//Lavender scent fills the hall, ruffling the piled tapestries in the back corner. I glance over and see the three Avatars are gone. Also a night guard outside the window who scrams when I make eye contact.
Spike: (Yeah, bring your friends next time.)
Applejack: I reckon you did a right number on Pinkie, Spike.
Spike: Uh, yeah. Combat. Hello?
//When she surrendered I stopped fighting, and she's not dead. So, as could be reasonably expected.
AJ: I ain't sayin' you shouldn't have, but... y'all really didn't feel anythin' bringin' pain onto a friend like that?
//No. We went over this.
Spike: ...Was she not listening ten minutes ago?
//Rainbow Dash shrugs and ruffles her hair.
Rainbow Dash: Heh-heh, when Fluttershy turns it up don't expect me to pay much attention.
//Wh...
Spike: Huh?
RBD: I mean, she's a coworker, so I'm not _saying_, but, I'm just _saying_...
//What is she saying?
AJ: Mind explainin' yourself?
RBD: Hey, you try and keep a clear head when the Avatar of Temptation is at it. That's just, like, _art_!
//Is... is Rainbow Dash implying...?
Spike: So you're saying there might be hope for Rinsesu Megimi after all?
//Hovering in air, Rainbow Dash is stricken with a fit of giggles. Applejack looks baffled beside her.
RBD: Oh, man. Heh-heh.
AJ: I feel like I ain't followin' this conversation.
RBD: Ah, that's one of my students at the dojo. She's totally obsessed with me.
//A pause from Applejack. I explain:
Spike: Not in a very... let's say 'professional' way, either.
AJ: Oh. Sounds troublesome.
RBD: It's great! Keeps my ego healthy.
//Applejack and I share a look.
AJ: Still, sororizin' with somepony under your command sounds like a recipe for disaster.
RBD: Really? 'Cause to me it just says 'free lunch'!
AJ: Let's get back to whatever conversation we were havin' before, please.
//I look over wounds and brush stray pastry crumbs off my body. The tension is fading just like the smell of blood.
Spike: It wasn't much of one. You were asking me how I could see a friend hurt, and I was about to respond I explained that very same thing not ten minutes ago to Fluttershy.
//Energy from the pie I ate after Fluttershy's fight brings me back to full, focus getting just that little bit stronger. Make that last, now; it's our last one for a while...
\\Why did the crazy pink bint have to smash the food?!
Spike: And honestly, everyone's overestimating how close I am to you guys. I met Pinkie Pie what, three times?
//Blankly, Rainbow Dash blurts:
RBD: Three?
Spike: The Element in Mountainville, then one time she was gambling in Longbridge as Rarity complained about Princesses Hazel and Celestia, and lastly when Hazel met you in that shitty bar to make me Hero of the Land. (Though the last two I was kinda eavesdropping...)
AJ: What?!
RBD: Eh, expected it. Saw you with the cape a little while before that. Was that you in the teleporting plaza too?
Spike: Yep. How did you know who I was through the displacement cape anyways?
RBD: It's easy. If your eyes pass over them even when you don't want to, it's someone you know. After that I just guess.
Spike: What about people you don't know?
RBD: Your mind just puts in who's supposed to be there.
//ASK THIS CUNT HOW SHE KNOWS SO MUCH ABOUT HIDING
Spike: How do you--
AJ: In the interest of gettin' this show on the road, mind choosin' your next fight?

[[SAVE LOCATION]]

>>APPLEJACK
>>FLUTTERSHY
>>PINKIE PIE
>>RAINBOW DASH
>>RARITY

//...Okay.
Spike: It would be silly to ask for anyone but you two, right?
RBD: Duh.
//Thought so, let's choose again...

[[SAVE LOCATION]]

>>APPLEJACK
>>FLUTTERSHY
>>PINKIE PIE
>>RAINBOW DASH
>>RARITY

//...I have a plan. But it will only work this way.
Spike: Applejack.
AJ: Right. Well, no use horsin' around about it.
//Applejack trots to the center of the hall, leaving Rainbow Dash hovering in midair. She zooms off above the stairs and perches on a statue.
Spike: Actually, uh... could I get a handshake?
//About to say yes, the Avatar of Strength catches herself, and asks:
AJ: And why's that?
Spike: Because we're fighting? I'd like to know that even if I'm about to get kicked in the face a bunch of times it's only because we have to.
AJ: ...Is this a trick? Y'all better not pull the one over on me, Spike.
//...Well, it is entirely a trick. May as well be honest.
Spike: It's a trick. I'm getting you to acknowledge me as a person and a fellow warrior, instead of someone who just beat up your best friends, in the desperate hope it'll give me a better chance in battle.
//We share a stare for a moment, and then Applejack lets out a chuckle.
AJ: I gotta appreciate honesty, huh-huh. Put 'er there.
//Applejack and I walk towards each other. She extends a hoof and I shake it with my hand.
AJ: No hard feelin's, however this turns out. As for what's been done in the past, I won' hold it against you. We both did what we thought was right.
//That's meaningless. I _was_ right. Who does what they think is wrong?
Spike: Hey, I have to ask... why'd you ask about seeing my friends hurt? Did you just not pay attention?
//She shakes her head.
AJ: I was wonderin' if we were of the same mind 'bout these things.
Spike: And that is?
AJ: If a friend needs a whoopin' to get their head straight, you give it to 'em!
//Haha!
Applejack leaps backwards, away from The Drakeling!
The Drakeling leaps backwards, away from Applejack!

//ROUND THREE... FIGHT!

[[SAVE LOCATION]]

Applejack rears back, then stomps on the ground!
A block of marble breaks up from the ground!
The Drakeling draws power from within himself, and casts Walk of the Third!
//The block of marble is between us, blocking sight and dragonfire. Well, if she wanted sight blocked...
The Drakeling draws power from within himself, and casts Lake of Fire!
Bouts of flame coat the ground!
//I raise a wall of fire that blocks sight between us, higher than normal because she jumped over the one in our previous fight.
The Drakeling leaps away from Applejack!
The Drakeling's Walk of the Third ends.

//The block of marble hurls itself towards where I was, skips off the floor (leaving marks and throwing off chips), and tumbles to the back of the hall next to the furniture and tapestries.
//I pause, still, trying to hear Applejack move over the sound of the flames. It's impossible, or she's not moving... is she trying the same thing?
Applejack rears back, then stomps on the ground!
//Marble behind the flames turns jagged and surges forward, advancing a path over the wall of flames!
//Applejack charges over it!

