Princess Luna sat in the throne room of the Canterlot Castle, along with her elder sister, Princess Celestia. No one else was present, except for their usual palace guards.
Luna read the document before her carefully, looking for any possible problems within its writing. It had been only an hour ago that Luna had learned that Celestia had created this document. And from the fact that she hadn't found any conflicts within the proposal, it seemed that her sister, the Solar Diarch, had put her thousand years of wisdom to good use.
Once she had finished looking over the document, the Lunar Diarch turned towards her sister, "Are you sure that you want to do this, 'Tia?"
Celestia nodded, "Yes, it has always been tradition to celebrate the coming of the Comet of Miracles. This tournament is a vital part of the celebration, as we have done it every time it has appeared in the night sky."
Luna still looked at the document uncertainly, "But are you sure that it is wise to follow tradition at this time, when we are threatened by another possible changeling attack? Even now, our scouts in the badlands have detected a massive increase in changeling movements than ever before. We know that Chrysalis will attack our country again, so why should we hold the tournament when it could be a perfect chance for the hive to strike?"
Celestia shook her head as she stood up from her throne. The solar diarch then began to pace through the room, with Luna following her in suit, "You know as well as I do, Luna. There are hundreds of ponies throughout Equestria who have waited for the Comet of Miracles. If they see that we have cancelled the tournament due to the changeling threat, then all of Equestria will begin to be fearful of another attack. And when fear is present in the hearts of many,..."
"...Chaos shall follow." Luna sighed as she finished her sister's sentence, "I know." The blue alicorn glanced down towards the ground with a grimace on her face.
Celestia smiled warmly as she stopped in front of her sister, gently lifting Luna's chin with her hoof, "I know you are upset by my decision to allow the tournament to proceed, and by the growing activity of the changelings. But I don't believe now is the time to constantly worry about these things."
Luna narrowed her eyes towards her sister, "How can you say that? The only contact you've had with the changelings in the past year was when they first tried to invade Canterlot. All of the events after Cadence's wedding concerning the changelings I was left to deal with. You do not know the grief that I have felt during that time."
Celestia sighed, hanging her head slightly, "When the changelings attacked Ponyville during the Nightmare Night Celebration, you almost lost your student, and I can understand why you worry for his safety, as well as the rest of Equestria's. I know Rowan's death must have come as a horrifying prospect that would have dealt you a great deal of emotional pain. Believe me, if I were to be put in the same situation, I probably wouldn't have decided to allow the tournament to proceed. Say that Twilight had almost come close to dying, instead of Rowan. If that happened, I..."
The Solar Diarch's speech trailed off as she winced, "... I don't know how I would be able to recover from the event." Celestia shook her head, looking back to Luna, "But nevertheless, I am asking you to put your fears to rest for a time. I need you to be strong and do your part in preparing for the tournament. We will need to work side by side in order for this celebration to proceed. Can you do this for me?"
Luna paused for a moment, but then nodded in reply, "Yes, sister. I will help where I can. But with the changelings as a current threat, we will need to be vigilant if we are to protect everypony from another attack. I assume that you've thought all of the security measures through."
Celestia nodded, "Yes. Our scouts out in the badlands will be working through the day and night. If any changeling force crosses our border, we will be notified long before the attacking force arrives. And if they do, we will have the power of the Comet to rely upon, as well as the additional support from Discord."
Luna glanced at her sister warily, "Are you sure it is wise to trust Discord in a situation like this? I mean, he has only been 'reformed' for a week or two. Do you believe that he has actually changed his ways?"
The Solar Diarch nodded, "Other than the occasional harmless prank around Canterlot, Discord has proven himself to have changed from his old ways. I am also employing his abilities to help with the construction of the coliseum in which we will hold the tournament."
"Are you two talking about me?"
Both of the Princesses glanced up to see the Draconequus in question floating just above their heads. Discord lounged in the air, as if he were laying on an invisible hammock. In his lion paw he held a chocolate milkshake, taking large slurps of it through a straw.
Luna raised an eyebrow at Discord, "Are you sure you know what you have been asked to do?"
Discord smirked at the Lunar, "What's the matter, Luna? You still don't trust me?"
Luna's expression remained emotionless, "You haven't given me any reason to trust you. Especially not after your prank where you replaced my shampoo with cotton candy." Celestia could be heard trying to stifle a laugh, but Luna ignored her.
