Twilight awoke at dawn and smiled. She felt confident and ready. Nothing could stop her.

After talking and drinking with the guards, she'd retreated to her room and stayed up late studying the eighteen or so remaining champions. She formulated strategies for all of them, accounting for variables like terrain, weather, and facing multiple enemies at once. It felt good to be working on the test, and even better as she identified optimal strategies.

It was like she was solving a big puzzle. If she thought of it like that, she found she didn't worry so much that the solutions all inevitably involved killing somepony.

Giddy with strategy, Twilight opted not to wear the camouflage outfit, or any other form of armor. It wasn't like it would protect her from any serious attack, and it was likely to mess with her mobility and agility. Besides, she wanted to look confident, and that was best accomplished by going to the ballroom with her single knife and nothing else.

The one thing that was still bothering her was the whole issue of her memories and her... well, for lack of a better word, her personality. She couldn't quite ignore the fact that, if she was wrong, if the 'studious, bookworm Twilight Sparkle' was real and 'powerful, militaristic Twilight Sword' was the false personality, she was letting herself be controlled by some doppelganger. So she just had to keep telling herself that she was who she thought she was -- Princess Celestia's champion. The other memories had to be false. Celestia had said so, and she would never, ever lie to her.

When Twilight arrived at the ballroom, she saw that the other champions weren't chatting. Twilight shrugged, affected a bored, disdainful look and sat down casually near the edge of the group of champion. Goliath glanced over at her and seemed almost to chuckle, but Twilight ignored her.

Time passed slowly. Eventually, Princess Celestia entered, causing Twilight to get up and then bow. She noticed Violet doing so too, and Stomp and Slam made minute motions that might have approximated a bow, but no one else did. Twilight wondered if most of the local ponies, then, had been eliminated in the first round.

Celestia's opening speech was even shorter than the previous day's. A reminder of what was at stake, a statement of luck, and then...

"Begin!"

Twilight found herself in a circular arena.

The walls were rocky, and so was the ground. The air smelled faintly sulfurous. The sky was a reddish-orange, and seemed almost as if the sun had gotten a little too close to the earth.

Twilight winced. It was hot, dry, smelled unpleasant, and was in general not well suited for her. She hoped to win quickly and get out.

The arena was relatively small, and she could just see across the whole room to the wall on the other side. She saw two figures there, and they weren't fighting. A team, then?

"Another two on one fight? Come on," she grumbled, before taking off towards them at a run.

The other two figures began running for the center too. Twilight saw that they were the Diamond Dogs. The big one was named Growler, she thought; she didn't know the name of the slightly-less-big one, only nine inches taller than her instead of a foot.

Growler, she recalled, had been around at the tournament two years ago. He'd been the understudy of the Dog that Twilight had killed in combat. Growler had vowed revenge, actually. At the time, he'd intimidated even Twilight Sword, with his large frame, intense strength, and general air of arrogance.

None of that mattered, though. Twilight had her plan, and while Growler and his companion were strong, she was smart and possessed the Element of Magic. They couldn't win.

Twilight drew her ritual knife with telekinesis and traced a seven-pointed star on her left flank. This was hard to do while running, but she was highly trained and managed it easily. The seven cuts began to drip blood, which she collected as the basis for her next spell.

It was a classic, and very reliable. Best of all, she was confident she could take out at least one Dog with it. Maybe two.

"Hey filly! Gonna rip you to shreds!" roared Growler.

Twilight couldn't help herself. Her old confidence, from two years ago, was coming back. "Bring it, mutt!"

Her horn glowed as she began to funnel magic through it. The blood she'd spilled rose up and coalesced around it, then flashed and vanished. Her horn's brightness only intensified, glowing with a bright, shining light.

And then a fireball appeared in front of Twilight and hurled itself at the Dogs.

Growler, marginally more attentive, jumped back and let his partner take the full blast. The other dog screamed as the fireball hit him and roasted him. His body moved for another couple of steps, but he was dead the moment the fire touched him. His corpse, now mostly bones, collapsed.

Twilight didn't even feel winded. She immediately switched focus to Growler, knowing that if she thought too hard about what she'd just done she might feel ill again. She had to keep her mind in the game, had to keep her focus. She just kept running at Growler, trying to get around him so she could fire off another blast.

Growler pulled out his weapon -- a broadsword, like Stone's, but this one seemed to glow with magical energy.

