Chapter 17: The Losers

A golden chariot shot through the afternoon sky. The Royal Treasure Seekers still had a few hours worth of travel before they would make it back to Ponyville and they were trying to entertain themselves as best as they knew how.

“I spy…something white and fluffy,” said Pinkie Pie.

“It’s a cloud…again,” sighed Rarity, quite bored.

Her hooves where hung over the side of the chariot and she was looking down as the ground passed by below. From this height, even the trees looked miniature. Spike was clicking his claws against the metallic floor, which was starting to get on Applejack’s nerves. Applejack was trying to get some rest. Her Stetson was covering her eyes and she was leaning against the wall opposite Rarity. Finally, Applejack lifted the hat from her face and spoke.

“Spike, can’t cha’ see that I’m tryin’ to get some shut eye?”

He stopped tapping his claws instantly.

“Oops. Sorry. I didn’t realize that I was doing that.”

He sighed and tilted his head backward and looked up. There was nothing above them but the sun and blue nothingness. He tilted his head back down to look at Applejack.

“It’s just that I’m so bored.”

Applejack picked herself up from the floor and started to stretch out her legs.

“Then why not think up somethin’ more fun to do?”

“Like what?” asked Spike.

“I’ve got it!” Twilight shouted suddenly.

Spike turned around to face Twilight.

“What?”

“Why not play a guessing game?”

Twilight sauntered over to the team’s bags and began to rummage through them. Spike was right on Twilight’s heels. He tried to poke his head around Twilight’s body to see what she was up to.

“What kind of guess game? You mean like twenty questions or something?” asked the little dragon.

Twilight finally found what she was looking for and turned back to Spike with a smile on her face and a ruby in her hoof.

“The way I see it,” replied Twilight. “Sun Cloak left us a ruby that will speak if we ask it the right questions. Since we’ve got some downtime, why not try to see what kind of information we can get from it? Not only will it ease our boredom, but it’ll also help us solve his puzzles.”

“That’s a great idea!” Spike jumped jubilantly.

The others in the chariot slowly began to surround the purple scholar. They were just as interested in this guessing game as Spike.

“So how is this going to work?” queried Rarity. “Do we each get one question and then somepony else gets to ask?”

“That sounds fair to me.” Applejack nodded her head.

“Ok, so who wants the first question?” Spike asked eagerly.

“Oh! Oh! Pick me! Pick me!” Pinkie threw a hoof in the air and bounced around energetically.

“Alright, Pinkie Pie will go first,” announced Twilight. “And I guess we’ll go clockwise from there. Rarity, you’re next.”

She handed the ruby to the pink pony.

“Ok, we need to start with the really important stuff first,” Pinkie said. “So…what’s your favorite flavor of ice cream?”

She waited with baited breath, but the crystal remained dull and lifeless.

“Sorry Pinkie,” Twilight shrugged apologetically.

“That’s ok,” Pinkie smiled and handed the ruby off to Rarity. “Besides, you can only tell so much from a pony’s favorite ice cream flavor. Don’t worry though, I’ll ask about his taste in hats next time.”

The group hushed as Rarity cleared her throat.

“Now, Sun Cloak, I must admit that I am curious about the fashion in your day. Could you tell us about it?”

Twilight groaned. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all. But, shockingly, the ruby thrummed and lit up. Twilight was taken aback. All of their faces moved closer to the glowing gem as Sun Cloak appeared to answer the bizarre question.

“Fashion? Fashion?! Confound fashion!” roared the old unicorn.

Now it was Rarity’s turn to be taken by surprise. She gasped. The nerve of this unicorn!

“Look at this!” declared Sun Cloak.

He pointed at his deep brown mane.

“Just look at it! It falls over my eyes so I can’t see a blasted thing!”

He was right; his hair was pulled over his eyes, which must have made it difficult to see where he was stepping. He blew a puff of air at the hair. His locks bounced into the sky and then fell back down over his eyes.

