Twilight woke up early. She sat up in her bed and looked at the opposite bed. The one meant for Link. With a small smile, she eased out of her warm blankets and stepped quietly to his bedside. "Hey. Link..." She dared to mutter. "Liiiink..." Twilight gave his barrel a light nudge. "C'mon, wake up."

Navi came from under his hat on the bedside table. "What's going on?"

She payed the fairly little mind as she tried again. "We're under attack." Immediately, he woke up and looked around the room. "Oh good, you're up."

"Am now... And no danger in sight. Under attack, huh?" Link sighed. "What is it?"

Navi gave a little laugh before settling on Link's head. Twilight backed up and let him breathe. "Morning, Link. I wanted to apologize about... my behavior toward you last night. It was wrong of me to get in your face like that. I know you meant well, but... it's a lot of little things piling up and I just needed to let some of it out."

"It's alright, Twilight. You were right, anyway. I've been on edge since I came back from the mountain. Haven't really had a chance to come down from the danger sense I got." Link got to the floor and stood, stretching his legs and wings. They all noticed a feather had come loose from his wing. A small one near the base. "Well, preen time, I guess."

"Before that, I have a favor," Twilight started. "I want to stretch with you this morning. I've never needed to, and I'd like some help."

As Link pulled the small feather from his wing, he listened. After he arranged his feathers to fill the small gap that remained, he began to answer. "I'm sorry, Twilight." He paused, then folded his wing. "I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because I've never needed to stretch as a pony before. I don't know how either." Link looked at his sister. "But, Rainbow's downstairs still. Maybe we can ask her."

Downstairs, Rainbow had a foreleg around Emmy's shoulders while Emmy leaned over on her, both awake. Link decided to hover downstairs, so all they heard were Twilight steps. "Morning, Twilight," Rainbow said, looking back. "And Link, too. And Navi."

"Morning, you two," Twilight said. "I have a favor to ask..."

After an hour and a half of stretches and warm up techniques, Twilight and Link were ready. Epona had arrived part way in and sat on the steps. She began reading a book she started the night before.

"Alright, all warmed up Link?" He nodded. "Good. Because it's you and me right now."

"What do you mean?"

"I want you to hit me. If you can." Link, Navi, Epona, and even Emmy looked up at Twilight. "With your fireball."

"You can't be serious, Twilight," Emmy objected. "I've seen what fire can do first hoof in the hooves of somepony who's trying. You don't want that."

Twilight shook her head. "Oh, but I am. If I can dodge his best, then I have a chance of dodging the magic blasts at the prelims today."

There was a silence. Then, Link spoke. "You want me to try and hit you with fire so you can learn to dodge?" Twilight nodded. "Alright. Just remember you asked for it." He flew over to be about twenty paces from Twilight.

He charged one up. Epona warned, "Not the face!"

"Or the anything!" Emmy cautioned.

"Relax, I'll be fi-" She turned to look at them as she spoke, soon as she turned, she saw a red ball of fire zip by her muzzle. In shock, she tilted her head back. "Hey!" She faced him and had to lean to the side to dodge a second thrown orb. "Cool it!"

"You did ask for this. Dodge." He threw a third one and watched as she picked up her foreleg. The ball splattered over the ground and disappeared.

"Get closer." Link flew a little closer and continued.

Their training continued for the next half hour. Twilight got grazed a few times in the process, but called it a learning experience. They moved on to blocking. Link made larger orbs which Twilight summoned walls to intercept. She panted and sat for a moment.

"Hey Link. How's your magic level?"

"About 40%. Why? What's yours?"

"Around 65%. I want to try and break through your shield. Only one attempt though." Link nodded, and prepared himself. He made a shield in front of him, large enough to cover his smaller than usual frame. "Good. Get ready." She began gathering magic in her horn.

"Hold it!" Emmy said. "You want to know for sure if you can break it?" Twilight retracted her energy build and nodded. "Then facing anything less than his best is an insult to your pure talent for the mystic arts." She flew over to Link and put a hoof on his back. His shield gained a light green color, and grew in size and thickness. "You're using pegasus magic. Converted to your own, but still. I'm giving you some of mine to use."

The shield, while bigger and more colorful, was two toned. One was golden, the other green. Each color was distinct from the other.

"Me too!" Rainbow said, flying to him and placing her hoof beside Emmy's. "I wanna see some serious power, Twilight. Blow us away!"

