//------------------------------// // Chapter 16: Teaching to Learn // Story: The Sunset of a Frozen Princess // by DaylightHobbyist //------------------------------// “If everypony starts asking for rides, I want you to know that I will hold you personally responsible,” Twilight warned, having received what must have been a dozen awkward looks from passing staff members in the castle hallways. “You know, I can’t help but notice that it’s only ever a problem when I’m not the one being embarrassed,” Sunset commented, finally back on her own four hooves now that the courtyard was just around the corner. “That was completely different. It was practical. Besides, I thought you said it was, and I quote, ‘degrading’”. “What can I say? You showed me how wrong I was, Twi. It’s actually pretty awesome. It saves me from walking long distances, knows a bunch of cool tricks, can fly, comes with autopilot, and this baby never even needs me to pay for gas,” Sunset praised, with an affectionate rub to Twilight’s side as one would the hood of a nice car. Twilight’s cheeks turned beet red and her entire frame stiffened at the gesture. “Sunset, ‘this baby’ is not your personal means of transportation. In fact, if you recall, I am technically your boss,” Twilight ground out. “Sure you are, Twilight,” Sunset responded, with the condescending tone of somepony telling a small child what they wanted to hear. “What is that supposed to mean?” “What is what supposed to mean, Twilight?” Sunset responded innocently. Far too innocently. “That! Your tone. I don’t like it,” Twilight lamely stated, all too aware how childish that sounded after she had said it. “Honestly, your highness, I don’t have the slightest idea what you’re talking about. I, your devoted and loyal servant, was simply reaffirming your absolute authority over this humble mare,” Sunset stated with a sickening degree of pomp, even having the nerve to add in a walking bow at the end. “You’re messing with me,” Twilight managed to respond, her mouth straining to hold back what she knew was coming. “Your majesty, I’m offended at the insinuation.” Twilight could no longer suppress the snort of laughter. It was just far too ludicrous and yet scarily accurate to the nobles she dealt with on a daily basis, complete with fake sincerity. “Cut it out,” she giggled, giving Sunset a playful shove with her wing. Sunset stumbled her way back to the alicorn, shaking off a few purple feathers. She didn’t feel much need to add anything past that point, content to enjoy the harmonious sound. Making Twilight laugh was a mission accomplished in her book. Before either of them knew it, they stood before the arch that led out to the courtyard. Sunset hadn’t actually been back here until now, but she knew the place well. A large wide-open grassy space comparable to a football field in size. Despite its scope, it was completely boxed in by the castle structures surrounding it, almost completely hiding it from view unless you knew exactly what towers to look from. Secluded, spacious, and minimalistic in decor with the sole exception of a large fountain placed in the exact center of the courtyard. Celestia had always said it helped with establishing an air of tranquility. A perfect place to train a little filly with very little control of her own power. Or in this instance, a prodigious princess. Just as expected, Flurry Heart was there waiting for them, lying face-up on the rim of the fountain and amusing herself with a number of small stones that she was levitating above her. “Good, she’s been practicing. It looks like she’s improving already,” Sunset commented to her alicorn companion. “How can you tell?” Twilight asked, not sure what Sunset was referring to. “Well, you see those rocks she’s holding?” Sunset said, gesturing to the stones Flurry was orbiting around each other at impressive breakneck speeds. “Yeah?” “They’re not powder yet,” Sunset stated simply before walking ahead of Twilight to meet the younger princess. Twilight paused. Was that a joke? It didn’t sound like a joke, but it had to be one. Flurry may not have been a scholar of magic, but there was no way she was that inexperienced. “Hey, Flurry!” Sunset called out to her protégé as she approached her. “GAH!” Flurry yelped in surprise followed by the unmistakable crack and sprinkle of shattered stone. “Oh dear,” Twilight thought to herself. “bleck, oh gwoss, iths in ma mouf!” Flurry sputtered, trying to spit out the chunks of rock she had just sprinkled all over herself. Sunset watched Flurry sputter and spew. She certainly wasn’t the most graceful Princess she had ever interacted with. “Ghuah…didn’t anypony ever teach you not to sneak up