Saturday. A wonderful day where few ponies had to worry about anything but their own hobbies and plans for the day. And this Saturday was beautiful, despite the somewhat chilly fall weather. Thankfully, the Academy’s arboretum was always kept at a stable temperature for the sake of the various plants and animals that were kept there.
Fluttershy couldn’t think of a more perfect place to spend her free time. Sure, she was here for a few classes regarding zoology, biology, and botany, but those were too formal for her to spend proper time with the adorable little critters that called this place home.
She felt something creeping through her mane and brushed a hoof through it. A giggle escaped her at the sight of a small spider on her hoof. A male orb weaver, if she wasn’t mistaken. She set it down in its appropriate habitat, smiling the whole time as the tiny creature scurried through the grass and flowers. It was a mystery to her why most ponies were so frightened by spiders. She found them rather adorable. Well, as long as they weren’t big enough to eat ponies, at least. Then she’d be a little bit frightened.
“I have no idea how you do that,” said a mare’s voice from behind her. A mint green unicorn with golden eyes trotted over. Her mane matched her coat, save for part of it being a clean white color. Her cutie mark was a golden lyre. “Those things freak me out.”
“Oh, they're not so bad, Lyra,” Fluttershy assured the other mare. Lyra Heartstrings was Fluttershy’s roommate, but she was more of an acquaintance than a friend. Fluttershy silently admitted to herself that that was partly her fault. She wasn’t really the outgoing, extroverted type. “They’re actually very sweet when you give them a chance.”
“If you say so.” Lyra levitated a notepad and pencil up and wrote a few things down. “Come on. We still need to finish this zoology report for Professor Keeper. And we’re not doing it on bugs.”
“They’re actually arachnids,” Fluttershy corrected as she stood up, dusting her knees off.
Lyra rolled her eyes. “If it’s got more than four legs, it’s a bug, and I don’t like bugs, okay?” She frowned at the arachnids once more and turned to head off to another habitat. “Come on. Let’s go do a report on something else. Rabbits, maybe.”
“If you insist.” Fluttershy turned to follow her roommate through the arboretum, waving hello to the numerous animals that she considered her little friends. The arboretum was like paradise for her. She had always loved animals, and the animals seemed to love her just as much. Even the snakes, insects, and other creatures that many would consider scary, she saw as wonderful little critters that simply came in many shapes and sizes. Although, if she were to be honest, she did still consider bunnies to be the most adorable things in the entire animal king-
She was so caught up in her own thoughts that she failed to watch where she was going, and bumped into somepony without realizing it. She staggered back a little and looked up at who she had met; a yellowish unicorn mare with a fiery, red-and-yellow mane and bright blue eyes, with a red and yellow sun as her cutie mark.
“I-I’m sorry,” Fluttershy immediately apologized with her normal demurity. “I was daydreaming. Are you all-?”
The unicorn sneered venomously at her. “Watch where you’re going, you winged rat!”
Fluttershy blinked in surprise at that. “I… what?”
The mare scoffed and rolled her eyes. “I thought pegasi were supposed to have good directional sense. You’re almost as bad as the mud ponies.”
Fluttershy gasped at the mare’s words. Mud ponies? She looked around worriedly, silently praying that no earth ponies were around to hear the slur. “Um… y-you really sh-shouldn’t say th-things like that…”
“Or what?” the unicorn inquired several layers of arrogance in her tone. “Are they going to throw their dirt at me? Oh, terrifying.” She glared at Fluttershy, who backed away nervously. “Just stay out of my way. I have a biology report to finish.” Then, Fluttershy was enveloped in a blue-hued aura that unceremoniously tossed her aside into a nearby habitat for birds. The unicorn then trotted off, not giving Fluttershy a second glance.
Fluttershy spit out a mouthful of turf and looked after the mean unicorn. She couldn’t believe anypony could be so cruel as to not only throw her aside so heartlessly, but also say such hateful racial slurs. She had many earth pony friends, Pinkie Pie and Applejack chief among them, and she never, not once, thought of them as less than she. Fluttershy had respect for all living things, and never considered one more important than the other. Such cruelty was simply alien to her.