Discord rolled his eyes, "Honestly, Luna. Maybe for once you should take Celestia's advice and lighten up a bit." The Draconequus snapped his fingers and another milkshake appeared on the floor in front of Luna's hooves. Discord then wrapped an arm around Luna's shoulders, "You really just need to relax."
Luna shook off the Draconequus, leaving the offered milkshake on the ground before her untouched.
Celestia cleared her throat to interject into the conversation, "Discord, are you up to the task of providing us with a coliseum for the Tournament of Miracles?"
Discord scratched his chin with a claw, "Hm, that depends. Will I be able to give my special flare into the design? You know, a few hidden gags here and there?"
Celestia narrowed her eyes, "No, Discord. Please, all we require is just a simple coliseum. Not a fun house of practical jokes."
Discord rolled his eyes, "All right, fine. I'll build your boring coliseum for you. But seriously, I at least think I should put some pie launchers in the noble's viewing box. They, of course, don't have to try hard to get on my nerves."
Celestia's expression remained unchanged, "Discord..."
The draconequus slumped back into his lounging position, "All right, fine. I won't add any traps." With that, Discord snapped his fingers and disappeared.
Celestia then turned back to Luna, "You see, sister. You don't have to worry about anything."
Luna paused, but then nodded, "Okay, I will do my part for this Tournament without my constant worries about the changelings."
Celestia nodded, "Good. I believe now is the time to send word of the tournament throughout Equestria. We want to give the rest of the country the chance to prepare before the games start."
Luna nodded, "That would be a wise choice. However, what would you want us to do first to prepare for the tournament?"
Celestia smiled, "Well, as you know, both you and I are allowed to assemble our own personal teams to compete alongside the other teams that choose to enter. To begin preparing, I would like you to first call together your team that will be competing. I assume you know who you want to add as part of your team by now."
Luna paused, but then a small smile came to her face, "I believe I know the five perfect ponies for the job. I'll visit them in their dreams tonight to deliver the news."
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Meanwhile, in the far outskirts of the badlands, in the deepest chamber of the changeling hive, Chrysalis sat on her stone throne, scowling fiercely. Before her stood her proclaimed heir, Vironect. For the past months, the Changeling Queen had been enraged by Vironect's failure in Ponyville when he was sent to capture her daughter, Naractia. And not only that, but three of Vironect's changeling force had deserted the hive and had gone to serve Naractia instead.
From the reports of her spies within Equestria, Chrysalis had learned that her daughter and the three rogue changelings had taken new names and were now living as residents in Ponyville, under Princess Luna's protection. The names that the three rogue changelings had chosen were Quicksilver, Duke, and Violet. Whereas, Naractia had chosen a new name for herself: Rosa.
The mere thought of these four changelings' actions filled Chrysalis with disgust, and therefore the changeling queen took out her anger on the one who was responsible for their escape from the hive. Chrysalis scowled at Vironect, "As I have said before, Vironect, I want those four changelings dead!" She pounded a leg on her throne to emphasize her demand.
Vironect cleared his throat, "I am sorry, my queen, but if we were to even attempt an assassination on the rogues, the Elements of Harmony *and* Princess Luna would be upon us in an instant..." Vironect paused, wincing slightly, "Not to mention Rowan, as well."
At the sound of Rowan's name, Chrysalis felt a throbbing come from her scar. Her scar was a long crack in her exoskeleton that ran diagonally across her face, a small reminder of her last encounter with the unicorn Rowan. Both Chrysalis and Vironect hated Rowan with a burning passion. For Chrysalis, Rowan, along with the other elements of harmony, had been the ones who had taken away her changeling magic. But as for Vironect, he hated Rowan because he had been a key part in his failure to capture Rosa in Ponyville.
Vironect shook his head, "I'm sorry, my queen, but we couldn't even reach the Equestrian border with a suitable attack force if we wanted. The princesses have countless scouts scouring the badlands, looking for us. They'd be able to see us from a mile away."
Chrysalis spat at Vironect, "Do you think I'm not already aware of that? Even now, I'm beginning to wonder why I claimed you as my heir after Naractia left the hive."
