//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: A Trial with a Few Errors // Story: CiF: Blowing Through the Pages // by Chaotic Note //------------------------------// :Kenta Silvercast: Kenta galloped down the long stone walls, his fast hoof clicks earning him several glances from those he passed. He knew he was late to class, but he felt like he was spending way too much time trying to find it. His lungs were almost about to give out. More than he wanted to, he had to stop and ask for directions to where Lightkin’s class was, which to him was completely absurd because he actually had a map of the school with him, but its layout didn’t seem to mirror reality. Every turn he made, he ended up somewhere he wasn’t expecting. However, luck seemed to smile on him as when he ran around a corner and found Lightkin’s room, Room H12. “Oh thank Typhon it’s here!” He smiled in relief, slowing down to a canter as he neared the door. He went to open it, and slowly walked through the door way, keeping himself low in order to not get caught. It was a school habit of his to try not to get caught late, but usually his effort ended up in ashes as his teachers had already taken attendance prior to his late entry. However, it didn’t seem like he would be caught this time as he didn’t end up in a classroom. No, it was the mare’s bathroom. “Oh for crying out loud.” The mares stared at him with wide eyes like deer, and then screeched their hearts out. They desperately tried to cover themselves up even though they weren’t wearing any clothes to begin with. “Aaaah! Get out!” “You don’t belong in here, you perv!” “Get him out, get him out!” Kenta flinched as various mare products were thrown at him. He stepped to the side just in time for a – was that a spiked flail?! Obviously it was an immediate cue to back the buck up and run like Tartarus, but not before getting scored in the eye by a blue manebrush. “Ow! That really hurt!” Pumping an extra burst of speed in his step, he took a running flight. “I hope it does!” they all yelled after him, throwing insults like icy snowballs. He was soon out of range of their voices, and took it as a safe sign to land. Kenta winced as his eye smarted, but he didn’t dare to attempt rubbing the pain out. This was all so frustrating! What the Tartarus is wrong with this school?! Was it messing with him? It was obviously a place of magic, but honestly he just wanted to go to his first period. “Gah. I seriously wish I didn’t have to put up with all this,” Kenta groaned, starting to lean against a wall. Unfortunately, it seemed like the school wasn’t done playing with him just yet. Instead of a hard, solid space, his body met with an empty one instead. He let out a girlish yelp, and he fell onto the floor with his chin down against its tiles. His jaw didn’t feel pleasant. A herd of mumbles filled his ears, as well as a set of hooves as they entered his vision. Kenta peered up the best he could. “Well hello there. You’ve arrived just in time, Mr. Silvercast.” “Hello, Professor Lightkin.” Kenta winced as he rubbed the base of his chin. “Ouch.” This pulled out a few giggles from his classmates, but they were immediately silenced as Lightkin glanced towards them. The professor lent forward a hoof, and Kenta graciously accepted the help. “Sorry I’m late, Professor.” “Oh don’t feel sorry. Better late than never,” Lightkin kindly smiled. “We were actually just about to start discussing about an important topic, so I would say that you’re perfectly on time. There is an empty seat in the back for you.” Kenta said his thanks, and swiftly trotted towards his seat. It was beside a wall holding a row of windows, allowing view of the great landscape of the country. The rolling green hills and blue, spacious skies were gifts to his eyes. He could actually see his hometown from here, which placed a happy mood in his walk. The second thing he noticed was the familiar dragon pony sitting next to his seat. “Oh Kenta! Glad you made it,” Tina whispered, revealing a toothy grin. Kenta could only give back a sheepish smile. “Yeah. I get the feeling that the whole school is out to get me.” “Why do you say that?” Kenta hung his book bag on the back of his chair and sat down. “I had a really hard time trying to get here. I had a map of the school with me, but apparently it’s outdated. Every corner I went around led me to somewhere I didn’t need to be at.” “Like?” Kenta looked around, afraid that someone may overhear, and leaned towards Tina to whisper. She