The Drakeling breathes fire! But nothing comes out!
\\Crap, I mis-clicked!
Applejack charges at The Drakeling!
Applejack kicks The Drakeling in the left lower arm with her left front hoof, tearing apart the scale, bruising the muscle and shattering the bone!
A ligament has been severed by the attack!
The Drakeling counterattacks!
The Drakeling kicks Applejack in the right rear leg with his right foot, bruising the skin and bruising the muscle!
Applejack collides with The Drakeling, and bounces backwards!
RBD: Are you just going to stand there?!
//REMEMBER HOW SHE PUT YOUR RIBS THROUGH YOUR FUCKING HEART?
Spike: Strangely enough, yes.
//It's not the type of thing to forget.

The Drakeling grabs Applejack by the tail with his right hand!
The Drakeling draws power from within himself, and casts Blood of the Earth!
Snaking through the marble, streams of magma flow around The Drakeling's scales and into his veins!
Applejack's tail is incinerated!
Applejack's left rear leg has been singed!
Applejack's right rear leg has been singed!
AJ: Woah nelly!
Applejack leaps away from The Drakeling!
RBD: _That_'s a little more bloodthirsty than I thought he'd be...
The Drakeling's wounds have healed!
The Drakeling draws power from within himself, and dismisses the fires!

//Applejack snaps her tail, looking at the burnt ends of the hair left there. She looks disappointed.
Spike: ...Sorry.
AJ: Nah. Been meanin' to get it cut anyway.
Applejack rears back, then stomps on the ground!
A block of marble breaks up from the ground!
//I brace my arms in front of me as the block of marble strikes!
The spinning -marble block- strikes The Drakeling in the left lower arm, but the attack is deflected by The Drakeling's magma!
//The marble breaks against me, and my feet burn into the floor an inch. Slag left on my arms and feet falls off as I take a step towards Applejack.
AJ: Now, they say I ain't the smartest of ponies, and maybe that's a little true. But I reckon I'm not a fool, neither.
//I keep walking towards Applejack. She can't fight me when I'm like this.
Applejack rears back, then stomps on the ground!
A block of marble breaks up from the ground!
The spinning -marble block- strikes The Drakeling in the upper body, but the attack is deflected by The Drakeling's magma!
//I'm stopped from taking another step for a few seconds, but then I continue.
Spike: Really? Right now you just look stubborn.
AJ: Stubborn, tenacious, call it what you will. I think y'all won't be able to stand much more of this.
//What, is she kidding?
Applejack rears back, then stomps on the ground!
A block of marble breaks up from the ground!
//I lean my head into the blow to show how little it hurts me.
The spinning -marble block- strikes The Drakeling in the head, but the attack is deflected by The Drakeling's magma!
//My neck feels a pinch for a minute, but it goes away, and I take another step.
Spike: Trust me, I can take much more like this than you can dish out.
RBD: Applejack, I kind of have to agree with him.
AJ: And that's why you're not a general, Rainbow Dash. This is attrition.

Applejack leaps backwards!
//Darn, she is kind of right. She just erased the progress I made, and a life-ending emptiness is starting to grow in my stomach...
AJ: See, first thing Spike did after the fight on Quine's mountain was askin' me for some grub. And y'all brought a cart full-a pies and cakes to snack on. Sounds like that magma of yours likes bein' fed, huh-huh.
//...She is totally and completely right. I'm slowly dying and she knows it! I need to do something else!
Applejack rears back, then stomps on the ground!
A block of marble breaks up from the ground!
The Drakeling's Blood of the Earth ends.
//DON'T LOSE YOUR HEAD
The Drakeling dodges away from the spinning -marble block-!
//It crashes through a window somewhere behind us!
RBD: _Celestia_, Applejack!
//Her eyes grow wide, staring at the priceless work of art destroyed.
AJ: Whoops! Uh... I'll pay for that.
Spike: (You sure will.)
//WHY DO I DOUBT THAT
The Drakeling draws power from within himself, and casts Hand of Judgment!
The Drakeling charges at Applejack!
The Drakeling punches Applejack in the upper body with his left hand, bruising the skin, bruising the muscle, and bruising the right true ribs!
//A fierce SNAP jumps from my hand into Applejack's side! But nothing happens!
Applejack counterattacks!
Applejack kicks The Drakeling in the right upper leg with her right rear hoof, bruising the muscle, shattering the bone, jamming the bone through the right hip's muscle and shattering the right hip's bone!

//FUCK FUCK WHY SHIT I TOLD YOU YOU FUCK
Spike: Yyyaahhg!
//I fall to the side, on my good leg (thankfully). Applejack, unharmed, smiles at me.
\\So there is one person in the word who doesn't smile like a psychopath.
Applejack leaps away from The Drakeling!
The Drakeling draws power from within himself, and casts Blood of the Earth!
Snaking through the marble, streams of magma flow around The Drakeling's scales and into his veins!
//I lay on the ground, breathing, as magma starves me to heal my wounds.
AJ: Huh-huh, and they say there aren't advantages to bein' an earth pony.
\\...You tried Hand of Judgment, but she has a connection to the land like you did when you cast Terrae Corpus. You tried Blood of the Earth, but she knows how to beat it, and nothing is being saved for the next two people you have to fight...
//She even knew to jump away as soon as I got hurt because I'd use the magma. Applejack, the General, is defeating me with her strategic skill.
//YOU'RE FIGHTING LIKE A PONY. FIGHT LIKE A FUCKING DRAGON.
The Drakeling's wounds have healed.
The Drakeling's Blood of the Earth ends.
RBD: ...Is he just gonna lay there?
//Fighting like a pony?
//WITH MERCY. DID SHE SHOW YOU ANY? TEAR OUT THIS CUNT'S FUCKING THROAT AND SHIT DOWN HER NECK!
//No, I'm powerful now, I can make sacrifices like not killing opponents, I refuse--
AJ: Trust me, he's gettin' back up.
//POWERFUL? IS THAT WHAT YOU CALL LOSING TO THE WORLD'S LEAST CAPABLE MILITARY COMMANDER?
\\You shouldn't leave anything in reserve for the next fight if it means you lose this one.
Spike: Okay, okay...
//I have to win this now, and without Blood of the Earth! I'll starve if I do it any more!

