The Great Unicorn Battle Torunament

“Say, Twilight, I’ve been thinking,” Spike called to his friend, who was staring dejectedly out the train window.  Canterlot was just a few minutes away.

“Hm?  What is it, Spike?” Twilight asked as her stare was broken by the train car’s entrance into a tunnel.

“What if that letter wasn’t from the princess?  I mean, Celestia’s more the type of pony to come tell you something big like possibly losing your wings herself rather than leave it to some letter.”  Twilight sighed,

“I know, but her writing is unmistakable.  That second letter even had the royal seal.  Maybe it was just too hard for the princess to tell me pony-to-pony.  You should have seen how proud she was when I first became an alicorn.  Could you bear the thought of possibly having to be the one to take that away?”

“All right, Twi,” Spike shrugged, “I’m still skeptical, though.”

When the train stopped, Twilight and Spike disembarked the train into a hot Canterlot day.  Spike squinted and put a claw on his forehead to shade from the sudden change in light and heat,

“It’s too bad the others couldn’t come watch you compete.  I’d expect at least Rainbow Dash would be into this kind of thing,” he said.

“They’ve got their own lives, too, Spike,” Twilight explained, “If we all dropped everything every time somepony had something going on, the rest of us wouldn’t get anything done.  I’m glad you could come, though,” she nuzzled the little dragon.

“I’ve never been to the Canterlot Sports Complex before.  Where is it, exactly?” Spike asked.

“If I remember correctly, it’s on the opposite side of the city from where we are.  It’s almost buried into the mountain, so even a pony who has been here for years may pass by it without even knowing it’s there—except when an event is going on, of course.”  Twilight remembered correctly, of course.  Even though he had been with her all his life, the ability to recall facts and figures about pretty much everything still amazed Spike.

The two reached the complex after about an hour of walking, ducking from shade to shade in the awnings of buildings and the occasional side alley when available.  Unlike Ponyville, where Twilight’s princess-hood was just seen as another-weird-thing-that-happened-after-that-bookish-purple-unicorn-moved-in, the ponies of Canterlot regarded her with celebrity status.  After all, the last few times she had been here, she had “spiced up” the Grand Galloping Gala, saved Equestria from a Changeling assault, and been named a princess herself by Celestia with Luna and Cadance in attendance.  Shop owners would offer her free souvenirs or special discounts, and journalist ponies would snap photos and ask for interviews, but as Twilight was en route to a more pressing engagement, she politely declined.

They’d get their fill of Twilight Sparkle in action soon enough.

Like Twilight said, the Canterlot Sports Complex was tucked away, partially built into the mountain a few blocks from the grounds of the royal castle.  There were three outstanding stadiums jutting out from the stone.  The largest was uncovered and boasted two massive magical display screens on either side of it.  This was Galaxy Stadium, most known for its hosting of the Equestrian Hoofball League Championship every year.  It was also host to other sports and various concerts.  For the next weeks, though, it would be the home of the opening and closing ceremonies of the Great Unicorn Battle Tournament, as well as some of the tournament’s matches.  Flanking Galaxy Stadium were two smaller domes, called the Nebula Dome and the Nova Dome.  The Nebula Dome boasted the ability for its center field to turn into a massive pool for watersports for the Equestria Games and other events, while the Nova Dome’s claim to fame was the home for conventions in Canterlot.  They would also be tournament venues.  The last stadium was completely inside the mountain.  It was known as the Black Hole due to its location.  It would hold the tournament’s final match.

Twilight and Spike entered the front lobby of Galaxy Stadium.  Ponies of all types milled about, setting up decorations and conversing with each other about who might show up to and win the Great Unicorn Battle Tournament.  Most of the combatants were a mystery to everypony until the tournament’s start unless they got word out that they were invited in the month before.

The ponies in the lobby stopped and shushed each other when they saw who had just walked in.

“It’s Princess Twilight Sparkle!” one pony whispered.

“Is she here to oversee this year’s tournament?” another asked.

“Didn’t her mother come in second in the 304th?” said a third.  The only pony who didn’t stare at Twilight in awe was a small receptionist pony, almost Twilight’s coat color and with a blonde mane with one dyed pink streak tucked behind her ear.  She smiled a huge, cheesy grin and waved the princess over.

