//------------------------------//
// The Teenage Years 
// Story: Twilight: The Gamer 
// by ilbgar 
//------------------------------//

	Twilight had gotten guardian status of Spike from the princess. She was quite used to both the teasing from the other foals who seemed to be jealous of her position and annoyed when she didn't try to get some advantage from it, and the nobles who kept trying to get her on their side with offers that were all failing dismally to so much as pique her interest. It was transparently obvious that they were just looking for some more influence. She was getting sick of putting up with them, but bore with it.
They were getting increasingly persistent, and she was starting to remember why she'd locked herself away from others socially. She could always just ignore them completely, but that wouldn't make them go away. 
The nobles and the ponies who kept trying to 'befriend' her were convinced that there was a price to her loyalty. She didn't think anything short of torture would make her betray the princess. She had no real ambition, so power didn't interest her. She already had access to one of the largest libraries of magic (or libraries period really) in the world, so they wouldn't be able to get to her that way. Her parents were technically nobility, and she'd never been greedy, so money didn't interest her.
Though if they threatened her family, then they were dead ponies. She could handle herself against any grunts they sent against her, but her parents were civilians and her brother was only home about half the time. Several of the ponies who had been near her had moved away at the minor flare of negative intent at the thought alone. Spike looked at her with concern for his pseudo-older sister/mother.
She tamped down on her feelings. The nobles wouldn't go that far, and the students weren't stupid enough to try after seeing her deal with some non-unicorn bullies who'd been picking on a few of her less offensive classmates. She didn't like them, but she didn't particularly dislike them either, so she had helped them. She hadn't even needed to use magic. Good thing too, if she had they'd be dead and she didn't want to go that far if there was any alternative.
Some of those watching had muttered that it was impossible for a unicorn to be this strong or fast. Earth ponies certainly had an advantage due to the natural passive effect of their magic that made them stronger and hardier under normal circumstances. However, unicorns also had an extremely minor effect that was similar, except it also raised speed, and her Str was more than three times the average for Earth Ponies to begin with.
No one had picked on her for a week after that, but they'd started again once they realized she wouldn't react when they called her names. Cowardly, but not stupid. Still, she wasn't a perfect judge of character - they might be stupid enough. The nobles had certainly proven they could stoop pretty low, so there was always the chance they could be willing to go that far, believing she wouldn't report it to the princess. 
The princess had to do damage control all the time, she was the only reason the citizens hadn't overthrown the nobles and made her completely in control of all the affairs of the kingdom. Unfortunately, the nobles didn't recognize the fact that they were only tolerated at the princess' behest, and kept trying to sneak laws that would benefit them past her. Completely unsuccessfully so far in both timelines, thank the Creator.
She recalled Luna remarking that the nobles were far bolder in the present than they'd been before her... episode. She should really push this to the back of her mind and concentrate on her studies, though. She'd kill them if they targeted her family, and leave them alone if they didn't. She wondered if dying had affected her more than she thought, she wasn't this bloodthirsty before. She hunkered down and forced herself to ignore the approaching ponies. Probably here for more teasing, or a group of ponies that wanted to befriend her for her connections. Or perhaps the nobles were switching to trying to get to her through their children now.
She was quite surprised when they were slightly less snobby than usual. "Hey, we want to duel you. We heard you were good at fighting," the leader of the group said. Now that she looked at them, she thought they were upper-class-ponies from the school. They looked less snobby because they had less need to make themselves feel superior, because they already had confidence in their abilities.
"Well, I'll have to ask the princess, dealing with bullies is one thing, but a formal request for a duel is another," she answered.
"I see, you think you're better than us just because you're the princess' student," the leader said angrily.
"Wrong, I do not think you are inferior. I simply don't think we should make this into a street brawl. However, if you attack me I will defend myself. If you'd just wait half an hour, we can make this a formal duel and-" she was cut off by a spell that narrowly missed her cheek, and almost hit Spike, who'd only just ducked in time.
"Spike? Would you go over there for a minute? I have to teach these egotistical nitwits a lesson about what happens when you try to hurt somepony I care about," she said, smiling pleasantly as she gestured over to another bench some distance away.


