Twilight looked at Emerald. "On your marks..." Then to Rainbow. "Get set..." At once, she forced the checkered flag downward as she shouted, "Fly!"

Both Emerald and Rainbow took off like lightning down the slalom hill, leaving craters in the ground below them as they pushed off.

Rainbow maintained the lead in the first leg, expertly turning around the ever-changing distance of the poles. Emerald was close behind. The former finished first, stopping on a bit just off the edge, and plummeted toward the ground below. As Emerald had no more course before her, she fell faster. The two of them impacted the ground at the same time, sharing a split-second glance before pushing off toward the second third.

Emerald took the outside path of the spiral, and earned her lead over Rainbow, who took the inside turns. Both racers left color trails in their wake as they sped around the course. After the second spiral, Emerald had won a sizable lead.

On the final third, Emerald launched off the ground with incredible force. Rainbow was very close behind, and followed the leader's effort. Rainbow flew smart, flying just behind Emerald and conserving precious energy for the sprint to the finish line. Both of them slowed down to about a fourth of their top speed, saving energy for the long flight ahead.

Partway through, Rainbow chose to fly right beside Emerald. Neither of them could look at, much less talk to the other. With merely 100 miles left to go, Emerald started to land. Unwillingly. Rainbow slowed down and saw that Emmy was in freefall. In a panic, Rainbow shot down and caught her friend before they hit the ground near some tall mountains.

"Emmy! Emmy! Open your eyes!" With no response outside of Emmy's shaking wings, Rainbow fell quiet enough to think. "We're too far away from Ponyville to go back now. But... Twilight can teleport. And you're in no condition to be out here alone. So." Rainbow stood and picked up Emmy. Carrying her bridal style, Rainbow flew the rest of the race with Emmy in her forelegs.

At the shore, Twilight saw them and waved. Rainbow touched down before setting Emmy on the rocks lightly. "What happened?" Twilight asked.

"Emerald used up all her magic and went into recovery. She'll be out for- for..." Rainbow suddenly closed her eyes and fell sideways. Twilight looked in shock and tried to catch her, failing. Rainbow landed square on her wing, injuring it. Like Emmy, her wings shook uncontrollably from the excessive output of magic.

Twilight waved the checkered flag and braced herself against the rush of wind that followed Rainbow and Emmy on take-off.

"Holy Mother, they're fast!" Epona exclaimed.

"Yes, but how far can they go?" Twilight asked in reply.

Link flew to the starting line and looked at the two racers as they entered the second leg of the second third. "I think Rainbows got this."

We'll see," Pinkie said.

"In the meantime..." Twilight pulled out her flyer and gave it a look. There was a mountain in the background with Canterlot on its side. "I have to find this place."

"Don't you have to be at the finish line?" Link asked. She nodded. "Can't you worry about this later?"

"No." She held up the flyer to them. "Sign-ups end tomorrow at noon. Honestly, I should have signed up this morning, but I was a little busy." She took a second to look at the course. "There's no directions to get there, no location to go off of, and no contact information to ask."

"Then... The flyer should tell you all you need to know, right?" Rarity asked. "If the place is really a competition for unicorns, then wouldn't it be sad if said unicorn couldn't even decipher the clues she's given?"

Twilight was quiet. then she looked at the flier's back. The light shone through the page and showed the same mountain, with Canterlot on the left of the mountain. "Wait a sec..." She turned and faced Canterlot, holding up the flyer facing the mountain. "That's right! Canterlot is on the left of the mountain!" Quickly, she got out her map and looked at it. "If this place is looking up at Canterlot, and Canterlot is on the right of the mountain, then it's on the other side of it. In the plains right here." Twilight pointed at the flyer. "It is a map."

"See? It's a puzzle. There's always an answer." Rarity smiled.

Twilight aimed her horn at North Luna Ocean on her map, ignited her horn and disappeared, leaving the others on the hill.

"C'mon y'all. Let's go an' wait in the library for the results." Aj led the others down the hill.

Twilight appeared on the rocky shores of North Luna Ocean, far in the northwest corner of the map of Equestria. She looked around and saw shiny rocks all over the place. "Well, they do have flecks of titanium in them." After sitting down, she looked again at the rocks. "Wonder if I can separate the minerals..."

The following several minutes she spent dividing metal from rock, and soon had a good size of the metal in the shape of a ball. "I can use this for something, I'm sure." She looked out at the water. "It's so calming here..." Her eyes closed and her ears perked to the gentle sounds of the waves. "I need to bring my friends here sometime."

