Unity

The Great Library of Canterlot was practically Twilight’s second home, even after all these years. It was quite possibly the largest library to be found on Sol. White columns stood silently like many places in Canterlot, guarding wide open spaces and painted glass windows. Twilight had almost forgotten just how big the Great Library was. The bookworm loved her own little library in Ponyville, but the books she had there were nothing compared the vaulted room. Twilight doubted her entire collection would fill one tiny corner of this place. There had to be countless millenniums of wisdoms stored in this wellspring of knowledge. Even Twilight, who loved books a great deal, was daunted by the idea of even attempting to read every book this library had to offer. It just could not be done.

Twilight had insisted that her friends head out to the city to relax after their long journey to Canterlot. Marketplaces everywhere were flooded with new and exotic merchandise and foods. Twilight doubted that even Pinkie Pie, who loved food, could visit every food stall that seemed to have cropped up out of nowhere overnight. The only pony who accompanied her is Rainbow Dash, who is currently curled in a love seat a respectful distance from Twilight, reading a new Daring Doo novel. Twilight herself levitated several books over, eager to read about past Unity Chalice tournaments and tactics that had been employed. Even though she just wanted to make her teacher proud, Twilight was not about to face the unknown without at least preparing as best she could.

She lost herself in the books, the afternoon slowly waning away as it has so many other times when the young unicorn read.  The studious mare glanced up finally, noting the last rays of sunlight gracing the Great Library’s huge windows. Rainbow had long since fallen asleep, causing Twilight to smile slightly. Twilight closed Advanced Spells of a Sorceress with a gentle thump, taking care to memorize the page she had been on. She stretched herself luxuriously, giving a happy little whimper as she did so. She then promptly giggled as her stomach rumbled gently. The giggle turned into a soft laugh as it roared louder, demanding that it get fed.  She had completely missed dinner.

“Are you hungry, Twilight?” A familiar female voice spoke from behind her. Twilight turned to find Lyra Heartstrings of all ponies behind her, levitating three covered dishes in her gentle green magic.

Twilight smiled at Lyra. “I’m afraid I missed dinner,” she admitted with a small blush. “I got so caught up in reading—”

“That you promptly let time get away from you,” Lyra finished for her. “I know how you are, after all those years you’ve been in Ponyville now. Bonsie is a bit busy at the moment, and I did not feel like eating alone like I normally do when she’s not around.”

“You eat alone?” Twilight asked, incredulous. She seemed to conveniently forget that there used to be several occasions where she did the same thing.

“Sometimes,” Lyra replied easily. She levitated a nearby table over to them. “There are times I just enjoy the quiet while eating a meal. It gives me time to think, and to relax. Oh, hello, Rainbow Dash,” Lyra added, glancing over Twilight’s shoulder. The lavender mare turned to see that her best friend had awoken from her light doze and had joined the two unicorns. The Wonderbolt nodded in greeting.

Twilight turned back to Lyra, grinning. “You sound just like me.” She said. “I love the silence while thinking about much of anything, really. It lets me actually get something done. Back when I was living in Canterlot all the time, silence was my friend. My brother and foalsitter were the only ponies I would actually talk to on a regular basis, aside from Princess Celestia. And since they were not around all the time, I learned that being alone was my greatest defense.”

“What do you mean by your greatest defense?” Lyra asked.

Twilight took a dainty bite from her sandwich. “I mean the nobles of court. I had to endure all manner of foul taunts and mutterings from them. They did not care how much magical power I seemed to posses. Hay, I’ve even saved Equestria more than once and they still dislike me because of my lesser noble birth. The only reason it stopped was because I moved to Ponyville where I don’t have to hear it, and because my BBBFF married Cadance.”

“What do you mean by magical power you ‘seem’ to posses?” Lyra asked, curiously.

Twilight blushed deep purple. “Well, uh…” The sorceress seemed to have trouble stringing two words together. “Very few ponies believe that I have as much magical power as I do.” Twilight hesitated. “There are a few ponies, especially among the nobility, who are convinced that I lie about how powerful I am, and think that I’m only a ‘hero’ because I relied on my friends to save me.”