also leaned towards him, but then he reeled back. “I’m not sure if I should tell you this.” “Oh come on. It can’t be that bad,” Tina said, offering a smile. “No. It’s really bad.” “Well now you’ve tickled my interest.” Kenta didn’t dare to speak any further, but Tina urged him by poking him with her wings. “Tell me, tell me, tell me.” Kenta softly frowned and let out a sigh. “I accidently got myself into the girl’s bathroom.” Tina stopped poking him. “I didn’t know how I got in there! It had the classroom number on it, but it didn’t turn out to be the door I was searching for. I think somebody was trying to mess with me. I mean there’s no way that the school can loop around back to the kitchen six times, right?” “Well… that actually sounds like the test.” Kenta blinked. “Test?” “Yeah. It’s a test that all students here go through. They’re placed under an illusion once they’ve set foot in this place, if they were registered as students at the time. It would cause them to see things that they are not, and they’re also placed under a teleportation jinx.” “But what about yesterday? I was able to go through the school well.” “You had somepony to escort you that time. Somebody who had already broken the illusion and jinx placed upon them. It was actually quite easy to detect. I broke my connection to it when I first walked through the gates.” “Oh, and you forgot to tell me?” Kenta frowned. Tina sheepishly grinned, chuckling. “Sorry. I didn’t think it would affect a Pegasus, but I guess the spell affects everybody.” “Probably,” Kenta agreed, resting his chin on his table. “Of course, a Pegasus like couldn’t possibly be able to break a spell. I guess I failed that test. He felt his back being softly patted. “Oh don’t feel bad, Kenta. If you want, I can lift the spell off of you if you want. I’m sure the school wouldn’t mind, and make this an exception.” “Thank you, Tina. That would be great,” Kenta smiled, grateful for the offer. “By the way, I didn’t know you were a student here.” “I am. It’s my second year here.” “Hey,” a mare in front of them harshly whispered, “could you guys keep it down? I can barely hear him!” Kenta’s cheeks enflamed red in embarrassment. He forgot that they were still in class. “Sorry. Won’t happen again, I promise.” The mare huffed and turned around towards the professor, who was standing in front of world map. A meter stick held in his magical grip was pointed at Magistrum. “As all of you may know, our country was formed because of our neighboring country, Equestria. Princess Celestia herself has sent forth her best warriors to our home long before it was Magistrum in order to claim it as part of Equestrian territory. Now, can anypony tell me why she would do this?” Professor Lightkin surveyed the room, and picked Tina, who was raising her claw. “The lands of Magistrum were the homelands of the original three Pony Tribes. They all live together until they were driven away by the Windigoes, and Princess Celestia wanted to reclaim the land as they originally belonged to ponies.” “And do you know how the Windigoes accomplished this?” Lightkin inquired. “Nopony really knows as there hadn’t been any historical records of the Windigoes except in legends. Scholars have, however, speculated that they possess a form of magic that allows them to manipulate emotion. Theories say that the Windigoes may have caused the fires of conflict between the three Tribes, whose relations with each other were already unstable to begin with. This, combined with their natural affinity with weather magic, was able to push out the ponies from Magistrum and take the lands for themselves.” “Correct, and can you tell us who were the warriors Celestia has sent?” “The Vangaurds of the Light, a band of six ponies that are the top of Celestia’s Royal Guards, and were the second generation of ponies to become bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Their legacy continues in Magistrum’s main faction of Royal Guards, the Equine Shieldium Vanguard.” Lightkin nodded to the answer, and his horn glowed a little brighter. A crystal ball propped on his desk glowed, and a large projection was casted from it for the entire classroom to see. Six ponies were detailed in the projection, all of them in shining, golden armor without their helmets. “Clover the Clever, the Element of Magic; Surprise, the Element of Laughter; Firefly, the Element of Loyalty; Apple Jacklyn, the Element of Honesty; Majesty, the Element of Generosity; and Posey Petals, the Element