Coba tried opening his eyes slowly, but a layer of crust coated the edges of his eyelids. He rubbed them vigorously before attempting to awaken once more, and sure enough, they opened. He had been placed in a medical room much like the one Spike was in, and various healers and shamans had already done their work, he dozed off not long after, and was only awakening now because he felt a presence in his room, one that he was very familiar with.

"Coba?!" Prince Wantinga asked eagerly.

"W-Wantinga?" Coba murmured as he felt his eyes adjust to the light shining through a nearby window that filled the room with a glowing atmosphere.

"Brother, how do you feel?" Wantinga said as he put his hand on Coba's shoulder.

Coba propped himself on the headboard of his bed carefully, as he didn't want to disturb any wounds he received from his fight with Jhettei. He looked down at his various bandages and healed scars, then flexed his arms and legs; trying to gauge his range of mobility.

"Ah, I'll live!" Coba chuckled jovially, along with his brother.

"All jokes aside brother, you fought with great spirit today. Father is proud, I can tell." Wantinga said as he gave his brother a pat on the shoulder.

"Yes, he is," Coba said with a sigh of both relief and exhaustion. "Speaking of our father, how is he? He seems worse than before."

"He is... losing his speech." Wantinga uttered with an overwhelming sadness as he looked down at the ground. "This may be his final days."

"Unfortunately..." Coba sighed. "At least he will spend them with the two of us."

Wantinga and Coba remained silent for a moment. They both thought of old memories. Their father as a young man, their late mother; beautiful and compassionate, and the time their father brought them to the tournament. They didn't speak, only nodding in agreement as they realized that they were recalling the same memories, thinking as one mind; something brothers as close as Coba and Wantinga would do.

"My, how time passes..." Wantinga remarked "It feels like just yesterday, he held us both up on his shoulders to watch the fighters, doesn't it?"

"I can still hear the cheers of the audience," Coba added. "Although, there certainly wasn't as many lining up to fight as there are now. That was all before the Equestrians, before the colonizers, before this Leere mess began."

"Those were simpler times," Wantinga remembered; taking a deep breath as he did so. "Everything made sense back then."

"Well, the world must change brother," Coba stated. "And for better or worse, we must change with it."

"That's funny, because, despite all of your adventures with your friends, you haven't changed a bit!"Wantinga chuckled.

A knock on the door interrupted the two, and Wantinga went out to check on who was. After a few short moments, Wantinga stepped inside the room again with Gin, Draven, Spike, and the others... and even Jhettei, who was the last to enter the medical room. He walked over to Coba with his head hanging low. Then, when he made it to his bedside, he bowed as a sign of respect to his former adversary.

"I apologize for any pain I may have caused you my friend." Jhettei uttered; ashamed, and full of woe.

"No need for apology Jhettei. Believe me, I've been beaten down much worse than this!" Coba said as he looked back down at his many bindings and bandages.

"Thank you. Such forgiveness is rare in this age." Jhettei bowed once more.

"So what happens now?" Spike tried asking politely but came off a little too intrusive than intended. "There's one last fight to go, but they're all out of names to draw."

"The last fight of the first round is simple. The crowd chooses two fighters they found exceptional, then they pit them against each other." Coba explained.

Wantinga got up from his chair quickly after looking at the clock.

"Oh, dear, I have to go. I have a... meeting to attend to before the last fight." Wantinga said in a hurry. "Apologies my friends, but I have to go."

"That was odd." Twilight wondered. "I wonder what got him all jumpy. Did any of you think he seemed a little distressed?"

"Ah, ignore it. He's had a lot on his plate ever since my father took ill." Coba insisted.

"The next fight doesn't start for another two hours or so. I wonder what kind of meeting he's going to?" Gin added.

Spike had a hard time listening to the conversation. Mainly because of his stomach, whose growls drowned out the chatter of Twilight and the others.

"Uh, sorry to interrupt again, but I could use something to eat about now," Spike said; holding his stomach that begged for sustenance through vile groans.

"Good idea, I'm starved." Gin chimed in.

"Can you stand?" Draven asked Coba, who lowered his head back onto his pillow.

"I think it would be best that I get as much rest as possible." Coba yawned as he gestured to the group to leave his room.

"Duly-noted." Draven acknowledged Coba's decision. "You want us to pick you up something too?"

"I'd like that," Coba said, yawning again as he pulled his sheets up one more time.

"Alright then. Well, farewell for now." Draven said, the rest of the group following him outside.

"Where do we go to grab a bite to eat?" Spike asked Draven, who led the way.

"Back to the marketplace," Draven replied, looking back at Spike with a smile and a nod.

Twilight thought for a moment. She wondered where Wantinga could be going, as it seemed odd for him to just run off like that. No, something was wrong, and she knew it. She leaned her head to the side to whisper to Spike, who was directly adjacent.

"Psst. Spike, move closer." Twilight commanded Spike.

"What's up?" Spike inquired as he leaned his head in.

"I want to know what Wantinga is up to," Twilight muttered.

"You heard Coba, I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. You shouldn't get all worked up about it." Spike insisted.

