Astral had a smile on her face today as she walked down the corridor passing several identical doors with numbers and red crosses on them. The smile was not due to her useful cheerful nature, but instead, because her best friend whom she had been worried about for a whole week is finally going to be able to leave the medical wing.
After his battle with Midnight Star, Silverlight sustained several injuries and had to be hospitalized for a whole week. And even though the injuries were not life threatening, Astral still stressed and blamed herself for her friend's condition which is why she could only bring herself to visit him once since he's been recovering. Astral stopped in front of one of the doors which had a red cross above it and a designated room number next to it, she exhaled a sigh, and opened the door. What she saw next was a sight that filled her with joy and glee.
"Concentrate, concentrate, concentrate"
The cyan unicorn stared on as she watched her friend lay in bed with a focused expression and a milk carton in his hooves. Just as he once attempted with the candle in their room, Silverlight struggled to, from what Astral can tell, levitate the carton with his mind; which to her sounded more like telekenisis than it did real magic.
'Typical Silver, always working and never relaxing' Astral thought to herself as she entered the room and closed the door behind her. She levitated the milk out of the earth pony's hooves and olaced it on the nightstand next to his bed as she approached him.
"Can't you ever just relax like your supposed to?" Astral asked with a slight touch of umbrage.
"I won't be able to rise up in academy ranks if I don't work hard," replied Silverlight.
Any annoyance that she felt towards her friend was immediately washed away by the comforting warmth of his smile, the smile that Astral had been waiting to see. She made her way towards Silver's bed and pulled out a bottle from her saddle bag and placed it in his lap.
"What's this?"
"Just a little bit of a get well soon present" Astral teased with a wink.
The earth pony held the bottle with his hooves and twisted the cap off with his teeth. Once open, Silverlight took a small sip of the liquid, then within seconds, chugged the bottle until it was empty. He gave out a small belch with a satisfied expression which caused Astral to giggle.
"Apple Cider, mother of Celestia I love that stuff. How in the wide world of Equestria did you manage to get your hooves on that Astral? I know the cafeteria doesn’t have any,”
“I got my sources,” she replied with a grin. “So, you finally get out of here today huh?”
“You bet, and I can’t wait to hear everypony talk about how I kicked the cutie mark off of Midnight’s flank,”
Astral gave him a nervous smile which the earth pony stared at intently.
“Actually, everypony is saying you got you're flank kicked and worse would have happened if principal Solar Wind hadn’t intervened,” Astral explained with nervous laughter.
“No way! I totally won that fight!”
“Think about it,” Astral began. “You were the one who got hospitalized for a whole week while Midnight Star is out doing assignments still,”
The white haired pony gave out a nervous yet defeated laugh as he scratched the back of his head in a nervous manner.
“Yeah, I guess you got a point there. Speaking of assignments, I’m guessing Moongazer isn’t here because he’s off on one of his own?”
“He left you a get well soon note,” Astral giggled in response to his question.
“Typical Moon, and you say I never take a break?” Silverlight laughed.
The two ponies’ conversation was interrupted by a loud sound which at first seemed slightly distorted. It took some time before they realized it was the intercom system coming to life for an announcement, however, the voice they heard sent a chill down the back of both ponies.
“Good afternoon fellow students of Arcane Academy, this is your newly elected student council president, 1st Class Academy Student Midnight Star; and as council president, I’ve been given the honor of delivering a special announcement for you all. As many of you know, the academy helps to promote the magical abilities of all students, even if some of you don’t have any whatsoever,”
The earth pony had an annoyed expression as he knew exactly who the stubborn unicorn was talking about.
”Up until now, you’ve all been taking on assignments of differing difficulty in hopes to hone and better your skills. But now the time has come to prove your worth and show that your time here in this precious academy wasn’t wasted. One week from today, the academy will be having a special exam take place known as the Arcane Trials. These trials will consist of 3 separate sections that test your intelligence, skills, and of course, your magical abilities.