Vironect cleared his throat, "Don't you mean 'Rosa'? Our spies reported that she changed he-"
Chrysalis snapped at her heir, "I don't care if she calls herself 'Rosa' now! All my daughter to me is Naractia: Both a banished traitor and a fool! She left the hive so she could experience love, but she does not realize that no one could ever fully love a changeling. It is impossible, and she deserves to die for her insolence."
Chrysalis cleared her throat, "Listen, Vironect. You have failed me severely, but now I shall give you a chance to redeem yourself."
Vironect glanced up at his ruler, "Yes?"
"As you may not know, the Comet of Miracles is soon to appear in the skies above Equestria. The comet has the power to strengthen the magical abilities of the inhabitants of Equestria. To celebrate the comet's coming, the ponies in the land come together in a large tournament of magical skill. Everyone in Equestria shall travel to Canterlot for the tournament, and that gives us the perfect moment to strike.
"I want you to find a way into Equestria and plan an attack on Canterlot during the tournament. I will leave you to the details of the attack, but I will give you the objectives that you must fulfil."
Vironect cocked his head to the side slightly, "And those would be...?"
"First, execute an attack that shall leave every pony in fear. With everyone in fear, Equestria shall fall into disarray, making a full attack easy for the hive. Second, find and kill the rogue changelings, as well as Naractia. Those weaklings must not be allowed to live any longer. And third, find Rowan and bring him to me."
Vironect nodded, "Yes, my queen. But what of Rowan? What will you do when we have brought him?"
Chrysalis' eyes burned with anger, "When I have Rowan, I shall torture him. I shall make him feel every type of pain possible until he is on the ground before me begging for mercy. But then, I shall continue to make him feel agony until he begs for death, which I will then gladly give." The changeling queen laughed evilly with malice at the image, "Yes, Vironect. You must bring Rowan to me."
But then, Chrysalis' expression suddenly changed to one of anger, "But remember, Vironect. If you fail this task, then I shall have you change into Rowan's shape, and then I shall have you serve as his replacement to be tortured."
Vironect grimaced at the sight of the prospect, "Yes, my queen. I shall begin making preparations immediately." With that, Vironect bowed to Chrysalis and quickly flew out of the throne chamber.
But as he flew through the interior of the hive, Vironect grumbled to himself, "Great. If I screw up another plan, then I'm as good as dead." The changeling ground his fangs in annoyance, "If only Princess Luna and her precious student hadn't intervened in my last operation in Ponyville, then I wouldn't have been put in this position. I can't afford to fail again."
Vironect paused as a small image came to his mind. It was one of him standing over a beaten Rowan, holding a knife over the heart of the unicorn. Vironect grinned as he thought about the scene, whispering to himself, "I swear, Rowan, when we meet again, I will finish the job that I failed to do in Ponyville. I don't care if Chrysalis wants you for herself to destroy. I will make sure that you are dead, and that you will never return again as a pain in my side."
It was late in the evening in Ponyville, and Celestia's sun was beginning to set behind the mountains outside of the small, equine town. As such, everypony was making their way to their homes for the night, and most of them wouldn't come back outside until the next morning. Of course, there are those who will occasionally leave their homes during the night, everypony for their own reasons.
However, there were a few who would stay up for the majority of the night, outside of their homes. There were only five ponies who were like this in Ponyville, and all of them were inside the Everfree Forest.
In the Everfree, in a large grove of trees, a gray unicorn stallion with a dark red mane stood in a defensive position, horn glowing softly with black aura, as he faced down his opponent on the other side of the grove. The opponent of this sparring match was Duke, a black unicorn stallion with a dull purple mane. Duke's cutie mark was a sword and shield in a cross shaped pattern, which indicated his talent for combat.
Rowan grinned as he prepared to take Duke in this fight. He knew that Duke was a skilled fighter with magic, but Rowan's special talent, which was indicated by his flaming crescent cutie mark, was Shadow Magic. Of course, Duke could use Shadow Magic as well, but Rowan had studied the magic for several months more than his opponent. This aspect helped Rowan to compete against Duke's natural fighting ability.
Off to the side of the grove stood three other ponies: One pegasus stallion and two unicorn mares. The pegasus was known as Quicksilver. He had a light blue coat and a long, silver mane and tail. His cutie mark was a silver spiral that resembled a breeze. The first of the mares was known as Violet. Violet had a dark purple coat and a long black mane. Her cutie mark resembled three black stars, indicating her talent in magic. The last of the three bystanders was a yellow unicorn mare called Rosa. She had a deep red mane and a cutie mark of a red rose.
