“Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.”
- Carrie Fisher

With a loud groan of protest Twilight Sparkle’s eyes fluttered open, there was something that could be said about her Mentor’s insistence to wake her up with bright rays of sunlight to the face. A part of Twilight suspected that is was something the Solar Princess did on purpose, but that was a silly thought, right? Twilight regretted opening her eyes as she was instantly blinded by the right, rolled around and a few minutes later opened them once more. The first thing Twilight Sparkle noticed was the fact that this was not her bed, nor her own room for that matter. The room was familiar to her. Slowly the memories from the previous night started coming back to her, the date with Star, walking him home…

She could feel her cheeks becoming hotter, blinking the sleep from her eyes she looked at the sleeping face of Shooting Star. Seeing the stallion she had shared the bed with worsened her blush incredibly. The previous night’s activities came back to the forefront of her mind. It made her hyper aware of the slight soreness of her bottom half, as well as the very deep sensation of fulfilment that she’d read about. The writings about sex and how it was good for your emotional state suddenly made much more sense. She smiled,looking at the sleeping stallion in adoration.

Slowly as to not wake up Star, and with great reluctance, Twilight slipped from the sheets and made her way downstairs. She had the perfect idea of how to surprise the stallion of her dreams. What would be better to top things off than breakfast in bed? She let out an excited giggle, paused, looked back and sighed in relief that it hadn’t woken the adorable stallion up. She was vaguely aware of the spring in her step as she walked, her tail swishing back and forth in excitement. She found herself humming as she made her way down the stairs.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Okay… mom was right.” Twilight mumbled to herself, “cooking is nothing like chemistry.”

She looked at the two failed attempts at making pancakes with a sheepish little smile, making a mental note to pay Star back for the wasted ingredients. “But the third try is the charm.” She grinned broadly, looking down at the perfect heart shaped pancakes that sat on the tray along with two glasses of juice and some syrup. She smiled and slowly started focusing her magic around the plate preventing the pancakes from cooling down and the juice from heating up too much. She wanted this to be perfect after all. Her lips curled up into a happy smile as she looked out of the window at the ponies passing by. Then she noticed her reflection and blushed deeply.

“Maybe… I should freshen up before I head up.” She mumbled to herself, levitating over a small magic held mirror for her to look at herself and her covered in flour and cocoa r from the small dusting she had given each pancake while frying it. “I… made a mess.”. Much of her magic was already working on returning the kitchen to its neat and immaculate condition while a smaller part of it was working on getting the flour and chocolate powder off her face to make it at least appear neat and presentable for her stallion. She paused for a moment with a bright blush, her eyes moving back to the pancakes. Her stallion. She liked the thought, a lot. She turned on her hooves with a warm smile on her muzzle and her tail swishing slowly.

As Twilight rounded the corner walking past the living room and towards the stairs a flash of brilliant honey coloured light filled the living room as Twilight passed making the mare squeak loudly in start. As the light dissipated she could see a honey coated mare with a caramel mane and gaudy pink highlights in said mane. She was wearing an amazing looking pink scarf around her neck she was also for a short moment suspended in mid-air.

“STAR! You’re coordinates were off by two meters! IN THE AIR!” Autumn screamed at the top of her lunges, slowly rubbing the flank with a painful groan. “Oh… hi! I’m Autumn Delight! Who a-” She paused and was on her hooves in a moment walking around the mare who sat there on her flank stunned. “Well, if it isn’t Princess Celestia’s personal student, miss Twilight Sparkle~” she practically purred Twilight’s name.

“Y-yes.” Twilight said lamely. “How did you know?”

“Oh well I doubt you know me, but I actually used to sit behind you in some of your classes before you became Celestia’s personal student.” She grinned a little and motioned to herself. “Now I am a part time instructor at Celestia’s school and a candidate for arch-mage… although I doubt the old geezers are going to let me in, I mean I am only twenty-four!” She said with a massive grin.

“Alright that wow… I am sorry I…” Twilight shook her head firmly. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, now that is a great question! I am actually here on invitation by Star, but I need you to keep him busy.” Autumn said with a gentle smile, looking at the enchanted plate. “But I think you will manage that for a while.”