on them like that, Aunt Sunset?” Flurry gagged. “I came in through the front entrance,” Sunset plainly stated. “…well, you still should know better than to startle a princess,” Flurry petulantly stated, crossing her hooves and turning in a way that Sunset imagined was meant to look refined but didn’t do much for a pony covered in dirt. Sunset rolled her eyes and used her magic to summon a few tools to at least clean Flurry up. Twilight carefully followed up behind Sunset at a much more measured pace, taking in the interaction between her niece and close friend. She had yet to really get a chance to see their dynamic in action, but if watching Sunset visibly baby Flurry didn’t tell her all she needed to know about their relationship at this point, she didn’t know what would. Satisfied with her appearance, Sunset stepped back to resume her role as the instructor. “Okay, Flurry. Today I actually have a bit of a surprise for you.” Flurry’s focus was set on Sunset now, hanging on her every word and noticeably perking up at the mention of a surprise. “Really, what is it!? Is it like some sort of super awesome magical artifact? Or like a super mega spell?” Flurry asked, clearly setting her expectations at the sky. “…no,” Sunset settled on after a few seconds of processing that, “It’s actually something I think will be very crucial to your studies going forward. As much as it pains me to admit it, your abilities exceed mine. There’s going to be things I can’t teach you about your power. I can show you how to get there, but I have no idea where the limits of your magic lie. You’d need the best for that.” “Oh…” Flurry muttered, not sure where this was leading. “So, I decided I’d just get the best,” Sunset announced, motioning outwards to direct Flurry’s attention to just outside her field of vision. Somehow, she had completely missed the tall purple alicorn with the flowing mane standing several feet behind and to the left of Sunset. “Hi,” Twilight awkwardly waved in the back, giving what she hoped was a winning smile. Sunset looked back to see Twilight was both straggling much further behind her than she initially thought and was doing that thing she did when she was nervous where she showed off every tooth she had. Good start. “Aunt Twilight? What are you doing over there?” Flurry asked. Twilight waved a hoof. “Oh, you know. I was just…hanging around. Just thought I’d come out here and ‘chill’ with you guys for a bit. My homies.” Flurry blinked in response. Sunset facehoofed. Was it possible for words to cause you physical pain? Sunset felt it must have been, because that hurt. She thought she had started this off with such a nice speech too. Switching tactics from treating this like a surgical procedure to instead treating it like removing a band-aid, Sunset used her magic to quite literally drag Twilight to her side. “Flurry, we’ve had a talk and we’ve decided that from now on it would be best for Twilight to have a hoof in your lessons,” Sunset announced, waving a foreleg to introduce the alicorn that skidded to a stop right beside her. Seconds passed as Flurry and Twilight awkwardly stared at each other. “Say something,” Sunset whispered through her teeth at Twilight who was still holding an unnaturally wide smile. “ahem…um, right! That’s right! Sunset believes you could benefit from some additional instruction. From me. I’m the additional instruction. Heh,” Twilight stitched together before resuming her smile and darting her eyes over to Sunset in search of some indication that she wasn’t totally blowing it. Sunset took pity on the poor Princess and signaled that it was “good enough” with a nod. A little awkward, if she was being really generous, but it should get things moving. Flurry’s lip trembled and her eye began to twitch in a way Sunset was positive she had seen before. “Are…you…KIDDING ME!?” Sunset had to admit, blistering fury was not the direction she expected this to go. She also didn’t expect Flurry to literally leap from her seat on the fountain and start advancing on Twilight like a tiger stalking its prey. “Do you have ANY idea how many times over the years I’ve asked, practically begged, you for help!? Do you!?” Flurry almost barked at her aunt who had little choice but to back up. “Flurry I—” “Don’t bother trying to remember. I know I lost count YEARS ago. I do remember every excuse you gave me though. Every time, it was always ‘Flurry, I’m too busy’ or ‘Flurry, your mother can teach you’ or ‘Flurry, you don’t have time for that’.” Sunset was too shocked to properly react as she watched the outraged alicorn back her aunt into a corner. “Flurry, please calm down. I know I haven’t—” “No! I’m not