Chapter 1
Power. It surged beneath Twilight Sparkle’s hooves and through the air around her. The massive, rolling storm clouds beneath her raged with barely-contained fury. She could feel it in her hooves and in her horn, coursing through her skeleton. Her delicate-looking wings, filmy things of gossamer and morning dew, were limned in blue light. The taste of metal was on her tongue.
A dragon stood before her on the cloud bank, silhouetted against the moonlight. It was an ancient, scarred beast the size of a mountain. The monster dwarfed Twilight; the pony could have fit comfortably between its teeth. It bore the marks of battle all over its body, millennia of scar tissue. It reared up and drew in a deep breath; the gout of dragonfire the creature was preparing to unleash could have leveled a forest.
Its breath died away. Its one good eye opened wide in shock as Twilight, with no help from the dragon, burst into flame.
---
FIVE DAYS EARLIER
---
"Princess Luna! How nice to see you!"
Dusk was falling across the small town of Ponyville. Twilight Sparkle was outside the sprawling tree that served both as her home and as Ponyville's library, extinguishing the candle that served to let ponies know whether the library was open or not. She had been preparing to go find some dinner when a familiar purple mist welled up before her. It coalesced into the imposing, dark form of Luna, Princess of the Night and one half of Equestria's ruling diarchy.
"Good evening, Twilight Sparkle!" Luna's booming voice reverberated off the buildings around her deafeningly before she caught herself, bringing a hoof to her mouth. "We mean... good evening, Twilight Sparkle. It is good to see you, as well. Pray tell, where are you going?"
"Uh..." Twilight responded dully, shaking her head slightly and nickering as she recovered from Luna's careless lapse into the ‘Royal Canterlot voice’. "I was just heading to the cafe to get something to eat. You'd be welcome to join me, princess!"
"Then I shall do so!" Smiling broadly, Luna gestured away from the library. "I require a meal as well, and there is only so much I can take from the royal kitchens. I have not yet become re-accustomed to the rich food my sister prefers."
Twilight smiled brightly as the two ponies began walking toward the Ponyville square. "So, what brings you to Ponyville this evening? Just visiting?"
"The reason for my visit is partly social," said Luna, her eyes twinkling mischievously. "But I should say I am here on state business."
"What sort of business?" asked Twilight, her curiosity piqued.
"Tomorrow, by postal mail, you shall receive a formal invitation from the royal court to come to Canterlot," Luna said, lowering her head and dropping her voice to not be overheard. "You have been selected to participate in this year's Moonstone Cup tournament."
Twilight stopped dead as if the princess had struck her between the eyes with a 2x4. “Me? What? But I’m not...”
“A powerful magician? If you are not, then who can claim to be?”
"I... But... Princess, how? Why?" the purple unicorn stammered. “That’s a contest for experienced wizards! I’m not even finished my education yet.”
Luna stopped as well, looking at her smaller friend evenly. "Neither am I, nor is my sister. What true student of magic is ever through with their studies? But you are skilled, and you have a sponsor, Twilight Sparkle. And the awards committee agreed that you were more than qualified to compete at your age level."
Twilight sat down heavily. A sponsor? "Princess Celestia?"
Luna shook her head, smiling. "No. My sister is head of the committee. She is not eligible to nominate or sponsor any entrant."
"Then who?"
“I think,” the princess said, tentatively, “that only Discord knows the true extent of your power better than I. I was imprisoned well before the first such tournament, but when my sister informed me of it I could think of no one more deserving of a place than you.”
Twilight blinked. “I... don’t know what to say. Thank you, princess!”
“You are very welcome!” Luna said, brightly. “Now come, I desire a daffodil sandwich!”
---
The next day, Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Spike were clustered in a circle on the floor the Ponyville library, while Pinkie Pie bounced around, cheering.