“You see that? You see it?”

He then began to mutter to himself. Spike caught something about hair stylists. But mostly, the group just stood there with dumb looks on their faces; Rarity’s mouth was practically touching the chariot floor. Finally, after a brief pause and a calming breath, Sun Cloak went back to speaking normally.

“Sorry about all that. It did feel good to get it out of my system though.”

His eyes grew wide as a brilliant idea entered his mind.

“You know what? I could probably change my hair style! Well…now that they all think that I’m dead and all.”

He brought a hoof up to his chin in thought. A grin began to form as he considered the possibilities, but suddenly he shook his head and put his hoof down.

“No! No no no! What are you thinking Sun Cloak? You are a gentlecolt and true gentlecolts must use this style…at least until this fashion dies anyway.”

He sighed deeply.

“You know what? I just hope that this style dies soon and never ever comes back. More so than my death, this fashion coming back would be a real tragedy.”

The image disappeared and the gem stopped humming. The Royal Treasure Seekers looked at each other, looking for some clarity to what they had just witnessed.

“Well that was certainly…interesting,” Rarity said.

But Twilight’s hoof clacked against the chariot floor as an idea popped into her brain. The others looked toward the source of the noise.

“Did you hear what he said?” Twilight asked excitedly.

“Uh, Sugarcube,” Applejack replied with an eyebrow raised, “I think we all jus’ heard what he said.”

“No. Not about his hair!” Twilight shook her head. “The part about everyone thinking that he was dead! Quick! Rarity give me the ruby, it’s my turn.”

Rarity handed off the small gemstone and Twilight lifted it gingerly in front of her eyes.

“Sun Cloak, when did you die?”

The crystal came to life in an instant. Out came the translucent visage of Sun Cloak with a pop and spark. He was looking rather bewildered.

“Did you just ask me when I died?” asked the ancient unicorn. “Well how should I know that?! It’s not like I’m dead yet.”

He chuckled.

“In fact, I won’t know when I died until I’m actually dead. Perhaps I need to remind you that these are just recordings and that I know nothing beyond my own time.”

His image faded from view, but left behind one blushing Twilight Sparkle. Spike giggled quietly to himself.

“Hey!” a call came from the front of the chariot.

It was Rainbow Dash, who was busy flying.

“You guys can’t have all the fun back there! I think I deserve a turn!”

Applejack sauntered as close to the front as she could. She leaned over the chariot and shouted into the strong headwind.

“Alright, what do you want to ask him?!”

“Try to find out what the treasure we’re after is!” replied Dash.

Applejack walked back to the others.

“Hey, RD wants to find out what the treasure is.”

“Got it!” said Spike.

The dragon took the ruby from Twilight and spoke.

“Sun Cloak, what is your treasure?”

The crystal became alive for the third time that day and Sun Cloak appeared before the ponies.

“Ah…my treasure. Well, I do want my treasure to remain somewhat of a secret. Call it ‘The Secret of Sun Cloak’, if you will. But if you’re asking this because you’re afraid that it’ll turn out to be some kind of ‘learn a moral lesson from the old coot’ mumbo-jumbo then don’t worry. There’s plenty of shiny stuff that would make any treasure hunter want to be the winning team.”

He once again dissolved in the noonday sun and left the ponies to their own wonderings on what exactly they were trying to win. As the afternoon wore on, the chariot stayed the course, bound for Ponyville and the mysterious Everfree Forest.

* * * * * * * * *

The day was taking its toll on Jay, Slick, and Sly. Each one of the griffins was sweating and panting. In front of them was a large golden ring, covered in shades of red and blue magic. Standing opposite from them were three images of Sun Cloak, each glowing a different color. Slick, the scrawny black griffin, was holding the far left end while Sly, the muscular one, was on the right. Jay herself had taken a spot in between the two and was shouting out orders and giving help to whoever needed it most.