done!” Flurry interrupted once again before Twilight could get a word in edgewise. “I even tried to enroll in that stupid school of yours, but you didn’t have anything to say at all when Mom decided the Crystal Empire just couldn’t survive without its poster princess for more than a month! Of course, it’s not like ANY of your ‘oh so important duties’ ever stopped you from having time to give to that sunrise-colored bookworm you adore so much!” “Flurry, that’s not fai—” “BUT, do you know the best part? For a while there, I ACTUALLY BELIEVED you couldn’t teach me! Poor Princess Twilight’s holding the world on her shoulders after all. Who has time for family when they’re sooo important? But, surprise surprise, I guess I just wasn’t important enough. All that needed to happen was for somepony you actually respect to ask you and that packed schedule cleared right up!” Sunset noticed Flurry had practically backed Twilight into a wall and decided enough was enough. Flurry put herself right into Twilight’s face as she prepared to give her grand finish. “You wanna know what I think?! I think you jus-OW! OW OW OW!” Flurry shouted; her big finish cut short by a stinging pain. “That’s enough, Flurry,” Sunset stated with no room for argument, her horn surging with blazing red power. “Okay, okay! Just please stop! Not the ear! Not the ear!” Flurry whimpered, immediately cowed by the red aura jerking on her sensitive appendage. Sunset released Flurry Heart’s ear, trusting that would at least get her to think about her next action before she said something she’d regret. “Yow, why’d you have to twist it too?” Flurry muttered, rubbing the sore spot. “You’re lucky I let you keep it at all after that outburst,” Sunset calmly stated. Flurry gulped in fear. She was used to being chewed out for her behavior. Desensitized to it even. Her mother or aunt raising their voices at her was practically routine at this point. Sunset wasn’t doing that. She was doing the thing her dad did. He only did it a hoof full of times in her entire life, but she always remembered the times he did it and made sure to never repeat the mistake again. No screaming, no righteous anger, not even a look of outrage. Just the clear picture that he was bitterly disappointed in her. “Is that how you treat all the ponies who try to help you? By going off on them with every single repressed emotion you have in you?” Sunset continued, stepping in front of the younger princess to look her in the eye. “Do you think that helps anypony?” “I—” “No. You had your chance to talk. Twilight came here with me to help you, Flurry. You and I both know she has a million different things to do, but she still came to you because I told her that you needed her. She’s not always going to have time for you or me, and I get that that isn’t fair to anypony, but what do you expect to accomplish by chasing her off anytime she wants to spend time with you? Well!?” At this point, Flurry’s eyes had actually started to glisten over as she shrunk further and further into herself in shame, but Sunset was far too invested in her own silent fury to take notice. Ultimately it was Twilight who came to Flurry’s rescue, placing herself between them to reign Sunset in. “Okay, I think we should all take a moment to calm down. Sunset, could you please give us a moment alone?” Sunset looked like she was considering saying something, but ultimately nodded and respected Twilight’s request, storming off to the fountain in a noticeably still prickly mood. Twilight sighed. She had to fix this, but it was broken so long ago. She turned to face her dejected niece, curled in on herself. Sunset’s words had clearly struck a chord. Twilight tried to think of the words she needed to say, but in the end, they never came. It made sense. If they were there, she probably would have said them a long time ago. Instead, she walked over to Flurry and took a seat beside her on the cool grass. Moments of uncomfortable silence passed. Twilight hoped and wished for the right thing to just come to her, but it still never did. Ultimately, it was Flurry who broke the silence. “What happened to us?” Twilight turned to look at Flurry and saw the eyes of a child staring back and it broke her heart because that was just another question she had no answer to. “When did things change so much?” Flurry rephrased. Twilight thought about it, and for once she realized she knew the answer. “When we didn’t.” Flurry shook her head. “Really? I don’t feel the same.” “...neither do I.” “Aunt Twilight? Are you…happy?” Flurry asked a seemingly simple question. Twilight turned away from Flurry Heart at the sudden query. Was she happy? How could she not be? She had