"This is it, once we pass through this door, the real challenge begins. Are you sure your ready for this?"
Silverlight gave Astral his smile of determination and nodded his head.
"You bet, I'm ready for this just you watch!"
"All right then, here we go," Astral said as she pushed open the door to their classroom. Unlike before, the two ponies would be attending class on this Friday morning for a different reason other than their usually scheduled activity. Today was the day of the Arcane Trials, a special set of exams which would allow a high scoring group of students to study under Princess Celestia herself.
When the door was open, Silverlight could see everypony who would be participating today; and what he saw suprised him. Aside from Astral and himself; the participants consisted of his friend Moongazer, Midnight Star, and about six other unicorns. Moongazer was dashing over to Silver and Astral while Midninght Star just sat in a seat in a corner of the room with his hooves crossed and his eyes closed. Silverlight noticed that Professor Light, their usual teacher, was not present today; the room consisted of only students.
"Finally glad you two could make it!" Moongazer exclaimed in his usual upbeat tone. "I was beginning to think you'd both exempted,"
"And turn up a chance to pe a student of Princess Celestia? As if," Silverlight replied as the three ponies made their way into the classroom and took a seat in their usual spots. "You know, I honestly thought you'd send one of your notes to take the exam in your place,"
"Yeah, yeah, we'll see how big you can talk when I score higher than you and I become one of the princess' students," Moongazer chortled at his friend's remark.
The room soon became quiet as two large alicorns took to the front of the classroom, without saying a word, they commanded the attention of everypony present. Everypony immedietly recognized both figures which stood before them and bowed their heads in respect, even Midnight Star lowered his head in respect to the large white alicorn who stood before him.
"Greetings to all of you fine students, I'm sure your all aware of who I am but allow me to formally introduce myself. I am Princess Celestia and I just wanted to come watch all of your performances in this exam personally," Princess Celestia seemed to have a smile which brightened the whole room. Everypony in the room sat quiet respectively and listened to the words of the princess intently. “There will be three parts to this exam, and as you all know, the highest scoring students will have a chance to be one of my personal students,” Celestia than turned her gaze to principal Solar Wind who was standing beside her, she gave her a nod and than spoke.
“Allow me to explain the procedures for the first exam. The first exam will consist of an obstacle course through the Everfree Forest,” the principal paused as she noticed a curious hoof shoot into the air. “Yes Astral?”
“Excuse me for interrupting ma’am, but how are we supposed to have an obstacle course in the Everfree Forest if it’s nowhere near us?”
“Good question, the answer is simple; we brought the Everfree Forest here,” the alicorn watched as Astral still stared on in confusion. “Using some complex spells regarding imagery and illusion, we’ve been able to create a replica of the Everfree Forest at this academy where the track used to be. Now the rules are as follows, there are three gems hidden in this forest which you will try to retrieve: a ruby, a sapphire, and an emerald. A ruby is worth 20 points; a sapphire is worth 30 points; and an emerald is worth 50 points. Once you’ve obtained a gem, your next problem will be to make it out of the forest with that gem. Is everypony understanding so far?”
Each student nodded their heads in response to the principal’s question before she continued.
“You will have to act fast because there are only a limited amount of gems and you’ll only have three hours to find enough gems and make it out of the forest,” principal Solar Wind gave a smile to the princess who smiled back. “Oh and we’ll both be watching, so try your very best during this section; and remember, this IS a competition,”
“Well than let’s get started,” Celestia stated as her and the other alicorn’s horn began to glow immensely. In what appeared to be a matter of seconds, all the students were transferred into the center of a dense dark forest. There were faint traces of light seeping through the lush leaves of the tall trees and noises of strange creatures could be heard in the distance. Then, two loud voices which seemed to generate from every area in the forest boomed and echoed, signaling the start of the exam.
“BEGIN!” the two voices commanded in unison.
