Taking one last breath, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza stepped to the railing on the speaker’s tribune, her family next to her. Her husband was with their daughter, who sat between his legs. Seated with them was her sister-in-law, Twilight, and her friends, Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Below them, in the dust of the large arena, the two hundred and fifty six contestants of this year’s tournament were gathered. Thiemo stood out clearly, as he was one of only three humans who had registered. Next to him stood his daughter, Auralia. The young and cheerful filly was clearly excited. She had trouble concentrating with large crowd and the tense mood. Her own daughter, Amaryllis, stood in her disguise next to the human and looked up at her, just as he did. Cadance had expected her to be nervous as well or to feel uncomfortable, but her face showed a similarly determined grin as that of the human at her side.

“Hello and welcome to all of you,” she greeted the audience in a thundering voice. “I am happy to see so many of you that have gathered here. As many of you surely know, this tournament is an ancient tradition. A tradition that shows our loved ones that we can not only care for them, but also protect them. Crystal ponies competed in honourable combat to express their affection towards their stallions. The times may have changed, as I see a lot of stallions now standing in front of me, but one thing will never change. We want to protect those who we love. On that note, I wish all of you good luck. Let the games begin!” Applause sounded through the arena as Cadance stepped back and turned towards her family. Hard times lay ahead for them and their Empire, but she still put on a smile and patted her daughter’s cheek as she came running over to her.

“That was great, mom! You were so loud!” Cadance started to giggle at the word of her daughter. “Can I compete next year like Aura? I bet it’s a lot of fun!” Laughing as well, Shining Armor stepped to her side and did the same that she had just done with her daughter.

“Maybe when you’re older,” he said with a soft voice and lifted Skyla onto his back. “So, do we want to watch your sister and your friend?”

“Yes!” cheered their daughter and bounced up and down on his back. Shining just grinned as Skyla leaned over his head and turned towards the staircase that led to the stands that were closer to the arena.

Cadance followed the two but quickly turned around again. “What’s with you all? Are you coming?” The remaining mares looked at each other before following them as well.

While the crowd clapped for the princess, Thiemo noticed that every species did it in their own way. The ponies, no matter the kind, stomped their hooves in the dust, aside from Auralia who sat down and imitated him by clopping her forehooves against each other. The griffons were chirping. That was the only way Thiemo could describe it. Maybe whistling, but much more melodic and loud. Despite what one might think, it was not the screech of an eagle that they sometimes made when they attacked. The diamond dogs, because how else could it be, howled and slammed their thick short tails into the dust as well.

Cadance looked down at them one last before she turned around and stepped away from the speaker tribune. Quickly, she disappeared from his sight, but it wasn’t like the railing in front of her had shown much to begin with. “If I may have your attention!” sounded the voice of a mare behind them, who was also very loud and silenced the crowd. The crystal pony mare stood on a small pedestal and wore a crystalline megaphone at one of her fetlocks. “I will now explain to you the rules of the preliminary rounds. Afterwards, the fights of the diamond group will begin.” She remained silent for a few seconds while looking over the crowd. “Very well. The first and supreme rule is that injuring the opponent, no matter how severe, will lead to disqualification. The arena is enchanted through the crystals on the pillars around it. You should not be able to reach them. Also, all weapons that you have registered have already received the same protection spell during said registration. Magic will be dampened by this protection as well, but I still have to ask you to avoid using spells that could seriously harm your opponent.”

A mumble went through the crowd. Thiemo heard a few comments from some griffons that the ponies were just too weak, and the present diamond dogs seemed to agree. “Rule number two only counts for the preliminaries since we have multiple marked combat zones in the arena.” The mare pointed over to the large open field. As Thiemo entered the arena for the first time, he realized that there was room for around one and a half football fields. “A fight is lost if one of you leaves the area during the fight. For flying contestants, the same counts for you if you fly higher than how tall the tribunes are.” This time, the bright blue shimmering mare pointed at them, where various ponies with flags in their mouths were waving down at them.

“A fight is also lost if one of the opponents scored ten points first while two points ahead. The fight also ends automatically after five minutes. Rule three states that the use of either magic or wings is allowed if you are capable of both. Also, you are only allowed to one weapon per fight. Between fights, you are free to change it. The last rule, rule number four, says that aimed hits to the private parts will receive a penalty if the judge sees it fit.” Thiemo was a bit confused about this rule, but a look around and he could slap himself again. He was one of the few who wore clothes that were at least covering the private parts a bit. Here and there he saw a bit of clothing, but he was basically the only one who had covered his entire body.

