Three Wishes

Sitting beside Heinrick at a picnic table set up in the grass, he and I are surrounded by the Elements of Harmony themselves. Each of us with a plate of snacks we gathered from the tables set up at the party. I can still hear the music and joyful laughter of the partygoers as they aren’t too far away from us. “And this here is Applejack!” The energetic, pink mare I recognize from the crowd exclaims as she wraps her forelegs around an orange-coated mare in a brown, wide-brimmed hat. “She has a farm called Sweet Apple Acres! And there, she grows—”

“Apples, I presume?” Heinrick asks.

The pink mare gasps. “How’d you know?!”

“Just a feeling I get sometimes.”

“What else does this ‘feeling’ tell you? Tell me! Tell me!” She demands as she hops about excitedly.

“Is she normally like this?” Heinrick turns to the orange-coated mare.

“Oh, this is nothin’ compared to what I’ve seen,” she says.

“Well, now that you’ve introduced ‘all’ of us. . .” A white-coated, unicorn mare with a well-groomed, royal-purple mane begins. “Why don’t you go ahead and finally introduce yourself?”

“Oh yeah!” The pink mare jumps up from her seat. “How could I forget? My name’s Pinkie Pie, but you can you just call me Pinkie for short!”

“And you’re the Element of Laughter, is that right?” Heinrick asks.

“Sure am!”

“And you’re the Element of Generosity,” he says to the white-coated mare.

“Indeed, but please, feel free to simply refer to me as Rarity.”

“Ah, right. Sorry.”

Rarity giggles. “There’s no need to apologize.”

“Hey, what’s the deal with your friend? He ‘does’ know how to speak, right?” A sky-blue, pegasus mare with a rainbow-striped mane raises an eyebrow, looking at me curiously.

“Rainbow Dash!”

“What? What I say?”

“There’s no need to be so uncouth.”

“Whatever that means. . . I’m just wondering if he’s been properly trained.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Heinrick asks.

“What? Was I not clear enough?”

“No, you weren’t.” Heinrick stands up from his seat, eyes glued to Rainbow Dash. “Why don’t you say it again?”

I quickly grab hold of Heinrick’s foreleg, hoping I can convince him to calm himself down. “Heinrick, don’t,” I whisper. “We don’t want to get into trouble.”

“What are you going to do, huh?” Rainbow Dash mockingly asks as she stands up from her seat as well.

“I don’t know where this came from,” says Heinrick. “Element of Harmony or not, the second you mock my friend is the same second I shut your mouth for good.”

“Heinrick! What are you doing?” I worriedly mutter.

“I’d like to see you try,” says Rainbow Dash.

“Then I hope you’ll have fun watching,” says Heinrick as the both of them continue to intensely glare at each other. Then Instantly, Rainbow Dash spreads out her wings and bursts out into a fit of laughter. She falls to the ground clenching her gut, leaving Heinrick lost in confusion.

“‘I hope you’ll have fun watching’! Oh, that was too good!” she exclaims as she kicks her legs into the air.

“Umm . . . what’s going on here?” Heinrick slowly sinks back down into his seat.

“Ugh, pay no mind to her,” says Rarity as she rolls her eyes. “She pulls shenanigans like this on a regular basis. . . Although I must say, you’re quite brave for standing up for your friend like that. That’s quite . . . admirable of you.”

“Oh, really?” Heinrick smiles. “Well, what can I say?”

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” I add.

“Is that so?” Rarity asks. “My, you are a true friend indeed.”

“Hey, I wasn’t lying about what I said back there,” says Heinrick. “I’m not gonna just sit around and let my friend get talked down to, aint that right Two-Legs?”

“Oh, you know how much I ‘love’ it when you call me that,” I say as I shake my head.

“Ha-ha! Ah, you know I’m just messing around.”

“Phew!” Applejack sighs in relief. “I almost thought somethin’ was about to get ugly.” Recovering from her laughter, Rainbow Dash gets back into her seat with her eyes watering.

