The white haired pony gave out a loud tired yawn as he stretched his hooves and sat up in his bed. He adjusted his eyes only to realize he was alone in his dorm room, it was then he noticed a note sitting on his nightstand. He rubbed an eye with one hoof as he grabbed the note with the other and then read it’s contents out loud.
“Dear Silver, I tried waking you up several times this morning but you wouldn’t budge. When I asked you if you wanted to be late, you simply stated ‘yes’ before laying back down. I’m still not sure if you were awake at the time, but I have to get to class before I’m also late. If it’s any consolation, I’ll inform Professor Light that your still recovering from your S rank assignment. Hope you wake up soon sleepy head, your best friend, Astral,”
Silverlight gave out another yawn before placing the note back on his nightstand and returning to bed.
“That was kind of Astral to leave me a note about being late,” he mumbled to himself as he closed his eyes. It only took him a few moments before he realized what he had said, when he did, the pony’s eyes shot wide open as he jumped out of bed.
“Mother of Celestia! I’m late for class! I can’t trott the track again, my legs are still killing me from last time!”
In a panicked frenzy, the earth pony brushed his teeth; combined his mane; grabbed his materials; put on his saddle bag; and ran out the door.
“I can’t be late! Not again, not like last time. Hooves don’t fail me now, high ho Silver, away!” said the pony as he ran down the hallway of the dorms and made a sharp right as he headed out a door frame and into the courtyard.
Not a pony was in sight, seeing this, Silver only began to worry even more and began to gallop twice as fast now. Once out of the courtyard and back inside one of the main buildings, Silverlight made his way down a corridor with several classroom numbers on them.
He frantically looked for his professor’s room number, scanning all along the walls of each door sign. When he noticed that his classroom was directly ahead of him at the end of the hall, Silverlight charged forward ahead with all his might. He knew he would probably slam the door open but he didn’t care, all that was on his mind right now was being on time.
“I’m here, I’m not Light professor late! I mean, I’m not late professor Light,” said the pony as he slammed open the classroom door.
The eyes of everypony fell on Silver, however, this wasn’t the usual glare he got from everypony. This look, the one he saw on all their faces right now, was a look of fear and concern.
“What? Was it something I said?” he asked with a puzzled expression.
“Um, Silver, the uh….door,” replied his friend Astral as she pointed a hoof in his direction.
“Hm, the door? Why what’s wrong with it?”
Silverlight closed the door only to see that there was a dark haired grey unicorn glaring angrily at him from behind it, he had unknowingly slammed the door into the face of somepony. Realizing who it was, Silverlight lost all the color in his face as he became pale. He shot a nervous smile in the direction of the unicorn who glared back at him.
“H-hey Midnight,” the white pony stammered.
“How long have you been there?”
“Long enough for you to slam a door in my face,” the unicorn growled through gritted teeth.
“I’ll deal with you later, for now, I have an assignment to take care of,”
With that, the unicorn exited the room, slamming the door behind him, and leaving the classroom in awkward silence once more.
“So did you hear about the new rule?” asked Moongazer as he packed up the rest of his materials in his bag.
“What new rule?” replied Silverlight with an interested look upon his face.
“Due to your little stunt from the other day,” Astral interjected.
“All students must now be accompanied by a partner of equal or lesser status when taking on an S rank assignment,”
“You can’t be serious?”
“The ruling came from Principal Solar Wind herself, so yeah, I’m serious,”
Silverlight gave out a laugh as he placed his saddle bag on his back.
“Trying to take extra safety precautions huh? Fine than, I’ll just bring you along next time Astral,” said the pony as he looked in his friend’s direction.
“Besides, taking on another S rank would feel a lot less stressful if I have you in my corner,”
“Really?” asked the female unicorn as she tried to hide her blushing face.
“Unless you wanna be my partner Moongazer?,” Silverlight looked over at his friend as he said this and noticed he was gone; in his place was a note.
