"You!" Twilight seethed at Sapphira, "you dare to imprison our princess within your impenetrable walls of injustice and cowardice!"

"Oh, a vocab whiz, are we?" Sapphira sneered, "well, let's see if you can define this: if you don't give into me right here and right now, I am going to drive this horn through the heart of your precious princess."

"Bite me, Sapphira!" Twilight shouted. This elicited a gasp from the other ponies, as they couldn't believe that the Princess of Friendship was capable of insulting other ponies like that. But when it came to the good of Equestria, nothing was off limits, and Twilight was going to make sure Sapphira knew that. "I will defend Celestia and Equestria with my very life if necessary!"

"Foolish Alicorn!" Sapphira said, "don't you know that death is the only outcome when somepony faces me? I am the reaper of the wayward unicorns, I am the champion of all wingless horned ponies everywhere, I am the goddess of this realm! Soon, everypony in Equestria who is and will be shall know the name Sapphira! I will go down in history! I will turn Equestria…into…Unicornistan!"

The ponies all stopped and stifled laughter. Even Celestia smiled. Twilight grinned as she realized just how deluded her foe really was. "Unicornistan? Really? You couldn't come up with a better name than that?"

Sapphira sneered at them, not giving in to their teasing. "It doesn't matter what the name of the place is, just so long as unicorns rule and every Earth pony, Pegasus pony, and Alicorn there is either dead or enslaved! WE SHALL PREVAIL!"

"Alright," Twilight said, "since you're into grandiose declarations, here's one of my own. I challenge you to a duel!"

Once again, the other ponies gasped, this time out of fear. Twilight was challenging one of the most dangerous ponies in Equestria to a duel. Even though Twilight was the best magic user in Equestria, they knew that physically she fell short in a number of areas. She hadn't ever been seen practicing horn-to-horn or hoof-to-hoof combat. What they didn't realize was that Twilight had been taking private lessons, and could more than hold her own against Sapphira.

The evil unicorn snickered. "Alright," she said evilly, "I love a good BLOODBATH! What are your terms?"

"Death," Twilight said, "it's going to be to the death. If I win, not only will you be gone, but I will personally see to it that your entire organization is wiped out. Dungeons, eternal servitude to Equestria's Earth ponies, death, I really don't care. They will be wiped out. If you win, I'll be gone…and you can do as you wish."

"HA!" Sapphira roared, "I'll take great pleasure in murdering you. Then I'll take out all of your friends one by one so that nopony will stand in my way! Now, where and when do you want to duel?"

"Right here, and right now."

"What are the rules of the duel?"

"Horns and hooves only. No magic."

Yet another gasp came from those watching. How in the world could Twilight hope to defeat Sapphira using only her horn and hooves? For that matter, why was Twilight putting so much pressure on herself to do well? Was she trying to prove something? If she was trying to prove her friendship to them, she had no need to. She had proven it time and time and time again.

"Alright," Sapphira said, "I'll give you 5 minutes to prepare."

Twilight nodded and turned to her friends. Each one of them had a look of shock and horror on their face. Maddock looked as if he was about to have a conniption. He seethed with anger, but not at Twilight, his anger was entirely directed towards Sapphira. "Twi, you don't need to do this," Applejack said bluntly.

"Yes, I do," Twilight said, "if I can't defend Equestria when I am called to do so, then what kind of a princess am I?"

"A sensible one," Fluttershy said. "Twilight, there has to be another way. Ponies are killing each other out there! Can't we negotiate and put an end to this senseless violence? Why are we adding to it?"

"Look at her, Fluttershy!" Twilight said, "does she really look like the type of pony who would negotiate about anything?!" Fluttershy looked and whimpered a bit. "No…um…I guess not. But still, I don't like this."

"I don't like it either," Twilight said, "but I have no choice. My hoof has been forced and now I have to do this. If I don't, then Sapphira will kill Celestia and take over Equestria and then we'll all be forced under her hoof." The other ponies nodded. "Don't worry, Twi," Dash said, "we've got your back." Twilight nodded and smiled, grateful for friends who would rush to her aid if she needed it.

Maddock stepped forward and put a hoof around Twilight's shoulder. "Twilight," he said softly, "I haven't told you this yet, but…this is the same unicorn that murdered my mom and dad." Twilight gasped, "really?" Maddock nodded, "so taking care of her would be doing me a personal favor."

Twilight shook her head. "I understand your feelings, Maddock, but I'm gonna do my best to incapacitate her and then maybe talk her out of it."

"She'll never do it, Twilight! You have to kill her!"

Twilight began crying. "I just can't, Maddock! I'm the Princess of Friendship…"

"Snap out of it, Twi! You're also a princess of Equestria, and sometimes friendship goes out the window! You said it yourself! Friendship can't solve everything!"

