“Moongazer!” Silverlight called after his friend as he watched the lavender unicorn trot toward the arena exit. “Where are you going!?”
“I thought you heard me, I forfeit, you win. I think I’m gonna catch some shut eye in my dorm.” Moongazer threw his friend a faint smile before he disappeared out the large set of double doors. “Consider it a congrats present.”
“Wait Moon, what are you talking-” Moongazer dashed out the exit before his friend could get out the last of his question. “He seemed a bit off today.”
“Well he did say the pressure was getting to him,” Astral giggled nervously as she ushered Silver’s attention back to the arena. “Anyway, you should keep your attention focused on the tournament.”
“Yeah, your right,” Silver grinned with determination as a fire lit on his eyes. “Alright then, bring it on!”
“Let’s continue right on the next round. Due to us having one less participant than originally, Silverlight will be performing once again.” Ignis cleared his throat loudly again before he proceeded with his statement. “Alright than, Dexter and Silverlight, please step forward!”
A sphere of blue light was followed after Ignis’s announcement, it appeared in a corner of the arena and brought with it a light brown unicorn with finely combed dark brown hair. He wore nerdy glasses, had buck teeth, and a face full of acne which showed he wasn’t going to the Grand Galloping Gala anytime soon.
“That’s my opponent? Even by unicorn standards, he doesn’t seem like much.” Silver gave Astral a nod and than proceeded to the arena, however, he was soon accompanied by another unicorn, one who helped usher him to the stage.
“Silver, do you have any idea who your up against? Your opponent is Dexter, the most intelligent student in all of the academy.” Chip was attempting to offer his friend some advice but it didn’t seem like he was paying much attention. “You fought Midnight right? Well I heard Dexter’s IQ far surpasses that of Midnight Star.”
“So what he’s an egghead? I mean just look at him, he’s all scrawny and weak.”
“Physically yes, mentally no. He couldn’t handle much physical punishment,” Chip stopped his friend before they reached the small set of stairs which led to the top of the arena. “He doesn’t know many magic spells, but the ones he practices rely on sheer brain power; he studies in mind games and the art of psychological warfare using Illusory Spells, don’t let your guard down.”
“Man, you worry a lot,” Silver laughed as he ascended the small stairs. “Just watch, this match will be over in no time!”
“Well, it appears as though both competitors will ACTUALLY be performing this time.” Ignis posed his comment in the form of a joke; however, the students didn’t share his sense of humor because silence was the only response he got. “Huh, tough crowd. Well than, let me explain the basic rules. Both participants will duel until one of them is no longer able to battle; a barrier will be placed around the combatants so they may demonstrate the most of their abilities. Keep in mind, this barrier is NOT for the duelists to abuse. Arcane Academy Dueling Regulations are still strongly enforced; meaning, forbidden spells shall not be tolerated whatsoever. Do I make myself clear?”
“You got it!” Silver replied with full-hearted voice.
“Of course,” Dexter nodded in recognition of Ignis’s demands.
“Alright than, let’s get this thing underway!” Ignis transported himself outside of the arena, his horn began to emit a green glow and eventually a large green bubble surrounded the two ponies; trapping them within. “Duel!”
“Alright egghead, time to get cracked!” Silverlight took off in a gallop toward the nerdy unicorn. He appeared to have his hooves clapped together, his horn glowing, and was muttering some unknown gibberish that for some reason Silver could hear clearly. Even though Dexter was far out of his range, Silver could hear loud whispers ringing through his ears. ‘Hehe, I’ve got him beat, it doesn’t matter what tricks he tries to pull. With the arena being so big, I have a lot of space to run freely. My earth pony speed will give me the upper hoof in this one.
“Ugh, typical idiot.” Midnight let out a sigh as he closed his eyes and face hooved himself. “He doesn’t even try to analyze his opponents fighting style, he’s eager to get started and doesn’t even think.”
“That reminds me of a certain somepony who once threw a seashell at me,” Mary teased, once again Midnight’s usual glare met her nervous smiling face.