of Kindness.” “More like Pansy Petals, the Element of Weakness,” a stallion quietly snickered somewhere in front of Kenta. He didn’t know how his ears managed to pick that up, but the voice felt familiar enough for him to investigate. Instantly, he regretted it as he saw it was Markus, the nasty stallion from yesterday. How he didn’t see him on the way to his seat, he didn’t know, but Kenta was thankful that he was a few rows away from him. Unfortunately, it seemed like a couple of his friends were in the class as a few ponies sitting around Markus chuckled a little. “I didn’t know he was in this class,” Kenta whispered to Tina. Tina grimaced, her eyes squinting in disgust. “Yeah. I think you and I were unfortunate to become magnets for trouble. I looked ahead in my schedule, and he was in the list of all the classes I have! Same periods and everything! Forgive me for this, but I looked at your classes as well. You’re in the same boat as me.” “What?!” Kenta said, suppressing his urge to yell. “You can’t be serious.” “I wish I wasn’t,” Tina sighed, gazing at the six ponies glimmering in the magic hologram. “– and in gratitude of Celestia helping her reclaim her country, Princess Platinum made a beautiful friendship between Magistrum and Equestria, which is why our country had fought all the wars that targeted Equestria. Any questions?” A student raised her hoof, and Lightkin nodded to her. “But now we’re at a state of peace with the other nations, right?” “That is correct. The Griffins and Ponies have been caught against each other in centuries of turmoil, but that all changed three hundred years ago when King Iron Talon extended a claw of not violence, but friendship.” “I still think those bastards should take a beating or two,” Markus muttered somewhat loud. “I wouldn’t recommend that, Markus,” Lightkin said, his face not betraying any expressions, although Kenta could feel disappointment being released from the teacher. Then the class bell rung. “Class dismissed,” Professor Lightkin announced. “Seeing how it is first day of school, we won’t have homework tonight.” The class went in an uproar of cheers, but Kenta only slumped in his seat, not too excited about his next classes. Kenta was praying throughout the day that Markus wouldn’t notice him, or at least leave him alone, but fate didn’t feel like granting his wishes. He could still feel the sticky spitballs attached to his mane like foals to their mothers, and the whispers hung around his ears as if they were pixies. Right now, he felt like the time spent here wasn’t giving its worth. After class, he tried asking Professor Lightkin about his father, but the professor couldn’t provide. He didn’t have a faint clue, but he said the council had looked like they were getting less sleep each day, and it started way before his father’s disappearance. “I have no doubt in my mind that your father is still alive. He knows how to defend himself well, and I’m sure he’ll find his way back. But for his sake, pray for him.” Kenta knew Professor Lightkin had said that with good intentions, but he couldn’t help but feel a little resentful. He had been praying for his father in the past few days. No need to be reminded of that. “Yo Kenta? You doing alright?” Tina asked, walking beside Kenta down the corridors. She had seen him starting to walk around aimlessly after the last class, and it tickled her concerns quite a bit, so she caught up to him in a heartbeat. “Hmm? Well… I’m doing fine I guess. Just got some things on my mind.” Tina kicked off the ground and started fluttering above him. “Like?” “Sorry, but I really don’t want to talk about it.” “You sure? I mean your eyes look kind of ill,” she commented as she dropped down in front of him, halting his walk. “What do you mean?” Kenta muttered hotly, accidently letting out a growl. “They’re look darkened. Your irises are smaller than the usual size, and they have been ever since you’ve talked with Lightkin after class.” “My irises ar– wait you’ve been staring at my eyes?!” he burst out, backing off a little in shock. “N- no! I mean yes! Eyes are windows to the soul!” she defended. “I’m just worried about you!” “Well why are you?!” he snapped. “I just am!” Tina huffed. She readjusted her mane, throwing out frustrated grunts as she walked around Kenta. “You know, you’re making this really difficult for me!” “Difficult with what?” he scowled, his mood a little dimmed. “Talking. Just plain talking.” Kenta’s frown was lightened up a bit at what she just