And I thought we were normal. How wrong I was.

   I quickly activate a quickstep spell and I dash back through town and after I make it past the main square I stop behind a building to execute the second part of my plan.

"I hope this works." I say as I kneel down and form the seal for the lock-pick conjuring. Ok; I only need to cast this once and I'll have a chance at winning this.

   I force as much of my magic into the seal and once and the seal disappears as I can feel my left arm ripping its self apart to compromise for the magical energy. I open my eyes and I see the two familiar tools sitting before me again and I tuck them into their pouch under my vest.

Let's see if that worked. I think as I try to conjure a light spell and I get a light headache and the spell fails. Perfect; I shouldn't leave a trail of magic if I can't emit any. That cares care of Spacial finding me too easily and as long as I keep moving I should be able to evade Berry's natural detection abilities.

"Now to get moving." I say before taking a left and running through the side streets haphazardly.

    I continue to run/walk/sneak around in the manner for the next few hours switching between the tactics occasionally and thankfully I never catch sight of Spacial again and I only saw Berry 7-8 times but I always ran off before she could figure out where I am. Those times were much scarier than I needed them to be though.

   I sneak through the alleyways quietly and my hunger begins to become a bane on my stamina since I haven't had time to eat since last night. I had tried to persuade Berry to have breakfast in town but she denied the noun for unknown reasons. Now I know why.

    I stop for a moment to check the time, 4:13, before turning the corner to walk amongst the now plentiful crowd of ponies. Thankfully the magical recoil didn't lacerate me as badly this time so there are only a couple of red stains on the arm of my shirt and I'm pretty sure Berry can pick out my individual emotional field amongst this crowd. I've walked strait past her 3 of times I saw her and she didn't even seem to notice. I hope these stains come out.

   I figure that I won't have too many problems until nightfall since that's with the inhibition period will end but thankfully according to Berry's time estimation I'll only have to it run them until midnight which I think should be manageable as long as I don't move around too much at first so that I don't leave and trails until they pick up the chase. The only problem I can for see though is their abilities to hide and sneak up on me. I guess I'll have to leave that up to chance.

   I walk back into another alleyway again nonchalantly before breaking off into another sprint. I stayed in this part of town for too long. I need to relocate again.

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   I wake up from my nap with a small yawn and I check the time which is now 8:01. Luckily I had found a nice place to hang out at for a while; so I ate some dumpster nachos to refresh myself and I took a nap. I hope I don't regret that decision. I think as I role out from under the dumpster near the main square.

My magic should be returning soon so I need to stay hidden while I can and I need to get up where I'll be able to see Berry or Spacial coming. I think as I climb on top of the dumpster and I grab onto a pipe above me which is carries a dim illumination from the street lights.

   Using some of my skills from my old life that I gained from trying to run from each and every ass-hat that went after me, bless their souls, I manage to shimmy my way up the angled pipe to the point where it straitens up and runs up to the roof. I pull my body up until I can rest my feet on the pipe and I then begin to use my feet to help me push myself up.

   I pull myself up and over the edge of the building after I reach the top of the pipe and I find myself to be panting a little. I guess this body isn't like my old one was. Usually I could do that a few times before getting tired and it'd only take a few seconds; that took me a whole three minutes. I think as I stand up and look to the building before me which stands a little below the one I'm on and is overlooking the square directly. I should be able to jump that.

   I take a few steps back and I then run forward to the end of the roof. I jump and I watch as I come close to the other roof. Just a little farther... I impact the other roof barely and I tuck myself into a role and I go about another meter before stopping. That worked surprisingly well.

   I stand up slowly and gather myself before crouching back down. I stop for a moment and I try to form a magical box in my hand and it forms easily within my palm. Alright then; my magic is back now so I don't want to move around to much so I don't leave a trail. I could re-cast the spell of lock-picks but since there isn't much if a night crowd Berry should now be able to find me and if I accidentally get too close I'll need to be able to outrun her.

   I wait for the next 2& 1/2 hours without anypony coming by with my only company being the sounds of the nightlife across town where the bars and such are. I should've hidden there. I think as a pony enters the square from the way across from me. Fuck; I thought I was going to able to ride this out from up here but that probably won't happen now. Thanks a lot Spacial.

   She walks around the place with her head moving around and checking the area and with her long violet dress flowing slightly in the breeze. She stops after reaching the area under me and I immediately turn towards the building next to me and arm a quick step spell. I think she got me.

"I thought you would've learned from your past mistake idiot." I hear her say evenly and I jump off of the roof I'm on and onto the lower one next to it.

   I hear a small gust of wind from behind me and I sidestep off of the roof the instinctually. I land on my side with a thud, but I push through the resounding pain to get myself up. Fuck; here's my advice, don't jump off of roofs. It hurts like hell.

   I activate the speed step spell again since the first one broke upon my landing and I run off towards the sounds of the nightlife. I keep pushing through the mental and physical pains since I can still hear gusts of wind behind me most likely from Spacial's odd spell.

   I take a sharp left into another alleyway and I knock over a few trash cans to hopefully stop her but the seemingly endless sound of the wind continues to follow me. Fuck. Oh wait I forgot about something. I think before throwing up an extremely tall magical box behind me and I hear a small thud from behind me and the sound of wind stops. That was anticlimactic, but I'm happy with the result.

   I continue running haphazardly for the next five minutes before stopping and vomiting into a trash can. I flip open my pocket watch and check the time, 11:34. Fuck; I almost won to. I think as I fall to the earth and my consciousness slips away. I lose.

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*{Berry's POV}*

"Looks like he pushed himself too far." I say as I continue to poke Sonata's face. Soft yet firm; he would make a fine mattress.

"If you can call his sorry performance 'pushing himself'." Spacial sneers from behind me.

"He's just a little but singular in his talents right now." I remark as I hoist his body over my shoulder.

"'A bit' is being generous."

"Then I'll teach him a few new tricks. At the very least I think he's starting to understand the thought processes we use. He found a way to work around your tracing abilities. It wasn't the best way, but it worked." I defend my student solidly.

"But after that he went back to being a fool. If it wasn't for you telling me not to go too fast he wouldn't have won the game at all." She says but I ignore most of it.

"He's a student Spacial not an expert. He picked up on our hints and found a way to use them to his advantage even it was for only a moment. As his teacher that's good enough for me. Besides he's the first member since me to win this game on his first try." I remind her. And I was the first since the last guild master and I was his only student as well. I guess it he wore off on me more than I had thought.

"Either way; can I remove our limiters now?"

"Yes, please do; I'm tired of working at 30% of my usual abilities." I say remembering the traditional limiters we put on for the game. They're annoying but its tradition. I think and the magical limiters break away from my wrist. "That's much better."

"Well I'm going. Next time, make sure your student is actually ready." Spacial snips before teleporting away in a small puff of smoke. She can be a real bitch sometimes.

"Don't worry Sonata; soon I'll have you robbing ponies blind like pro just like the old master taught me to do." I say before lugging him home. At least he isn't too heavy to be a bother.