Twilight woke at dawn, as was her custom, and quickly ran through her stretches and a few practice spells. She felt rested and ready for whatever the day had to throw at her.

A message had been slipped under her door, directing her to come to the grand ballroom by eight in the morning. She dressed in sensible clothes -- a camouflage outfit, with reinforced padding in case of sudden ambush -- and, almost as an afterthought, tucked the knife from her old weapon set into the sheath. It was really useful for certain spells that she only now remembered, and maybe the test would involve casting some kind of awesome magic.

As she left, she noticed two guards standing on either side of her door. "Uh... do I get an escort?"

They shook their heads. "We just -- we just wanted to walk with you," said one. "I'm Spears."

"I'm Turquoise Lightning," said the other.

Twilight smiled. Spears was a small brown mare, but evidently well trained -- her steps were crisp and precise, and she carried her ceremonial sword with the confidence of somepony who knew how to use it. Turquoise Lightning was a deep blue, and bigger than Spears, but had a sloppy grip on her sword. Lightning seemed to notice her looking at it, and shifted her grip. Twilight couldn't help but smile.

"Sure, no problem. But why?"

"We heard about what you did two years ago, when you won this thing," said Spears, as the two fell into step behind her. "It was really awesome."

Well, that was some confirmation. Unless they were in on some kind of prank, they would indicate that her second set of memories were the real ones.

Spears continued. "Yeah. I -- uh, my family lives down south, right by the Gryphon Lands. Would've been kind'a tough if you hadn't saved the day."

Twilight still couldn't recall exactly what she'd done, but evidently it had been both impressive and memorable. "Thanks."

The guards seemed almost giddy to be walking with her, and when they reached the ballroom, Twilight had an idea. "Don't suppose you girls would want a hoofprint, would you?"

"Would we?!" Their jaws dropped. Twilight magicked up an inkpot and parchment, then dipped her hoof in the ink and pressed it on the parchment. "Wow! Thanks!"

"I can't believe Twilight Sword's giving us a hoofprint!" whispered Spears to Lightning.

Twilight smiled easily. "No trouble at all."

"Knock 'em dead, Miss Sword!" said Lightning.

Twilight laughed and entered the ballroom.

The atmosphere was chilly.

There were two large clumps of ponies and other creatures. At the far end of the room, near the garden exit, Twilight saw a collection of dignitaries and nobles. Baron Trample was among them, and a diplomat she recognized from the Gryphon Lands. A Dog Nation representative too. She frowned. Was this some kind of diplomatic test?

The other group was made up of ponies and other creatures dressed for combat. She saw two massive, armored Diamond Dogs, wearing the colors of the Dog Nation. A tall gryphon was casually flapping in the air as she talked to somepony. Two large, gray ponies that Twilight recognized from guard training -- Stomp and Slam, if she remembered correctly -- towered above the others, and both carried huge maces on their backs.

This did feel familiar. She cast her memories back. Two years ago, she'd entered a ballroom just like this one, and...

The gryphon turned to see her, and her mouth dropped. "Hey, everyone! Reigning champion just showed up!"

The room fell silent as everyone turned to stare at her.

Twilight was lost for words, but then she realized that, while the fake Twilight, the Twilight of Ponyville, might have turned away shyly, that wasn't her. So she put on a brave face. "Yep. Reigning champion. And I don't see much here to threaten that."

Stomp laughed. Twilight didn't recall him ever saying anything besides laughs or grunts. Slam, for his part, smirked. "We'll see about that."

Twilight would have responded, but more of her memories were coming back to her. Yes, two years ago...

The nation had been on the brink of war, she remembered. Nobles in the distant territories were ready to revolt. Foreign nations were preparing to invade. But everyone knew how devastating war would be. Thousands dead, vast casualties even on the winning side. So there had been... there had been a combat-by-champion tournament set up. Each side submitted a few creatures to compete as champions, and the winners were indicative of which side would have won a war.

Twilight frowned. The more she thought about that, the less sense it made. Was she really certain that her current mentality and thoughts were correct? It just sounded so... unlike Celestia to do something like that.

But it didn't matter. It had happened, Twilight had been Celestia's personal champion, and she'd won. Yes, now she remembered. She'd beaten all the other champions and shown how strong Equestria was. One pony, fending off all comers. No one had wanted to wage war after that.

"So I guess we see if that was a fluke, or if you really are that tough," said the gryphon. "Name's Goliath."