He swiped it at her. Twilight grinned. She wasn't in range, so he was really stupid to swing it. Unless--

She figured it out a half-second before he released the sword, but it was enough. She leapt as high as she could, clearing it and hearing it sweep under her. "Throwing your sword? Out of ideas already?" she taunted. She knew it was wrong to be joking in these circumstances, but she didn't care -- she was in the moment, in the zone, on the heels of a successful plan and about to implement another.

Growler grinned. He clenched his fist and pulled it back, like he was tugging a particularly stubborn handle.

Twilight flung herself to one side as the sword flew backwards and into Growler's hand. She winced as she banged her legs on some rocks, but otherwise felt okay. "Hey, pro tip," she said as she got to her feet. "If you're going to do magic? Skip the really obvious telegraphing gestures." She grinned. "Cause otherwise, your opponent can see everything you're doing."

Growler roared something and ran at her.

"Like so," continued Twilight. She didn't really want to lecture -- she'd rather just finish the fight -- but the stronger and more arrogant she looked now, the more intimidated her future opponents would be. It was all part of the game. "Watch and learn."

As Growler ran at her, she skipped to one side. Her horn glowed a strange reddish color as made another incision on her flank with the knife.  Spell seventy-two, from 'Advanced Spells for Combat,' was complicated, but it was perfectly suited for this situation...

Behind her, the earth suddenly rumbled, and then Growler screamed as it collapsed under him. And then it rumbled again, as it filled back together, crushing its new occupant.

Twilight heard his last scream, surprisingly pained and horrible, and almost snapped then and there, ready to burst into tears and collapse. But she didn't. She had to hold it together. She was a soldier for Equestria and would not be broken.

She looked up at the sky as the flash of light came to take her away.

Twilight reappeared and realized that they were already down to the final eight.

She looked around. Goliath was back, looking none the worse-for-wear. Stomp and Slam, of course. Stomp had bloody feet, and Twilight tried not to think too hard about how that had happened. Violet was there too, although she looked scared, almost traumatized. Maybe she didn't do this kind of thing on a regular basis.

Princess Celestia dismissed them, but held Twilight back for a moment. "Good work, Twilight," she said. "You make me proud, and your service to Equestria will not go unrewarded."

Twilight bowed. "Thank you, your majesty."

Celestia grinned. "Please, no need to be so formal. Now go have fun, Twilight. You are still a young pony, despite your vast abilities. You should have fun before the next round."

Twilight thought to herself as she left the ballroom. Was she getting used to this again too easily? She was already feeling less discomfort at the thought of killing the other ponies. But then again, who was she to feel nausea at following Celestia's order? Surely it was her own weakness that made her pity or feel for the others, nothing else. It was good that she was overcoming it.

Applejack had told her the name of their hotel the previous night, so Twilight hurried over to it. She shook her head upon seeing it -- it was kind of run-down. Maybe she could talk to Celestia about getting them moved somewhere nicer.

She strolled in and walked up a flight of stairs to find the room, but paused before entering. It sounded like there was some kind of argument going on inside.

Well, maybe she could solve it. Wasn't she the expert on studying friendship? So she knocked sharply with a hoof.

There was a long pause, and then the door swung open. Rainbow Dash stared at her. Twilight smiled brightly.

"Hi, girls!"

She walked in.

"What's up? I'm all done with meetings and ready to have fun!"

"Meetings, huh?"

Twilight frowned. Applejack looked kind of... green. Like she'd just been sick.

"What's wrong?"

"What's wrong? We saw."

"You saw... what?"

"Don't bother. We saw. We saw you. They've got these... these screens to show all the fights. We saw yours."

Twilight paled. Applejack was staring at her with hard, accusing eyes. "But, but that's not possible. They don't let anypony in--"

"Luna gave us her seats," said Rainbow Dash. Her voice was softer, not as harsh, but almost... disappointed?

"...why?" said Twilight, who was thinking that perhaps she could run this whole conversation off on a tangent before it got nasty. "She should be watching Violet--"

"Maybe she doesn't want to see her favorite student get killed," said Rainbow Dash.

"Then she shouldn't have--"

"Who cares?" snapped Applejack. "We saw you barbecue that Dog and crush the other one! What in Hay are you doing? They're dead, aren't they? They're really dead! You killed them!"

"Hey! That's not fair!" Twilight frowned. "Look, AJ, I'm sorry, but there's stuff going on here you don't understand!" She knew, intellectually, that it made sense for her friends to be suspicious, but it still hurt. How often had she trusted them? Helped them with their self-imposed problems? And now Applejack was practically accusing her of being a psychotic murderer!

"Then help us," said Rainbow Dash. "Help us get it."

Twilight looked from one of the other. "Where's Pinkie?" she asked, in a low voice.