“I guess you could say that,” Midnight admitted sheepishly; he quickly returned his gaze back to the battle. “Silver’s different though, he won’t give up when attacking head on. In the long run, a fighting strategy like that could cost him his life. He better wise up soon or this match will be over before it’s even started.” Though he wasn't looking her direction, Midnight could feel Mary's expression of curiosity beaming his way; so he continued his explanation. "That student, Dexter, studies the illusory arts and techniques of trickery. Spells of that caliber can effect an opponent through any of the five senses; be it sight; taste; touch; sound; or even smell."
"Very impressive Midnight," Celestia chimed in as the unicorn gave her a nod of acknowledgment. "Do you know how to break such an illusory spell?"
"If somepony were to find themselves caught in such a technique, they could recover from it in one of two ways. They could easily break the spell by performing a cancellation spell which renders other spells and forms of magic useless. However, there is one major problem with dispelling the illusion this way." Midnight used his magic to retrieve four glasses of lemonade which were located on a table nearby next to several assorted pastries. The cups leveled in front of his mother, princess Celestia, Mary and himself; the Alicorns and his friend thanked him for the beverages before he continued. “The only problem with that is the cancellation spell is very difficult to perform; next to the age spell, it’s reserved only for the highest level unicorns. I myself can’t even perform it yet.”
“So then, what’s the other way?” Mary asked after taking a sip of her lemonade. “Wouldn’t somepony be able to dispell it the second way?”
“Well yes, in fact, the second option is the easiest.” Midnight now took a sip of his own lemonade as he held it in his hooves, then continued. “When trapped in an illusion spell, it’s almost like your asleep, like your dreaming. So if you had somepony wake you up then the spell would be broken; however, in Silver’s case, it’s impossible.”
“How come?”
“It’s true a partner could wake you up from the spell, however, your partner must make physical contact with your body in order for it to be successful.” Midnight chugged the last of his lemonade as he licked the tip of his muzzle to retrieve any liquid particles which remained. “If he gets caught in one of Dexter’s spells, then it’s game over.”
“He really is quite knowledgeable isn’t he?” Celestia asked, her question in the form of a whisper as Solar Wind leaned in to hear. “He’s a bit of a bookworm, much like my last student.”
“Midnight has always been one of the academy’s brightest. Apparently he avoids class because he feels that the teachers have nothing left to teach him, he also said it is one of the reasons he wishes to learn under you.” Solar Wind finished her lemonade but brought another cup to herself as she was still thirsty.
“Well, there is ONE lesson I can think of that he hasn’t learned yet,” Celestia took another sip of her glass with a sense of grace. “But I’m afraid it’s a lesson he must learn on his own.”
Midnight was right, Silverlight attempted to charge the unicorn, but every attempt appeared to be met with the same failure. Every time he got close to Dexter, he would only teleport farther away out of harm’s way. The earth pony was beginning to grow tired of the cat and mouse game that Dexter had him playing.
“Hey, Poindexter, are we actually gonna fight or are you just gonna keep running away from me!?” the white haired earth pony was huffing and puffing as he began to tire. It felt like he had been running for quite some time now; minutes?; hours?; why did it seem this way? “What’s your schtick anyway? I heard you were smart, but you seem like a pea brain to me.”
“Your assumptions lack evidence, you have yet to contemplate my mind power.” Dexter’s voice sounded deep and didn’t appear to match his looks. Silver had expected to get a weak and raspy voice; instead, the one he got was one of power, a voice which commanded attention. “By my calculations, your chance of victory has decreased by fifty four percent and the longer this battle drags on, the more my chances of victory increase."
"Oh yeah? Then come on and fight me then!" Silverlight charged Dexter once more with a mighty roar, however, as soon as he was within striking range the unicorn vanished once again. 'Hayseeds! I should've known that would happen! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!' Silver thought as he face hoofed himself for every word he that ran through his mind. 'Alright Silver, focus, I have to focus. Maybe.....maybe I can actually us IT now. If i can just--'
"Hey! Get on with the fight already!"
"Fight!? Its not even that!"
"Well maybe if that egghead didn't tun away all the time!"
"Maybe if that earth pony wasn't so useless!"
"Hey! My sister is an earth pony!"
"Yeah I know I've checked her out a few times hahaha!"
"Why you little!"