"Twilight Sword." She'd go with that, at least provisionally. "I assure you, it's no fluke."

Goliath smiled. "We'll see, I guess."

"Yeah. We will."

Another pony drifted over to her. "Celestia's champion?"

"That's right."

"I'm Luna's. Name's Violet."

The new pony was dressed in a black cloak, and had black fur and eyes as well. She looked like somepony had painted a moonless, starless night sky on her body. "I'm going to beat you," she continued. "No questions asked."

Twilight snorted. "Keep telling yourself that."

At that moment, the clock struck eight, and Princess Celestia entered.

The champions parted, although only Twilight and a few other ponies (including Violet) bowed. The diplomats and nobles also stood aside. Celestia, for her part, calmly walked to the front of the room, turned around, and began to speak.

"I am not accustomed to long speeches," said Celestia. "And I feel that one in this instance would take away from the gravity of what is about to occur. All that needs to be said is this -- we all thank you, champions, for your service. Your battles this week will help prevent a major war that could destroy much of what we hold dear.

Twilight was trying to listen, but her mind was choosing this time to recall details of her other matches. She'd been primarily a magical fighter, only using physical combat when trapped in close-quarters. She'd killed two opponents with fireballs, one with--

Wait, killed?!

Right. This was a deathmatch, if she remembered correctly. Twilight's head swam, and her confidence vanished. How could she kill now? She'd been away for two years, and the last time she'd done this still felt vaguely dreamlike. Taking another pony's life was...

"...again, though we hesitate to ask even one creature to die, we know that this is the only way to prevent a full-scale war..."

Twilight heard her Princess, and froze. If that was true... well, it had to be true. It had been true last time, when she'd taken out the gryphon giant and single-handedly convinced the Queen of Gryphons that invading Equestria was a terrible idea. She couldn't have done that if she'd been afraid to... to kill the enemy.

"...and with that said, we begin."

Celestia's horn glowed a bright white, and Twilight felt a brief tugging sensation before she vanished into nothingness.

Twilight reappeared in a pleasant, idyllic forest.

Right. First things first. Twilight let her instincts and memories take over; consciously, she had little idea of what she should be doing. She sniffed the ground and did a quick perimeter check to verify that nopony had started near her. Then she began planning her strategy.

The first priority was to find the others. The forest was cool, and while it was light out, the sun was partially obscured by clouds. Little ambient heat, then. Perfect conditions for an infravision spell.

Twilight drew her ritual knife with magic and made a small incision in her foreleg. The trivial magic she'd used back in Ponyville didn't require this kind of blood sacrifice, but the real spells, the powerful ones she'd learned while training with the castle guard and while reading Celestia's ancient books, did sometimes require a material component. Fortunately, this one was relatively small -- just a single drop of blood.

She focused, letting the blood drip out of the cut, then gathering it up and weaving it into a tight nest of magic. Then she focused on the magic entering her eyes, expanding outwards -- and she could see heat.

She looked down at herself, noting that she was glowing. Then she looked into the forest. It was very dull, except for two bright spots in the distance. The two dots were far enough apart that the enemies wouldn't be able to aid each other.

"Perfect." Twilight took off.

The first pony she encountered was one of the champions from the United Prosperous Pony Republic, or UPPR. This particular Prosperous Pony citizen was a unicorn named Iron. Iron was of moderate size, with dark-green skin that naturally blended in well with the forest, and was outfitted with chain mail armor and a moderately-sized lance.

Twilight snuck around behind Iron, and felt a little sick at her sudden sense of amusement. Iron was moving so... stupidly. No strategy at all. Her back was unguarded, her flanks were wide open, and she was moving casually along a narrow path that could easily conceal any enemies. She didn't even seem to be aware of Twilight, though any competent unicorn would have constructed a detection spell.  Twilight predicted that her victory would be swift and certain.

And it was.

Twilight used one quick spell to yank the lance from the holder on Iron's back. The lance floated up into the air, as Iron looked at it helplessly. The unicorn began to run, but a second spell -- a trivial one, one she'd even used back in Ponyville -- tripped her and sent her sprawling.

Twilight aimed carefully and used the third spell to drive the spear through a chink in Iron's armor. Iron shuddered and screamed, and then died.

And then she bent down, feeling violently ill. Blood was spilling from Iron's body, and Iron's face was frozen in agony. 'I did that,' she thought. 'I just murdered...'