You may be asking yourself, what’s the big deal? It’s just another test right? Wrong! Those who qualify to take the test and score high enough will have a chance to study under the great and knowledgeable mind of her majesty Princess Celestia herself,”
“What!? Seriously!?” Silverlight exclaimed with excitement upon hearing the words of Midnight Star.
”However, you must first qualify to take this exam by completing at least 10 B rank assignments and 5 A rank assignments. The exam is NOT mandatory and can be refused by any student who doesn’t want to delve into this opportunity. Feel free to exempt from the exam and go about doing your usual assignments, you’ll only improve my chances. Anyways, that is all the announcements I have for today. Those who wish to participate don’t forget to check with your teacher before the day of the exam to be eligible; and don’t forget to train your flanks off. 1st Class Academy Student Midnight Star, signing off.”
With a static like noise, the intercom died once more and left Astral and Silverlight sitting in silence. Astral looked at her friend and saw that he had the widest smile across his face, a smile she’d seen before when he was determined to get something done.
“Aw yeah!” Silverlight blurted out as he jumped out of his bed with excitement. “Studying under Princess Celestia!? I’d be able to learn some crazy powerful magic no doubt!” the earth pony charged toward the door in confidence. “Come on Astral, let’s go check with professor Light right away!”
“Just one problem,” Astral interjected before her friend made it out the door. “You need to complete 10 B and 5 A rank assignments,”
“So what? I helped you do some before, I mean, don’t those count?”
“Yes, you have,” Astral started with a touch of sympathy in her voice. “Unfortunately, unless you were a 3rd class student or higher when you helped me, than the assignments didn’t register as you participating in them. Furthermore, you can’t request any assignment above the rank of C if you’re a 4th class student,”
The earth pony’s joyful and excited face was devastated upon Astral’s mention of this. She was right, academy rules dictate that the only assignments 4th class students like himself could request were D or C ranks. He’d have to be a 3rd class or higher to take on anything past C.
“Oh yeah, you're right. Darn it!”
“If it’ll make you feel any better, I won’t participate in the trials if you don’t want me to?”
Silverlight gave his friend a faint smile at her attempts to comfort him.
“Thanks Astral, but you don’t have to do that just for my sake. If it’ll improve your chances, than you take the exam and further your skills. Don’t let yourself get held back because of me,”
Both the ponies left the medical wing and made their way back to their dorm room.
The two ponies walked back to their room from the medical wing without either of them saying a word. Though he had a smile, Astral knew her best friend well enough to know whether that smile was genuine or not, she could tell that unlike Silverlight’s usual warm smiles, this one was cold.
When he opened the door to their room the earth pony walked to his bed and stopped in his tracks. Astral followed in behind him and decided to empty out her saddle bag and prepare for what she’ll need for tomorrow.
“Hey, Astral, I understand your trying to cheer me up and all,” Silver picked up a wrapped up box which was on his bed. “But you didn’t have to get me something else,”
The pony watched as Astral’s face contorted into a dumbfounded one as she stared at him with the round package.
“Uh…Silver, the only present I got you was the cider. I honestly have no idea where that came from, does it have a tag or something?”
Silver began tearing off the wrapper with his teeth quickly sending bright colorful wrapping paper scattering all over the room.
“My bad Astral, did you say something?” he asked as he stared back at the unicorn who was covered in vivid paper shreds. Before she could respond Silver opened up his box and spilled out the contents which was a card. He opened up the card and read what was written inside in fancy writing.
”Dear Silverlight,
I understand that you’ve been working extremely hard at Arcane Academy and you truly enjoy being a student. In honor of your ability to hold your own against 1st Class Student Midnight Star, I hereby present to you your new 3rd Class Student identification card. Now as a higher ranking student, you may request higher ranking assignments and even participate in the Arcane Trials. Best of luck to both you and Astral.
Signed, principal Solar Wind”
He than opened up the small fold in the back of the card that revealed his new I.D. card which had his name and new rank on it.
