I yawned as I walked through the castle, my hoof-beats echoing on the crystal walls.  Since Starlight had brought Sunset's present through the mirror, I looked forward to early mornings like today.  Coffee.  The aroma wafted from the kitchen.  The clatter of my hooves increased—even the smell of the black liquid perked me up.

I entered the dining room the same instant Starlight did from the opposite door.  She wore a white towel over her withers, her fur dark lavender where still moist.  She'd been swimming.  We froze.  We both knew what this meant.

She yawned.

I yawned, raising a hoof before my muzzle.  Still, my heart raced in anticipation.

Starlight lowered herself and firmly placed her legs in a fighting stance.

I mirrored her, but stretched my wings.  I might need to throw myself into the air.  I adjusted my stance, right fore-hoof out as Zecora taught me, and narrowed my eyes.  

Today would be the day.

Starlight's turquoise eyes met mine.  She tossed her mane so it didn't block her view.

I returned her gaze.  Today would be my turn to [i]win[/i].  The unpleasant incident with Trixie and the alicorn amulet had taught me that while checking off a list of spells I could cast with Spike had been satisfying, being forced to use your wits to duel a superior foe was [i]exhilarating[/i].  Starlight was my superior in conventional magic.  She'd been a street fighter once, and she taught me fast-draw techniques that I was now writing a treatise on.

A bead of sweat rolled down to the tip of my nose.  You enter a room simultaneously, you duel.

"Uh, Princess?"

I blinked and stood straighter.  "What?"

"It's your turn."

Her statement uncannily mirrored my thoughts.  I blinked, then blinked again.  "I'm pretty sure it's your turn to call the spell."

"I called it the week before your last mission."

I'd been in the Stormlands helping High Flyer and his tribe, living the life of Daring Do fighting and friendshipping in the snowy mountains and the midnight forests for weeks.  It'd seemed like forever.  "That's not what I remember.  I remember 'Crystals!'  Spike had a lot to clean up after that one."

"Ain't that the truth," came from the peanut gallery in the kitchen.

"That was before I switched the princess's cutie marks.  You were stressed.  I called illusions.'"

"No, no, [i]no[/i].  That was before."

Starlight sighed.  "Then I called [i]food[/i]."  Her stomach growled loudly.

Surprisingly, mine didn't, considering its emptiness.  "That was after I called conjuring."

"Clothing."

"Music."

"Rainbows."

Without my coffee, I wasn't up to this.  I wanted to use fast-draw techniques—she had to call it for me to do so.  "Starlight, please choose."

"Ok."

For a minute her eyes moved around as she thought.  She nodded, then shook her head, then scrunched her lips to the right, puzzled.  Her eyes opened wide and she shrugged.  "I don't know."

After that build up, I laughed.  "Really?"

"Really."  Her stomach growled again.  "I'm hungry."  A green aura briefly illuminated her horn; she grinned at me, then trotted past the stone table to the kitchen.  "Hey, Spike!"

I shook my head hard enough to crack my neck.  "Wait?  What?"

Spike called back, "Muffins come'n up!", and strode out with a platter of bran muffins, strawberry haystacks, tomato juice, and a carafe of coffee.

Starlight followed him to a chair.  Sitting, she held her forelegs wide.  "I said, 'I don't know.'"  She pointed at the space between us with her nose before levitating a muffin into her mouth.

Something shimmered in the air.  I trotted over.  Hovering in a soap bubble were vaguely transparent watery letters that sparkled and fizzed.

They read, "This space intentionally TBD."

"T. B. D.?" I whispered.

Starlight said, "[i]To be determined[/i]."

My jaw dropped.

"I win," Starlight said cheerfully.  I heard flowing liquid and looked to see her pour coffee into my porcelain cup.  "Now come and enjoy breakfast."