said. “What do you mean? You were talking with me fine just earlier in class.” “Well yes. Maybe! I don’t know,” she fretted. “I mean you’re the first pony I actually had full conversations with!” He tilted his head to the side in confusion, his brain trying to piece together the puzzle. “Wait… what are you saying?” The dragon pony deeply sighed, did some deep breathing, and looked straight at him in the eye. “Well let’s just say… that I’m not the most popular girl at this school.” “Not… the most popular?” Kenta was about to ask some more about what she meant, but the echo of somepony calling his name interrupted his train of thought. A set of hooves could be heard clacking fast against the marble floor. “Kenta! Kenta, where are you?” Tina’s ears twitched as she caught the voice. “Somebody you know?” Kenta listened to the voice some more, than smiled with absolute glee in his eyes. “Aye. It’s somepony special to me.” His breath was trapped as the owner of the voice ran into the hall from one of the other ones in front of them. Orange and blue, it’s Lily, with a look of absolute need on her face. “Kenta, where are you?” she yelled. “I’m over here!” A slight gasp entered Lily’s lungs as she swerved around, seeing a familiar face. “Kenta!” A mixture of orange, blue, and grey tumbled together as Lily hug tackled him to the floor. “There you are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” “For how long?” Kenta laughed, restraining himself to kiss her as he hugged back. “Since thirty minutes ago. Did you remember today is the day of the Royal Cadet Trials?” Kenta tried to quickly process the information going through his head, still in a daze that Lily was hugging him. Oh my Gaia, Lily was hugging him. He could feel steam blowing out of his ears, and all that came out of his dunder of a mouth was, “Uhhhh.” “Chaotic is going through them today, and we’re gonna miss his if we don’t go right now!” “Oh crap!” Kenta quickly patted Lily on the shoulder, signaling her to get off. He got on all fours fast, his cheeks blushing red with embarrassment. “Sorry! I actually forgot that was today!” “So I’m guessing we’re going to see a bunch of cute boys fight then,” Tina joked with a giggle. Lily, seemingly noticed Tina for the first time today, replied with a laugh of her own. To Kenta, it felt like angels had sang when her happiness sang out. “Yep! I guess we are! You’re the dragon pony from when you came to pick up Kenta, right?” Tina bowed. “Tina Vargo, and yes I am. It’s a second year thing. We usually welcome the new comers first before anypony else. Can I join you two?” “Sure!” Lily said, starting to run ahead of them. “Come on! We’re gonna be late!” Tina moved to sprint after Lily, but then Kenta stopped her momentarily. “Hey, um, I’m sorry what I did back there. I don’t usually snap like that.” On Kenta, a look of shame was obviously not trying to hide. Tina responded with a smile. “It’s alright. I know you were having a bad day, but it seems like there are silver linings today.” Kenta nodded. Lily then hollered, “Are you guys coming or what?” “Coming!” both Kenta and Tina shouted back in unison. “Hey! Watch it!” “Some of us are trying to enjoy the trials here.” “Sorry!” Kenta, Tina, and Lily all said as they arrived in a timely fashion, squeezing their way through the crowd much to their displeasure. Despite the complaints, they managed to squeeze their way to the front of the crowd where the railings were. Down below was a large, rectangular arena with golden torches to light up the area, and three circular patterns on the floor aligned in a triangle formation. Crystal chandeliers in the shape of raindrops hung from the ceiling, casting faint, colorful glows around. Down below on the arena was a lightly armored stallion facing off a vicious, furious Timber Wolf. Other piles of wood scattered about were signs to there being other Timber Wolves before, and that this one was the last remaining member of the pack. It bared its stake-like teeth at the lightly armored spear wielder, snarling brutally as green-tinted saliva dripped from its canine rows. Pushing hard with its hind legs, the Timber Wolf rocketed towards the stallion, its mouth and claws hungry for pony blood. Unfazed, the stallion thrust the point of his spear directly towards the pit of its gapping jaws. The Wolf’s momentum did most of the work as the spear ran through the beast’s throat, causing a satisfying crunch to follow soon afterwards. Wolf to splinter, pieces of mossy wood fell