“Ehm… why should I keep him busy?” Twilight asked sceptically. “I mean you just teleported into his living room…”

“That is a fair point! We’re trying to set up a bit of a surprise party for him.” Autumn explained pulling out a small list of things that quite literally had Pinkie Pie’s signature all over it. “He actually had his birthday during the summer sun celebration but… well as you might have noticed that was kind of crashed by the Nightmare Moon incident. So, we decided to postpone it a little and surprise him with it now. I’ve been in Ponyville the past week getting things ready.”

Twilight nodded slowly her magic wrapping around the plate once more. “I think I can manage that. How long do you need?” Twilight asked with a small smile..

“An hour? I’ll cast a silencing spell we need to get the living room decorated.” Autumn smirked playfully. “From the smell, I am very sure you know how to keep a stallion distracted. And I don't mean those pancakes.” She cooed in a deeply sexual purr. Twilight took a step back a sense of unease filling the pit of her stomach as she watched the mare. There was a distinct sense of power from her, a magical potential that she knew matched her own on some level.

“R-right! Going!” Twilight said and made a mad dash for the stairs, paused, ran back to grab the pancakes and was up the stairs in seconds. She wasn’t sure, but her unease seemed to bring a grin to the mare’s lips. She shuddered a little and finally realised why the mare seemed so familiar to her. She did somewhat remember the rumours about a filly named Autumn who spent most of her time in the forbidden section of the library. She sighed heavily and slumped for a moment to catch her breath the mare wasn’t scary just… she wasn’t sure what happened there.

Shaking her head Twilight slowly made her way to Star’s bedroom. “Never mind. It’s not as important as treating Star.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sauntering into the bedroom Twilight noticed that her stallion was still sleeping like a log. It made her giggle ever so lightly to see him hugging one of the pillows in her absence. Slowly she stepped onto the bed with a small smile playing on her muzzle as she laid down, the tray set before star as she smiled. Leaning in Twilight started very slowly nibbling on one of his ears. Giving him playful little love bites, she had read about that in one of the books in her library. It was cute watching his face scrunch up as it did but to her disappointment he did not wake up, so she shifted her tactics.

“Staaar” She cooed, or rather moaned into his ear with a sultry voice. “It’s time to wake up.” Slowly she snuggled herself against his side pressing herself gently against him. Her eyes half lidded waiting for him to slowly open his giving him that sweet longing look as he did.

“T-twilight?” He asked blinking slowly cheeks burning brightly. “Oh… oh wow I…” He was cut off by a kiss pressed onto his muzzle, his mind raced, and Twilight very gently pulled him into it. Twilight rolled the two of them over, so she was on her back and he was on top of her. Slowly she levitated over a piece of pancake for him with a small smirk playing on her muzzle, slowly feeding it to him watching his expression brighten up considerably.

“Shh… I made breakfast.” She said with a playful, seductive wink. “I thought you might enjoy pancakes.” She watched him looking at the plate with that cute blush playing on his cheeks. There was something inside of Twilight that just screamed adorable when she realised that he was probably not used to being made breakfast in bed, and probably not used to having heart shaped pancakes. She leaned up pecking a kiss on the lips again in the moment. “Do you like them?” She asked in a softy purr.

Star gave her a little smile and then before she could say anything levitated up one of the small heart shaped pancakes holding it above her with a soft chuckle. “Say aaaaah~”

Twilight’s eyes went wide as she watched him dangling the treat above her letting the syrup drip onto her muzzle. “W-wait what are yo- EEP!” Her eyes closed and rolled back as she felt something poking against her inner thigh. “S-star!” She squeaked.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Autumn smirked to herself for a moment as she listened to the two “Just as planned… didn’t even realise I cast an aphrodisiac spell on the food.” She giggled mischievously. “Now to get this party set up, that should have bought me a few hours. Have fun you two.” Autumn mumbled to herself, walking off with a small swish of her tail.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Surprise!” The gathered ponies in the living room cheered with massive grins. There was a moment where Star looked at them and tilted his head. How did they get what looked to be half the town in his living room!? His eyes fell on Autumn and he understood why. She had probably done something to the room. He smiled gently at her as he walked into the room. The cheer had caught Shooting Star off guard. He had not expected his living room to have been changed into what looked to be a nightclub. He saw Autumn sitting there on a pillow smirking at him with that look in her eyes, the look of a mare who had planned out everything in painful detail. Including what had just happened with Twilight during breakfast… and in the shower. He blushed under her gaze; her smirk grew even wider.

