It was another beautiful day at the Manehatten Adventurer Academy.
Team Relic were out at the harbour, currently practising how to use a four pony sailboat. "Excellent," Tidal told them from his boat. Flash pulled on a rope that swung the mast around, allowing the wind the catch it properly and push them forward through the water.
Trixie and Wallflower tied some ropes to the side of the boat, allowing the sail to remain in place so Flash didn't have to keep pulling on it. Soarin was at the back, keeping the prop steady so they didn't accidently turn left or right. "Ring." He spoke out, making the others look around and see a red rubber ring floating in the water.
"Ready?" Flash asked, as he took out a long pole. The girls nodded and leaned against one side of the boat, as Flash leaned over the other. This kept them from tipping over, as Flash placed the pole into the water. After a few moments, the pole hooked into the ring and allowed him to lift it out of the water. "That makes four."
They all stopped leaning and Flash removed the ring from the pole, tying a rope looped around three others and the mask that kept them from falling overboard. Tidal Wave clapped at this, only to see a wave making its way towards them. "Let's see how well you do against this, my young protegidos."
The four saw the wave coming and all gulped, as they prepared themselves for the upcoming wave. "Ready?" Trixie asked, taking out her staff. They nodded as she thrust her staff towards the water, "Super Freeze!" The blue lightning flew out and struck the water in front of them, the four then leaning back to get the boat's front out of the water.
The boat hit the ice platform and slid upon it, right as the wave struck it. The ice was pushed out from under them, but the boat managed to get over the wave and splash down on the other side of it. They all cheered at this, Tidal applauding their out of the box thinking.
The four managed to grab one final ring out of the water and when they sailed back to the shore, they managed the hook the rope on the pier and pull their ship to a stop without doing any damage. Flash and Soarin flew off the boat and tied it up, whilst Trixie and Wallflower pulled themselves onto the dock.
"Excellent work," Tidal smiled as Trixie handed over the five rings. "You four have grown well since you started learning to sail. I'm sure you'll be masters of the sea by the time you all graduate." The four smiled at this praise, Tidal signing each of them as passed their sailboat driving test.
They knew there were many more boats to master, but they were confident they could learn each of them over time.
Grabbing their bags full of spare clothing, just in case they fell into the water, the fours headed off planning to head home for a bit of relaxation and some studying. But as they headed across the grounds, they noticed something that made them stop.
A large group of students were currently gathered around the front of the school, looking at something that clearly interest them.
"What's going on?" Wallflower asked, the others shrugging as they moved closer to try and see. Flash and Soarin took to the air and found what everypony was looking at was a poster hammered to the door. Flash took out his belt and activated it, summoning a pair of binoculars that he used to take a closer look.
"What's it say?" Soarin asked, Flash trying to read what was written upon it.
"It's...a contest." This surprised the others, as Flash read it allowed. "Attention, all academy teams. Would you like the opportunity to test yourselves and compete for a great prize? If so, prepare yourselves for a contest this Saturday. Beware, this challenge is not for the faint of heart. If you accept, be warned that injury is a possibility for those not prepared. Any team from any year may enter."
"A contest?" Trixie asked, looking excited. "This could be the perfect chance for us to test ourselves."
"But it said it's not for the faint of heart," Wallflower pointed out. "Are we sure entering is a good idea?" Flash and Soarin landed, both as eager as Trixie to test themselves against whatever would be thrown their way.
"I don't see why not," Flash told her. "If we weren't ready, they wouldn't have made it so first years could enter."
Soarin nodded. "And just think. If we're able to win, we get an awesome prize. I wonder what it is."
Trixie smiled. "I heard there was a contest over at the Ponyville Academy that had tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala as the prize. I hope the prize is something like that." Flash frowned, not liking the idea of spending a night with a bunch of stuffy high class ponies.
"I bet it's something else," Flash told her. "Maybe it'll be a new type of weapon. Or access to some advanced spellbooks and fighting style scrolls."
"Doesn't matter what the prize is for you four, cause there's no way you're gonna win it." They looked around and saw a brown magi stallion with a white mane and tail. "Don't hold your breaths kids. First years like you won't even come close to winning this contest. Whenever something like this happens, it's almost always the third years that come out on top. Occasionally, a second year team wins, but never green first years like you."
