“If my father ever found out about us… do you have any idea what he’d do to you?”  
 
“Of course I do.”  
 
Tikal turned to you with profound astonishment, hidden beneath the deluge of tears that began to build in her eyes.  
 
“Then how? How can you stay?”  
 
You didn’t answer right away, and it caused the tears to fall.  
 
She darted forward, but she never struck you, true to her word.  
 
“WHY CAN’T YOU JUST HATE ME?!”  
 
But her words hurt far more than anything that physical pain could ever hope to achieve. That was her greatest strength.  
 
And yet, you remained undeterred.  
 
She tried to scream again, but all that came out was a shaky moan mixed with a sob. Fresh tears ran down her cheeks, and she turned her eyes to the forest floor beneath her, almost ashamed to even look at you.  
 
But you wanted her to look. So with a single hoof, you placed it delicately beneath her chin and guided her head upward, until her eyes met yours again.  
 
Even with tears of your own beginning to build, you didn’t break yet.  
 
You breathed in.  
 
“How could I ever hate you?”  
 
There was nothing left to hold back anymore.  
 
Tikal dove into your chest and began to sob with such intensity that your whole body shook with hers. Her chest heaved up and down, and her hooves dug hard into you, trying desperately to cling to anything they could grab.  
 
You held her tightly, daring never to let her go.  
 
All you did was whisper into her ear as you cried.  
 
“I will never hate you.”

The Knuckles Clan and the Aurora Tribe are two warring factions, both intent on controlling as much territory as possible. Their conflicts are brutal, but they remain on equal ground.  
 
One tribespony called Anonymous is tasked with infiltrating the Clan and obtaining as much information as possible, but ends up meeting Tikal, the Echidna Chief’s daughter.  
 
Before long, the two fall in love, and Anon is met with the dilemma of remaining true to his Clan, or loyal to Tikal.