“Sorry,” she begins. “I just couldn’t resist! You should’ve seen your face!” She lets out another fit of laughter, and Heinrick awkwardly tries to laugh along with her as he glances to me. “But seriously. . .” She catches her breath. “Why aren’t you saying anything? Cat got your tongue?” Baffled by her question, I tilt my head as I try to piece together what she could possibly mean.

“I don’t . . . I don’t understand,” I say. “W-What cat?”

“Oh, boy.” Rainbow Dash presses her hoof against her forehead.

“It’s a figure of speech silly!” Pinkie adds.

“. . . Oh! I get it!” I say in wonderment.

“How did you ‘not’ know that?” Heinrick asks.

“Hey, give me a break. I’m trying to get used to the ‘local vocabulary’.”

“Ah, trying to make yourself sound smarter with your words, huh?”

“Maybe.” Chuckling fills the table, and I feel a sense of accomplishment after the slight embarrassment. “Besides, I’m not the only one who hasn’t been talking much.” I glance to the mare sitting furthest away from Heinrick and I: a yellow-coated mare, with her head down and long, pink mane covering a large portion of her face. As soon as I mention her, she looks up; and with a motion of her hoof, moves aside her mane to show her big, teal eyes.

“That’s Fluttershy,” says Applejack. “Don’t worry, she’s just not very comfortable around new . . . visitors.”

“Perfect!” says Heinrick. “Then I believe these two officially have the most in common.” He turns to me. “Wouldn’t you agree?”

“. . . I suppose.” I smile, but Fluttershy simply returns to keeping her head down. Feeling I may have said something wrong, I turn to Heinrick, but he only meets me with a shrug.

“Well, umm. . .” Heinrick trails off, trying to disrupt the silence that’s suddenly overtaken the table. “Say, somepony’s missing. . . Right?”

“Ah, that’ll be Twilight,” says Applejack.

“You mean . . . Sparkle? ‘The’ Twilight Sparkle?”

“I mean, I invited her to come. She should be on her way. I don’t know why, but she’s been actin’ a bit odd today.”

“Odd?”

“What do you mean by ‘odd’?” I ask.

“Well, as soon as you all showed up, she’s gone and cooped herself up in her library. It’s strange. Whenever the Princess shows up to Ponyville, she’s usually the first to show. . . Actually, I may have spoken a bit too soon.” Applejack gazes off in the distance behind us, and we turn in our seats to see a mare approaching our table. I’m not sure why, but I’m suddenly getting a strange sensation deep down in the pit of my stomach.

I lean over to Heinrick and whisper to him. “Hey, Heinrick.”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t think I’m feeling well.”

“What? Are you sure. . ? You need a bucket or something?”

“I . . . I don’t think so.”

“Alright, well what’s going on?”

“I don’t know. Just looking at her makes me feel . . . strange.”

Heinrick squints and smirks at me, confusing me even further. “Oh, I see what’s going on here.”

“You do? What is it?”

“Let me guess. Are you experiencing sudden sweating, trembling, shivers up and down your spine as well as an upset stomach?”

“. . . How do you know all that?”

“Well, according to my diagnosis, you are officially in heart-shock.”

“Heart-shock? Is that bad?”

“Not at all. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Heart-shock is that initial hit of strange feelings once your eyes meet somepony rather . . . special to you.”

“You’re making this up; I can tell.”

“Oh no, it’s quite real. Tell me, what are you thinking about as you watch her right at this moment?”

“I. . . Well. . .”

“Go on, spit it out.”

“Her . . . her glistening, violet eyes, her mane, her flawless smile. . .”

“I see. . .”

“She looks . . . perfect.”

“Yup, looks like you’re finally taking your first step into the world of ‘love’.”

“R-Really? Are you sure? I mean, what am I supposed to do?”

“I don’t know, why don’t you ask her yourself?”

“Huh?”