“Yoo hoo!  Over here!”  Twilight trotted over to the desk.

“Hello, I’m here to register for the tournament,” she said quietly.  She expected the mare across from her to take the hint, but she replied as loudly as ever,

“Of course!  Princess Twilight Sparkle, here to register for the 308th Great Unicorn Battle Tournament!  Just sign here and hand me your invitation letter so I can verify it!”  Twilight blushed and cringed as she signed and levitated over her letter from her saddlebag, attempting to ignore the looks of the other ponies in the lobby.  Their expressions changed from surprised to, well, really surprised.

“She’s actually in the tournament?”

“Can she do that?  She’s an alicorn!”

“The Great Unicorn Council must have some reason to have invited her!”

“A hundred bits that she’ll crush the competition.”

The alicorn sighed, realizing the jig was up,

“There, what do I do now?”  Twilight thought she could see the receptionist pony’s tail waving excitedly behind the desk,

“You’ll be called in three days at ten o’clock in the morning to prepare for the opening ceremonies.  The first round is the day after—single elimination, no re-dos!  I wish you the best of luck!”  The receptionist pony flashed her huge grin again and Twilight gave a friendly nod and turned to leave.  She and Spike would stay with her parents for the duration of the tournament.

“Oh, Princess!” the small pony called, “M-my name is Early Dawn.  I was at your coronation and, well, long story short I’m a big fan of you!  It was a huge pleasure to meet you and I hope you win!”  Early Dawn’s eagerness reminded Twilight of Scootaloo’s admiration of Rainbow Dash, though this unicorn seemed to be just a few years younger than her.  This prompted a smile,

“Thank you, Early Dawn.  I’ll do my best!”  With that, Twilight and Spike left to go to Twilight’s parents’ place.  Stardom was not yet a comfortable feeling for the mare, and she needed a nap to get her head on straight.

“Whoa, was that Twilight?” Lyra asked as she pushed open the door to Galaxy Stadium with a magic hand.

“Yeah, it was,” Bon Bon answered, “She couldn’t be in the tournament, could she?”

“Nah, she’s a princess now.  If anything, she’s here to oversee the tournament.  Part of her new duties and all.”  Bon Bon shrugged and the two continued to the reception counter,

“Hey there!” Early Dawn chirped, “What can I do ya for?”

“Well, normally I charge twenty five bits a pop, but since you’re such a cutie—”

“Lyra!” Bon Bon smacked her friend in the back of the head.

“Ouch!  Sorry; really, I’m here to register for the tournament.”  Early smiled and gave a quick nod,

“Okie dokie!  Just hand me your invitation letter and sign here, please!”

“Hand?”

“Lyra!”

“Oops!  Sorry, I have a habit of saying that ever since I read this really interesting paper on… oh, never mind.  It wouldn’t interest you, anyway,” Early Dawn giggled.

“You have no idea, honey,” Bon Bon said flatly.

“It’s Early Dawn, but thanks!  All right, miss Heartstrings, you’ll be called in three days at ten in the morning to get ready for the opening ceremonies.  The first round is the day after.  Good luck!”

Lyra whispered to Bon Bon as the two left for their hotel,

“Isn’t it the middle of the afternoon?”

“Do you have to drag that thing everywhere we go?  It’s hot and I’m pretty sure it’d be safe in the hotel.” Octavia was referring to the mysterious tarp-covered machine that Vinyl Scratch had brought with them to Canterlot.

“I can leave the others alone, but not this one, ‘Tavi.  She’s way too important,” Vinyl replied.

“You never did tell me exactly what ‘she’ is,” Octavia pointed out.

“Something that I hope will come in handy during the tournament.  Could you get the door for me?”  The pair stood in front of the door for a second.  Octavia appeared unenthused while Vinyl gave an expression of genuine confusion.

“What?”

“You’re a unicorn, Vinyl.”  The DJ looked up at her horn, remembering it was there,

“Oh, yeah.  You could have still opened the door, Octavia.”  The gray earth pony sighed and held open the door for Vinyl and her machine.

“Wow, look at that thing!” Early Dawn said as Vinyl walked up to the desk.

