//------------------------------//
// Trials and Tribulations Part III 
// Story: Angels and Demons 3: Winds of Destiny 
// by lunabrony 
//------------------------------//

	The eyes of Silver Key were filled with shock, surprise and disbelief.

"Sarah!?" He practically yelled. 

"Sarah?" Marenaris asked and then chuckled. "Ah, so that's why you wanted to keep your name a secret. I wondered about that."

Sarah tried to back away as soon as she saw the door, but couldn't get past the guard. Her eyes were filled with fear. The drill instructor hadn't gotten to her, the rules hadn't gotten to her, the threats hadn't gotten to her. This was what finally gave her the look of somepony truly terrified. "No! Wait!" She protested as she was pushed through the door. She gave a hopeful, innocent grin. "Um, no, I'm Tumbleweed, you must have me confused with somepony else."

Her father snorted, unimpressed. "Guards, remove the fur dye on the subject." A unicorn clad in the steel armor of an Evodian flashed his horn and Sarah was summarily reduced to her original colors. Marenaris kept quiet, observing the spectacle with detachment. "You lied to me and to your mother, and you signed a false name onto a list in my office!" He didn't ask this, it was an accusation and she had no defense.

Crap. Well, there wasn't going any back now. "I did what was necessary." She said. She didn't deny it. "I improvised in order to better myself. If I had asked you about the list face to face, you would have either denied its knowledge completely or forbidden me from joining." She countered. "Don't act like you wouldn't." Her voice rose a bit. "I've accomplished everything they've asked me to do here thus far. Do you know how proud I am of that? My entire life has been failure after failure after failure, and now I finally have a chance at something I'm good at." Her cheeks were tear stained now, she had NEVER talked back to her father like this before. "I swear to Celestia, if you take that chance away from me, I will NEVER forgive you for that."

His eyes narrowed. "Sympathy doesn't work on me here. You have no idea what this is, and I can't let you do it. Never forgive me? In about two hours you'll walk away with a happy memory of acting out the Pegasi of Pinenza." Marenaris strode forward. 
"But I won't." Silver was taken aback by this. "You're not the only one with a hoof in this project, you don't have veto power. If you want this filly off the track, you'll need Iron Jaw's vote as well. She's got mine. She's a natural. Hayseed, she's what we've been looking for. I wouldn't give a bent bit for any of the other applicants." 
Silver glared at her. "The tests aren't done yet." He said cooly. Marenaris was unaffected by his glare. 
"You want to continue the circus? Fine with me. It'll be a nice delay." 
Silver snorted again. "Fine."

Sarah went for the door, and paused at the guard. "Would you kindly return my coat to its dyed color? Unless you want to explain to the other applicants why I'm suddenly green," She countered. She turned her head to look at her father. In her eyes was a look of total and absolute hurt. "All I ever wanted was someone to believe in me, I thought I could at least count on you for that." She said quietly, and stormed out of the room.

Sarah's team was subjected to tougher trials than the others, which everyone discovered soon enough. With bitter determination they managed to complete them. During all that time Sarah didn't see her father at any time. The other teams fell away one by one, until they were put to fight each other in various small trials. Sarah's team was the only one left at the end. They were given a day to recuperate. Marenaris had presided over the tests, but hadn't talked to them, except to bark instructions. They were eventually ordered to come to comfortable room, next to the theatre scene. There were comfy chairs, snacks and beverages. Marenaris stood with them. "At ease. I won't judge you in the next test. I and Iron Jaw were ousted from the jury and two new ponies were appointed." Probably the machinations of Sarah's father. "The test will be unlike the other test.. but you should be used to that from now on. You will be tried individually. Only one of you will be able to make the final cut. The test lasts four hours each. Blitz you have thirty minutes, and a gong will sound, after that make your way through the door behind me. It leads to the prep room before you go face your test." She nodded to each of them and left. The air was bittersweet, the victory they had gotten felt half won. 
"This is kinda sad." Rain Cloud said, scratching his neck. "I guess only one of us will be able to remember what we did together." Blitz smirked. "Lets make a deal, the one who gets through will make contact with the two others afterwards. Even if he or she will have to keep state secrets and won't be able to tell, I still want to be friends with you two afterwards."

Sarah looked up at Marenaris. "Do you think that even if we can't remember going through the trials together, we can at least request to be altered so that we remember going to camp together or something?" She asked. She did enjoy making friends, as anypony did, and hugged her forelegs around both of her friends. "I'll try, I'll really try. I don't want to forget you." She said. "And if I do...well.. I'm glad I met you both." She admitted. "We're a fantastic team, they can't take THAT away from us."