“The new couple finally decided to join us! Come on birthday-colt, time for your other gifts… although I do doubt it will be as special as what Twilight has been giving you.” Autumn laughed softly and motioned over to the small stack of packages on a side table. Suddenly everything made sense, why Twilight hadn’t let him leave the bedroom or the shower, why she had insisted that he didn’t go down stairs to get them more drinks. He rolled his eyes for a moment and looked back at her as she walked down the stairs with a very content smile.

Twilight pressed up against his side with a small smile, nipping playfully at his neck. “Happy birthday.” She practically moaned into his ear. She looked very confident, emboldened by what had happened between the two of them not moments before. She flicked her tail at him with a small grin. Casting a loving look over her withers. It was Autumn’s wolf-whistling that finally pulled his mind back to the gathered ponies. The club, rarity, a few of the other towns ponies that he was close with.

“Well… you look positively glowing, Twilight. “Rarity commented conversationally as if nothing had been noticeable. For a moment he wondered if no one had noticed that Twilight had just shown off her affection as she had. Smiling he approached Autumn and wrapped her in a hug.

“Thank you, Autumn. I guess you pulled this off?” He asked softly.

She nodded “With a little help from our friends.” She said and nudged him over towards Twilight for a moment. “GO on gifts can wait, that beautiful mare looks alone without you.” She said with a small grin. She was right, Twilight kept looking back when she thought he wasn’t looking at her. He simply trotted up and sat beside her on the same pillow, wrapping a hoof around her pulling her close.

“Oh, hey there.” She whispered softly. Pecking a kiss onto his lips once more. “No opening gifts?

“Hey, I just wanted to spend time with my beautiful marefriend, and my friends first. Presents can come later.” Shooting Star explained with a sweet smile.

Twilight took that as an invitation to press herself closer to him, her ears pinned back and her cheeks that adorable shade of pink as their lips met in the sweetest of kisses slowly he wrapped his hooves around her their horns brushing together making it no secret what had happened. Shooting Star assumed she still felt the same as he did, it had ended too soon for either for them and he didn’t want to pull away from her, slowly letting his tongue caress along hers.

He finally had to pull back from the deep and passionate kiss, seeing a pony approaching from the corner of his eyes, Twilight smiled lovingly up at him Suddenly and without warning a piece of cake splattered across Twilight’s face.at. Before Star could say anything, he turned to see a very angry looking Starry Night, her mane was floating in her own magic, she wasn’t restraining herself.

“STOP IT ALREADY!” Starry Night screamed suddenly, pointing an accusatory hoof at Star and Twilight. “Isn’t it enough that you had to take him from me!? You have to show it off and rub it in as well?” She blinked, using her magic to teleport a very short distance over to Twilight slapping her across the cheek. “I am so sick of you! You come in and after knowing him for what, a few days!? You’re already fucking him! You don’t even know him! You haven’t even spent time with him! WHY DOES HE LOVE YOU AND NOT ME!”

Twilight touched her cheek, not saying anything. She simply stared in shock at the outburst from the other mare, her jaw, and Star notice everyone else’s hanging open.

“Starry. I told you I am not interested in that way.” He said with a sigh.

“Well I am! What about me!? You’re just sitting there kissing! Right in front of me.” She threw her hoof at Twilight again, stopped this time by a light honey coloured magic. “LET ME GO!”

“I think that’s enough, Nighty” Autumn said her tone calm, chillingly calm. “They’re together, he isn’t interested. Get over it.” She stated, or rather commanded. Shooting Star noticed that there was something different about Autumn, something that wasn’t there before. He embraced Twilight holding the shocked, hurt looking mare close to himself.

“Autumn. Let me go or so help me I wi-” she was never finished the sentence.

Autumn struck her with the back of her hoof. “Or you will what? Attack me. Consider your options very carefully, Nighty.”

She tore her hoof away and pointed it to Twilight. “You and me! A duel for Shooting Star.” She challenged. Twilight looked up at her wide eyed and horrified at the words.

Shooting Star watched her expression going from shocked, to anger to acceptance. “Fine. Tomorrow in the town square after market is over.” Twilight said, looking away for a moment.

“Agreed.” Starry said and stormed off with an angry flick of her tail.