The Drakeling stands up.
Applejack rears back, then stomps on the ground!
A block of marble breaks up from the ground!
The Drakeling dodges away from the spinning -marble block-!
Spike: Woah!
//That ruffled my feathers!
//I can't keep dodging stone; she has a longer range than my dragonfire and Lake of Fire is only a delaying tactic! She shook off Hand of Judgment now and Touch of Grisly Terror in our first fight! What else is there?!
Applejack rears back, then stomps on the ground!
//Walk of the Third!
The Drakeling draws power from within himself, and casts Walk of the Third!
A block of marble breaks up from the ground!
//So, what, I get plastered in slow-mo?
\\No, no... fight like a dragon. Leave nothing behind. Walk of the Third is a limited resource, yes, but it's one you have right now. How would Quine fight? Actually, no; screw him. How would Jebed fight?
//The grey ankh, the one Twilight gave me, hangs heavy against my chest. People who don't fear death itself... Applejack's not wearing an ankh.
The Drakeling leaps at Applejack!
//I rush past the block of marble hanging in air!
The Drakeling's Walk of the Third ends!
The spinning -marble block- shoots off into the air!
//It strikes a pillar and kicks up a cloud of dust!
RBD: Hey! Watch the masonry--
The Drakeling draws power from within himself, and casts Walk of the Third!
//Applejack, still swinging around to face me, lowered head. That's not what I need!
//I lie close to the ground and breathe fire!
The Drakeling breathes fire!
The Drakeling stands up.
The Drakeling's Walk of the Third ends!

AJ: Where -- 'Swings!
Applejack rears back!
The Drakeling draws power from within himself, and casts Walk of the Third!
//Perfect!
//I rush over to Applejack, who has her front hooves in the air, trying to block out the dragonfire. Do this right, we don't have much time...
The Drakeling grabs Applejack by the upper body with his right upper leg! The Drakeling grabs Applejack by the upper body with his left upper leg!
//I climb on the Avatar of Strength's back, hoping I won't very soon regret that fact.
The Drakeling grabs Applejack by the head with his left hand!
//My claw's pulling up her jaw, quick--
The Drakeling grabs Applejack by the throat with his upper front teeth! The Drakeling grabs Applejack by the throat with his lower front teeth!
//I dig in the littlest bit, not drawing blood but making pressure.
The Drakeling's Walk of the Third ends!
Applejack is caught in the dragonfire! Applejack's left front hoof has been singed!
AJ: Get offa--
Applejack struggles in vain against the grip of The Drakeling's left hand on Applejack's head.
//Woah, she's shaking hard--
The Drakeling grabs Applejack by the neck with his right lower arm!
Spike: Sshurrender!
//Has she not noticed I'm about to bite out her jugular?!
Applejack struggles in vain against the grip of The Drakeling's left upper leg on Applejack's upper body!
\\Remember 'at least let me be a credible threat'?
Spike: Come on! I meahn it!
//I bite down until I taste blood, making my point with pointed teeth.
//Hey, you know, that's actually not bad...
//Applejack freezes in place. With my tongue, I can feel her breath catch, and heart rate skyrocket. Rainbow Dash takes off from somewhere in the hall.
AJ: ...Let go of me.
Spike: Sshurrender.
//Silence passes between the two of us. From her flexing neck muscles, Applejack doesn't like the sound of that idea.
AJ: Spike, I'll give you 'till five. One.
Spike: It's ovher! I'vhe won!
//She's really not giving in, even when I'm in position to kill her... isn't that bad sportsmareship?
AJ: Two.
Spike: ...Really?
//I'm tasting your blood! Why are you doing this?!
AJ: Three.
\\This is it, Hero. It had to come to this one day. There are people you can't beat into submission, that refuse to bend. General Applejack fought dragons for months on end; did you think just because she wears no ankh she's afraid of risking death in combat?
AJ: Four...
//This is another test, it's got to be, no way would Applejack put me in this situation...
\\What do you do when someone is wrong and refuses to change? Do you destroy them, or leave them be?
RBD: Lieutenant General Applejack! Stand down!
//...What?
AJ: What?
Spike: Mhat?
//Rainbow Dash lands next to us and cuffs Applejack on the ear. The Avatar of Strength then stares at her angrily.
RBD: New orders from Princess Hazel: get your _head_ out of your _ass_ and surrender! You've lost! At least admit it!
//A long glare passes between Applejack and Rainbow Dash. I feel like an accessory attached down here...
AJ: I can still get out of this.
RBD: Maybe. But chances are you force Spike to tear out your jugular to show us all how ~courageous~ you are! And all that makes you is a terrible, dead friend!
//Far in the distance, a guardspony discovers the shattered window from the outside, marble block also having destroyed a railing. In the silence I can hear his tuts.
RBD: And if you don't surrender, Spike's not the only one you'll be fighting.
//Hold on... she's not, is she?
AJ: ...Pardon?
RBD: Hey -- if a friend needs a whooping to get their head straight, I'm more than willing to give it!
//Angry stares pass between Rainbow Dash and Applejack. Her pride and stubbornness are getting the better of her...
//After another moment, I feel held breath release in a sigh. Applejack surrenders:
AJ: Fine.

Applejack was defeated!
Spike earned 25000 experience points!
Spike is now level 39!

[[SAVE LOCATION]]

//I slide off Applejack's back, letting go of everything. My stomach growls.
RBD: You're not at war anymore. You're _testing_ your _friend_.
AJ: I get it, good gravy!
//Holes in the floor betray the blocks taken up by Applejack's fight. A smashed window lets in cold night air at the end of the hall, if I remember correctly one of the only depicting Princess Luna.
//NO GREAT LOSS
//Applejack turns to me. She's not blinking or bowing her head. Beads of blood rise on her neck.
AJ: ...No hard feelin's.
Spike: Of course not.
//Applejack walks off heavily to the base of the stairs, saying nothing more.
RBD: You should probably go to the med center, get some antibiotics! He drew blood!
//The Avatar of Strength ignores this and sits down, watching us.
RBD: (Is it too much to expect her not to be an idiot?)
Spike: Why antibiotics? I'm not poisonous.
\\That would be 'antivenom'.
//Rainbow Dash shrugs.
RBD: Better safe than sorry; mouths aren't the cleanest.
Spike: What you do with Rinsesu on your own time is your own business, but my mouth is clean.
//Rolls eyes.
RBD: Shut up, dork.
//Although, if it meant a free lunch of grossulars, I'd be tempted...
//My stomach rumbles again, despite the pie I ate not twenty minutes ago.
RBD: So, it looks like Rarity isn't back with the others yet. You ready?
Spike: Let's get this show on the road.