in front of the warrior. A storm of applause erupted from the audience, prompting the stallion to leave the arena. The judges, sitting in a room with a wide window above the crowd, whispered amongst each other, most likely discussing about the trial taker’s performance. From their formal uniforms, Kenta could tell that they were decorated officers. Veterans whose decisions would affect the outcome of a cadet’s future. The doors behind the candidate swung open wide, and the stallion left. Conversations started to form in the crowd again until a judge stood up from his seat. His coat was a menacing red, and his military-cut mane was auburn brown. His jaw was the definition of a rugged warrior, as well as his build. He was obviously working out. “Last applicant, please step forward.” he said, his voice deep and smooth like an ocean. Kenta looked back towards the large doors, his breath locked. If he really did miss his best friend’s exam, the one he was training for months, he could never forgive himself. Fortunately, he could breathe again as a familiar orange face walked through the doors, a confident smile marked on his lips. “Name?” the judge asked. “Chaotic Noteworth, sir.” “You can call me ‘sir’ when you pass the exam.” Chaotic laughed. “Sure, sure.” Kenta relaxed his still posture as he leaned on the marble railings. He seemed to be fine down there. When Kenta glanced at Tina, however, he saw a streak on concern go across her squinting eyes. “Is everything alright, Tina?” “Your friend,” Tina began, “he doesn’t seem… alright to me.” “What do you mean,” Kenta frowned. “It’s his magic aura. It’s faint. Really faint and it’s really unusual for a Unicorn. I can barely see a whiff of it.” she explained. “Is he going to be alright?” Kenta looked back down at Chaotic. His friend looked up, saw him, and smiled as he waved towards him. Kenta waved back, trying to look happy for him. Although he still couldn’t help but have a pang of concern within him. The guy said he was able to finally perform a magic spell, but he didn’t quite explain what it was. Still, that was no reason to start doubting now. “I trust him,” Kenta stated, looking Tina in the eye. “I’ve known him for a long time, and he never backs down from a challenge. He’ll overcome this like anything else before.” Tina returned his gaze, simply nodded, and returned her attention back to the arena. “Are you ready, Chaotic Noteworth?” the rugged officer asked. “You think I’m a slouch? Of course I’m ready,” Chaotic confidently replied, performing a few warm-up stretches. “Then so we shall,” the judge said, his lips curling into a small smile. He looked down at a group of hooded ponies in the crowd. They had a little space away from the others. “Summoners! Engage!” Glows emitted from underneath their hoods, some of them chanting strange enunciations from the depths of their lungs. The magic diagrams on the light brown field glowed bright blue, and white globs started to rise from it like lava lamp gel. The globs swirled together, forming three white, naked Earth Pony-shaped bodies. Their faces were featureless apart from their mouths, where they held white scimitars by the hilt. “Ooh? Ponnequin dolls,” Chaotic chuckled, drawing two daggers from the holsters strapped on his back. He balanced upon on his hind legs with little to no difficulty. “This shall be weird.” “Swords?” Lily mumbled, her excited grin turning upside down. “I didn’t know they were going to use swords… ” “It’s a new standard this year,” Tina explained. “There are going to be fewer rounds, but the enemies are tougher than the usual Timber Wolves. Usually the judges pick which enemies the applicants will face based on their current equipment. Your friend is using daggers, yes? Well they aren’t very good for going up against enemies who like to get extremely close.” “I… suppose you’re right,” Lily said, looking down at Chaotic with worry. The ponnequins charged forward, making a beeline for Chaotic with their curved swords raised high. They all jumped and swung their blade down on him, but Chaotic simply performed a back flip away from the attack. The dolls wasted no time as they reformed their positions and charged once more. They swept their blades from the left side of Chaotic, prompting him to jump away to the right. The three dolls once again recollected their footing, this time forming a half-circle formation around in front of him. Chaotic soon realized he was just backed into a corner. “Well isn’t this a surprise,” he