Twilight collapsed against Shooting Star sobbing against his chest, squeezing him tightly now that everything hit her at once. The feelings the pain the humiliation, the shame of having caused something like this.

“Shhh…” He whispered softly. “It’s alright Twilight, everything is going to be fine.” He promised her with a gentle caring smile. “I’m right here for my dearest.” Slowly he stroked his hoof through her mane.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Twilight?” Shooting Star asked as he opened the door to his bedroom. “Are you sure you want to go through with this?”

Twilight sighed heavily as she stared out of the window into the night. “I don’t know… I mean if I do this she might back down and that might be all that’s needed.” Twilight whispered, insecurely.

“You don’t have to do this.” He insisted.

“I know. But… I don’t feel I can back down from this.”

“But why!? It’s silly!” He said, a little more annoyed than he liked. “S-sorry…”

Twilight sighed she had remained at the party with star after the incident, but the atmosphere had been completely ruined by Starry Night’s outburst. She did have to admit that Autumn had managed to cheer everyone up by playing music in the aftermath and getting them to sing, sing what? She wasn’t quite sure what the song had been. Turning to face him she smiled sadly. There was a moment of pause where she considered her words carefully. Words she never had the chance to speak instead a soft melodic voice chimed in for her.

“Because my dear Shooting Star, she was challenged in front of all your shared friends, most of the town probably knows by now due to how vocal Starry was, and the ponies who were there probably have told their friends by now. If Twilight didn’t do it she would be ridiculed as a coward, unworthy of being Celestia’s student.” Autumn stood on her hind legs leaning against the door frame, cradling a lute in her hooves slowly plucking at the strings with her magic. Twilight couldn’t explain why but the music made her feel uplifted. “Petty? Yes. Silly? Most definitely. But sometimes a pony has to stand up for herself against a jealous bitch.”

“Well… I don't like this.” He said.

“Neither do I but… But Starry needs a lesson.” Autumn said with a small smile. “And I think Twilight is the right pony to give her that lesson. If she hadn’t challenged Twilight I would have been the one to do it. I’m so sick of her petty shit.” She casually commented her horn levitating over a large spell book placing it on the carpeted floor before Twilight. “You’re going to need this. The princess probably has not taught you many, or rather any, combat spells, has she? And you should wear this.” Autumn said levitating over a robe that had light looking armour plates on it. “It’s a little old but it’s my novice battle-mage armour.”

Twilight sighed heavily and slowly stepped towards star, wrapping her hooves around his neck and squeezing softly. “I… don’t like it either, my beloved Star. But it’s something that is needed, sometimes we need to do things we don’t like.” Twilight said with a gentle smile slowly levitating over the book Autumn had presented her with.

“And things that are highly illegal.” Autumn chimed in her singsong voice. “Magic duels were outlawed in Equestria five-hundred years ago.” She said showing the pair a proud grin. “Twilight is a mare after my own heart!”

“Please don’t remind me…” Twilight sighed heavily. She looked down at it she simply started flipping through the pages. “A-autumn… where did you get these spells?”

“Oh here and there, a lot of them are actually from Saddle Arabia.” She commented quite casually. “I mean I know a lot of them are a little odd, but they’re meant to be combined with swordplay.” She smiled gently slowly plucking at the strings with her magic.

“That… is not what I meant.” Twilight commented looking down at the page that was showing her advanced combat magic, the patterns made her dizzy, she knew the math, the words of power but these spells were complex beyond what she had seen in most libraries. Not to mention that these were spells that were made to harm some pony, spells Celestia had never instructed her in. “These are… complex.”

“They are? Those are the basics…” Autumn said with a heavy sigh passing her lips in the moment. “It’s going to take a while to get you ready for this… the Princess hasn’t taught you any of these?” She asked, her tone suggesting that she found it hard to believe.

“W-well… the Princess did teach those spells in the past but from what I heard from the guards she stopped doing that when something happened to one of her previous students. They say she made off with some dangerous tomes and was never seen again.” Twilight smiled sheepishly. “I guess she doesn’t want a repeat of that?”

Autumn sighed heavily and shook her head. “That is silly. We still teach them at the academy in self-defence classes.” Autumn commented and took a seat besides Twilight with a small sigh. “Do you want me to help you with it? It’d be faster than you trying to study all night to get at least one spell… Starry isn’t a mare who would fall for a basic spell you need to be clever, out manoeuvre her.” Autumn said with a gentle smile.