Again, the shield grew. It was so heavy, it started breaking the ground. Rainbow added a burning crimson to the mix. Again, the colors stayed apart, and moved around in blobs of magic inside the barrier's outer wall.

"Are you sure about this? I break that wall there, all three of you will feel the backlash from it breaking..." Twilight worried. All three of them nodded. The shield gave off a sort of whining pitch as the colors slowly began to blend.

Twilight charged her horn...

In Twilight's mind, a single Twilight sat behind a desk. This desk had a nameplate. "Master" it read. Above, hung a massive quill. Purple. Sharp. Inkless. Her most familiar color, and favorite object of focus. "She wants to what?"

Another version of Twilight sat at a smaller desk, away from the first, in one more generic. It had a moving set of metal orbs, bumping into each other endlessly. "She wants to break a shield comprised of 3 different magicks a foot and a half thick to prove to herself she can."

"'Organization'? What say you?" the Master asked.

"They aren't blending properly!" she nearly shouted. She had to look up from her desk of pencils, as she was reorganizing them by both color and sharpness.

"And that's perfectly fine." Another version of Twilight was in a hammock beside her desk. Sipping from a half coconut with a bendy straw. Soft music played from a record spinning on her desk.

"'Strategy' and 'Power Level'?" Master continued her assessment.

The former looked up from her chessboard desk. She moved a piece to capture another. "Ill blended magic signifies he's incapable of integrating foreign magic into his own arsenal." She moved her glasses. "There will be flaws in its design."

"Power level is holding steady at 64.5%." She looked down at her desk with bars of light. Likely gauges for various aspects of Twilight.

"Interesting..." Master said. "'Observation'? I'd like to hear your thoughts on the matter."

'Observation' sat at a desk filled with various energy screens showing angles from the outside world from Twilight's point of view. "Let's see... Yes. Poorly blended magic." She zoomed in on the shield and rewound a little. "Since it was made, it has been slowly mixing together. Judging from the speed, and variable skill of our target, I'd estimate total blend in about 5 minutes." She zoomed out, then in on Link, clicking some buttons and seeing him clearly through the shield. "But, from his expression, and magic output, he won't last that long. This is something new for him, which means he's probably inwardly panicking."

"Excellent." Master leaned back and saw a huge screen of magic that showed their current, frozen-in-time, scenario. "So, if it's blended poorly, then the bonds aren't strong enough to hold itself together if it gets hit with something just hard enough. Power Level, adjust output to 20 percent and allow for a five percent margin of error. Observation, take aim at where the seam will be in 2 seconds. On my command..." She raised her hoof, then hit her desk. "Fire!"

Twilight built up magic in her horn and took careful aim. When she fired, she had to dig her hooves into the ground. The beam connected with the seam of Link's combined barrier. After a solid 3 seconds of contact, the shield wall cracked, then broke into thousands of pieces, sending Link, Emmy, and Rainbow backward from the backlash. Twilight trotted over. "Are you three alright?" Various nods. "I did warn you, didn't I?"

"You did... I just didn't think you could do it." Link got to his hooves and dusted himself off. "I'm alright."

"Same here..." the other two replied in unison.

Emmy got up and helped Rainbow stand. "Well, I'd say you're ready."

"Not quite. After that last attack, I dropped to 40%. It'll take about half that to make the trip, then again to come back, not counting the tests while I'm there. Time to recharge. What time is it, who's hungry? I'll buy."

"About 8:30," Epona answered.

Everypony from the library went into town, to the local restaurant. Together, they finished their meals in a good amount of time. They talked about their previous day. Twilight told Rainbow and Emmy the victor of the race and why. Link talked a little about his parcel delivery to Cloudsdale and how he owed his success to Rainbow. Twilight and Emmy took turns about what they did away from the library. After they finished eating, Twilight prepared her money. With a glance to the clock, they saw an hour and a half had passed since last Twilight asked about the time.

"Alright..." Twilight started. "I gotta go before the lines get too long. Wish me luck~"

"Don't forget the flyer. You might need it," Link replied. Twilight nodded and summoned it. "Good. Now, go impress ponies."

"Before I go... Do you have any advice for me?"

"Yeah, I do." Link stood. "Watch their eyes. They will always look where they're going to shoot. If you can predict that, then you can get out of the way before they even let their bullet fly."