Twilight leaned back and quickly fell asleep. After an hour had passed, she woke to the sound of a rock crashing against another beside her. She opened her eyes and saw a rock come to rest. Somepony throwing rocks at me? She stood and looked around her. Nothing... Then, she looked up. Twilight waved at Rainbow who had just come into view. When she landed, and set Emerald down, she asked, "What happened?"

"Emerald used up all her magic and went into recovery. She'll be out for- for..." Rainbow suddenly closed her eyes and fell sideways. Twilight looked in shock and tried to catch her, failing. Rainbow landed square on her wing, injuring it. Like Emmy, her wings shook uncontrollably from the excessive output of magic.

"Rainbow!" Twilight sat beside her friend and said softly, "Aww, they both pushed too hard..." She picked Rainbow up and rolled her over, setting her gently on the ground. Twilight looked at the injured wing carefully. I don't have the magic to heal her and go home. I barely had enough to come this far. "Both suffer from magical exertion... Stupid me, making the finish area this far away. What was I thinking? Of course they'd be exhausted! Stupid, stupid stup-"

Twilight paused. She heard a disturbance in the water's surface. When she looked she saw a head with a horn coming out of it. Both light blue in color. Slowly, she stood and walked over to the edge of the water and sat down. "Hello?" The head started moving to shore with barely any bobbing "I'm sorry. I didn't see anypony swimming out here. I can leave if you want me to."

Merely, the head shook side to side once. When it got close enough, the head extended out of the water, as did a pony's body. Twilight backed up and barely saw fin-like extremities flatten themselves against the backs of the legs of the pony.

"Well... My name is Twilight Sparkle. Can you tell me your name?"

Another shake from the pony's head as she walked by Twilight. She made her way over to the fallen pegasi and sat down. When Twilight followed, she noticed the pony didn't leave a single drop of water behind. She watched as the mare held Rainbow's wing. She tilted her head to Twilight.

"Magical exertion. They both flew over a thousand miles to reach this shore." The mare tilted her head the other way. "Well, because it was a race. This shore here's the finish line." A third tilt. "I thought it was a good idea at the time! And now one of them's got a broken wing." Then, the mare looked at the wing, set it down, put a light hoof on it and looked at Twilight again. "Of course I can heal it, but if I do, I won't have any magic left to get home. I spent more than half to get here."

Twilight paused as the mare smiled. The latter stood and walked to Twilight, horn buzzing with magic. When she got close enough, her horn zapped Twilight's own, creating an arc through the air as they connected with energy. Surprised, Twilight could only watch. In moments, the energy halted. She realized what had happened. "You gave me your energy?" The mare nodded. "But... Why? I mean, thank you, of course. But why?"

She shook her head with a smile and trotted back to the water's edge. With a single look back, she winked. Then, she walked into the water, and disappeared beneath the waves.

"Thank you!" Twilight shouted at the water. She turned and ran back to her friends. Easily, she mended Rainbow's wing, deposited the ball of titanium in her bag and disappeared in a bright purple flash..

The mare disappeared beneath the rolling waves of North Luna Ocean, leaving Twilight on the shores. "Thank you!" she heard her shout. With fins extending from the backs of her legs, she swam for a few seconds before being cut off by another one of what she was. "What happened up there?" a feminine voice asked. "You know you can't talk to the stone-walkers."

"At no point during my jaunt did my voice reach her ears. Besides, even if it did, you'd cover for me, right?" she asked. Her voice carried as if she were talking in the open air.

The other mare sighed and smiled. "Of course, your Highness. I just fear what His Majesty would do to me if he found I helped the princess break royal law."

"He's my dad," she replied nonchalantly, looking into the depths. "What can he do to you if I vouch for you?" She started swimming deeper.

Her companion followed, much worry over her visage. "A great many things, I imagine, none of which I hope will come to pass."

"Besides," the princess continued, "he already agreed to let me compete in the Spellcaster's tournament. I was made to promise him I'd go near the end of tryouts, so no unnecessary interaction ensues." She looked at her companion. "And you've been assigned as my escort."

"Joyous of joys. Perks of being your fillyhood friend?"

"Perks of being my tutor. I get to show you my progress." She swam in circles around her. "You've taught me so much since my coming of age. This is bound to be accepted as compensation."

"How do you mean?" Her friend raised an eyebrow, causing the princess to stop and explain.

"Suppose the colors fly over my test's results. All your efforts will be proven unwasted. You'll have definitive proof I'm not a waste of your time."

Her escort swam close and cupped the princess' face. "I have never thought of you as a waste of time." She kissed her on the forelock. "Now, let's keep going back. We've still got several leagues to cover."