All five of these ponies were very different, compared to everypony else in Ponyville. One of the reasons for that is because of Rowan. This unicorn hadn't always been a pony, but rather a human from the human world. He had been a resident of Ponyville for almost six months now, and all the while he had been trying desperately to return to his home world. However, Rowan was the only unicorn in Equestria that could use Shadow Magic.
The other four ponies in the grove with Rowan could also use Shadow Magic, but they weren't actually ponies. They were changelings, and the reason why they could use Shadow Magic was because it was their hive's native form of magic. Duke, Quicksilver, and Violet all used to serve Queen Chrysalis in the changeling hive, but they were convinced to leave the hive and stay in Equestria by Rosa.
Rosa, formerly known as Princess Naractia, had been the daughter of Queen Chrysalis before she had been banished from the hive during the changeling invasion of Canterlot. Ever since then, Rosa had fought against Chrysalis and her efforts to take over Equestria.
These four changelings, even though they were considered residents of Ponyville by the local townsponies, who already knew each of them as changelings, Rosa, Duke, Violet, and Quicksilver all lived together in the Everfree Forest. Their home was a large tree that had been hollowed out, thanks to the efforts of the only other inhabitant of the Everfree: Zecora.
The five Shadow Magic bearers waited as the last hints of the day disappeared behind the mountains, because the darkness of the night strengthened the power of their magic. If they were going to train themselves in the ways of Shadow Magic, then they needed to wield their powers at their highest capabilities.
Rowan glanced over the treetops as the last bit of the sun had vanished behind the mountains, only a small bit of light remaining to illuminate their surroundings. The unicorn glanced towards Duke with a small grin, "All right, as soon as the last bit of light dies out, we begin the match."
Duke nodded, "Got it."
Rowan turned towards Rosa and Violet, "Okay, you two know what to do?"
Violet rolled her eyes, "Of course, Rowan. Like always, we just use magic to illuminate the grove. Seriously, you act as if we've never done a sparring match before."
Rosa interjected, "Don't worry. We've got it covered."
Rowan nodded at glanced towards Quicksilver, "Quicksilver? You okay with being the referee?"
The pegasus/changeling nodded, "Got it."
Rowan grinned, now that everything was ready. He turned back towards Duke, ready to begin the match.
Nobody said anything as they waited for the last remnants of the day vanished. But then, the sunset sky darkened completely into the dark night sky, and Rowan and Duke began their match.
Rowan was the first to strike, sending a few shots of his signature spell: The flaming crescent. However, knowing that Rowan always started with the flaming crescent spell, Duke quickly used his magic to create a shield and deflected the projectiles. But then, Duke instantly countered the attack by firing a beam of magic towards Rowan.
Rowan quickly sidestepped the attack and then, forming a large whip out of the surrounding shadows, he lashed out towards Duke. The changeling immediately jumped into the air, reverting into his changeling form as he did so, and then keeping himself aloft in the air by powering his wings. Once in the air, Duke flew in a loop and then came crashing back down towards Rowan, covered in the green aura of changeling magic.
The speed and impact of the blow sent Rowan flying backwards, but the unicorn managed to right himself and regain his balance, sliding on his hooves backwards for a few feet. But then, Duke was on the offensive as he flew towards Rowan again. However, Rowan was ready this time and he quickly merged himself with his shadow, dropping him down and out of the way of Duke's attack.
The changeling flew past and Rowan leaped out of his shadow, firing off several bursts of fire at Duke while his back was turned. Instantly, as Duke heard the sound of Rowan's spells being cast, he dropped to the ground and brought up his shield. The projectiles burst harmlessly against Duke's shield, but Rowan didn't stop as he fired more spells at Duke's shield, striking blow after blow against the magical barrier.
Despite the onslaught of blows, Duke managed to keep his shield up against Rowan's assault. But then, the changeling glanced past his shield to see Rowan's horn glowing brightly with a black aura as he charged another spell. Duke's eyes widened as he realized what the spell was, and before he could do anything to retaliate, Rowan unleashed the power he had charged.