“Yep, this here just might help me win that gold medal,” Vinyl said as she rubbed the tarp.

“You’re here for the tournament, then?” Early asked.

“Sure am!” Vinyl nodded, “Vinyl Scratch is the name, and making wubs is my game!”  The receptionist chuckled,

“Hee hee!  Wubs.”

“Yeah, it is kind of a silly word, isn’t it?” Vinyl rubbed the back of her head.

“Yeah, it’s kind of funny, but I could get used to it.  Anywho, go ahead and sign here and let me look at your invitation letter for verification.”  Vinyl magicked over her letter and signed the sheet.

“All righty!  We’ll get in touch with you in three days at ten o’ clock to call you for the opening ceremonies.  Round one is the day after.  I hope you win as much as possible; the competition is stiff this year!”  Early Dawn informed them.

“Cool, thanks!”  Vinyl thanked the receptionist and turned to leave.  She was almost tripped by three fillies running up to the counter.

“Sorry!” Scootaloo called after the unicorn they had just run into.  The Cutie Mark Crusaders had to stand on their hind legs to see over the receptionist’s desk.

“Hi, we’re—I mean, I’m here to see the Great Unicorn Council!” Sweetie Belle squeaked.

“Um, you mean the tournament?” Early Dawn cocked her head.

“Yeah, sure, whatever.  What’s a pony gotta do to see ‘em?”  Apple Bloom pestered.

“Well, a unicorn has to get to the semi-finals of the tournament,” Early Dawn gestured to Sweetie Belle, “Those ponies get a private training session with them before their matches.  Before that, the council speaks at the opening ceremonies, but no one talks to them then.  Are you… entering?”

“Does this mean anything?” Sweetie Belle produced an invitation letter from her saddlebag and gave it to Early.

“You’re Rarity?” she raised an eyebrow.  Sweetie Belle panicked and grabbed her friends,

“What do I do?” she hissed, “She thinks I’m my sister!”

“I don’t think she actually—”

“Just go with it, Sweetie Belle!” Scootaloo cut Apple Bloom off, “If worse comes to worst, you’ll just have to get to the semi-finals of this tournament thing.”

“Okay, but if anything happens, I blame you, Scootaloo,” Sweetie Belle said.

“Um, girls?” Early Dawn peered over the desk.  Mustering up her best Rarity impression, Sweetie Belle spoke up,

“Oh, yes!  I am quite the one they call Rarity, quite!  Just let me know what must be done for my tournament-ness and I shall give the audience a show… and such!”

“O…kay?” Early Dawn narrowed her eyes, then snapped back to her cheerful face, “Just sign here and I’ll verify the authenticity of your invitation.  We’ll call you in three days at ten for the opening ceremonies, and the first round is the day after that.  You sure are young to have been invited to the tournament, but stranger things have happened over the years!  The best of luck to you!”  Early Dawn handed back the verified letter.

“Thanks, lady!  I mean, uh, thank you most kindly for your quite excellent service!”  Sweetie Belle curtsied and the Crusaders were off to their hotel room, the money for which they “liberated” from their guardians.

“There sure are some weird ponies this year,” Early Dawn said to herself.  She smiled, “I’m glad I got to meet them all!  Let’s see, Rarity makes entrant number sixty-three.  I guess the last one’s not coming.  It might mess up the tournament tree, but there have been smaller turnouts before.”  She was about to pack up when a very big dark green unicorn stallion with a short cut black mane came surprisingly quietly up to the desk.

“Arcane,” he said without giving Early a chance to greet him, “I’m here for the tournament.

Night fell with a hush in Canterlot.  The hustle and bustle of the royal city was at a minimum as most ponies were not in their homes or enjoying the usual night life.  Near the castle, however, spotlights combed the sky to signal that something exciting was happening at their base.  Tourists and locals alike poured into the Galaxy Stadium where two princesses and four distinguished unicorns stood in the center of tens of thousands.  Their faces splashed up on the giant magical displays on the edges of the stadium.

The contestants were housed in four chambers around the perimeter of the stadium floor.  They would march out soon.