“Hello everypony!” The purple, unicorn mare greets, her voice erupting right behind me. I jolt in surprise as I wasn’t expecting her to be so close to me so quickly.

“There ya are Twilight! We’ve been wonderin’ when you were gonna show up,” says Applejack.

“Yeah, I want to apologize. I know I’ve been a bit rude to you all, and I’m sorry. It’s just . . . a really stressful time for me right now.” There’s something about her voice that sends me deeper into this state of ‘heart-shock’ as Heinrick put it. I have no idea how to handle this. Heinrick’s told me a little bit about this sort of thing, but I don’t have the slightest clue how to move forward from here. I feel like my mouth has just been sewn shut, and my body has turned to stone. “And now that I’m here, I’d also like to apologize to you two knights.”

“What for?” Heinrick asks.

“It was rude of me to not attend the ceremony. You two deserved ‘everypony’ to arrive and give you their full attention. If it’s okay with the both of you, I’d like to us to have a proper introduction. My name is Twilight Sparkle.”

“It’s an honor to finally meet you. My name’s Heinrick.”

“Please, the honor is mine.”

“Are you kidding? You’re like a legend!”

“Well, I wouldn’t go that far, but I’m flattered nonetheless. . . And you are?” Twilight then turns to me, and I’m still frozen stiff with not a word leaving my lips.

Heinrick awkwardly chuckles. “He’s just a bit . . . nervous being around The Elements of Harmony; and I mean, who wouldn’t be? Right?” He punches me in the shoulder, jolting me to life.

“Uh-Aireal!” I say with my eyes wide. “My-my name’s Aireal.”

“Ah, yes,” Twilight continues. “Princess Celestia has told me much about you.”

“Sh-She has?”

“That’s right. I must say, you’re a very intriguing individual. I’ve studied nearly every member of the animal kingdom, but I’ve never seen anything quite like you. You’re unique.”

“Well, I uh . . . Thank you, Miss Sparkle.”

“As a matter of fact, and I hope I’m not sounding too insistent, but I’d like to study you sometime.”

“Study?”

“Yes. I’m very interested in you. I feel like there’s much to be learned from you. We can head right to my library right now, and just go from there. I hope that’s not asking for too much.”

“Oh, n-no not at all. Whenever you’d like; I’ll be there.”

“How does ‘now’ sound?”

“Uh . . . you mean . . . ‘right’ right now?”

“Sure! I could prepare us some lunch as well, as long as you’re still hungry. It’ll be fun.”

“I . . . eh . . . You know, I don’t—”

“He would absolutely ‘love’ to Miss Sparkle!” Heinrick bursts in. “You know what, you two should get a move on right now.”

“Heinrick,” I mutter. “What are you doing?!”

“I’m doing you a favor right now,” Heinrick mutters back. “You wanted to ‘connect the dots’ with somepony, and here she is! I’m telling you, you have no idea how easy you’ve got it right now. She’s already ‘interested’ in you. All you have to do is show her who you are!”

“But I don’t know what I’m getting myself into! What if I mess this up?”

“You won’t! Trust me! Do you really want to just blow this off?”

“. . . No.”

“Good choice. You won’t regret it.” Heinrick and I turn back to Twilight who’s been patiently waiting my answer; and with a deep breath, I stand up from my seat.

“Okay . . . let’s go.”

“Perfect!” says Twilight as she joyfully smiles. “Then let’s not waste any time, please follow me.”

“You two go and have fun,” says Heinrick. “I’m gonna stay here with these fine fillies.” Twilight starts walking, but I stay and turn to Heinrick. Impatiently, he mouths the word ‘go’ as he shoos me away with his hoof.

“Hey!” Twilight calls to me. “Is something wrong?”

