Twilight woke with a start, the taste of copper on her tongue. She reached a bleary hoof to her mouth, eyes still closed, and wiped a wet smear from her lips. Her eyes blinked open slowly in the dim light to see a streak of blood staining the hair of her fetlock.
Sitting up, Twilight looked around. Her friends were all still asleep, the first dawn rays of Celestia's sun staining the walls of the old guard quarters orange. Trixie was curled up under a blanket in front of the fireplace, while Spike and the other ponies lay in their beds.
Twilight rolled over with a soft groan. Her head hurt, as did her mouth. A feeling of fading dread danced at the edge of her memory; whatever she had been dreaming, it hadn't been pleasant. She kicked the blankets away and dropped heavily to the floor. Slowly, she shuffled her way to the door.
She stepped out into the hallway. A short walk down the darkened hall, she stepped into the long washroom. She pushed the door closed behind her with a shaky hoof and ignited one of the torches on the wall with a small effort of magic. Once there was light, Twilight investigated herself in the mirror. The blood on her mouth was just a small smear. She leaned closer and opened her mouth, tilting her head to get a better look. Her gums were bleeding slightly. Her teeth hurt, so she had probably been grinding her teeth all night.
Leaning down into the basin in front of her, Twilight sipped a small amount of water. She swished and spat the bloody water down the drain. She splashed a small amount of water on her face, as well, which helped clear her head slightly. She turned and exited the washroom.
"Mornin', hon," a voice drawled from a short distance down the hallway. Twilight looked toward the entrance to the quarters she shared with her friends to see Applejack leaning against the wall.
"Oh, AJ," Twilight said, stifling a yawn. "I hope I didn't wake you when I got up."
"Nah, 's alright, Twi, I needed to get up anyhow." Applejack smiled at Twilight, then furrowed her brow in concern. "You feelin' alright?"
Twilight sighed and walked up next to Applejack. "I don't know," she said as she ran a hoof through her slightly tangled mane. "I think I had a bad dream last night."
"You wanna tell me about it, sugarcube?"
"I don't really remember any of it," Twilight said, with a shrug. "I just woke up feeling like I'd been grinding my teeth all night."
Applejack nodded sympathetically. "It's been a rough few days for you, Twi. Truth is, I've never been in a competition this tough. I think you're handlin' it real well."
Twilight smiled wanly. "Thanks, AJ. It's not just the competition, though."
"Y' mean Trixie?" Applejack asked.
"Trixie’s part of it," Twilight replied. "The dragon queen hates me, everypony wants to treat me like some kind of celebrity, the princesses have been putting all sorts of extra-" Twilight paused, then sighed. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be complaining like this."
Applejack nodded again and smiled. "'s alright, hon, everypony's gotta get a load off now and again. And it ain't all bad, right?" she asked. "What about Spike? I ain't never seen him as happy as he was last night."
Twilight smiled back. "He and Zlatan had a long talk. I didn't understand it all, but you heard what he was saying."
"Yup. One thing I didn't understand, he said he got himself a new name?"
"Well," Twilight said, relaxing and slipping unconsciously into an academic tone. "From what I understand, dragons have two names, their birth name and their personal name. An older dragon is supposed to grant a personal name to a younger dragon when they come of age, and by custom they can't amass a hoard until they receive one. Zlatan granted Spike his personal name last night. By dragon tradition, that makes him an adult."
Applejack laughed. "Well, shoot, Twi, you know what that means, right? Little Spike got his cutie mark."
Twilight giggled. "I thought the same thing. I don't know if we should tell Spike that, though."
"Maybe not," Applejack said, grinning. "But we can figure that out later. Important thing is, seems like you're feelin' better."
"Yeah, I guess," Twilight said, smiling back.
"C'mon, let's go see if anypony else is up yet."
---
A short while later, Twilight and her friends, their ranks swollen by one sullen blue unicorn, clustered around the fireplace in the old guard quarters.
"-and that's why I'm here." Trixie concluded a short explanation of her misfortune. After Fluttershy had bandaged her up, Trixie had left to return to her cart. Unfortunately, it and her friend were both missing. She had found her way back to the castle and the only ponies she knew in town. An argument had ensued and so she hadn't had much of an opportunity to explain herself the previous night. Twilight nodded sympathetically.
"Sounds like y'all had a run o' bad luck," Applejack said.
Trixie sniffed and gingerly crossed her bandaged forearm over her other leg. "Yes, well, Trixie just needed a place to stay last night and she didn't have any bits. Don't worry, she's sure to be out of your manes again after today."
"Aw, come on, don't be like that," Rainbow said. "We can see about getting another bed down here. We'll be staying at least one more day for Twilight's award ceremony anyway."
Twilight and Trixie both glared balefully at Rainbow Dash.
"...what?"