“So, does this mean?” Astral began as Silverlight shot her another warm smile. He jumped up and down on his bed in excitement and delight.
“Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Thank you principal Solar Wind!” he stopped his shouting and bouncing and glanced in Astral’s direction. “Just you wait, we’re gonna train hard and then we’ll both be studying under Princess Celestia. Man oh man I can’t wait!”
Astral let out a sigh of relief, now she could rest tonight with an easy mind knowing that her best friend would be there to help her get through this new endeavor.
Astral awoke as she did every morning and stretched out her hooves with a yawn. She turned to roll and get out of her bed but hadn’t realized how close she was to the edge and accidentally rolled off, hitting the floor with a thud. As she let out a moan of pain, Astral shifted her gaze over to Silverlight’s bed; she had expected him to still be sleeping, instead, he was reading through a spell book with several other books scattered across his bed and a tall stack sitting on his nightstand.
“Silver?” Astral asked the earth pony who turned his head once he acknowledged her presence.
“Oh, good morning Astral. Sleep well?”
The unicorn didn’t respond at first, thinking that she was still asleep and that the image before her was just a dream. She rubbed her eyes in a further attempt to grasp reality, it was than that she was sure she was awake and that the sight before her was not part of her imagination.
“Are…are you reading, spell books?”
“Not just spells, I have another book here that’s got a whole catalog of thousands of different magical terminology; I just call it the Magictionary,” Silver said as he closed the book.
“I didn’t think you could ever sit still to read, you know, given your hyperactive nature,”
“Yeah it’s true, my active personality makes it difficult for me to actually sit down and read but that wasn’t my real problem,” the white haired colt got up and put the book he was reading on the nightstand and stretched his legs. “My real problem was that all the books on magic I wanted to check out could only be done by a class 3 or higher student so I never had the time to read them,”
“Couldn’t you have just asked me to check them out for you?” Astral asked with a giggle. There was an awkward moment of silence for a few moments as the pony wore a blank expression.
“How could I not thought of that before!? Ugh I’m so dumb!” Silver face hoofed himself when he realized his mistake, then, he let out a sigh and made his way to the door. “Hey Astral I’ll be back, I still got a couple more books I want to check out. Be prepared because when I get back our training for the Arcane Trials begins,” Silverlight shot his friend a smile before bolting out the door.
’He’s so determined to take this exam. Though he may not seem like it on the surface, I can tell that he’s really serious about this, more than anything else he’s ever done.’
“Alright Silver, I better get ready too,” the unicorn said to herself.
Astral jumped onto her hooves and began to emit a glow from her horn. She began fixing her bed perfectly while simultaneously combing her mane and brushing her teeth.
"I don't think I fully understand, can you explain it one more time?"
Astral gave out a sigh and shook her head as she began to repeat herself once more.
"Pay attention Silver because I'm only going to tell you one last time," Astral declared with annoyance. "We have to practice intensely and we have to go by the instructions on the assignment scroll or we won't be able to leave."
Silverlight stared at the large magical bubble which surrounded him and the unicorn with a a low hum and a deep pinkish purple glow.
"This barrier which surrounds us uses a very complex magic spell which will only lift once the designated assignement on our scroll is completed, which means, we both have to do what's on the scroll in order to leave,"
"Wait, I can't perform any magic spells yet! Does that mean we'll never be able to get out of here?" Silver asked in a panicked state.
"No dummy," the unicorn laughed. "Did you really think I'd choose an A rank that difficult for you? The assignment I chose is," Astral turned her head toward her friend with a determined smile as she prepared her stance. "A mock battle"
Silverlight wore a face of astonishment when he heard his friend utter her words.
"Mock Battle!? You mean like a duel? Astral I can't fight you. Your on a whole different level than I am, on top of that your my best friend, I couldn't forgive myself if anything-"
The pony's plea was interrupted by a pink bolt of magic which knocked him off his hooves and right on his flank. Silverlight shook his head in disbelief as he stared at the unicorn.