Several students took off in various directions of the forest when the signal was given, Silverlight on the other hand, just remained standing in his spot with a grin on his face. Astral turned to follow Moongazer who had already began trotting to the North when she realized Silver wasn’t moving.
“What are you doing Silver? Moongazer already-” Astral’s statement was interrupted by her friend’s excited laughter.
“Hahaha, I’m so psyched! I can barely contain my excitement!” the earth pony then raised his hoof as though in victory. “Just you wait princess, me and Astral will find those gems and than we’ll be your students for sure!”
“What about Moongazer?”
“He’ll catch up to us eventually,” Silver grinned as he said this. “He always does, now come on Astral!” the pony declared as he charged forward into the forest at an incredible pace.
“Hey! Wait for me you idiot!” She called back in annoyance as she chased after the white haired pony.
“That son of yours has really grown into a very skilled magic user, he’s well on his way to becoming a member of the agency,” Celestia said as she walked with principal Solar Wind.
“Yes he is, I only wish he interacted more with the other students,” Solar Wind replied.
“Come now Solar, I remember you being a bit antisocial when you were my student. It took you quite some time before you made any friends,”
“Yeah, however, Midnight is different,” Solar Wind replied with a chuckle and a nervous smile. “He used to be so loving and care free, I remember he’d always greet me with a smile; but now….” The two stopped walking as the principal exhaled a sigh and collected her thoughts. “Now, all he does is keep persuing as many assignments as possible, his school work comes to him before anything else. As far as I know he has little to no friends and he doesn’t even refer to me as his mother anymore unless it’s with an angered glare,”
“Perhaps you should try rekindling the bond you and Midnight Star had before you became the principal, try showing him that your title of mother comes before superior,” Celestia gave a smile to her former student who returned one. “Now then, let’s check on how the students are doing,”
“Sweet, I found an emerald!” the mint green unicorn called to his hot pink colored companion.
“Than that makes two, now we each have 50 points for a combined total of 100,” she called back to him. “Still, we’d have more if you hadn’t lost both the ruby and sapphire that we collected. Anyways, let’s hurry up and find the exit of this forest so we can-”
“Chip and Cherry, how nice of you two to find the emeralds for me,
The two unicorns turned around to be see a grey unicorn with jet black hair materialize from the dense underbrush of the forest, his single golden eye glowed in the dim lit woodland.
“Mi-Midnight Star?” stammered the mint green unicorn with a slight sense of fear in his voice.
“Princess Celestia doesn’t have time to waste teaching you 3rd Class Students. She’s better off teaching a 1st Class who actually has some magic ability to them,” Midnight laughed softly to himself as he said this. “No offense,”
“If you think we’re just going to hand these over than you got another thing coming!” the pink unicorn now yelled in anger. “We worked our flanks off to prepare for the trials, if you want these gems you’ll have to take ‘em by force!”
“Yeah!” added the other unicorn who now stood by his friend with an angered glare of his own.
“You want me to take it? Very well then,” Midnight said with an evil smile as he prepared his battle stance. ’Are you watching mother? I’ll show you how much I’ve grown-up; I’ll show you how much I’ve learned without your help; I’ll show you and the princess, that there is no pony else more qualified to be Celestia’s student than I am’
“I’ll show everypony that my magic knows no bounds!!”
Silverlight and Astral trotted along the forest avoiding several cobwebs and tree stumps which could trip them. Astral began to stall her movements as she was beginning to grow tired from the constant running her friend had subjected her to for an hour.
“Hold on Silver,” Astral panted as she attempted to catch her breath. “I need a moment to rest,”
“Ah come on Astral, we haven’t found a single gem yet and the sun is beginning to set, I think,” Silverlight trotted forward with a hoof above his eyes as he attempted to get a better look at the Sun which was hidden behind the thickness of the forest. In his attempt to determine how much time he and Astral had left, Silverlight tripped over a rock and rolled into a bush, his moan of pain was soon replaced by an excitable cry. “Hey, hey Astral, guess what I just found?”