Rainbow glanced up from her meal, glaring hotly. “That’s a load of manure!” The unwaveringly loyal Pegasus looked like she was about to go deck somepony. “You are the single most powerful unicorn I know, Twilight. Sure, Ponyville might not have had a lot of unicorns for me to judge by, but here in Canterlot most unicorns have issues with fine levitation!”

“I think I’m definitely with Rainbow on this one, Twilight.” Lyra said. She paused for a moment, thoughtful. “What’s your horn control?”

“Honestly, I don’t know.”

Dash frowned. “What do you mean, you don’t know, Twi? Aren’t all unicorns supposed to get routine checkups on horn control after their magical growth spurt finishes?” Her face lit up in realization even as the words came out of her mouth, recalling the conversation from earlier in the day.

Twilight nodded, pleased at the Pegasus’ grasp on unicorn matters. “Ordinarily, yes. But that’s the problem. I have not stopped growing, remember, Rainbow Dash? I’ve been growing steadily magically ever since I lost control of my magic at twelve and created that Flare, the one the princess herself had to stop. Since then, I’ve been using a spell Celestia taught me that only lets me draw from a small portion of my magical font. Originally, the spell needed to be updated once every three months. Well, due to that, I never realized that all this time I’ve been going through a massive magical growth spurt. I had thought that after I received my cutie mark, I had stopped growing magically. I was wrong. My… My font is growing so fast I usually have to update the spell I’ve been using daily to try to help keep it contained. Shortly before my name was put forward for the Unity Chalice, I went to Princess Celestia because I was worried. I couldn’t feel the boundaries of my font any more. It was like there was no limit. When we went to test my horn control, the Arcanometer immediately went into the red, and it only goes up to six-hundred. We then tried a custom made ‘meter, one that went up to fifteen hundred, and it still went red. The princess and I guess my horn control to be at least two-thousand, and probably more. The Arcanometer couldn’t even register my font, so Princess Celestia had to do a Cornuoscopy.” Twilight stopped here, afraid of saying too much about her freaky condition.

Lyra’s eyes were wide, golden dinner plates. “And…?” She prompted gently.

Twilight closed her eyes. “Back then, my Font was only about the size of the town square of Ponyville. Big, yes, but not alarmingly so. Now my magical font is the size of Ponyville Lake, at least. When I went to evaluate myself this morning, it took me a good thirty five minutes to push from the center of my font to its boundary. I’m packing enough magical power to level Canterlot to its foundations roughly twice over. That’s not the only thing, either. When I draw directly from my font, the magic doesn’t go anywhere. As fast as I draw from my font, it reappears. Normally unicorn casters are required to take a nap or a good long sleep to replenish their font all the way. But mine self regenerates on its own. I’ve levitated the four thousand-pound weights Princess Celestia had brought me to practice on for three hours nonstop before we had to finally conclude my font was simply regenerating as fast as I spent it.”

Lyra looked more than a little shocked at this. Rainbow was the only one who seemed unperturbed. Lyra turned to Dash. Rainbow looked up. “What? You should know this, living with Twilight in Ponyville. We all know she is strong. Now I just know how strong she is.”

“Aren’t you afraid I’m going to lose control, though?” Twilight asked, feeling very small.

Rainbow snorted. “No. Why should I be? You’ve never harmed me or anypony else.

“But—”

“No buts, Twilight. This is the same argument we had this morning. You’ve got insane power, sure, but you have the will and the restraint to keep it contained. In all the years I’ve known you, you’ve never lost control of your magic. Not once. I don’t know if you are subconsciously subduing your power, or if you’re just too powerful to lose control, but I’m not worried.”

“Thanks, Rainbow.” Twilight said softly. The Pegasus merely grinned and shrugged. “I ask that you make sure nopony else learns of this. Its bad enough they think I lie about my power. I don’t need to give them a reason to be terrified of me.”

“Does your partner know how strong you are?” Lyra asked cautiously.