“Fluttershy? Where’d you go?” She heard the voice of Lyra say. The mint unicorn trotted around a bush before she spotted her in the bird habitat. “Hey, what are you doing? What happened to you?”
Fluttershy stood up and dusted herself off, speaking softly to the upset birds of the habitat, trying to calm them. She looked back to the unicorn and looked down in embarrassment. “I, uh…”
Lyra smiled faintly to her. “I know you love the animals, but climbing into their habitats is a bit much, isn’t it?”
Fluttershy chuckled at her wit, but it didn’t last. “N-no, I just…” she sighed. “Lyra, do you know who that pony is?” She pointed to the unicorn who had thrown her aside.
“Hmm?” Lyra looked in the direction she motioned and her expression went flat. “Her? That’s Sunset Shimmer. She's the daughter of one of the more wealthy families in Canterlot, and she’s probably the most arrogant pony you’ll ever meet. Did she do this to you?”
Fluttershy looked to the ground, kicking idly at the turf, conspicuously avoiding her roommate’s gaze.
“She did, didn’t she?” Lyra grumbled. “That’s harsh, even for her.”
“Please, don’t say anything. I don’t want to start any trouble.” Fluttershy shook the remainder of the dirt and twigs from her coat and feathers.
Lyra sighed. “Shy, you can’t let ponies just push you around like that all the time, especially not Sunset Shimmer. Otherwise, she’ll just keep doing it because she knows she can get away with it.”
Fluttershy shook her head stubbornly. “It’s not worth fighting over. Nothing is.”
Lyra rolled her eyes. “I can’t say that I completely agree with that, but you’re right that it’s not worth starting a fight over. Come on; let’s get our work done so we can take a break.”
Fluttershy nodded softly and stole one more look towards the cruel unicorn. She shook her head before following Lyra through the arboretum.
-o-
This was absolutely perfect. A tree keeping shade over her as she read a fascinating thesis on astronomy, hearing her friends, new and old, chatter away about their classes and lives, not a cloud in the sky to block the warm, shining sun. Twilight couldn’t imagine anything better. Except maybe owning her own library with every single book ever written in the history of forever. That would make things just a smidge better. Sadly, she had no such place to go to, but she could settle with what she had right now.
She looked up as she heard Rainbow address them. “Hey, wasn’t Fluttershy supposed to be here by now?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking around with a raised eyebrow. “It’s not like her to skip out on her friends.”
“She’s finishing up a report for her zoology class,” Rarity said as one of her hopeless followers shined her hooves and another was giving her a shoulder massage, while the third had gone off to fetch the group some drinks. “She’ll be along.”
Trixie rolled her eyes and nudged Twilight lightly. “How do those guys not annoy her to no end?”
Twilight eyed the two stallions who obeyed Rarity like mindless drones and shrugged. “She’s just used to it, I guess. Just try to ignore them. It’s gets pretty easy after a while, and they do have their uses.”
“Portable busboys?” Trixie suggested with a smirk, earning a rather unladylike snort of a laugh from her old friend. “I guess I can just grin and bear it for now. They don’t seem all that bad, even if they are complete idiots.”
“We’re right here, you know,” one of the two stallions said, indignantly glaring at Trixie.
“Good for you, champ,” came Trixie’s snarky reply, making the stallion fume before Rarity placed a hoof on his shoulder. He immediately calmed down, still glowering at the azure mare who had basically insulted him. All the mares shared a laugh at his expense, while he grumbled about them at least learning his name before making fun of him.
As the group laughed, Fluttershy arrived, panting from her run and looking a bit distraught. As she sat down, she glanced nervously over at Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and one of Rarity’s sycophants. Twilight raised an eyebrow at her best friend’s behavior. She was acting even shyer than normal, and that was really saying something.
“Something wrong, Shy?” Rainbow Dash asked before she could.
“Oh, um…” Fluttershy answered eloquently, looking away from her friends. “I-it’s nothing, really.”
“You sure ‘bout that, sugarcube?” Applejack asked with a tilt of her head. “You look like somepony just threw ya around.”