“I… yeah. I’d appreciate that, thank you.” Twilight said, still holding Star with one of her hooves, keeping him close.

“In that case…” Star started with a small sigh “you’re going to need someone who has seen her fighting before. Duels might be illegal, but I’ve seen her practice with her brother and she is ruthless but then Starry Night has one thing going against her, she fights to show off, she liked shows of raw power. If you can keep her throwing heavy spells at you then she might tire herself out.” HE offered with a small smile leaning in to softly peck a kiss on Twilight’s lips.

Twilight nodded slowly that made sense, it was very consistent with what she had seen from Starry and the way she had introduced herself the first day. “Right. I think I can do that, I just need to be quick and made sure that I can avoid being hit by her?” She offered a weary smile, not at all confident in her abilities to do that.

“Actually, here.” Autumn said, opening the book to about the halfway point. “Princess Platinum’s Shielding spell. You only need to cast it once and keep it up in the back of your mind it should absorb what she throws at you and then you would tire her out. Or… throw all the force back at her when she shows an opening.” Autumn said with a small smirk playing on her muzzle in that moment, her hoof wrapping around Twilight’s neck.

“How do you even know this spell? The only copy of it is locked in the royal library where only the Princess can get it!” Twilight glared a little at Autumn.

“My dear Twilight you underestimate how far a little magic and a bobby pin goes to undoing that rusty old lock down there.” Autumn sighed softly. “I used to sneak down there as a filly in between classes.”

“That’s illegal!”

“So is conducting a magic duel.” Autumn countered. “Your point being?”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Any other crimes you’d like to confess to?” She asked sarcastically.

“Well if you count stealing a book from a dragon’s personal hoard?” She offered with a massive grin.

“Ladies. Let’s focus on the task at hoof?” Star interjected before either of them could continue.

“Besides Silver stole the book first, I was just returning it to the museum where it belonged.” Autumn mumbled softly and smirked a little at Star. Then she squeaked loudly, feeling Star’s hoof bopping her on the nose, hard. “Fine, fine. Alright study this spell carefully, Twilight.” Autumn said pointing a hoof at the page. “This one isn’t very complex, and I assume Celestia has taught you the magic for self-defence at least?”

Twilight nodded “Y-yeah. She has. Twilight said tilting her head as she studied the spell. This was what Autumn considered to be not very complex, a part of her feared the thought of what the honey coated mare would consider to be complex. A glance at the spell on the next page made her gulp. It was the same spell except she could barely read the page.

“Don’t mind that one… it's a failed experiment.” Autumn commented “It might have collapsed a mountain…”

Twilight gawked at her for a long time.

“What!? The math checked out… not like I was I did it on purpose, and it’s not like she stopped me.” She sighed “Just study the spell… it's not like I am the only mage who tries to make her own spells.”

Shooting star rolled his eyes for a moment and then before either of them could say something he literally knocked their heads together. “Let’s head outside to practice, and stop bickering.” He commented and then kissed Twilight on the nose.

“Yeah… he has a point.” Autumn sighed. “Starry is dangerous.” Autumn admitted slowly guiding the two along into the back yard, she slapped her spell book onto the ground with a heavy sigh. “Right, offence one-o-one.” She said and motioned to the target dummy in the backyard.

“I want you to hit that.”

“How?” Twilight asked.

“With your magic. Don’t think about it just imagine hitting it with pure raw force. Like throwing a hoof punch with your telekinesis.”

“That doesn’t make sense.” Twilight said.

Autumn sighed heavily for a moment. “Fine observe.” She said and stood in front of the target taking a deep breath as she fathered the magic in her horn. “Do you see how I am gathering up the telekinesis magic?” She asked, and Twilight nodded slowly. “Do that, point, release.” She did so showing how she pointed her horn and let the magic fly knocking over the dummy. “Now you try.”

Twilight took a deep breath focusing her magic mimicking exactly what Autumn had been doing, looking over to Star for a moment and smiling as she watched him performing the same spell, studying the way he allowed his magic to gather in his horn, starting to feel the pressure building up around her horn. “I- does it normally hurt like this?” She asked, her eyes half lidded in effort.

