the shafts of light and stood up straight and tall. The reflection from the metal plates was almost blinding compared to the dim lighting of the room itself.

“Well somepony’s a little afraid to show his face,” Azure muttered mockingly to the colt on her side.

The pony knight turned his attention to Azure, as she was the first to break the silence. He strode up to her slowly, yet precisely. “Do you know who I am?” he asked. His voice was regal and commanding, made more impressive by the metallic echo of his helmet.

Azure stared back at him with a snide smile. Is he for real? she thought.

He chuckled to himself. He leaned in towards her and said in a menacing tone, “What’s your name?”

“Azure, Metal-Hooves,” she answered. She flicked her hoof against his armor and let it ring.

The colt laughed sharply. “Is that so?” he said. “That’s odd, I was supposed to be challenged by a somepony with that name today.”

Azure stopped smiling. “So then I suppose you’re the Champion everypony keeps going on about?”

“Yes, I am, obviously,” he scoffed. “I was hoping to resolve things quickly, but I fear I may have been misinformed.”

Azure raised an eyebrow.

“I believe my brother had told me I would be challenged by somepony’s sister. As preposterous as that sounded, it makes more sense now.”

“Come again?”

“Well obviously he meant somepony’s brother, good sir,” he said. Motioning behind him, a few ponies joined uneasily in laughter.

Azure glared at the Champion, yet shrank down. “No, you had it right the first time,” she muttered.

“Oh really? Well you certainly make no effort to show it.”

“What did you say?” Azure grumbled.

“Even besides the fact that you’re more unkempt than a pile of trampled leaves, and your accent of course,” he said, leaning right next to her face. “It’s incredibly unbecoming of a lady to participate in such a physical contest as this.”

Azure growled and forced her forehead against his helmet. “Let me tell you something,” she said through gritted teeth, “Just because I’m a girl doesn’t mean I can’t hold my own against a stuck-up little colt like you.”

“And you’re sure you can call yourself a real mare?” he whispered condescendingly.

Just before Azure could respond, a pair of hooves pulled the two apart. “Enough!” said the referee who took the registrations earlier. “You can settle it in the ring. The matches are about to start.”

The Champion turned to leave with a self-sure “Hmph,” swatting Azure’s face with the hairs of his tail for emphasis. She growled loudly, shaking.

“I-if it’s any consolation,” said the colt next to her, “I knew you w-were a girl…”

Azure sighed. “Gee, thanks,” she muttered.

“What took you so long?” Octavia asked the group as they finally pushed through the crowds.

“Who made this stupid stadium!?” Lyra exclaimed. She slumped into her seat in the row in front of Octavia.

Derpy flopped down next to Lyra, carrying a bucket split between peanuts and fried apple peels. Rose rolled her eyes and sat next to the pegasus. “Hey, it’s not my fault that you don’t understand maps!” Rose yelled.

“Can we please stop arguing and try to enjoy the games?” Bon Bon squeaked from behind everypony else.

Lyra sighed. “Yeah, you’re right,” she said, “Sorry everypony.”

Rose rolled her eyes. “I guess it’s okay…”

Derpy smiled and offered her bucket to Lyra. “Want some?” she asked. Lyra only managed to levitate one peanut out of the thing before Derpy pulled it back away for herself. She hunched over the bucket, carefully guarding it even as she shoved her face in for a helping.

Primrose carefully and quietly settled down behind Bon Bon. “Thank you, you took the words out of my mouth,” Primrose whispered to Bon Bon.

“Shush!” interrupted Octavia. “The first match is starting!”

Derpy and Rose looked at each other excitedly, then leaned forward in their seats. Lyra barely managed to save the snack bucket in time with magic. After a quick check where her friends were looking, she slowly snuck the bucket onto the seat next to her.

They could just barely see the referee on the field. He had what appeared to be an overturned helmet-cap levitating next to him. After a moment, he levitated two small somethings from inside. He leaned towards the microphone clipped to his ear and said, “First up, by random decision: Entrants 8 and 5 please report to the ring!”

Azure gulped as her number was called. At least I can get this first one over with sooner rather than later, she thought as she was led out towards a designated entrance. The door remained shut for a moment as some ponies checked that her armor was secure. She was then presented humbly with the standard wooden lance and shield.