Twilight pondered. "If I can track their eyes, dodging will be easier... I'll definitely keep that in mind. Thank you." With that, she looked at the others.

"Best of luck!"s and "You got this!"s came from the others. Twilight lit up her horn and disappeared.

North of Canterlot, in the plains, was a site reserved to test unicorns and their powers as one. Where ponies matched intellects and skills against one another. When Twilight appeared in the north side, a stallion approached her with a clipboard and a very small amount of papers attached to it under the metal clamp. "Good morning," he greeted. "Name and age?" His eyes wandered to the page before him.

"Twilight Sparkle. I am 18 years old."

"Ah yes. Right here." He turned a few pages in and took one out at near random. "This is your score card. With every success, a box will light up in green. If you came close but failed, it will be yellow. If you fail miserably, it will be red. When you are finished, you can turn in your sheet to the kiosk just over there." He pointed to a hut in the center of the area. "The mare will see your page filed. Have fun, and remember: Take a breath." He walked on to the next pony who showed up behind her. "Good morning. Name and age?"

She walked on and looked at the page. It had a singular green square on its header, with a descriptor. "'Find the place.' So it was part of the test." Since she was closest to the north, she turned around and stood in line for her first real test.

Peering over the shoulders of those ahead of her allowed her to see what the test comprised of. A clockpost caught her eye. Ten after the tenth hour. 2 hours to get this done. Good thing this one has multiple stations for testing, or we'd be here all morning.

After 20 minutes of walking and waiting in her line, she heard dinging noises. "Next," a mare called. "Area 4." Twilight walked over and stood in the white box. The station mare took the page and looked at it. "Your goal is to ring the bell at the top. You have 3 tries. We will accept your best result. Fire as you will. Stay within your square."

She looked up and saw the bell. Then down the tall wooden column and saw the notches displaying percents. Then at the wooden round target at the base. "Test your strength, huh?" Her first shot was a test fire. It made the weight move about a foot, barely past the 10% mark. "Alright..." With a second, more forceful shot, she made it ring with energy to spare. "Do I need to do a third one?"

"That won't be necessary." The mare returned the page. Twilight saw a green box had lit up on it. With the words "Second shot success" beside it.

"That's cool." She took it and walked to the right to the eastern test. After another 20 minutes in line, she saw she was next in line.

"Page." The stallion took the page and looked down at it. "One shot only. The target is down this alleyway. Hit the bull's eye with more than 50% of your bullet and you pass. Do not cross this line."

Twilight stepped up to the line and stared down the range. "But the target's at least 50 yards away." The stallion looked at her and merely raised an eyebrow. "Alright, alright." She took a breath and calmed down. After a few seconds, her shot sped down the lane, colliding with the target with an audible ding. Nervous, she looked at the stallion, who returned the page.

"81%. Passed. Next."

Another green square appeared with the number "81%". "Two down, two to go." Moving to the south, she saw the next test: an obstacle course. Dreading it, she hung her head and stood in line quietly. "Maybe I should have done this test first..."

"Why didn't you?" a mare behind her asked.

"I didn't get a look at all the tests before deciding on one to start with."

"Isn't that your fault, then?"

Twilight turned and saw who dared talk to her that way. She just about dropped her score card. "H-Hey! It's you!"

"Me, myself, and I..." she replied. Then, she pointed to her escort. "Plus one."

"Only here to observe," she added.

Twilight shook herself to her senses and got a better hold on her paper. "You're that mare who helped me save my friends."

"Yes. That was me. Don't mention it," she said with a smile. "Ever. To anypony." She walked forward as Twilight walked backward for the movement of the line.

"It's a secret to everypony, then?" The mare nodded. "But because of your help, my friend's wing made a full recovery. I can't thank you enough for your-"

"You can, actually. And you already have." She looked to her escort.

"You're the one who wanted to help. Don't drag me into this. Remember: if you help somepony, they will be grateful to you. You have to learn to live with receiving gratitude if you want to walk the path you've chosen."

The mare hung her head, then looked up at Twilight. "I helped because I was around. It's not like I was waiting for you there or anything... That's all."

"Either way, you did a great thing." Twilight faced forward. "I don't believe I caught your name."