“Yes, it is a thing you need to get used to, this is one of the most basic ways to deliver an offensive spell.” Autumn said placing down the target dummy again. “Fire when ready.” Autumn said taking a step back away from the two unicorns.

She watched both Twilight and Shooting Star release their spells. Twilight’s shot went wide and into shot straight into the town. WHile Star’s spell impacted the ground just a little before the target. She covered her mouth to stifle a giggle. She heard the clatter of glass in the distance and the sounds of an angry mare screaming. “JUST YOU KIDS WAIT! I’ll find out who this was and when I do its detention for the rest of your life!”

Autumn looked to Twilight with a soft snort. “Local school teacher?” Twilight nodded and slowly started pawing at the grass as if trying to sink into it in embarrassment. Star softly kissed her cheek and wrapped her up in a comforting hug.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be here, I can help the aim… it’s not as hard as it seems.” He smiled at her.

“T-third window this month.” She commented.

“I’ll go explain, and pay for it.” Autumn said and then pointed to the dummy. Focus this time. Aim at the ground below it if you need to dear, you were lucky you did not hit a pony with that spell.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Her heart was pounding in her chest as she stood there in the middle of town. Twilight Sparkle had not been that scared in her entire life. Sure, she had been in public like this before she had participated in many magic displays during school, she had even humoured the ‘competitions’ that were organised for the parents. But right now, if it wasn’t for Shooting Star holding her in his hooves she was very sure she would have had a nervous breakdown. She’d never been in a fight before. Disagreements? Sure. But an actual fight with somepony where magic was being thrown back and forth? Never.

“Hey Twilight, it’s going to be alright.” She heard Star whispering into her ear.

Was it though? Was it going to be alright? Twilight was certain Autumn had been going easy on her the previous night and that morning during their practice. She was thankful for the effort but her confidence in her own abilities wasn’t there. “I hope so… Maybe she won't show up? Don’t worry I’m fine.” She offered hopefully, having to force herself to smile at him. She could see it in his eyes, he didn’t believe a word of it and simply squeezed her closer.

“You’re such a bad liar, worse than Applejack.” He whispered softly, kissing her cheek ever so gently. “I’m here for you dear, don’t worry. If anything happens me and Autumn will be there in a moment.” He reassured her, smiling just a little as some of the fear left her eyes, replaced by calm.

“Thank you… remind me I need to get her something for putting up with me.” Twilight whispered softly.

“Hey, don’t mention it, kid.” Autumn smirked down at her, twilight almost jumped at the mare’s sudden appearance. “Sorry… I didn’t want to interrupt the moment.” She winked at Twilight and presented her with a small smile. “Don’t worry you’ll do wonderful. “Autumn said while strumming a few notes on the lute that levitated besides her. Twilight frowned a little but couldn’t help feeling uplifted, more confident and inspired by the simple melody.

“How… do you do that?” Twilight asked.

“I will tell you some other time, for now let’s say it's the magic of music.” Autumn winked mysteriously. She lightly petted twilight on the head with her hoof. “It’s actually not complicated, although it is a magic not taught in Equestria, at least not unless you actually take music classes. Like I did in college.”

“You should have heard her when she was younger, it was pretty bad.” Shooting Star interjected with a joking smile playing on his muzzle. He nudged Autumn gently in her side. “You should tell Twilight about the time you used music to blow up a classroom.”

Autumn blushed furiously and looked away from him. “It was not me! It was miss Scratch with her ‘Bass cannon’.” She defended, looking away from Star and Twilight.

Twilight chuckled softly. “You tell me about that and I will tell you about the time I blew up the Princess’ chemistry lab.” Twilight offered with a small playful wink. “We all have our moments when something backfires.” She wrapped her hooves around Autumn and Star’s neck with a very happy smile. “Thank you both, I needed this little talk before… you know.” Twilight said with a sweet smile.

“I know, and don’t worry alright? We have your back. There are rules in place. No harm will come to you, Twilight. I will personally make sure of that.” Autumn said with her signature grin.

“Sure, Sure, no harm. If that’s a threat, Autumn I am terrified.” Starry said with a roll of her eyes. She was standing there wearing nothing three magical orbs floating behind her head, one on each side and one in the middle making a small triangle. Her horn was covered with a small series of gem encrusted rings that seemed to glow with a gentle amber hue. “Are you ready, Hussy? I’ll show you the kind of mare who is worthy of Star’s affection.”