Wallflower frowned whilst the others glared at him. "Hey," Flash stated, "there's a first time for everything. Maybe we're the first years to make the impossible happen."
"Sure kid," the magi laughed before someone whacked him on the head. "Ow!" He turned to see Iron Core, who was glaring at him.
"Would you shut up." He turned to Team Relic, "ignore him. He has this annoying habit of trying to make those he thinks are beneath him upset."
"Is he on your team?" Flash asked.
"Unfortunately. His magic is worth dealing with his obnoxious attitude. Anyway, you guys should prepare. This contest is probably really gonna be tricky. There was one last year and a team ended up in the hospital wing for a month cause they just went in without any actual plan."
"Ouch," Soarin flinched, "what happened to them?"
"Trust me, you don't wanna know." The crowd was starting to break apart, as the many teams headed off to prepare for the contest. Team Relic stayed behind and took a closer look at the poster, each of them wondering if they actually could pull this off.
"We can do this, guys." They all looked to Flash, as he smiled at him. "Don't forget, we're a great team and we've already come up against some serious competition. Those Storm Hounds weren't exactly pushovers, but we managed to get through it without a scratch."
"I guess," Wallflower nodded. Flash placed a hand on her shoulder.
"As long as we work together and combined our skills, we can do anything. We've got Soarin's speed, Wallflowers smarts and strength. Trixie spells and my...um..."
"Superb use of your belt," Trixie spoke up. Flash smirked.
"Exactly. Team Relic won't just compete in that contest. We're gonna show this entire school why we're gonna be number one one day. You guys with me!?" They all brought their hands in and yelled, "Team Relic!" This contest wasn't gonna be easy, but they would do whatever it took to win it.
In a dark room, Princess Luna was standing over a metal table.
The table was unleashing a light, which took shape and formed an image above the table. The image was of a tunnel systems, which had three dome-like chambers connected by the tunnels.
She picked up a styles-like device and pressed it to the dome, then drew another tunnel from it to the second dome. "There," she nodded. "Now, what to put in this tunnel." She pressed a button on the table and caused a holographic list to appear in front of her.
She cycled through it, as somepony stepped into the room. Grand Hoof.
"Princess. How go the preparations for tomorrow?"
"They're going well. It's almost finished and when it's done, your students will be in for quite the experience when they step into that dome." She selected the monster and typed in the amount. "I hope they know what they're in for."
"Oh, they'll be ready. Don't worry. You won't be disappointed by the team that ends up winning. They'll be the best of the best."
"Maybe. But maybe you should have made it so that only the third years could enter. Your first and second years might find themselves so overwhelmed, they will never want to go on an adventure again." Grand chuckled at this.
"I wouldn't underestimate them if I were you. Especially the first years. What they lack in experience, they more then make up for in determination." With that, he left the room and Luna got back to her work.
She tapped the final dome and the brought up the monster list, smiling as she found the perfect final boss. "This foals won't know what hit them."
The next day.
Despite it being a Saturday, the school's front lawn was packed with adventurer students who were waiting for the contest to begin. This included Team Relic, who were making last minute preparations to make sure their gear was ready to take on whatever it was this contest would throw at them.
Flash looked around and saw Iron, who was carrying a black spear with a silver spearhead that had a brown land crystal connected to it. He then spotted the magi standing next to him, a magic staff in his hands and an arrogant smirk on his lips. The magi looked around and spotted him, giving him a condescending smile as he did so.
Grand then stepped up onto the stage in front of the dome, the school principal looking them over. "Students of the academy. I welcome you to this contest today. You are here because you think you have what it takes to overcome the challenges that lay before you. You are either brave or very foolish." Everypony frowned at that statement. "Let me introduce you all to the pony running this contest." He pointed off stage and everyone looked over, only to gasp when they saw who was stepping out from behind the curtain. "Princess Luna."
Murmurs filled the crowd, as they watched the dark omni appear and walk into the centre of the stage. She looked out at the contestant and Flash noticed she seem to linger on him and his team for a moment, no doubt remembering him and his relic.