Jay looked around and shot a burst of red magic toward Slick. She also noticed the swarm of ponies watching her and her team. It was kind of hard to miss the entire lot of candy colored equines. Jay wasn’t sure how many of them there were, nor did she really care. All she wanted to do was win. However, she did know why they were here: Entertainment.

It was into their first game that the guards arrived. They interfered and cost the griffins their match. Jay and her team was just about to get lost when one of the local residents came by to see what all the fuss was about. Recognizing Sun Cloak and his crystal, the pony had been able to convince the guards to let the griffins try again. After all, they were one of the only seven teams to be able to participate.

Hesitantly, Jay had restarted the Merring match. It was actually quite hilarious to see the looks on the guards’ faces when the entire playing field came to life. But the citizen decided to stay and watch. Soon, more of the residents from Hooverdale began to come and watch. Needless to say, it was somewhat distracting. It became even more distracting when they started to cheer. And that was what cost the griffins their second game.

Frustrated, but unable to do anything about the masses, Jay simply started up another round of Merring. Two more games had come and gone and the ponies started betting on whether Sun Cloak would win again or the griffins. The griffins were being sold as the “underdogs”. This made Jay very angry, but she couldn’t do a thing about it except put her rage to use in their current game, game five.

“Go Griffins!!!” screamed a particularly vocal fan.

“Come on Sun Cloak!” came a counter cheer.

Jay growled to herself and poured more thought onto the ring. She was not going to lose to this finicky old coot of a unicorn again.

“Place your bets! Come on folks! Betting tables over here!” Jay heard a pony yelling in the background. She had to tune the sound out or she would lose focus. Merring was next to impossible to play once she lost focus.

“J! I need some help over here!” Slick shouted.

Jay looked down the field. Yet again, the scrawny griffin couldn’t seem to hold his own against the blue magic. She sighed and lashed out at Sun Cloak’s blue force.

“Keep it together, Slick!” Jay roared.

“Come on griffins! I’ve got three hundred bits riding on this game!” a pegasus shouted.

“Taken em down Sun Cloak! Down! Down! Down!” an earth pony yelled back.

“Would you just shut up already?!” Jay shrieked.

The crowd hushed to an uneasy silence for a few seconds. Those brief, beautiful seconds when Jay could actually concentrate were wonderful, but short lived. A crowd of that size could not and would not stay silent for long and murmurings quickly turned into shouting once again.

“Hey Sly! Comin’ your way!” Jay shouted down to her muscular friend.

A large quantity of red magic leaped toward the right end of the field. Sly channeled his own thoughts into a tight ball that merged with Jay’s force. They pummeled the right side of the ring and forced Sun Cloak backwards. But Sun Cloak would have none of it and sent a quick reply. Red and blue clashed with sparks of light and sound. Cheers rose from the crowd.

“J! J!” Slick screamed frantically. Jay turned her attention over to the left. “I-I can’t hold it any longer!”

“You’ve got to! Come on! Hold them off!” Jay retorted.

Just then, a wall of blue energy slammed into Slick’s magic. He poured all he had into blocking it. He grunted, screamed, and then collapsed. The audience gasped.

“Slick!? Slick!” Jay took off toward her fallen companion.

He was still breathing, which was a good sign, but he was definitely unconscious. Beyond this, however, Sun Cloak’s blue magic was pushing through Slick’s rapidly fading barriers. Jay screamed at the top of her lungs and shoved back Sun Cloak’s magic with all she had in her.

“Not again!!!”

The effort was too little, too late unfortunately. She didn’t even reach a point tower.

“Jay!” shouted Sly from the other end of the field.

Jay heard him, but refused to turn her attention from the task at hand.

“Jay! We cannot win this fight!” cautioned Sly. “We need to give up! We can get some rest and come back at it with fresh minds!”

Jay ignored him and continued to press herself beyond what her body could handle.

“Jay!” yelled Sly forcefully. “We cannot win with only the two of us! Listen to me, Jay! When have I been wrong about these kind of things before?!”