“Your mane is a bit messier than normal,” Rarity observed, pointing out a few loose strands in her friend’s pink mane.
Fluttershy self-consciously pulled at the parts of her mane that stuck out, straightening it as best she could. “Well…” she said hesitantly. “I… I met this rude pony in the arboretum. She said some really mean things and pushed me into one of the habitats.”
“WHAT!?” Rainbow shouted, outrage burning in her eyes as she shot up into the air, wings flapping furiously. “Who was it? When I get my hooves on the pony who hurt you, I’ll-!”
“Now, simmer down there, RD!” Applejack said, grabbing the pegasus by the tail with her teeth and pulling her back down to earth. She turned to Fluttershy, concern evident in her eyes. “Now, who was this bully?”
Once again, Fluttershy was reluctant. “She’s…” She trailed off, her gaze falling on something past her friends. She pointed a hoof in the direction she was looking to. “That’s her right over there!” she proclaimed, surprised by the immense coincidence.
Rainbow Dash turned and glared daggers at the fiery-maned unicorn. “Oh, she’s going down!” she exclaimed. Before anypony could stop her, she bolted toward the other mare, going in to tackle her down and force her to apologize.
Sunset Shimmer turned towards the charging pegasus sharply, an eyebrow raised at the raging rainbow-colored blur. She rolled her eyes and charged her horn, suddenly vanishing in a flash of blue light.
Rainbow gasped in surprise but was going too fast to stop in time to avoid crashing into the ground. She skidded painfully across the dirt and into a tree—the shock of which shook a number of leaves loose.
“Nuisance,” Shimmer muttered when she reappeared not two feet away from where she had been standing a second earlier. She was about to walk away when Rainbow’s friends came running to the pegasus, who stood up slowly, rubbing her aching head and once again burning into Sunset with a glare.
“Just who the hay do you think you are!?” she yelled angrily, stomping toward the unicorn, fuming with unbridled fury. “You apologize to Fluttershy right now!”
“Who?” Sunset asked indifferently. She then noticed the pink-maned pony, raising an eyebrow at her. “Her? The dolt with no sense of direction or respect?”
Rainbow snarled at her, her anger intensifying. “What did you just say!?”
“Rainbow, stop!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, getting in between the two mares. “We could at least hear her side of the story before jumping to conclusions, right?” She turned to Sunset, offering a hoof in greeting. “Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie! What’s your name?”
Sunset glared at the pink mare. “As if some lowly mud pony deserves to know,” she snapped, derision overflowing in her tone.
Pinkie backed up a little, caught completely off guard by the yellow unicorn’s statement. “Wh-what?” Before she could say more, she pushed off to the side by Applejack, who had an exceedingly offended look on her face.
“You mind repeatin’ that?” she demanded more than asked, though her tone made her sound like she was desperately trying to remain calm. “Ah think you said somethin’ that disagrees with my ears.”
Shimmer rolled her eyes, glaring at the two earth ponies as though they were the lowest form of life. “What a surprise. A mud pony butchering a once-proud language. Why don’t you go back to the boonies where you belong, you uneducated hick?”
Applejack was officially fuming at this point. She opened her mouth to say something, but was stopped when Twilight pulled her aside, shaking her head. Applejack reluctantly stepped back, still glowering at Shimmer with an obvious rage.
Twilight turned a scowl at Sunset, but she managed to remain collected. “Why don’t we just go our separate ways and leave this all behind us?” she suggested. “We’ll leave you alone if you leave us alone.”
Sunset looked over the group of seven mares and the two stallions who stood by Rarity’s sides. She raised an eyebrow and glared at Rainbow. “I expect an apology,” she said simply. “Your pegasus associate attempted to attack me. I expect her to apologize.”
“You apologize to Fluttershy first!” Rainbow spat.
Sunset scoffed. “I see no reason for me to apologize to a directionless foal.”
Rainbow growled at the mare, ready to tackle her and beat her senseless right there, but she was stopped again by Pinkie, who said nothing, opting only to shake her head in disapproval, as if to say that it wasn’t worth it. Twilight nodded to Pinkie in appreciation, then turned to Sunset again.
“We’ll just be going,” she said as she turned to join her friends again.