“Really? Another note? Can’t he just tell us when he’s leaving like a normal pony?”
“This is Moongazer we’re talking about, you know he’s got his own way of doing everything,” Astral commented as she packed the last of her class materials into her bag.
“So, you wanna help me out with a B rank assignment?”
“I’m afraid Silver won’t be able to join you today Astral,” said professor Light as he walked up behind the earth pony.
“I thought I was excused for my tardiness professor? Didn’t Astral tell you I was recovering?” asked Silverlight as he turned to face his teacher.
“Yes and I am willing to dismiss your tardiness, however, lying to me about Astral going with you on your last assignment isn’t something I can forgive lightly. If Astral hadn’t showed up when she did, who knows what could have happened to you?”
It was true, ever since him and Astral had returned to school after escaping Tenebris, no pony believed it was Silverlight who had bested the dragon. When professor Light saw the saddle bag of gemstones, he was convinced it was Astral who had retrieved them for Silver and she was promoted to a 2nd class student.
Even when she continued to deny it all and tried to give credit to Silverlight, no pony in the academy believed that an earth pony could have escaped from the dragon’s den. Truth be told, Silverlight was envious of his best friend’s promotion; but he couldn’t help but be happy for her as well. He just used this as another obstacle in his way, something that only made him even more determined to prove himself.
“I think an afternoon trotting the track should suffice as reasonable punishment,” said the professor as he returned to his desk.
“Ugh, what I drag, I don’t like trotting the track; especially when my hooves ache,” Silverlight let out a sigh of defeat as he turned to exit the classroom.
“Hey, Astral, I’ll catch up with you when I’m done, alright?” called out the white haired pony as he dashed out the room.
“Alright, and don’t you go running off doing another S rank assignment without me, you hear!?” shouted back Astral as she poked her head out of the classroom doorway.
“Better get started on my assignments then,” Astral said to herself as she walked in the opposite direction.
“Last lap,” Silverlight said as he gasped for air as he rounded the end of the academy track.
“Concentrate….I have to concentrate. I can see the finish line clearly,”
Silverlight threw a hoof in the air as a sign of his victory, after several hours he had cleared his 300th (and final) lap. As he attempted to catch his breath, Silverlight noticed a figure watching him silently from the bleachers.
“Midnight Star?” asked the earth pony as he rubbed a hoof over his eyes as he tried to focus his vision.
When he opened his eyes, Silverlight jumped back startled as the grim face of his classmate was now only inches away from his own.
“What the hay do you think your doing watching me like some weirdo?” asked Silver as he watched his classmate continue to glare at him.
“Fool,” replied the unicorn casually.
“What did you call me?”
“Not you, me,” continued Midnight.
“Earlier today, you made a fool out of me, when you slammed the door in my face. I told you I’d deal with you later, and now,” a rather evil grin formed on the grey unicorn’s face.
“4th Class Academy Student Silverlight, I hereby challenge you to a Magic Duel,”
The white haired pony had heard these words uttered before, but never to him. At Arcane Academy, students are permitted to have friendly magic duels against each other to test their abilities and strengthen their bonds.
However, when challenging another student, it was seen as more than just a friendly sparring match when a student states the full name and class rank of the other. To be challenged as Silverlight was, was considered a great dishonor and disrespectful at Arcane Academy. What’s worse of all, if the match were to be refused or declined, the loser would be shunned by everypony in the academy; and that was the last thing Silverlight needed.
“Are you kidding me? Now?! I’m too tired to deal with you, I’m heading back to my room,” Silverlight turned his back toward the unicorn and began to slowly walk away.
“What’s wrong? Are you going to rely on Astral to protect you again?” asked Midnight Star as he watched Silverlight stop and slowly turn around.
“What did you say?”
“You can’t always depend on her to protect you, but I don’t blame you; after all, your just a pathetic earth pony who has pathetic dreams. How do you expect to graduate from the academy if you can’t do it on your own?”