Grunting and panting, almost at the verge of tears. Jay finally relinquished her mental hold on the ring. She bowed her head in defeat and sweat dripped to the ground. Sun Cloak captured their final tower and the game came to an end.

“You have not completed this challenge,” Sun Cloak’s voice boomed out. “Your team must win one game of Merring or else you cannot move onto the next riddle. Come back when you are ready.”

The playing field dissolved. Sly walked over to Jay and put a comforting wing around her. He was breathing heavily, but seemed to be taking the loss better than Jay.

“YES!!!” screamed somepony in the audience.

Jay snarled, but couldn’t rise up the strength to do anything more.

“Let’s check on Slick,” suggested Sly.

Jay nodded her head. They turned to Slick and found two ponies already standing over him. Jay opened her mouth to shoo them off, but they spoke first.

“It’s ok, Mam. We’re doctors.” The one who spoke was a blue unicorn stallion.

“What happened to him?” asked Sly.

“He’s exhausted himself to the point of unconsciousness,” replied a purple earth mare, the other doctor. “He’ll be alright, but it’ll take him a few hours to recover. And when he does, he’ll have a splitting headache. Poor little guy.”

“Thank you,” said Sly.

“No problem,” replied the mare. “After all, you did just make me a hundred bits richer.”

“And me a hundred bits poorer,” huffed the stallion.

The mare chuckled to herself. Sly looked back at Jay, she had her eyes closed and wasn’t looking at Slick. She was taking in deep breaths, obviously trying to get herself under control. She opened her eyes and looked at Sly.

“We will beat Sun Cloak,” she whispered with vengeance. “That’s a promise.”

“Yes,” replied Sly calmly. “We will.”

* * * * * * * * *

Trixie Lulamoon trudged along over scraggly looking hills and past even more scraggly looking shrubs. Saddleback was behind her now and the world before her. A blue star-stitched hat adorned her head and kept the sun from her weary eyes. Her matching cape was tucked snugly in her saddlebag. She had wrapped it around the three precious rings she would need for Sun Cloak’s next riddle.

Trixie swayed and wobbled. She sweated and grunted. Perhaps the nurse was right, perhaps Trixie should have waited; perhaps she should have given up the hunt.

“No!” she grunted and forced herself to move forward another painful step. “Trixie will not give up that easily!”

She stumbled and fell into a patch of dry grass. She tried to lift herself, but simply could not find the strength. Finally, she let herself lay there.

“But perhaps Trixie could use a break,” she huffed out.

The sun was warm on her face and a gentle wind blew from the east. Trixie didn’t know how long she laid there with her eyes closed. It was one of the few moments that she got to enjoy nature for just nature, mostly because she didn’t have any other choice than to lay there and enjoy it. Suddenly, her eyes flew open as an idea popped into her brain.

“The diamond!”

Trixie mustered the strength to open her bag and began to search through it. Out came a small diamond, Sun Cloak’s diamond. Trixie smiled. Maybe she wouldn’t be forced to do nothing after all. Trixie took a cautious look around her, but there wasn’t a living soul to be seen.

“Excellent, no pry ears to overhear our conversation,” she murmured.

Trixie lifted herself into a sitting position, it was more civil that way after all, and then spoke to her crystal.

“Well Sun Cloak, here we are. So let’s just skip the pleasantries, shall we?”

She waited, as if the old stallion would reply, but the diamond remained silent.

“Good.” Trixie nodded her head. “Trixie desires to know what you meant back in the tunnels about becoming Great and Powerful. More over, Trixie desires to know what you meant when you said that you were wrong.”

Trixie waited, but Sun Cloak did not reply. Her expression changed from eager desire, to that of annoyance.

“Bah! Finicky old coot!” she huffed. Trixie snorted and then tried to think of another question.