“If there are any questions, please turn to me or the judge who will be overseeing the fight.” The mare waited again for the crowd, but no one spoke up. “Then I will now ask you to open the parchment that was given to you during your registration. It will tell you which group you are in and also what your number is.” Thiemo reached inside his bag and took out the rolled up and sealed piece of parchment. He removed the wax with his thumb and quietly read what was written inside. He belonged to the diamond group, who were fighting today, and he was number two. ‘Lucky me’, he thought to himself.

“Everyone in the opal group can rest until tomorrow. However, you are invited to take a seat in the stands to watch the preliminaries like your sponsors and relatives are already doing.” Said tribunes were well filled already. A large part of the crowd moving towards the arena were now there. Either they weren’t taking ‘excluding the public’ too seriously, or each contestant had huge families.

Many moved towards the stands, and the crowd began to thin out. “Dad?” Aura spoke up. “I’m in the opal group. Can I stay in the arena?”

Thiemo crouched down and stroked through her mane. “Sure. And would you go if I told you to?” She shook her head twice before realizing her mistake and then strongly nodded. He just had to grin. “And you, Amy?” He had noticed the white hooves of his marefriend-in-disguise in the corners of his eyes.

“I also belong to the opal group, so I’ll stay here. Someone has to keep a look out on this little plague.” She reached out a hoof as well to pat Auralia but pulled it back with a sour look as said plague just stuck out her tongue.

Thiemo just stared at the two while his view slowly began to blur. “Dad? What’s wrong? Are you crying?” He quickly rubbed a hand over his eyes and shook his head.

“Not me. Must be the sand in the air.” He stood back up and saw that they were amongst the last ones who were still at the pedestal. Most of the others had already gathered at the four marked fields. “Maybe we should go over there.” Aura nodded eagerly and galloped ahead. Amy stepped at his side and gave him a peck on his cheek.

“Softie,” she whispered into his ears while he shook his head and followed her.

“… It doesn’t depend on victory or loss, but on how many points you score,” he heard the same mare as before explaining to the remaining one hundred and twenty seven contestants. Underneath them, Thiemo spotted someone who definitely had to be Entlas, Deerling’s fiancé. He was tall as most stags and surely was on the same eye level as Shining Armor. He also seemed very muscular and his antlers spoke volumes with the many straps that were wrapped around them, a custom in Cervidas to wish someone luck. He had often seen students in the university who wore such straps on their antlers before they took exams. In this case, the antlers could no longer be seen. “If you manage to throw your opponent out of the ring, his points will be halved and you receive the full ten. The best eight from both groups will meet in the finale.” So it wasn’t just about scoring hits but about dodging them as well. Anyone could win a fight by luck – he was the best proof for that. It would take skill to get to the top with such a system.

“Before we begin, does anyone volunteer to demonstrate the rules in action in a first fight?” Suddenly it went silent, and Thiemo could understand why. With the three adjacent combat zones, it was basically unavoidable that the other opponents could see you and gather information. Here, in front of all, it was basically a death sentence.

Thiemo raised his hand with a wide grin. “Sure, here.” The face of the mare with the megaphone brightened and she signalled him to step forward.

“Thank you, I just need your number.” Thiemo held up the parchment. “Number two. Let’s see.” She pulled a notepad out of the small saddlebags on her back, which had a string around it, and immediately put it around her neck. Then she inspected the document on it. “Where is number thirty six?” The crowd parted a bit as a young-looking unicorn mare fought her way to the front. Her coat was a mix of grey and purple, and a styled blue mane graced her head. She gulped visibly as she saw Thiemo and positioned herself with some distance to the human next to the organizer, who didn’t seem bothered by it. “Great, then I ask both contestants to step into the ring.” Thiemo drew the bastard sword that hung over his back out of the scabbard and stepped into the marked area. Gulping, the unicorn mare followed him and positioned herself on the other end. “Take a bow.” They did as they were told. “Ready?” Thiemo looked the mare in her eyes. “Begin!”

Neither she nor he moved. He needed a strategy. She was a unicorn, which meant that she surely knew a few spells. But she was afraid of him as a human. That was the best thing he had right now. Thiemo stood up tall, snorted, and charged with a loud roar at the mare. Her eyes widened, panic obvious in her face. Thiemo lunged out, saw her closing her eyes, and then… nothing. His sword was no longer moving, which pulled him back, stopping him. Confused, he looked at his weapon, which was now engulfed in a white magical aura. His weapon was being levitated. Baffled, he let go of it and looked at it. This had never happened before. He was so used to Protes that he had completely forgotten that this could happen, especially with unicorns.