A ring of pure black magic quickly expanded from the tip of Rowan's horn, instantly growing out to Duke's shield. Immediately, Duke's shield shattered as Rowan's spell, known as the Shadow Scourge, cut through his magic. With his opponent now exposed, Rowan fired off one flaming crescent at Duke.
The flaming crescent flew the air at an extremely high velocity before it finally burst just in front of Duke. The force of the blast sent Duke flying back against the ground, sliding him backwards against the forest floor. But as he came to a stop, Rowan was already on top of him, a small smile spread across his face.
"I win." He chided smugly as he held out a hoof to Duke.
Duke sighed as he accepted the hoof and hoisted himself up, "I swear, the only reason why you win is because of that Shadow Scourge spell. Next time we spar, I'll have learned it by then and then I'll be the one kicking your flank."
Rowan grinned, "Well, you definitely put up a fight." He turned back to the other changelings, "All right, who's next?" He glanced towards Quicksilver, "Hey, Quicksilver, it's been a while since you sparred against me. You want to spar me?"
Quicksilver quickly shook his head, "Oh, no way. You've seen how bad I am with Shadow Magic. You'd kick my trash! No thanks, but I'll stick with flying for now."
Violet sighed as she rolled her eyes, "Come on, Quicksilver. If you don't practice, you won't get any better. Besides, some day you'll have to use magic, whether you can fly or not."
Rosa interjected, "Well, if no one else is going to volunteer, I guess I will." She stepped into the center of the grove, her horn glowing with a bright red aura.
Rowan grinned as he lit his horn as well, "Yay, a challenge."
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Two hours had passed before the five shadow mages had finally ended their sparring session, due to the fact that all of them were fairly exhausted.
Rowan stood in front of the the four changelings with him, a small smile on his face, "All right. Nice job, guys. I think we've earned a well deserved break. So rest easy tonight, because we won't be doing any training tomorrow."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and Rowan continued, "I'll see you guys later. I'm gonna head home and get some sleep."
With that, Rowan said his goodbyes to the others and began to make his way out of the Everfree Forest and back to Ponyville. The grove was only a short walk away from the edge of town, so it took a mere ten minutes for Rowan to navigate through the forest.
When he arrived into town from the edge of the forest, Rowan could see that everypony else was already asleep in their homes. Nobody was out on the streets, giving the town a quiet, peaceful presence. Even though it had only been about six months since he had arrived in Ponyville, Rowan considered the small town as much his home as the one that he had in the human world.
At the mere thought of his home, a rock seemed to grow in Rowan's stomach. Even after all this time, he still felt bad about leaving his family behind, even when he had no clue how he got to Equestria in the first place. Rowan figured that his family believed that he had become a rogue teenager, running away from home and never to be seen again.
Rowan sighed to himself, "Well, this is my home for now. Sooner or later, I'll find a way to get back home." He shook his head as he quietly trotted through town, careful not to make to much noise and awake the neighbors.
After a short trot through town, Rowan reached the small house that he called his home. The unicorn opened the front door and stepped into his house, turning the lights on in the process.
But as Rowan entered the house, he spotted a large ball of black fur curled up on the couch in the living room. It was Shade, Rowan's pet shadow wolf. The wolf had fallen asleep, but Rowan found that quite amusing since Shade was naturally a nocturnal animal. Since Shade had originally lived in the Everfree before coming to live with him, Rowan figured that the change of environment had affected the wolf's biological clock.
Rowan shrugged and decided to leave Shade to rest in peace. Making as little noise as he could, seeing as he was walking with hooves on a wooden floor, Rowan slipped upstairs and walked into his bedroom. Once upstairs, Rowan used his magic to turn out all of the lights in the house and slumped down onto his bed, falling immediately to sleep.
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Darkness. It was darkness again, just like last night... and the night before then..... All the way back from the Nightmare Night Celebration, the darkness had haunted Rowan's dreams. This darkness was the memory of Rowan's brush with death. He had almost died and fallen into this darkness, but something had saved him. Rowan didn't know what it had been that had spoken to him, he remembered everything that it had shown him.
It was the same three scenes, every... Single... Time...
The first scene was the coliseum in Canterlot and the comet overhead.
The second scene was inside The Royal Library and Vironect's voice. Over and over, Vironect would cry out, "I've found it! It's mine! It's finally mine!". And then, the air would be pierced by Rosa's scream before the scene ended.
