//------------------------------//
// Meeting the Pawns (Arc 0) 
// Story: Sunsets Shattering 
// by 719276 
//------------------------------//

“Daring ideas are like chessmen moving forward. They may be beaten, but they may start a winning game.”
― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

10 Hours Later:

The Sun had long since committed itself to a long slumber as Sunset was up in the dead of night, watching a documentary created by principal Sunburst himself on the various applications of fire magic. " The most important thing to note of fire magic..." the professor said through muffled and broken audio due to the poor quality of the headphones. "Despite popular conception due to the lack of fire mages with great magical ability, magical fire is not a solely offensive power. The user, not the magical affinity, determines how different types operate. The most prominent example of this is majestic...... ". continued the professor, only to be interrupted by the train comms.  

" We will arrive in the capital city of Canterlot in approximately ten minutes. Please get all your supplies and children with you when we stop, and thank you for riding on Monseuir Express." 

"That was much quicker than I thought.", Sunset thought as she quickly shoved the phone into her large pockets and began walking toward the fourth Carth of the train. It was not hard to find Thorn. He was the only dragon in a section filled with high-class elves and changelings disguised as elves. It seems many passengers get repulsed by his presence as no elf or changing was seen anywhere near him, leaving him alone to look at his newspaper. The blatant display of racism makes Sunset's blood boil and causes an angry frown to appear on her face.

" Sorry, Miss Sunset, for not paying attention to the broadcast. I was too engrossed in the breaking news. I am so very ashamed of my poor conduct." Thorn apologizes and bows profusely as he notices Sunset Shimmers' angered expression.
" It's all right.", Sunset said, her face softening at the dragon's visible distress. She was unnerved by how apologetic Thorn was about a simple mistake. " By the way, what is the cover story about? I haven't had much time to look at the news."
" It was about a terrorist attack by the so-called Popular Front at a factory that produced count-class Gundam. ", Thorn replied as he jabbed his claw at a picture of a burning factory in the newspaper.

" Were any innocents harmed? ", Sunset asked with an unusual amount of trepidation.

"No innocents got harmed. However, the attack cost millions of dollars of property damage, and it forced Canlertot to send the royal guard into the Republic of Novgorod to reestablish order in the province.", Thorn explained glumly, as he failed to notice Sunset's small sigh of relief as the train screeched to a sudden halt. 

" Have you ever been to the great capital city of your glorious empire? " Inquired Thorn as the doors to the train slowly began to open.

" I never had the time nor money to leave my home city before this point, so my answer would have to be a no.", replied Sunset with a completely neutral and unreadable expression.

" Well then..." began Thorn with a smile and level of mirth that had been absent for the entire time that he had been in Sunset's company. "I am honored to introduce you to the most magnificent city in all five empires, Canterlot. ", he exclaimed as he pointed his claws toward the now-open door. 

Sunset thought she knew what a large city would look like; a mesh of large, tall, and short buildings interwoven with sporadic islands of green. Canterlot quickly proved that assumption wrong. The entire area was a cylindrical forest of steel and concrete. The shortest skyscrapers were still 400 feet tall, and the longest was well over 700. In the dark of the night, the city glowed bright blues and purple like many of those deep sea monsters she had heard of online. The metropolitan area smelled as if the very concept of greed got sprayed onto it like a fresh coat of paint. Sunset had always known that Canterlot was the biggest city on this planet, but she had utterly failed to understand its sheer magnitude until now. 

" Do you like what you see?" asked Thorn as they and a large flock of upper-class elves exited the train station. 

" It is very .... Big ". Sunset eventually let out, still overwhelmed by the sheer size of the mega city. 

" Most newcomers say that.", replied Thorn. " The royal palace and university would be deeper into the city and at its highest point. We could walk, but it would be easier to take a teleporting gateway.", Thorn stated as he pointed toward a set of twelve golden phone booths-looking contraptions that were a few meters away from the train. The left side was full of elves, while the right was empty. 

"I never used one before, but I saw how to operate them from an online tutorial.", Sunset informed Thorn, having gotten over her shock. "Could I have your card? I can go the rest of the way on my own.", asked Sunset, holding out her hand. 

"If you insist.", Thorn replied before giving Sunset a large golden card with lavender stripes. " My master already ordered me to return to her service after escorting you, so I have no more need for the card. I wish you luck on your mission to win and hope you win second place. " Thorn replied before getting back on the train without another word.