"So much for staying focused, I can hardly concentrate with all this yelling," Silver let out a sigh as he was beginning to get annoyed with his match. "This is not how I thought this battle would play out. Ugh, everypony just shut up!” Silver exploded and dashed off in full gallop toward the unicorn again. However something was different this time, Dexter’s horn no longer held its hue of blue as it did moments before. Silver thought nothing of it and continued his charge, as he neared closer to his target, Silverlight could now see Dexter closed his eyes, as though he was taunting the earth pony. “Why you! Get a load of this!” Silver jumped above the unicorn and came soaring down with a kick, it connected, but not the way he thought it would. Silverlight’s kick connected firmly against the muzzle of Dexter, but the unicorn appeared to disintegrate and disappeared in a puff of smoke.
“Silverlight, let the mind games begin!” a loud voice boomed as it echoed throughout the stadium.
“Hey Midnight, how come the two of them are just standing there like that?” Mary leaned closer to Midnight with a curious look, hoping her friend could provide some answers. Midnight just sat quietly for a few moments before he began chuckling softly to himself, almost evilly.
“This battle……is over. Silver has already been caught in Dexter’s illusion, meaning, he’ll be subjected to whatever Dexter wants.”
“Are illusion spells really that powerful?”
“Allow me to demonstrate,” Midnight said as he took Mary’s glass of lemonade which she was drinking, he poured it onto the floor and levitated it in front of him. Before she had a moment to complain, he replaced her now empty glass with a full one that he retrieved from the nearby refreshment table. “Here is a simple drinking glass, but if I do this…” Midnight’s horn emitted a glow as he waved a hoof in front of the glass. When he revealed it once more, the glass was now full.
“What?....but…..” Mary stammered as she stared at the glass. She couldn’t believe how only seconds ago it was completely empty, and now it was full again.
“This spell simply requires a bit of trickery and misdirection,” Midnight quickly chugged the glass of lemonade before he said another word. “This is one of the more simple illusion spells, it’s not very powerful and is usually used for pranks or to deceive somepony. But if I activate one of the more powerful spells known only by a few….…”
Midnight’s horn began to glow golden once more, he motioned for Mary to bring her face closer to his. She was hesitant at first, but a quick glare from Midnight showed that he needed her for this demonstration. Midnight placed a hoof under Mary’s chin and brought her in close, he moved his hair out of his face and his eyes locked onto hers and their muzzles almost touched with how close they were. Mary felt her face getting warmer as she stared into Midnight’s golden eyes, had he not been looking at her eyes, Midnight would have seen the hue of red which overwhelmed her face. He then let go of her and returned his gaze to the arena without saying a word.
“I—I don’t understand…..what exactly did you—?”
“Mary, what is one of your favorite places to go?” Midnight asked as he looked back at the beige unicorn; the look on his face was one of curiosity. “It doesn’t matter where in Equeastria it is…...just close your eyes and envision it in your mind.” Midnight could see confusion hidden in Mary’s expression, but she closed her eyes and thought of a her favorite place in Equestria. In an instant, the two unicorns were on a beach with a beautiful orange sunset off in the distance. “A beach huh? Not a bad choice.”
“I…I don’t believe it. This is the beach that my grandmother used to take me to when I was a foal. She would take me for long walks, tell me stories, and even show me a few puppeteering spells here.” Mary shifted her gaze over to Midnight, who was watching the oceans horizon, a sense of happiness overwhelmed her as a faint smile formed on the unicorn’s usual frowning face. She had wonder in her eyes as she stared at him in admiration. ‘I knew Midnight was powerful, but I never would have imagined he could do something like this…....its almost like this is a dream. Yet, it still feels so real; the sound of waves; the smell of the sea; even the warmth of the sun and the gentle touch of the breeze.
“But of course, the caster of this spell will be able to control everything in this world, for instance,” Midnight hopped out of his chair and began to trot on all fours even though his leg was covered in bandages. “In the real world, my leg isn’t even close to being healed; but in this world, my injury no longer exists.”