"Woohoo! Twilight's the best unicorn ever!" Pinkie Pie shouted as she bounced carelessly near, around and over the other ponies. "We're going to Canterlot and Twilight's going to win the trophy because our friend is the best unicorn ever!"
"Well, thank you, Pinkie," Twilight said archly. In front of her, in the middle of the group and somehow, miraculously, unharmed by Pinkie Pie's leaping around, was the promised letter. It was written in an elaborate script on gold-woven paper and stamped with Princess Celestia's royal seal and the smaller wax seal of the Moonstone Cup awards committee.
Ms. Twilight Sparkle
Ponyville
In recognition of your contributions to the furtherance of the magickal arts, and in further recognition of your extraordinary service to Equestria and to the world, you are hereby invited to compete in the 374th biannual Moonstone Cup tournament. You have been placed in the young adult bracket according to your sponsorship. Please RSVP with confirmation of your participation in the tournament, as well as the number of guests you will be bringing.
Cordially,
Princess Celestia of Equestria
Najstariot of Ormsreich
Hadalsnan al-Dhi'b
Applejack, resting on her haunches across from Twilight, whistled and pushed her hat back. "That's really somethin' there, Twi," Applejack said. "How hard is it to get into this here tournament?"
"Some unicorns spend their whole lives waiting to be invited," responded Rarity, who was lounging next to Applejack. Rarity delicately brushed back her purple mane with a small burst of power from her own horn. "Not me, of course. That sort of thing is well outside of my oeuvre."
"This is so exciting." For Fluttershy, this was tantamount to Pinkie's screaming and bouncing off the walls. "Do you think you'll win, Twilight?"
"Win? I don't want to get ahead of myself. No one in the young adult bracket has won the cup in over a century. I’ll be competing with magicians from all over the world, and not just unicorns, either." Twilight fidgeted. "I just hope I place well in my bracket, I don't want to disappoint the princesses."
"Disappoint the princesses? Please, Twilight!" Spike snorted. "You're the most powerful unicorn in Ponyville, maybe in all of Equestria! Remember the Ursa?"
Twilight giggled. "Well, there is th-"
Twilight was cut off by a projectile roar and the sound of shattering glass. All eyes jerked up as a blur of color smashed through one of the library's round upper windows and crunched sickeningly against the opposite bookcase, sending a torrent of hardbound books careening down in a heap on top of the unidentified flying object. A moment later, Rainbow Dash poked her head out from under the pile, an open book draped over her head. "Hi guys," she said amicably, apparently none the worse for wear for her sudden and violent entry. "I got here as soon as I could. What's up?"
"Rainbow!" Twilight shouted, clambering to her feet and walking over to the heap. "I just got finished sorting this entire section! Now I'll have to go through several hundred technical manuals all over again!"
"You mean I will," muttered Spike, under his breath.
Rainbow Dash stood, pushing the books off of her and blushing slightly. "Um... Sorry, Twilight," she said, abashed. "I guess I still need to work on landing from a high-speed approach. So, what'd you inv-"
A pink blur flew through the air into the pile of books and they were knocked away, leaving Rainbow Dash on her back and Pinkie Pie standing on top of her. "We're going to Canterlot, Rainbow Dash! We're going to Canterlot and Twilight's going to win the best magician trophy ever because she's the best magician ever!"
"Huh?"
Twilight read the letter again, and with a little help from Applejack explaining the import of the tournament and restraining Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash was soon caught up.
"Whoa, that's so cool, Twilight!" came Rainbow's decision on the subject, after brief consideration. "I can't wait to go and see you show those other unicorns who's boss!" She engaged in some brief but vigorous air-boxing to underscore the point.
"Thanks, Rainbow," Twilight giggled. "But it's not that kind of tournament."
"It's not?"
"Well... Not all of it, anyway."
---
The next day, Twilight and her friends gathered outside the Ponyville library.
"So, Twi, they sendin' a carriage for us or somethin'?" Applejack asked.