The gong noise came and they shared a quick group hug. "I've never been one for long goodbyes, you two have fun. You know where I live now. Ask me to go cloud diving if I've forgotten completely, its how I usually make friends!" And with that she was ushered into another small room, there were two friendly voices on the other side but it was cut off when the door closed. The minutes snailed by. There were no windows in the room, and only a small clock to tell the time. Rain Cloud snacked nervously. They hadn't been able to get even a gist of what the test was about. They chatted about what it could be, and what they would do in those cases. Suddenly a door opened, and a barely recognisable Blitz came in. She was wearing... blue paint? 
"I failed." She said with a sigh. Two guards came out to follow her. "Goodbye you two... remember what I said. Take me cloud diving, we'll be friends again." She didn't get to say much more before she was escorted off. Blitz looked at the clock.
"It was a four hour trial, she failed after only two hours."

Sarah stood up with Rain Cloud, and followed him to the door. She rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof. "Here. For good luck." She said, and kissed him on the cheek. There was no romantic implications behind it, it was the type of kiss which a filly might give a colt on the playground, only to cause that colt to go running to his mother screaming about having girl germs. "Try your hardest, even if you don't make it, if you try your hardest you can never truly fail." She smiled weakly.

Again she could hear two friendly voices greeting Cloud as he went through. They had all exchanged contact information, where they lived and how to reach them, and some befriending guidelines in case of no recollection. One hour dragged by. There were really no sounds in here to distract her, and she had fed herself on the snacks to the point of bursting long before. One more hour dragged by. Was her father keeping her to the end to make her more fatigued and more likely to fail for that reason. Too much on edge to nap. Another hour. He had beaten Blitz's time. Half an hour more. He might even be able to pass the test. Which meant that her father would probably pick him on the spot. Fifteen more minutes. He was almost there. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three... The door burst open and a Blitz wearing black paint and a bunch of stuff that fell off him almost ran out, looking shocked. Through the door she could hear her father hollering. "Useless!!! You're useless! I can't use you for anything now!" Before the door closed. He stood shivering on his legs. "I beat the test.. but I failed because... because..." He was surprisingly happy. And she understood why. On his flank was a cutie mark. It was a tragic and comedy mask. "I'm an actor! I'm going to be an actor, Tumbleweed!"

Sarah was overjoyed, she had seen dozens of her friends get their cutie marks, and this was no exception. Although she felt the usual pang of jealousy, she showed no sign of it, and promptly tackled him to the ground. "That's wonderful! I'm so happy for you, Rain. You deserve it, you really do." She gushed. "I'll come see all your shows!"

Two guards came to escort him out. "Well adios, remember what I said. You can probably rope me into cloud diving with Blitz, I've never done that before…" And he was out. Her father stood in the room, striding out from where the test had been done. "It had to be you. Of all the fillies and colts in the world it had to be you… the jury I picked thinks I won't be objective for the next round so I'm sitting it out on the sidelines." He said and sat his rump down on a chair. "…Sarah? I love you. I really do. This test, this mission requires me to be objective. And with you in it... I can't be that. Please, fail the test Sarah, or walk away now. I'll make sure you're reunited with your friends. Just please, don't go ahead with this." He reached out a hoof towards her. "Sarah I don't want to risk losing you and this mission is dangerous. Its not because I don't want to see you succeed."

Sarah ignored him completely, and pushed right past his outstretched hoof. She gave no sign of having even heard him at all. She moved towards the door, wasting no time. She had always been told what she couldn't do. Not a unicorn, not a pegasus, not an earth pony. She was useless. But not today. 

"Start the test!" She demanded.

A gong sounded. She was in a dressing room, there were two large mirrors in front of her. Two earth ponies cowered under her bellowing command. 
"Eeeee, don't shout like that! We're just here to prep you for the test. I'm Painted Wings!"
"And I'm Gluon Wings. Now take a seat." The two mares put Sarah into a comfortable recliner and waited for a bit. A picture was brought out showing a filly from all sorts of angles. She was a beautiful azure blue with a dark blue mane. Immediately the mares started washing the dye out of Sarah and began to apply a new one, of the same color as the filly. "Our first job is to make you look a little like Glitter Shine, which is the name of that unicorn. She is a posh high class filly. Your job is to go through a room, and talk to her for an hour or so and learn who and what she is. Your final test is then to convince her family that you're her." Painted Wings explained as she fixed a dummy horn to Sarah's forehead with some theater glue.

Sarah's brain was already working in overdrive, trying different strategies, different methods of assimilation. Within minutes she had a fairly confident smile on her face. "Got it." She said simply. She had almost told Rain Cloud to call Tragic Comet, she could have gotten a jump start on his career. But that would require telling him that she knew Princess Novaria, and by extension Princess Luna. And that was a risk she absolutely could not take. Not that it mattered. He wouldn't remember her. "Don't you worry, girls. I can do this."