“No, no, nothing’s wrong,” I say as I catch up to her as my armor clanks and shutters. I follow her along the dirt path further into the town. The entire place is empty, with the only sounds being the distant music and laughter of the party, and our steps along the dry soil. Little, cozy-looking cottages make up the neighborhoods, filling me with a sense of comfort. It’s somewhat of a break from the constant aching in my stomach, as well as the other ailments that Heinrick described to me. It makes me wonder how he could’ve possibly known precisely how I was feeling. Perhaps he truly does know more about this whole ‘love’ thing than I thought. I almost feel like I’m being led straight to my utter demise. I’ve never done anything like this before, let alone ‘felt’ anything like this before. It’s so bizarre how instantaneous it was, as if I’ve seen her before in a dream or something. However, I can’t recall a single dream where I’ve seen anypony even closely resembling her. Perhaps these feelings inside me are toying with me now, making my mind run circles in my head.

“So,” Twilight begins. “As a knight, I’m sure you must be aware of the band of rebels that has formed in recent time.”

“Hm. . ? Oh! Yes, yes I am.”

“I’ve heard word that their leader is a stallion who practices wicked spells. Spells that have been forbidden by Her Majesty.”

“Well, then he’s already committed a horrible crime, and deserves whatever punishment may come his way.”

“He says he wishes to watch Canterlot fall. He’s already demonstrated he’s not afraid to use drastic measures to achieve what he wants. You did hear about the tragedy that befell us just days ago, didn’t you?”

“Yes, how could I forget?”

“He will end the life of another pony, just to see his twisted vision of Equestria brought to life.”

“It’s horrible. How could anypony live that way?”

“I ask myself that question every day, and I still don’t have an answer. What puzzles me even further is that many have chosen to follow him. This one stallion: a traitor to the Princess, and a ruthless murderer. Yet, he gained a great number of followers over the course of this year. . . We’re lucky to have knights like you fighting for what’s right.” If only she hadn’t felt the need to remind me of what happened a few days ago. I had done so well to put it out of my mind, but now it’s come crawling right back. Princess Celestia gathered every last knight together, and broke the news to all of us. She said that two of our fellow knights who were sent on guard duty for the night never returned from their shift. When she had sent somepony to search for them, all that was found was their lifeless bodies. The way she described it was so bizarre. There were no traces of blood, no wounds, no signs of struggle; but their hearts were silent. None of us could explain it, but the Princess new that it was the work of the rebels. Many of us questioned her at the time as to how she could’ve been so sure, but she said she’d give us further details in time. There’s a scheduled burial for the two knights coming soon, and all of us are going to attend. The only thing that I’m wondering is not about how they suddenly died, but death itself. I wonder what it’s like. “Well, here we are.” Twilight interrupts my thought.

I stand before an enormous tree, and built into it are windows, balconies, and even a front door. I’ve never seen anything like it, and am baffled by its design. Twilight approaches and opens the door, revealing that the tree has been hollowed out for the living room. “Please, come in,” she welcomes. Taking my first step inside, I am greeted by the strong smell of wood, but it isn’t an unpleasant one. Perhaps it’s because my homeland was filled with nothing but trees. Makes perfect sense to me. “Feel free to make yourself at home. I’m just going to go retrieve a couple of study materials from my room. I’ll only be a moment.” Twilight ascends the stairwell into the upper level of the house, and I remain in the center of the living room too nervous to leave this spot. All along the walls are shelves carved right into the wood, and they’re filled with an array of books. However, not as many as the library back in Canterlot Castle. Every knight is given full access to the library, but both Heinrick and I tend to stay away from there. He always comes up with something for us to do in our spare time, so I haven’t really gotten the chance to really check that part of the castle out. The silence is all of a sudden broken by the sound of fluttering wings. I look up to see an owl perched atop a chandelier. It tilts its head as it stares with its unrelenting, golden eyes. Quickly growing uncomfortable, I turn away from it, and try to focus on anything else but it. Thankfully, Twilight returns with a hefty stack of books and sets them on the floor. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“It’s alright. . . Um, do you know that there’s an owl in here?”