"I dunno... something's bothering me about him. I haven't paid attention to it until now, but I haven't seen him at all throughout the tournament." Twilight stated; a little uneasy about the situation. "We should follow him."

"I don't like this Twilight. You know what they say about curiosity..." Spike hesitated; doubtful about the whole idea.

"C'mon, we'll only be gone for a few minutes..." Twilight coaxed Spike with a sweeter tone of voice.

"Fine, fine I-... H-Hey Draven!" Spike stuttered.

"What is it, lad?" Draven replied.

"Me and Twilight... we'll catch up with you. We're going to... go for a walk... upstairs." Spike lied.

"Alright then, uh... don't take too long," Draven said; unsure of Spike's intentions.

Spike and Twilight began their trek down a long corridor that would eventually lead them to the upper levels.

"'Going for a walk'? Very inconspicuous..." Twilight giggled as she joked with Spike.

"Oh, hush you. I get nervous when it comes to confrontation. Why didn't you say anything?." Spike said; a mixture of annoyed and embarrassed.

"Because it's funny when you get all nervous like that!" Twilight chuckled.

"Come on, that's not cool!" Spike replied to Twilight's teasing as he gave her a light nudge with his elbow.

****

The two followed a long flight of stairs to the upper levels, but were perplexed by the complexity of the building, and took a break by a trash can to gather their thoughts on the situation.

"Well, where do we go?" Spike asked; looking frantically around the large complex around them.

Twilight shook her head in response. "No idea-"

She felt a hand grab her shoulder that wasn't Spike's and jumped in response. Expecting Draven or Gin, she was confused to find that it was a familiar blue dragon who caused Spike to light-up immediately.

"Cyro?" Spike said; surprised to see the frozen dragon, alive and well.

"Hey, Hotshot! How's it going?" Cyro asked in his usual jolly mood.

"Good! Nice to see a familiar face around here! What about you? You seem to have healed up well!" Spike stated; noticing that the only bandages on Cyro were a large strap around his arm where Stín had struck him.

"I'm fine! Healers let me leave, so I figured I'd take a little stroll!" Cyro said gleefully.

"Mmhm!" Twilight coughed. "Sorry to interject, but I don't believe you've introduced me to your friend here."

"Yeah, uh, sorry. Cyro, this is Twilight Sparkle, and old friend of mine from Ponyville.

"Pleasure to meet you Twilight! Spike's told me a lot about you!" Cyro greeted Twilight as he shook her hand firmly.

"Thanks, good to meet you too. Listen, Spike and I have some important business to attend to, so we better get going. Nice chatting with you, though!" Twilight said in a hurry as she grabbed Spike and raced away.

"Oh, um... okay! See you around!" Cyro shouted in response as the two trudged down the hallway of the upper floor.

Spike stopped Twilight before trotting any further, as he was confused by Twilight's sudden determination. He organized his thoughts before voicing his confusion and spoke in an unsure, flabbergasted tone of voice.

"What gives?! Do you not like him or something?" Spike said in outrage.

"Not at all. The dragon is a ray of sunshine, but we can't afford distractions or Gin and the others will get suspicious of where we are." Twilight explained.

"Good point," Spike admitted. "But hey, Cyro! I think I saw Jhettei join up with some of our group to go and eat."

"Thanks! I'll look into that!" Cyro hollered back.

****

Spike and Twilight eventually navigated their way through the confusing hallways and corridors of the arena and found Wantinga's quarters. However, before they could gain entry, the two were stopped by two guards who halted them, just as Twilight was turning the knob. The guards were much different. One was shorter and much thinner, whilst the other was as tall and bulky as Coba

"Stop at once!" The taller guard shouted. "What on earth do you think you are doing?"

Spike was speechless, words seemed to overflow from his mouth. "I- um- I- um..."

Spike looked to Twilight, who was not just speechless, but stone cold. He nudged her with his elbow, whispered to her, grunted to get her attention, but nothing. She simply stood frozen in fear; sweat dripping down her face. Spike knew better than anypony that Twilight was not very safe to be around when stressed or out of words.

"Well? Out with it!" The shorter guard demanded.

"Um, um, uh... oh, sweet Celestia! Is that mare getting mugged?" Twilight bluffed in desperation as she pointed in a random direction to distract the guards for a brief moment.

"Hmm?" The two guards said as they turned to face where she was pointing.

Twilight then cast a spell on both of them, and within seconds, it knocked them out cold. Spike was just as, if not more stunned than he was before.

"W-... What was that?!" Spike hollered; still flabbergasted. "How in the-. Twilight, what was the reasoning behind... this?!"

"I'm sorry, I panicked!" Twilight replied quickly.

'''Hey, Spike! How was your walk around the arena?' It was great Draven, thanks for asking! We lied to you, knocked out a couple guards, and attempted to eavesdrop on Coba's brother. 'Why that's fantastic Spike!'" Spike acted out an exaggerated future conversation with Draven.

"Oh, be quiet! We won't get caught!" Twilight bellowed in frustration. "Here, here... you'll see."