“What happened?” Auralia asked excitedly. Amaryllis had to hold back a giggle. They stood offside of the rings, with their backs to the walls of the tribunes.

“Thiemo was a bit too confident and underestimated his opponent.” They both watched the human trying to pull his sword out of the air, but it stayed in position, while the unicorn mare had her eyes closed in concentration.

“Underestimated would be an understatement.” Both looked up where Twilight was leaning over the edge of the stands. “That’s Gravity. She may be young but is an expert in the field of gravitation magic. I’ve read some of her papers she wrote at my mother’s school. This is the first time I’m seeing her in person.”

“How do you know it’s her then?” Aura asked curiously.

Her cutie mark is good indicator for one.” Amaryllis looked back into the arena where the sword was now falling with a thud to the ground. The mare had a weight with a shadow underneath it on her flank, which had to indicate that it was floating in the air. “Also, on the way here, we met two of her friends who are here with her.”

“You mean they found you and wanted an autograph of their princess,” Amy heard the voice of Rainbow Dash from over the railing. Her disappointment could be felt even down here since she obviously wasn’t asked for one.

“Hey, sugarcube!” Applejack greeted her daughter a second later as she leaned over the railing like Twilight.

“Hi mom!”

“Anyway, they told us who she is.” Twilight looked back into the ring. “Wow, she actually managed to render the weapon harmless.” The others followed her look where Thiemo was now trying to pick up his sword, but he would sooner sprain his back than do so. “She put a gravitation spell on the sword. It should be around two hundred times the usual gravitational pull.”

“So it’s really really heavy now?” Rainbow asked again. Twilight just nodded and rolled her eyes.

Thiemo let go of the sword. He couldn’t even wrap his fingers around the hilt. Whatever the unicorn did, it was now much too heavy to move it. He looked up at her. Her eyes were still closed and her lips were moving slowly but steadily. She wasn’t shaking; she was about to cast more spells! By instinct, he took a step back and watched his surroundings, but nothing around him seemed to be wrapped in a white aura. What was she doing? In any case, he didn’t want to figure it out. He needed a new weapon if he didn’t want to fight with his bare fists.

“The scabbard…” he mumbled and opened the loop which fastened it on his back. Just as he held it like a sword in his hand, the mare opened her eyes again, and in front of her floated little balls in her aura. Before Thiemo could even blink, one of them shot into his direction and made contact with his chest. Immediately, he was thrown off his feet and flew a few meters through the dust. His head came to a halt shortly before the line of the ring. “Oww…” He rubbed his chest. Then he noticed the horror. In his orange coat was a black burn mark. His fingers stroked over it. And again and again. Angrily, he stood back up and managed just in time to dodge the second ball which was being fired at him. He closed his eyes for a second before he charged forwards. Magic was pumping through his body, and he knew that the cutie mark underneath his coat was probably glowing brightly. Then his knee made contact with the chest of his opponent.

He felt the impact as it slowly crept up his leg, shaking his bone, and he was eventually ricocheted away from her. Thiemo landed in the dust again, this time with a badly aching right knee. His opponent was leaning forwards as well and held the place where he hit her. She had gotten the full blow but was still moving. Her horn went out, and something smooth was trickling to the ground as the balls from her magic were dissolving. Sand. Now it clicked. His sword, the magical balls, and finally his opponent herself. She was manipulating gravity. Her mistake now, as she rooted herself to the ground to not be thrown out of the arena, was that she was unable to move. That was her weakness. Now he just had to get over the pain, get back on his legs, and deliver nine quick blows.

Slowly, while his opponent was still trying to stand on three legs while she held her chest, Thiemo was heaving himself on his own. His red leg was twitching nervously as he put weight on it, but the spell on the arena must have avoided the worst. That counted for both of them. He had to hurry. Slightly limping, he passed the few steps over to the squatting unicorn, only for his first hit, that was aimed against her horn, to miss. Or rather, simply going through her. “Huh?”

Something hit Thiemo in the back again, and he fell on his knees. He saw the construct dissolving in front of him, and he knew that once again some sand bullets had pierced their way through his coat. She had even affected the light with gravity so that it had been creating a mirror image at this place.