As Mary was just beginning to take in the illusive world that her and Midnight were in, she blinked her eyes and found them back at the school in their original positions. She was standing beside Midnight who was sitting in his wheelchair with his eyes locked on her own and his hoof still under her chin, it was the position they were in when Midnight had casted the spell. He released the unicorn and shifted his focus back to the match.
“The one who is the caster can also peer into the victim’s mind if they’re powerful enough and locate personal information which would otherwise be impossible to access such as fears; memories; or even hopes and dreams. This certain illusion spell is known by very few and is rather powerful, it also requires an extreme amount of focus and mental conditioning. Moreover, it drains the user's stamina and magic the longer its used; its not necessarily the perfect spell for battle. ” Midnight looked away from his companion before he finished. “You know, I could’ve had a look inside your mind Mary, but that would’ve been rude. Don’t you think?”
“Where are you!? Are you just gonna keep hiding from me the rest of the fight!?” Silverlight received silence as a response and only became more irritated with his opponent. It had been only a few moments since Dexter had…..disintegrated, and he began to tire of the cowardly tactics of the unicorn. “Come on out you chicken!”
“Now is not the time for anguish, that comes later.
The powerful voice seemed to come from every direction all around Silverlight. He looked to his left, then to his right, he didn’t see a single pony in sight. In fact, he had only just now realized that the stadium seats were now completly empty and a sudden chill hung in the air.
“Welcome to my world. Here, you have no power, you have no chance, and your defeat is eminent. You can surrender now and admit your failure, or you can continue on with this little charade and I’ll end up destroying your mental state."
“Hehe, no way! I said I was going to graduate from this school and become the most powerful wizard in Equestria and that’s just what I’m gonna do!” A fire ignited in the eyes of the white haired earth pony, and he shot off in a quick gallop toward the force field which bound him. He head-butted the green dome only to be sent flying back; Silver hopped right back on his hooves and ran again only to be knocked back once more.
“Your not very bright, are you? Don’t you know when to give up?”
“No way! I never give up! I never have and I never will!”
“It’s never too late to start, I mean, listen to yourself. You say you’ll graduate and become a powerful wizard, YOU, an earth pony? Unobtainable dreams are said to be the best."
“Listen up egghead! Don’t you dare underestimate me! I'll never quit and I’ll never run away! You can try to act tough and play your mind games but your not gonna scare me off! I’ll show you! I’ll beat you, I’ll win this tournament, and I’ll become Princess Celestia’s student! I promise not only to myself but also to my friends! And I never break any of my promises! Ever!”
“It seems like my calculations were a bit off, you won’t succumb to my words. Your words are admirable, but in the end, they’re just words. Well than, lets have a looksee into your mind."
The arena quickly filled with a dark blue smoke which seemed to pour in from everywhere around the earth pony. The smoke soon took the form of two four fingered smoky blue claws; one picked up Silver with ease and the other reached into his ear and appeared to rummage around in his head for something.
“Hey! What do you think your doi—”
Silver’s words were interrupted as the claw pulled out a strange white smoky sphere of light. Then it dropped the earth pony who hit the ground with a bit of a hard thud. Silverlight felt his body rattle a bit as he recovered from the fall, then he looked up to see the smoking sphere overhead.
“What in Celestia’s name is that!?”
“This spherical object which I am holding is a representation of your subconscious. In simple terms, it’s a piece of your mind. Fears, hopes, dreams, even memories; I can see them all. There was a slight moment of silence as the sphere began glowing brightly, it’s light soon enveloped the entire area and surrounded Silverlight in a seemingly never-ending realm of white. “Lets see what we have here….........your afraid of snakes, the dark, and being left alone for long periods of time. Your also afraid that you won’t be able to protect the ponies that are closest to you and—”
“Shut up! Stay outta my head!” Silverlight attempted to jump up and reach for the sphere but to no avail. When his hooves touched what he thought was the ground again, his hooves felt something slither past them; he looked down only to see one of his greatest fears. “Sn— sna—snakes!” Silver stammered as he stood petrified with fear.
“Lets see what else…......oooh, arachnophobia, that’s a common one.” Several small spiders now rained from above Silver's head which caused him to cower with his hooves over his head, his eyes were full of utter horror. "Look at you, how do you expect to protect the ponies you care about when you can't even save yourself? You have no magic, no power other than your speed and strength, but I digress. Let's see what else we have here...........how about we take a trip down memory lane?"