“Uhh, thanks,” she said, confused by the workers’ formality. Still, she took them up with her magic without question. As soon as she had, she found herself shoved out through the doors. The sound of the crowd, no longer muffled, was daunting. She took a deep breath, then stepped toward the start of the rail on shaky hooves.

It wasn’t until she saw her opponent and his equally shaky hooves that she cracked a smile; it was the colt she had been talking to while they were waiting. Nopony else in the armor room was as nervous as he was.

“Hey!” called Azure. “Good luck!”

The colt looked up. At that distance she couldn’t be sure, but Azure could’ve sworn he smiled too.

The referee cleared his throat and stepped up to the center rail. “You two know the rules: Below the neck only, first one down loses,” he recited. “Are you two ready?”

The colt nodded weakly. Azure met the gesture.

“All right,” said the official. He stood back, out of the lane. “Now starting match 1, round 1,” he spoke into the microphone, “Ready, Set, Go!!”

“Go Azure, Go!” yelled Rose as she bounced in her seat. Derpy watched and mimicked the filly with equal enthusiasm.

“Well, given the state of that poor colt on the other side she might just stand a chance,” said Octavia, rolling her eyes.

Bon Bon ducked behind Lyra, but then came up for another look. Lyra glanced back at her. “Nothing’s happening yet, ya know,” she quietly reassured.

“I know, I know,” said Bon Bon. “I’m just worried she’ll get hurt or something.”

“Which is exactly why this is a dumb idea,” Primrose muttered.

Lyra smiled and turned around to Bon Bon. “What happened to that faith in her, eh?” she asked jokingly. Bon Bon sighed. “Look, she’ll be fine,” said Lyra. She pat Bon Bon on the shoulder. “Relax.” Lyra levitated the snack bucket up behind herself. “Want a peanut to keep your mind off of things?”

Bon Bon nodded, then winced; a loud crack sounded from the arena. Lyra whipped around to see what had happened.

Azure skidded to a stop in the dirt. Her legs were wobbling again. Even her lance was still shaking from the last impact. Nothing could’ve prepared me for that kinda shock, she thought, Well, short of an actual practice partner.

She shook the lance in the air as she spun around to the other side of the rail. “Second charge, go!” announced the referee.

Straight for the chest, no hesitations, thought Azure. At the official’s last word, she ducked her head down and took off. She felt the air rush by and smirked. This had to be how flying felt for a pegasus. It was like she was really alive, for once.

The colt was a lot less confident on this pass. Especially compared to Azure. He shut his eyes as they got close enough, and in a moment—

CRACK!

Azure’s lance struck the lower part of his chest good and clean, while the colt’s lance missed completely. He immediately flipped to the ground, head-over-hooves. Azure slowed herself at the end of her run and checked over her shoulder. She smiled widely, jumping and bucking in celebration.

“And the winner is: Entrant 8, Azure!” announced the referee. He finally seemed to take an interest in the event as he smiled at her.

“Woo-hoo!” Lyra shouted and leapt out of her seat. Derpy snatched her in a midair hug for a moment.

Octavia smirked. “Still think it’s just ponies and sticks?” she asked.

“That was awesome! She ran at that poor colt— Bam!”

Bon Bon snickered quietly at her friend. “This might not be so bad,” she told herself as she sighed with relief.

Rose smiled. “Maybe she really can do this,” she mumbled.

Derpy and Lyra leaned on the edges of their seats and shouted “You go, Azure!” as loud as they could.

The colt groaned from the ground. He could barely see straight, let alone move. He felt himself lifted off of the ground. His legs fell down to catch his weight.

“Good match!” said a friendly voice in front of him. All he could really make out was a bluish blur.

“H-huh?” he stuttered. The sound of his own voice brought an unnoticed but fierce headache to the front of his mind. “Oww…” he groaned, clutching his head with one hoof.

Azure, now coming into focus, tilted her head and smiled sympathetically. “Sorry if I roughed ya up a little much with that,” she said softly.

“I-it’s fine,” he said. “It was s-still kinda f-fun, in a way.”

“Good.”

He smiled, then grabbed his head again. A pair of workers, or “squires” as Azure figured they were supposed to be, escorted him out of the arena. She watched him until he was out of sight, then proudly cantered across the field to return to the waiting area.