It helped that Sarah had a fairly posh little sister. She had always played the helpful earth pony side kick when she was  little, but Emerald had gently stuck a candle stick on Sarah's head a few times and let her be a unicorn in those games. However this was going to much different, she would have to learn how to impersonate another pony quickly. 
"She doesn't know that she's here for a test, she only knows that she's waiting for an interview." Painted said. 
"I think she's getting tired of it." Gluon added. "You'll be another unicorn filly coming in for the interview as well. Use the time as you want to, after that you come back here and we dress you up like her." 

"We can dress you up a bit. Do you want us to make you a unicorn like her, and little high class?" "We can spruce up your mane, to make you look like another candidate for the theatre job? Or do you have a specific idea in mind. The sky's the limit, only we can't change your size. So don't ask us to dress you out like Celestia." She laughed jokingly.

Sarah shook her head. "No, just make me a unicorn. I can fill in the rest." She said simply. "I am just concerned about a complete stranger suddenly trying to get information out of her, wouldn't that come across as slightly suspicious?"

"We're not allowed to give you any more information about her, sorry." Painted said. They couldn't tell her whether Glitter had a sister or a brother, or how that pony looked. She would have to roll with what she had. They fixed a horn to orange dyed coat and quickly painted it, matching it up to her fur seamlessly. 
"You need to be able to act well enough that you can impersonate her to her own family without them noticing for two hours." She kneaded Sarah's hair, brushing out the tangles that Emerald always complained about. "Presto, you're a unicorn."

Sarah nodded. "Good. Let me in."' She immediately adopted her pose, taking on an aire of superiority. Her nose lifted higher in the air, and her moments became more fluid and graceful. She waved off the pair of makeup artists, and once they had gone slipped through the next door. Upon requesting materials to improvise, she was allowed a clipboard in one hoof, and a pair of glasses perched on her nose. As she entered the next room, she took a quick look around.

Both Blitz and Rain Cloud had been able to pass this part at least. Blitz had only failed once the big test had begun, and Rain Cloud had failed once he discovered his true talent. Inside she found a blue unicorn filly tapping the ground with a forehoof. "I have been waiting for over an hour, without a word of how long it will take. Wait till my father hears about this." She complained, seeing Sarah striding in.

"If everything goes accordingly, you'll be in a better position than your father, and you can have anything you want." She explained. "My name is Ruby Mist, I am the daughter of Chardonnay, the employer of whom you are applying." She said with a wave of her hoof. "I do apologize for long its taking, but the applicant process is extremely selective. We only take the best with the best qualities, and my father simply does not wish to waste his time with the inferior. I'm sure you understand."

The flattery went very well with her. "Oh I do, I do!" She said. Was she gullible? Many Canterlot mares had been accused of being that, despite their unicorn nature. "And I accept the apology given, for the future applicants I nerves could be eased by saying how long a test lasts."

"Well that would ruin half the fun," Sarah explained. "Of course I DID suggest the waiting room at least have some classical music piped into it or SOMETHING of cultural significance, but that's not an issue for right now. In order to avoid wasting your valuable time, there is a very new method of interviewing in place. I will be taking the interview for you," She explained. Sarah wanted to harness the skills she had learned, wasn't that the point of the previous tests? "You will be allowed to go on your way, but you will need to allow me to harness the energy of your horn. That way, while I'm doing all the awful paperwork and getting my hooves covered in ink, a disgraceful experience which I'm sure you don't regret avoiding, I'll be able to ask you any questions via a mental link that I may need. Birthday, personal experiences, things of that nature." She explained with a shrug. "Your time is valuable, after all."

Glitter seemed enamored and satisfied with Sarah's business vernacular up until the point where she asked for the use of her horn. Sarah knew she was taking a risk doing that, but she wanted to show boldness and the ability to improvise in the field. "Allow the use.. of my horn? Can you do that?" The thought seemed frightening to her. Neither Sarah nor Glitter knew how to do that spell, but as if on cue a unicorn which Sarah recognized as a guard out of uniform approached the two. 
"I'm here to expedite this mind meld." It was obvious that he had been thrown in, the testers apparently accepting Sarah's gambit, and giving her the tools she needed. "I will complain to my father of this, this is awful." She said with revulsion, but none the less, apparently wanting the fruits of the interview enough that she'd subject herself to a private invasion like that. The tip of her horn touched Sarah's. The guard to his credit pulled off an amazing feat, managing to give Glitter the experience that she was touching a magical horn, and expediting a mind meld. She felt herself spilling over into Glitter's mind, hearing her thoughts, feeling them as if they were her own.
'She's invading me, this is horrible,' Glitter thought. Sarah felt the sting of it, felt like running to a dark furred unicorn for comfort, telling him how awful it had been once this sorry excuse for an interview is over.