"Trixie does not need your pity," she said, sneering.
"No, but Trixie does need a place to stay!" Rainbow Dash shot back, rising up from the floor. "Unless Trixie would rather sleep on the ground outside!"
"Easy, Rainbow," Twilight said. "Trixie, I know we've had our differences, but, really, we want to help."
Trixie scowled. After a moment, her horn glowed. Her saddlebags opened a blue notebook floated out, dropping unceremoniously in front of Twilight. "There," she said, looking away, at the fireplace. "Trixie's notes, so you can save yourself a trip to the library. You'll be up against Amarok."
"How do you know that?" Twilight asked, blinking at the blue notebook in confusion.
"Because he's in the tournament this year," Trixie said, airily. She looked over at Twilight with a sour expression. "Don't tell me you've never heard of him."
Twilight shrugged. "I read about him when I was reading through historical records of previous tournaments. He has a solid winning record, as I recall."
"Yes," Trixie said, acidically. "You could say that."
Twilight looked at Trixie uncertainly, then smiled. "Well, thank you, Trixie. Um... Are you hungry at all?" she asked, brightly. "I was thinking we could all go to Pony Joe's for breakfast."
There were general noises of agreement all around, and Pinkie was already halfway out the door when Trixie spoke up. "Trixie will-" She stopped and took a deep breath. "I think I'll stay here and get some more sleep, if it's all the same. I'm not hungry, and my leg still hurts."
"Oh, I told you," Fluttershy said, agitated. "You shouldn't have been walking on that. You all go, I'll stay h-"
"No, Trixie will be fine by herself," Trixie said, sharply.
"C'mon, Fluttershy," Applejack said. "Let her get some rest on 'er own."
---
Pony Joe’s was practically deserted, with only a few ponies sitting in small groups, talking and enjoying their snacks. The bell on the door jingled, and Twilight and her friends walked into the bakery.
Joe looked up from the glass counter, a wipe rag floating telekinetically next to him. “Twilight Sparkle!” Joe smiled. “I was hopin’ you’d drop in to see me while you were in town.”
Twilight smiled back as the group walked up to the counter. “Morning, Joe,” she said cheerily. “What’s the special today?”
“Well, I made a big batch of fancy crullers this morning. How’s that sound?”
“A round of crullers sounds great!”
“You got it,” Joe said, and a large tray floated up from under the counter with a pile of the aforementioned pastries. “And a large coffee, double cream, no sugar, right?”
Twilight giggled. “You still remember?”
“Course! And your friends?”
There was a flurry of drink orders, and in short order seven steaming cups found their way on to a second serving tray. Twilight deposited a small pile of bits on the counter and proceeded to levitate the two serving trays over to the table.
“So, Twilight, are you going to look at Trixie’s notebook?” Fluttershy asked as she sipped delicately at her tea.
In response, Twilight levitated the blue notebook from her saddlebags and deposited it on the table. It was a slightly worn spiral-bound notebook with a large number of pages already torn out. Spike, doughnut in claw, leaned up to look over the edge of the table at the notebook as Twilight flipped it open.
“Trixie sure took a lot of notes,” Twilight said. She sipped at her coffee as she telekinetically flipped through page after page of tiny, scribbly writing. “It looks like she did research on almost everyone who made it past the trials.”
“I’ll bet the section on you is huge!” Spike said, in between bites of doughnut. This drew a chorus of chuckles and noises of agreement from around the table.
Twilight shook her head. “No, Spike. Actually,” she said, in slight confusion, “I can’t find anything on me in here.” She flipped a few more pages, then stopped, “Aha!” she said, triumphantly. “Here we are, Amarok.”
“Well, don’t keep us in suspense, darling,” Rarity said, with a smile.
Leaning in slightly, Twilight began to scan the notes. “So,” she began, after a moment. “Amarok is the leader of a tribe of-” Twilight trailed off for a moment and swallowed hard before she resumed. “-a tribe of giant wolves from the far north. Ponies first encountered his people in the paleo-pony period when a clan of earth ponies was-” Twilight trailed off again with a deep breath, silently reading a few more lines down.
What Twilight read was unnerving. The earth ponies that had encountered Amarok’s people were wiped out and eaten by the enormous wolves. That had led to years of strife between the earth ponies and the wolves, as well as straining relations with the other pony tribes. The wolves reportedly had powerful magicians counted among their number, including their leader, who matched the modern descriptions of Amarok.
Which would make him even older than the princesses.
“Twilight, what’s wrong?” Fluttershy piped up, softly. “You look so pale.”
Twilight took a long drink from her coffee and shook her head. “It’s fine, Fluttershy. Anyway, he’s very old and very powerful. He claims all of the frozen land to the north as his kingdom. Supposedly, he can even control Windigos.”