"No, no!" she hissed. She couldn't react like that! She remembered, from last time, Princess Celestia telling her how important it was to look tough and strong. It would intimidate the later opponents and make them easier to psyche out and beat. It was horrible, it was hideous, but she had to act calm. She had to act like killing came naturally to her.

So she forced a smirk and said, "One down." And then she took off again, heading for the next pony, and trying to outrun memories of the first one.

The second pony was a little tougher.

Stone, also from the UPPR, was taller and dressed in a thicker suit of chain mail than Iron. Her skin was an oddly bright gray that seemed almost to shine. She carried a large broadsword.

In a physical competition, Twilight might be outmatched. But she wasn't worried. She had her magic. As she crept to within a few yards of the enemy pony, she began to cast a simple 'pain' spell to harass Stone and distract her.

But she was out of practice. As she rose to cast it, her weight shifted just slightly, and she stepped on a dry twig. The twig broke with a loud 'crack.'

Stone's ears twitched.

Twilight fired the spell, but Stone ducked under it and turned to the forest. "Hah!" she bellowed.

Twilight squeaked and took off at a run.

What followed was a rapid chase through the woods that Twilight quickly saw she would lose. Stone was built for running long distances, and Twilight had been keeping herself ('squandering herself,' her mind told her) cooped up in a library for two years. Rather than stick to a soldier's diet, she'd gobbled up Applejack's apple pies and Pinkie's various delicacies. She couldn't win a race here.

"Okay," she hissed. "Doesn't matter. I'm better at magic than this idiot, and I'm smarter too. I can win this. Hay, I won last year, after all." She began devising her plan.

Within a few minutes, Stone had drawn close enough to Twilight to begin swinging her sword with some hope of actually hitting her. Twilight used one last burst of speed, turned, and raised her hoof as if to hurl her knife at Stone. Stone reacted just like Twilight thought. She skipped to the side to dodge the knife, brought her broadsword up, and swung it before Twilight could actually attack with the knife. The sword was almost as long as Twilight, and the purple pony wouldn't have a hope of blocking it with the knife. If that blow landed, it would cleave right through the magician.

Fortunately, Twilight thought, she didn't need a weapon to block a sword.

Telekinesis was something she used even back in Ponyville. She added a small push to the blow, not enough to grab it away from Stone, but enough to make it miss and cut deep into the tree to her left. As Stone tried to recover, Twilight really did throw her dagger.

Stone tried to dodge, but telekinesis worked offensively too. Twilight noted that Stone's throat was unprotected near the top, due to... well, frankly, due to shoddy design in the armor, where the helmet didn't quite join up with the neckguard. Twilight supposed that the notoriously poor UPPR craftsmanship was to blame for that, but it didn't really matter why the opening was there -- only that it existed. She stabbed the dagger through that hole, scored a direct hit, and that was it for Stone.

Twilight again resisted the urge to hurl, but it wasn't as bad this time. She was getting back into it. And besides, she'd won that battle with her mind. It was like a puzzle, and she loved puzzles.

That thought made her feel ill all over again.

Before she could throw up, she felt herself being pulled back to the ballroom.

Twilight left the castle in a daze.

The closing ceremony for the day had been very fast. Princess Celestia had spoken for ten minutes or so about the sacrifices of the fallen champions, and of the honor and heroism of the living. Then they were told to report back at eight the next morning for the next round.

And that was that.  

Twilight tried to talk to the princess, but she couldn't, as the alicorn was quickly taken aside by important-looking officials. She looked around for Luna, but couldn't find that alicorn anywhere. Twilight did wonder why Luna hadn't shown up to cheer on her champion.

Then she wondered why Luna even had a champion. The whole point of this was to forestall war, she knew, so was Luna planning some kind of rebellion? That was... well, unsurprising, given what a monster Luna had once been, but unfortunate.  

Reflecting on this, Twilight slowly walked out into the corridor, where she bumped into a few of the palace guards. Spears was among them, and said that they wanted to throw Twilight a little party that night.

"Awesome!" said Twilight, eager for distraction from what she'd just done, before she continued on her way out of the castle. She thought of Pinkie and her legendarily over-the-top parties; this one would surely be more subdued, but that was good too. They could even help her research her opponents. Now that she knew what she was doing and what was required --

A wave of nausea hit her, and she looked around for a bathroom. She just made it inside before she threw up.