Electing to ignore being underestimated, in her mind, yet again, Sunset went into the most leftward booth and swiped the golden and lavender card. Immediately she could feel powerful magic swirl around her as her view of the outside world became a blurry modern art piece, and the sounds of the city got drowned out by a roar as loud as a full-grown dragon. 
Then there was nothing; no sound, no sight, no thought. For a few brief seconds, Sunset Shimmers' body was no more. Suddenly, the world and Sunset existed again as her body materialized from the aether in a flash of golden light from a teleportation booth inside the royal palace/ university. Most would have been disorientated by having their consciousness suddenly phased back into reality. Sunset was not most people, and she was thus able to materialize into real space without any discomfort. 

Opening her eyes, all Sunset could see was gold. 

There were great, towering golden pillars, as large as her school's dorms, at each edge of the golden palace. Giant, golden statues of past heroes of the empire, most of whom are from House Burgundy based on their engravings,  were placed in two rows on each side of the room, under golden arches and domes. In the center of the golden room, there hung a singular, massive, golden chandelier that had enough diamonds to buy the entire city from which she came. There were only two parts of the building that weren't golden. The first was the royal purple rug that spanned from one end of the golden room to the other. The second was a large dirt brown desk, behind which stood two massive golden doors with a dragon on one side and a phoenix on the other, where a tall brown-skinned woman sat. 

As Sunset walked to what she assumed was the receptionist, she got a better look at the woman. She had long pink hair, blue eyes, and pearly white teeth, shown off by a smile permanently plastered onto her face. Her dress was a long, white tunic that went to her knees, with gold trimmings. While she technically had dark skin, like Sunset Shimmer herself, her skin was light enough to pass for a tanned white elf. She also had a similar body to Sunset; they were both around 6 feet tall and had well-defined curves and muscles. As Sunset went to and placed her hands on the warm desk, she could see that the two even had the same bright golden eyes. 

" Are you the receptionist?" Sunset asked without hostility after finally reaching the mystery women's desk.

An extended awkward silence ensued as the smiling desk elf stared intently at Sunset with her glowing golden eyes. For an entire minute, the desk elf thoroughly analyzed every portion of Sunset's body and soul as if she were some newly discovered species, as the seconds passed away with Sunset's patience. 

"It is rude to gawk at someone and not answer a question." snapped Sunset after getting fed up with being looked at like a lab rat. The harsh tone of Sunset's voice seems to take the mysterious woman aback as her eyes snap shut, and she jumps back into her chair. After a few more seconds to collect herself,  the woman opens her mouth for the first time. 

"Sorry for my rudeness.", the lady apologized with a rich, regal voice. " My name is Sunny Skies; I am the organizer of this tournament in the absence of Empress Celestia Terras and the three Heavenly Queens." Before Sunset could open her mouth, Sunny Skies began speaking again. "You must be Sunset Shimmer. I have heard many things about you, though I have to say you are far more impressive in person than I had originally thought."        

"If you are the leader of this Tournament, then could you tell me where I need to go now? The tournament's website gave very few details.", Sunset asked in a brusque but non-hostile way.


"Of course, follow me to where all the other contestants are waiting." Sunny Skies replied; her tone conveyed a sense of regret and embarrassment over being rude to Sunset Shimmer. The two of them began to walk through the golden, labyrinthine, and empty university halls. It took around 6 minutes for the pair to reach their destination. 

It was a large, golden auditorium that, according to Sunset Shimmer estimates, currently housed 2,350 elves and had 2,500 crimson-red seats. Her eyes darted across the entire room in search of her greatest rival, the supposed invincible Abyssal Angle Twilight Sparkle; however, the sheer number of students as well as her unfamiliarity with her opponent's appearance, made it nearly impossible to find the tournament frontrunner in the crowd.

"You will meet the famed Twilight Sparkle soon enough; you just relax and enjoy the presentation. You need to enjoy events outside of training and start to socialize more often.", spoke Sunny Skies in her usual cheerful but regal and commanding voice.

"How did you....", Sunset began before getting cut off by Sunny Skies. 

"You don't serve the Empire of Equestria for as long as I have without picking up on how to read people like a book." Sunny Skies explained as if it were common knowledge. " Now, why don't you sit back/relax while I begin my presentation? I promise it will answer any questions you have. If you still need more info, you can ask me directly after the presentation." her voice was simultaneously gentle and compassionate, yet it left no room for discussion. Realizing there would be nothing to gain from pressing organizer Sunny Skies, she went to find a seat in the auditorium while Sunny Skies teleported onto the stage in a flash of golden light.