---

“And now for the final match of round 1: Entrants 1 and 7 please report to the ring!”

“And now for the first impressive match of the day,” said Octavia as she sat up straight for the first time all round.

“What do you mean?” asked Lyra.

Octavia merely pointed towards the left arena entrance. Everypony else in the section did a double-take; that was much more armor than anyone else had been using. Even Primrose became intrigued by the stallion as he assumed his post.

“Ready, Set, Go!!”

The full-armored pony took off instantly. Rose could’ve sworn she felt the rumble of his pounding hooves all the way up in the stands. “Is that—”

She didn’t even have time to finish her sentence before the first impact. The Champion’s opponent barely stood a chance as one square strike to the chest bowled him over. Even the end of the Champion’s run was impressive; he angled his hooves, skidding to a halt while simultaneously turning around to face the audience. He finished with a flourish, raising his lance and chest regally over his bested foe.

Octavia chuckled to herself. “That, my friends, is how one jousts.”

“Eh, he’s just a show-off,” Lyra retorted. “And not a very good sport either,” she added; he stood with one hoof pinning the other colt firmly.

Azure had watched the entire bout from a crack in the door from the armor-fitting room. She shook in her hooves at the sight. That was a nasty blow, and with dead aim who knows how much it hurt.

“No,” she muttered to herself, “I can’t let him psych me out.” She looked up with a confident smile. “I can do any of that, easy!” she said. “Yeah, I saw how he does it. It can’t be that hard, right?”

“Hey, crazy,” said a skeptical “squire” behind her. “You’re on next.”

Once again Azure found herself quivering.

Round 2, Match 1. Azure versus Number 6.

At the word “Go!!” they started off in unison. This colt was clearly no pushover. He was as focused and determined as Azure. Or at least, as much as Azure was trying to be.

The first pass was nothing special. Essentially they clashed lances, neither landing a true hit. Somehow, Azure’s heart was still racing, and no longer in a good way. She deliberately took her time rounding the rail between charges and took a deep breath with each step.

Up in the stands, Bon Bon couldn’t watch. “Where’d all that excitement from earlier go?” she mumbled to herself. So many things could go wrong if she wasn’t careful, but so many more things could go wrong if she got cold hooves.

Primrose scooted down the bench closer to Bon Bon and leaned against her for comfort.

Bon Bon looked at Primrose pleadingly. “I see why you don’t like this kind of thing,” she said. “I can’t stop worrying that something bad will happen.”

“What’s worse is that it didn’t have to be like this,” Primrose groaned.

“What do you mean?”

“Well of course they could’ve just talked it out like a normal pair of ponies.”

“I guess, but what about Rose and the other foal?”

“They’re just children, they’re immature,” Primrose explained. “Their older siblings really should be better than this, don’t you think?”

Another sharp Crack! from the arena drew the conversation to an abrupt end.

Azure set her lance down at the end of the run, giving her horn a rest. A squire approached her from the sideline. “Do you need a replacement?” he asked.

“No, no, I’m fine with this one,” she said quickly.

“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather one with lace, madam?” asked that familiar mocking voice from the armor room. “Or perhaps one that might ‘bring out your eyes’ better!”

Azure fumed and quickly snatched up the lance quickly. “Ready for the next charge, ref,” she growled as she stomped over to the starting position.

Once her opponent leveled his lance, the referee waved them clear to go. Azure nearly jumped the gun. She was so eager to prove that smug stallion wrong. In fact she barely realized just how fast she was charging. Her opponent saw this, but not quite in time; he flinched and rose his shield to the lance, but it was smashed back into his side. He spun out, dropping to the ground once he was too dizzy to stand, and skid to the end of the run on his belly.

Azure tried to slow down, but she couldn’t find any traction. She tensed up and started to feel herself slip into a fall. In a panic she brought her lance in closer and grabbed the handle in her mouth. She jammed the thing into the ground, catching the not-as-loose dirt underneath the top layer, and used it as a brace to swing herself around. She finished her slide within an inch of the end of the rail. The lance snapped in two, and she spit out the handle.

After a pause, the crowd broke into a celebratory roar at her success. Azure could pick out Derpy, and possibly Rose’s mane, a ways up into the stands. Both were leaping in the air in an attempt to show themselves above the rest of the crowd. She smiled; quickly she realized this was a mistake.

