"They try to encourage ponies to bring their own weapons and stuff," Sero said with a slight shrug, "to encourage everyone to be unique in thei own way, I suppose. Having a tournament full of ponies all geared up with the same stuff would make it less interesting to the crowd watching. I guess they want competitors to be instantly recognizable the second they walk out their so the fans have a better time with it.

"Nope. Neither," he replied to her assumption, "Like I said, I' just here to watch. Got myself a 'backstage pass' if you will. And any book can cause damage if you swing it hard enough!" When the conversation grew a bit more serious, Sero gave her a nod, "Well, I wish you good luck then. As for the armor... I think they have suits available along with the weapons, but they still aren't anything you'd really want to take into a fight with you. Probably just slow you down more than protect you, but maybe they have a half decent bit of padded armor?"

Sero glanced over towards the door leading out of the room and towards the section of the arena where he fighting was going to take place, Sero then scanning the ponies crowding around and seeing if he could make predictions regarding their chances based on his experience in witnessing the tournament in the past. There were a few that seemed capable enough but he knew that most were just louder than they were skilled.

He spotted a small group of ponies enter the room and instantly recognized each of them, Sero looking both excited but also more serious as he ducked his head slightly and watched them. "I don't know if you'll have time to fetch anything extra though since I'm pretty sure things are about to start." He told the mare while seeming to be trying to decide if he wanted to stay where he was or move.

"Now just let me know if this hurts at all..." a white unicorn mare with a small white bag instructed as the magical blue aura emanating from her horn reached outwards and enveloped the fore leg of a large and rather muscle bound stallion who was currently wearing an expression that made him appear much more pathetic and nervous than his normally imposing stature would allow. Brushing a lock of her mane from out of her eyes - both of which matching the blue hue of her magic - the mare began to gently examine the leg of the stallion willingly held captive by her horns soothing charm as she searched for any signs worthy of the grimace of worry plaguing the pony she was helping, said pony wincing multiple times through out the examination as he expected the worst, though as the moments passed the cringing and slight squirming only served to further cause his rough and tough look to deteriorate into more of a large child dressing up like a warrior pony but shying away from too rough of play once boo boos were introduced.

Not that this mattered in the slightest to the mare. Her line of work often allowed her to witness ponies behaving pure and true towards their actual selves without any kind of acts or masks being played or worn in order to falsely elevate themselves in the eyes of most ponies they met. Helping some who manage to get themselves into highly embarrassing situations tended to strip away the need to hide too. After all, as she sometimes said, she was their doctor and therefore already knew them inside and out.

A somewhat rude joke was gruffly mumbled from somewhere behind her followed by a low rumble of deep based laughter as it was evidently met with approval, neither of which managing to distract her as she finished up her examination and then, for a few seconds after, watched as the stallion who'd been temporarily under her care continued to lightly writhe in expected agony, the stallion not having noticed that the mare's magic had died down for his eyes had screwed tightly shut and ears pressed against his skulls to avoid what he didn't want to see nor hear.

"... Mr. Maul?" the doctor tried, eliciting a slight shake of her patients head accompanied by what she swore was a barely audible whimper. "Mr. Maul, I finished my exam of your leg. Everything seems to check out fine and there shouldn't be anything that might-"

"No!" the stallion, apparently named Maul in some order, nearly howled as his dreams of competing in the tournament he'd trained so hard for seemed to be dashed because of a mere stumble down some steps, "How could this happen to me!? Months of the harshest dang training I could come up with ruined all because my lazy stupid neighbor needed help carrying pies!"

"M-Mr. Maul, I think you-"

"Running all the way from the base of the mountain to Ponyville! Hours upon days upon weeks upon months spent at the gym!"

"If you just take a breath you'll see tha-"

"And the diet! Oh sweet Celestia the diet I had to go through during my training!"

"Seriously, I think you-"

"I don't remember what fruit tastes like!"

