“I could get used to this,” Thiemo thought as he slowly woke from his well-deserved rest. A warm blanket was thrown over his body, which itself was resting on a soft mattress. The short, soft coat of Amaryllis pressed against his cheek, her warm breath on his hair as the memories of last night flashed through his mind.

After some well-deserved rest, they had eventually used the bath for what it was intended for, only to undo their work twenty minutes later with round two. Why did Amy have to pose like that in bed? How it came to round three was in a mist. A beautiful mist.

Slowly opening an eye, Thiemo noticed the light that fell through the bright pink curtains into the room. He was supposed to have had reported to work at Rolaf a while ago, but he figured he could make an exception this time. Thiemo had mentioned a few times that he was together with a mare. A simple “my services were needed elsewhere” would surely do the trick. He would only have to deal with the stupid remarks afterwards, something he could handle.

“Morning,” Amaryllis whispered quietly as she stretched her limbs. A light crack could be heard as she corrected her posture.

“Morning,” Thiemo returned softly and gave her a kiss. “What do you want to do today?”

The question unfortunately remained unanswered, as in that moment, the door burst open, slammed against the wall, and made room for a small battalion of Crystal Guards. They stormed into the room, surrounded the bed, and pointed their spears at the two surprised occupants. Thiemo was about to say something, but then he saw Shining Armor entering the room as well, rage obvious on his face. Thiemo sat up, acted surprised, and covered his nipples with his fingers. “How rude to simply burst into the room of a princess! I’m not even dressed!” Maybe it was the wrong moment to play games since the nervous flinch of Shining’s right eyelid was speaking a clear language. Instead of a verbal attack, the furious prince threw a newspaper in front of Thiemo and Amaryllis. A quick look told him why exactly he was being kept at guard by pointy metal rods so early in the morning. There was a picture of him and Amaryllis in the bar, taken amidst the brawl with the guests. “Human running amok in bar!” read the headline. “Last night, the guests of a single bar were in for a nasty surprise as a human ran into the establishment, overpowered the bouncer, and continued to attack the guests.” Thiemo put down the newspaper and looked up at Shining Armor. “Just to make it clear, I didn’t strike first.”

“Take him,” came as a cold response. With that, Shining Armor turned around and left the room.

Thiemo meanwhile was busy fending off the approaching spearheads. “Come on, guys, at least let me put on my pants.”

“Leave him alone!” Amaryllis threw in, taking the newspaper after Thiemo had put it down to inspect the article a bit closer. “He defended me. I was the one who started the fight.” Her words were ignored by the soldiers as Thiemo struggled to quickly fit himself into his old jeans.

“It’s okay, Amy, don’t bother. I should have gotten up hours ago in any case.” He put on the shirt that Rarity had made for him and slipped into his boots. “Alright, boys, you heard the prince. Take me.” Slightly perplexed, the uniformed crystal ponies nodded and began to lead him through the hallway. Quickly, it was clear that their destination was the teleporter, leaving only two options in Thiemo’s mind. He would either be put behind bars or would have to stand in front of a judge. He was hoping for the latter, as the judge would surely be Princess Cadance, who had always been more than just fair to him. And her booty tho…

A few minutes later, Thiemo’s thoughts were confirmed. They stood in the same corridor where he had been asked to wait in a room during his first visit. This time, he waited together with the ten soldiers – he had counted on the way here – to be called into the throne room. At the door stood Rupie, a grim look on his face and with slightly splayed hind legs. The coy grin that Thiemo gave him was returned by a quiet growl. Still, he couldn’t blame him for that – no one wanted to be kicked in the balls.

Then the door was finally opened by the guards on the other side, and the soldiers behind him motioned him to enter. “Hey, no need to poke!” Which only made the soldiers behind him repeat the action. Together, they entered the large room that Thiemo now saw for the first time. The pillars, which supported the ceiling, looked like randomly grown crystals. Large, open windows overlooking the balconies seemed to run all around the tower so that one could see the entire city. Fine carpet decorated the floors. What almost caused his eyes to roll out of their sockets was the throne, but he made sure to not let that show. Skillfully, he overplayed his surprise by acting like he had stumbled on the carpet.

Just as Thiemo stood upright again, one of the soldiers pushed him forward again, and they eventually came to a halt in front of Cadance. Next to her, on a thick red cushion, sat Shining Armor, giving his best impression of a statue as he glared at him stonily. “Good morning, Thiemo,” the princess said pleasantly. “I take it that Shining Armor has informed you why you are here?”