A shudder went through the group as Twilight continued. “He participates in the tournament occasionally as a diplomatic exercise. He’s won all nine times he’s participated. He’s a master of every known form of magic, and every time he appears he seems to be up to date on everything that’s been developed since the last tournament.” Twilight looked up, her stomach twisting. “I don’t see how I can possibly beat him.”
“Well, what was Trixie’s strategy?” Rainbow asked.
“There’s nothing here on strategy,” Twilight said as she flipped to the next page, skimming the notes. “Just a list of the spells he used in each competition. There’s no rhyme or reason to any of this. It really is like he knows every spell that’s ever been devised. I think Trixie was as lost as I am.”
“Come on, Twilight, he’s still not more powerful than you,” Spike said, gesturing broadly with his half-eaten doughnut. “You can cast any spell, too. You’ve been doing it for the entire tournament.”
“Spike’s right, Twilight!” Pinkie Pie spoke up, loudly. “It doesn’t matter how old or powerful or big or mean or sharp-toothed he is!” She jumped up on the table, pointing a hoof dramatically at the ceiling. “You beat a gryphon, and a diamond dog, and a whole dragon! And an Ursa Minor! And Discord and Nightmare Moon except we can’t help you so those don’t count. But still!”
“Pinkie, dear, would you please get off the table?” Rarity said, sounding strained as she levitated her teacup away from the menace of pink hooves.
Pinkie jumped back down to the floor. “Kay. But still! Twilight, you’re amazing! I’ll bet you beat this wolf-thingy with one hoof tied behind your back! Oh, but don’t do that.”
“Thanks, Pinkie,” Twilight said, with a small, lopsided smile. “But I still don’t know what I’m going to do here. I’m not seeing any patterns in the spells he uses and no particular weaknesses. Trying to Drain him might be a mistake, because according to Trixie’s notes a unicorn named Comet Trail tried that and knocked himself out about 20 tournaments ago. That means he’ll be fighting at full strength and all I can do is try to get him to wear himself down. I won’t be able to use Zlatan’s reality altering spells without extra energy, either.”
“Hm,” Applejack said, looking thoughtful.
Twilight glanced over at her. “What is it, AJ?”
“Well,” Applejack said, slowly. “Y’ can’t drain him, but maybe you can drain somepony else. You been usin’ them wings this whole tournament, so preparin’ must be allowed.”
Twilight nodded, looking at Applejack seriously. “It is. You mean I should Drain somepony before the match so I go in with extra energy? Who?”
“Shoot, I’ll volunteer. Jes’ leave me enough to get to my seat and Luna can take me back to the castle later.”
“Hey, yeah,” Rainbow said, brightly. “Me too! I’m full of energy!”
“What? Rainbow, Applejack, I can’t do that!”
“Afraid you’re gonna hurt us?” Rainbow asked, smirking.
“Well, no, but-”
“Yes, exactly, Twilight, ‘no buts’.” Rarity said firmly, cutting Twilight off. “I will also volunteer.”
“Oh, boy, we get to help Twilight after all!” Pinkie said.
“I’d be glad to help you, Twilight,” Fluttershy piped up from behind her hair.
“But...” Twilight stammered, looking between her friends. “I’m really not sure this is a good idea.”
“Twi, we ain’t gonna let ya buck all them trees yourself,” Applejack said, grinning. “What about you, Spike? You in?”
Spike, his face stuffed full of doughnut, looked helplessly at Applejack, then at Twilight. He shrugged and nodded.
“I-” Twilight started, then smiled broadly. “Thank you, everypony!”
Drinks and doughnuts vanished in short order, and soon came time for the group to leave for the competition. Twilight levitated the trays over to the counter as the rest of her friends exited, the door jingling. She turned to follow them out.
“Hey, Twilight,” Joe called from the counter.
Twilight stopped and looked over her shoulder at the baker. “Yes, Joe?”
Joe grinned. “Knock ‘em dead, kid.”
Twilight smiled back. “Thanks. I’ll do my best,” she said, and closed the door behind her.
---
The final match was once again scheduled at the dragon grounds. The formerly scarred earth had been tilled under and tamped flat, leaving a firm dirt surface. The stands were already nearly full as Twilight and her friends approached the competition grounds, and even more ponies, gryphons and ghuls were milling about nearby, vying for the best vantage they could find at ground level.
Twilight took a deep breath as she looked over the grounds. Her opponent was nowhere to be seen. The dragon queen, on the other hand, was already standing in the center of the field. She turned her head and glared sternly as Twilight looked at her, and Twilight quickly turned back toward her friends.
“Are you all sure about this?” she asked.
“Of course we are, Twilight,” Rarity replied. “Just like we were the last four times you asked.”
“Yeah, come on, Twilight,” Spike said, enthusiastically. “This’ll be great! Just, uh, try not to knock me out.”