Twilight grinned again. “Well, since Rainbow Dash is my partner, then yes, she does.”

Rainbow Dash returned Twilight’s grin. “Speaking of which come on, Twilight! We should get in some training before it gets too dark. The qualifying rounds start bright and early in the morning!

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Lightning arced down from the clear blue sky. It fizzled with potent energy, eager to be released. The bolts sliced through the air with ease, the accompanying booms causing Lyra’s sensitive ears to twitch in mild irritation. But even this did not stop her from staring in awe as Twilight Sparkle stepped out of her protective dome, completely unharmed. Each of those lightning bolts possessed enough energy to power a square block of Canterlot for a day at least, and yet Twilight shrugged them off like they were nothing. It’s been like this for a while now. No matter what attack was sent her way, Twilight Sparkle stopped them easily.

Almost as awe-inspiring as the sorceress was the Pegasus she was fighting against. Pegasi, for as long as anypony remembered, have always had an innate affinity towards weather and the skies in general. From manipulating clouds, to directing the winds, no other creature on Sol could match a Pegasus in the skies—something that Griffons especially were never thrilled over. But Rainbow Dash put almost every other Pegasus before her to shame. The cyan flier wasn’t just manipulating the skies, guiding them in the direction she wanted. She was controlling her natural element. Winds appeared at her bidding to try to keep Twilight off balance. Lightning slammed down from cloudless skies with unrivaled accuracy. Clouds formed out of the invisible water droplets upon the air to act as minor shields and wards. The only Pegasus known to have this much control over the skies was Commander Hurricane, the fearless Pegasus soldier from ages past.

Yet, despite Rainbow Dash’s obvious use of Pegasi magic, she was still no real match for Twilight Sparkle. Dash might be the uncontested best at navigating the skies, but Twilight Sparkle was born to control magic. Even as Lyra watched the duo, Rainbow Dash sent another three bolts of lightning screaming down at Twilight. Instead of shielding herself, Twilight reached out, plucked the bolts from midair, and sent them racing back towards Dash from three sides. The Pegasus twitched her body slightly to avoid the first two. The final bolt she deflected with a well placed wing, sending it back towards its original target a second time. But Twilight was already long gone, teleporting a distance off to the right of Dash and blasting the flier with a concussive burst of energy.

As Lyra watched the tournament participants, she found her mind wandering again. The original plan had been for Lyra to approach Twilight and subtly guide the conversation towards the changelings and how Twilight felt about them in general. Based upon Twilight’s body language and reactions, Lyra would have decided upon her next course of action. Lyra had promised Flicka that she would not do anything rash, but Lyra wanted this to be done and over with before she was caught. Being in love with a changeling was bad enough, but trying to keep her dual allegiance to the Equestrian Crown and the Changeling Swarms was hard. While they had no love of Chrysalis, especially after the failed invasion of Canterlot, Lyra and Bon-Bon still saw themselves as subjects of the Hive. And once Chrysalis realized that all out storming Canterlot really was not a good idea, the changeling Queen became a little bearable to interact with. She had even apologized to Lyra for brainwashing her and sending her to attack Twilight and Cadance.

Bon-Bon had originally believed that Chrysalis just wanted a pair of spies in Equestria, and that was why the Queen was suddenly contacting the pair all the time. When Bon-Bon had cut all ties with the Swarm, she literally cut all ties—as far as any other changeling was concerned, Amethyst was dead. But Chrysalis had quickly disabused Bon-Bon of that line of thinking. What Chrysalis wanted to do, more than anything, was learn. She wanted to know how it was possible for a changeling to fall in love with a pony. She wanted to know how Bon-Bon was not starving, if she did not have to take love from Lyra by force. Chrysalis wanted to understand. If she had understood before, she probably would have never invaded Canterlot.