Trixie gasped, "she's looking at me. She must already know how amazing Trixie is." Trixie might have gotten a lot less boastful recently, but there were still times she fell back into that old persona.
Luna finally focused and held up a remote. "This is your mission." She pressed the button and the screen lit up, revealing a strange looking medal-like object that showed her Cutie Mark. The medal then split into three pieces. "Through these doors is a labyrinth I designed for this event. In this labyrinth, you will find three areas that contain a piece of this medallion. Find all three pieces and complete the medallion to win." The equestrians smiled, thinking that was gonna be easy. "However, getting to these pieces will not be easy. You'll need to choose from multiple paths to get to them."
"I guess that's why it's a labyrinth," Soarin joked as the others rolled their eyes.
"Some paths are short, other paths are long. Some paths have monsters and others are empty. It is up to you to decide which path to take. Is that understood." They all nodded as one pony raised an arm, "yes?"
"What is the prize we're competing for?" He asked, but Luna remained stoic.
"The prize will be announced after a winner has been decided. Sometimes on an adventure, you risk life and limb without knowing what it is you are trying to get. If some of you do not want to try without knowing, feel free to drop out now." But the teams remained where they were. "Good. Now," she pointed the remote at the door, "the contest will begin in three, two...one...GO!" She hit the button and the doors flew open.
A stampede followed as the the ponies attempted to get into the dome first, Flash and Soarin quickly grabbing the girls and lifting them above the crowd. Because of this, they were some of the first to enter the dome and find it was a large stone world with several paths, most of them being on the ground but others were higher up.
"In there!" Trixie cried, pointing at hole six feet up. They flew into it and the boys dropped the girls, Flash quickly activating his belt and summoning his lightning sabre. The others held their weapons as they raced down the tunnel, eager to see what their first challenge would be.
Back at the school, Grand and Luna appeared in a flash of light.
They and the rest of the teachers were watching multiple monitors, many of them reminded of the entrance exam as they watched the students move through different passageways.
Luna's eyes flicked across the many different teams, some of which were beginning to engage with monsters. She then narrowed her focus on Team Relic, who had yet to find a monster. Flash Sentry and his lightning blade interested her. 'So, you managed to get into the academy. But what was it that allowed you to make it through? Was it that relic of yours, or your own skills?' Luna couldn't wait to find out.
Team Relic flew through the winding passageway and as they curved around a corner, something appeared in front of them.
The passage was full of ape-like monsters, who were red in colour with cream stomachs and black fists and mouths. "Rage Apes!" Wallflower cried, "those things go wild when they get angry." They knew they couldn't get passed them, but had a feeling a fight in this area was gonna be difficult.
"Hang on!" Flash told them. He took out a card and thought for a moment, as the card glowed and transformed into his chosen weapon. He slotted it into the belt and when he shut it, the light appeared in front of him that he put his left arm into. Something materialised around his arm that shot out and connected to his back.
When the light faded, Flash was carrying a metal cylinder on his left arm that had a rubber hose connected to a large metal backpack he was wearing.
"What is that?" Soarin asked, as Flash pointed the weapon at the Rage Apes.
"Glue Cannon...FIRE!" From the tube, white sludge shot out and flew towards the apes. It struck the ground in front of them and the apes charged, stepping into the slime but finding their feet getting stuck. "That'll hold'em!" The others smiled as Trixie and Soarin began blasting the apes, destroying a good many of them.
But before they could get them all, one leapt over the glue and charged forward.
Flash and Wallflower smirked as they shot forward, Wallflower unleashing a vine from her gauntlet that quickly wrapped the primate up. Flash then dispelled his glue cannon and swung his lightning blade, slashing straight through the monkey and making it blow up.
"Team Relic's doing well," Grand smiled. "Those four are quite the team. With Flash Sentry's varying number of weapons, he can help them overcome almost any situation."
"True," Luna nodded as Flash and Soarin lifted the girls over the glue. "But would he be this good without that relic? It is bonded to him, so it is not like we can take it away. But is it really him whose the one accomplishing all these achievements? Without it, would his team be doing so well?"