Ponies cheered as the Wonderbolts flew overhead, crossing the sky then darting upwards right before they hit the face of the mountain.  They then spiraled in the opposite direction.  Their contrails formed a horn, recognizing the nature of the competition below them.  As the Wonderbolts disappeared over the horizon, Princess Celestia walked gracefully up to a podium in the center of the platform she, Luna, and the Great Unicorn Council were on.  The audience silenced.

“Welcome, my subjects, to an event time immemorial,” Celestia’s voice echoed,   “More than fifteen hundred years ago, in the infancy of the rule of my sister and I, four unicorns mastered magic, found each other, and declared themselves equals.  They surmised that there must be more unicorns like them: able to use magic in strong, fantastic, and innovative ways.  They called upon unicorns from all across Equestria.  Hundreds answered their call, and the first four great unicorns pitted them against each other to find another to match their skill and expertise.

“They did not find one in the first bout, but repeated the process five years later, where one of the great unicorns was defeated by one you know well: Starswirl the Bearded.  Starswirl brought change to the group, now calling it the Great Unicorn Council.  Over the following years and decades the council switched members occasionally, but never had more than four officially on it at once.  The bouts became more organized after Starswirl’s passing, and soon ponies all over Equestria knew it as the Great Unicorn Battle Tournament.

“Today, the tournament exists to recognize and showcase the strength of magic in Equestria through the users of it in our population, the unicorns.  The council still changes, something that is of note this year because the oldest current council member, Draymond, is stepping down from his position.  The winner of this year’s tournament will take his place as well as take home the enchanted gold medal that has been the coveted prize of the tournament since its introduction in the 200th so many years ago.  Draymond, if you will…”  Celestia bowed and stood aside for the old yellow unicorn stallion to take his place at the podium.  He wore a sorcerer’s cape and hat, both dark blue in color with gold stripes that must have matched his coat better when he was younger.  He cleared his throat,

“It was at the 296th Great Unicorn Battle Tournament that I emerged victorious and took my place in the Great Unicorn Council.  I was young then, not much older than Rune Caster, the youngest member of the council and the winner of the 307th tournament.  It is bittersweet to step down after remaining in the council for so long.  I have seen other council members come and go.  Some resigned, others’ places were taken by more talented unicorns, and others unfortunately died during their time with me and my comrades…” Draymond paused for a moment to silently pay respects to those that had gone before him, “It is my time now to yield my position to a younger pony who will be stronger and grow wiser than I ever was.  This year, our scouts brought us more than one thousand potential combatants.  My colleagues and I narrowed it down to the standard sixty-four.  Stallions and mares, fillies and colts, and Equestrian guests of all walks of life, I give you the fighters of the 308th Great Unicorn Battle Tournament!”

Spotlights shone on the four corners of Galaxy Stadium and the unicorns began marching out to live fanfare by the Canterlot Royal Symphony Orchestra.  A mare from Trottingham, twins hailing from Vanhoover and a Fillydelphian native came from one corner.

Many ponies began cheering loudly as a certain stallion emerged from another corner.  His smug expression and high step said that he was more proud than most to be here, and probably had been waiting for this his entire life.  This was Super Star, a Manehattan celebrity who was already famous in magic battle from the Manehattan Magic Battle League, one of several small organizations across Equestria that satiated ponies’ craving for these matches in between great tournaments.  He was at prime age for the tournament, and if he was here, he would become a quick favorite to win.

Super Star attracted so much attention almost no one noticed Arcane skulking in behind him.  For such a large pony, his steps were eerily quiet and his presence was abnormally small.

A good sized group of audience members recognized Vinyl Scratch, and cheered heartily when she came from a third corner of the stadium.  Vinyl donned her goggles and waved at her fans, whose excited screaming turned to whispers of shock and surprise as a familiar pony walked nervously out of the last corner.

Twilight Sparkle wanted to avert the gaze of the crowd, but she wanted to avoid meeting Celestia’s eyes even more.  She kept her head toward the ground, low enough to not see anypony she didn’t want to, but high enough so that she knew where she was going.  The scampering of tiny hooves just to the side of her trying to sneak by in front of at least thirty thousand ponies did catch her attention, however.

“Sweetie Belle!?” Twilight gasped.  The filly froze in her steps.

“Oh, uh, hi, Twilight…”

“What in Celestia’s name are you doing here?”

