The tension between Dale and Twilight had been growing at a rapid pace. No one was moving a single muscle, not even Spike, who was observing the event. Besides the light breeze blowing through the flat field, there was no sound. Both of the fighters were trying their hardest to not make their next move obvious. Dale could feel his heart beat faster and faster, his nervousness was going to get the best of him. Dale knew that he had to stay calm or Twilight would get the upper hand immediately. There wasn't much that he had at his disposal anyway, but Twilight didn't know that so she may also be exercising caution.

Every second felt like it was lasting an eternity, it didn't help that Twilight Sparkle's horn was glowing an intimidating purple. Twilight was giving Dale a free shot, and Dale didn't know how to respond to it. Dale decided that the only thing that he could really do is hit her with everything he's got. Dale quickly pulled his left hand back while glaring at Twilight. She only smirked in response. Dale then quickly thrust his hand forward and yelled as loud as he could.

"Zio!" Dale shouted as a bright blue bolt of lightning shot from his hand and towards his opponent. The loud crackles of the attack boomed throughout the field as the magic flew across at a blinding fast speed. Twilight's horn glow grew bright as the lightning bolt came closer and closer before a flash of white light blinded Dale. He heard the attack he launched connect with something as there was a loud and echoing boom that could be heard from miles away. Dale had to shield his face with his arms as the strong winds began to throw dust and debris towards him.

"Why was the impact so severe?" Dale thought to himself as he moved his arms away from his face, "Usually, it's a lot smaller than that... unless..." Dale couldn't finish his own train of thought as he saw the dust begin to swirl back to the location Twilight was standing. He could see her silhouette through the dust cloud as well as her purple horn glow slicing through the thick blanket. Dale felt his stomach drop as Twilight emerged from the smoke completely unscathed.

Blocked!

The damage indicator above Twilight Sparkle had no numbers, the attack did absolutely no damage. Dale began to sweat as Twilight took steps towards him.

"Wow, that was amazing! You performed magic without even having a horn! I've never seen a spell like that before, you actually made me use a shield spell to block it." Twilight was oddly happy while she was speaking. "Oh, Spike! Did you get that?" Twilight shouted to her assistant. Spike then peeked his head over the hill while wearing an army helmet, Dale didn't even notice the dragon grab it before they left.

"Y-Yes, Twilight!" Spike shouted back, his voice was shaking due to the event that just transpired in front of him.

"Hey!" Dale yelled at Twilight Sparkle, "You totally cheated!" He pointed a finger angerly at Twilight who only looked back in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Twilight tilted her head.

"What I mean is, how the hell are you able to just block my attack?"

"Well, I wasn't sure what kind of magic you were going to use, so I just used my shield spell to try to defend myself... I was honestly surprised it worked, I was expecting your attack to be stronger."

Dale took this as a personal attack towards his low magic stat. He thought that it wasn't his fault that it was low, it was just him trying to spread them out evenly. Before Twilight could do another attack, Dale decided to try to get a cheeky hit in.

"Bufu!" Dale called out while he thrust his hand forward. Dale felt the temperature in his hand drop down to freezing cold, even the oxygen around it was much hotter. In fact, the white air was almost visible. A large icicle, in the shape of a crystal, shot out of Dale's palm and towards Twilight. Twilight's eyes widened at the sudden attack and quickly jumped to the side. The ice blast flew directly into a tree that was behind Twilight, causing both the tree and the Bufu spell to explode into little shards.

"I see how it is..." Twilight slowly stood up, a grin growing across her face, "You like playing rough!" Twilight's horn began to glow the same bright purple from earlier. Her words sent shivers down Dale's spine.

"Please don't say that again!" Dale shouted back at her.

Twilight didn't respond with words. Instead, she fired off multiple magical orbs towards Dale. The small purple orbs began to chase him as he ran to his left side, but they weren't the most accurate. Most of them eventually fell to the floor, causing a small burst in magic energy each time. Dale began to stumble as each one exploded until he was knocked off of his feet by the last explosion.

-10HP

Dale slowly picked himself off the floor. Even though the attack barely hit him, it still did a decent amount of damage to his maximum HP. Dale didn't want to leave himself open, so he quickly fired off another spell towards Twilight.

"Bufu!" Dale shouted once again. Another ice blast left his hand the same way it did prior, but this time, Twilight was prepared. She quickly charged her horn and fired off an even bigger spell. This new spell completely destroyed the one that was heading towards her. Dale's eyes widened in shock as the massive ball approached him and quickly braced for impact. The magic engulfed Dale, sending him back a good distance.

-32HP Critical!

Master Dale, your HP is at a critical level!" Alex's voice shouted over the arm brace. Dale looked up into the clouds, breathing heavily. He couldn't believe it, this little horse kicked his ass. A mix of shame and anger began to fill him while he stood up.