"Silver, your going to have to take this serious, this barrier can detect our emotions and abilities. If you don't come at me with everything you got than we'll never get out of here. Come on, your not dealing with Midnight your dealing with me so try to have a little fun," Astral took her stance once more before proceeding. "So, best friend, are you ready or what?"
The earth pony brought himself on his hooves once more and now assumed a stance of his own, donning his trademark grin of confidence that Astral loved to see.
"I'll show you that I don't need you baby sitting me anymore, best friend,"
After only a few moments of the wind's whispers, Silverlight dashed toward his friend to begin his attack, however, Astral was already used to her friend's reckless nature and fired a bolt of energy in his direction. The attack knocked the pony off of his hooves once more, but he recovered faster this time and dashed forward again. He was met with another beam that sent him back the same distance as before; he got up again, and continued his rush only to be knocked back for the third time.
"What are you doing Silver? Try a different approach because if not than I'll keep hitting you," the unicorn warned as her friend stood up. She could see he was already getting a few scratches from sliding across the ground.
“5 seconds,” he muttered through huffs of breaths. He then took off toward Astral again. Her horn hummed with a glow as she prepared another knock back spell until she saw the pony turn instead of coming straight at her.
She countered him easy enough and he was knocked down as usual. He repeated this pattern as he did with the first which led to him getting injured even more. Astral let out a sigh as she was beginning to get annoyed by her friend’s repetition.
“Why do you insist on being so stubborn,” she said as her face was beginning to turn a shade of red with anger.
“Alright, I’m ready to start for real,” Silverlight said as he stomped a hoof into the ground. “Now, I can guarantee that you won’t be hitting me with another spell for the rest of this duel,” He took off towards Astral again as he did originally, running head first straight to her.
’Come on Silver not this nonsense again’ the unicorn thought. She fired another beam from her horn and expected it to hit, however, her target was not originally where it had been. She looked and noticed her friend was now charging at her from the side instead of straight ahead again. She prepared to counter and fired another beam which failed to hit its target. ’What? There’s no way I missed a second time, he can’t be that fast’.
Astral attempted to hit her friend with a spell as he maneuvered around her like a white serpent slithering out of harm’s way. He charged at her straight on but no matter how many spells she casted, none of them seemed to hit anymore. Before she knew it she realized Silverlight was only a hoof length away from her as he attempted to tackle her.
’hehe, sorry Astral, but I win,’ the earth pony thought as he felt his body connect to his friend’s. He expected to see her roll across the clearing, however, he found that she was no where in sight and Silver could no longer move his body.
“You know, you actually almost had me there,” Astral said as she came up from behind the now paralyzed Silverlight. “However, a simple teleportation and paralysis spell are what won me this duel,”
“That’s what that was? I thought something felt a bit odd,” Silverlight laughed, his face seemed to be the only thing he could move at the moment.
“I’m curious though, why did you keep rushing me with the same attacks if you knew you’d be hit by my spells?” the unicorn asked as she released her friend from the spell.
“I was checking your casting speed, every unicorn has one. I rushed you forward at first and realized your casting speed was 5 seconds, but I wanted to be sure. So after a few rushes, I realized your speed hadn’t changed. I then repeated the process by rushing you from a different angle, that time your casting speed was 6 seconds,” Astral listened on intently with a intrigued expression.
“That meant, if I wanted to dodge your attacks from both angles than I’d have to be faster than a total of 11 seconds. Since I knew that, dodging your spells became a piece of cake since I knew I could beat your casting speed’s time by 3 seconds,”
Astral stared on at her friend’s smiling face, she couldn’t believe how much he’s changed since she first met him at the academy. Both the ponies noticed that the barrier which once surrounded them began to deteriorate until it was gone.
“Well it looks like we completed this assignment successfully. Come on let’s go find another,” Astral said as she turned to leave, however, she was stopped when she felt a hoof placed on her shoulder.