"Possibly not," Grand nodded. "But that doesn't take the achievements away from Flash. Many of the students wouldn't be able to do what they do without their weapons." Luna nodded, knowing that was true. "Besides, having that relic wouldn't mean anything if Flash didn't know how to use it." Now Luna was confused. "I've seen many great adventurers in my lifetime. Some of them had legendary grade weapons whilst others had ones they got cheap. And many times, those with the cheaper weapons were able to outclass the others because of how they used them."
"How they used them?" Luna looked back at the screen, where Team Relic fought against a large bat monster. Flash then summoned the glue cannon again and struck the beast's wing, preventing it from flying.
"That relic can create anything the user can picture in their minds. That means its limited to the imagination of its user. And Flash has come up with some pretty interesting weapons. That relic chose a good equestrian to bond itself too." Luna nodded, understanding what he was saying. Grand was right, simply having a powerful weapon wasn't enough to become powerful.
Team Relic reached the end of their tunnel and as they ran out, they found themselves in midair.
The girls cried out until the boys caught them, the four gliding down towards the centre of the large chamber. In the middle of the room was a large table, where several medallion pieces could be seen.
Trixie grabbed one and as they looked the table over, they frowned seeing several spaces where other medallions had likely been. "We're not the first ones here."
"Doesn't matter," Flash told her. "This is a marathon, not a sprint. All those who got here before us could have already exhausted themselves. Let's keep going and not push ourselves to hard." They nodded and picked a tunnel to head through, continuing forward as they raced down it.
It didn't take them long to run into something, a large sphere like creature with four spider legs, a large hose-like tail with a nozzle on the end and a head that looked like a triceratops.
The creature pointed its tail at them and was about to fire, but Trixie swung her staff around. "Illusion!" In the blink of an eye, the four of them vanished and the creature stopped. It looked around, not seeing anything, only to suddenly get bombarded with blast of wind, water, lightning and ice.
It roared in pain, staggering back as Wallflower suddenly appeared in front of it. She let out a mighty roar as she thrust her fist forward, slamming into the creature and causing it to explode. Moments later, the rest of of Team Relic appeared with Flash dispelling his water bowgun.
They kept racing forward and after a little while, they came across another monster. This one was a giant blue tortoise, standing on four legs with with a pair of large cannons sticking out of its shell. The four fired at the creature, but it quickly retracted its head and legs into its shell.
The attacks bounced off the shell and didn't even scratch it, allowing the blasting tortoise to start firing bullet of water in their direction. Wallflower quickly slammed the ground and created a wall, which shattered when the water struck it. But this allowed Flash to react.
As the tortoise was refilling its cannons, Flash ran in close and pulled out his wind dagger. Swinging it at the ground, he created a gust that blew the tortoise backwards. Due to the shape of its shell, it rolled back and forth several times until it finally fell on its back. And as it did, Flash noticed an opening in the middle of its shell.
"Soarin!" Flash pointed at it and Soarin used his Null Magic to accelerate himself into the air. In the blink of an eye, he was right above the downed shellfish and fired a lightning bolt into the opening.
The tortoise roared in pain before exploding, Team Relic rushing passed it as they high-fived.
"Impressive," Grand nodded. "No first years have ever made it this far in one of these contests."
"Maybe," Luna agreed as the team reached the second checkpoint, "but the real test is about to begin." She then turned her attention to another screen, showing Team Gearheads as they were battling against a bunch pony-sized frog monsters.
One of them, Iron Core, ran forward as his weapon glowed. The Piecemaker, as he called it, transformed from a spearhead into a sword, which he spun around to slash through a frog. Several more frogs then spat yellow slime at him, which Iron was able to avoid or deflect.
The blade then morphed into an jagged spike that he thrust forward, causing it to launch these spikes in a rapid motion. The spikes pierced the frogs and caused them all to explode, leaving the tunnel clear for them to proceed. "Alright," his spear returned to normal, "let's get going."
"Um," he heard, "a little help." Iron looked around and was shocked to see the rest of his team were stuck to the ground or wall, the frog slime that he avoided having hit them. Iron groaned and moved over to them, turning his spear into a sword that he could use to cut away at the slime. But whatever this stuff was, it was strong and Iron was gonna have a hard time cutting through it.