everything most ponies only dared to dream of. A castle, a kingdom, limitless wealth and power, abilities beyond comprehension, the love and adoration of millions. Yet again, she knew the answer. “No. I’m not.” “I didn’t think so. I’m not happy much anymore either and Mom is downright miserable.” “I know.” Flurry sunk even lower. Questions she knew the answer to but had never had the guts to ask. There was just one more left. “Can we fix this? Do you think that…maybe...there’s a chance we can be happy again?” Flurry asked. The only question with an answer she wasn’t sure of. Twilight looked up towards the sky. She had asked that question herself before. She had never known the answer. She still didn’t know the answer now. “I don’t know, Flurry…” Flurry dropped her gaze. That was it then. “…but, I think I would like to try.” Flurry snapped up back to her Aunt to look her in the eyes. In them, she saw something she hadn’t seen in a long time. A little Sparkle. “Flurry, I’m sorry. Really, I am. I’ve spent a long time feeling sorry for myself because I felt so alone. I didn’t realize that because of that, I’ve been making you feel alone. You’re right. I’ve made a lot of excuses over the years. Reasons why I can’t teach you, why I can’t spend time with you. They weren’t lies, but they also weren’t the truth either. I didn’t have time for you because I didn’t try hard enough to make time. From now on, that’s going to change.” Flurry didn’t say anything in response. Instead, she latched onto Twilight in a desperate embrace. Twilight was stunned at first, not expecting Flurry to react so strongly. It had been decades since her niece had held onto her like this. Like a small foal who just wanted to be held. Twilight obliged and after a few seconds brought her forelegs up to hold her niece tight. “I’m sorry too,” Flurry whimpered. “Aunt Sunset was right. I like to blame you and Mom, but I’ve only ever made it harder for myself, haven’t I?” “Well, she’s blunt, but she has a way of making a point, doesn’t she?” Twilight nodded while stroking Flurry’s hair. “I’ve never been so scared in all my life,” Flurry admitted, “She must have been a terrifying bad guy.” Twilight laughed. “Would you believe me if I told you she was less threatening when she was evil?” They stayed like that for only a few more minutes, but to them, it felt like hours. Eventually, Flurry Heart pulled away. Twilight noted the tears in her eyes and reached a hoof up to wipe them away. She had her father’s eyes. Shiny’s eyes. Twilight realized she didn’t appreciate that enough. Some days it outright pained her, but not anymore. “I love you, Flurry. With all my heart.” “I love you too, Aunt Twily.” Twilight grinned. It had been a long time since she had last heard that nickname. The first words she had ever heard her speak. “Well, what do you say I give you a magic lesson?” Sunset watched Flurry and Twilight start to head this way from her position on the rim of the fountain and breathed a sigh of relief. It looked like Twilight had pulled it together after all. Of course she did. Only after cooling off did she start to worry if she was too hard on Flurry. Something in her just couldn’t stand seeing her treat Twilight like that. “Flurry…” Sunset began when the pair of princesses got within range. Sunset never got to finish that sentence as a wave of yellow magic washed over her and pulled her from her spot into the waiting forelegs of an apologetic princess. “I’m sorry. You were trying to do something for me, and I almost ruined it,” Flurry softly apologized as she wrapped Sunset in a firm hug. Firm to an alicorn that is. Sunset was not an alicorn. “Apology…accepted,” Sunset gasped feeling the air being squeezed from her lungs like toothpaste. Her forgiveness only made Flurry intensify her hold in joyful endearment, but to Sunset it felt like a Python had just decided to get serious. “Flurry…can’t…breathe,” Sunset begged. She looked over to Twilight and pleaded for salvation with her eyes only to find an amused alicorn looking back at her. Ah, there was her karma for leaving Twilight out to dry with the Pies and their love of rib-shattering hugs. It took longer than usual to get her this time. Thankfully, Twilight did take pity on her. “Flurry, Honey, you’re crushing her.” “Oh! Oops, Sorry, Aunt Sunset,” Flurry apologized while quickly letting go of the smaller unicorn, perhaps too quickly as Sunset fell to the floor gasping for air. “Sunset, are you alright?” Twilight asked, legitimately concerned now as she swiftly walked up next to Flurry to check on the downed pony. “huff…this family is going to be the death of me,” “She’s okay,” Flurry confirmed. “Don’t