Several large screen like panels now appeared all around the white abyss, displaying several images which Silver remembered fondly. There where memories of when he first came to the academy; when he fought Tenebris; when he fought Midnight; from his sixth birthday party; even older memories from when he was a foal, memories he thought were lost to him.
"Look at how cute you were when you were a foal, and look here, you fought a dragon; well sort of. If Astral hadn't shown up, you'd probably be dead, same thing with your fight with principal Solar Wind and Midnight Star. It seems as though this is not the first time you are powerless against an opponent." Silver began to grow spiritually weak, he was allowing the words of his opponent to seep into his mind.
'So this is what Chip meant, I underestimated him and now I’m about to lose. He’s right, how am I ever gonna protect my friends if I can’t even help myself. I can’t even move with how frightened I am! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Why can’t I do anything right!?' Silver was now cowering more than ever, however, it wasn’t just from fear, but also from despair.
“Big brother? Will I ever grow up to be as good at magic as you?
The voice of a young colt seemed to echo all around Silverlight’s head as it ran through his ears.
“I don’t know, I’m not sure if you’ll be able to. I mean, I’m a unicorn after all and you’re an earth pony.
“Whaaat? You mean earth ponies can’t learn magic?”
“Well, they can, but not in the same way as unicorns.”
Silver stopped his cowering for just long enough to see the memory which appeared to rest right on a floating panel in front of him. A young white haired earth pony was being carried on the back of an alabaster unicorn who’s hair was also in similar color to the colt's. They appeared to be conversing to each other as they made their way down a dirt trail to a house in the distance. It was a memory that Silver knew all too well, one of the few memories of his childhood he didn’t like talking about.
“You see, earth ponies have magic which helps them grow crops and other things which involve the earth. Unicorns on the other hoof, have magic which can be used for all sorts of different things, like levitation and teleportation. The unicorn held a warm smile and his orange eyes carried with them a hint of courage and honor.
“Can’t earth ponies learn all that stuff too? I mean, I’ve practiced with you a bunch of times and seen you do all sorts of spells, some of them don’t seem that hard.”
“That might be, but earth ponies lack one of the most fundamental things that unicorns have,” the unicorn now pointed a hoof toward the horn on his head. “It might be very difficult to perform magic without one of these bad boys and besides, an earth pony learning unicorn magic has never been done before."
Watching his brother laugh as he used to brought a tear to Silver’s eyes, he now stood up and watched the memory play out, completely disregarding the snakes and spiders which fell off him. Dexter wasn’t paying the earth pony any mind, he was too busy commenting to himself about another memory he was apparently watching.
“Big bro?”
“Yeah Silver?”
“I’m gonna practice magic and become a super important powerful pony just like you! You said it’s never been done before, so then I’ll be the first one ever!” The young colt climbed on top of his older brother’s head as he proclaimed his statement loudly. “To be the greatest wizard in all of Equestria, that is my dream! Just you wait and see!” Silver’s brother stopped walking as he levitated the colt in a light green aura and brought him around until they were face to face.
“Silver, embrace your dreams, and never give up on them. If you want to be the greatest wizard in Equestria,” the unicorn paused for a moment and nuzzled himself into the colt who began giggling. “Then go for it little brother! As long as you believe in yourself and embrace your dreams, then you can do anything you put your mind to.”
“Stop bro! You know—hahaha—you know I’m ticklish! Hahaha!”
The earth pony watched as the memory just started over again as if on a loop function. He didn’t watch it the second time though, he couldn’t bring himself to. He could already feel the streams of warm liquid running down the sides of his face; he was weeping softly, but just loud enough that Dexter could hear him.
“What are you crying for?” A pair of eyes formed out of nowhere and was hovering next to Silver who was looking down. “Oooh, a childhood memory, mind if I watch?” The pair of eyes moved forward to watch the panel as Silverlight went silent.