“You must be completely pathetic.”
Twilight stopped in her tracks and turned to Sunset again. She was about to say something, but was interrupted when an azure form stomped past her, growling furiously at Shimmer.
“Would you care to repeat that, Shimmer?” Trixie asked, getting just a few inches away from Sunset’s face. The yellow mare’s eyes widened very, very slightly in recognition.
“Lulamoon,” she greeted with ambivalence. “It’s been a while. I see you still have no respect for your betters.”
Trixie laughed lightly. “I don’t think you heard my question,” she said, narrowing her eyes further. “so I’ll rephrase it. Would you mind explaining why, exactly, Twilight Sparkle, my best friend, is ‘pathetic’?”
“Somepony who associates themselves with mud ponies,” Sunset began coldly, “demotes themselves to a lower form of existence. Thus, both you and your ‘friend’ are pathetic. Does that answer your question, Lulamoon?”
Trixie scowled at the unicorn in front of her. “Oh, it does. And I think you at least deserve to know that you’ve crossed a very fine line. You insulted my best friend. Say whatever you want about me, but nopony insults my best friend.”
“Trixie, don’t—” Twilight said in a warning tone.
“And what do you think you can do about it?” Sunset inquired.
“I’m going to do something that you can’t say no to,” the azure unicorn answered, a cocky smirk forming on her face. “I challenge you to a magic duel.”
“WHAT!?” both Twilight and Rarity exclaimed simultaneously.
“A magic duel!?” Pinkie shouted in shock. “Oh, my gosh! This is going to be-!” She paused and tilted her head. “Wait… is that bad?”
“Magic duels are an old unicornian tradition,” Rarity explained. “They were originally used to settle disputes between noble families, usually over land, marriage, and sometimes even over claims of crimes committed by the party that receives the challenge.”
“They’re always fought with some sort of wager,” Twilight elaborated further. “That’s the big reason why they’re not called out as often anymore. There’s always something on the line, and the losing party must adhere to the demands of the winner.” She turned to Trixie again. “Which is why you’re NOT going to do this, Trixie.”
The silver-maned unicorn only smirked and said, “Relax, Twilight. I’ve got this.” She turned to Sunset again. “If I win, you will apologize to Twilight, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie. Got it?”
Sunset looked over to the named ponies, considering the wager. “Very well,” she said with a nod. “However, when you lose, you must become my civil servant until graduation, and you will be forbidden from meeting with your ‘friends’ until then.”
Twilight’s eyes went wide at that. Becoming a civil servant of this yellow jerk would’ve been bad enough on its own, but not being able to see her closest friend again for years? “Trixie, you can’t-!”
“You’ve got a deal, Shimmer,” Trixie said with a cocky grin. “Like I said, I’ve got this.”
-o-
The two mares stood apart in the field, Trixie’s friends watching the duel closely. Twilight looked on with an expression of concern. She had confidence in her friend, but the worrier in her couldn’t help but dwell on the possibilities if Trixie lost. She hadn’t seen Trixie for years before the Academy, and she dreaded the thought of not being able to see or talk to her again during their entire time at the Academy. She took a calming breath and reassured herself that Trixie wouldn’t lose; she’d never give up.
Trixie stood calmly, collecting her thoughts and devising a plan for the upcoming duel.
“This is your last chance to back down, Lulamoon. You don’t have any idea on what you’re getting into.” Sunset sneered with an arrogant toss of her head.
Trixie once again gave her a confident grin. “Don’t start what you can’t finish, Shimmer. I’m about to show you just what a Lulamoon can do!” Her horn glowed and a number of brightly-colored explosions took to the evening sky.
Sunset watched the display with a disinterested snort. “Is that all? Colorful lights? If that’s all a Lulamoon can do, then I have this in the bag already.” The yellow unicorn’s horn glowed and the sky lit up with a bright lightning bolt; the resulting thunder was almost deafening. Twilight gulped as she watched the magic Sunset was using.
“Now that the showboating is over, let’s get serious,” Sunset said arrogantly.