[[SAVE LOCATION]]

>>APPLEJACK
>>FLUTTERSHY
>>PINKIE PIE
>>RAINBOW DASH
>>RARITY

Spike: Rainbow Dash!
RBD: The one and only!
//She launches into the air, flying about madly!
Spike: ...Could I get a handshake?
//The Avatar of Speed pauses in midair, says:
RBD: Oh yeah.
//And drops to the ground.
Spike: I know we've had our differences in the past -- by which I mean you tried to molest and/or kill me at least three times not to mention leaving me to die in the desert--
RBD: --details--
//She holds out her hoof as I walk forward.
Spike: But I hope this is a good old fashioned, fair--
The Drakeling leaps at Rainbow Dash!
The Drakeling draws power from within himself, and casts Touch of Grisly Terror!
The Drakeling grabs Rainbow Dash by the left wing with his right hand! The Drakeling grabs Rainbow Dash by the right wing with his left hand! They become limp and useless!
Rainbow Dash kicks The Drakeling in the head with her right front hoof, tearing apart the scale, bruising the muscle and bruising the skull!
The Drakeling is propelled away by the force of the blow!
The Drakeling's tail skids along the ground, tearing apart the scale and bruising the muscle!
The Drakeling falls over!

//ROUND FOUR... CHEAT!

RBD: Nice try--
//Rainbow Dash leaps into the air, but her wings don't spread! She falls back to the ground, hooves skipping off the marble.
RBD: My -- my wings!
//Sickly horror spreads across her face. Several more strained attempts to move her wings fails.
AJ: Huh-huh, you didn't know about that?
The Drakeling stands up.

The Drakeling breathes fire!
Rainbow Dash dodges away from the dragonfire!
//Huh, even without wings she's still quick... but nothing compared to with them. I've fought opponents on this level before!
RBD: What did you _do_?!
//I remember her yelling that at me when I burnt down the Valley of Death forest. Is taking away use of her wings as distressing as the deaths of two dozen innocents?
AJ: That's the paralyzer, right? Y'all make it so she can't move her wings?
Spike: It'll wear off after the battle.
//Applejack shrugs and turns away, trotting up the stairs.
AJ: I don't need to be here to figure out how this one ends, I reckon. Here's hopin' the med center ain't busy; I want to be back for Rarity...
//She leaves the hall completely, leaving only me and Rainbow Dash.
RBD: You -- you cheater!
Spike: Excuse me?
The Drakeling breathes fire!
Rainbow Dash dodges away from the dragonfire!
//Don't talk too long, Touch of Grisly Terror might wear off...
RBD: You attacked before we shook hooves!
Spike: Oh, sorry, what rules did I break? Implicit rules don't count.
RBD: Screw you!
Spike: Now we play the guessing game: itinerary or frustrated outburst?

The Drakeling draws power from within himself, and casts Walk of the Third!
//Let's end this quickly.
Spike: This is for all that you've done to me!
The Drakeling draws power from within himself, and casts Hand of Judgment!
The Drakeling leaps at Rainbow Dash!
The Drakeling's Walk of the Third ends.
//I forgot! Using it so much against Applejack and earlier means it's cutting out now!
The Drakeling charges at Rainbow Dash!
The Drakeling punches at Rainbow Dash with his left hand, but Rainbow Dash dodges away!
Rainbow Dash counterattacks!
Rainbow Dash kicks The Drakeling in the lower body with her left rear hoof, chipping the scale, bruising the muscle and bruising the stomach!
//Gooh, man, glad that's empty...
The Drakeling charges past Rainbow Dash!

//Crap! Even wingless, the Avatar of Speed isn't going to be easy!
Rainbow Dash kicks The Drakeling in the right lower leg from behind with her right rear hoof, denting the scale and bruising the muscle!
The Drakeling falls over!
//I stumble over and put my hands on the ground.
//SNAP! comes from my scales, and static jumps into the marble. That's Hand of Judgment gone.
The Drakeling's Bolt of Judgment dissipates.
Rainbow Dash leaps away from The Drakeling!
//I'm still powerful enough to defeat her!
The Drakeling stands up.

RBD: What's the matter? Can't win a crooked fight?
Spike: It's a fight, there are no rules to break. If you don't like it, run away and start a martial arts club or something.
RBD: You--
Rainbow Dash charges at The Drakeling!
Rainbow Dash kicks at The Drakeling with her right front hoof, but The Drakeling dodges away!
The Drakeling counterattacks!
The Drakeling kicks Rainbow Dash in the upper body with his left foot, bruising the muscle and bruising the left false ribs!
Rainbow Dash collides with The Drakeling! Rainbow Dash bounces backwards!
The Drakeling punches Rainbow Dash in the head with his right hand, tearing apart the skin and bruising the muscle!
Rainbow Dash bites The Drakeling in the right lower arm, tearing apart the scale and tearing apart the muscle!
Rainbow Dash latches on firmly!

Spike: Get off!
Rainbow Dash shakes The Drakeling around by the right lower arm, tearing apart the right lower arm's muscle!
An artery in the right lower arm has been opened by the attack!
//FUCKING FUCK OWWWWW
The Drakeling breathes fire!
Rainbow Dash has been caught in the dragonfire! Rainbow Dash's upper body has been burned!
RBD: Kyaaa--
Rainbow Dash releases the grip of Rainbow Dash's upper front teeth on The Drakeling's right lower arm!
Rainbow Dash leaps away from The Drakeling!

//Aaagh... my arm is bleeding profusely, blood visibly rises in cycle with my heartbeat. The tear is about six inches long; she really did a number...
Spike: So, tell me.
RBD: What?!
Spike: Does dragon blood taste as good as pony blood?
//I'd imagine it has a smoky flavor.
RBD: Blech, disgusting. It tastes like sulfur.
//FIRE AND FUCKING BRIMSTONE, BABY, DRAGONS BRING THE NOISE
//A bell tolls somewhere in Canterlot, ringing into the castle from the cool night air. I cauterize my wound.
Spike: Huh, that's strange.
//Rainbow Dash says nothing, trying to look at the burnt fur on her chest.
Spike: It's premature for a funeral dirge!
The Drakeling leaps at Rainbow Dash!
Rainbow Dash leaps away from The Drakeling, into the air!
//What?! No!!