So, the two lovers told their Queen everything they had learned. Lyra and Amethyst had fallen in love with each other long before Lyra had discovered her lover was a changeling. They were completely inseparable. When Amethyst finally came out and told Lyra what she was, Amethyst had fully expected Lyra to abandon her to the guards and the Equestrian Crown. Instead, like Chrysalis, Lyra wanted to understand before she made any hasty decisions. So, Amethyst explained. Amethyst never had to take love from Lyra by force. Lyra gave it all to Amethyst without even realizing it. Every touch, every caress, every kiss and intimate moment gave Amethyst more food than she know what to do with. Since Lyra loved her, even while disguised as the earth pony Bon-Bon, that love was freely given and was far more potent than any emotion taken against the host’s will. As Amethyst explained, Lyra realized that she had never loved Bon-Bon the sweets maker, who had probably never existed. She loved Amethyst, a changeling who just so happened to be rather good at making candy. Through this lesson, Chrysalis saw the error in her ways. If she had tried to at least make peace with the ponies, there was a strong possibility that the love they would have received would have been freely given. But by then, it was already too late.

Lyra’s thoughts brought her back to the present day again. With Rainbow Dash there in the Great Library with Twilight, Lyra had no opportunity to even broach the subject of changelings. Rainbow Dash was the Element of Loyalty for a good reason, and Lyra knew the cyan mare still felt bad about just shrugging off Twilight’s accusations concerning the fake Cadance. As such, Lyra was sure that Dash would feel a great deal of animosity towards the creatures that caused her to doubt her best friend. The fact that Rainbow was Twilight’s partner in the Unity Chalice added further complications. If, as a last resort course of action, they did have to kidnap Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash would either have to be taken too, or removed temporarily from the equation. While Lyra did not particularly like this line of thought, Dash could not get in the way of their new Queen’s ascension.

Lyra was suddenly snapped out of her thoughts by a sharp flicker of movement. Instantly Lyra froze, barely daring to breath. Amethyst had stressed this to Lyra through countless training sessions: Somepony else was only likely to spot you if you moved. If you remained still, chances are anypony looking in your direction will miss you—especially if your coat color blends in with your surroundings. While Lyra was a rather bright mint green, with the green of all the other foliage around her she was rather camouflaged. So Lyra remained completely still, only her golden eyes slowly roving the opposite side of the clearing behind Twilight and Rainbow, who still fought with flashes of magic. Then it was there again. A small flash of movement, and then it was gone again. But in that brief glimpse, Lyra had seen something that made her blood chill.

Another changeling. One who was not Amethyst.

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Twilight Sparkle was awoken by a rather loud pounding upon her door. The unicorn muttered in her sleep, covering her head with her pillows. The relentless knocking continued, however, forcing Twilight up out of bed. The sorceress stretched leisurely, pleasantly surprised. After her rigorous bout of training with Rainbow Dash yesterday, she was fully expecting herself to be sore. But she felt refreshed and energetic. She snorted to herself. So maybe exercising with Rainbow every morning for the past several months has finally started paying off. Twilight threw a glance at her roommate’s bed, noting that it was empty. Seeing the position of the light streaming in through the windows, Twilight decided this was not unusual; it had to be at least ten in the morning. Walking over to the bathroom, her horn flared a moment, throwing open the door to the bedroom as she disappeared to do her morning routine.

“Twilight?” came the familiar voice of a certain fashionista.

“I’m in the bathroom, Rarity.” Twilight called back. “I’ll be out in a moment.”

Twilight paused in front of her mirror. Once more, her breath was taken away as she stared. There was not a hair out of place, despite having just woken up. Her mane still sparked with motes of magic. She ran a brush over her gleaming white teeth and a comb through her mane and tail, ensuring they were free of knots. Finally satisfied, Twilight exited the bathroom to properly greet her unicorn friend. The mare in question had sat down daintily upon the edge of Twilight’s bed, staring eagerly at the half ajar bathroom door. Twilight quirked an eyebrow slightly; there was an almost explosive energy about the pearl seamstress.

“What brings you here, Rarity? You seem to be quite excited over something.”

Rarity exploded into speech. “Oh, I am, Darling. Princess Luna requested that I craft you and Rainbow something for the Unity Chalice; it is a normal part of the tournament, and the princess wants the pair of you to look simply magnificent!”