“Of course I do, he’s a loyal companion of mine. Speaking of which . . . there’s someone I’d like you to meet before we start.” Twilight hurries back upstairs, and comes back with something very peculiar by her side. A small, purple-scaled dragon staring up at me with its big, green eyes. “I’d like you to meet my friend, Spike.”

“Hey there, Spike.” Curiously, I bend down to meet Spike eye to eye, and reach out my hand to him. “My name’s—” Impulsively, Spike reels back in fear, clutching Twilight’s leg. “. . . Aireal.” I finish confusedly as I look up to Twilight. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No, not at all. He’s probably just a bit scared since he’s never seen anything like you before. Go on, Spike. You can go now.” I watch the little dragon as he retreats back up the stairs occasionally glancing my way.

“I . . . hope I didn’t frighten him.”

“Try not to worry about it; I’m sure he’s fine. Why don’t we get started?” Twilight turns and walks over to her stack of books, and my eyes drift off to the window as I wonder what I should do and say next. Heinrick’s advice, while it seems simple to follow, instead feels impossible. I feel I’ve already made a bad impression by scaring her friend, but I have no idea how that could’ve been avoided. All I said to him was my name. Well, maybe there will be plenty of opportunities for me to redeem myself. I take a deep breath to try and keep myself calm, and just wait for whatever she has in store. Like a leaf in the wind, I am blown back by a strong blast of reddish light. My back slams against the wall behind me, and I fall to the ground with my chest in pain as if it was just pounded by a mallet. It takes a moment for the air to enter my windpipe, and I choke as I struggle to take one simple breath. “Now that’s strange. How could that have happened?”

“W-What. . ? What did you do?”

“Just testing to see if you had let your guard down, which you clearly have. Funny, isn’t that the first thing they teach you in training?” I look up to see a blurry vision of Twilight across the room. I grasp my chest, hoping the pain will eventually subside. “What’s the matter? Are you finished already? Some knight you turned out to be.” With my head pounding, I get to my knees. “I feel bad for whoever trained you. You must’ve been one of their most disappointing students.” My vision is clearing, and my headache is slowly subsiding.

“W-What are you talking about? What’s this about?”

“Knights of the Royal Guard are fighters, not failures. Right now, I’m beginning to think you’re the second one.” I get to my feet, and cautiously put my hands in the air.

“Listen, I don’t know what I might’ve done to upset you, but I swear I didn’t mean it.”

“Now you’re begging for mercy after one of my weakest spells. A disappointment indeed.”

“Just because you’re an Element of Harmony doesn’t give you the right to talk down to me!”

“Looks like ‘you’re’ the one getting upset now. You’re not thinking of running away now, are you?”

“. . . I’m not going to fight you.”

“Spoken like a true coward.”

“What’s the matter with you?! Have you lost your mind? One of us is going to get seriously injured! Or worse!”

“That’s what I’m counting on.”

“W-What?”

“An opponent isn’t going to go easy on you. I’m just making this a bit more realistic. Besides, you agreed to be studied, and that’s what we’re doing. I’m testing to see if you truly are worthy of the title as a knight. So far, you’re failing.”

“I don’t want to be a part of this anymore. Now, you let me leave this instant.”

“Why should I do anything you say? This is my home after all, so we’re going to follow my rules.”

“You really have lost your mind.”

“You can think whatever you want. Either way,” I hear the dreadful sound of the door locking. “No one is leaving until this test is over.” Twilight’s horn begins to glow with a reddish hue, and I am now left with no other option.

“I didn’t want to have to do this.” I reach behind me, and grab hold of my crossbow. I bring it to my chest, tightening my grip along the wooden handle and press the stock against my shoulder. “But I will do what I have to to defend myself.” With my other hand on the foregrip, and a bolt already loaded, I aim down the sights towards Twilight.