“Just shut up already!” Silverlight turned and faced the unicorn with a look of rage.
“I’ll show you that I don’t need to rely on anypony, I can fight my own battles! You want your magic duel, then fine,” the earth pony backed away and assumed his battle stance.
“1st Class Academy Student Midnight Star, I accept your challenge!”
'Hehehe, he’s so gullible. In his fit of rage he discarded his reason, he has no chance against me. And with no pony around to serve as a witness, I’ll finally able to destroy this nuisance in my academy, for good’ Midnight Star thought to himself before assuming his battle position.
Both ponies stood glaring at each other as still as stone. Then, as if on cue, they both yelled out in unison the traditional phrase that combatants would to signal the official start of the battle.
“Let’s duel!”
“Hahaha, all right, that’s 4 B rank assignments back to back,” said Moongazer as he tossed a scroll into the air and then caught it in his saddle bag.
“Soon they’ll be calling me 1st Class Academy Student Moongazer. Then I’ll be a member of the Arcane Agency for sure,”
As the lavender pony made his way back toward the academy, he took a look at the Sun and seen it was setting quicker than expected.
“It’ll be getting dark in a few hours, guess I better turn these bad boys in if I wanna make the deadline. After all, I’m sure true agency members never turn in late assignments,” the unicorn stopped for a moment on a hillside and stretched his hooves from a hard day’s work.
“I wonder how Silverlight and Astral are doing? If those two begin to team up for S rank assignments they could really give me a run for my money,” Moongazer laughed as he spoke these words.
It was a bright flash of light that diverted the unicorn’s attention toward the academy track. He was too far to see who the combatants were, but he was certain that a magic duel was underway.
“Sweet, a duel! Been awhile since I’ve seen one of those,” Moongazer glanced in the direction of the Sun and then back to the track.
“Well, I guess I have a little time before the day is up,”
Astral walked down the hallway with a happy grin on her face as she made her way to her classroom.
'I’ve got all my assignments turned in for the day, Silverlight should be done soon and I’ll finally get to spend some time with my best friend,’ Astral thought to herself as she entered the classroom.
“Professor Light, I have some assignments to turn in, I hope I'm not late,” chimed the cyan colored unicorn.
“Ah Astral, it’s always good to see a student of mine making great progress. I’m sure you’ll want these to appear on the next progress report so I’ll get them graded at once,” said the brown unicorn as he straightened up the scrolls that Astral placed on his desk.
“I’m sure Silverlight has recovered from his last assignment, so do make sure he is on time for class tomorrow,”
“Um, professor, could I ask you about….somepony?” asked the female unicorn with a nervous expression.
“Is it about Silverlight?” asked the professor with a kind smile.
“What!? No! It has nothing to do with him, I mean, not like I don’t think about him, I mean I do think about him but not like that! I mean, how else would you think about a friend?” Astral began blushing and stammering in response to the professor’s question.
“Calm down Astral, I’m only teasing,” replied the professor through a laugh.
“So, who was it you wanted to talk about?”
"Midnight Star," the cyan unicorn replied.
The professor placed a hoof under his chin as he pondered the girl's request, after thinking for a moment, he shook his head at Astral.
"I'm sorry Astral, I do try my best to familiarize myself with each of my students, but I'm afraid I don't know much about Midnight Star seeing as he never really attends class. All I know is he's a genius and a 1st Class Academy Student with too much pride and a huge ego. If you want to know more perhaps you could ask principal Solar Wind, after all, she is-" the professor stopped speaking as he gazed out the classroom window and noticed several bright sparks of magic light in the distance.
"Hey, Astral, why don't you go check on Silverlight at the track," said professor Light with a concerned expression.
"I have a feeling he may have gotten himself into yet another mess"
The earth pony rolled out of the way swiftly, dodging a bolt of magic in the process. He recovered from his roll in just enough time to avoid another magical bolt which almost hit him. In an effort to gain the upper hoof, Silverlight took a large jump backwards, putting some distance between him and his unicorn opponent.