The third scene was on the walls of Canterlot. Outside of the city, Rowan could see the massive army of changelings stampeding towards the castle walls. Every time, Rowan would find Queen Chrysalis, helpless and wounded, only for her to be killed by Vironect's blade. Her final words always were, "Naractia, please help me!" And then, the scene would end as Canterlot exploded from the force of the changelings.
Rowan watched in horror as the scenes passed before him again tonight, taking in every detail. For the past few months, ever since he had first seen these scenes, Rowan had tried constantly to figure out what they meant and why he kept seeing them every single night.
But then, as the third scene ended and brought Rowan back to the darkness, he was suddenly surrounded by a ripple of pale moon light, illuminating the surrounding area around him. Rowan was startled by the sudden, unexpected change in his dream, but he was quickly calmed as he realized where the light had come from. Rowan grinned as he turned forward to see a figure appear out of the light.
Rowan bowed to the Lunar Diarch, "Hi, Princess Luna. What's up?"
Luna smiled softly, "I am quite fine. And how are my star pupils?"
Rowan raised an eyebrow, Pupils? He quickly glanced around to see that he wasn't alone anymore. He was now standing beside Rosa, Quicksilver, Duke, and Violet.
Rowan grinned towards his friends, "Hey, guys. What are you doing in my dream?"
Violet's eyes widened, "Wait, I thought this was my dream."
Quicksilver snickered teasingly, "What? I'm in Violet's dream? EW, GROSS!" Violet then gave Quicksilver a brutal slug in the shoulder with her hoof, making Quicksilver laugh even harder.
Luna giggled at the scene before her, "Don't worry, Quicksilver. You are all in your own dreams, but now I have given you a small window of connection between each other's dreams."
Duke chuckled, "So, what? Now I can see what's going on through Rowan's thick head?"
Rowan laughed a bit from that, but then he turned to Luna, "So, why exactly did you link our dreams together, Princess?"
Luna smiled softly, "I brought your dreams together so I could speak to all of you at once, because something very important is about to happen."
The five shadow mages quieted themselves in curiosity. Luna then cleared her throat and continued, "You see, the Comet of Miracles is almost here, and it will appear in the night sky in just a few days. The comet passes over Equestria once every thousand years, and when it appears in the sky, it enhances the magic of every unicorn in the land. With that magical strength, anypony with magic could achieve many things that they couldn't before. Many ponies loved this effect of the comet, and they began to call it the 'comet's gift'.
"To celebrate the comet's gift, it became a tradition to hold a tournament in honor of the comet. The tournament allows for hundreds of unicorns to come together and test their abilities with magic. Many of the first brackets begin before the comet appears, but once it does, the final brackets will compete against each other with the comet's gift.
Rowan grinned, "So, there's really going to be a tournament? I want to compete in it. When does it begin?"
"The first brackets begin in exactly a week, and that's why I came to talk with each of you. You see, in every tournament, the royalty of Equestria is allowed to choose a team of five ponies to compete. And I would like for all of you to represent my team."
Everyone let out an excited cheer.
Duke grinned, "Count me in!"
Violet nodded, "I'm in. This could be fun."
Rosa let out a small giggle, "Well, we're not unicorns, but I don't think anyone will notice a few changelings competing as well."
But then, Quicksilver gasped, "Oh, no. This is a tournament of magic?" He began to cringe, "But Princess, you know I'm not that good with magic. Can you have somebody else fill in for me?"
Luna chuckled lightly, "Still yourself, Quicksilver. Let me explain. You see, there are three types of events in this tournament: The Battles, The Shows, and The Obstacle Course.
"The battles are events where two ponies team with each other to fight two other participants of the opposing team. The first team to leave their opponents unable to fight are the victors. Rowan, Duke, I would like for you two to handle the battles. From what I can see, you both have a bit of a rivalry against each other, so I hope that will help in the tournament."
Rowan and Duke grinned, "Aw, yeah! Bro-hoof!" The two of them butted their hooves together in excitement.
"The Shows are events where two ponies use their magic to create amazing spectacles for the audience watching. Each team usually creates a show that is based around their team's theme, and then judges will rate each team on their own performance. I would like for Rosa and Violet to handle this. I believe a mare's touch could add some flare to the performance."