“Don’t worry. I already know how this is going to end.” The glow of her horn intensifies as I anticipate when she’s going to fire. With my heart pounding, I duck and roll across the floor as her beam of magic flies right passed me. Getting to one knee, I realign my aim and lean into the stock. I wait for her next move, hoping she’ll call this off at any moment. “Nice reflexes, but can you keep it up?” Her horn immediately lights up again, and my eyes widen with fear. I hop up to my feet and jump back as a smaller beam of light is shot and burns the floor. Before I can think of a way to escape, another beam shoots passed my face as the heat of the magic warms my cheek. One after another, beams of light fire towards me relentlessly. I manage to dodge some of them, but most of them skim my armor as I dance around the room.

It’s clear she isn’t going to cease fire, so I dart my eyes around the room searching for cover. I set my sights on a wooden table, and rush towards it as more beams of light are shot and follow me all the way to the table. I push it over, and hide behind it as I catch my breath. “Hiding can buy you some time, but is it really worth it just to delay the inevitable?” Twilight asks. “You know you won’t win.”

“I’m sorry,” I mutter. Taking a deep breath, I pop up from the table and aim my crossbow towards Twilight. With my hand trembling, I force myself to pull the trigger. The string snaps forward and sends the bolt flying through the air. Instantly, Twilight uses her magic to toss a book in its path. I watch the book hit the floor with the tail of the bolt sticking up from the hard cover.

“Nicely done. You actually fired your weapon.” I go back into hiding behind the table, and hurriedly slide my boot through the silver stirrup attached to the barrel of my crossbow. I grab the middle of the string, and pull it back until it locks behind the retention spring. “You see, now you have to reload your weapon. That takes quite some time, doesn’t it?” With my hands still trembling, I grab another bolt from the quiver attached to the belt around my waist, and load it into the barrel. “I don’t need to worry about anything like that. All I need to do is focus. . .” With another deep breath, I pop up from cover and aim my crossbow. However, she’s suddenly disappeared. “And you won’t stand a chance.” Twilight whispers into my ear sending shivers up my spine. I whip around to see her with a big grin on her face, and her horn is already blindingly bright. Some sort of pulse of magic is sent through the air, forcing me flying backward and my crossbow slips from my hands as my body tumbles across the floor. The table shatters, and the pieces spread out around the room. Disoriented, I lift up my head to see my crossbow sitting all the way on the other side of the room. “Now what will you do without your weapon? Surrender?”

Her horn is already glowing again, and I need to think of something to do and fast. I grab one of the larger scraps of wood from the shattered table, and hold it up to shield my face. I feel the beam of light strike the wood, but it doesn’t go through. I inspect the wood, and find that the beam did in fact leave a scorch mark on the surface. “Huh, quick thinking,” says Twilight. “Very well. If you want to make this last longer, then so be it. It’ll only make this more painful for you.” I scramble to my feet and quickly maneuver toward my crossbow using the scrap of wood to block the onslaught of incoming beams of light. The wood is weakening, so I dive towards my crossbow. I feel something tighten around my ankles, causing me to flop onto the floor. Looking down, I find a reddish ring of light is binding my ankles. Forcefully, I am lifted up into the air by my feet, and everything flips upside down. Regardless, I aim my crossbow towards Twilight and fire another bolt. However, she vanishes, leaving my bolt to instead pierce the wall. The ring of light around my ankles dissipates, and I plummet to the floor on my head. With the pain in my head ravaging my skull, I hurry and reload my crossbow.