“What about you, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked. “Do you think you’ll be able to use this much energy?”
Twilight took another deep breath and looked at her friends again. “Only one way to find out.”
Twilight’s horn glowed, and a faint violet glow spread across her six friends.
My friends don’t like my parties I don’t need no help from nopony I want to be alone Twilight doesn’t love me anymore you’re going to love me don’t leave me I’m the one who’s suppose to win.
Twilight felt like her head was going to split in two. Her mind was filled with noise, words, pictures, symbols she didn’t understand. Energy coursed through her body. She wanted to run, to fly, to scream and laugh and cry all at once. She could distantly hear somepony singing about cupcakes.
“Twilight, why are you singing my song?” Pinkie asked her.
But it’s my song!
No... Twilight Sparkle. I’m Twilight Sparkle. I’m a unicorn. I’m Celestia’s student and winner of the Best Young-
“No!” she shouted. Twilight’s eyes snapped open, her pupils unevenly dilated. Her friends were before her. Applejack stood unsteadily, while the rest were sitting or lying down. Spike was propped heavily against Rarity’s side, while Rarity half-heartedly pushed at him with a hoof.
“But... You were,” Pinkie said, weakly. Her hair was flat and limp, and her head was resting on her front hooves. “Did it work?”
“Yes! Yes, it worked!” Twilight shouted. She laughed strangely as sparks spat from her horn. She raised a hoof to her eyes, looking at it closely. Shouldn’t that be- “Dude, that’s creepy,” she said.
“Whatever you have done,” a loud, stern voice spoke up from behind her. “I hope your friends agreed to it before you did it.”
“We did,” Twilight and Pinkie said, in unison.
Is that Princess Luna? It must be. I wonder if she’s angry with Twilight, Twilight thought.
Luna walked around beside Twilight, looking down at her. “Twilight Sparkle, I do not approve of this. It is not safe for a unicorn to channel so much energy for more than a few seconds.” She leaned down. “Regardless, good luck. You have already made my sister and I so proud.”
“Thank you, Princess,” Twilight said, wings and ears twitching spasmodically. “Good luck, Twilight!”
Luna shook her head, and with a burst of energy she and Twilight’s friends vanished.
---
"Competitors!" Najstariot called out. "Come to the center!"
Amarok prowled slowly at the edge of his territory, faintly glowing red eyes watching Twilight. The wolf was huge, easily twice as large as any pony. He was obviously intelligent - incomprehensibly so, if Trixie's notes were to be believed - but carried himself like a predator in a way Twilight had never seen from another sentient creature. A discordant chorus inside her head screamed that she should run away, she should stand and fight it out, she should fly up away from his teeth or lull him with flattery. She gulped and stumbled slowly toward the center of the field, watery eyes locked with Amarok's.
"Come closer," the wolf shouted, an amused note in his growled voice. "I can barely smell you over there!"
Twilight narrowed her eyes and teleported, bringing herself face to face with the wolf. She looked up at him defiantly. "You mean like this?" Rainbow Dash asked, in Twilight’s voice.
Amarok fell back on his haunches, his expression falling sharply. After a moment, a barking laugh came from his maw. "Brave, this one," he said. "I've never been startled by a pony before."
Twilight stood up straight, swelling her chest. She shook her head quickly, trying to get her bearings. "Yes, well, we are both powerful magicians or we wouldn't be here. I am quite confident in my ability to stand up to you," she said quickly, trying to drown out the voices attempting to speak through her.
The wolf's grin returned, and he leaned in closer, eyes glowing brightly. "No, you aren't," he growled. "You're afraid. You stink of it. You know that my people used to hunt yours, don't you?"
Twilight squeaked, her wings snapping up and together involuntarily.
"You know who I am and how old I am," Amarok hissed between his sharp teeth. "I've tasted pony meat before. Maybe I will again."
Sparks spat from Twilight's horn as she struggled to keep her anger and fear in check. He ain’t got no right! “You-” Twilight started as her knees began to wobble. No! “How long has it been?” she finally asked, flatly.
Amarok's grin faded and he narrowed his eyes at Twilight, then he sat back down, barking out a long laugh. "Not since before Discord!" He smiled, a genuine smile rather than the mirthless, predatory grin he had been wearing. "I wouldn't be able to bring myself to anymore. You're brave, Twilight Sparkle. Not a coward or a fool.” His smile grew vicious again. “And that’s you, not the spirits you’ve borrowed. Maybe the other things the wind tells me about you are also true." The wolf unceremoniously vanished and reappeared, standing, at the far end of the field.
Twilight blinked and watched the massive wolf for a moment. She, too, then teleported away from the center, to the far end of her side of the field.
"Competitors!" roared Najstariot.
"Begin!"