‘Darn it, his casting speed is quicker than I anticipated. I’m moving as fast as my body will allow and yet he can still keep up with me without breaking a sweat’ Silverlight attempted to catch his breath as he focused his thoughts and stared down the unicorn carefully.
‘So this is the strength of a 1st Class Student? It’s….overwhelming'
“Are you just going to keep running away from me like a coward?” asked Midnight Star as he glared back at Silverlight.
“Do you even intend on fighting back or are you just waiting for Astral to show up and save your flank like she always does?”
Silverlight grew infuriated by the unicorn’s comment and charged forward at him with a mighty roar. Midnight waited until the earth pony was within hoof length before he hit him with a direct repulsion spell, sending him flying across the track and onto the football field.
“Please, just let me help him, just this once!”
The lavender unicorn only ignored Astral’s plea and continued watching the battle below him.
“Fine then, if you won’t answer me then I’m going to help Silver-”
“Astral!” Moongazer boomed as he interrupted her.
“Silver wouldn’t want you interfering with his battle,”
“Well he wouldn’t want me to just stand back and idly watch as he gets his flank kicked!” Astral now had tears beginning to form in her eyes as she spoke.
“Moongazer, just what kind of friend are you!?”
“The kind of friend who wants to see my other friends succeed no matter what they have to endure!” replied Moongazer with a loud roar that made Astral go quiet. The lavender unicorn gave out a sigh before he continued.
“Look Astral, you know I want to go down there and stop this just as much as you do, but we have to let Silvelight do this on his own,”
“What do you mean?” Astral asked with a dazed look.
“He always does everything by himself already,”
“Let me ask you something Astral,” Moongazer said as he now stared into his friend’s eyes
“When was the last time you didn’t help Silver and you let him solve his own problems?”
The question had caught the cyan unicorn off guard, she stood frozen as she didn’t have an answer to her friend’s question.
“I know Silver, he’ll be able to beat that stuck up 1st Class Midnight, don’t you worry,” continued Moongazer with a gentle smile.
“If it gets too serious I’ll intervene and stop the match,”
“Come now, don’t tell me your finished already? I’ve only just begun to show you what a 1st Class Academy Student can do,” teased Midnight Star as he stared at the beaten pony.
“You can endure, I’ll give you that much, but I’m afraid this us where the battle ends,” as be said this, Midnight used his magic to lift up the earth pony and tossed him aside like a rag doll.
“Hmph, pathetic earth pony with a pathetic and unobtainable dream, that’s all you are and that’s all you’ll ever be. You’ll never be a wizard, an agency member, or graduate from this academy. To be honest, with the beating I just gave you, you’ll be lucky if you can even move,”
‘He’s right’ Silverlight thought.
‘My body feels almost completely numb, I can’t go on…..not like this. Why? Why can’t I get stronger? I worked so hard, to get into this academy, to tackle all the challenges that have ever been thrown at me, I’ve faced them all…........No, that’s a lie, Astral has always solved my problems for me. It’s no wonder I’m not getting anywhere, if I keep letting her tackle my challenges for me, than I’ll never grow…..I have to do this on my own,'
Silverlight gathered what little strength he had left and managed to roll over on to his back. As he did, he felt something hit his face. He opened his eyes to see rain clouds beginning to form overhead of his battle.
“So, even the clouds are crying for me huh? I guess I really am-”
Silverlight stopped in mid sentence as he looked over at the bleachers by the track. Sitting in the bleachers, watching the duel were his two best friends Astral and Moongazer. He couldn’t hear her, but Silverlight swears he saw Astral say something to him. The earth pony gave a faint smile in their direction as he laid in the rain which was beginning to come down harder now.
‘She believes in me, she’s willing to let me fight my own battle now. Then, that means,
The earth pony managed to get to his hooves and stand once more but in a groggy fashion.
“Hey! Midnight!” he called as he watched the grey unicorn turn around and face him.