“Do you want to know another thing I realized?” Twilight’s voice echoes throughout the room. Crazily, I aim and point my crossbow in every which direction desperately searching for her. “Every time you miss. . .” My sights are suddenly locked onto Twilight as she stands on the far end of the room. I fire another bolt, but she vanishes before it can reach her. “You’re putting yourself in even more danger.” With sweat running down my forehead, I quickly reload my crossbow. “You only have so much ammo. . .” I ready and aim crossbow with my eyes darting all around the room. “What will you do when you run out?” Out of the corner of my eye, I notice her. In one quick motion, I turn and fire my weapon. I watch my bolt pierce the wall yet again, and my entire body trembles as her words run through my head. I prime my crossbow and reach for another bolt, but I find it to be my very last bolt. I clench the bolt in my hand, and shut my eyes as I take a deep breath to help put myself at ease. “You had better make sure every shot counts.” Twilight taunts as I load in the bolt. With my crossbow pointed, I back myself against the wall waiting for her to appear. “Or perhaps. . .” Twilight materializes before my very eyes with the same grin she’s held this entire time, and her horn appears ready to fire. “You’ll fail before you can even fire your last shot.” I drop to the floor as a much more powerful beam of magic strikes the shelf of books that was behind me. Many of the books fall to the ground, black and charred. They, along with the rest of the shelf, instantly begin producing clouds of smoke. I watch Twilight choke and cough as she tries to whisk away the smoke with her hoof. Then, I am struck with an idea.

I scramble to my feet and run across the room. “Where do you think you’re going?” Twilight angrily taunts. I stop and aim my crossbow, and she fires another powerful beam of light. Yet again, I’m able to drop to the floor as she demolishes another shelf of books. More smoke starts filling the air, and Twilight quickly grows furious. “What good is running going to do?! You might as well be still and end it!” I run shelf to shelf as she destroys them all. I take in another deep breath as the smoke grows thicker, and I remain as still as possible. Twilight continues to choke and cough, blindly firing her magic into the smoke. “Where are you?! Show yourself!” I want to try and sneak through the smoke, but I’m afraid the sound of armor will give me away. “It’s only a matter of time before I find you.” I carefully bend down and pick up a nearby, burnt book, and hurl it across the room. As soon as it hits the floor, Twilight fires off several beams of magic in its direction. With all the noise she’s creating, I utilize this time to make one quick dash across the room. She stops firing, and I again remain still. Realizing she hasn’t heard me, I quickly search for something else to throw. With another book in hand, I hurl it in a different spot in the room. Twilight again fires crazily at it once it hits the floor, and I make another quick run through the smoke. Twilight growls in frustration, and angrily stomps her hoof. “Quit playing games! You know you can’t win!”

I’ve homed in on Twilight’s position, and with her clueless and frustrated, now is the perfect time to make my move. “You know you can’t escape, so what’s the point in hiding?” Twilight asks. “It’s unavoidable! You were at a disadvantage before we even began! Your weapon is nothing compared to what I’m capable of!” The smoke is beginning to clear, and Twilight is already in my sights. I lean into the stock of my crossbow, and pull the trigger. The bolt shoots through the air, and Twilight’s body suddenly jerks. The smoke dies down, making it much easier to see. I watch Twilight stand motionless in the middle of the room, and a drop of blood falls to the floor. My heart sinks to the bottom of my chest as I realize what I’ve done. Twilight turns her head; and I find a long, deep cut across her cheek as thin streams of blood run down to her chin. Once I notice that the bolt had pierced the wall ahead of her, I am instantly hit with a rush of fear. “. . . H-How?” she stutters. “How could I. . ?” Twilight’s eyes lock onto mine as I immediately fear the worst. Although, her face doesn’t appear to be furious, but emotionless. I lower my crossbow awaiting what else she has in store for me. With no more bolts left in my quiver, I’m completely defenseless. I hear the door unlock behind me, and glance back to find it slowly opening. “. . . Leave.”

“. . . W-What?” I mutter.

“Didn’t you hear me? I said—” Twilight’s horn erupts with reddish light. “Leave!” She yells as a strong pulse of magic sends me hurdling out through the doorway and flat on my back as a cloud of dirt is kicked up into the air. The door then violently slams shut, and I am left in shock. I lay my head back onto the dirt path, staring up at the sky as I catch my breath. The cool breeze brushing across my face is refreshing, and my aching body finally has a chance to rest.