muttered to himself. The crowd held their breath as the dolls dashed for the kill. The scimitars’ white edges gleamed and shouted to be painted in red. However, the only physical thing they hit was the solid wall. Chaotic had jumped straight up and used the walls behind him as his platforms to jump off of. His body spun in an airborne dance over the dolls, and he roughly landed on three of his hooves, still raising one of his blades. He dashed towards the dolls and sliced at their gaskins. The bodies were surprisingly delicate, their legs cracking open like pottery. They all fell backwards, causing a domino effect of crash after crash until they were all shattered into pieces. The crowd sounded their approval like a choir. They were obviously impressed by the newcomer’s skills. Kenta was also in awe. He knew Chaotic had it in him, but he never seen him pull off such fantastic feats before. The most he ever saw Chaotic fight was exchanging punches with bullies during high school. “Quite interesting candidate here.” Kenta’s ears perked as he caught whiff of a nearby conversation about his friend. “A Unicorn, but he isn’t using magic yet? I wonder if the judges could even look at him without wondering if he even perform a decent magic missile.” “I wouldn’t worry about it. They could always use more soldiers, but this guy is pretty talented on two legs.” “Yeah. I respect that. I can tell that a reputation is already building up around him. Still curious if he has any fancy tricks up his sleeves.” The magic circles glowed again as the summoners conjured up two more dolls, this time with some armor on them. One had a Unicorn horn and was holding a long sword in its magical grip. It was donned in a thin web of chainmail. The other was an Earth Pony with a shield as big as its body strapped to its side, and looked bulkier than the other ponnequin. Its white body was enclosed in iron, with a horned helm to complete. The Unicorn doll was surprisingly light on its hooves, quick to sprint and take a swipe at Chaotic. Too late to dodge, Chaotic quickly cross the blades of his daggers together and caught the sword between them. He pushed the sword away and leapt back as it jabbed the sword towards him. The Earth Pony doll lumbered forward with the intent to ram him flat with its horned helm, but it wasn’t as fast as its companion, making it easy for Chaotic to sidestep from its path. The heavy ponnequin made the mistake of continuing the charge, and it ended up crashed headfirst into the wall. It pulled away, leaving the helmet embedded in the wall and its head exposed. Chaotic saw an open window and flipped through the air towards the Earth Pony doll, his leg smashing first into its head. A quick kill. The sound of iron clanked as the doll fell to the floor. Chaotic huffed with satisfaction and took a stance towards the other doll. He tried to keep steady on his hindlegs, but he could feel the straining toll of it. He knew that ponies were never meant to be fully bipedal, but his magical grip was never as strong as his physical one, and he practiced with bladed weapons in his hooves a whole lot more than his magic. The doll began to circle around him, seemingly sizing him up, waiting for Chaotic to slip up. Annoyed, Chaotic threw one of his daggers at the doll, hoping to strike true. He lost his balance, forcing him to go on all fours. Regrettably, the doll had sense the attack coming and leaned its head to the side, barely avoiding a blade to the face. Taking advantage of Chaotic’s displacement, the doll dashed forward and sliced its sword across Chaotic’s chest. Blood was let loose, spilling red dots over the marble floor. The crowd chattered at this turn of events, with Lily crying out loud, “Chaotic!” “D- don’t worry, Lily,” Kenta said in his best reassuring tone. “I’m sure it’s just a scratch.” “A scratch?! Chaotic is bleeding!” Kenta bit his lower lips at the mention of that. “I- it… yeah, it looks pretty bad.” “Why isn’t anypony stopping this?” Lily said with urgency filling her lungs. “You didn’t know?” Lily turned towards the new voice. It was one of the two people that Kenta overheard earlier. He was a Unicorn with a white coat and flowing light blue mane that ran all the way down his shoulders. His cutie mark was a bow and arrow, the arrow’s head in the shape of a star. “A trial doesn’t end until the candidate finishes or is fully defeated. He won’t end up dead.” Lily had a look of shock crossing her face, then anger, then tamed frustration. “You