//Rainbow Dash rises up into the air and does a twirl!
Rainbow Dash twirls in the air, casting Wind Pool!
//Her wings are working!! She recovered too quickly!
//Air drags at me, pulling me to the left and almost off my feet. I leap forward, away from the circle trying to enclose me, before it starts!
Rainbow Dash spreads her wings, and casts Wind Wall!
The Wind Wall strikes The Drakeling in the head, tearing apart the scale!
The Drakeling is knocked over by the force of the blow!
Rainbow Dash's wings fail!
RBD: Ohshitwhat--
Rainbow Dash slams into the ground! Rainbow Dash's left rear hoof takes the full force of the impact, tearing the skin and bruising the muscle!
//Her wings must not be fully recovered. On the ground like this, I can hardly crawl against the wind, but it's the only way to move.

The Drakeling draws power from within himself, and casts Walk of the Third!
The Drakeling stands up.
//Probably the last one. Wind pushes around me softly, urgent but not enough to sway me. Rainbow Dash is recovering from the fall. I have one shot--
The Drakeling draws power from within himself, and casts Touch of Grisly Terror!
The Drakeling's Walk of the Third ends.
Spike: In the name of Celestia, and all that is right, I won't be stopped!
//She slides a hoof back, readying to dodge Hand of Judgment. Perfect.
The Drakeling charges at Rainbow Dash!
The Drakeling punches at Rainbow Dash, but Rainbow Dash dodges away!
Rainbow Dash counterattacks!
Rainbow Dash strikes The Drakeling in the left upper leg with her right wing, shattering the scale, bruising the muscle and bruising the bone!
The Drakeling collides with Rainbow Dash! The Drakeling bounces off!
The Drakeling touches Rainbow Dash in the left wing with his lower body! The Drakeling touches Rainbow Dash in the right wing with his left upper leg! They become limp and useless!
//Success!
Rainbow Dash kicks The Drakeling in the right hand with her left rear hoof, bruising the muscle and bruising the bone!
//Ow, that hurt!
Rainbow Dash leaps away!

Spike: Everyone wants to get crazy with their deceptions. Twilight, Herr Yyz, Caduceus mare...
//The Avatar of Speed looks at me oddly, behind multicolored hair.
RBD: 'Caduceus mare'?
Spike: But simple deceptions _work_. There's less to go wrong.
//Rainbow Dash leaps into the air, but her wings fail her again. She falls back to the ground, same sickly horror pulsing.
RBD: No, my wings, not again; I just felt them--
The Drakeling draws power from within himself, and casts Lake of Fire!
Bouts of flame coat the ground!
//I place a rectangle around myself and Rainbow Dash, fully enclosed. There's nowhere to maneuver, unless you're a dragon immune to fire.
Spike: Information control is a part of fighting. Applejack understood that, which is why she was suspicious to shake my hand. Fluttershy understood that, which is why she disappears, and never showed me it.
//Flames lick at Rainbow Dash from each side and behind, curling the tips of her tail. She looks at me with a kind of amusement, one I can't place.
Spike: But you and Pinkie? You have all your cards on the table, nothing's left to hide.
RBD: We're Avatars, the faces of Hazel's administration for hugely important tasks. Hiding anything makes us look merciful -- what special forces team is _merciful_?
//That's exactly what someone with terrible power and important tasks should be -- if not the Avatars then at least the person ordering them around!
Spike: Is it okay to do anything you like to people, just to look scary? Are appearances more valuable than peoples' _lives_?!
//Rainbow Dash looks about, raising a hoof at the walls of flame beside us. Her back legs tense up, and she looks at me from under her hair, ears back. She mutters:
RBD: Yeah, I'm not a debater. Could you call off the fire?
Spike: Uh, no? We're still fighting.
RBD: I surrender! Call it off!
//She is surrounded by fire, and through me is the only way out... I guess she doesn't know I can't risk Blood of the Earth.

Rainbow Dash was defeated!
Spike earned 25000 experience points!
Spike is now level 40!

[[SAVE LOCATION]]

