The Great and Powerful Trixie returns to Ponyville to challenge her long-time rival, Twilight Sparkle, once again! This time, they chose not to use magic for the basis of their friendly contest; for this duel, its physical prowess only, and no magic allowed!
 
They agreed to draw out the type of contest from a pile of cards in Trixies magnificent hat. It could have been anything - hoofball, racing, tree-bucking contest, hoof wrestling - but they drew out a different sort of finesse challenge: the Underwater Breath Holding Contest. What are the odds, eh?
 
The rules were simple - Stay underwater longer than your opponent. No surfacing. No magic. First one to go up for air, or cast a spell of any kind, water-breathing or otherwise, loses. Oh, and loser buys lunch. Twilight accepted the challenge with gusto, and within the hour they were treading water in the local pool, counting down to the big dive.
 
Three… Two… One…
 
Two ponies took a great gasp of air. Two ponies splashed beneath the water.
 
Almost instantly, Twilight wanted to go back up again.
 
Trixie, you see, was far healthier than Twilight on numerous levels - She had years of bellowing boasts to any crowds that would gather, and walking all over Equestria with her stage-carriage. This had given her a great pair of lungs, and stamina to boot. Twilight, on the other hoof, had spent years in a library. Studying. Good for the brain, not so much for the lungs. And her magic couldnt help her this time.
 
Innumerable seconds passed. Twilight blinked away her discomfort and looked at her competitor; Trixie hardly seemed bothered by the situation. Either that or she was very, very good at putting on a fake expression.
 
More time passed; neither pony kept track. Twilight tried to ignore the strain creeping up on her, and the rising beat of her own heart that pounded in her ears. Trixie remained as motionless as ever, save for the occasional bubble or two that snuck by her tightly-shut lips.
 
More slow, painful seconds ticked by. And some more. And…
 
Oh Celestia, Ive never wanted to breathe so badly!
 
VOTE OFF! Let us know in the comments who you’d like to win the underwater contest! Does Twilight finally give up, knowing that Trixie has beaten her fair and square? Or is Trixie merely bluffing, and is far more desperate for air than Twilight herself? You guys decide!