//------------------------------// // Testing, Testing // Story: Resetting Her Destiny // by StormLuna //------------------------------// Trixie's Test As Trixie and her mother were being led to the exam room, Trixie couldn't help but feel extremely confident. She knew she was leaps and bounds ahead of her peers and her mother felt the same way. Both of them went into this like it would be nothing. When they arrived they were greeted by Princess Celestia. She looked at a sheet of paper and asked, "You are Moonrise and Trixie Lulamoon I take it?" While Moonrise was not the type that liked paying homage to anypony, she knew she better in this scenario. She bowed and replied, "Yes your Majesty." She looked at Trixie and asked, "So, your mother has told me that you can perform some unusual acts of magic. Is that correct?" Trixie replied, "Yes! The Great and Powerful Trixie can do all sorts of magic, magic that Trixie is sure you will be blown away by!" While not addressing her by her title did not bother her, Celestia was not thrilled by the filly's arrogant attitude. She asked, "Before you show me everything you can do, why do you think that you should be able to be in my school?" Trixie stood tall and began, "Well The Great and Powerful Trixie thinks that Trixie should be in your special school because she has amazing, show stopping magic! Trixie can make fireworks appear out of nowhere, Trixie can make other objects just appear and Trixie can manipulate other objects!" Celestia gave the boasting filly a slight look of disapproval and replied, "Well Trixie, how about you show me your magical abilities." Trixie began doing her stuff as she caused fireworks to go off in the exam room, she began causing all sorts of things to appear out of nowhere, flowers, cards, ropes, she threw smoke balls on the floor around her and to prove how amazing she was, she tied the rope into a lasso and threw it around Celestia herself. Trixie boasted, "And that is just part of The Great and Powerful Trixie's show!" Moonrise asked, "Your Majesty do you want to see more? If you do she has plenty, plenty more to show." Celestia sighed, "That is enough for me to see." She then turned to the guard and continued, "Could you go and get 'the cart?'" The guard nodded and while he was gone, Moonrise asked, "What do you mean by the cart?" Celestia replied, "Your daughter has shown me enough magic that I have decided to accept her into my school but this cart could have a lot to do with whether she could be much more than a student." The guard wheeled a cart in that had a dragon's egg in it. She continued, "Trixie Lulamoon, if you can hatch that dragon egg, I will make you my protege." Trixie boasted, "Well, The Great and Powerful Trixie will easily hatch it and Trixie will become your next protege." Celestia could only sigh in frustration over her new students boasting. She sighed, "Whenever you're ready, fire away." Trixie leaned forward and while she was able to get a good burst of magic to hit the egg, she simply couldn't get it to hatch. She was grunting for nearly five minutes, trying to put more and more energy into her magic but just couldn't hatch the egg. Finally Celestia stopped her and said, "Trixie, while I admire your perseverance, for now you will be a normal student in my school." Moonrise asked, "Oh and what does that mean? Does that mean that she will have to study with other pupils with only a fraction of her abilities?" Celestia stood tall, towering over the unicorn and replied, "Moonrise Lulamoon, it means that your daughter will start her studies with unicorns that started with her level of talent." Celestia knew that she shouldn't let her temper get the best of her so she calmed down and continued, "Don't get me wrong, your daughter is very talented but she doesn't quite have the power to hatch a dragon egg." Moonrise threw her hooves up in frustration as Celestia continued, "I'm going to let you in on something, very few unicorns are able to hatch a dragon's egg and that is probably why I haven't had a protege in over 300 years." When Trixie heard this she was shocked yet saw an opportunity. She boasted, "Well if you will let The Great and Powerful Trixie try again later, she is sure that Trixie will be able to hatch it!" Celestia was getting frustrated with not just Trixie but her mother as well. She looked at the guard and ordered, "Guard, could you lead Trixie and her mother to the dorms and help her get settled in?" She cast her gaze to Trixie and continued, "And Trixie, after I take care of the next applicant we can talk and get your courses set up, courses that will benefit you the most." Trixie nodded and the guard led her and her mother towards the dorms while Celestia decided to go and get