He had underestimated her twice. Now it was his turn. Quickly, he stood back up and turned around to the direction where the missile came from. There in the arena stood the unicorn. She was breathing heavily, the blow leaving its mark. Through her grey coat, he could see the bruise that was spreading across her whole chest. Next to her floated more of the magical balls out of the sand which she accelerated. If he weren’t able to see magic, these attacks would be invisible to him. Surely they were for the spectators as well. Unfortunately, he was at his wit’s end. If he came close to her again, she would just manipulate the light again and he would follow an illusion. Would his first fight end like this?

“Come on, dad!” shouted Auralia as loud as she could.

“They can’t hear us in the arena,” came Twilight’s voice from above them. “The sound from the outside is dampened so that the fighters won’t be distracted.” Now Amaryllis knew why Thiemo didn’t make any snappy comments as everyone laughed while he tried to pull his sword out of the air. “But it doesn’t look good for him. Gravity was surprised about his quick attack, but that surely won’t happen again.”

“What do you mean, Twilight?” Amy asked her aunt.

“She can manipulate everyone, even Thiemo. I think she isn’t doing that because she doesn’t know if the spell of the arena would still protect him from injuries then. Bones could break and other severe inner injuries would surely follow.” The changeling princess gulped. “I don’t see any chance for him if he isn’t going to use his magic soon. I don’t understand why he isn’t using it.”

“Surely he wants to use it as a secret weapon,” explained Shining Armor. “I wouldn’t do it any other way. No one would expect magic from a human. But his quick attack earlier has drawn some attention, although not everyone noticed it.” Shining paused for a moment as Skyla repositioned her forelegs on his head. “But with his current performance, he will have to fall back to it sooner than he’d like.”

Amy looked up to him and saw Skyla tapping lightly against his head. “What would you do, dad?”

“Gravity can’t make herself heavier to not be thrown out of the arena and dodge at the same time. He just has to force her to move and then hit her.”

“Like with the scabbard?” They had all seen it fly away as Gravity sent him to the ground for the first time. “He’s picking it back up. Give her hell, dad!” Every eye followed Aura’s look back onto the combat field.

Thiemo only had one try, and he knew it. If it didn’t work, he would just take the remaining hits. Unfortunately, he was still going to take her on. “Come on, you stupid cutie mark, please don’t leave me hanging.” He still wasn’t able to control the magic in his body. It was like it had its own will and never activated when he really needed it. The last time was during the training when he wanted to block a blow from Flash. If it hadn’t activated back then and jumped back further than planned, the pegasus could have seriously injured his head, even though it only had been a training weapon.

His hand wrapped around the scabbard as tightly as he could while he waited for the next attack. It could be the unicorn mare in front of him, or maybe not. His eyes wandered around slightly while searching for the white magic ball, but it was nowhere to be found. Did she let the time run out? Did she plan to surprise him in the last second? He cursed internally. He had to throw her out of the arena now. Thiemo went slowly and carefully on his knees, put his free left hand flat on the sand, and closed his eyes. She was casting her magic on the sand, so there had to be a clue.

In front of his inner eye, the arena began to form. At first the sand around him, then more and more from the field. Unfortunately, everything was grey in grey, only surrounded by a light magical veil. That was probably the spell that protected them. Thiemo jerked up and turned around with closed eyes. He saw the spell ricocheting off the ground and lying over his skin. He also saw it slowly wrapping around his opponent, who stood only a few steps away from the illusion. His eyes opened, and he lunged out and threw the scabbard like a spear into her direction.

Surprised, the mare cut off her magic that created the illusion and became visible to the naked eye again. Quickly, she jumped aside but didn’t hit the ground again. Thiemo had followed and jumped again with insane speed and threw the mare with an aimed kick out of the ring. The mare hit hard, rolled for a few metres, and then finally came to a halt. Thiemo’s muscles slackened, exhaustion overtaking his body.

“It looks like we have a winner,” the voice of the announcer suddenly sounded, and with it returned the other sounds as well. Until now, he hadn’t even realized that they were missing. “In this case, it will be ten points for number two and one for thirty six. You would have had even thirty more seconds.” She turned around to Thiemo. “Would you please clear the area? Your next fight will be in an hour.”

Tiredly nodding, Thiemo strolled over to his sword and picked it back up before heading over to the scabbard. If it would go on like this, today would be a long day.

Author's Notes:

This tournament would be one of the hardest things I ever wrote. I made so many notes on this and still I feel like I made mistakes. Like forgetting a rule or something at one point. I read every chapter two times to make sure. If there is such a mistake, I'm truly sorry.

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

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