“I wouldn’t call it informed, more of an accusation. But yes, I can very well imagine why I’m here.” He came unarmed, freely, and honest. Internally, he made a red cross in the calendar. For all that to happen on the same day was almost a miracle. But what would be the worst that would happen to him? Pay compensation? Please, he barely had enough bits to pay the rent for the small apartment.

Cadance nodded. “I take that you plead guilty then?” Thiemo nodded. “Sorry, but we need a verbal confirmation.” She pointed with a hoof in the corner of the room, where a stallion at a typewriter seemed to be recording the proceedings.

“Just one question: will that later be saved in a computer?” He pointed at the stallion as well.

“Uhm, sure,” Cadance replied, slightly confused. “The files of every hearing will be temporarily written down so that they can be archived in a computer later. Additionally, we use special crystals to record the image and sound of this room, so we can avoid any manipulation.”

With his curiosity satisfied, there was only one thing left to do. “Then, your Highness, I plead guilty.”

“Then we will go straight to the sentencing. However, I have a choice for you. My husband suggested two months dungeons with no chance of probation.” The satisfied look of the prince met the sullen one of Thiemo. “I instead suggested community service, in the name of the Crown, for a duration of two months.” He wouldn’t have to think long with that choice. If he could choose between scrubbing the floors for two months, or sitting in a dark cell while there was the equivalent of Spring Break going on outside, he would definitely scrub the floors.

Thiemo pushed the buzzer that only existed in his head. “I’ll take community services for five hundred, Bob.” For a split second, he thought he saw a grin on Cadance’s face, while the quiet curse of Shining Armor wasn’t as quiet as the stallion might have wanted it to be. “So, where shall I report for cleaning?”

Cadance laughed briefly as she slowly stepped down from the throne. “No cleaning. For a human of your skills, I thought about something else.” So no scrubbing. Maybe he would sort files or something like that, but he couldn’t imagine a lot of things he could do in the castle. At least none that they would let an outsider do. Cadance stepped past him over the carpet, heading for the exit. “Follow me.” He shrugged and fell into a trot behind her, just like two of the guards who split from the rest of the group. “As you maybe know, the festivities for the Hearts and Hooves festival will begin in a few days,” the princess began to explain.

“Sure. I’ve barely heard anything else yesterday.”

They marched down the corridor and stopped at the third door to his left this time. “Well, then you’ve also heard about the tournament.”

“Not really. I know that there is one, but that’s about it.” Did she want him to sell candy in the stands? Well, there were worse jobs, but it was still pretty far down. For example, collecting the trash. Damn it, he couldn’t even keep his own room clean. Before Thiemo could go on with his thoughts, the princess opened the door, and he could see what was behind it: a canteen. A small canteen with a small kitchen, a small table in the corner with a few cushions around it, and a stallion who was bringing some warm drink to his muzzle.

“Good morning, Flash Sentry,” Cadance greeted the beige… no, orange…. or was it dark yellow…? Regardless of what his coat colour was, his blue mane stood in a strong contrast to it. Unlike most Crystal Guards, he wore golden armour like the Equestrian Royal Guard. Still, there were still differences. For one, he had an emblem on his chest, with a blue shield with a lightning bolt shooting through it, which appeared to be his cutie mark. Another difference was that he wasn’t wearing a helmet, and his mane was formed by gel into a mixture of an afro and buzz cut. Also, he didn't sparkle and had wings.

The stallion seemed surprised for a moment but then calmly put down his drink, stood up from his spot, only to kiss the ground, seeing as how far he bowed down. “Your Highness,” he greeted her in a voice that sounded so greasy that it could be used to talk with a frying pan and you would no longer need the butter.

“You remember what I talked about a few days ago?” The stallion, still on the ground, nodded. “Then let me introduce you to Thiemo. He will fight under my banner in the arena. I would like you to train him.” For the first time, the stallion looked up from the corners of his eyes, which Thiemo only returned with a dumb stare, though for a different reason. He was going to fight in the arena? During this tournament? He blinked and tried to keep it together. Now he knew what Cadance meant when she said that there were other uses for a human with his skills. But an arena?! He had been in a couple of dungeons, including intensive questioning with the help of various tools to make him more docile. “Don’t worry, the fights are harmless,” the princess assured him as she noticed his face. “The weapons are enchanted so that no one can be hurt, and the arena itself has a dampening aura that will protect you. It is only about scoring hits.”

Thiemo sighed with relief. “So like boxing or fencing?”