anypony rush to help me up or anything.” Twilight used her magic to pull the poor disgruntled unicorn to her side and set her on her hooves. Twilight then went the extra mile of using her hoof to smooth out the messy patches of her fur and mane that were rubbed out of place. Sunset didn’t exactly look happy, but she did nothing to stop her. “So, what can you teach me today?” Flurry Heart giddily asked, taking her position before them now that her two teachers were present. Twilight stepped up to answer. “Well, from what I’ve seen, you’ve been practicing with your magical dexterity, but there is still an underlying problem with power regulation. Knowing how to manipulate your magic isn’t a bad start, but you won’t be able to properly cast spells until you can confidently use the exact amount of power you need in any situation. Sudden fluctuations during spellcasting would be disastrous with your level of power.” “I can second that,” Sunset commented. Her geode had been so kind as to remind her of how her first attempts with unregulated magic went. “Okay, so how can I learn to do that?” Flurry asked. Twilight brought a hoof to her chin, thinking out loud to both herself and the ponies present. “You need to understand your power and be comfortable with it in all its forms. That means you need a way to use your power. All of it.” “All of it?! Isn’t that the exact opposite of what I’m supposed to do? Half the reason I’m doing this is so ponies stop worrying that I’m going to accidentally blow up Equestria,” Flurry balked at the suggestion. “And that’s the problem,” Twilight nodded, “You’re never going to be able to control your power if you’re afraid of it and what it can do.” Sunset remained silent throughout Twilight’s lecture, trusting she knew what was best in this circumstance, but she wasn’t certain she like the direction this was heading. “Ok, so let’s just say that you’re right and I do need to play around with my magic. How in the world am I supposed to do that? Do you have a few spare cities you’re not going to miss?” Flurry asked in what sounded like sarcasm at first, but upon closer inspection was an attempt to mask her discomfort. Twilight just smiled. “Giving you an outlet will definitely be challenging, but I do have an idea.” Sunset was practically sweating bullets at the scene she was watching unfold. She had always thought Twilight to be the most intelligent pony she knew. Even she never could quite match up to the amount of grey matter the Princess possessed. The only other person who matched up…was another Twilight. Yet, this brilliant idea of hers was certainly making her reevaluate, at the very least, the state of Twilight’s sanity. “So, just so we’re absolutely, positively, one hundred and ten percent clear, tell me what you want me to do again!” Flurry Heart shouted to the edge of the field several yards away from the fountain they stood in front of. “Hit me!” Twilight shouted back. “Aunt Sunset, you’ll bail me out if I get arrested for regicide, right?” “Flurry, my cell will be the one next to yours,” Sunset moaned, preparing her best possible shield spell just in case it might make a difference. Doubtful, given Flurry had practically shredded her defenses and she wasn’t delusional enough to believe Flurry had given anything close to her all with those attacks, but it couldn’t hurt to at least try to give Twilight some extra protection. “Remember, give it everything you have! Don’t hold anything back!” Twilight shouted at them. “Like, ‘everything’ everything?!” Flurry questioned, blatantly stalling. “Yes! Everything! There’s no point doing this if you don’t! Don’t worry, I can take it!” Twilight called back. “Ok,” Flurry muttered, drawing power into her horn. Twilight sensed the sharp increase in magical energy and readied her own horn in anticipation. Truth be told, she was almost a little excited. It had been a while since she had really had a chance to put her own power to the test. Very little offered her much of a challenge at the level she was at now. “Isn’t that enough?” Sunset asked Flurry whose horn was practically crackling like a storm from the amount of magical energy she was gathering. “She said everything!” Flurry grunted, pulling power from reserves inside her she had never dared to even touch before. Every drop of power that existed inside her was brought to the surface. Sunset gawked, beginning to consider the merits of preparing a shield for herself as well. Twilight could hardly see Flurry anymore, the magic beacon of her horn growing so luminescent that it blocked her from view. Judging by the way the air was swelling, Flurry was still building power even now. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind anymore that she had done Flurry Heart a great disservice. No other pony, save for Celestia herself, could have managed the full extent of Flurry’s strength. She, however, was more than ready for it. Twilight smiled in anticipation. A twenty-sided die clattered onto a table, the number five landing face up. “Uh-oh. Looks like another low roll. Captain Wuzz’s arrow ricochets off the armored knight’s shield and severs the ropes supporting the bridge, sending you falling into the canyon below,” Spike read out of the gamebook. “Again!? That’s the fifth time in a row! Just admit it. You’ve been rigging this game against me for over seventy years and one day I’m going to prove it!” “Discord, we’re on the same team.” “A convenient excuse for a treacherous wizard who wants the throne of Discordopolis all to himself. I’m onto you, Garbunkle,” Discord sneered across the table at the dragon in a wizard’s hat. “That doesn’t even make any sense. You know it takes both of us to break the Snake Sorcerer’s enchantment on the castle.” “So, that’s your game then? Use me to gain access to the palace before stabbing me in the back?” Discord accused, gesturing to his backside which had a dagger protruding out of it. “Like we’re going to make it that far with the way you’re rolling,” Spike muttered. “I heard tha…hang on a second. Do you feel that?” Discord asked. “Feel wha—“ *CRASH* “Woah!” Spike yelped as seemingly the entire castle shook, throwing him off his seat onto the floor and tossing their game of Ogres and Oubliettes around the room. “That,” Discord answered as though nothing spectacular had happened. “Hang on. Does that count as a roll? Oh, it’s a three. Whatever,” Discord shrugged, flapping his way over to a nearby castle window to look out in the direction of the magical surge. “What was that!?” Spike asked, picking himself up off the floor and fixing his hat. “That, my dear friend, was the sound of excitement. Garbunkle, we’ll have to put a pin in this game. Let’s go have a look at something a little more…chaotic.” Flurry Heart slumped down into a prone position, gasping in exhaustion. “Wow. What a rush. I’ve never…used…that much power before.” Sunset wasn’t sure what to be awestruck by first. The gaping chasm of dirt and grass that Flurry’s blast had carved through like a hot knife through butter or the smoking crater the chasm led to that used to be the position of one Princess of Friendship. A princess Sunset could no longer see. No sooner than she started worrying did Twilight emerge from the cloud of smoke, slightly worse for wear, but in one piece and borderline glowing with pride. “That was good, Flurry! Now, hit me again!” “WHAT!?” Sunset and Flurry shouted in unison. “This time, use as much power as I tell you to, okay!? You need to be able to control exactly how much you use!” Flurry shakily got back to her hooves and started to charge up her horn again. “Okay, sure. She shrugged off my best shot already anyway.” “Yeah. She did,” Sunset muttered, only now starting to appreciate that. Twilight was powerful. She knew that. She was the element of magic. She moves around the sun and moon. But nothing quite put things into perspective like watching her easily block an attack that would have obliterated the castle had she not been standing in front of it. Flurry and Twilight began to go back and forth, Flurry firing a shot at Twilight’s instruction that the Princess of Friendship would block with a simple shield spell. Twilight would coach Flurry on whether the attack was too hard or too soft until eventually, Flurry Heart began to hit the mark more consistently. From there, Twilight made things more complicated. Twilight would request certain patterns of shots, then certain patterns composed of shots with various amounts of power. Eventually, even Flurry Heart of all ponies had actually exhausted her own supply of magic and collapsed, panting from the extensive workout. Twilight teleported to her side with nothing to really show for the exchange beyond a light sweat that actually made her glow more than anything. “Good work today, Flurry. I think you’ve made some real progress today.” “I did? Then why do I feel so awful?” Flurry moaned. “That’s called being tired, Flurry,” Twilight informed her niece. “It’s something you’ll need to get used to.” “So, does this mean I’ll be ready to start learning spells and stuff soon?” “I’d say you’re well on your way, but no matter how gifted you are it’s not a fast or easy process. You have to keep that in mind,” Twilight cautioned. “Ugh. Okay. I still wish that I could at least see some more magic besides a carriage full of energy blasts,” Flurry