//...But that's not it. Crazy non-flying bint probably thinks an easy trick like this will work.
Spike: No.
RBD: Hey! I'm burning to death here--
Spike: Are you kidding? I just fought you using trickery as my main tool. Falsely giving up won't work.
//Her body language is like a cat waiting to pounce. As soon as the flames go away, she'd attack again. The only thing stopping her now is she doesn't know I'm on the edge of starvation. And I'm not keen on telling her.
Spike: So I'm going to wait until someone gets back to accept your surrender.
RBD: ...Darn it.
Spike: Yeah, fighting someone intelligent is a change, huh?
//I sit down and look over my wounds. Besides the cauterized gash in my arm, nothing is too bad... I should probably go to the infirmary. Mouths aren't the cleanest.
//Rainbow Dash shrinks away from the walls of flame and sits down on the marble, looking at the floor in front of her, mind internal.
RBD: Heh-heh... heh-heh, heh-heh-heh-heh-eh.
//Why is she laughing? And why is it so weird?
RBD: Okay. No one's here, this is what you do, heh. So much for what I thought. Guess I needed a reality check.
//Uh, is she making sense to anyone else?
\\I'm still you, just a different internal voice. Idiot.
//FUCK YOUR STUPID MORTAL SHIT
//Never mind, I won't ask again...
RBD: But I gotta know. Just between you and me. Who is it?
Spike: Who's what?
//I'm Spike, last time I checked.
RBD: I know it's not me, I get that. But come on, it's got to be _someone_. So who is it? No one else is here. I just gotta know.
Spike: What are you talking about?
RBD: Don't play dumb, Spike. Is it gonna be Twilight? Went on this whole journey just to impress her, the Hero gets the girl at the end?
//Is she... she's really talking about this?
RBD: Can't be Rarity; you'd never rebuild what you guys had. Applejack? Fluttershy? Pinkie Pie? Old friends become something more, or maybe you've found a sight you wouldn't mind seeing for hundreds of years. Did you find a dragon over your journey whose egg nest you'd like to come back to at the end of the day?
//Rainbow Dash is seriously asking... who I've decided to become rebirth-mates with? My throat chokes up, and I freeze in place.
//WHY IS SEX MORE SCARY TO YOU THAN FIGHTING EQUESTRIA'S MOST POWERFUL KNIGHTS
RBD: ...It can't be. Celestia? You honestly think she'll come back to Equestria just for you? No, not her... so who could it be? Who does Spike take as a rebirth-mate?
//...How do I even begin not answering this question?
//Staring at me for seconds, Rainbow Dash then shakes her head, grinning beside the flames.
RBD: Heh-heh. That's it, then. Body language really does say everything.
//A pop from far ahead, at the top of the stairs, signals the return of three Avatars. Their wounds and burns have been fixed. I can see them over the flames, but Rainbow Dash's back is to them.
//Pinkie Pie rears up as she spots the rectangle of fire.
PP: Oooh, it's still going on! What did we miss? I hope nothing good!
Spike: Yeah. Nothing good at all.
The Drakeling draws power from within himself, and dismisses the fires!
RBD: I just surrendered. Applejack's in the med center, she's--
AJ: I'm back, y'all. Wasn't much of a line.
//Applejack walks in from one of the doors at the top of the hall (not the center one, which is stone; one of the 'lesser' wooden ones). Together, the four Avatars start descending the stairs.
R: Oh, Applejack! What _happened_ to your tail?!
//Applejack wags her burnt tail as she walks.
AJ: Huh-huh, just a trimmin'. I like it short, anyways. Didn't have to pay for it, either.
//Rarity lowers her head and puts on a smile.
R: ...Well. Suppose there was no reason for me to be so dramatic, was there?
//Rainbow Dash trots uneasily back to them, burn still visible on her chest.
FS: Why were you at the med center?
AJ: Oh, uh, just a little somethin' I got from bein' too reckless. Nothin' to worry about.
//Her head and neck fur looks a little damp. Either I drool more than Rainbow Dash at a drakeling convention or Applejack mixed up antibiotics and bobbing for apples.
//Fluttershy raises an eyebrow but says nothing. Pinkie looks around, counting the holes in the floor from raised stones.
R: What I think Fluttershy meant to ask, Applejack, is: have you and the Hero fought?
AJ: Oh! Yeah, Spike won. Fair and square, too.
PP: Wow! Did you remodel the floor while you two were at it?
//Rarity tuts at the smashed window.
R: Oh, darn; that was my favorite of Luna as well.
RBD: She wasn't that great anyway.
FS: Dash, how can you say that? The Princess was perfectly wonderful, as soon as she started to calm down, relax, talk in her inside voice, not demand tribute as often...
AJ: (Nah, she was a nutcase through and through. Remember when she impaled a dragon on one of the Castle's spires?)
PP: Uck, and I hate cleaning up my _own_ messes...
R: Still, out with the old and in with the new. I wonder who will be commissioned to replace it -- and what history they will depict.
//I HEAR DEAD PRINCESSES ARE IN STYLE NOW SO WHY NOT TWILIGHT'S IN-LAW?
PP: They should make it a party! With everypony everywhere coming together and having a super-duper amazing old time!
AJ: (So, complete fiction?)
//Certainly not a historical scene.
//I look around. It seems there aren't any pictures of Hazel in the stained glass windows. And none of Twilight, either.
RBD: I bet they'll make it of Spike.
//That's... not what I was expecting from her.
Spike: A stained glass window is a little far to go for a wanted poster.
FS: Wanted? Spike, you're not a bad person. As soon as you talk to Hazel she'll understand.
//YEAH WHEN YOU TEAR THAT CUNT'S THROAT OUT SHE'LL LOOK UP AND ACCEPT IT
R: You have to excuse me, Fluttershy, but I do feel that is a bit premature.
//Rarity breaks from the Avatars, walks out in front of me, and takes her place with panache. We're only a few feet away.
R: There is, after all, one more Avatar to defeat.

[[SAVE LOCATION]]

>>APPLEJACK
>>FLUTTERSHY
>>PINKIE PIE
>>RAINBOW DASH
>>RARITY

Spike: ...
//This is it. The last Avatar of them all, and the one you know least about. She hasn't blinked at anything that's happened here, unflappable in the extreme. Never fought her before, out of Blood of the Earth and Walk of the Third, a spellcaster known for creation and use of magical items that can extend her power far beyond just her own body... and someone who knows you better than you probably know yourself.
//This is going to be tough.
//THIS IS GONNA BE FUCKING AWESOME
Spike: I--
Rarity: In lieu of combat, I challenge you to a game of Strategy.

[[SAVE LOCATION]]

//ROUND FIVE... TRITE.

//...What?
AJ: Huh?
RBD: Is she serious?
//A white glow starts on Rarity's horn, pointing up in the air. I tense up, ready to spring for a moment, then a wooden box carved with rose petals and detailed by silver appears between us.
FS: Uhm, Rarity, I'm not sure you can do that--
R: Are you sure, Fluttershy? Because where I'm standing, when I squint hard and look between my hooves I can almost see the law down there.
//Strategy? I haven't played that since I was at Rainbow Dash's dojo, and that wasn't exactly normal Strategy. When was it before that? Fluttershy's cottage, so long ago? Who thought this game would actually come up somewhere important?
Spike: The captain of the guard told me I had to face each Avatar in combat--
R: And you are a Hero of the Land as well. People such as us are responsible to each other, not vestigial laws blindly grandmothered in from a previous generation.
//Crap, 'cause I had no confidence in my Strategy skills, especially if she's choosing it as her challenge...
PP: Hold on, I thought we agreed not to tell--
AJ: He already knew, Pinkie.
RBD: And Rarity wasn't at that meeting. Remember?
PP: Oh yeah!
//Not even sure it's preferable to combat. I'd be hard pressed to win either.
R: You and I are above the law. If I may be frank, none of this was even necessary since the moment Hazel decided to recognize you.
Spike: So... I really could have just walked right in?
//WHAT DO YOU THINK 'ABOVE THE LAW' MEANS, FUCKWIT?
R: Of course not. We'd have stopped you. But you are not finally earning the acknowledgment of Princess Hazel today. You are earning ours.
//Rarity sits down next to the box, unlocks the latches, and starts unfolding a Strategy map. Small bags of playing pieces levitate out with it.
R: But if you don't sit down to play, you can never win anything at all.
//What, standing up is forbidden?
\\No, it's synonymous with 'if you don't play'... which was Pinkie Pie's lesson during her test. You have to accept you might fail in order to win. Though, responsibility to each other and breaking rules was what you learned from Fluttershy... and from Applejack's test it was made clear talking to each other will lead to harmony quicker than bloodshed. She's combining lessons from many Avatars here... what did Rainbow Dash teach you?
//Not to trust Rainbow Dash?
\\No... well, yes, but no. You learned not to give up, even when people were telling you it was over.
//IT IS OVER. YOU'RE JUST WAITING TO GET FUCKED.
//I sit down at the other side of the Strategy board, and start arranging my pieces.