"And you'd be right." The escort stomped on the mare's hoof. "Ow!" With a glare, she continued, "Fine. Stick around to the end of my tests, and I'll tell you my name. Okay?" She glanced at the escort. "Satisfied?" To which, she nodded. As the pony turned to Twilight, she said, "Good."

"Guessing you just started then?"

"Yes. I figured I'd get the hardest out of the way first."

Twilight looked over her shoulder after walking forward. "Not so good with physical activity?"

"Considering I live underwater, that would be a solid 'No'." A moment of quiet from both sides. "I'm only joking. I swim so often, I might as well live underwater."

She chuckled and turned forward. "Next!" a mare shouted after hoofing a poor soul's paper to them. Twilight surrendered her score card and waited for instruction. "Get to the end within three minutes. Don't get hit. Ready, go!"

Surprised at the shortness of the mare, Twilight stumbled forward. She ran across the balance beam that got narrower as she went. Under one arm and over another she ducked and jumped. After that, she came to a set of platforms that moved side to side. Easily, she timed it right and made it to the third leg. With a small jungle of ropes to climb, she made it to the top and rang the little bell atop a pedestal. She teleported back down and in front of the mare.

"Pass. Next!"

On her sheet, a fourth green box appeared with the time "1:47:28". Before leaving to her final station, Twilight decided to watch the next mare's attempt.

The mare created a small, hoof-sized barrier beneath her. And with every step she took, she walked higher and closer to the end. Once the bell rang, she walked back to the paper mare. "Pass. Next!"

"WHAT?!" Twilight screamed. She approached the paper mare with heavy steps. "What to you mean "Pass"? She didn't even do the course!"

"Listen, Twilight Sparkle." The mare set down her clipboard and looked through her shaded spectacles. "The rules were plain and simple. Get to the end within three minutes, and don't get hit. Not only did she ring the bell at the end after less than three minutes of starting, but she did so unscathed." She leaned in close. "Next!"

Twilight backed up a little and watched as the next pony, a stallion, attempted the course. The mare who did the course after Twilight walked over to her. "It matters little how one travels, so long as you converge on your destination all the same." She continued walking to the east trial, her escort following close behind.

"Unbelievable..." Twilight muttered. She turned and walked slowly to her last test. "Now I really don't want to be here... I've seen the best in the competition... And I don't think I can match her..." Twilight bumped into the tail of the mare in line. "Oh, sorry. Kind of spacing out."

The pink mare turned and looked at her. "That's okay. Everypony does that from time to time. Even me."

"Thank Celestia you're not mean like the last mare I met. She was awful." Under her breath and to the side, "Who does she think she is?"

Curious, the mare turned around to face Twilight directly. "Having troubles? Want me to go punish somepony for thinking they're better than everypony else?"

"No no. I can fight my own fights. Thank you though." Twilight smiled and nodded.

"No problem." A few minutes of silence passed by and the line grew shorter. "Say, you wouldn't happen to know how to dodge, would you? I'm just terrible at it."

Twilight looked ahead and saw the test was evasion-based. "Hmm... Well, my brother gave me some advice before I came here. Watch the eyes. Everypony will stare directly at where their shot is going. If you can predict that, you can be out of the line of fire before the shot even goes off."

"Predict the bullet line?" Twilight nodded. "Thank you for the help." She turned forward.

Watching the mare go through the test, she saw she was able to dodge with at least a couple inches to spare with every shot. Once completed, Twilight said, "Hey, congratulations~ I didn't expect you to apply the advice so flawlessly."

"I'm no better than you, I guarantee. You're the pony who gave me the advice." She waved and walked to her next test.

"Next." The stallion took Twilight's sheet and looked at the test. "Don't. Get. Hit. And stay in your square." To the side, he said, "Fire when ready."

The first shot was slow, and at least thirty feet away. She tilted her head and watched it go by. Following the first, the shooter stepped closer and fired again. Twilight saw it fly faster than the first one, but still stepped to the side.

Third shot was much faster and closer. It zipped by Twilight's head, but still missed. She looked behind her and saw the shot fizzle against a barrier behind her. To protect those in line. Maybe... With the last bullet I can- She looked forward and saw the fourth shot aimed at her leg. Her first instinct was to raise it, and she did. But the shot curved up and forced her to lean her head back.

Watch his eyes. With the stallion stopping at ten feet away, he prepared his final shot. She watched his eyes, and tracked them to her chest. Quickly, she summoned a beam of energy to her right side and lowered her stance. intercept the shot. I should have tried this first.