"YOU'RE FINE!!" a frustrated doctor shouted over the cacophony of conversation around her so as to force the words and their meaning into the unjustly woeful stallions skull, her mane falling back into her eyes as she took a breath to calm down, the eyes of the nearest ponies now burning holes into her after her outburst and causing a light shade of red to tinge her cheeks as she fixed her mane once more then cleared her throat and put on a new smile. "Right. So. Like I was saying, you're leg seems perfectly fine to me. Whatever those... pies and their owner coerced you into doing, it was nothing serious and probably just bent your ankle at a weird angle. No real damage though from what I found. You're good to compete."

Her work was done here, and from the dumb look on the stallions face it seemed the good news she gave would need a few seconds to sink in so, after gathering up her bag and the few medical instruments shed required, she gave the stallion one last nod and left him and his brain hamster to try and figure out how to get the wheel in his head back in motion, her doing an about face and trotting as best as she could through the now sizable crowd.

Soon though her journey ripe with the dangers of bumped knees and accidental head collisions with strangers was paused as she spotted somepony who caused her to have her own hamster trip on a rung of its wheel and tumble end over end as a moment of silly pause halted her step, though hers was far more brief than the stallion's from earlier, said pony only now managing to shake himself free of his surprised stupor and prance in place for a single giddy moment before attempting to go back to his tough guy routine and avoid teasing from the other hopefuls.

He was failing utterly.

"Sero!" the mare greeted with joy in her voice, a bounce in her step and a crushing embrace once the warmly received pony was free of the crowd and within range of her hooves, the stallion managing only a simple utterance of the eloquent phrase of "Oof!" before becoming trapped, "Where have you been?" she asked, hug threatening to break a spine, "I haven't seen you all year! AND you missed Mal's party last month in Baltimare! We were all thinking that you'd finally gotten buried under a pile of books in a freak bookshelf accident and Mom was about ready to mount a rescue!" While it was clear that most of the force behind the mares embrace was from love, Sero couldn't help but detect a slight possibility of their being a small amount of punishment behind his current denial of his basic breathing function over his lack of contact recently with his family. His older sister would never miss the chance to make darn sure he knew when he'd done something so silly as to forget about family.

"Hugh'urk'uh!" was Sero's mix of a happy greeting mixed with a well thought out and charismatically presented apology for his lack of keeping in touch lately, though the missing oxygen his lungs craved may have tagged on a slight lisp to his words. "UVh-Vit-a! Need... air!" pleaded the younger brother, his face starting to match his mane in coloration until his sister finally decided he'd had enough and loosened her grasp, allowing the normally very tidy brother of hers to slump to the ground with a now tussled up mane and unstoppable fit of gasps that were the only things keeping him conscious.

"Oops," Vita giggled mischeviously, "Sorry, Little Sero. Seems that walking around this place all morning and dealing with all these tough types may be rubbing off on me and making me forget my own strength." A hoof was offered to the collapsed Sero, his own wavy and dizzy one prodding at the air around it before finding and grabbing hold so as to allow his sister to help him to his hooves, something she was glad to assist with in, of course, only the gentlest of fashions. One rough tug and Sero was pulled from the ground and planted back into a standing position, his wobbly hooves barely keeping him upright as he tried not to topple over again due to the new spell of dizziness his sister had cast upon him from the speed of his transition between prone and standing.

"I seriously hope you aren't here to compete," Vita commented as Sero nearly bumped into a nearby pony that more resembled a statue of steel than a living creature, "because from what I'm seeing here you probably wouldn't even make it out into the arena without finding some way to get knocked out in the hallway leading there."

"Ha ha," Sero replied dryly, finally regaining control of his faculties as he shook his head one last time to clear his vision, "but I think I'd actually stand a better chance out there with Providence than I do here with your crazy rock crushing hugs."

"You're right. I should just join and take the title of champion myself. I'd be a legend if I could hug all my opponents into submission. They would sing songs of my victories for decades to come."

"Heh, sure. Its good to see you again, Vita. Sorry I haven't been around to visit you or anyone else lately, I've been way busier than I thought possible this time of year, and work has been eating all of my time so quickly that I stopped keeping track of it for a while."