complained, rolling over to lay on her side. “Maybe you can,” Sunset suggested. Twilight and Flurry both turned to look at her, questions written on their faces. “In my experience, it’s usually important to show examples of the concepts you teach. If Flurry Heart is going to learn to use powerful magic, she should be able to see powerful magic in action,” Sunset reasoned in a way that sounded akin to a sales pitch. “So, we should put on a magic show or something?” Twilight guessed, causing Flurry to recoil in displeasure at the idea of something so childish. “No. I had something a bit more exciting in mind,” Sunset smirked, the idea thrilling her. “How exciting exactly?” Twilight asked, still not seeing what Sunset was advocating for. “The sort of exciting that can only happen when two master class magic users are together,” Sunset said, sauntering up to Twilight. The clueless look on Twilight’s face told Sunset she’d have to spell this one out. “A duel, Twilight. Me and you.” “Cool!” Flurry exclaimed, shooting up from the ground with a renewed energy. “You’re gonna fight!?” “What?! No, we’re not!” Twilight denied immediately. “Come on, Twi, it’ll be fun,” Sunset waved off. “What’s ‘fun’ about beating each other up!” “Look, if it makes you feel any better, I’ll go easy on you.” “That’s not…what did you just say?” Twilight bristled, bending her head down to come face to face with the smug unicorn. “That’s funny,” Sunset said, bringing up a hoof to cup Twilight’s chin in a way that was reminiscent of their very first faceoff, “All these years I thought those were alicorn wings, not chicken wings.” Just for old times’ sake, she gave Twilight’s chin a gentle flick to punctuate her arrogance. Flurry Heart snorted in the background as Twilight stood stunned in shock, taking a brief few seconds to recompose. “Well, I have to admit, I forgot how good you used to be at making me want to hit you, but my ego’s not that fragile,” Twilight responded once she had recovered from the offense. “Yeah, I know,” Sunset admitted, not even bothering to deny she had done that solely to ruffle the Princess’s feathers. “Why do you want this anyway? Surely there are easier and less destructive ways to demonstrate the art of spellcasting,” Twilight said. “Not as epic though,” Flurry commented from the side. “Well, just look at you, Twi. You’re amazing. The very best at basically everything. Between you and every other pony that’s ever had a horn on their head, it’s absolutely no contest,” Sunset broke down. Twilight couldn’t beat down the shade of red that came over her face at the compliments and just hoped nopony would notice. “I’m not the best. I’ll never be the best. That doesn’t mean I can stop myself from wanting to be. And if I can’t be the best, then I at least want to be the best me, and that means I have to know how well I measure up to the best. To you,” Sunset explained. Twilight understood what Sunset was saying. She was the same. She always had been, but she still wasn’t sure she was exactly comfortable with the idea. “Sunset, I understand that, but I’m just not sure I can…” Twilight trailed off. “What?” Sunset asked, confused. “…hurt you,” Twilight admitted, turning her gaze to the side. “Twi, I’m not made of glass. I can handle getting a little roughed up. Just ask Flurry.” “Yep! I hit her really hard,” Flurry smiled. “Thanks, kiddo.” Twilight looked between the two, more concerned than convinced. “Look,” Sunset stated, trying a different approach, “how often do either of us really get to use any of the stuff we’ve spent years studying?” Twilight thought about it for a second and found the answer to be not nearly as often as she liked. Sitting on a throne for most of the day didn’t usually require much magic. “Wouldn’t it be nice to just cut loose? I mean, within reason of course. I am kind of expecting you not to incinerate me or anything, but I definitely want to see just how much you’ve got in that big beautiful brain of yours now,” Sunset honestly stated. When Sunset phrased it like that, it did sound pretty tempting. Her adrenaline was already flowing just from training Flurry and that was nothing more than shielding a bunch of mana. The chance to really show off what she could do against somepony that could at least contend with her skill was something she hadn’t had since… “If I went along with this, will you let me set the rules?” Sunset nodded. “Is that a yes?” “…alright. One duel.” Sunset smiled, feeling the anticipation and excitement that had been building within her take to new levels. How was it that Rainbow Dash would have described it again? “This is going to be so awesome!” Flurry cheered. Yeah, that was it.