On Light Hooves I Tread 2: Homeward Bound
A Fanfiction by Adam Nelon
Chapter 5: The Test
Five weeks had passed since the incident with the Red Dragon in the Mountains. In this five weeks, many things resumed as status quo for Equestria. From Musky Tome Pre-Celestial Philosophy class to Ms. H's Health, all the way to Asturl's phyiscal education. Each day passed on as any day at school would have. I'd learn more about how Equestria worked, and the further along I went, the smarter I became. Then, at the end of the day, I would train my body, as well as my mind. While, yes, there were days where Asturl, in rare moments of his own species, called in sick, leaving me at the mercy of Gunnery Sargent Drillbit, but while I didn't exactly rouse him to smile, I did manage to get increasingly better at showing him how I was improving.
Between the two of them, I'd say they both contributed to my progress. Asturl gave me the lessons and philosophies, while Drillbit gave me the bravado, drive, and energy to get better. They both served as motivators for me and Jade to improve and excel, and both did their job with some degree of excellence (though, with Drillbit, there wasn't exactly much in subtlety). They both proved to be an instrumental part of what we were to do today.
Princess Luna, as she had promised, swore herself to be our teacher, and when we retired from Phys. Ed, she would teach us in the ways of more antiquated and pertinent magics that we both seemed to be fluent in. For a quick reminder, I seem to be proficient in fire and solar-based magic, while Jade seems particularly well-versed in telekinesis. Alongside these, Luna and Asturl both attempted to show us the art of teleportation. The difference between Unicorn style teleportation and Deer-style teleportation is the way it is executed. Unicorn teleportation focuses on getting the details of a location, while Deer teleportation is based on the sensations of that location. Another key difference is the execution itself. With Unicorn teleportation, you often saw a big flash of light as the caster warped from point a to point b. Deer teleportation behaves more on the level of a flash step. Rather than disappearing from one point and reappearing in a flash of light, Deer will be in one location at one point in time, and then a whole other one the next.
Therefore, if you wanted to take the stealthier approach, you'd go with Deer-style. As It stood, both of us technically were able to understand the two styles, but I was better at applying the Unicorn style, while Jade was better at Deer style. As it occurred to me, using the Unicorn style essentially meant I could go pretty much anyplace I so desired...perhaps even...
No. I can't think on that anymore. I made a big choice in coming here, and going back on it wasn't worth anything, especially with all the friends I've been making up to this point. To turn my back on them now would be the worst type of betrayal, not to mention, it was an impertinent matter, anyway. What mattered now was that today was the most important day I've had thus far:
Today was Princess Luna's personal exam.
Princess Luna and Princess Celestia sat at their thrones in an almost completely empty room. Across the floor and ceiling were elaborate murals. On the bottom was a very detailed summoning circle, a multiple-pointed star with several old Equestrian runes written across the many empty spaces in the pattern of the star. Upon the ceiling was a partially more complex design. It was a redesign of that classic image that was featured in "The Mare in the Moon", which featured the two sisters circling the orb that represented day and night. This version featured the complexities of the newer Celestia and Luna, namely Celestia's rainbow-hued mane, and Luna's starry, celestial mane. The best part of it was stained-glass, which meant its position and the sunlight would serve as as a perfect indicator of the passed time.
Jade and I were pardoned from our classes to undergo a last bit of training with Asturl before Luna called us to this chamber. This room, to our knowledge, had no official name or purpose, but its emptiness would make it an ideal location for the test as we stood at opposite ends of the room, the Princesses at center.
"Friends," Luna began, a stern, but genteel tone in her voice, "today is a most important day in your young lives. For the past month, you have trained and studied in the ways of magic, in all its many forms and uses. Day and night, we have trained you in the art of using your powers to defend yourselves from those forces of malevolence who would dare to wreak destruction on Equestria. Under my tutelage, you two have grown from simple acolytes into a pair of proper magi. But be wary; between you two, only one of you will be granted the privilege of being my apprentice, and this is why we stand here today. Today, this matter will be resolved in contest, and to us, the only proper way of settling a dispute is a test of strength and wit!"
"Your majesty, what is this test?" Jade asked.
"We are glad you chose to inquire! This test is that most ancient and heralded of the old rituals of old: A Duel!"
"A duel?" I asked, looking between my mistress and my opponent/friend, Jade. "What are the circumstances?"