"She was in town today. She didn't see what ya did," said Applejack.

Twilight let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. "Okay. Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you girls earlier. I didn't even know."

"Realla? Cause those moves ya used, ah don't think ya just picked 'em up in the last two--"

"Let her finish," snapped Rainbow Dash. "Applejack. We're her friends. We owe it to her to let her provide an explanation."

Applejack frowned, but stopped talking.

"Thanks, Dash." Twilight sighed and began to talk.

Twilight explained the basic idea behind the matches, how they would prevent war by sacrificing only a few ponies and other creatures instead of vast numbers.

"That's insane," was Applejack's first reaction. "Ya'r tellin' ma that either we hafta have war or psychotic death matches? There ain't no other way? Ah ain't buyin' it."

"That's what Princess Celestia says. I trust her, and you should too." Twilight frowned. "She's our ruler, Applejack."

"That don't--"

Rainbow Dash raised a hoof. "What about the first part? You really didn't know you could do this until you got here?"

Twilight nodded and explained about her memory. "...I was just as surprised as you girls to learn that my whole past wasn't what I thought it was. I'm still working it out myself. I would have told you once we got back to Ponyville, honest."

"Ya'r mighta at ease given all ya just said," said Applejack. "Mayba ah'm just weird, but if ah learned ah'd been brainwashed? Ah'd be kind of upset."

"I trust the princess. If she felt--"

"She's havin' ya kill ponies an' others, dang it! That ain't right!"

Twilight scowled. "Hey. I haven't done anything to you to deserve that tone, and neither has the princess. If you're just going to insult me while I protect us all from war, I'm leaving." Her eyes flashed. "You do know what war is, right? How would you like it if Ponyville got invaded? How'd your orchards do with gryphons tearing up the land?" Applejack looked away. "How long do you think Apple Bloom would last--"

"Shut UP!"

Twilight paused. Applejack seemed near tears.

"That... that was a low blow, Twi," whispered Applejack. "Ya don't bring ma sister inta this."

"I have to. I'm fighting for her, and all the others in our country who would suffer in the event of war. I don't like it anymore than you do, but somepony has to do it."

Rainbow Dash's voice was hesitant. "Twilight, I want to believe you, really. But... you should have seen yourself. You looked so happy when that fireball hit..."

Twilight blinked. Was that Dash's big concern, then? "That's just for show, Rainbow. Intimidates my future opponents when their coaches and bosses tell them what I was like. That's it. Honestly, I was feeling sick when I did that. But it's gotta get done."

She faced Rainbow Dash squarely. "Please believe me. I'm not doing this for fun, and I wouldn't if there was any other choice."

Rainbow Dash stared at her for a moment, and then nodded. "Alright, Twilight. I trust you."

Twilight smiled. "Awesome."

Applejack looked away. "Ya, well, ah ain't fooled. Tell ma this, Twi. Ya say ya don't have any other choices, right? What if everypony refused ta fight?"

"Then I guess they'd have to call the match, but that's not going to happen. And if only I refused, I'd get killed--"

"Fine. While ya'r doin' ya'r thing, we're gonna convince the others not ta fight." Applejack leapt to her feet. "C'mon, Dash. Let's go."

Dash paused, then smiled. "Great idea! Yeah, we'll take care of this, Twilight!"

"Girls, wait! It's not that--"

"What, ya don't want us doin' it?"

Twilight flushed at Applejack's suspicion. "Not what I said. I'm just worried. The other champions are very strong and can be angry--"

"We'll be fine." Applejack scowled at Twilight. "Have fun in ya'r bloodsports if we don't get back." She left. Rainbow Dash smiled apologetically, then fled after her.

Twilight waited a moment, then kicked the wall. How dare Applejack? After all Twilight had done, for ponies like her, Applejack just abandoned all faith in her! And Rainbow Dash... she hadn't gone that far, but she hadn't objected to Applejack's offensive comments. Ridiculous.

Twilight scowled. She left a quick note on Dash's bed, asking her to just tell Pinkie that she was in meetings or something -- she saw no reason to worry the silliest pony in Ponyville -- and then teleported back. She found a group of guards, larger than before, who were very excited to meet somepony who had so effortlessly obliterated the two massive Dogs. They begged her for strategies and training tips, they insisted she promise to spar with them later, and they almost bowed with appreciation when she gave them her hoofprint or signature. And she smiled as they gave her good food and better drink and dealt her into their poker hand, because now she was among those who understood her. Next Chapter: The third round (Cracking up) Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 17 Minutes