Trixie huffed, not appearing fazed by the show of force. “As you wish. Try to top this!” Her horn glowed with a pink aura, and a glowing manticore suddenly formed in the field between the two duelists. The creature stood tall, its beastly eyes glaring down on the yellow unicorn, its scorpion tail lashing around agitatedly. It reared back and roared long and loud in Sunset’s face, illusory saliva splattering her face, much to her chagrin. The conjured manticore looked all too real to the onlookers; they could have sworn they could even smell the creature.
Sunset blinked and wiped her face of the saliva. “A manticore?” she spat, her horn glowing fiercely as the manticore was quickly swallowed up in a tornado of flame. The bestial illusion vanished, wisps of magical smoke drifting away in the wind.
Trixie watched her illusion fade to nothingness and turned back to the other unicorn. She narrowed her eyes and furrowed her brow as she concentrated on her magic. Her form seemed to blur for a moment before a number of Trixie clones appeared around the field.
Sunset looked around as she was surrounded by the army of Trixies, her head darting around, trying to locate the real one. “What’s wrong, Shimmer?” the Trixies all asked in unison. “Can’t beat me if you can’t find me!” The clones lunged at Sunset, who in turn blasted at them with beams of magic. As her magic struck an illusion, it would fade in a puff of white smoke. So absorbed was she in defeating the clones that she didn’t have a barrier in place as a pink beam struck her in the side. Sunset tumbled away with a grunt of pain and looked back in the direction from which it came. She saw the remaining Trixies smile insultingly at her.
“Did that hurt, Shimmer? Now you know what it feels like on the receiving end of those idiotic comments you made. Ready to give up?”
Sunset stood up quickly, her expression ablaze in anger. “A Shimmer never surrenders, especially not to a lowly Lulamoon!” She concentrated her magic and lashed out with a flurry of smaller beams. The scatter dissipated the clones, and when her eyes fell upon the real Trixie putting up a barrier to protect herself, Sunset hit her with a blast that pierced her barrier and sent the blue unicorn tumbling away.
“Trixie!” Twilight called out in concern.
The blue unicorn stood up slowly and glared fiercely at the smug Sunset. “It’s going to take a lot more than that to beat me,” she growled.
Sunset grinned almost evilly. “I was hoping you would say that.” She shot another beam at Trixie, who dodged aside. Her horn glowed, and she vanished from view. All of them looked around to locate her, but she was nowhere to be seen.
“Running away, Lulamoon?” Sunset taunted, her eyes darting around for her foe.
“Hardly, Shimmer. In fact, I think you’ll like this.” Trixie’s voice ghosted all around her.
Sunset looked around slowly, prepared to throw a barrier up at a moment’s notice. Out of her peripheral vision, she saw the air shimmer, like heated asphalt. She turned and blasted at the spot. There was a groan as Trixie tumbled back into view, her coat slightly singed where she was struck. Sunset followed up her attack with another, and Trixie once again rolled to the side and countered with an attack of her own.
Shimmer smirked, and a bowl-shaped barrier appeared in front of her. Trixie’s attack was rebounded back at her, and she only had time to gasp as her own magic sent her backwards. Sunset blasted at her again, and Twilight yelled out for her friend as the blue unicorn was struck a second time.
Trixie shakingly got back to her hooves and looked to her foe with a hard glare, who only returned that look of with a sneer of her own. “Is that all you’ve got?” the yellow unicorn asked with a triumphant tone.
Trixie grimaced. “I don’t quit!” She collected her magic again, but before she could finish she was hit once again with a blue beam. She tried to stand but Sunset was there and pressed a hoof down firmly on her shoulder.
“Give up!” Sunset snarled at the prone Trixie.
Trixie glance quickly at Twilight and back. “I won’t—” She screamed as Sunset blasted her again, pointblank. When she tried to get away, Sunset stomped on her again.
Twilight yelled out for her friend and tried to come to her friend’s aid, but was held back by the others.
“Let me go!” She thrashed around in their grip. “She’s hurting her!”
“Twilight, you can’t interfere! It… it’s forbidden,” Rarity said, her own face distraught at the spectacle before her.
“No! Please, stop!” Twilight pleaded.