//The remaining Avatars gather around us, watching the game unfold. We're just starting to place our pieces.
//...The hall is silent but for wind through the broken window and clacks of wood on wood. Avatars, usually a talkative bunch, watch us patiently. And I can't think of anything to say. What do you say to someone who's been married to you for years but you haven't got the slightest clue about?
Spike: Uh, do I place first?
Rarity: Placing second is a bit of an advantage, so I'll place first.
//One by one, she carefully levitates pieces, placing them with deliberation.
R: Challenger benefit, and all.
//The three-player map is split into three asymmetrical sections: air, land, and sea. Oriented towards me is land; Rarity places on the air. With no symmetry I can't get my bearings by inspecting her movements and copying them; the shape of the map leads us to different strategic paths.
FS: Since it's a three player map, the fight will be over the untaken start point.
//That's only part of it. If someone secures it they've won the game, so there must be a strategy to prevent securing it by aggression, giving rise to defensive techniques that slowly claim ground, making greedily grabbing the spot a viable tactic... the game will be about that element of the map, but it's possible nothing will actually happen there.
RBD: Air, huh? What does that do?
R: Nothing, dear. It just fills space.
RBD: No, I mean, in the board game.
R: ...That is what I meant.
//Rarity has placed her peasants and warriors in a... complex way. It's not obviously defensive, offensive, or greedy. It looks more like math was done... too complex for me, I'll just try something.
\\You're improvising against a pony who sat down one day with a pencil and paper and figured out perfection for this map? That's sure to work.
AJ: Hmm.
//Since I'm obviously the lesser player here, I have to take a risk to win. Being defensive isn't a risk, being offensive would be too predictable... let's try greed.
//I am, after all, a dragon.
PP: What's happening? Why's everyone so quiet?
FS: This is a complicated game, Pinkie. A lot of care needs to go into every decision you make.
//I place my soldiers and peasants almost recklessly, scattering them about to grab more land than I should be able to hold. I just hope at the end enough of it is still mine.
RBD: Good choice.
PP: What happened? I don't get it.
RBD: Rarity's opening is flexible, and the price you pay for that is against extreme stuff, like what Spike's doing.
//MODERATION IS A WEAKNESS, LIKE MERCY AND HONOR
R: Alright, I do think it is time to begin. Best of luck, Hero.
//Why does she call me 'Hero' instead of 'Spike'?
//The Avatar of Avarice moves her units in a way to claim land. It's not as much as I have taken from the start, but the units move naturally into strong positions.
RBD: I don't know if that'll work out.
PP: I am so confused.
RBD: She's doing what Spike's doing, but from behind. Basically, she thinks she's better at it.
R: It is your turn.
//Hmm... she's probably right about being better at it. I'll only have an advantage for so long before her skills allow her to catch up. I need to attack Rarity when my advantage is greatest.
//I set up to make soldier-producing structures and develop the land I'm on. For the next few turns, it's going to be mostly bookkeeping. With a slight wave of her mane, Rarity notes:
R: In what I've found to be a strange coincidence, the highest levels of nearly any competitive activity all look the same, whichever activity it may be.
//She moves units, also doing bookkeeping activity. This part of the game is unexciting.
Spike: What?
//Rainbow Dash's training kicks in and I move my pieces rapidly, more intuition than thought. Oh, darn; I made a slight mistake on that one...
R: There was a time when I designed dresses. After that, I studied combat. Now that I find myself with great quantities of free time, aside from designing magical artifacts I indulge in Strategy. And in all of them I have discovered the competition is less important than the competitor.
//She arranges her peasants to chop wood in strange ways. I look at it for a minute, trying to think.
R: It is your turn.
Spike: Okay.
//I take my turn.
R: Ponies who rise consistently to the top, beyond normal variation, seem perpetually lucky. In reality, they understand themselves, their opponents and their environment so thoroughly these ponies may as well be clairvoyant.
//Halfway through moving my last piece, I realize all Rarity's trees will fall across paths into her operations, blocking me out. It can only be done on her side of the map, with how she placed her workers. And that's almost a dozen turns from now.
//Whoa.
R: Skilled competitors have a reputation. Great competitors _use_ their reputation, to force opponents into paths which illude the greatest chance of success, and then predict it.
//Rarity assigns her peasants to development operations. By the time I'm there with an attack, she'll have a greater resource base despite less land just because I'm putting so much into an attack... and all this is happening two to six turns from now; right now little has actually been accomplished.
\\And then you'll be delayed for several turns, giving her the ability to train an army to defend. One that's going to be bigger than yours.
R: At the highest level, information is the only essential commodity. Execution is necessary, but when execution is guaranteed, information takes importance. Combine this with the clairvoyance mastery can grant, and predictive games start forming no matter the competition. There is a saying that all wars are won years in advance, but it need not be only wars.
//Would she mind not lecturing about how she's completely crushing me as she's completely crushing me?!
R: The choice of strategy becomes a strategy itself. When do you amplify your environment, when should you exert your will over it? How often do you gamble to keep future opponents honest, knowing it reduces chances of winning today?
Spike: It's your turn.
//There's nothing more for me to do. If I change paths now, I lose no matter what. On this course, at least there's a chance.
R: At the top... it is lonely. There is no one to practice with, no one to follow, no one to be inspired by. And in any art worth practicing, success requires constant innovation. If simple-minded work ethic is all that is necessary, there is no art in competition.
//Rarity finishes her speech by placing her last piece. Her own greed paying off because of the fallen logs, she's looking to defend my attack with barely enough and use a stronger economy to counterattack immediately... taking my own momentum and using it against me. We're less than ten turns into the game and I'm already beaten.
//I said Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were obvious, but they're as obvious to me as I am to someone like Rarity. Out of the barest glimpses of information she's able to glean my intent, prepare a defense and a deadly reprisal dozens of steps before any of it actually happens. This is... how do you compete against a person as crazy as this?!
Spike: I... I...
AJ: Y'need to speak up, Spike.
Spike: I've... I've already lost.
RBD: You have? That was fast.
PP: Now I really don't get it.
//Fluttershy is unable to explain, and hides behind her own hair instead.
R: ...Yes. But it is impressive that you've managed to see it this early.
//Impressive, hah... impressive would have been avoiding it. I'm still blundering about with no clue what I'm doing.
AJ: Are you sure? This looks like a normal kinda game to me. Nothin's happened yet.
//The Avatar of Avarice, enjoying her victory, turns her head kindly towards Applejack.
R: You don't see it? ...Very well. Hero, shall we play out the rest of the game to demonstrate?
//Why bother, I've lost against an Avatar, my quest is over; I'm no Hero...
Spike: ...I don't want to waste your time.
PP: (Am I the only one with no idea what's going on here?)
FS: (...I think Rarity wanted to--)
//Nodding curtly, the last Avatar stands up, looks me in the eye, and then declares:
R: Of course. Then I will surrender.