"Before I begin, I must congratulate all of you here today; thanks to your hard work, determination, and natural talent, those among this crowd have the great honor of attending the most prestigious magic school in all 5 Empires and have the opportunity to compete in the first-ever Tournament for young prodigies for the prize of becoming Celestia's apprentice. This class is truly the most talented and hardworking the empire has seen since its founding. The only batch of students that comes close in quality to the one here today was the very first group that won the Equestrian civil war, and even still, they are a distant second. This group is also the most diverse in social classes and racial makeup, with some of you coming from the lower rungs of the peasantry and others with Creole blood like myself. This incredible diversity is a testament to the fact that, when it comes to magical prowess, it does not matter who you come from but who you are." There was a noticeable mummer of disagreement in the predominantly pureblooded and noble student body to Sunny Skies extolling of diversity, much to Sunsets Shimmers' disgust though she did expect such a reaction. 

Noticing the crowd's disagreement with her words of wisdom, Sunny Skies decided to move on to other topics and save the lecture on the necessity for tolerance for later. "On the issue of magical prowess, I believe it would be prudent for us to go over this institution guiding philosophy of magic. As we all know, our souls produce and store Quelle. Quelle is the fuel that allows mages to use magical spells. When a creature runs out of the Quelle that the soul stores, they are defenseless until it gets refilled. The time it takes to regain power is determined by how much Quelle the body produces and how much Quelle got spent. Here at Canterlot High, we believe that there are four main factors to judge a mage's Combat Effectiveness or CE. They are Power, Magical Affinity, Spell Mastery, and Battle IQ. A creature's power is defined as how much Quelle its soul can store and produce. The more power an individual has, the more powerful spells they can cast and the more often they can use them in a fight. A Magical Affinity is what types of magic are most Quelle efficient for an individual to use. For example, I have an affinity for Light magic; I can cast much more powerful Light spells than an individual without an Affinity for Light Magic. Not all magic Affinities are created equal. Common Affinites like Fire magic or Ice magic are far less versatile and powerful than, let's say, House Burgundies Time magic. Similar Magic Affinities get grouped into classes; the previously mentioned Fire and Ice magic are part of the Evoker class, but others, such as Time Magic, are unique and thus labeled as Exotic. Spells Mastery is how many spells a magic user knows and how advanced they are. Having unlimited power is useless unless wielded properly and effectively. I have seen more knowledgeable and well-learned mages defeat more powerful mages due to their versatility and Hax. The final pillar of CE is Battle IQ. Knowing when or when not to use certain Spells is often as important as knowing the Spells."

Sunny Skies stopped talking for a good minute to get the audience's mood. The crowd was as quiet as a graveyard, but there was a sense of rising impatience from all students, including Sunset herself, for Sunny Skies to move on to what they were all here for; the Tournament. With an exasperated sigh, Sunny Skies decided to give in to what her people wanted and started to talk again but with newfound steel in her voice.

"The rules of the Tournament are simple. There will be several one versus-one matchups over the course of 4 months, and whoever wins the final fight of the Tournament will become Celesia's apprentice. Before you ask, I know we cannot have everyone in this room fight each other; the Tournament would become excessively bloated if we did. Instead, there will be a test that each of you would have to pass to enter the Tournament. I made it suitably challenging so the number of contestants would be much more manageable. Know now that there is no shame in failing this test. Those who do not pass should be proud that they managed to get into the world's best university and are magically superior to 99 percent of sentient creatures on this planet. Do any of you have any questions?"

Predictably it was Sunset Shimmer, all the way at the back, whose hands shot out first before any of her noble compatriots in the front rows. "What will the test be?" asked Sunset as she stood out of her seat and leaned closer to the speaker. The raw fire of ambition and determination in Sunset's eyes that burned hotter than the Sun impressed Sunny Skies, causing her to flash a smile greater than any Sunset had ever seen before responding. 

"The test is simple.", Sunny skies said softly. "All that you have to do is fight me."