better hope you’re right.” “Or what?” Lily shot a glare straight into his eyes, and he recoiled away from it. “Or there will be consequences.” “I assure you he’ll be fine,” he promised. Lily let out a few angry puffs through her nostrils, and then calmed herself. She turned back to the battle. “I hope you’re right.” Chaotic dashed towards the doll to strike it down, but the blood flowing from his chest made his vision hazy. He tripped slightly enough to make his running unbalanced. The ponnequin sliced the sword down, barely dodged by him. He could have sworn a few nicks of his hair were cut off. If he didn’t end this now, he would pass out from the loss of blood, and that would make an embarrassing day. Improvising, he tossed his dagger in the air. The ponnequin looked up, seemingly looking quite confused by Chaotic’s action. Its chest was soon greeted by a hard impact by Chaotic’s hoof and was punched across the room. Its body was shattered into pieces as it crashed against the wall. “Wow. Dangerous gamble, but pretty clever,” Tina commented. “I have to say that I’m quite impressed he would take such a dare,” the white stallion agreed. “These dolls are made with only basic instinct. I didn’t think they had an ounce of curiosity in them.” “What do you think, Shooting Star?” his companion said, a grey unicorn with a mane yellow and a cutie mark of an oil lantern. “Well Blitz, I think that out of all the candidates so far, he is pretty promising,” Shooting smirked. The summoning circles glowed once more, this time with only one figure. This ponnequin, however, didn’t look like the others as it was hulking huge as a hay wagon, and was packing a rather large war mace to go with it. Instead of being white, its body was completely clad in grey metal. Something wasn’t right. Whispers started to increase among the crowd, and the summoners looked flustered. Slowly, the golem raised its spiked weapon above its head before letting it crashed towards Chaotic. He saw it coming and leapt out of the way before it could do any serious damage to him. “Um, are the enemies supposed to be that huge?” Kenta asked, eyeing the behemoth with suspicion. Shooting Star shook his head, looking less relaxed than before. “No. There has to be a mistake. The summoners would never make the exams this difficult.” One of the judges, an aged mare, suddenly stood up, staring at the summoners below with clear disappointment. “What’s going on down there? Stop this exam now!” One of them attempted to break the barrier with a direct beam of magic towards the golem, but a magical dome of yellow energy suddenly appeared out of existence before fading away. “It’s no use! The barrier isn’t responding!” The crowd’s whispers suddenly grew in rising concern. Lily looked at Shooting Star, obviously anxious about the sudden turn of events. “The gate! Chaotic can escape through there right?” “I’m sorry to say that he can’t. The gates are locked right now, and the barrier blocks that as well,” Shooting Star frowned as he touched where the barrier appeared. Sure enough, yellow colors flared up as he made contact with it. A tiny stream of blue energy came out from his horn and slithered its way towards the magic shield. It made contact, blue ripples expanding across the barrier from where it touched, and Shooting Star closed his eyes. A few minutes passed by before he severed the connection, a frown deepening into a scowl. “Somepony tampered with it.” A boom and dust cloud exploded in the arena, caused by the golem’s heavy strike against the ground. Chaotic was escaping all of its attack, dancing around the battlefield with the agility of a hare. Chaotic jumped towards the golem’s head, but the sweep of the mace pounded against his body, sending him flying towards the wall. A small crater was formed where he crashed, and Chaotic fell onto the ground in a heap, not moving. “Chaotic!” Lily cried out. Tina raised her talons and struck into the barrier. Kenta watched in awe as the talons pierced the shielding so easily, but the kirin’s efforts went in vain as they were suddenly pushed out. He had expected holes to be left behind, but the barrier looked unaffected at all! No holes or signs of her claws ever stabbing it. “Damn,” Tina cursed, “not even my claws can pierce through it. This is some high-level magic woven into it.” Kenta never felt so helpless before as he watched the golem trudged its heavy hooves towards his unconscious friend, dragging its mace on the ground like an executioner with