“Sugarcube, no, ya can’t! If ya jump in there, you’ll only make her fight worse,” Applejack said, looking to her friend with compassion. “Ah know ya wanna help, but ya can’t.”
“But…” she stammered, tears threatening to fall from her eyes
“I know how you feel, Twilight. But a deal’s a deal, even if we don’t like it.” Rainbow said, glaring daggers at Sunset.
Twilight looked to Trixie with a look of anguish. “Stop hurting her!” she yelled at Sunset.
Sunset turned her fierce glare at the unicorn. “Or what? Are you going to try your hoof at me, too?”
Twilight looked to her with a lost expression.
Sunset sneered. “Didn’t think so. You’re just as pathetic as your mud pony friends.”
Something in Twilight snapped, and she glared hatefully at the other unicorn. “You want a duel, fine! I’ll duel you, too!”
“Wh-what!?” Trixie stammered weakly, trying to get back onto her hooves.
Sunset glowered at her. “Name your wager.”
Twilight thought carefully on that. Shimmer struck her as the kind of pony who wouldn’t accept just any bet. Her reward would have to be significant, almost as big as her ego obviously was. “If I win, you have to stop hurting Trixie, and release her from the law of your magic duel. And if you win, I’ll become your servant as well.” Twilight nodded to her own wager. Shimmer would benefit if she lost, but she would at least be able to keep spending time with her oldest friend.
Shimmer considered the offer for about a minute. “No deal.”
“What!?” Twilight exclaimed. “But you can’t just-!”
“One civil servant is more than enough,” Sunset explained, looking over to Trixie with a condescending glare. “Our wager would have to be something that impacts you negatively. In fact, I just so happen to have an ideal wager in mind.”
Twilight felt a cold chill run down her spine at Sunset’s words, but she didn’t back down. “Name it.”
Sunset turned a vicious smile her way. “When you lose to me, you must drop out of the Academy. Forever.”
There was a collective gasp at that. Twilight’s friends began murmuring amongst each other, each of them worried for the purple unicorn. Pinkie bounced over to Twilight, looking desperately concerned. “Are you sure about this, Twilight?” she asked worriedly. “You saw what she did to Trixie.”
“I know,” Twilight affirmed with a nod. “That’s why I can’t back down. Trixie’s always had my back when we were little. It’s time I returned the favor.” She motioned for Pinkie to step back, to which the pink mare obliged. She then turned to Shimmer, a determined fire in her eyes. “I accept the terms of this magic duel.”
“Good,” Shimmer said simply. “Then let’s begin.” She immediately opened with a volley of magic bolts, which Twilight quickly sidestepped, forming a barrier to protect her friends from the attacks. She then fired off a volley of her own bolts, which Sunset easily deflected with her own shield. The yellow unicorn then vanished in a flash of blue light, reappearing behind Twilight and striking her with with a bolt of magic.
Twilight skidded across the ground painfully, but managed to recover and fire off a beam of her own power at the yellow mare, who only vanished in another flash. Shimmer reappeared right in front of Twilight and released a point-blank pulse on the violet mare.
“Twilight!” Rainbow Dash called out. She was about to charge in to help the bookworm, but was held back by Rarity, who gripped the pegasus by her tail with her magic.
“We’re forbidden from interfering, Rainbow!” Rarity chastised, her eyes growing wet with worry. “As much as we may hate this, we can’t do anything but hope Twilight can win.” She looked back at the scene of the duel, giving silent prayers that Twilight could find a way to win this. She was a clever mare, after all.
Twilight stumbled back onto her hooves, her head reeling from that last impact. This was going about as well as she’d expected, but she knew she couldn’t just quit. She glared over at Sunset, who stood with a mocking self-assuredness. Twilight scowled at the other mare’s arrogance. She had seen plenty of ponies with looks like that before, and they had never actually bothered her. This one did. It made her skin crawl. She felt legitimate hatred for this mare.
‘Do not let it control you...’
Her head shot up. She looked around, trying to find the source of that voice. Who had spoken to her just now?