Starlight and her family herself. Starlight's Test When Celestia arrived at the waiting room she found Starlight and her family sitting at attention, awaiting her turn. As soon as they saw her, Starlight and her family got up and bowed to the princess. Starlight said, "Good morning your Majesty." Celestia replied, "Good morning." She took a closer look at the filly and asked, "I'm taking it you are Starlight Glimmer and these are your parents?" Starlight replied, "Yes your Majesty." Celestia replied, "You know, you don't have to address me that way every time you answer me." Starlight nodded and Celestia continued, "Follow me. Let's see how you do with what your parents told me in their letter." The three followed Celestia to the exam room and when they arrived, Celestia couldn't help but notice Starlight's cutie mark. She had seen that mark before and realized that it was a symbol of very powerful and incredibly rare magic. She looked at Starlight and asked, "In the letter that your mother wrote to me, she said that you can fly just using magic and that you have an insatiable hunger for knowledge, is that correct?" Starlight replied, "Yes your Majesty." Celestia gave her a half smile over the way she replied to her and continued, "Let's see what you can do." Just as though it was natural for her, Starlight took flight and began to fly all over the room. Very soon she began to teleport while she was flying. Celestia's jaw dropped open when she saw this. While she had seen many fillies show a lot of talent, she had never seen such talent from somepony so young. To finish things off, Starlight teleported onto Celestia's back and wrapped her hooves around her neck in an embrace. Celestia gave Starlight's parents a smile and said, "Well it is obvious that your daughter is beyond ready for my school but there is one more thing I want her to try to do." Starlight teleported off of Celestia's back and onto the floor. She asked, "What is it you want me to do your Majesty?" Celestia giggled, "Starlight, you don't have to reply to me like that all the time!" She then pointed her wing towards the dragon egg that Trixie couldn't hatch and continued, "Starlight Glimmer, if you can hatch that dragon egg, not only will I let you into my school, I will take you in as my own personal protege." Starlight's eyes grew wide as she asked, "Seriously? If I can hatch that egg you'll make me your protege?" Celestia replied, "Yes, I will." She then pointed her wing towards the egg and continued, "Whenever you're ready." Starlight lit up her horn, fired a bolt of energy at the egg and easily hatched it. When they saw this, Starlight's parents began cheering as they realized that their daughter had opened the door to limitless opportunities. Celestia said, "Congratulations Starlight Glimmer, if you truly want, I will take you in as my personal protege here at the school." Starlight began jumping up and down squealing, "Yes, yes, yes! I would love to be your protege." She then calmed down and asked, "So what will happen with that adorable baby dragon?" Celestia replied, "There is a reason a pony must hatch a dragon's egg to become my protege. When a pony becomes a protege of mine, she is given the dragon she hatched as a companion who will also act as her assistant." Starlight's jaw dropped. She asked, "Assistant? Why would I need an assistant?" Celestia replied, "Well a protege of mine must be able to be reached at all times and here is something very few know about baby dragons, they can send a message to me by simply blowing on it with their fire breath and they can cough up messages that I send to them." After hearing this Starlight knew that her new assistant would need a name. She rushed over to him and examined him closely. She noticed his green spikes and said, "I think I'll name him Spike." Celestia replied, "I think that is a wonderful name." She looked at Starlight and then her parents and continued, "I think we all need to go to the throne room. There are many things that we need to discuss and given that you are her parents, there are special options for you as well." Stone Cutter asked, "Really?" Celestia replied, "Really!" She pointed her wing towards the throne room and continued, "Follow me and we can discuss everything that Starlight will be involved in along with what your and your wife's options are now." Stone Cutter, Primrose, Starlight and Spike all followed Celestia through the throne room. While Starlight was beyond excited that she was now Celestia's protege, she couldn't help but wonder what these options are that Celestia was mentioning regarding her parents. While she wouldn't just flat out admit it, she was secretly hoping that it would be something that would help them be closer to her.