Team Gearheads might just fall behind.
Back with Team Relic, They picked up the second piece of the amulet and connected it to the first.
The metal then fused together, forming a pizza shape that looked like it had a large section removed. Trixie put it away and Flash looked at each of the tunnels. "Alright, which way should we head down?" The equestrians all looked at the tunnels before Wallflower, Trixie and Soarin pointed at one.
"This way!" Flash sighed and looked at each of the tunnels, trying to decide which one to go through.
"Eenie meenie miney moe, catch a tiger by the toe. If it bit, let it go. Eenie meenie miney moe!" He pointed as Soarin's tunnel, "this way!" They charged down it, the others looking confused.
"Hey Flash," Soarin asked. "What was that back there? Never heard anything like that before."
"Oh," Flash had used a human thing, "just...something we do back home when we can't pick something. Not sure where it came from." He and Soarin flew ahead and as they turned a corner, they found themselves coming to yet another crossroad. There were about six tunnels they could pick from, Flash and Soarin looking around to see if there was anything that could help them decide. And they saw that five of the six tunnels had creatures inside of them.
They were green snail creatures with a yellow shells, which were about the size of a house cat. They wondered why they would be in such a late stage of the contest, but got their answer when Wallflower cried out.
Looking back, they saw Wallflower looking at her hooves and pulling at them. They were stuck to the ground, which was covered in a strange slime that covered almost every surface of the tunnel. She pulled and pulled, but the slime refused to give way. "I'm stuck."
"Must be some kind of super glue slime," Flash realished. The snails were slowly making their way towards them and Wallflower was stuck smack dab in the middle of the crossroad, making her an easy target. And as they got closer, Flash realised their shells were covered in spikes. Spikes they quickly started firing at Wallflower.
Wallflower cried out and used her gauntlets to deflect several of the spikes, but some she couldn't see coming due to being unable to spin around. "Look out!" Soarin cried, as he and Flash deflected these spikes.
"Super Freeze!" Trixie cried, unleashing blasts of ice lightning that struck the ground at the entrances of these tunnels and froze them over. They all sighed, only for the wall to shake and crack with the spikes slamming into them. "We've gotta get out of here."
"How?" Soarin asked, "we can't just leave Wallflower."
"Soarin," Flash pointed at him, "carry Trixie over the slime. I'll work on freeing Wallflower." He nodded as Flash took out some cards.
"What are you gonna do?" Wallflower asked, as Flash slotted a card. In a burst of light, his Fire Shield appeared in hand.
"Hold still!" He pointed the shield at the ground and unleashed a burst of flames, which struck the slimy ground and filled the tunnel with smoke. Wallflower covered her mouth, as she felt the place getting very hot. Flash flew in circles, being careful not to let the flames get too close to Wallflower
This also caused the ice walls to slowly melt, but he kept it up as long as he could.
"Flash, what are you doing?" Trixie asked once Soarin put her down, only to see Flash stop using his shield and dispel it. He then slotted another card, which created a jack-hammer.
"It's times like this I wish equestrians wore boots." He thrust the tool onto the ground and activated it, the metal smashing the ground again and again. Wallflower watched as the jackhammer broke through the now dried slime, which had done so due to the flames Flash had unleashed. The hammer slowly stated breaking through the ground, as Flash circled around her with it.
But as he did, the snails managed to break through the ice and create small holes they could now shoot the pair through "Not to complain, but could you hurry up."
"This stone is really hard," Flash stated. As he continued working, the snails fired spikes and he barely managed to avoid it.
"Super Freeze!" Trixie launched another burst of lightning, which refroze the wall. "Hurry Flash. I don't think I can do that spell again." Flash sweated, but kept up the intensity. Eventually, he completed a circle of broken ground.
"There!" He dropped the jack-hammer and grabbed Wallflower's arms, using all his strength to lift her. The broken rock slowly gave way and Flash was able to pull Wallflower out of the ground, a pyramid of rock still stuck to her hooves.
Soarin flew over and grabbed Wallflower's arm, the pair flying her down the tunnel as the snails broke through the ice. Trixie ran off with them and once they were far enough away, they stopped to rest and all caught their breath. "That was way too close," Soarin stated.