“Hey Astral,” Silver said as he grinned at his friend. “This was fun, promise me we get to have a rematch, though next times, without the bubble,”
The unicorn giggled in response to her friend’s request before giving him an answer.
“Yeah, I promise,”
“You best friend promise?” Silverlight continued as he outstretched his hoof. Astral gave him a smile before interlocking her hoof with his and gently bumping her head against his.
“I best friend promise,”
“Alright, come on then!” the earth pony exclaimed as he pulled Astral by her hoof and bolted toward the school. “Let’s go get as many of these assignments out of the way as soon as possible. I hope the princess is ready because she’s about to get the two best students at Arcane Academy!”
The white haired pony burst through his classroom door dragging his friend behind him. His abrupt action startled the light brown unicorn who was grading papers at a desk.
"Professor Light, me and Astral are here to register for the Arcane Trials!"
"Please mister Silver, there's no need to yell. I may be getting old but my hearing has been superb for years," the professor replied as he let out a sigh and readjusted his glasses. "You two wanted to sign up for the trials hmm? Sorry mister Silver, but I'm afraid that only miss Astral is qualified to-"
"Here" Silverlight said as he slapped his and Astral's student I.D. cards on the desk. Professor Light just stared at the earth pony's card that had his new rank on it.
"My word, I thought you were a 4th Class Student, where in Equeastria did you get this?" The unicorn asked as he removed his glasses as though he was inspecting a diamond.
"He got it from my mother,"
The cold voice echoed through the room and still made Silver annoyed at the very sound of it. Everypony in the room turned their heads toward Midnight Star who was entering the classroom.
"She felt sympathetic for him after the injuries he sustained, he only got ranked up because she felt sorry for him," Midnight said as he approached the desk that the ponies were huddled around.
"Actually, she gave this to me because I was able to land a blow on your precious little head, I'd say she was glad I kicked your flank," the white pony responded with a grin.
"Speaking of, we never did finish our duel," Midnight appeared to prepare his battle stance as he said this.
"Mister Star, magic duels are not to be done inside the school unless it's in the dueling arena. Furthermore, I've been instructed by principal Solar Wind herself that you are to not engage yourself in anymore duels until after the trials are over," professor Light fixed his glasses once more before finishing his statement. "So, unless your here to turn in assignments I'd suggest that you be on your way,"
"Yeah," Midnight snorted at the teacher. "I came to get another S rank assignment,"
"I'm afraid I have no more to give you mister Star," the unicorn said as he shuffled through a stack of papers. "It seems as though you've completed all 40 S rank assignments that the academy had to offer at the moment, I'll have to talk with the principal to see if she can register some new ones for you,"
Midnight Star noticed the shocked expression on the earth pony's face and than donned a smile of his own.
"Oh really? That's a shame, and none of them were even a challenge. I guess I'll be on my way then," the dark haired unicorn made his wa toward the exit but not before letting out one last comment. "Astral, Silverlight, I can't wait to see how you two will fair in the Arcane Trials. I can assure you, the third section will be one that I can guarantee at least one of you will fail," and with that, the unicorn disappeared out the door.
Silverlight still had a shocked expression frozen on his face even after the unicorn left. '40 S rank assignments and he's completed them all? How am I even still alive after our duel?'
"Hey, Silver, don't dwell too much on what he says. He's just trying to psych you out before the trials, that's the only real reason he was here," Astral said as her words brought her friend back to reality. "I'm sure he knew darn well that there were no more assignments for him to do,"
"If it's any consolation mister Silver, I've successfully registered you and miss Astral for the Arcane Trials," the professor stated as he handed back their cards. "I wish you two the best of luck,"
The earth pony shook off his worried thoughts and wore his usual smile that Astral favored.
"You bet we will, me and Astral are both gonna be proud students of Princess Celestia. And then she'll teach us wicked cool spells that'll help us graduate and become members of the Equestrian Arcane Agency. You'll see,"