"Dale? Are you okay?" Twilight called out while running towards him, "I'm really sorry! I didn't mean for my spell to be that strong! I just... I just really got into the moment." Twilight went from panicked, to being filled with guilt in the span of a few seconds.

"Y-Yeah. I'll be fine... My HP is ju-" Dale quickly stopped himself before he could continue." I mean, I'm just a little hurt, could I get something to help me out?"

"Uh, no problem," Twilight found Dale's words a little strange but didn't think too hard about it. She ran back to where Spike was and began to search for anything to help with Dale's wounds.

"I really blew it, Alex..." Dale said glumly to his arm brace companion.

"Do not worry, master Dale. You will be able to complete the quest regardless." Alex replied. Dale almost completely forgot that this was a quest, to begin with. His pride was on the line and that was more important to him than some measly reward.

Quest Log

Quest Completed!

"Showtime"

Rewards:

150EXP

50 Bits

5 App Points.

"Law" Alignment Increased Slightly

Level Up!

Current EXP: 87/350

You've earned 3 stat points! Please chose what stats you wish to improve!

App Points: 15

Dale immediately felt better than he did before. His wounds healed after the level up, so he stood up on his own and began to walk towards Twilight.

"Hey, Twilight!" A voice called from over one of the hills, "Sorry I'm late, I got really caught up with helping Fluttershy with a personal issue," Matt came from over the hill and approached Twilight who was still searching through her saddlebag.

"Matthew! Don't worry about it. How did you find us?" Twilight looked up at the much taller human.

"I could hear you shooting off spells all the way at Fluttershy's house, and I thought you started without me. I see that you and Dale have been getting along just fine," Matt glared back at Dale with jealousy in his eyes.

"Good to see you to, Matt," Dale responded as he walked up to the group. Twilight turned to Dale, more confused than ever.

"Huh? You looked like you were in bad shape before? How come you're just fine now?" Twilight was very confused. Before Dale could respond, Matt took the lead.

"Yeah, we humans are like that. For some reason, our bodies can repair themselves almost instantly after a major event occurs for us. Isn't that right, Dale?" Matt winked at Dale.

"Yeah... It's pretty weird how it works" Dale went along with Matt's words, "But, Matt knows more about this than I do, so bother him about it." Dale didn't feel like putting up with any more of Twilight's questions for the day. He was drained. But, there was one thing he did want from her, "Alright, Twilight. Since I helped you out with your 'experiment' can you help me now?"

Twilight turned to Dale and smiled, "Yes, it's the least I can do for what I put you through."

"Alright. Well, the truth is, I'm looking for someone, anyone that can help me out. I've lost something very special to me, something that I'm not even sure I can bring back. So I came to your library to get any information I can about who exactly rules this land since I believe that they may be able to help me out."

Twilight looked at Matt for advice and he nodded, signifying to her that Dale can be trusted.

"Well... Equestria's ruler's princess Celestia and princess Luna could potentially help with your problem... but, they are very busy ponies and are all the way up in Canterlot and since our train is currently out of order you can't just walk there!" Twilight's information wasn't exactly what Dale wanted to hear, but it didn't matter to him.

"Right. Thank you for telling me." Dale began to walk off towards town.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?" Matt called out to Dale. Dale stopped walking and began to speak without turning around.

"I'm going to Canterlot, isn't it obvious?

"What!?" Matt, Twilight and Spike shouted in unison.

"You can't just walk all the way to Canterlot!" Twilight shouted at Dale with a concerned tone.

"Twilight's right!" Matt followed up, "It's too far for you to go by yourself."

"Plus with all the monsters..." Spike shuddered a bit at the thought.

"And even if you were to somehow make it. Who says that they'll even have the time to talk with you!" Matt shouted.

"It's not like I have any other option, Matt!" Dale turned around and shouted back, "I don't have a house here, or a job, I can't just sleep out on the park bench for the rest of my life. And I don't feel like sitting around and let my problems solve themselves."

"Fine..." Matt said, "I can't stop you from going all the way up to Canterlot if you really want to. But, I'm going to at least suggest you stay here for at least one week and prepare yourself. I'll even help you out," Matt extended his hand out to Dale.

Dale knew that Matt was right. If he did rush out into something he wasn't prepared for, he'd be sliced into bits by monsters that he hasn't encountered before. Matt does have a huge edge on Dale since he seems to grasp the mechanics of this world better than Dale does.

Dale grasped Matt's hand and shook it. Without exchanging words, Dale and Matt came to the agreement. This next week would be hell for Dale, but he knew that he'd have to stick to it in order to go on this journey.