As the princess agreed, her face was freed and away they went into the wild blue.

Twilight and her passengers appeared in front of the library, assuring she had enough room to maneuver. Understandably tired, she walked to the door and opened it by hoof. Everypony was inside participating in a reading group. Each one had a different book, while some of them were perusing the shelves for one to read. "Hey everypony..."

Epona got off the couch at Twilight's waving hoof request. Twilight set the unconscious mares on the furniture comfortably. "What happened to them?" Epona asked.

"They expended more magic than their wings would allow. Right now, they're trying to build back enough energy to wake up. I don't know how long it'll take..."

"Are they alright at least?" Rarity asked, looking up from her sewing instructional.

"Well, no. Not completely. When Rainbow fell unconscious, she fell on her wing, breaking a bone. I mended it, then brought them both back here with some borrowed magic. Good news: their magic level is sufficient enough now that their wings aren't shaking. So they'll be awake in about an hour and a half I think."

"What about your tryout?" Link asked, coming to ground level. He had been getting a top shelf book.

"I'll go tomorrow. My friends are far more important to me than some silly competition." She paused, walked to her table under the window and began to write that down. Aj had to move out of the way, as that's the seat she chose. "Rainbow, who was already beyond her limit, carried Emerald, who had fallen unconscious on the course, all the way to me in her forelegs. More concerned about her friend than about her race, the first word out of her mouth was Emerald's name. She told me what happened to her before collapsing. She didn't care about who won the race so long as her friend needed attention more. A lesson in loyalty I'll never forget." She signed it, then hoofed it to Spike.

Spike sent it on its way. "Well well, so the race between them was actually a good thing to happen."

"However..." Twilight continued off-record, "Since Rainbow carried Emerald, who was unconscious, to the finish line, and since Rainbow landed before setting Emerald down, not only did Rainbow finish first, but she was also the only one awake to do so. Rainbow is the winner. Bet she'll be happy to hear that."

"Remind me to have a party on monday. For her victory and your success." Pinkie walked over to the unconscious mares and pulled out a black marker.

"Pinkie... What are you doing?" Fluttershy asked.

"Giving them facial hair."

"No you're not," Link said, moving Pinkie with his hoof. "The way I see it, these two warriors gave their all. They pushed as hard as their bodies would allow, and then some, to the point of exhaustion. Rainbow most of all. You want to mark their faces? Get through me first."

Pinkie gripped the marker with her hair, and narrowed her look at him. "You feel that strongly for those two?" Link nodded without hesitation. "Fine." Pinkie smiled, and put away her marker. "I'll let them be mustache-less for tonight." She bounded over him and the couch, and landed near a stack of books. "Oh, and I'd be a little more careful about who you pick fights with. Honorable as it is to defend your friends, you can't break a stone house with a glass rock." She opened her upside down book and continued reading.

The room went quiet for about a minute. Then, Twilight spoke. "Alright... I think it's time we all went home and got some rest..."

One by one, her friends left the library. Once all had vacated, save for the two on the couch, Twilight looked at Link. "What?" he asked.

"Are you insane? Are you trying to be a wedge between us or something?"

"What do you mean?"

"It was a prank! A harmless little prank! Marker to the face. That's it! And, it would have washed out real easy. A passing laugh we all would have shared. But you have to be all..." She pointed her hoof from his head to chest then up to his head again. "this."

"You just gestured to all of me," Link summed.

"Yes! That's it! Stop being 'all of you'. You're not on mission. You're not even on duty!" Twilight took a single breath, raspy, and hung her head, staring at the floor in receding anger.

After a few moments, Link walked over and put a hoof on her shoulder. "Feel better yet?"

She swatted it away and glared at him. "Not even. I thought that you staying here would be nice, fun even. but since you moved in, it's been stressful to no end. I'm tired of your brashness and your need to be in the forefront of every little scuffle." She calmed down. "I'm just... tired in general... Good night." She stomped off toward the stairs, leaving Link staring at the wall.

A full two hours later, Rainbow's eyes opened fast. She looked around, barely moving, and saw it was in the middle of the night. "What time is-" She stopped talking, and looked at Emmy, who had already woken, and found a new sleeping position on Rainbow. Emmy's forelegs were wrapped around Rainbow's barrel, and her face was buried in Rainbow's neck. She was sleeping so soundly. So peacefully.

You really gave it your all, didn't you... Emmy. I'll see you in the morning... Champ. She rolled her head to the side, and fell asleep once more.

Next Chapter: Chapter 42: The Prelims Estimated time remaining: 7 Hours, 60 Minutes