“Please tell me it’s a way out of this place,” the unicorn groaned as she approached the talking shrub. She than witnessed her friend poke his head out with a coy grin on his face, then, he stuck out his hooves to reveal two vivid colored objects.
“Ta-daaah! Am I awesome or what?”
“Th-those are-”
“Yup,” the pony said as he exited the bush. “A ruby and a sapphire, with these we got a combined total of 50 points,” Silverlight said as he tossed the sapphire to his friend. She stared back at him with a puzzled expression as to why he did this.
“No Silver, it’s alright, you found them so you should keep both. I’ll find my own,” the unicorn replied kindly.
“Oh come on Astral, you’ve always had my back since I joined the academy, now it’s time for me to have yours,”
“Then why not take the sapphire? I mean it’s worth 30 more points than the ruby,”
“True,” the earth pony responded as he put the gem in his saddle bag. “But I prefer the color red,” he laughed. He then noticed a bright opening at the end of a pathway through the forest which he had no doubt led to the exit. "Hey it's an exit, now we can wrap up this exam and-"
Silverlight’s speech was interrupted by a blood curdling scream which rang throughout the forest; the sound startled both ponies and sent chills down their spines.
“Wh-what in the wide world of Equestria was that?” Astral stammered as she forced out the question.
“It sounded like another student, come on!” the earth pony turned to where the scream came from only to be blocked by his friend. “Astral, what are you doing?”
“This is a competition remember? We have are gems, the exit is in front of us, Silver, we won’t get this opportunity again,” Astral watched as her friend’s gaze shifted back and forth between the exit of the forest and than back to her. “Don’t you want to be Celestia’s student and achieve your dream?” Silence befell the forest as Silverlight just stared at the ground, contemplating his decision.
“Yeah, I wanna be Celestia’s student,” he replied still staring at the ground.
“Good, than let’s g-”
“But,” the white haired pony began as he looked up at his friend with an expression of determination. “My dream is to become a powerful magic wielder so I can protect everypony I care about. That said, I couldn’t live with myself if I turned my back on somepony who needed help, no matter who they are!” having said that, Silverlight bolted past his friend and headed toward an unknown threat. After a few moments he noticed that his best friend was galloping beside him.
“You tend to do stupid things when you run off alone,” Astral teased as she attempted to maintain her friend’s speed. “Plus, you made a best friend promise to our rematch and you know as well as I do that you can’t break a best friend promise,”
“Alright then,” the earth pony nodded as he agreed with his friend. “Let’s do this Astral!”
“It seems as though no pony has made it out of the forest yet,” Celestia said as her and the principal stood outside of the dense woodland illusion. “Perhaps we made it too challenging for them,” she giggled.
“I’m certain Midnight will find a way out, him and Astral are two of the top students in professor Light’s class,” Solar Wind replied with a grin.
“And what of that earth pony?” Celestia asked with an intrigued expression.
“Silverlight? He’s an interesting one, he failed the entrance exam three times; I admired his persistence and determination and permitted him entry. Even though he’s an earth pony, something about him just seemed….magical,” Solar Wind responded with a curious look of her own. “Why are you so interested?”
“His bonds with his friends are strong, possibly even strong enough to be considered magical; wouldn’t you agree?” Celestia chuckled her question out. Her former student however just stared on, curious as to what the princess was implying. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to call in a friend to help me perform a little test of my own,”
“What exactly are you trying to say?”
“I just want to see how strong his bonds truly are, and I know just the kind of creature to test him with,” Celestia answered as she began to write a note on a scroll.
“Oh man, what happened to these guys?” Silverlight asked as he and Astral stumbled upon two unicorns who stood completely still. Their colors seemed a bit off and had a deep shade of blue envelop them and their bodies emitted a chill.