Twilight turned and sniffed a bit, but then put on a determined face. She knew that she would do anything for Equestria. She had sworn an oath when she was coronated to protect Equestria from every enemy that it faced, no matter the cost. She was determined to keep the promise she had made to Celestia. Equestria would not fall, not on her watch, and if she had to kill Sapphira to make it happen, so be it.

"OK," she said, "I'm ready for this."

Suddenly, she felt a peck on her cheek and turned to see Maddock there. "I know you don't reciprocate my romantic feelings, but I felt it necessary to do that. Be safe, Twilight." She nodded at him and turned to face Sapphira.

"Well, shall we begin?"

"Let's do," Twilight said before letting out a scream of pure anger. She charged at Sapphira, and the evil unicorn charged back. Their horns clashed with a thud as both ponies tried to gain the upper hoof. They growled and snarled at each other as they clashed horns time and time again and scratched with their hooves.

After a few minutes, they realized they were at a stalemate, so they backed off and began circling each other. Twilight was looking for any kind of weakness to exploit, but it didn't appear that Sapphira had any. So Twilight screamed and charged again, trying to hit Sapphira in her backside and knock her off her hooves.

She nailed her target, but Sapphira stayed upright. The evil one laughed. "Do you really think your pathetic attempts at knocking me over will work? Let me show you how a real pony fights!" With that, she took her horn and drove it where Twilight couldn't block it, right into her flank. Twilight howled in pain as Sapphira's horn dealt a significant amount of damage.

"See?! This is what pain is, Twilight! This is what pain is, and I feel it every day thanks to those idiotic Earth ponies and pegasi! Yet, you foolishly insist upon defending them!" With those words, Sapphira yanked her horn out and Twilight winced.

"Of course I do," Twilight shouted as blood poured from the wound, "they're just as much citizens of Equestria as you and I are!"

"I DON'T GIVE A CRAP ABOUT ANYPONY BUT MYSELF AND MY UNICORN BRETHREN!" Sapphira screamed and spat in anger. She took her horn and tried to drive it into the wound again, but Twilight dodged and managed to drive her horn into Sapphira's leg. The evil unicorn howled in agony and spat curses at Twilight, but Twilight stood her ground. She yanked her horn out and Sapphira tumbled to the ground, unable to walk with her leg in such pain. But that didn't mean she couldn't fight

Twilight leapt on top of her and, for the next three or four minutes, the observing ponies witnessed a screeching, screaming mass of hooves, horns, and blood, as the two mares rained blow after blow upon each other. Fluttershy began crying and hid her face in Pinkie Pie's shoulder. She had never seen Twilight this angry before, and she made a mental note never to get on her bad side.

Meanwhile, Sapphira finally came out of the scrap on top and held Twilight underneath her. The princess struggled to free herself, but the marauding unicorn's hooves were too strong. Twilight looked up and saw hatred and contempt burning in Sapphira's green eyes. "Now," Sapphira said, "comes my favorite part of any duel…the death blow. Any last words?"

Twilight's eyes widened as she realized she was out of options and out of time. She mentally prepared for her life to come to an end. Though she couldn't see them, she knew her friends were right there with her. "Sapphira," she said calmly, "I don't know why you have so much hatred in your heart for your fellow ponies. They've done nothing to you. On the way here, I remembered where I had seen you before and your parents would be crushed if they knew what you were doing."

"MY PARENTS ARE WEAK, SPINELESS, SNIVELING COWARDS!" Sapphira screamed, "NOTHING BUT RICH, GREEDY, PIECES OF TRASH!"

"They aren't greedy," Twilight said, "they love you, Sapphira. I could see it in their eyes the night Rarity and I gave them that award. They looked at you with pride, Sapphira. I could tell that they wanted you to be the best pony you could be. If only you would open your heart and let friendship in…"

"Friends?! Friends are for idiots and losers like you! Me? I deserve a kingdom, filled with the purest breed of unicorn who will make this world over into a utopia!"

"That's where you're wrong. Making things over into a world where the entirety of society thinks, acts, and believes exactly like you isn't right. You're robbing them of their individuality and turning them into collectivist drones! There would be no chance of any friendships forming then."

"Screw your individualism!" Sapphira spat, "I will be a leader. I will be a queen, and every Earth pony, and pegasi in Equestria will know to fear my name! But first…"

She raised her horn and went for the kill, but then, quick as lightning, Maddock flew into the fray and threw himself in front of Twilight. "TWILIGHT! NO!" He screamed as Sapphira's horn plunged into his heart. He tumbled off of Twilight and drew his final breath.