Twilight had a sneaking suspicion that Rarity was the one who wanted the pair to look simply magnificent. Princess Luna would not care what they wore, so long as her participants had fun. “That’s nice, Rarity, but aren’t you afraid that Dash and I will only muss up your hard work?”

“I don’t care about that Twilight. I’m not going to be designing you a dress; such an article of clothing would only get in the way. No, I’m going to create something designed for the rigor of combat, whatever that might entail. I’ve already spoke with the Captain of the Wonderbolts. Spitfire agreed to lend me some of the Teflon they use to create their flight suits.” Twilight sighed mentally, preparing herself for a long next few hours.

In all actuality, however, it was not too bad. Rather than spend time re measuring Twilight, Rarity took Twilight’s old measurements she already had and added three inches to them. Then she left Twilight to watch in awe as she went to work, plying her craft once more. In almost no time at all Rarity was finished. The fashion designer ushered Twilight into the center of the room, directly in a beam of sunlight. Rarity’s tongue poked from her mouth as she worked, tightening and trimming. After several long minutes, Rarity stepped back and examined her work. Giving a small nod of satisfaction, the pearl unicorn summoned the full length mirror from the bathroom. The glass plopped in front of Twilight, who could do nothing but stare once again.

This was not her. There was no way this femme fatale sheathed like a dagger in black was her. Her mane and tail were done up in an elaborate braid, one that put Applejack’s to shame. The black Teflon trimmed in silver fit her like a glove, like she had been poured into the material. It covered her entire body, from barrel to back. Her legs were left bare, and her cutie mark had been stitched onto the sides. Her hooves were encased in slightly harder material: Little silver hoof coverings held in place by strings that crisscrossed up to her knees. On all four legs, right where the limbs met her barrel rested four little saddle pouches designed to hold first aid supplies or food. What really made Twilight gasp in wonder, however, was the matching cloak Rarity was levitating next to her.

“Rarity,” Twilight exclaimed, her voice hushed. “Where in Equestria did you get that?” For Twilight recognized this cloak. She could feel its magical energies.

“It is a gift from Princess Luna,” Rarity said softly, her usual posh demeanor gone. “She visited the old Canterlot treasury and found two. She said it might help protect you and Rainbow when things are direr than you might be able to handle.”

Twilight took the cloak with a reserved air. No name had ever been officially given to cloaks like these, and only two have managed to survive the years since their making. She was holding one of them. The cloaks were created even before the War of the Sun and Moon, when Princess Celestia had banished Nightmare Moon. Ultra light and designed to allow full movement, these cloaks were the bane of spell casters in that era. The knowledge of how to make them have long since been forgotten, but these cloaks always protected their wearer from most magic. Twilight swung the cloak around to her shoulders, fastening it to her combat suit. The cloak fit perfectly, hiding everything but her legs from sight.

“Why would Princess Luna think we might need such an extravagant gift?” Twilight seemed incapable of speaking above a whisper.

“This is the Unity Chalice, Darling. The judges and referees can only see so much. I know there have not been any serious injuries for the past couple of tournaments, but it has happened. Princess Luna seemed to prefer to err on the safe side of things.” Rarity glanced at the sunlight streaming in through the window before adding, “Twilight, you’ve got to go. You’re going to be late to your private qualification round.”

This last statement yanked Twilight out of her stunned stupor. She barely glanced behind her as she bolted out the door, her white friend following behind.

Twilight Sparkle finally checked her swift movement as she entered the training grounds. It was nothing more than an open field, really, where the Royal Guard trained and exercised. Twilight could sense the runes marking the edges of the field, designed to dampen sound and prevent curious outsiders from watching. Twilight exhaled a breath she did not know she had been holding. She had wondered how they were going to keep curious bystanders out. Performing in front of a panel of judges was going to be bad enough; she did not think she would have been able to cope with performing in front of other champions and an excitable crowd. Twilight scanned around slowly, seeking the familiar cyan blue.