“Learning magic?  I think?  Oh, please don’t tell Rarity I took her invitation!”

“Wait, Rarity was invited?  You took her invitation?  Do you even know what this tournament is?”

“Stop asking so many questions!” Sweetie covered her ears.  The other sixty-two contestants had already lined up in their designated locations.  The audience, the princesses, and the Great Unicorn Council all had their attention on the two ponies, still in the spotlight, on one of the four paths to the contestant staging ground.

“Fine, just start from the beginning,” Twilight sighed.

“Well, I came home late one night and when I was snooping around in Rarity’s room I found a weird letter.  I couldn’t open it with my hooves so I tried to use magic and I used my first levitation spell ever!  After I read the letter it got me thinking about what other magic I might be able to do and I thought I might be able to learn something from the Great Unicorn Council.  So me and Scootaloo and Apple Bloom all decided we’d come to Canterlot so I could enter this thing and maybe even get my cutie mark.”

“I can’t imagine what Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash will do to you fillies when they find out what you’ve done,” Twilight shook her head, “This tournament is really dangerous for somepony your age, not to mention you came here all the way from Ponyville without any adult supervision.  I’m sure the princesses can work something out so you can get out of this tournament and back home safely, though.”  Sweetie Belle stared at the ground with a defeated and embarrassed expression on her face.  Twilight had completely forgotten about why she was avoiding Celestia when she turned to meet her gaze for guidance,

“Princess, you’ve got to let the council know that this isn’t Rarity and she shouldn’t be here.  Sweetie Belle can’t even use very much magic, much less fight with it.”  Celestia nodded and turned to the council,

“You heard my student.  There must have been a mistake when she was allowed to register.  Can you take care of it?”

“Of course we can,” Rune Caster said.

“It’s a matter of if we will,” Negra spoke up.

“And we will, right?” Lovely Assistant narrowed her eyes, suspecting Negra was up to something.

“One round,” she said.  Negra was indeed up to something.

“You can’t be serious,” Lovely said flatly.

“When is the last time you’ve heard me make a joke?” Negra retorted.

“She’s just a filly, Negra.  The last time a pony that young was in the tournament she nearly died,” Rune Caster argued,

“And in the 300th we had our youngest quarterfinalist ever, not much older than her.”

“You are just full of bad ideas.  If it wasn't for the fact that you’re actually amazing at magic, I’d wonder why we ever allowed you on the council.” Lovely Assistant put her hoof to her forehead.

“What say you, Celestia?” Draymond asked.

“I’m entirely against it.  This young one doesn’t have the same ability as the filly you mentioned.  You should be able to sense just as I can that her magic power is next to nothing.”

“One.  Round.” Negra repeated.

“Sister,” Princess Luna came forward, “You recall that Negra was once a scout for the council.  She was in the 305th tournament because of her magic detection abilities and very likely won because of it.  We are alicorns, and while it is true our powers are greater than that of any unicorn, that does not mean it holds true in all aspects.”

“Are you suggesting that Negra can see something that we can’t?” Celestia asked.  Negra’s face was stern.

“If you’re that concerned for her safety, we’ll put in precautions to call the match the second she’s in too much danger.  I just want to see her in one fight.  There’s something about her, and it will most likely show itself if she’s in this situation,” Negra said.

“Don’t I get a say in this?” Sweetie Belle piped up.

“Well, you were the one who snuck your way here,” Twilight pointed out, “Do you think you can handle it?”

“I don’t know, but she said I’ll be safe, right?  If it gets me any closer to my destiny, I’ll take the chance,”

“You’re a brave girl, Sweetie Belle.” Twilight hugged the little filly.

“Thanks, Twilight.  Best of luck to you, too.”

“I’m still telling Rarity and the others.”

“Oh, come on!”

“Ahem,” Draymond coughed, “Now that that little fiasco is out of the way, please take your place with the rest of the combatants.”

Twilight and Sweetie Belle sidled up next to each other in the line of contestants that came from their entry way.  The orchestra fanfare continued and fireworks shot off into the night sky.  Celestia put a hoof on the podium with a resounding thud,

“I now declare the 308th Great Unicorn Battle Tournament open!”