*** Challenger's Perspective ***

Well, they'd finally gotten her riled up enough to fight. Now to see what she was made of. He was the leader of the trio that was known as the best duelists in the school and also was a medium-level noble's son. He wasn't going to lose to some child-prodigy from a minor noble line and several years younger. 
Besides, he'd found her weak point. She completely lost it if somepony tried to hurt a friend or family member. Admittedly, almost hitting the dragon had been dumb luck. He had been so focused on the uppity under-class-pony that he hadn't even noticed it. When he won this fight, the rumors that this little bookworm could rival his group would quiet down. Even on the off-chance he lost the fight, he could still tell his father what he had learned. Either way, he'd gain something today.
Still, he couldn't quite believe it when she said, "To make it a test for myself, I won't use magic. I'll even disable the passive effects of my magic."
His eyes narrowed. That certainly sounded like a bluff. There was no way she thought she could take all three of them with no magic at all. Besides, completely blocking off one's magic was something most unicorns not only never bothered to learn, but couldn't do, because it required a ludicrous degree of control.
"Well? Are you going to strike first? Or shall I?" she asked, still smiling pleasantly.
They rushed her, and cast a trio of regular Beam spells, only for her to dodge them effortlessly.
"You'll have to be faster than that, or use a spell with an auto-target sub-directive," she advised, completely unconcerned that she'd been fired at.
That was impossible. They were quick casts even by adult standards, and she'd dodged them as if they were moving at a snail's pace. They shot a flurry of spells, but she dodged them all, the suddenly she was in their midst, and swept their hooves out from under them.
"I could simply let you exhaust yourselves, but I thought I'd speed the process along." That pleasant smile had never left her face, but it wasn't conveying happiness at all, nor was it smug. It was frigidly cold, completely uncaring. 
They had to make a plan, she was mopping the floor with them. They moved back a few paces to confer.
"Is your strategy meeting done yet?" she asked as they approached again.
"You might say that," he said, and they leapt into action. The other two would keep her occupied with spells, then he'd time his new teleport spell just right and deck her from behind. Not the most elegant plan, but it should prove effective. He teleported at the moment she'd dodged the spells and tried to hit her, only for her to hit his hoof and completely redirect the attack away from her. He skidded backwards several feet from the combined force, and the under-class-pony quickly dealt with the other two members of his group, also pushing them back.
At this point, the entirety of those who were outside were watching the fight rather than studying.
"How are you so good?" he asked her. She wasn't even breathing any harder than when the fight began. He shuddered to imagine how badly they would've lost if she'd used magic or gone on the full offensive.
"Magic is still my strong point, but what if I'm in a situation where I can't cast? Or where I won't be able to cast a Protection spell in time? I'd need to be able to defend myself without using magic. I should really thank you. You're supposed to be the best the school had to offer in terms of duelists. If I can beat you three-on-one without magic, I'll be well on my way towards my goal," she responded.
So that explained it; but wait, she had suppressed the passive effect of her magic, which meant she was normally even better than this. If that was the case, then they wouldn't stand a chance if she really wanted to beat them.
He signaled to the others to back off. "We'll finish this another time. See you around."
He'd definitely be telling his father about this.