Rainbow Dash found Twilight first, however, coming up next to Twilight. The latter turned and did a double take. Dash was dressed in the same uniform as Twilight, pitch black but trimmed in gold. Somehow Rarity managed to bring out Dash’s normal coloration, causing the Pegasus to look rather nice in full black. An identical cloak to Twilight’s, again trimmed in gold, fluttered in a small breeze. “So, this is it,” Dash said. She tried to keep her voice relaxed, but Twilight could hear the excitement coloring her words.

“Yup,” Twilight said. “What happens now?”

“We wait for the other participants. Princess Celestia would like to make a small announcement before shooing us out and calling us forward one at a time for our session.”

Right on cue, Twilight could hear the telltale sound of other creatures approaching. She turned to study the opposition, Dash flanking her. If her memory served, there were sixty four contestants accepted into the Unity Chalice, with a total of thirty two teams. They all differed greatly in size and appearance, from towering Griffons to small and sleek Zebras. Twilight found herself especially studying other casters. Each caster exuded a unique magical light that was their own. Some were quite bright, dimming others slightly, while others had very little magical brightness at all. Most of them had the magical energy focused inside gems and other objects, but there were a few unicorns here and there, their bodies gleaming. Twilight could not help but notice that none of the casters came close to possessing as much brightness as she did when she studied herself. The thought disconcerted her a bit.

But Twilight was not really worried about the casters. She could handle them. Probably, at least. What concerned her the most was all the muscle. There were giant earth ponies as big as MacIntosh. The few Pegasi Twilight could see all looked like they body built for a living. Griffons were just as intimidating, sporting scars and tattoos proudly. Even some of the non Zebra casters packed more muscle than Twilight had ever seen before. She darted a glance to her cyan friend next to her. Rainbow was sizing up her competition with her eyes, much like Twilight. As Twilight watched Dash, though, she slowly began to calm down. Dash could take care of physical hard hitters easily. Whereas some of their opponents were physically fit, Rainbow Dash was a bred athlete. She was probably just as muscular as any of the others, but in a good way. Her body was well toned, taut like a bowstring. While her physique was not as prominent, Twilight knew for a fact Dash was the only pony capable of wrestling Applejack and win. Dash was extremely quick on her hooves, and she was smart.

Or at least, smart in her way. While Twilight Sparkle could run circles around Rainbow Dash when it came to a great many things, the sorceress could never hope to match Rainbow when it came to anything that had to do with sports or physical exertion. Sure, books tended to give Twilight an edge, but when Rainbow Dash actually got her hot head under control, even books never helped much. Dash knew how to use her body, how to use her muscles. While some of the other contestants were strong, and more than a few probably participated in feats of strength, Twilight seriously doubted any of them would be able to stand up to Rainbow Dash. And that was not even mentioning Dash’s magic.

Twilight noticed several participants were eyeing her and Rainbow carefully, too. She could tell they were evaluating the pair. The Element of Magic and the Element of Loyalty, teamed together in a tournament that boasted the best champions it could find. Twilight even went so far as to half fancy that she and Rainbow Dash were quite impressive, dressed in their sleek black suits and flowing cloaks. Most of the other casters were only dressed in a loose robe meant only to guard against the natural elements, while the more physical contestants were garbed in various types of armor. Twilight shook such thoughts from her mind as Princess Celestia walked up to the group.

“Hello and welcome, all of you,” began Celestia. “It is an honor to see all of you here before me. Before the first match of the Unity Chalice, each team will be privately evaluated before a panel of judges. Each team will battle against an opposing practice dummy team. Based upon the performance of the team, the judges will assign each team member a number, which will then be added together to form a team effectiveness number. This team effectiveness number will determine the team’s place on the tournament roster, in addition to determining the winning team in the event of a draw. Are there any questions?”

There was a flurry of headshakes. “Good. I will return to the judge panel. I ask that you all wait outside the field’s perimeter. The judges will call the teams forward one at a time, starting momentarily.”