Oh sweet appleseed, my teeth!! she thought. She forced a smile for the crowd anyway, but for fear of losing something kept her lips together.

“Well, it wasn’t without her trademark awkwardness,” said Octavia, “but I must admit, for her first try, that was a passable slide turn.”

“Do you think she learned that just from watching somepony else?” asked Primrose. Even she was actually leaned forward in her seat now.

“It kind of looked like a fluke to me,” said Derpy.

“Does it matter?” asked Lyra ecstatically. “Either way, it looked pretty sweet!”

“She must’ve been going awfully fast for her lance to break like that,” added Bon Bon.

“I do have to admit, she’s come a long way since this morning,” said Octavia. She put one hoof on her chin in thought. “I could see her coming out on top here, maybe with another fluke in her favor mind you.”

Rose stayed quiet. She smiled more and more with each remark. “She can totally do this,” she mumbled to herself. “Come on, Azzie, just one more.”

---

“And now, ladies and gentlecolts, it is time for the moment you have all been waiting for!”

Azure stood just behind her designated entrance. Of course the reigning Champ had won his match already, and once again on the first charge. She didn’t even have to watch to know what had happened; a single crack of wood, skidding of dirt, and the crowd’s cheers all added up to the same thing. The one thing that made her smile through the sounds was a magically-amplifed “Boo!” that pierced the crowd’s cheering slightly. Lyra must’ve finally got into it, she thought with a smirk.

“The challenger, Number 8, Azure!”

Azure took a long, deep breath, then sharpened her gaze. She stepped outside the door and calmly made her way to the weapon rack. The crowd’s reaction was a pleasant surprise. She expected boos and hisses, but instead she got just as enthusiastic of a reaction as when she won for the first time.

“And Canterlot’s reigning Champion, Number 1 in more ways than one, The Silver Stallion!”

Oh, and you made fun of me? thought Azure, smirking at him as he strode out. He barely noticed her. He was too busy posing for the crowd. Suddenly she felt the reaction she received really was the lame version.

Azure felt something slip off of her neck. She looked down and saw one of the buckles of her chestplate’s harness had snapped in two. “Oh dear,” said a female squire. “I’ll be back with a new plate shortly ma’am.”

“Don’t bother,” Azure insisted. She hadn’t been practicing her magic for nothing after all. She looked another one of the buckles on the harness. With barely a thought, she magic’d a matching one inside the loop of one of the loose straps.

The squire stared, dumbstruck. “I-is that legal?”

Azure carefully maneuvered the straps around to secure them with the new buckle. “It’s not like I can cheat with something like this, right?” she asked.

“Well I guess not...” said the squire. She shook her head. “I’ll have to double-check with the referee. Pick out a new lance for yourself in the meantime.”

Azure nodded and turned to focus on the rack. She had liked that other lance. It was the same kind of worn-down stock wood as the rest of the available lances, but it had served her well. Well, not her teeth so much, but that was forgivable after two wins.

“Perhaps one with encrusted jewels? Or maybe one that comes with a dress...”

Azure whipped around to see the Champion standing there. He was deliberately leaning back to emphasize his height. He was literally looking down at her.

“Would you quit it already?!” she yelled.

“Oh, my apologies. I forgot,” he said. “Only a true lady would wear a dress.”

“Come on, Metal-head, can’t we just have a good, clean match without the trash-talking?”

He laughed haughtily. “And here I thought somepony as unladylike as yourself would at least have a comeback in mind,” he said.

Azure growled, gritting her teeth. “Well I— you oughta—”

“Please return to your starting post,” the referee interrupted. The Champion turned and walked away with his head held high.

“I’ll show you unladylike!” Azure yelled after him. A pair of squires quickly grabbed her before she could run after.

“Save it for the match, milady,” one of them insisted.

She groaned and stopped squirming. It’d only really serve him right if she beat him at his own game. That didn’t make her any less furious at the stuck-up colt’s bias, however.

“The final match-up, the final fight. Round 3: Ready, Set, Go!!”

Azure took a deep breath, then started off. She had decided on a slightly thicker lance than before. Anything to wipe the supposed smile off of his face on impact.