Rarity was defeated!
Spike earned 25000 experience points!
Spike is now level 41!

[[SAVE LOCATION]]

//...WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS BULLSHIT
//Various confused responses come from the assorted Avatars and I. It's fair to say the dragon instinct summed up the feeling of the room.
//Rarity looks down at me, but not in a way that implies I am lesser.
R: Suffice it to say that I can surrender. It is the only action that can be taken at any time in Strategy, whether I am in a winning position or no, and I have chosen to do so.
//Cold night air nips at us from behind, and I curl my tail closer in as I stand up. The Avatars are still looking towards Rarity, leaning in and expecting an explanation for... well, frankly, the whole thing.
R: I will not tell you why I chose Strategy, instead of allowing you to pass from the very beginning. That is for you to figure out.
FS: But that means... you were planning on giving in from the start?
R: Yes. Tests are meaningless. You can either succeed at the tasks needed of you, Hero, or you can fail. If a test could find that out you would not _be_ a Hero.
Spike: ...I don't know. Seems like all of this could weed out any false positives.
AJ: 'False positives'?
PP: Hehehaha *snort* hehehaha, how many people do you think are crazy enough to _do_ something like this, Spike? You're one-of-a-kind!
//The last defeated Avatar bows her head, gathers the game into the ornate box with a wave of her horn, and moves to the side.
R: Go on, Hero. The one you seek awaits.
//...After a long moment in silence, I stretch my legs and cough.
Spike: Uh, yeah. Thanks.
//SEE ALL YOU CRAZY FUCKING BINTS NEVER IF WE'RE FUCKING LUCKY

//The Hero of the Land, challenges complete, passes through the great doors of marble and gold that lead, past a long hallway of stained glass windows, into the closed throne room.
Pinkie Pie: That was fun!
Applejack: I'm not sure I was expectin' any of that.
Rainbow Dash: Hold on, did he leave his cape?
PP: Who cares? Anyone up for some sandwiches? I'm famished!
//Two pops are heard echoing from the ceiling, and the sound of something rolling across the floor, but the sound is amplified and compressed.
Fluttershy: What was that?
Applejack: Uh... the radio?
//A voice from ceilings of rooms throughout the castle crackles:
Public Announcement: (Hck, it's like they've never seen an oddity before.)
//Three dull bangs are heard from the announcement system, and then a muttering:
PA: Quit trying, it'll hold for a while! (Let's see, soundboard, soundboard... 'everywhere but Throne Room'. I guess that's what I'm looking for?)
//A click.
FS: Have they been having problems with it?
Rarity: None that I'm aware of.
PA: This is Information Gatherer Na-Mira contacting Hero of the Land Spike. Hck, doesn't look like there's anything for you to talk back with, so, uh... I guess I'll just start.
PP: Ooh, what is she starting? Are we playing a game?
RBD: Come on, Pinkie Pie, do you take anything seriously?!
PP: Cakes?
PA: This is information you need to know, Spike, so listen close. Uh, if you're hearing me at all; I don't know where you are in the castle.
//Two more loud, dull bangs come from the PA system.
PA: Speaking of that, don't worry about me. I have to do this, because I failed you; I didn't get this information fast enough and now you're walking right into a trap. The barricade will hold for... uh...
//Pages are hurriedly flipped over the PA.
RBD: Why would she need to barricade herself into the PA room?
//Na-Mira's voice comes quicker:
PA: Month Three, Day Two, of My Torment.
//Rarity's face drops like a stone.
PA: I will meet the Hero for the first time tonight. Sweetie Belle says he has woken up. I refuse to call him by the name he chooses for himself; the name reopens a wound I would rather let scar. He was given the Element of Generosity as I directed.
//A slight pause as the reader takes a breath.
PA: That's followed by like ten paragraphs of dreadful emotional baggage and rhetorical questions, all of which I'm sure is just heartwrenching but in the interest of time no one really needs to hear it.
Applejack: Rarity? Where are you goin', girl?
Rarity: I'm going to murder someone in the PA room. Care to join me?

//Why do I need to hear this? Why is Na-Mira endangering herself?
PA: At this point, diary, you are probably wondering why I avoid my duty as an Avatar and a holder of an Element in order to help such a person, one who has caused... everything you see above and in previous entries. Wisely so. Even if my actions fall within the rules of my position, one may say they are certainly not aligned with its spirit.
//A page flips.
PA: One is wrong. My intent is to see justice done. The person who is the Hero causes me pain incidentally, not deliberately; to punish him would be punishing a separate individual. My husband is dead. His corpse is not possessed by another willingly, at least not by the other. It would be unjust to punish him for an act he has not committed. But, you ask, in what way can this be justice?
//Is this... Rarity's journal?
PA: My actions will level the playing field. As it stands, Canterlot Castle has an immense informational advantage over the Hero. The Princess, if I act as expected, will also have the advantage of preparation over the Hero. If I do nothing, the Hero will be danced about on strings by a certain mare who wishes to direct everything -- and that is a scene I have seen for far too long.
//Rarity wants to help me? I mean, that's obvious; but why?
PA: Easy challenges for the Hero to complete will and have taken little time. Estimations are likely for the Hero to challenge the Avatars at the end of the week. He should instead be in the throne room as of this evening, when there will be no extant plans for this confrontation. And that, diary, is an encouraging thought. The true test of an actress is not when things go according to plan, but instead when they do not. And _someone_'s acting skills need a little work.
//She's doing this to get back at Twi-- Princess Hazel? 'Swings, even after I've had amnesia and we've been separated for two months, this mare still wants to own me...
PA: I look forward to seeing the results. The throne has no idea he is coming, at least this early. The Princess is not who the Hero thinks she is. I can only hope things go terribly, terribly wrong. The ruination of months-long plans would be proper revenge.
//Wait... I know only one person who makes intricate plans months in advance.
PA: You know how hard it is to create months-long plans, Twilight. I will show you how easy they are to destroy. Just as you found it easy to destroy the memory of my rebirth-mate, and my entire life.
//...
PA: Hck, Spike! You lost your memory?!