“This duel…isn’t over!”
“Well, I commend you for being able to stand, but your efforts will only be wasted,” Midnight said as he assumed his stance.
“But what the hay, I’m down for a good laugh. Go ahead and give me all you got left,”
Silverlight assumed his stance and charged headfirst toward the unicorn once more, however, his movements were different this time. As he kept running, Silverlight appeared to be gaining speed at a considerable rate, he almost appeared to be a white blur instead of a pony.
“You may have gotten a bit faster, but there’s no way your faster than lightning,” as he said this, Midnight Star used the rain clouds to generate bolts of lightning which he fired at Silver. Sure enough, the earth pony couldn’t outrun the bolts, instead, he faced them head on and appeared undaunted by the attacks.
‘Impossible! He could endure before but this is unbelievable, it’s like my magic isn’t working against him. And his eyes,’ thought Midnight as he made eye contact with Silver.
‘That look in his eyes, it’s determination, it’s like he’s telling me he’s going to win. This can’t be the same earth pony from earlier, is it? No! It’s impossible!'
As he was lost in thought, Midnight Star wasn’t aware of how close Silverlight had gotten in such a short amount of time. When he refocused his attention, the earth pony’s face was already inches away from his own. In a mighty cry, Silverlight threw his head forward, connecting it with the unicorn’s in a quick motion. The force of the blow sent the unicorn flying in the opposite direction and rolling to the ground just as Silverlight once had.
“Tag Midnight, your it,” with his last comment, the earth pony collapsed face first to the ground and laid in the rain.
‘It may have taken a lot longer Then I thought, but it’s over. Hehe, I win Midnight,’
“How…..how DARE YOU!?!?”
The white haired pony picked his head up enough to see the unicorn was now standing back on his hooves, with a look of pure unadulterated rage on his face.
“FOR THE LIKES OF YOU TO DO DAMAGE TO ME, LET ALONE TOUCH MY FACE!? I WILL HOLD NOTHING BACK!” as he screamed at the downed earth pony, Midnight’s horn began to glow immensely and though he no longer yelled, Silverlight could still feel his rage.
“It’s against school regulations for me to use this spell so feel privileged, it’s not often I break academy rules. While this may drain me of my magic for awhile, I can at least be certain that it’ll destroy you,”
As he prepared to cast his spell, the unicorn was interrupted by another’s presence that he hadn’t realized till now. Recognizing who it was, Midnight’s horn began to dim as it reverted back to normal.
“Oh, it’s you,” Midnight said to the tall figure in an annoyed tone.
“I figured you’d show up sooner or later, Principal Solar Wind,”
Silverlight looked over beside Midnight Star to see a large yellow and white alicorn standing next to him. Silverlight gave out a faint sigh of relief as he realized it was the principal herself who had stopped the battle.
“1st Class Academy Student Midnight Star, you know the spell you were about to cast is forbidden under any and all circumstances. You are to leave now and wait for me in my office so we can discuss your punishment,” said the alicorn in a kind yet powerful tone of voice.
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll do that,” Midnight replied as he stared over at Silverlight who managed to stand once more.
“Just as soon as I’m done here,”
As the unicorn attempted to move forward, Principal Solar Wind threw up a mighty wing, blocking Midnight’s path.
“This duel is done here, now report to my office at once,” repeated the alicorn.
“I already told you I will, just let me-”
“Midnight Allister Star!” the principal interrupted with a powerful voice.
“I am commanding you as more than just the principal of Arcane Academy, go wait in my office, now!”
Midnight had donned another look of rage, however, with a sigh of defeat, his expression returned to his usual angry glare.
“Yes……..mother,” he mumbled through gritted teeth before using his magic to teleport himself out of sight.
The principal then looked over at Silverlight who was now accompanied by his two best friends.
“Now then, let’s see about checking you into the medical wing for tonight, shall we?” the alicorn asked with a warm smile.