The stallion charged his horn. She's going to cut the shot? Guess I better go for speed then. The fifth shot was far faster than any of the previous 4. But because Twilight knew where it was going, she brought the beam over her chest and split the bullet in half. Each half flew to the side and fizzled against the barrier. Twilight withdrew the blade and sighed.

"Pass." The stallion gave her the score card. "... Impressive," he added.

As Twilight walked away from the course, she heard others talking about Twilight's attempt, and how she cut a bullet from ten feet away. With some quick math, Twilight found that even if she waited until the shot was fired, she would have had to react in less than a tenth of a second. I just cut a magic bullet flying 70 miles per hour with a blade made of energy. Yeah, that was impressive.

She walked to the first test she was at, and saw the mean pony from earlier. Just as she had found her way around the obstacle course, the mare cheated and hit the bell directly with her magic projectile. Twilight merely rolled her eyes. At the last test, the evasion test, the mare used a shield to deflect the 5 shots. Twilight caught up to her afterward. "Honestly, I didn't expect you to still be here."

"Why are you being so mean to me?"

"There it is." The mare sat and pointed at Twilight. "Stone-walkers assuming. I'm not being mean, Twilight Sparkle. And it's not my fault you see it that way."

"Then what is going on? I've never met somepony so off-hoofedly offensive as you."

The mare sighed and grumbled. "Listen. I'm not being mean for the sake of being mean. I'm doing it to keep you away from me. Outsiders, in my civilization's eyes, are seen as inferior. While I want to be friends with everypony, the rest of my people do not."

"So you ... What? Fake being mean?" The mare nodded. "Then... Suppose everypony here can keep your secret. The one where you're mean intentionally. And let's assume I do want to be your friend. What would you say to me?"

"That I'm glad your friend is well, and apologize for my harshness." Slowly, the mare grinned. "I promised you a name, did I not?" Twilight nodded. She held up her score card.

There on the top, was her name, written. "'Prismarine'? Like the mineral? That's a beautiful name."

"Tell me: why are you so-"

She felt a tug at her shoulder. "Forgive me... Friend. We must away. Your father will want to know the results of your test as soon as possible." She pushed Prismarine away.

"I will see you at the tournament!" Twilight called. She looked at her own page, and followed her slowly to the turn-in booth. With barely a wave shared between them, the two disappeared in a brilliant flash of light blue magic. Twilight smiled. "I think I made a friend." She disappeared herself after turning in her sheet.

Back at the library, the denizens of the tree house were inside playing cards with Link's personal deck. The owner of the cards was also reading up on a book of natural remedies, whose qualities were simply... super.

"I'm back!" Twilight said, opening the door wide.

"Hey you!" Emmy said, waving a little. "How'd you do?"

"Pretty well, I believe." She closed the door and ventured in. "Passed each test no sweat. I daresay I'm ready."

"Heh," Emmy replied. "No you're not. The Spellcaster's Tournament is full of professional spell-slingers. The stallion who won last year only won due to a dirty trick. But after research of the rules, his actions were well within them. Fair warning: you will find yourself outside of your comfort zone."

"Thanks for the boost in confidence. Morseo for the advice." Twilight walked over and sat down. Soon as she came to rest, the door opened once more.

Ruby, in a panic, ran in and skidded to a stop, leaving little char marks on the hard wood floor. "I need to find Link, now!" She saw the clothed one raise a hoof. "Not you, the human one."

"Beg your pardon, Ruby. But... That is him," Twilight said.

Link lowered his hoof. "As if the color of my clothes didn't give me away, I also have Navi with me. And if you listen, my voice hasn't changed at all."

"Fine. Fine. You're you. Now, I need your help!" Ruby nearly shouted.

Twilight closed the door with her magic. "What happened?"

"Something awful." Nods from the others. "Terrible."

"Get on with it," Twilight urged.

"Yeah, get on with it," Epona added.

Ruby inhaled deep and shouted, "ZECORA'S GONE MISSING!!!"

A collective gasp filled the library.

Well? Adventure beckons to our hero once more! Will this be the journey to the final key he needs? Will he decide to go alone? When will he be a human again?

Find out next time on Drago-

Wait. Wrong thing.
~~~~~~~~~
Twilight's meeting with a water pony.