Autumn said nothing but simply smiled and plucked the strings on her lute once more.

“So… not you?” Twilight asked with a small smirk. Where did that come from? She felt a surge of confidence flowing through her filling her and inspiring her to not even care anymore. “Because no pony would enjoy being with a jealous bitch like you.” Twilight blushed, she hadn’t meant to curse like that! She looked at autumn and then the lute. It finally clicked in her mind.

“W-I…” Starry stammered. Twilight smirked in satisfaction as she watched the mare desperate to search for a comeback. It pleased her to know that she had at least beat Starry in the wits department. If she lost she still had at least that going for her. “Just get ready!” Starry snapped and turned to trot away from the three of them.

Shooting Star smirked at her “That was a good comeback, Twilight.” She said with a sweet and gentle smile as she slowly turned around to look at Twilight.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A minute later Twilight found herself standing in a large magical sphere that Autumn had erected around the town square. The honey coated mare stood in the centre with a gentle little smile on her muzzle looking between the two mares with a small grin. She hadn’t said anything, and Twilight could see that she was still finalising the spell with some additions. Behind Autumn she saw Starry pacing back and forth impatiently an annoyed look playing over her features.

“Alright, I’m done. Here are the rules fillies.” Autumn said her voice more serious, the normal playfulness gone but it still carried that sweet warmth. “Yes, Starry I know you know the rules already, but the audience and Twilight don’t.” She snapped the moment Starry even tried opening her mouth. “Right the rules are simple: scoring three direct hits with a spell means we have a winner. You do not need to hold back, the arena makes all spells and weapon strikes non-lethal.” To demonstrate Autumn pulled out a scalpel and stabbed herself in the wrist. She winced at that. “O-ouch… s-see? That does not take away these things hurt. They really, really hurt. Ow.” She displayed the fresh, red bruise above her hoof.. “Stepping outside the arena will mend all wounds. The arena will also prevent spells hitting bystanders.”

Autumn sighed as Twilight and Starry nodded their understanding. “Listen you two, I want a clean fight. No mind control, no teleportation, no blinking, no sand in the eyes, no scratching, no spitting.” Autumn sighed even louder. “Just get this over with you two. And please don’t destroy the bubble. If you do I will personally come and kick your ass.” Autumn cautioned with a much icier voice. She turned and walked out of the bubble with an audible pop.

“Ready. Set. Go.” Autumn announced.

From the word "Go", Twilight was on the move. It wasn’t like she had a choice. Starry was not giving her a moment to prepare. She had opened with a spell Twilight was very familiar with. As she ran there were six impacts of magic that got closer and closer one barely buzzing over her flank. She didn’t think, whirling around to aim her horn at the mare sending an orb of telekinesis with a low grunt of effort. She was thankful for Autumn’s teaching in that moment. Without it she would have never been able to even cast it in the blink of an eye. She could feel herself filling up with hope in the moment a small grin grew on her muzzle.

Then her hopes were dashed and shattered as Starry caught the magic in her hoof with ease, her eyebrow arching for a moment. “How cute. You know I learned this spell in sixth grade?” She commented casually and inspected the orb of magic she was holding for longer than was comfortable. “Hmm… sloppy spell work, I would fail you for it.” Starry said with a bored look then in the moment the threw the orb back towards Twilight.

The stunned mare looked with wide eyes for a moment her as the orb, her own spell, was redirected back at her as though it was a simple kick ball! Her moment of shock, the hesitation caused her delayed reaction and she was hit square in the chest being thrown aside like a rag doll rolling over the hard ground.

“Twilight!” Shooting Star shouted, worried.

Twilight took in a deep and sharp breath for a moment and rolled onto her hooves. She’d faced Nightmare Moon. She could handle a little upstart unicorn. So, she couldn’t throw offensive magic at her, she’d never had to resort to using magic in a fight before. A small smile formed on her muzzle as she started running at Starry with that smile on her muzzle. She could see the other mare was shocked by her choice to simply run at her, then she ran past her and delivered an applebuck that she hoped would make Applejack proud.