"Simple," said Luna, curtly. "You are to duel using all the abilities thou both hath learned in these past five weeks in a proper match of wits and strength. There are no rules but to defeat your opponent by exhausting him. Lethal force or injury shall be punished severely. The match will end either when one of you two is no longer able to stand, or if we have been adequately given enough of a presentation to pass judgement. Are we clear?"
"Yes, ma'am!"
"When we give the signal, the duel shall commence! Be ready!"
And so the two of us exchanged looks toward each other, each of us staring at the other with a look of fiery intensity, smirks plastered upon our faces as we prepared ourselves with the traditional stance of lowering our heads, cocking our forelegs up, letting out plumes of steam from our muzzles, and staring at each other with steely contempt.
"You better be ready, Adam! I'm not gonna hold back!" Jade said, smiling a toothy grin.
"I would expect nothing less from you, old friend," I rasped back, smirking as well.
There was a cold silence that spread across the room. The world around us seemed to halt as the tension began to mount. We were ready to break into battle, and the electricity felt almost choking. Then, in one simple word, the quiet was ended, and the time for battle began.
"BEGIN!"
In a split second, the two of us collided with fierce intensity, the very stone beneath our hooves beginning to give way from the sheer force of our impact, which later resulted in shooting us to our corners but moments after we made first contact. That was merely the first strike, however, and as we returned to our hooves again, we began to dance across the room, our forms jerking from place to place, evading each others' strikes with as much succession and ferocity, it felt like I was one of those martial artists who threw fireballs around and smashed people into buildings while making lengthy non-sequitur from across the room. Only in this case, I was actually that very thing which I described.
Speaking of shooting fireballs, that was half of this fight in a nutshell. I would evade the waves and bursts of Jade's telekinetic tossing, giving me an opportunity to hurl balls of solar-powered flames back at him, only for him to send them hurtling back toward me, to where I had to take it back in, add more energy, and send it back. Rinse and repeat until eventually, one of us slips up, giving the other an ample moment of retribution by countering with a well-placed burst of power.
Over the course of perhaps 10 minutes, we each had received a number of injuries. None were fatal, but all of them hurt. I managed to zero in quite a powerful burst of flame on Jade's chest, near his jugular, but he managed to score a nice flank shot on me. Two of us each traded quite powerful hoof-blows, bruising each other fiercely, but not cripplingly so. At one point, I think Jade managed to illicit first blood in me, but thanks to the heat of my pyrotechnical magic, I was able to cauterize it on the spot.
The two of us were quite simply matched with power. Though the difference between our magics was their dominions and schooling, they both defeated each other, but canceled each other out. For lack of a better phrase, it was The Unstoppable Force meeting The Immovable Object. No one knew how we would react against each other, but the result was assured to be something along the lines of things getting very much real. There was no way of knowing which one of us was to peter out until our last ounce of strength was drained.
We had kept at these doldrums of dueling for quite some time, until at one point, I felt something coming off of Jade. I only barely caught a glimpse of what it was, but for a brief instant, it looked as though Jade were wreathed in a dark and sinister flame. His expression had not changed a bit, but the aura about him seemed foreboding and cruel, much like that familiar foe who had been rid of many years ago by Princess Celestia and the Elements of Harmony.
And then, the both of us charged one final time, intent on striking the definitive, victorious blow, and winning the duel, but before we could attempt that final blow, a voice broke out between the battling, stopping us both.
"Cease dueling, both of you!" Cried Luna, her regal voice not phased. "We have seen all we must. Return to your quarters now and rest. We shall call you when the deliberations have ended, and we are ready to pass judgement proper."
And thus, the two of us bowed before our lunar mistress, dismissing ourselves at the escort of the guards and returning to our room, content in our belief that we had entertained Her Majesty adequately.
As we returned to our room, we saw a blue unicorn mare with a mint colored mane and tail, streaked with silver. She was dressed in standard clerical attire, and upon our arrival, her eyes widened, the irises shrinking immensely.
"Oh, my..." she gasped, noticing our two battle-scarred forms stumbling into the bedroom. "You two look absolutely atrocious! Just what were you two doing in the throne room?"
For a brief moment within the midst of my pain, I collected my breath, and spoke in a flat, lucid tone.
"We fought, good Cleric. We fought like men."