Canterlot Castle, the cultural hub of all of Equestria, pulsed with life. The normally stoic guards practically vibrated with the buzz of excitement surrounding the recent announcement. A tournament! Finally, a chance to settle this age-old rivalry between the two houses of the guard. Not just that, but that strange alien from beyond the veil was to take part as well! This was to be a time to be remembered.

Rumour mills churned frantically, barely keeping up with themselves. On street corners, in taverns, at parties, you'd hear so many new ideas. Impressive, really, especially considering how little was actually known about that newcomer. Most knew he walked on two legs, with a tail. Some knew he was a saiyain. Many claimed to know various falsities, with varying degrees of believability. They'd claim such strange things, 'He's a half-breed between a minotaur and an ape', 'His forelegs are actually the ones used for walking. He's just challenging himself', 'He's really a she', to name a few.

Naturally, the princesses made attempts to stem the tide of falsities spewing from every social circle that had any degree of relevancy. Celestia was the one really spearheading the front against those rumours. After all, she had always been the politician, and you just can't risk offending someone with direct contact to such an important foreign leader.

Besides, Luna was preoccupied. Before Goku's arrival, you'd often find her in her chambers or wandering the halls of the castle, complaining near-constantly. Initially, many of the staff had asked about these complaints she'd have. They soon learned not to even bring up many of the changes if they had anything remotely important for the next hour or two. Say what you will about her social skills, but she certainly knew how to complain. One day it's her disappointment in the nobility - how they'd fallen from the elite warriors of the realm who were deemed loyal and important enough to warrant their own castes, to the crude bastardisation of their ancestors well-placed pride. Another time, she just cursed the castles' architect over and over, mumbling something about their 'needlessly complicated' layout. Now, however, she was almost exclusively training at the barracks.

And by 'training', I mean breaking every training dummy in storage with this comically oversized, nearly deceptively so, warhammer.

You'd think that it being nearly three times as long as Luna's body would make such an unbalanced weapon unwieldy. You'd think so, but you'd be gravely mistaken. The massive, obsidian head blurred with speed, smashing into the straw ponies with near explosive effects. Instead of being merely crushed, the bundles of straw flew out in all directions, some flying through the perpetually open windows in the nearest spire.

And if that wasn't formidable enough, it seemed as if the hammer was enchanted in some measure. Not the standard enchantments for guards, such as fortification to improve strength, or feather to decrease weight. Not even one of those four standard elemental effects.

Instead of striking with wind, earth, thunder or fire, the hammer seemed to strike with darkness itself. Shadows spread out from the impact points in the ground, seeping towards all nearby targets. The darkness bubbled around the pickets holding the dummies in place, before slowly dragging the straw targets down into what seemed to be an endless void, filled with the torment of nothingness.

This was Luna's weapon of legend.

This was Dark Anguish.

Before Goku's arrival, the Night guards had been the new blood in the castle. They had initially commanded no respect. Untested in combat, untested in perception and undeniably arrogant, they held all the hallmarks of someone who was all bark and no bite. Hence their fervour at training for this tournament of legends. Being shunned and mocked wears you down, and the only way to escape such a fate is to prove yourself worthy of respect. This, the Night guard knew to be true. So, they embraced their passion for combat and poured everything they had into their drills, their target practice, their sparring matches.

That isn't to say that the Day guard had let themselves dull over the years. In their heyday, they'd had many a champion fighter, proven in the Griffons' gladiator pits, the harshest areas of that border seeped with dark magicks, or the great labyrinths of Minos. So many warriors of legend had served in the Day guard, as had their sons, and their sons. Their unbroken lineage of exceptional brawlers, battlemages and stormguard still reared it's head in todays' guard. And they had their honour to protect.

"What makes a great warrior?", they'd ask, "Yes, a warrior needs his training, his discipline, his temperament. But is that all there is? Is that all it takes for a warrior to become great?"

"No.", they'd answer, "Those qualities may be the building blocks of a warrior, but all buildings need foundations. What could be a stronger foundation than a lineage bathed in enemies' blood and forged in the fires of war?"

Yes, they were arrogant.

Yes, they were cocky.

Yes they were full of themselves.

No, they weren't overconfident. For each boast made by these lineages of Earthshaker, Thunderwing and Magus, those claiming such things rose to the challenge and proved themselves to be worthy of those names. While the Night had drive and determination, the Day had honour and prestige. Like their matriarch, they exude an aura of deserved confidence and barely hidden strength.

One one side, the unproven underdog, the other the arrogant veteran. And, in the middle, the unknown newcomer. Truly, this is to be a tournament that will be remembered.

Author's Note

So I figured I'd do two chapters on Moonhorse and Sunbutt, to give me more material and thinking time, while tiding you lot over with updates. Hopefully, this one shows Luna as at least vaguely capable. And, yes, weapons are legal in this tournament. As usual, point out errors and the like.
Oh, and I'm open to ideas as to how to make anything a threat to Goku. Post comments with ideas.