"Ugh..." Right. She told herself it was best to not focus on the 'what is required' part. She had to do what she had to do, and it was probably a good thing she didn't enjoy it.

That settled, she made it into town and looked around, wondering what to do for the two hours or so before the guards' party. She could visit her family, she thought, or the magic school, or--

"There she is! Come here, Twi!"

Twilight froze.

She saw Applejack racing through the crowds, a big grin on her face. Pinkie Pie was bouncing just besides her, and Rainbow Dash was flying above them.

Twilight felt genuine panic.

How could she tell them who she really was? She was their friend, and they liked her, but what if they stopped once they found out what she had to do?

'Unfair of them,' she thought, but then she pushed that thought away. It didn't matter. What mattered was figuring out what to do next.

"Hi girls!" she managed. "What're -- what're you doing here?"

"Oh, we just thought of droppin' in. Pinkie was all worried that ya'd get lonely bein' in Canterlot for a whole week without ya'r friends, and the farm's kinda quiet now, so ah put together a little outin'."

Rainbow Dash grinned. "You're gonna show us the castle, right? And all the good restaurants?"

"And the bakeries!" cried Pinkie Pie, hugging Twilight and bouncing up and down with her. "We're going to have so much fun!"

"Girls, girls, hang on a minute. I'm in... meetings all day." Twilight nodded. "That's why I'm here. I've memorized half the library, so they need me for these really arcane negotiations because I'm the only one who knows what the third subpoint of paragraph one hundred and eighty-two of the Treaty with the UPPR is."

Pinkie froze. "You mean... no party?"

"What? No. Who said that? It just means I can't hang out with you all during the day. But I don't see any reason why we can't have fun tonight." She smiled, calculating times in her head. "In fact, what are you doing now? There's a restaurant I've really been missing, and I'm pretty sure the maretre'd still owes me a favor."

"Wait, they don't just serve hoity-toity fancy food, do they?" asked Rainbow Dash, who appeared to still be at least somewhat distracted by the majestic castle. "Cause I'm starving."

"All you can eat salad buffet, selection of the finest cheeses and breads in Canterlot, and, of course, a full dessert spread." Twilight smiled as her mind came up with a solution to her scheduling problems. This would work -- she could eat with them for a couple hours, excuse herself, then leave and deal with her obligation with the guards. In fact, if she could keep them out of the castle all week, then everything would work out fine. Well, unless she died in the deathmatches, but she'd won last year, so she wasn't too worried about that.

Pinkie's mouth had dropped. "Like, a little spread or a big spread?"

"A spread as big as..." Twilight smiled as she summoned up the memory. It was the restaurant she'd attended on her birthday, taking a few of the guards out with her and swapping spells and combat tactics over crème brulee. "As big as six ponies lined up end to end!"

"WOW!" Pinkie began bouncing even more rapidly. "Come on, girls! Let's go see some dessert!"

Rainbow Dash grinned. "Happy to see us, Twi?"

"Of course." Twilight smiled, and hoped they wouldn't follow her home.

Twilight was pleased to realize that dinner took no longer than she expected.

As they left, Pinkie Pie burped. "Wow. That was so good..."

"Glad you liked it, Pinkie." Twilight nuzzled her friend. "Now, I've gotta get back to the castle. See you guys tomorrow for dinner? I know a little picnic place out by the Grand River."

"Sounds great, partner," said Applejack.

Rainbow Dash paused. "Sure we can't come hang out with you?"

"Yeah, sorry. No unauthorized ponies allowed at the diplomatic meetings." Twilight tried to look apologetic. "But I promise to see you girls for dinner tomorrow!"

She hugged Pinkie goodbye, promised twice more to see them and show them around a little more, and then hurried back to the castle. She made it to the barracks just in time for her second party of the day.

"Where were you?" asked Turquoise Lightning, smiled. "Off on some awesome adventure!"

"Nah, just visiting friends."

"I heard you helped take down Nightmare Moon," said Spears, offering Twilight a glass of wine. Twilight accepted it, though she politely declined the plate of food. "Tell us some awesome stories!"

Twiilight grinned, a shade more genuinely than her smiles earlier that night. She loved her friends, but it did feel good to be appreciated for who she really was. "So, I was in Ponyville, when suddenly..." Next Chapter: The second round (Burning up) Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 28 Minutes