So the waiting began. One by one participating pairs were called forward to be evaluated. Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle, however, were partially oblivious to their surroundings. The pair had moved a small distance from the main group and started their meditating ritual. Other participants watched them with confusion, and a few even laughed. Twilight and Rainbow did not respond to anything, lost within their bodies. Nothing mattered to them but their magic and each other. Eventually, they heard Princess Celestia calling them forward. The pegasus and the unicorn returned to their bodies and stretched, making sure they were limber. As they did so, the pair noticed that they were the very last team to be evaluated. With a nervous glance at each other, Twilight and Rainbow entered the field.

At one end of the field waited two wooden dummies. Twilight could see the magic giving them life. The judges sat at a table off to the left: Princesses Celestia and Luna, Emperor Zackra, Flock Mother Godwyna, and Queen Athest in a less intimidating pony form. None of the judges said a word, but Celestia nodded. Before Twilight could decide what this gesture meant, she was being attacked. One of the training dummies, one resembling a Pegasus, smashed directly into her side, driving the breath out of her. She scrambled to her hooves as the fake Pegasus came around for another attack, followed by a beam of orange from the second dummy, a unicorn. Twilight teleported away from the Pegasus and raised a shield to deflect the bolt of magic, which had followed her through the teleport. As Twilight gasped for breath, she felt the comforting presence of Rainbow Dash.

Careful there, Twilight. Dash’s voice was oddly calm.

They moved so fast! Twilight exclaimed, throwing herself out of harm’s way again. I can’t even begin to think of a counter attack!

Twilight, calm down and think. We’ve got this. We’re stronger, faster and we have one advantage they will never have.

Our thoughts. Of course, it’s so simple! We can relay orders to each other before they even have time to react!

Exactly. Now let’s show them what we can do!

Now the battle began in earnest. As the pseudo pegasus came at her again, Twilight stepped lightly to the side and stuck out a hind leg, clipping its wing. The dummy tumbled to the ground, where it promptly bounded back to its hooves and charged her again, swinging a vicious right hook at Twilight’s horn. Twilight ducked, then jabbed her horn at the creature, causing it to dance away. It came at Twilight again, slowly. But it failed to notice Dash until she was upon it. The cyan mare swept it off its hooves with a clean sweep of her wings as the unicorn teleported off to Twilight’s left side. The sorceress turned in time to catch a blast of mental energy directly on her horn. Twilight snorted, repulsing the blast back onto its caster, whose ward it bounced off of harmlessly. Twilight pursued her foe doggedly, exchanging magical attacks that seemed almost as powerful as her own. Twilight glanced up briefly as the pegasus dive bombed her again, only to be intercepted by Rainbow Dash.

The two Elements of Harmony worked smoothly together, as though they have been doing this for years. The two teams raged all across the battlefield, no side neither tiring nor asking for quarter. Twilight ping-pong up and down the field, teleporting so rapidly she appeared to be in several places at the same time. She would teleport, loose a mental spike or a blast of energy at an opponent, and then wink away again before they could retaliate. Rainbow Dash was just as swift as her partner, out flying the Pegasus like it was standing still and exchanging the occasional magical blow with the unicorn. Eventually, though, the two fake ponies found they could not hope to stand against the pair. Twilight fired a beam of energy so powerful it tore right through the wooden dummy, and Rainbow smashed the pegasus into the hard ground, where it lay unmoving. The two turned as one to the judge panel, where all five judges seemed to be holding a whispered conversation.

Princess Celestia was the first to turn to the friends. Her horn shimmered for a moment, then a large golden thirteen formed upon the air. The figure then splits, and soars over to the duo, coming to a pause over their heads. Twilight feels as though her heart as stopped. Thirteen was the highest possible number a team could achieve for the Unity Chalice. The other judges are nodding their approval, but Twilight can’t even react. Numb, she reaches a hoof out to Rainbow, who seems just as rigid in shock.

Princess Celestia smiles at the two. “You both performed admirably. It is the decision of this panel that both of you be ranked number thirteen, with a team efficiency number of twenty-six. Well done, both of you. You are dismissed. I imagine some celebrating might be in order.”

Still stunned, Twilight Sparkle lets Rainbow Dash drag her from the field.