Wallflower was sitting on the ground, slamming he hooves into the wall as hard as she could. She managed to slowly break more and more of the rock off her until she was finally free, with just a few pebbles stuck to her that she could crush with a few steps. "Thanks for the save."
"No problem," Flash nodded. "Sorry we didn't notice the slime on the ground before."
"It's fine," Wallflower assured him. "The only way you could would be if you were running on the ground and that would have ended with you getting stuck instead of me." Trixie and Soarin nodded, as Flash smiled.
Luna couldn't help but be impressed. She was sure they would have abandoned Wallflower in that moment, which would have gotten them disqualified, but they didn't.
"They chose to help their friend, despite it slowing them down and putting them in danger." Grand turned to her, "this group is an interesting one to be sure." Her eyes narrowed. "But the biggest challenge is coming up. If they wish to win, then they will need to pull out all the stops to be victorious."
"Yes," Grand nodded, "let's see how well they do together."
As Team Relic continued down the tunnel, they heard something that made them worry.
A large amount of cries coming from further down, sounding like screams of pain, effort and anger. The four all shared a look and nodded as they prepared for whatever was waiting for them, Flash summoning his lightning blade and flame shield. And when they reached the end of the tunnel, they were shocked by what they saw.
Several teams of equestrians were in a large round chamber. Each team was fighting against a giant snake monster, which were a mixture of brown and orange with a yellow underbelly and blade on the end of its tail. Around each of the serpent's necks was a necklace, which they realised were actually the final piece of the medallion.
But the equestrians were having trouble against the creatures, which were roughly forty or fifty feet long. And one spat out a large blast of purple slime, which hit a terran on the leg and made him scream in pain.
"Which one should we go after?" Soarin asked, but something caught the other's attention before they could answer. A light coming from Trixie's pocket, the magi taking out the rest of the amulet as it glowed.
"What's it doing?" She asked, only for the light to fly of and hit the ground. They all leapt back as the ground glowed before beginning to crack, then exploded as another snake slithered out of the hole. It to had an amulet piece around its neck, the four realising this was their fight.
"Let's go!" Flash cried before taking to the air, the snake unleashing a burst of poison towards him. Luckily, he had his shield and launched some flames to burn away the poison before it could hurt him. The others then charged in to attack, with Soarin launching lightning bolts that bounced off the snake's skin.
Trixie launched several light and ice attacks, but they to had little affect on the beast. Wallflower charged in and punched the snake, but the creature's body simply absorbed the attack without any issue. The kinetic energy she pushed into its body flew down to its tail and allowed it to swing the blade around.
She gasped and held up both her gauntlets, blocking the blade from hitting her. But the impact knocked her flying backwards, as Flash slashed at its head with his lightning sword. But like Soarin's attack, the electricity was dispelled and the sword just bounced off it.
"Oh come on!" Flash cried, launching fire at it with little effect. "Is there anything this thing is hurt by?" The snake pushed its head through the flames and hissed as it tried to bite him, Flash barely managing to avoid it. "WOW!" He flew down, as Soarin and Trixie both slashed at it with their blades. But their weapons also bounced off the iron hard skin.
"What is this thing made of?" Soarin asked, as the snake swung its tail around at them. They leapt out of the way and as they did, Soarin saw another snake knock out an entire team on the other side of the chamber. Another snake knocked its team's weapons away with its tail, then spat poison that hit them all.
They cried out in pain, unable to do anything due to the agony they were in.
Wallflower picked herself up and ran forward, summoning a pair of vines from her gauntlet that she spun around like lassos. She then fired them at the snake, the vines coiling around starting from the middle and connecting into a knock at its throat. "Now I've got you."
"That's great Wall!" Flash laughed as he took to the air, "now hold it as long as you can whilst we try and get a good shot in." He and Soarin flew up, Soarin attempting to fire lightning down its throat. But the snake either kept its mouth shut, or swung it around so Soarin couldn't get a clear shot.
Instead, he just hit around its head along with Flash's fireballs and did nothing. "Wallflower," Trixie told her, "try and keep it still."