Twilight responded with a smile and a shake of her head. "It's a magic tournament, remember? We'll go by magic!" Her horn glowed brightly, and before anyone else could say anything, the group was enveloped in shimmering purple light, and vanished.
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Looking forward to more! :D
Did you change anything in the first 4 chapters in this upload ?
The opening section with Luna made me realize something. Twilight has a much easier time approaching and being around Luna than Celestia, and I'm guessing that has a lot to do with Celestia's reputation. She's been around long enough for recent ponies to have really set her on a pedestal, while Luna is relatively new. Twilight doesn't feel as much pressure to be perfect around Luna, and I think Celestia would be slightly envious of her sister in this regard.
welcome, ladies and gentlecolts, to the TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT!;-)
"The next day, Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Spike were clustered in a circle on the floor the Canterlot library, while Pinkie Pie bounced around, cheering."
Shouldn't that be:
"The next day, Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Spike were clustered in a circle on the floor of the Ponyville library, while Pinkie Pie bounced around, cheering."
Y'kno, I came into this thinking I'll give it a shot, now I find myself wanting to read more... a lot more... oh well I didn't need sleep anyways.
Can anybody say TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT?! Because I sure can!
WHY DOES THIS REMIND ME OF THE HUNGER GAMES?! Anyway, really good so far! I can't wait to read more!
Finally something to showcase Twilight's amazing magical prowess. This is gonna be a good read.
WHY ISN'T THIS LISTED UNDER THE CROSSOVER SECTION?
THIS IS SO FREAKING AWESOME!!! LOOKING FORWARD TO READING MORE IN THE FUTURE!
WHY ISN'T THIS LISTED UNDER THE CROSSOVER SECTION?THIS IS SO FREAKING AWESOME!!! LOOKING FORWARD TO READING MORE IN THE FUTURE!
""So, Twi, they sendin' a carriage for us or somethin'?" Applejack asked.
Twilight responded with a smile and a shake of her head. "It's a magic tournament, remember? We'll go by magic!" Her horn glowed brightly, and before anyone else could say anything, the group was enveloped in shimmering purple light, and vanished."
watchoutwegotabadassoverhere.jpg
Just read chapter 1. So far, so good! Best Pony's (I mean Luna's) characterization is spot-on. However, I think you should change the title to "Twilight Sparkle and the Cup of Moonstone".
Do ponies die in this tournament?
And yes... GoF is CoM.
2414249
No, it's tagged correctly.
Okay, I was pointed to this by a friend who said it was awesome. I genuinely hope he's not confusing a good story for one with lots of 'epic' fighting, but we shall see. This opener was entirely too fast – it really didn't do anything to impose upon me the seriousness of this contest – but I'll try not to let that bother me. If anything, I'm interested in how you interpret magic outside of that of unicorns and alicorns.
5083053 There's a difference between epic fight scenes and an epic read? I for one, am very surprised, and would think Rainbow Dash will be very interested in this new development.
5290836
Epic fights do not an epic story make. They are but one small piece of a much larger picture. In fact, I would argue that the more epic the fight scenes, the more the material behind those scenes needs to be well done, otherwise the fights exist purely for the sake of existing, and so my interest is lost.
My god, Twilight looks absolutely badass in the story image.
Its time to RUUUUUUUMMMMMBBBBBBBLLLLEEEEEEEE!!!
5722138
I’m not even finished with my education yet.”
OR
I’ve not even finished my education yet.”
7377077 "I haven't" You can't use "I've not"
7377077
You took the words right out of my mouth. Unfortunately, the author seems to be ignoring those words. Even more unfortunately he seems to have dropped this site
Whatever happens in this story, I really like the plot premise! It's sounds like something that would have been a neat 2-parter in the show.
I just wanted to say that this story is my favorite on the whole site, and I've read it multiple times
This is a story I’ve been looking forward to reading for a while! I’m excited to see how this develops.