***Twilight's Perspective***

Well, that certainly indicated that she'd made progress. She'd managed to send them packing without even using magic. Still, she was certainly not going to be a match for a serious fighter if she'd had this kind of trouble with those three. 
Still, an improvement was always good. She'd confirmed that she was only rewarded when the enemy's HP dropped to 0, which signified death. Thus, it came as no surprise when she got no reward from that fight. Though her rep. with Canterlot had risen a fair amount. With Spike, who was openly gaping, as well. Probably because of her audience of the other students.
She levitated Spike on her back. Then she teleported inside the castle before they snapped out of it and besieged her with questions.
Spike shook it off as they reappeared in the library. A dusty, relatively unused section, that would be difficult to find even for the librarians, as she had only found it by accident even the second time as the princess' student. It required going through a small space that she simply teleported past, and pushing in a certain block of stone on the wall to open a passage. Then you came out of the passage to an alcove that could only be accessed by teleporting or knowing exactly how to get there.
This was where she'd found several texts that had always eluded her before. She figured it was about time she showed Spike, and assumed the Princess already knew about it since this castle wasn't even built when she was made ruler.
"That was awesome!" Spike cried out.
"Yeah, but I'm still not at the level I want to be," Twilight responded. She wished he hadn't said that so loudly, but it was rather unlikely that anyone could hear him if he screamed.
"Come on, you should be happy that you're that good. You don't have to be perfect at everything," Spike said.
"Believe me, I am, but that doesn't mean I couldn't be better," she responded. The 47/1000 meant she wasn't even at a twentieth of her full potential.
"Alright. Say, where are we?" Spike asked.
"Oh, I found this place a while ago. It's great for studying because it has a bunch of books that I've never read, it's quiet, and it's not very well known. I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone about it," she said.
"Of course, I can keep a secret," Spike said huffily.
"Right." She conjured up some gems, magically costly, but nothing to her now, for him to munch on. "Have a snack, and try to find a book you think would be interesting," she told him, before picking out a couple books and reading them herself.


***A Noble Manor in the upper-class district of Canterlot***

"Father, I picked a fight with that unicorn. The one you and the other nobles have been trying to bribe into being put under your influence. And I discovered a few interesting pieces of information," the leader of the trio told his father, a medium-level noble.
"You didn't have to phrase it like that, but go on." The noblepony sighed. 
"She was not completely against the idea of a fight, but wanted clearance from her teacher for an official duel first," the son said.
"Hmm, it seems that Celestia already has considerable influence on her then. She'd always say she simply wasn't interested in our offers before, trying to stay as neutral as possible," the noblepony said.
"She changed her mind when I accidentally almost hit the baby dragon under her care with a spell. I'd been annoyed by her attitude and the rumors that she could best my group, so I hadn't even noticed him," the son continued.
"So she bites back when bitten, or more precisely, when those she has ties with are bitten," the noblepony mused.
"Yes, that was my conclusion as well. However, she announced her intention to avoid using magic, even the minor passive effect it has on unicorns. Considering her performance even without using spells, she likely followed through on even that," the son said.
"How did she do?" the noblepony asked, curious.
"She handled us easily, I'd almost say toyed with us. If she were to fight with even the passive boost, I'd estimate it would take twice my group to stop her. More if she actually cast spells," the son answered, a hint of annoyance and something that bordered on fear in his voice.
"Hmm, well it sounds like Celestia has been teaching her student some extracurriculars. If offers aren't going to work, perhaps force will. We'll need to get a fairly large group of fairly skilled fighters to take her down if she was outmatching your and your lackeys that badly." the noble mused.
"What did you have in mind?" the son asked.
"Well, a few of the other nobles will try and go after her like this if I give them the information. I'll be sure to get something out of the deal. I'll watch how the fighters they send against her do, then use that to assess the kind of fighter I should send against her. 	
Skill is important, but fighter often have a rock-paper-scissors type strength and weakness system. Long-range fighters beat close-range fighter. Fast fighters beat tough fighters. 
It's a matter of selecting the right warrior as much as finding one who's more skilled in order to beat someone in a fight. From the sound of it, she's a close-to-mid-range fighter who's very fast compared to most normal ponies, but I'll need a bit more information than that to work with." the noblepony said.



'Chapter Progress: 0 quests completed. 0 stars found. 600 exp to next level.'