“I have no idea what the former one is, but yes, it is similar to fencing,” the princess agreed thoughtfully while she stroked her chin with a hoof. “And it’s not like there isn’t any price to win.” And with that, she had Thiemo’s curiosity. A tournament where he had to fight against a few ponies and would win something in the end? Child’s play.

“Alright, I’m in. Where do I have to sign?” And there it was again. The grin that stood on her lips for a split second. She had been satisfied as he chose her punishment and now that he was so enthusiastic. It was a clear sign that he was playing directly in her hands, or rather hooves.

A cough behind them ended the conversation. “Pardon me, your Highness,” another guard who had joined the two behind them reported. “The first guests have arrived and await you in the dining hall to have breakfast with you.”

“Ah, very good. Thiemo, Flash, would you like to join us? After all, they might probably be your first opponents.” Nobles? He would fight against nobles? He’d have to revise the child’s play; this would be a cakewalk. It wasn’t like he had seen many nobles in Canterlot, but that what he had seen had given the impression that they couldn’t distinguish between a bread knife and a dagger.

“As you wish, you Highness,” Flash Sentry accepted the invitation.

“Sure, I’m hungry. Should I get Amaryllis? I’d just have to know where the dining room is then.” Thiemo pointed with a thumb at the door and was about to leave, but the guards blocked him.

“Don’t worry, sir, Princess Amaryllis is already there and is waiting for you.” Good, then he wouldn’t have to worry about her walking up and down her room.

They left the small room with the Crystal Guard and walked back to the teleporter. Their destination was one floor below, where the lobby and guest rooms were. Meanwhile, Flash Sentry told him more about the tournament. “The fights will be fought with a weapon of choice. It doesn’t matter if it’s a sword, lance, or dagger. Each competitor can change the weapons during every round. You can even take your own. There is always a unicorn in the preparation room to make the necessary enchantments so that the weapon fits the rules. The rounds themselves are timed. Twenty minutes per fight, or until the first one scores fifteen points, with two points apart. Then there are the handicaps. The competitors may choose to give up the use of their wings for a second weapon during the fight. You can also go without a weapon and use magic or flight instead.”

“Did I hear that right?” Thiemo threw in as a flash of light briefly appeared and they changed floors. “One can use either magical powers or flight?”

Flash nodded. “A rule that was introduced because of Prince Shining Armor. He participated in the tournament once. The shortest we ever had.” So an anti-alicorn rule. “If I may ask, what is the weapon you’re most experienced with?”

“Staff.” That was clear to him. “Although I can wield a sword as well if need be.”

“Then we will begin bright and early tomorrow.” Flash didn’t get any further as they stepped through the doors to the dining hall at that very moment. At the large table near the door sat Twilight Sparkle and all of her friends. To the left was Fluttershy, followed by Pinkie Pie and Rarity. Next to her sat Estoc. On the opposite side to the right sat Twilight, Applejack, and Aura, who jumped up as she saw Thiemo and ran towards him. Behind them was a grim-looking Rainbow Dash and a stallion who had buried his muzzle into something that looked like apple pie.

Thiemo’s gaze wandered further down as he picked his daughter up in his arms. Amaryllis sat at the other end of the table next to Shining Armor. One of them was happy to see him again and with a wide grin on their lips, the other one less so. The faces that he saw next almost caught his breath, and Aura almost slipped out of his grip. Thiemo had to pull himself together so that his legs would not follow the flight instincts that his brain was sending out in panic. Striped, with the symbol of a sun on her flank and with various trinkets on her, sat his old master at the table, calmly smoking her pipe. Her eyes were closed, but that didn’t mean that she hadn’t noticed him. She probably already had when she entered the castle. Next to her sat a zebra warrior, Zende his name. He looked at him in surprise, just like one of the guests sitting opposite of them. He knew one of the faces there as well. It was Deerling.

Author's Notes:

Two important things today!

1. We are looking for one more capable translator for Journey. Gron tries very hard, but we seem not be able to build up a puffer of chapters for any reason. So, if you're able to translate from German to English and want to help us out for a couple of weeks, please contact JBL.

2. Because of the lack of a "puffer" the little break after intermission 13 will be two weeks long this time. I hope you understand that this ins necessary. Translating is a difficult task and we just need time to prepare the chapters. First I have to write them, then Gron translates, I read again for any mistakes or something got lost in translation, then Gron checks up on what I highlighted for him, then JBL joins in for the correction and then I read it another time. And then there are still some typos or mistakes left.

And to give you something to think about: "Zarni and Deerling were invited by Cadance days ago. They had to travel to the empire after all."

Thanks to Gron for translating this chapter.
Special thanks to JBL for proofreading and editing.

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