“Embrace your dreams…….” Silver whispered to himself as he wiped away his tears. “Embrace your dreams and never give up on them.” The earth pony shook his head and regained his usual demeanor as his face now wore a glare of determination and a burning fire of desire lit in his eyes ‘Thank you bro, even now, your still helping me. But now it’s time I take charge and help myself. Silver stomped a hoof on the ground and became engulfed in a flame like cyan colored aura, his eyes held a hue of similar color and no longer resembled their usual yellow.
“Hold on, I’ve seen this unicorn in your memory before. But where was it? Where was it?” The two floating eyes became extremely wide and the pupils shrank in astonishment. “Wait! I remember now! I can’t believe I didn’t recognize his face before! He’s—“
“Hey! Dexter!” The pair of eyes turned around to see the earth pony inundated with a cyan magical aura. “You’ve over stayed your welcome in my mind, in fact I’m tired of all your illusions! It’s time I end this here and now!”
“I don’t know what got you so fired up, but it doesn’t matter. I’ve already calculated all possible endings to this match and none of them result in your victory; my calculations have never been wrong.”
“Well it’s never to late for them to start!” Silver fired his aura at the pair of floating eyes and made them disappear in a puff of smoke. “It’s time you were brought back to reality Dexter.” Silver began levitating as his aura exploded and flew in every direction, the white abyss he once stood in was now gone and the arena appeared to be normal once again. Across from him Silverlight could see his opponent staring with a frightened expression, he was frantically looking around as if for help.
“How? How are you doing this?” the nerdy unicorn asked in his normal voice which sounded nasally and had a bit of a lisp. “Earth ponies shouldn’t have unicorn magic, how are you using magic!?”
“I wouldn’t necessarily call it magic, but anything is possible if you stand by your dreams,” the earth pony chuckled softly to himself. “Now, lets jump back to reality!” Silverlight let out a scream as his body began emitting a bright white light. The flash seemed to engulf both of the ponies along with the stadium and all it’s empty seats.
The two combatants who were standing a good ways away from each other now appeared to come back to life; though Dexter was the one to fall slightly and be the more exhausted one of the two. Every student stared on silently as the two let out gasps and exhales which showed they were fatigued.
“How!? How could you—?” Dexter’s question was cutoff when he saw his opponent running straight at him. “How can you still even move!?”
“It’s time I pay you back for treating my mind like your own little personal journal you creep!” Silver was galloping at full speed toward the unicorn who hopped up and ran in the opposite direction. “Hey! Get back here!”
“V—vice principal Ignis! Help! I forfeit! I forfeit the ma—“
“Too late for that!” Silver yelled as he felt his head connect with the unicorn’s body. “Take this, Silverlight’s full body tackle!” Throwing all of his momentum at his opponent, Silverlight sent the unicorn rolling and skidding across the stadium, it was the green barrier which encased the combatants that stopped the unicorn from going any farther. Silver was breathing heavy and he appeared to be worn out even though he hadn’t a scratch on him. The earth pony let out a sly remark before he collapsed. “It……was super effective.”
“It appears as though both competitors are unable to battle. However, due to rules and regulations which regard knockout policy, Dexter was rendered unconscious first. Meaning, Silverlight wins!” Ignis had expected his statement to be drowned out by the roar of the crowd, but this wasn’t the case. Murmurs and whispers came from the students, it was as though no pony believed what they had just witnessed. Ignis lowered the barrier and raised a hoof which signaled four unicorns from the medical wing to bring in two stretchers.
“Silver!” Astral cried out as she ran toward the arena now that the barrier was down; she was soon joined by Chip and Cherry who watched as the earth pony was lifted into the stretcher. “Is he going to be alright?”
“Don’t worry about him, he’s just a bit fatigued. Physically he’s fine, but mentally he’s exhausted; nothing a little rest can’t fix.” The blue white capped unicorn replied merrily.
“Will he still be able to compete?” Chip asked with concern in his voice.
“Of course,” a light pink unicorn added. “He’ll be rested up and back on his hooves in a little while.”
“Is it alright if I go with him?” Astral asked as she and her two friends followed the medical ponies. “I just want to make sure—”
“Well now that the earth pony is out of the way, lets keep this momentum going with a real match!” Ignis’s sudden announcement interrupted Astral and erupted chatter from the surrounding students. “Then let’s go! Round 2! Astral versus Cherry! Please proceed to the arena at this time!”