"I'm...trying," she groaned as the snake continued to swing around. It then looked down and noticed the vines wrapped around it, the beast closing its eyes. "What's it doing?" She got her answer when purple ooze started leaking from its body, "it sweats poison?" The poison was soaked into the vines and this caused them to start shrivelling up, resulting in them snapping as Wallflower pulled on them again. "Oh no."
"Not good," Flash growled as the snake turned to Wallflower.
She saw it staring right at her, as it opened it mouth with a high-pitched hiss. "Wallflower!" Soarin cried, "MOVE!" But it was too late. The snake fired a blast of poison towards Wallflower that was moving too fast for her to avoid.
All she could do was brace herself for the incoming pain, but something else happened first.
Flash appeared in front of her and thrust his shield into the poison, the purple meteor bursting upon contact with most of it bouncing back away from them. But several drops flew passed the shield and hit Flash, his shoulder, wing and leg getting hit. "Ahhhh!" He hissed, the pair of just these three drops being incredible.
Luna's eyes went wide at this. She had not been expecting Flash to do this.
"That kid," Grand sighed. "He'd volunteer to throw himself into the volcano if it would save somepony he's never met." Luna looked at him. "His heroic streak is commendable, but he needs to learn not to throw himself into the most dangerous situation."
"Indeed," Luna nodded, "it is commendable."
Despite the pain, Flash pushed through it and looked up at the snake. They were now the only team left standing and they had a feeling it wouldn't be long before another team arrived.
"We've gotta end this now," he told the others. Then, he got an idea. "Time to combo. Wallflower, wrap it up again." Wallflower didn't know what he was planning, but trusted him and unleashed some more vines. Swinging the around, she shot them towards the snake as Soarin kept its attention. "Trixie, make'em disappear!"
"You got it!" Trixie smiled as she waved her staff, "Illusion!" The vines glowed before they completely vanished, the equestrians watching as the serpent was suddenly wrapped up once again. It struggled against the bindings, Wallflower pulling them as tight as she could.
Flash ran forward and took to the air, his wing still hurting but he fought through the pain. Flying up to Soarin, the pair nodded as they prepared their final attack. Trixie also helped, using the last of her magic to unleash a Super Freeze spell. This created a diagonal pillar of light, which Wallflower pulled the snake towards with all her strength.
The snake's chest struck the ice, knocking the wind from its lungs and making it open its mouth in the process.
"NOW!" Flash cried, his shield opening up. "Fireball!"
"Aero Shot!" Soarin yelled. The pair launched their attacks, Flash's shield spitting out a large blast of fire. The wind arrow Soarin then shot flew into the fire, the two elements fusing into a giant flaming arrow. One which flew right into the snake's mouth.
The beast's eyes went wide as the flames roasted its inside, making it scream in pain as it swung its head around and snapped the vines. And just as another team was arriving, the serpent exploded into a million tiny lights. All that was left was the amulet piece, which now slowly floated towards the ground.
Team Relic gathered around it and Trixie held up the other two pieces, the final part floating into place and combining in a flash of light. The completed amulet floated there for a moment before unleashing a blinding light, which filled the chamber and flew through the tunnels.
All throughout the labyrinth, the students were consumed by the light and prevented from seeing. When the light faded, they opened their eyes and saw they were all back outside the dome. They turned towards the stage and found Team Relic upon it, the completed amulet in Flash's hand.
Another flash of light revealed Luna and Grand, Luna walking towards them. "Congratulations," the omni stated. "You were the first to complete the trial and assemble the amulet." The students gasped at this, unable to believe that a first year team had been victorious. "Flash Sentry. Soarin Skies, Trixie Lulamoon. Wallflower Blush. You four showed teamwork, imagination and the will to keep going. You should be proud of how far you've come."
Team Relic smiled as Trixie spoke up. "Thank you, your majesty." Flash handed her the amulet and Luna nodded.
"Now, for your reward. Pack your bags." This statement surprised them. "I came here looking for a team I could take with me on an expedition. The four of you have proven you are the perfect equestrian to take with me."
"An expedition?" Soarin asked, "you mean a super long and hard quest that could take weeks to finish?"
"Possibly months," Luna nodded.
"Is it really a good idea for us to be the ones to accompany you?" Wallflower looked worried. "I mean, we're only first years. What if we hold you back?"