The sight of that charging armor was distracting. It was a completely emotionless mask, unlike her last opponent. At least he showed some sweat and tears. More importantly, the helmet seemed to give him an extra bit of height on top of his existing stature.

And of course she remembered what happened to his past opponents.

CRACK!

She barely caught it as it happened. Her lance bounced harmlessly off of his shield, but his was another perfect hit, square in the middle of her chest. The shock from the impact meant she barely registered the pain, but she definitely noticed the wind knocked completely out of her. She continued on her path, gasping for air. Her legs pushed forward automatically, but their strength faltered. Azure just barely managed to catch herself by draping over the end of the rail. Her belly hung about an inch off of the dirt.

Azure could hear her heart pounding in her chest. That was a tough hit. Okay, tough was an understatement, but there was a silver lining. “At least,” Azure said, between gasps for air, “I lasted longer— than anypony else— against him.”

The official walked over to her and leaned under her foreleg. “Are you okay? Can you keep going?”

She nodded. After a moment she dropped from the rail onto all four hooves. Her leg wobbled briefly, but she forced herself to stand straight after one more deep breath.

“Oh, double-check that buckle,” said the official, “There’s nothing in the rules against magic-made equipment, so long as it fits within regulation size and weight and stays that way. Either way, you do have to maintain it.”

She took a second to realize what he was getting at, when her chest plate started to slip, one of the straps slipping through the buckle she had made. She shut her eyes and focused, catching the straps. They floated back into position, and with a brief flash, the buckle returned to full solidity.

A blue-tinted glint off of the buckle shone up into the stands.

“Oooh,” said Derpy, “Sparkly...”

“What was that!?” Rose asked. She squinted in her sister’s direction.

Primrose was lost in thought. She found herself unable to look away from Azure. “Did she really make something that small?” she thought aloud. “And did she really re-cast it that easily?”

Rose turned around. “So you’re saying she just made something again?” she groaned. “Boring.”

Primrose shook her head. “But something like that? I guess it’s part of the harness or something, I can’t quite see. Either way, I’ve never seen her make anything smaller than an apple, even as long as she’s been practicing with me.”

“Well she practices all the time at home. It’s kind of annoying, really.”

“Really? Has she made anything in particular you can think of?” Primrose asked, focused on Rose instead of the match now.

Rose thought for a moment. “Uhh, a pillow, a hairbrush, a fork and knife...”

“A hairbrush!?” Primrose interrupted. “Did it work?”

“For the most part, yeah. Why wouldn’t it have?”

“Something so detailed, that should take a lot of thought and focus. I wonder how much she really has been practicing without me.”

Rose rolled her eyes. “Do you need me for this?” she asked.

Primrose ignored her. “And she’s gotten so fast with it too. I wonder...”

“I’ll take that as a no.” Rose spun back around.

Azure focused her gaze on the Champion’s chestplate. She had to do this right this time. No distractions, just focusing on what she knew. The referee waved them clear, and both Azure and her opponent broke into their respective gallops in unison.

1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2-3, Azure thought, counting her hoofsteps. That was the first step, building up speed without falling. The second step was making sure she aimed properly. She had to hold the lance up steadily, and aim for the center point of his chest. Okay, realistically, anywhere that actually would affect him.

The third step would be to endure another blow. This is where the plan started to seem like a bad idea in her head. There was no time to doubt herself though. Impact in three, two...

CR-RACK!!

Azure was caught off-guard as something heavy tipped her horn, while nothing hit her in the chest. She slid to a stop at the end of the run. Only when she lifted what was left of her lance did she realize what had happened. Behind her, the splinters and chunks of the shattered weapon littered the field behind her. A few squires quickly ran out to sweep them up.

The Champion stood at the far end of the run. He turned over his shoulder and scoffed. “One free hit, Azure,” he said. “Just to be fair.”

Azure glared at him again. “Don’t lie,” she called over, “I got you that time!”

The Champ stepped around the end of the rail. With each step he stomped deliberately, pounding his armor-clad hooves into the dirt. “Let us simply joust, shall we?” he said. All hint of joking had left his voice.

“Just lemme get a replacement weapon, all right?” she called back. Her voice faltered slightly. She gulped and shut her eyes.

A squire brought a lance to her from the rack, bowing as he presented it to her.

“Are you kidding me?” she asked, looking back out of the corner of her eye. “I’ve had two of those things break on me already!”