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2 hours later:

 The arena that Sunset Shimmer and Sunny Skies had found themselves in was enormous and empty. Its floor and ceiling were a football field in size and shape, and the walls of the building were well over forty feet tall on all sides. The only two objects in the gargantuan structure were the two women squaring up to fight each other on opposite ends of the arena. The only detail that prevents the room from being utterly dreary is the vibrant purple and gold pictures on the walls, floor, and ceiling that tell the story of a long-forgotten war between angels and demons.

The two prodigal evokers stood in a tense silence on opposite sides of the arena, their entire bodies stiffening in anticipation for the fight of their lives. "It is reasonable to assume that light magic would make Sunny Skies far faster than me and give her massive attack power," thought Sunset Shimmer. "However, her magic spells would likely not have a large area of effect compared to my offensive fire spells and would lack troublesome HAX. My best bet for victory is to attempt to use my fire magic to help me avoid her while boxing her in with my shape transmutation spells to help me land a hit on her. This fight would also be a good time to use my newest and most complex spell yet."

In a massive flash of golden light, Sunny skies blitz across the enormous stadium at the speed of light and manifests an ornate, golden light sword in her left hand. With barely a nanosecond to react, Sunset ignites a bloom of blue flame from beneath her booths, causing hers to backflip away from the thrust of Sunnie's blade and enveloping the entirety of her opponent's body in the fire.

Sunset then lands on the velvet walls, cracking them beneath the force of her impact before using them to jump to the other side of the battlefield. Mid-lunge Sunset concentrated an immense amount of Qulle into her balled-up fists as a crimson glow engulfed her hands. As she lands on the edge of the arena to the leftward of her opponent, the crimson light on her appendages grows even brighter before consolidating and crystallizing into two ruby-red gems embedded in the center of each of Sunset's hands. 

Not letting Sunset get a moment to breathe, the now smiling Sunny launches a massive beam of golden light at Sunset, which she narrowly dodges and carves a large hole in the wall. The attack gets followed up by another dash and thrust attack aimed at Sunset with her light blade. 

Right before the sword can slice through her, Sunset catches the arm holding the blade as a bloom of fire erupts from every part of her body, scorching Sunny Skies even further. The gems on Sunset's hands begin to glow a faint red as the excess magic from the flame attack seeps into them like an orange mist. Injured but not beaten, Sunny transmutes into the light again and beams to Sunset's right. 

"Now I need to start to box her in," thought Sunset as she punched the ground, injecting shape-changing transmuting magic into the floor and causing the creation of a massive purple stone wall that divided the arena in two. 

"Going into melee with that beast of a woman seems to be a bad tactical move." thought Sunny Skies. " I should best be using my ranged attacks and speed."

Without warning, a flurry of golden light slashes is emitted from Sunny's sword, forcing Sunset to leap onto and parkour off of the ceiling with bursts of blue flames to dodge the attacks. As Sunset was landing back down, she launched a flurry of dozens of large, blue balls of fire at the area around Sunny Skies while the ruby-red gems absorbed even more fire magic and glowed even redder.

For her part, Sunny Skies attempted to flee the AOE attacks by turning into light and dashing into the air as Sunset had, only to get knocked back into a wall as a stray fireball from Sunset sent her careening back onto the floor, causing it and the wall to crack.

It was Sunset's turn to attack as she lunged toward the downed Sunny Skies, manifesting her flame magic to propper herself toward her opposition and then shooting said flames at her opponents when the distance got negated between the two as her rubies red glow grew brighter. Damaged but not defeated, Sunny transmuted into light before expertly but barely evading over a dozen fireballs sent by Sunset and manifesting behind her opponent. 

Using the time, it took for Sunny to dodge her attacks to her advantage, Sunset pummeled the group hard with her right fist, causing it to crack and infusing it with transmutation magic. " Not this time," Sunny Skies thought as she stabbed the ground with her golden light sword, infusing it with transmutation magic to cancel Sunsets out with her own. The two differing magic spells collided through the purple stone ground floor, causing the marble to twist and contort in unnatural and disturbing ways, unsure of whose spell to comply with as red bots of pure Quelle crackle like reverse lightning from the ground. The clash of the two mages would likely get interpreted as a battle of two gods by the common rabble of the empire.

Determined to win this clash of transmutation magic, Sunny Skies fails to look at the sly smile on Sunset's lips and the gathering blue fire around her free arm. Suddenly, the clash of magic halts as Sunny anti-shape changing transmutation spell abruptly washes over Sunset's petering out shape-changing transmutation spell. Sunny feels a sense of relief wash over her after the small victory, but said relief turns to cruel understanding and immense pain as she immediately gets rocketed back into the wall by a massive pillar of blue flame coming from Sunsets left hand, causing another wall to also crack under the force of Sunnies body slamming into the purple stone near the speed of light.