“Ah!” Trixie’s eyes lit up. “Very well then, Sun Cloak. I have another question. Tell Trixie how you got your title, The Gifted.”

Immediately, her diamond lit up. A faint buzzing noise announced the arrival of Sun Cloak.

“Sun Cloak. Sun Cloak the Gifted,” stated the transparent stallion. “You know, I actually used that title for quite a long time. Not anymore though. Now I am simply Sun Cloak, nothing more and nothing less. Of course, you want to know how I got my title. Yes, well, hmm…” He placed a hoof to his chin as he brought back old memories.

“It was back in my University days. You see, I was a very talented magician even at a young age. I was hailed as a protégée, or gifted one might say. And so I was bestowed with my title.” He smiled and began to pace back and forth as he started to lecture.

“The giving of titles is a long running tradition, you know. It goes all the way back to Star Swirl the Bearded and his apprentice, Clover the Clever. To get a title is a prestigious event. In fact, a title can never be revoked once given, but to give up a title of one’s own free will…now that’s something that has never been done before, to my knowledge at any rate.

However, my title represents the old me, the me that is dead, the me that was too blind to see those around me, the me that brought suffering to those I loved. And so, I am no longer The Gifted. Though history may record me with my title for every generation to come, let it be known that I am not that unicorn any longer. I am Sun Cloak. Sun Cloak the finicky old coot.” He smiled and the image faded away.

Trixie sat there, unmoving for a good while. She wondered about his past, why he would willingly give up an honor of that kind. But she had more pressing matters to attend to. She needed to solve the next riddle and his past surely wouldn’t have anything to do with it. She had listened to his riddle previously and something stuck out to her, something that she couldn’t keep from asking.

“University days?” Trixie puzzled aloud. “Hmm…‘Here at Small’,” she repeated. “Sun Cloak! Tell Trixie about your University days!”

Trixie was rewarded with another flash of light and the victorious hum of her diamond.

“Small University,” said Sun Cloak, his face aglow with pride. “Those were some of the best years of my life. Not only did I go there as a student, but I also became a professor! How do you like them apples?” He chuckled to himself and his smile never left his face as he began to recount his favorite memories.

“I played sports, Merring champ two years running! I attended social events. Of course I did my homework…well, most of the time.” He laughed again, but then his eyes looked far away. As if he was dreaming, “I fell in love.” And then, his face turned grim and he didn’t speak for a while. “Then the Dragon War came upon us. That’s when everything started going south…again.”

Sun Cloak closed his eyes and looked like he was about to say something else, but thought better of it and said nothing. His image faded soon after that.

“Dragon War?” Trixie wondered aloud.

Without warning, the diamond flashed in her face. Trixie yelped and fell over.

“The Third Dragon War,” Sun Cloak said as his image came into focus.

Trixie picked herself up as the recording rambled on.

“I was a strategist during the second year of fighting. Can you believe that I started as a field medic? A medic of all things!” Sun Cloak laughed. “Oh, but I suppose I had been studying healing magic quite intensely…” He stopped speaking and a look of sadness crossed his face. He soon shook it off and continued. “That doesn’t matter now. But, as I was saying, I was soon promoted to a tactician and I fulfilled my role admirably. I was even invited by Princess Celestia herself to attend a special ceremony held in honor of those serving in the war. But I digress.

You see, fighting dragons is no small feat. In fact, it’s truly a miracle that both sides took as few casualties as they did. The whole war was like one massive stand off. The tension was like a thin sheet of ice, it could have been broken at a moment’s notice. The pressure in those war rooms was off the charts as we waited and planned for the worst. And then…they left. The dragons just up and left, not a word as to why. They didn’t return and that was the very anticlimactic end to what could have been a very messy war.”

Sun Cloak disappeared and left Trixie all by her lonesome. The showmare gently placed the precious gemstone back in her bag. She had felt her strength return to her and was ready to move on. She wobbly rose to her hooves and slung her bag on her back. Then, she trotted off toward the horizon.