“Well what else can you use?” he asked.

Azure looked at the referee, and he nodded back at her. “Just hold that thing where I can see it,” she said.

The Champion tilted his head as he watched her work. Her eyes traced back and forth over the lance, then shut. Her horn glowed, and before her a rough duplicate of the wooden lance slowly materialized. She opened her eyes and smirked at the creation. The audience murmured amongst themselves frantically at the sight of this. “Can’t say that’s any heavier than the other ones, I don’t think,” she said. Just to be sure, she passed the it to the referee.

He caught it with magic before it hit the ground, then nodded. “It’s legal. I can’t say I blame you for your choice, but that doesn’t mean I won’t be watching you,” he said. He tossed it back to her.

“A fancy weapon does not a good jouster make,” said the Champion.

Azure opened her mouth to respond, but somepony beat her to it.

“What, are you jealous now!?” yelled Lyra, “You’re just mad that you can’t do that!”

Azure looked down, snickering uncontrollably. The referee cleared his throat, and Azure quickly collected herself.

“We apologize for the delay. The match will now resume.” he announced as he backed off of the lane.

Azure paused briefly and smiled before starting her charge. The Champion, by contrast, broke into a brisk, sprinting gallop at the first chance.

Of course, I have my friends to support me, win or lose, she thought. So why not have a little fun with this? Suddenly her eyes widened, and her face turned to a smirk.

She slowed her gallop down almost to a trot. The Champion barely noticed, and remained resolute. He charged firmly, his hooves thundering against the dirt run. He aimed his lance for her just before giving himself one more burst of speed.

“Gotcha,” Azure told herself. She snapped her lance quickly in front of herself, across the rail. The tip of the blue pole-arm crossed with the tip of his, knocking it down and back. There was just enough force behind Azure’s strike that the lance made it through the top layer of dirt, and there was just enough momentum behind the armor-clad stallion that he kept going, even as his leg caught the lance and he was lifted through the air. Azure sprinted to the end of her side, slide-turning at the end just in time to watch his crash landing with her own eyes.

The Clang! of the armor hitting the ground was almost as loud as a splitting lance. Most of the audience winced, Bon Bon and Primrose included.

Lyra on the other hoof couldn’t look away. “Yeah! Woo-hoo! What now, Prance-a-lot!? What. Now!?”

The ponies seated in front of her turned back with dirty looks. Even her friends looked at her strangely.

“Uhh,” she stammered, “you got my back, right Derps?”

Derpy raised her hoof and asked, “Fo’ sho’?”

Lyra quickly high-five’d Derpy’s hoof. “Yeah, that’s what I’m talkin’ about!” Derpy giggled in response.

“Ahem!” the referee interjected over the microphone. “May I please continue?”

Lyra shrank down into her seat. Rose had to hide her face from Lyra to keep from laughing.

“As I was saying,” said the official, “Ladies and gentlecolts, the Canterlot Annual Amateur Jousting Tournament is proud to present a New Champion!”

Azure held onto the word “Amateur” for a moment, but decided it didn’t matter. She proudly trotted up to the referee’s side and took a bow. The conjured lance still floated by her side. After a moment, the crowd broke into applause. It came by gradually, of course, but soon their excitement really shone through. Sure, they didn’t chant her name or anything like that, but she could still feel the appreciation. She stayed up front, basking in the crowd’s applause as long as it lasted. She siighed with relief. Eventually she let the lance fizzle once enough ponies had left.

A groan behind Azure reminded her of some unfinished business. She strutted her way over to the now-ex-Champion and planted a hoof on his chest. She sneered in his face, or helmet, rather, and said, “Well how’s about that, Hotshot, you just got your sorry flank tossed around by a girl!” She smiled proudly to herself and held her head high.

“Whetstone!” called the voice of some young colt behind Azure. She turned and jumped. At least fifteen children stampeded across the field toward her and the downed stallion. One colt came out in front, pushing past Azure to get to pony she was standing over. “Are you okay big brother?” he asked. All he got in response was an echoing groan.

Azure stared at the two quizzically. “What’d you say his name was again?” she asked. “Wet... Stone?” The colt ignored her.

“Come on, get up!” he pleaded. “Please, I can’t lose to Rose!”