 Bloodied but not nearly done with the fight, Sunny Skies wipes the blood from her broken nose and attacks the rapidly approaching Sunset with a dozen powerful light blasts that emanate around her body. Sunset, in turn, counters with a dozen of her fireballs, increasing the red hue of her gems with every flame spell cast. 
 
Golden light and blue flames clash against each other at the center of the arena is a brilliant light show that would put any firework to shame as the excess magical energy produced by the clash of the two attacks causes red and gold sparks of Quelle to crackle throughout the entire arena. 

While the two attacks cancel each other out in a brilliant display of power, Sunset rushes undeterred at Sunny with a raging fire and will to win in her eyes. Attempting to increase the distance between herself and Sunset, Sunny transforms into a beam of light again and tries to reach the other side of the arena. Unfortunately for Sunny, the determined Sunset Shimmer is much faster than she expected; Sunset grabs Sunny's light, forces her back into her physical form, and punches Sunny in the face with enough strength to shatter city blocks before emitting the strongest blue fireball that Sunset had created in his entire fight at point black range. The force of the combined attack sent Sunny skies flying through the air at nearly the speed of light, into Sunset's transmuted divider, which shattered into thousands of tiny pieces and threw a newly formed hole in the arena wall that Sunnies body got forced into creating. 

" Looks like I win!" Sunset proclaimed triumphantly at the hole in the wall she formed before attempting to walk out the arena door and call the medical team to help stitch Sunny back up.

"Not so fast!" proclaimed a bloodied but not beaten Suny that had crawled out of the hole in the wall and back into the arena. Her hair was singed, with large tuffs on fire; her right eye was black and swollen, and her mouth was dripping blood. Sunny's expensive and high-class Tunic was utterly burnt to ash by magic flames, leaving her with only a very form-fitting white leotard to cover her body.

"Calamity spell: Swords of Judgment." proclaimed Sunny as she shattered her light sword on the ground. As her sword dissipated into the aether like dust in the wind, at the same time, an enormous mass of 12,000 lights swords, all the same size and power as the original, manifested above the head of one Sunset Shimmer.

 "Shit" was all Sunset could say as 12,000 two-meter-long light swords broke threw the strong, but not strong enough, magical shield that Sunset conjured in the few nanoseconds she had before she got skewered by over a dozen swords.

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?????????... Hours later:

After what felt like an eternity in an empty black void of nonexistence, Sunsets Shimmers' consciousness finally started to stir from its damage-induced coma. She felt the pain from the battle with Sunny rushing back to her body, acting as a crowbar on the door to her consciousness, forcing it to wake.

"What happened," Sunset grumbled as she opened her weary eyes. She instantly regretted her decision as the peace of the black void got replaced by the violent light of the real world. Some facts became immediately known to Sunset as soon as she looked around. First of all, it was clear that she was in the medical bay as she was on a hospital bed and covered in a white cloth. Secondly, her wounds seem to have been fully healed as, while her entire body did feel like it was on fire when she touched the places where she got stabbed, she felt undamaged flesh. Thirdly, it was clear that she wasn't alone, as in the corner of the room stood Sunny Skies, the destroyer of Sunset's dream.

"It's good to see you finally awake again. I am sorry for going a bit overboard with that final attack. How are you feeling now?" Sunny Skies asked in her typical compassionate and cheery voice.

" I....." the words get caught in Sunset's voice as memories of the duel and feeling of worthlessness wash over her like a massive tsunami against a small village below sea level. Her breathing becomes faster and more erratic as the weight of her failure begins breaking her mind. She had failed not just the test but all those little orphans like herself that would now die alone on the streets or worse because the one person that could help them was a worthless failure. 

"I AM SO SORRY FOR BEING SO WEAK," Sunset finally bellows out as she struggles to keep herself from tearing up. "HOW PATHETIC CAN I BE, TO PROCLAIM TO EVERYONE THAT I WOULD WIN THE TOURNAMENT ONLY TO FAIL IN THE FUCKING ENTRANCE EXAM” Sunset shouts her words laced with self-loathing more venomous than any snake or spider, as the tears that she had kept from showing suddenly start to leak out of her eyes as her composure continues to crack and shatter like glass.