Midnight watched on enraged at what he had just witnessed, Mary’s face held a concerning stare as she watched her friend’s glare intensify; his jaw was clenched tightly and the air around him hung a bit colder than usual.
“That truly was a spectacle to behold!” Celestia exclaimed with a bit more enthusiasm than was necessary. “He was able to cast out the spell through sheer will power alone. I’ve never heard of anypony performing such a feat.”
“Well you said yourself that he was magical,” Solar Wind added, a slight pinch of surprise could be heard in her voice. "So, Midnight, is he on your level yet?"
The two Alicorns looked over to see a mist forming around Midnight, the temperature in the room was steadily declining and everypony could feel it. Several of Celestia’s guards carried concerned expressions themselves, fearing for their princess’s safety, the armored pegasi neared Celestia and Solar Wind. Knowing already what the temperature drop meant, Solar Wind's horn began to glow, however, a raised hoof from Mary made her stop.
"Midnight," Mary began as she placed her hoof on his. Her actions awarded her Midnight's intense expression of rage, the look in his eyes appeared similar to the ones she had seen when he was mad at her for his leg. She didn’t let it bother her, she simply smiled kindly at him as she stared into his single exposed golden eye. "Come on, it’s nothing to get worked up over, Silver just got lucky that’s all. He's nowhere close to matching you, I mean, your the strongest pony I’ve ever met, possibly the strongest in all the academy even." Midnight closed his eyes and let out a long sigh, then, he gently brushed off Mary’s hoof from his own.
“Mother, it’s not nice to tease me like that,” Midnight’s glare now shot over to principal Solar Wind. “You of all ponies know how short my temper is; and Princess Celestia,” Midnight lowered his head in a bow toward the Alicorn. “Please forgive my not so subtle transgression.”
“It’s quite alright, your temper kind of reminds me of my own sister’s when she gets hungry for sweets,” Celestia laughed as she gave Midnight a nod. She then turned to Solar Wind and began speaking in a low whisper. “You felt that too right?”
“Yes, his emotions felt as though they were almost palpable, strictly his anger,” Solar Wind glanced over at Midnight to see him speaking with Mary, a smile formed on her face as she did. “It’s alright though, I don’t know what it is, but something about that mare seems to keep him in check. I think there’s more between the two of them than meets the eye. As long as she’s by his side, she might be able to suppress his true magical powers.”
“You do realize this is the true reason why I’d never be able to be his teacher, don’t you?”
“Of course,” Solar nodded, still keeping her voice inaudible to Midnight. “It’s better if he remains with me anyway, I’ve monitored his progress all these years and I’ve managed to keep his magic contained. No offense Celestia, but I think I’m more qualified to watch over him, he is my child after all.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Celestia replied with a smile.
“Mary?”
“Yeah Midnight?”
“Thanks for what you said and all,” Midnight shifted his usual glare towards Mary, though this time with a small chuckle and a faint smile. “But next time you probably don’t want to touch me. Due to my profound magical abilities, my body temperature drops rapidly when I get too distressed or enraged. Meaning, I could freeze you to death unintentionally and I don’t want to be blamed for that. I don’t think I’d be able to live with—” Midnight cut himself off before he said anymore, another small bit of red developed on his face and he desperately tried to shake it off.
“What was that you were saying?” Mary asked with curiosity on her face.
“N—Nothing….just forget I said anything” Midnight stammered slightly. He heard a giggle come from the unicorn who was next to him, he cleared his throat loudly and stared down at the arena below. “Anyway, this next match will make for an interesting one. Astral is almost on the same level as us and Cherry, well, I haven’t had the pleasure to watch her perform. Needless to say, I’m sure Astral has this one in the bag.”
“Wow Midnight, it’s not like you to speak highly of somepony else other than yourself,” Mary laughed.
“True, however she is quite powerful in her own right and has displayed exceptional capabilities on several occasions.” Midnight narrowed his gaze as he watched two unicorns enter the arena. ‘I also need her to win if I want my plan to continue, it’s the second set of rounds I feel I’ll enjoy the most.’