Azure snickered at him. Finally she found the source of this whole argument.

“Oh yes you can!”

Azure looked back towards the stairs and, just as she figured she would, saw Rose plow through the other children.

“Face it, Glimmer, you lost! Azure’s way more awesome than your tin-can brother!” Rose yelled at the colt.

“She is not!”

“Is too!”

A loud stomping hoof silenced the bickering kids immediately. “Enough. Fighting,” Primrose yelled from the stairwell. The children cowered as she approached them. Her eyes were locked in a fiery glare. “I swear, you two have been the biggest headaches of my career in the course of a single day! First you can’t settle a stupid argument by talking it out, but to make matters worse, you dragged the rest of the class into it!”

By this time the rest of Azure’s personal cheering section had come downstairs and were standing behind her. None of them wanted to speak for fear of garnering Primrose’s attention.

“I turn my back for one second and the entire class is completely gone, off to someplace— I didn’t even know where!” she yelled. Rose and the colt clung to each other, each one’s lower lip quivering. Primrose smirked maliciously. “Well there,” she muttered. “Was it so hard to just be friends in the first place?”

The two foals looked at each other, then pushed away, pouting.

Primrose shut her eyes and sighed. “Fine then, be that way,” she said, “Compass Rose, Glimmer, you’ve just earned yourselves the right to clean my classroom for the next month and a half, whether it needs it or not.”

Rose gasped. “But we didn’t mean t—”

“That wasn’t a question.”

“Wh—”

“Now quiet, before I make it two!” Primrose snapped, yelling in Rose and Glimmer’s faces. They shrank to the ground, lips sealed tight.

The rest of the class was cowering behind their teacher. “The rest of you,” she began. Some started to whimper. She turned around with a bright smile across her face. “The rest of you are completely off the hook, since I got to keep an eye on you after all,” she said. “And because I’m in a good mood since Azure actually won without getting hurt too bad!”

The class sprung to life and cheered. Azure blushed and smiled warmly at their reaction.

“Yay, Champion! Hooray for Azzie!” Derpy exclaimed, scooping up Azure in a tight hug.

Azure laughed and hugged Derpy back. She made sure to keep her wings pinned. No aerial hug this time. I’m sore enough as it is, Azure thought. “Thanks, Derpy,” she said. “And thanks to all of ya for cheering me on!”

“You’re welcome!” said Bon Bon and Lyra at the same time. Lyra turned to Bon Bon and shook her head.

“You were trying not to look last time I checked,” Lyra said.

“Hey, just because I wasn’t as loud as you doesn’t mean I wasn’t rooting for her in my own way!”

“You know,” Azure interrupted, “I kinda think just being here was good enough of support.”

Bon Bon smirked at Lyra. “See?” she insisted.

Azure snickered at the two. “Hey, enough of that,” she said.

“Pardon me for interrupting,” came the voice of the referee, “but I do owe you this.” He levitated a box over to Azure. Derpy quickly lifted the lid. They both stared intently at the shiny object inside. Azure levitated it up for everypony to see: a small gold trophy depicting a pony knight. It was almost like Whetstone, just without the inherent smug attitude.

Azure giggled like a small filly as she stared at the statuette. “I think that means thank you,” Primrose whispered to the official. He smiled and rolled his eyes before turningback to other official business, including directing a few assistants to help him remove Whetstone from the ring.

“She does know that’s probably not real go—” Octavia started to say.

“Shh,” Bon Bon whispered with a wink. “Don’t ruin the moment.” Rose snickered quietly.

Derpy stared blankly for a moment, then perked up and smiled. She fluttered over to Bon Bon and whispered into her ear. Bon Bon nodded and smiled as well.

“All right everypony,” she said. “Who wants to celebrate with ice cream!”

Every colt, filly, and Lyra jumped and cheered in agreement. Primrose, however, panicked and bolted over to Derpy.

“If you give them sugar, they are your responsibility!” she whisper-yelled to Derpy and Bon Bon.

Derpy nodded and saluted confidently, saying, “That is a risk I am willing to take!”

Primrose sighed. “So be it, but you can’t say I didn’t try to warn you.”

Rose tapped Primrose’s leg gently. Primrose turned to face her and was caught off-guard by Rose and Glimmer’s sad, pleading expressions.