So immersed in her self-loathing and breakdown was Sunset that she did not notice Sunny Skies rushing to hug her until she had finished her rant. 
"Who said anything about failing the test?" Sunny Skies asked as she held up Sunsets crying face to her own. "Honey, You passed with flying colors."

"I ........ what," Sunset Shimmer said, flabbergasted to the point of getting mentally thrown out of her spiral of self-loathing as she wiped away her tears to regain some of her lost dignity.

"I never said you had to be me to pass the test," Sunny Skies explains to Sunset. "All one had to do in order to pass was to force me to use a Calamity spell to win, which you managed to do quite effectively if I do say so myself. In fact, you are one of only eight others that passed the test out of the 200 that took it ."

" Are ...  you serious," Sunset stammered out in disbelief.

"I have never been more serious in my life, and if you don't believe me, you can believe them." With a snap of her Sunny finger, a group of 6 people enters the white room from the blue door in the middle and lines up in a straight single-row line behind Sunny. "These are most of your fellow contestants you will clash with within the tournament. Their names are, from left to right, 

"I have never been more serious in my life, and if you don't believe me, you can believe them." With a snap of her Sunny finger, a group of 6 people enters the white room from the blue door in the middle and lines up in a straight single-row line behind Sunny. "These are most of your fellow contestants you will clash with within the tournament. Their names are, from left to right, Fluttershy Francisca, Rarity Marigold, Tempest Shadow, Sour Sweet, Sunny Flare, and Trixie Lunamoon.

Sunset Shimmer could feel the power and skill of her opponents just by looking at them. 

Fluttershy was short, five foot tall, and slightly chubby with a meek and shy posture. She had long light pink hair, similar to Sunny, and a yellowish skin complexion that indicated she was from the western/Oriental provinces. She lacks any noticeable curves making her seem more innocent and younger than her age. Fluttershy wore a bright Saffron robe that covered most of her body and which is worn by high-level priests of the Sun God Amon. Fluttershy looked more like a priest than a warrior, but Sunset knew better than to judge a book by its cover. 

Rarity was a bit taller than usual, five feet and six inches tall, and very thin with an elegant and dignified posture. Rarity's hair was a deep purple, long, and luscious. The hair nicely contrasted with her porcelain white skin, which indicated she came from a long and pure bloodline. Her hair was not the only beautiful thing about her, as she had by far the most defined and pronounced curves out of anyone in the room currently. She looked like she had experience using her looks to get what she wanted. Rarity had ruby red lipstick and wore a sleek black dress that displayed her arms and a large part of her upper chest but went down to her feet and covered them. Rarity struck Sunset as a girl that would be more interested in dresses than destroying a city, but she could tell that there was some steel under the mountain of silk. 

Tempest Shadow was around the same height as Sunset at six feet tall and was just as muscular as her with a militant, straight posture. Tempest Shadow had short and spiked blood-red hair, a small scar across her left eye, and an obsidian black complexion that indicated that she, like Sunset, was not of noble blood. Her curves were also similar to Sunsets; they weren't as well defined as Rarity's but were still very noticeable and combed with her musculature to give her the body of an Amazonian. She wore an advanced purple combat suit that covered her body with Starsteel and Kevlar mesh. For Sunset, looking at Tempest was like looking at a dark mirror of herself, and she could tell that Tempest and her would clash in the Tournament one way or another.

" I see," responded Sunset after looking at the contests before her for a good minute and finally understanding that the entire situation was not one giant cruel prank on Sunny's end. 

"So I take it that none of you beat Sunny either," Sunset stated. In response, Fluttyshy meekly nodded, Rarity gave a curt but polite "No," and Tempest gave Sunset a death glare.

"Actually, one of the contestants did defeat me in battle," responded Sunny sheepily, causing all eyes in the room to fall on the beleaguered organizer.

"Who," Sunset asked, but before she had even finished speaking, she realized the only person it could be and the one mage missing from the room.

"I am sorry to be late; I was finishing up an unusually long chapter of my book," spoke the angelic creature that had just teleported into a room. All eyes turned from Sunny to the newcomer, and a tense silence followed. After a few more minutes of awkward silence, the incredibly powerful mage that had defeated Sunny spoke again. "I believe I have only met a few of you yet; in that case, greetings; my name is Twilight Sparkle."