Shimmer took that as an opportunity to finish this. She charged her horn and fired off a ball of flame at her distracted opponent. Twilight turned her head at the sound of crackling fire, her eyes going wide as time seemed to slow down. A thousand thoughts ran through her mind in that instant. She was going to lose this duel. She would have to drop out of the Academy, throw away whatever future she might’ve had if she hadn’t gone through with this stupid duel.
‘Step left...’
Pure instinct drove her to obey the voice, and she leaped off to the left, evading the fireball, which crashed into the ground with a deafening, thunderous clap.
‘Barrier...’
She formed a bubble around herself just in time to deflect several bolts of magic that Shimmer had flung at her. It felt… natural. More so than usual whenever she used magic. She was acting on instinct alone, now, and it felt… right, for some reason.
Sunset Shimmer sneered at the other mare and charged her horn with a more powerful spell, one that could shatter even expert barriers. She unleashed a mighty blast of raw power upon her opponent, who stood firm, despite the huge sphere of magic charging toward her.
‘Teleport and counter…’
That… could be a challenge. Twilight had yet to master teleportation. In fact, she had never teleported before in her life! Still, she charged her horn as the blast continued its rampage toward her position. She closed her eyes.
Shimmer smirked victoriously. She couldn’t see past her own attack, but she didn’t need to in order to know that she had won. She always won. Nopony could beat her. She wouldn’t be surprised if she found the purple idiot on her knees begging her to let her stay in the Academy. There was nothing she loved more than the thrill of victory.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a familiar popping sound just before her attack exploded against the ground, leaving nothing but a huge scorch mark in the grass. Another popping sound occurred behind her, but before she could react, she was blasted away by a very simple stun spell. She struggled to move when she hit the dirt, but the spell had rendered even her magic inert. She was completely helpless. A purple hoof landed in front of her face, and she looked up to see its owner standing over her.
“Concede,” Twilight said in a warning tone, her horn glowing with power.
Sunset sneered angrily at Twilight. This couldn’t have happened! She had to have cheated! She had to have deceived her somehow! This wasn’t how it was supposed to go! Still…
“I concede defeat,” Shimmer spat hatefully.
“And you’ll honor your end of the wager?” Twilight asked, not moving an inch.
Shimmer glared up at her. “I doubt you’d release me otherwise.”
Twilight narrowed her eyes. “Release Trixie from wager of your duel with her. Then I’ll release you.”
Shimmer growled at Twilight, and turned her attention to Trixie. “Lulamoon, I release you from the restrictions of our wager. You’re free to go and do as you please.” She turned to Twilight again. “Happy?”
There was a moment of silence between the two mares as Twilight released her spell, freeing Sunset. Then… she giggled, a small smirk on her face. “Very.”
Sunset glowered at her spitefully. She pushed a hoof into Twilight’s chest, giving her an intimidating glare. “Mark my words, Twilight Sparkle: you will regret this. Nopony humiliates Sunset Shimmer without suffering the consequences.”
Twilight only rolled her eyes in response. “Try to act tough all you want, Shimmer,” she said. “If you’ll excuse me, I have a hurt friend to help.” With that, she turned on her hooves and headed over to Trixie, who had managed to get steady footing on all fours again. Shimmer grumbled under her breath and trotted away, leaving the group of friends to their own business. Rarity sent one of her followers to go fetch a nurse for Trixie, while Fluttershy did her best soothe Trixie’s injuries with her limited knowledge of medical practice.
Meanwhile, Twilight thought back to that voice she had heard. Where had it come from? Who was speaking to her, and why? The voice was strong, yet gentle. It was powerful and intimidating, but not terrifyingly so. Perhaps she was just imagining it? Yes, that would make some sense. It was probably the heat of the moment that made her hear that strange voice. It was likely nothing to be really concerned about.
-o-
From his perch upon a balcony overlooking the courtyard, a single stallion observed the consecutive magic duels. Three gifted unicorns had just fought with great determination, each one demonstrating significant potential. Two of them especially caught his eye. They had a great amount of untapped power deep within them. All that need be done was reach for that power and pull it out. He used his magic to pull a pair of files off from his desk and briefly looked them over.
‘Yes…’ he thought. ‘These two could do just the trick.’