* * * * * * * * *

Evening was quickly approaching the fancy community of Hooverdale. A kind of eerie silence filled the evening sky. All around, hundreds of ponies were gathered as three griffins placed outstretched talons into a ring made of pure light. The golden beams flowed over them and time seemed to slow. At least, time slowed for one griffin. Her name was Jay.

She could feel every heart beat. She could feel every breath. She could hear the faintest sound. To her right stood Sly, as resolute as ever. To her left stood Slick, he was still a bit wobbly.

The young Slick had become conscious hours ago. He had groaned and moaned like some toddler. Jay was not impressed. Of course, the doctors had told them that Slick would have a splitting headache but he didn’t have to whine about it like that. Luckily for Jay, he soon got a hold of himself and was able to stand. Standing wasn’t much better, however, as he kept stumbling around like some circus clown. They got him seated and brought him some water and waited. And waited. And waited. Jay didn’t like waiting. She was ready to win. Even so, they had waited until Slick finally said that he was ready.

So here they were. The light blurred their talons for those few precious seconds before the storm. Then, the moment was over. A cheer from the crowd broke through Jay’s concentration and brought her back to the present. She pulled her talon from the golden light and Sun Cloak spoke.

“I wish everypony the best. Play hard, good luck, and let the games begin!”

Across the field three images of the ancient unicorn materialized. Jay looked to her two companions.

“You remember the plan?” she asked.

“Yeah, you and me’ll take the right side,” Slick replied. “Sly’s got the left. We push them hard and fast so they don’t know what hit ‘em.”

“Good.” Jay nodded and blew a snort out her nostrils. She put on her game face and then led her team to their starting tower. “I want this game over fast. No more casualties over a stupid unicorn game, got it?”

Slick and Sly both nodded. Across the field, the Sun Cloaks took up a charging stance. The griffins matched them. There they stood for a few moments, eyes locked, waiting for the other to make a move.

“GO GRIFFINS!!!” shouted some earth pony from among the crowd.

The griffins took this as their cue and bolted. Both Jay and Slick dodged right while Sly made his way to the left. The Sun Cloaks mirrored their movements and charged down the field. Neither team wanted to give up an inch more than necessary.

As soon as they met, brilliant magic formed upon the golden ring. Red and blue burst to life and clashed. Jay grunted and howled as she put all of her pent up fury to bear against Sun Cloak. By her side, Slick tried his best.

He grit his beak and allowed sweat to drip from his brow to the grass below. He wasn’t looking so good. He shook and trembled even as he stood, but never did he relent. His shaky bursts of magic combined with Jay’s rage into a force to be reckoned with. Sun Cloak simply could not withstand the pressure of such a quick attack and the blue magic receded.

Inch by inch, the griffins took ground. One tower. Two towers. Three towers. Just one tower to go and the griffins would win! Jay could taste sweet victory and then, a voice shattered her happiness.

“Jay!” huffed Slick.

She snapped her head around to face him. He was sweating profusely and shaking even more than usual. She could see the concentration on his face, but it was fading fast. “Jay, we’re going to win!” There was an unnerving smile on his face.

Jay looked back at the ring. They only needed one more minute. She looked back at Slick and knew that he couldn’t last if he kept pushing himself. Jay knew that she had a choice to make, win or have Slick back off?

One second passed. Then two. Then three. He wasn't going to make it at this rate and Jay knew it. She had to make a call and she had to make it now. Looking him straight in the eye, Jay spoke.

“Slick, back off.”

“W-What?!” puffed Slick. He was trembling even more violently now. “C-Come on J-Jay! We-We’ve got this!” He was still grinning stupidly and wouldn’t back off.

“Slick back it way off! Right now!”

The black griffin ignored her.

“Slick! That’s an order!” roared Jay.

Slick only started to laugh, no, to cackle like a lunatic.

“Heh heh! Ha ha! W-We’re gonna win! We’re g-gonna win! Hee hee! Ha ha!”