"Aww... That's a shame. Still, you couldn't find a few minutes to put pen to paper just to give us all a quick update and let us know you weren't swallowed by a manticore?"

Again, another little jab about not keeping in touch delivered by the eldest of his siblings. Sero would have rolled his eyes at his sister had he not been so happy to see her, him instead just shrugging it off and attempting to get something cleared up before catching up.

"Alright, I admit I could have probably sent a letter or two... Maybe then I could have also heard about how you were planning on attending the tournament. What are you doing here anyway? I didn't know you were into this kind of stuff these days. The last time I saw you at the Windigo was when we were kids, and I distinctly remember you spending the whole time worrying over how the losers were doing than actually watching the competition. I think you used the word 'mean' to describe it when it was over to."

"Thats because it is mean!" His sister defended her young self's accusation, "and I'm still not 'into this kind of stuff'. I volunteered to help out as a medic in case anything goes wrong with their field out there, and I'm hoping they'll let me take a look at it for myself when its all over and everyone is finished patting themselves on the back over whether or not they managed to bludgeon someone good." Vita paused to take a breath and calm herself down, her obvious lack of approval over the coming events shining as clear as the now bright and warm sun hovering over the city outside, "Sorry... Hey... wait a second... this is the back area of the arena... only employees and fighters are supposed to be back here. You're not... actually here to compete, are you?" Vita asked, clear concern in both her voice and her face.

"Oh, no no no," assured her younger brother, a hoof dismissively waving away her concerns as he chuckled at the idea, "Of course not. I just got lucky enough to wiggle my way into a position to finally get 'back stage'. Took me forever, but I finally did it! Maybe now I can get a word with Providence, ooooooooooh! It's so exciting!"

"... You just want to ask him about history, don't you?" Vita asked flatly, Sero turning into a bobble head as he responded with a series of excited nods.

"What else would I ask him about?"

"Well, most would probably ask him for an autograph, little brother."

"Well, I'm not most. I'm one, and I know the value in actually asking him something important and interesting instead of begging for a scrap of paper with his name scribbled across it."

Vita sighed, "Sure, Sero, It's your business. But, I'm not so sure your going to find that guy. Ive been here all morning today and a few days leading up, and I haven't seen a single sign of him once. Not him, not his armor, nothing. He didn't even show up for the physicals all those other names did. I don't get it. I guess he's just super private and does all that with his own chosen people, or..." a shrug to display her ignorance over the situation, "Maybe its just cause he's famous and doesn't want his real identity to ever get out. Either way just, you know, don't get your hopes to high, okay?

"Oh! Shoot!" the sister exclaimed, her remembering something and then kicking herself for forgetting, "That reminds me! I need to hurry up and finish checking in on all the new competitors before the preliminaries start! Sorry, Little Sero, but I have to go finish up before the boss person shows up to kick things off. Don't you even think about running off anywhere before we catch up proper though! You sit your butt down on a bench somewhere where I can find you easy and well pick this back up in a few!" sternly commanded the sister, the look in her eyes making it crystal gosh dingle dang clear that there would be no words uttered that would oppose her will on this matter.

With no plans to leave anytime anyway, Sero was happy to oblige, "No problem, Vita. I'll just be over here, and I'll be extra sure to pretend that my hooves are glued to the floor."

"Good boy!" Vita replied, giving her brother another quick hug before having her hooves carry her off to finish her duties, "Be back in a minute!" she assured just before her voice was drowned out by the continuous wall of noise around them.

Sero, true to his word, weaved and ducked his way back through the crowd until he found himself a kinda quiter-ish spot to sit down and await his sister's return, Sero finding a bench already being used by a mare with a... wrench? Huh. The tournament attracted all kinds it seemed. Anyway, Sero gave the mare a friendly nod as he sat on the opposite end of the bench, his eyes wandering more than once to the curious choice of weaponry as he guessed that was what it was for given the lack of machinery he'd seen since he had arrived. Hmm... Maybe she had something to do with that thing keeping the field up? But then why would she be up here and not over there tending to it, especially with how close things were to starting? Sero... couldn't help his curiosity.