Derpy fluttered over to Primrose’s ear and whispered, imitating Rose’s voice, “Pretty please can we go? We wanna go with the nice Derpy Hooves and have ice cream!”

Primrose giggled and pushed Derpy away. “Yes, you can go. But that month starts tomorrow.”

Rose and Glimmer silently jumped in excitement, each grinning from ear to ear.

“Let’s go, everypony, before it gets dark,” said Bon Bon cheerfully. “Don’t worry, I’m buying!”

At the last remark Azure perked up. “Count me in!” she called as most of everypony else rushed out.

“Wait!” Primrose insisted.

Azure stopped mid-gallop to face her. “Yes?”

“Okay, gotta do this right, but subtle,” Primrose muttered to herself. “Well I just uhh, wanted to say how impressed I was with you today.”

Azure smiled. “Thank you very much!”

“Besides just the jousting, too. I mean you showed real talent when you fixed your harness like that.”

Azure raised an eyebrow. “Well thanks, but I’m pretty sure anypony could’ve done that. Well, any unicorn pony anyway. Besides, I was more focused on, you know, the actual game.”

“Oh, no, it takes a pony of certain talent to make a repair that quickly! Sure, jousting takes skill, but to do it with a magic-made lance like that? Pure talent.”

“Nah,” Azure retorted.

“What do you mean, “nah”!?”

“It was just like a regular lance, really,” Azure answered. “Nothing special. Besides, I won by making him trip. Not sure how much it mattered what my lance was like.”

“You’re missing the po—”

“I’m sorry, but I really should get going, Primrose,” Azure interrupted. She trotted over to the weapon rack and dropped off the shield, chestplate harness, and with a little effort her helmet. “I really could go for some ice cream right now.”

Primrose sighed in defeat. “Fine, I understand. Sorry I was so harsh with Rose by the way, but you know how she gets.”

Azure scoffed. “Of course, I understand. I’m just glad that I didn’t have to be the one to yell at her for once,” she said. “Anyway, I gotta run home real quick,” she added, levitating the trophy in front of her face and staring, entranced, “I want to drop off this little beauty before I forget.”

Primrose shook her head. “You do that, and I’ll meet you at the ice cream parlor!”

“Done. Thanks again for stopping by!” Azure called behind her as she galloped out the door.

Primrose slumped to the ground and groaned.

“Try saying ‘talent’ a bit more,” said Octavia. “Maybe she’ll get it the twelfth time.”

Primrose perked up. “Did you understand what I was getting at?”

“Well let’s see,” Octavia began. “She claims to have learned the spell in passing by reading out of a book before she could really read, and she’s only been improving on it through passing lessons from her sister’s primary school teacher. Oh, and of course, when she’s taking lessons from me and we can’t locate a spare bow for her, she materializes a perfectly working one for herself without a second thought. I’m pretty sure she’ll be getting her Cutie Mark for cooking.”

Primrose chuckled. “Oh good, I’m not going crazy.”

“That’s a different matter entirely, dear.”

“Yes, but we’re not talking about me now are we?” Primrose sneered at Octavia, who met the gesture.

“I don’t suppose you could just tell her outright, could you? I can’t think of a more effective way to get through that incredibly thick skull of hers.”

“No, I can’t. A pony has to discover her special talent on her own, you know that.”

“Do me a favor and look up the exact wording of that, will you? If it’s “discover”, we’ll drop it, but if it’s “learn”, we rub it in her face. Agreed?”

“Agreed,” said Primrose. She chuckled softly, then stood up and brushed the dirt off of her coat. “For now, though, shall we join the others? I think they could be in over their heads in sugar rushes by now.”

“I’ll pass, thank you,” Octavia declined. “I’m not one for any food that might melt and drip onto me while I’m eating it.” She winced at the image.

“Well then I guess I’ll just see you around,” said Primrose. She turned her body towards the door. “It was nice meeting you finally, Octavia.”

“Likewise.”

“I don’t suppose you’d want to talk more over tea or coffee sometime?”

“Perhaps,” said Octavia, turning to follow Primrose. She stopped and stepped around a patch of dirt. “I do know a place.”

“Then it’s settled,” Primrose replied with a bright smile. She held the door open with magic and motioned for Octavia. Octavia smiled genuinely for the first time all afternoon.