“Slick!” roared Jay.

“Jay! We’re gonna-!!!” He collapsed upon the ground, unconscious once again.

“SLICK!!! You over zealous pea brain!!!” fumed Jay. “Rraagh!!!!!”

Jay threw everything she had at Sun Cloak with the might of a raging Manticore. Red clashed against blue in a furious squall of concentration and determination. Despite her strongest efforts, however, Jay could not put a dent in Sun Cloak’s barriers by herself. She lost focus for only an instant, but in that instant the blue magic jolted slightly toward her side. She couldn’t keep this up.

Jay’s sweat trickled to the ground, along with a bitter tear. She could not lose again. Not when they had come so far, not when they had come so close. She closed her eyes and bowed her head. She sighed in despair as Sun Cloak continued to press her back.

But suddenly, something snapped in Jay Pennsworth. Her eyes flew open. They were ablaze with a fierce determination, the equal to any dragon fire.

“No,” she whispered under her breath. Her head snapped up and she glared at the advancing blue magic. “NO!” she screamed.

Her concentration manifested itself in a ball of red magic. It smashed against the advancing force and halted its progress. Jay’s eyes scanned the arena. Surely there was something she could still do. There had to be something!

Her eyes came to rest on a long forgotten object. A ring. A very small ring taken from Saddleback was lying next to the point tower she was defending. Jay smiled as a plan hatched in her brain. She turned toward Sly’s side of the field.

“Sly!” she yelled out.

He turned his head toward Jay.

“When I give the word,” continued Jay, “hit them with everything you’ve got!”

Sly nodded and went back to defending his side. Jay looked at the small side ring and took in a deep, calming breath.

“This had better work,” she whispered to herself. “Alright, now or never!”

In an instant, Jay took her focus off of defending her side of the field. She instead put all of her effort into lifting the side ring from the ground. It obeyed her command and levitated through the sky. Jay slung the ring over to Sly’s side and then gave the word. “NOW!!!”

Sly grunted and heaved as he put all of his mental might to bear against Sun Cloak. The red magic on his side moved forward a few inches, but not enough to reach the tower. However, Jay wasn’t saddened by this; in fact things had gone exactly to plan. The red magic from the center ring leaped onto the floating side ring. The magic then jumped once again from the side ring to the point tower. Jay had created a bridge for her team’s magic to travel across and steal the tower from Sun Cloak.

The tower changed from blue to glorious red. The fourth point tower belonged to the griffins! Jay had done it! She was too overjoyed to notice, however, that the crowd remained strangely quiet. All of their mouths hung open and their eyes were wide, some gasped.

“Jay!” roared Sly from across the field. “We didn’t win!”

“What?!” Jay shouted back.

She looked behind her and, to her utter dismay, found that while she was busy with the side ring, Sun Cloak had come just far enough to steal the tower she had been defending earlier. To have come so far, to have defied the inevitable, and then have it all come crashing down was too much for Jay to take.

“No,” she breathed. “No no no no!” She fell to the ground, defeated.

Without warning, a massive ball of red energy surged forward and shoved Sun Cloak’s magic off of her point tower. Jay’s eyes went wide in shock.

“I’m nothing if not an overzealous pea brain!” screamed Slick as he shoved away the last of Sun Cloak’s influence.

Jay was dumbstruck. Slick had recovered in the nick of time. The griffins now owned four point towers, they had officially won.

“Congratulations!” echoed Sun Cloak’s voice. “You have bested yet another challenge and can now hear my next riddle whenever you so desire. I sure hope you had fun! I know I always did.”

The field, center ring, and towers all faded into oblivion as a crowd of ponies erupted into crazy cheering. A myriad of hooves pounded against the ground in applause and some even whistled. Jay turned around to the audience, smiled, waved, and then crashed on the ground.

Next Chapter: Chapter 18: The Return Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 15 Minutes