"If you were able to get through the gauntlet I just through at you, then what we'll face out there should not be much more of a struggle. But if you really do not wish to accompany me-"
"We didn't say that," Trixie told her. "If you really think we can help you, then we accept." The others nodded, even Wallflower despite her worries.
"Your majesty," Flash bowed and the others did the same. "Team Relic is at your service." Luna smiled. "But if I might ask, what is it we're attempting to achieve with this expedition?"
Luna nodded. "This expedition is to re-acquire something that was lost a thousand years ago. An ancient spellbook, with magic hidden within that could spell doom in the wrong hands. We must get it back." She spread her wings. "Team Relic, be ready to leave by early tomorrow. We have a long road ahead and little time to get there." With that, she took off and everypony watched her fly away.
Flash, Soarin, Trixie and Wallflower stood up and watched the omni fly back to the school, the four climbing down the stage as they heard a whistle. They looked around to see the magi from yesterday. "Well, we dodged an arrow."
"What are you talking about?" Trixie asked. "Why would being on an expedition be a bad thing?"
The magi stared at them, raising an eyebrow seeing as they clearly didn't know anything. "Don't you know who she is?"
"Duh," Soarin frowned, "Princess Luna."
"Sure, that's why she calls herself now. But she went by a different name not too long ago. Nightmare Moon." The four members of Team Relic all gasped, remembering the story of Nightmare Moon and her recent return. She had kidnapped Celestia, attempted to seal the world into eternal night and had almost succeeded.
"I thought Nightmare Moon was defeated?" Wallflower asked.
"That's the official story. Nightmare Moon was defeated and Princess Luna was restored. But honestly, I don't buy it. You can't just zap somepony good. Obviously, she realised she was beat so she made it look like she'd been turned back to normal. She's probably just biding her time and plans to attack again when she's gotten everypony to think she's good." This statement caused other students around him to all look worried.
"Maybe that spellbook she's after has evil magic?" Another pony cried, the rest of the crowd beginning to look terrified.
"That's enough!" They all looked towards Grand, who stood on the stage with a frown on his face. "Princess Luna is not evil. She might have been Nightmare Moon once, but not anymore." He focused on Team Relic. "You four have been given the honour of going on a serious expedition. You will make your school proud by doing whatever the princess asks of you. Is that understood?"
"Yes sir!" The four cried, standing to attention. Grand nodded and left, the rest of the student body doing the same.
The magi smirked as he whispered, "have fun with Nightmare Moon. Hope the legends about her stealing souls on a full moon aren't true." The four glared at him as he laughed and walked off. When he was gone, they glanced at one another and wondered what the heck they had gotten themselves into. But they knew this would be the adventure of a lifetime. One they had little intention of failing.
The next morning, Team Relic were up bright and early.
They had gathered everything they thought they would need and once they were packed, they headed out to the train station. Along the way, they asked what the others thought they would face along the way. There were many suggestions, such as primordial lava monsters or badgers that could spit fire. All they knew was this wasn't gonna be an easy adventure.
They arrived at the station and as they drew closer, they spotted Princess Luna standing on the platform carrying her own bag along with something on her back. She had also changed her clothing, as she was now dressed in a purple top with a white collar along with dark blue pants.
Once they were close enough, they realised the object on her back was a long metal staff with a large metal crescent moon. They guessed it was a magical staff but Flash also had a feeling that moon blade was sharp enough to do some real damage.
"Ah, good. You are all here." The four nodded as they stepped onto the platform. "The train will arrive shortly. It will take use most of the way but the area we will be walking will be dangerous." A sound of a train filled the air. "From this point on, you four are under my command. You will follow any order I give you without question. Is that understood?"
"Yes your majesty," they all stated as the train pulled up to the station. They stepped up onto the train, Luna going first. Team Relic gulped as they knew once they stepped on the train, they would no longer be in the safety of the academy.
"Alright guys," Flash told them. "We wanted to be adventurers and this is our chance to prove ourselves. Let's show the world what we're made of." They entered the train and it began to pull away, the academy slowly moving further and further away.
If all went well, Team Relic would make the history books before they even graduated.