Twilight took the shorter guard's unconscious body and propped it up on one of the nearby chairs next to the door leading to Wantinga's room. She huffed and puffed as she tried lifting the second, taller guard's body, but it was no use. She sighed loudly and gestured to Spike for assistance. Reluctantly he rolled his eyes but brought himself to do as she asked eventually.

"You know this is all on you if we get caught," Spike added; grunting loudly as he propped up the large guard on the much smaller chair.

"Yes, yes, I know. Now, let's just see what Wantinga has been up to, okay?" Twilight insisted.

"This better be worth-. Oh, it's locked." Spike said as he felt the knob jerk as he tried turning it. "Well I guess will just have to give up and-...wait, what are you doing?"

Spike surprised, as Twilight pulled out what appeared to be a lock-pick of sorts out of her satchel. She then proceeded to fiddle around with the lock, which made a loud "click" as she turned it very carefully.

"Did... did you just-?" Spike stuttered.

"Yes, I did," Twilight answered Spike's unfinished question.

"When did you learn to do that?" Spike asked, still gawking at the opened door.

"All knowledge is useful, regardless if it's good or bad. You never know when you might need to pick a lock, and-. You know what.. let's just leave it at that." Twilight said bluntly as she walked through the door.

"At this point I should just stop questioning things," Spike mumbled to himself as he looked up and began massaging his forehead out of mental exhaustion.

The room inside was cluttered with many various papers and bills of sale and was without any proper organization, which Spike noticed, quickly got on Twilight's nerves, a slight twitch in her eye as she saw the mess beneath her feat.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold it, I know what you're thinking, and no. We are not going to clean. We'll be here for hours if you do. Just find whatever it is you need so we can get out." Spike stated firmly.

"Alright, fine!" Twilight sighed.

Twilight began searching through the various papers. Naturally, she checked the main desk in the center first, as it would probably have the latest documents, specifically ones that concerned the tournament.

"So why are you so suspicious about Wantinga anyways?" Spike wondered; as he never really asked.

"If there's one thing I've learned in my brief time as a princess, it's that everyone hides things from you. Their thoughts, feelings, even their past. What may seem like a flower can just be a flytrap, waiting to snap shut? Viper and Sigrid... they're mercenaries. There's a lot more to them than meets the eye, obviously, they were hired by someone to compete with you. All letters concerning foreign affairs and dealings go through the Prince, so I'm certain we'll find what we're looking for." Twilight explained as she rummaged through the papers.

"Wait, why me, though?" Spike asked.

"I have no clue. Perhaps whoever hired them knows something we don't." Twilight said, picking up a small letter with a familiar emblem stamped in on a wax seal. "Aha! Here's something interesting!"

"What is it?" Spike inquired as he approached Twilight, who raised the letter up so he could see it better.

"See that emblem? It's the emblem of the Equestrian Assassin's Guild, a secretive group that is known for black market dealings." Twilight pointed out. "Let's see what's inside, shall we?"

Twilight grabbed a letter-opener and dug inside, what he found was certainly interesting. It was not signed, it was not addressed to anyone, and the only recognizable marking was the same emblem on the seal, at the bottom of the letter.

We have received your request, and we have accepted it.

The item(s) supplied to you are as followed:

-One ounce of refined cinnabar

We thank you for your purchase and hope you are satisfied with the results.

-Have a good day.

"So, what does it mean?" Spike inquired.

"Refined cinnabar is poisonous. You can lace drinks and food with it to kill someone slow-." Twilight stopped for a moment as an idea popped into her head. "Son of a witch."

"What, what is it?" Spike said as he watched Twilight begin to pace.

"Who do you know is dying from a mysterious 'illness' around here?" Twilight hinted.

"King-, oh..." Spike trailed off as he realized what she was talking about. "Wait, that's crazy! There's no way we can know for certain if that letter is even for Wantinga!"

"You're right, you're right we've got to find something- ouch!" Twilight yelped as she felt a burning sensation scorch her fingertips. "Oh, no, no, no, no!"

The letter spontaneously combusted and burst into a fiery inferno, searing her thumb and index finger, and causing her to drop it on the desk. It then exploded in a burst of ash and settled on the desk in the form of a fine gray powder.

"Damn it! I should have known! It was charmed. It wasn't meant to be in our hands, so it burst into flames." Twilight said with great frustration.

"What now?" Spike asked, picking up some of the gray ashes and rubbing it between his clawed fingertips.

"I don't know, we lost our only lead," Twilight stated. "There's no way we can prove it was Wantinga."

"Maybe not!" Spike interjected Twilight's defeatist attitude. " Maybe we can find the shipment?"

"Perhaps, but that could take a long time, time that neither you or I have." Twilight pointed out. "We have to get back to the others and tell them about our findings."

"What about Coba? Shouldn't he know?" Spike added.

"No, not until we are absolutely sure it is Wantinga," Twilight told Spike.

"Hold it! I hear someone coming this way!" Spike whispered.

"Let's go, before someone finds us in here!" Twilight said quietly.

"Alright!" Spike agreed, as the two left and gently closed the door behind them.

Author's Notes:

It's been a LONG time, but I finally got the chance to finish this next chapter! As always, I hope you enjoyed!