“Y-you bitch!” Starry screamed as Twilight watched the two-red hoof prints on her side turning into a large dot showing that if it had been real there would have been at least a bruised rib. The moment after she ducked under a large ball of fire that flew overhead, Twilight could feel that it was weaker than Starry’s normal magic, clearly, she had interrupted the casting just a little.

“We’re one for one now, bitch.” Twilight said she was feeling good about this. That was until she felt Starry summoning an incredible amount of magic to her horn, the air around them both Suddenly Twilight felt as though she was in much more danger than she had initially realised. Her confidence from earlier was squashed by the little voice in the back of her mind that she did not face down Nightmare Moon along, nor was it in a magic duel. Twilight summoned up the shield spell Autumn had taught her and was very thankful for the practice she had gotten with it under the unicorn’s barrage of spells.

“TAKE. THIS.” Starry screamed in fury and then before Twilight could respond there was a large blast of pure and raw magic that wasn’t even formed into a spell, she could feel a shard of it pierce through the shield and slice across her cheek. The pressure and power that pushed down on her, quite literally, was almost unbearable. She could feel her hooves slowly sliding along the ground, digging ever so slightly into the soil below. A genuine fear ran through her as she could feel the entire arena spell tremble under the force of the magic around her, the most terrifying realisation was that the spell making up the arena around them was slowly unraveling under the pressure of Starry’s magical barrage.

Panting heavily Twilight looked across herself at Starry Night who looked like she was about to collapse from exhaustion. Both mares had been at it for a minute, at least. Twilight wasn’t even sure anymore ,she had lost track of time. Being on the defensive was probably less exhausting, but she was feeling the strain in her horn. It was a merciful release when Starry finally let the torrent of magic abate. It She didn’t attack during the brief respite, her horn hurt too much she found herself only her counting down in her head for when she guessed the next attack would come.

‘3… 2… 1…’ Twilight finished and in an instant, threw herself to the side but instead of seeing the mare throwing one of her lager spells she watched a vivid cone of clashing colours spring froth from Starry’s horn. She had never seen the spell before and as she watched she suddenly realised that her concentration was utterly shattered, thinking became impossible and suddenly everything went black. She felt weaker, her body felt heavy and she fell onto her side. She was still conscious but barely, her ears picked up a sound like shattering glass.

“Time to finish this, you bitch.” Starry hissed into her ear. Twilight couldn’t feel the presence of the arena spell, it was gone. She was panicking, she couldn’t see! Her body felt heavy as though she had been sapped of all her physical strength. She had lost and for a moment she held her breath as the threat behind Starry’s words suddenly became very clear. Painfully clear.

There was a shout from the ponies that had been watching the entire thing going down. She could feel Starry gathering up the magic in her horn, a spell she was familiar with, she had used it a while back on the manticore. Starry was going to….

Tears sprang to Twilight’s eyes as she squeezed her eyes shut firmly bracing herself for what was sure to be her end. The blow never came.

There was a deeply unsettling sensation running through a newly arrived source of power. There was something familiar about the sensation she was feeling. She had sensed it before. It was magic fuelled by anger. There was a sharp crack. Like a whip striking the ground. “Starry Night, Starry Night. I told you to consider your choices carefully.” Autumn’s voice purred, there was a cold and clinical sound to her normally warm and rich voice. “Now a duel is one thing but… going that far? Tsk.”

“Autumn! This is none of your business!” Starry screamed, her voice filled with a sense of panic.

“You just made this my business, dear.” She said almost casually. “What did you think would happen? You won’t, and you wanted to what… mess her up? Kill her?” She spat on the ground, Twilight could slowly see the light filtering through once more her sight coming back. She saw Autumn standing on her hind hooves her left leafing through a spell book while the other held her scarf, a glowing scarf. “This duel is over. Take your victory and go. Before you make an enemy out of me.”

“Us.” Shooting Star interjected. “Just leave. You’ve hurt her enough, more than I could ever forgive you for, Starry.”

Her eyes closed and the last thing she heard was a loud explosion feeling her body thrown away by it darkness finally taking her.

Author's Note

This story was commissioned by Shooting Star1234.

I hope you all enjoyed the story as much as I enjoyed writing it, quite honestly this is my first brush with a romance adventure (with some Slice of life) kind of story. If you have and feed back or even critisism then please feel free to leave a comment below.

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Big thanks to my editing team for giivng this a well needed pass: Javarod

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