Rosa and Violet nodded, "We can handle it. We'll blow you away."
Quicksilver winced, a bit hesitant to ask, "So, that leaves me with the Obstacle Course?"
Luna nodded, "Yes, Quicksilver. It's true that no wings are allowed during the event. But with your acrobatic skills, I doubt you'll even need to use magic to win."
Quicksilver paused, but then he nodded, a look of determination written across his face, "All right, I'll do it."
Luna smiled, "Good. The rules of the Tournament are simple. First, no teleportation or wing spells during the Obstacle Course. Second, no fighting with or sabotaging the other teams outside of the tournament events. Third, if you are found to be cheating or breaking any rules, your team will be kicked out of the tournament. I want all of you to swear to me that you will not break any of these rules."
All five of them nodded, "We won't break any rules."
"Good, but that leaves one small item of business. What shall our team's name be?"
There was a short pause before Rowan piped up, "What about the Lunar Shadows? It fits us, doesn't it?"
Luna smiled, "Yes, I believe that will do. Our team name will be the Lunar Shadows."
Quicksilver suddenly interjected, "Oh, I know. Since we're now the Lunar Shadows, could we bring Shade along as our mascot?"
Luna frowned, "I'm sorry, but there is one slight rule of the tournament. No animals in the possession of any of the participants are allowed to be brought from a different town to Canterlot. In a previous tournament, one pony had brought a trained eagle to sabotage the other teams. This rule is to prevent that from happening again."
Quicksilver's expression drooped, "Oh, that's too bad."
Luna then smiled, "But, knowing Shade, I wouldn't be too surprised if he found his own way into the castle, without travelling alongside any of you." She gave a small wink to emphasize her intentions.
Quicksilver, along with everyone else, grinned in satisfaction, "Cool."
Luna nodded, "With that settled, we should be just about ready to leave. All participants of the tournament need to be in Canterlot a few days in advance to register before the first brackets begin. Tomorrow, there will be a train departing for Canterlot in the morning. I would like you all to get on that train and meet me at the castle as soon as possible."
Everyone nodded, and Luna continued, "Good. For now, its time for you to return to your dreams. I will see you all in Canterlot tomorrow. Farewell." With that, Luna's horn glowed slightly and Rosa, Quicksilver, Duke, Violet disappeared from view. But only Rowan and Luna remained in the dream.
Luna turned to her pupil, "Rowan, there is a small matter I need to discuss with you. It's about the dreams that you've been having ever since Nightmare Night. I'm wondering how you are taking all of this."
Rowan sighed, "I'm fine, Princess. But why am I having these dreams, and what do they mean?"
Luna paused, "I cannot be sure. But has it only been the same three scenes every night?"
Rowan nodded, "Yeah. It's always been the same. First the coliseum and the comet..." He trailed off as realization dawned on his face. Wait a minute. That comet, could it really be... He hastily asked Luna, "Where exactly is the tournament being held in Canterlot?"
Luna frowned, "Last I checked, Discord was being employed to create a coliseum for the tournament." She paused as the same idea that Rowan had came to her.
Rowan frowned, "But, the coliseum in my dream, what if it's the same one that Discord is making for the tournament? And maybe the comet I saw is the Comet of Miracles."
"But if that is true, then perhaps you are seeing the future. Since the comet is visible in your dream, then I assume that the time you are seeing is during the final brackets of the tournament." Luna paused, "If this is true, and you truly are seeing the future, then perhaps every scene from your dreams are visions of the future."
Rowan's eyes widened in horror, "But... But everything seemed so surreal. It didn't even look real, the last scene especially. How could that be the future? What do we do?"
Luna frowned as she thought to herself, "Well, seeing as we have no means to prove that this is true, all we can do at the moment is wait. You should rest for tomorrow's journey and I will speak to Celestia on this matter. Does anypony else know about your dreams?"
Rowan nodded, "Only Rosa and Twilight."
"Very well, you should speak with them about this. From what I know, Celestia has called Twilight Sparkle to be part of her personal team for the tournament. She will most likely be departing for Canterlot on the same train as you. Speak to her there. But for now, you need to get some rest." Luna's horn began to glow, "Good night, Rowan."
Suddenly, Luna disappeared from view, leaving Rowan in his dream. But now, his dreams didn't consist of darkness, but instead were more enjoyable.