"Excuse me, miss?" he spoke up in an attempt to gain the mare's attention, "I apologize if I'm bothering you, but I have to ask... the wrench. Are you here to use it to fix machines or attitudes?"

"Striker, Sero," Sero acknowledged and introduced himself to the newest of the new ponies to join this little group, "and so far the matches for the tourney have been incredibly tame." He joked seeing how there hadn't been any yet. The jump to assuming the stallion was just an organizer for the event, while reasonable, wasn't one Sero made right away seeing how for all he knew Striker could be a martial arts master who'd come to show everypony how its done without any weapons at all. Then again, maybe Sero just hoped he was some kind of master of unarmed combat, since he figured that would be pretty cool to see.

"Huh. Guess that's a bit of a change then," he said, looking between the two before glancing back at his book as he levitated a bookmark into place between its pages then closed it, "yesterday I asked a stallion who'd somehow mixed up the date for when the tournament was starting and was wandering around outside the arena the same question, and I got an earful out of him where he claimed to already be the new champion, and that his fans were just late in realizing what they were." He sat up a little straighter, giving the room a visual sweep in search of the pony mentionedthenshrugging as he failed to spot him. "Don't see him around today though. Maybe he wised up. Had a strong feeling he was all talk.

"As for me though," he moved on to the questions asked of him, "I'd have to say... Mmm... Neither. Sort of. Think of me as just being a pony with a back stage pass." He smiled despite empty look from the mare of the two, "I mean, I suppose I could join and fight as well, would only take a minute to add my name to the list and it does sound like it would be fun, but... eh, I think ill stick to watching. I'm more interested in the history and such anyway. Taking this opportunity to learn about different styles and techniques is golden too I'd say. Take that pony for example," he gestured over towards a newly arrived mare carrying a crossbow, the unicorn offering a friendly nod hello should she look his way, "I'd rather watch and take notes on how she plans on using that crossbow in the coming rounds than have her point it at me. Nah, much rather she pointed it at you two." The pony joked as he stowed his book away in his saddle bags.

"Thank ya, sir," Sero said to the stallion working the stand with a cheery nod before smiling at Lapis again and taking his ice creak in hoof, "and you as well, madame." Being silently instructed to follow the mare, Sero have no argument, his eyes flicking between her, the river they were approaching and the delicious frozen treat he held. "I noticed you didn't order those sprinkles on yours. That your usual? I often prefer the ice cream as is myself, though the occasional desire for the addition of some chopped nuts or broken cookies does strike me from time to time." Using his magic, Sero pulled a small bit of the ice cream he held away from the whole, him levitating it up and into his mouth and smiling as he enjoyed its flavor, not slowing down as he continued to follow at the same time.

"Either or, though hearing you enjoy both is nice." Sero said as they're pace quickened, him assuming the shop they were nearing was the one they were looking for. "Can't say I'm an expert on the stars myself, but I do know how to pick out one or two constellations, mostly out of necessity as they can really come in handy should I get lost somewhere. I doubt you have as much trouble with direction and navigation though with how much traveling you've done." Sero was growing more focused on the ice cream waiting for him now that they were closer to acquiring it, his mind now playing with ideas of minty chocolatey chippy goodness.

Sero followed behind Lapis, the mare having taken the lead in their search for frozen dairy treats after they'd left her cart. The later hours of the day were beginning to thin the traffic in the streets as more and more ponies days were winding down, Sero enjoying this quieter time and the sense of peace it gave him as he casually kept his vision moving from the surrounding buildings to Lapis, then up to the sky, back to Lapis, the street below his hooves, what few ponies they passed, back to Lapis and etcetera. Despite his opting to wait until the next day to seriously work on the crystal, Sero still couldn't help but have his mind wander back to the Durilli, the white unicorn still trying to figure out what exactly its reaction to the fire ruby had meant. Because of this he began to mumble a few of his thoughts out loud as he kept his pace even with Lapis', the wheels in his head turning as she lead him towards their destination.