his beheading axe. The ground shook slightly as it walked. Kenta, desperate to save Chaotic, slammed his forehooves against the shield, trying to break it with all of his might, but the barrier yield to no avail. He continued to try even when it started to pain him. He had to get Chaotic up. He had to save him! “Chaotic! Wake up!” he bellowed. The mace was raised high, and came down as quick as lightning with a thundering boom. Multiple amounts of debris were tossed into the air, and a cloud of dust covered the scene with only the golem visible. Silence fell upon the room. Quietly, the rugged judge adjusted his microphone. “The trials today unfortunately have to be cut shortly. We’ll fix this issue right away.” “… N- no.” Kenta looked beside him to see Lily shivering, her eyes leaking streams. “H- he can’t be d- dead, can he?” “I… I don’t know,” Kenta sighed, “I don’t know.” Lily croaked up a few sobs before burying her crying into his embrace. Kenta gave up a few tears of his own. Where did it all go wrong? Wasn’t Chaotic supposed to be helping him find his father? It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. He wanted to believe the impossible, but this was too much to take in for him. “Do not give up on hope, Kenta.” He looked over his shoulder towards Tina, seeing her have a toothy grin. “Your friend is still alive.” “What makes you say that?” Lily asked between her sniffles. Tina didn’t pay much attention to her, her eyes casted down towards where Chaotic was. “Well… I believe he had a couple tricks up his sleeves after all.” The crowd gasped in unison as golem suddenly shifted backwards a little. The cloud dust cleared up, showing the mace rising from the impacted area, but not because it was by the golem’s will. A burst of blue energy exploded outward from beneath the mace, throwing the weapon and golem across the arena like ragdolls. Chaotic was bruised and hurt, slightly bleeding out of his mouth, but he didn’t look bothered at all despite being crushed by a mace a few seconds ago. Instead of a pained expression on his face, it was a confident grin. Lily continued to cry, but this time with a smile. “He’s alright!” “Well what do you know? He did have some magic in him,” Blitz smirked. “This will be interesting.” Chaotic peered above him to see his friends now cheering for him, as well as the rest of the crowd. The golem ahead of him was already back onto its hooves, charging forward with surprising agility. Despite the limbs hurting him, Chaotic jumped to the side out of its mace’s path and onto the weapon itself. He ran up to it with his hooves glowing blue with fiery energy trailing from it. Reaching its shoulders, he started delivering a barrage of punches to the side of the golem’s head, battering it completely, leaving dent after dent. The golem tossed and turned around, throwing Chaotic off balance and earning him a fall to the ground. Chaotic dodged another one of its strikes again, but the debris from the mace impact smacked against his body a couple times, one of them hitting him in the belly. He could feel the wind knocked right out of him, and he coughed harshly as he desperately got air back into his lungs. Once again the mace was swept like a broom towards him, smacking him like a baseball. It should have brought death to the stallion, but to everypony’s surprise, he still struggled to stand. On his hindlegs no less! His forehooves were enflamed with energy again, this time with yellow. He ran towards the golem with a throat-harsh bellow, not bothering to dodge as the golem brought the mace down towards him. Chaotic reeled back his left forehoof and punched towards the mace. Unbelievably, the mace flew out from the golem’s grip, disarming the hulking automaton. The golem backed off a few steps from being disarmed all of the sudden. Wasting no time at all, Chaotic rocketed towards the golem’s chest and dealt the final blow, punching the golem all the way towards the gate. The barrier crashed and collapsed from impact, as well as the gates, and the golem was on its back, unmoving. The crowd was silent again, and then exploded into a mass of cheering. Mages swarmed around the golem once the barriers had disappeared, casting precautionary magic chains around the golem. Meanwhile, Chaotic was making his way out of the arena, despite the protest of some of the mages. Kenta couldn’t help but wonder where he was going. A claw was placed upon his shoulder. “Come on,” Tina said, “he’s probably going to the locker rooms.”