“There’s no mistaking it,” Astral began as she placed a hoof on one of the frozen unicorn's body. “This is a freezing spell, this is supposed to be a top tier spell if I recall correctly. As far as I know, the only ponies who know it are teachers and….” the unicorn became silent as a look of terror creeped onto her face as she let out the ending of her statement. “and 1st Class Students,”
“I knew you were always smarter than I gave you credit for Astral,”
The two ponies turned around to face a frowning grey unicorn who’s expression they knew all too well. A single yellow eye showing while the other remained hidden behind a lock of black hair as it always did.
“Sorry Astral, but our conversation doesn’t involve you,” as he said this, Midnight Star fired a quick ice like beam which paralyzed and froze the cyan unicorn where she stood.
“Astral!” the white pony called to his friend as he ran over to her side. She was frozen with an expression of fear on her face, seeing this, Silverlight redirected his gaze to the unicorn responsible. “What’s the big idea Midnight!? What are you doing running around freezing people like their your own personal sculptures!?”
“You and I have still have a score to settle,”
“Sweet Celestia is that what this is about!? Okay fine, you win, okay? Now just please unfreeze everypony right now,” Silverlight pleaded as the anger in his voice began to grow.
“Look at you, your pathetic. Even now you stand helpless, unable to save your friend, unable to save anypony. All the while, the fear in your voice begins to become more and more discernable,” the unicorn now stared at the ground with what looked to Silverlight like a heart broken expression. “Why is mother so interested in you?” he mumbled the question under his breath.
“What are you talking about?” Silver asked as the anger in his voice began to die down.
“I’m the top student in Arcane Academy; I score the highest; aim the highest; and completed the highest number of difficult assignments. But still, after all that, mother doesn’t even bat an eye my way,” Midnight now stared back up at Silverlight with his usual reckoning glare. “But you, you’re an utter failure and yet you seem to draw in the most attention from her,”
“I still don’t-”
“Don’t you see!?” Midnight now began to express anger, however, this anger was different from the side Silver had seen before. This anger was combined with another emotion which made it difficult to determine what he was truly feeling, was it sorrow? “You’re the reason for it, for everything! The reason my achievements are so easily overlooked! So now,” the unicorn stomped his front hoof in the ground as though preparing to charge Silver. “I want to see what it is that makes you more special than me!”
The unicorn charged in Silver’s direction however, rather haphazardly. His unusual frontal assault made his movement predictable and easy to dodge as Silverlight rolled out of his way with ease.
“Hey, what’s with you!? Knock it off already!” Silver said as he attempted to talk some sense into the unicorn. The more Midnight rushed recklessly, the more Silverlight began to think that this wasn’t the usual confident, powerful, magical unicorn that he was used to seeing.
This Midnight Star, fought physically with nothing held back in a fit of rage, but mentally, he wasn’t focused at all. Running towards a tree with Midnight right behind him, Silverlight used a tree as a springboard and kicked off of it sending him hurtling toward the unicorn. “I said knock it off!” the pony roared as he felt his head connect to Midnight Star’s body with a powerful impact. The force made Silverlight’s head hurt, but it appeared to knock some sense into his classmate who stopped his relentless rushes as he stood dazed by the blow.
“Good, now your taking me seriously,” Midnight stated as he rubbed away sweat from his face.
“What’s your deal? I know this isn’t just about our fight,” Silverlight replied annoyed with the words of the unicorn. Midnight stared back down at the ground as he dug his hoof into some dirt and kicked it up lightly.
“I already told you, it’s because of you,” Midnight said as he sat down and donned an expression of despondency. “When I was younger, my mother would always have time for me. She would teach me new spells, play with me, or even just walk me down to the beach by the school. However, all of that changed when the school was founded, it seemed like mother grew more and more busy being the principal and our time together diminished,” Midnight glanced up slightly but then returned his gaze to the pile of dirt below him once he noticed Silverlight was listening intently.
“I began to see her less and less frequently as she was constantly upholding her new responsibilities. I eventually enrolled in the academy myself to win my mother back, however, it was than that I realized why my mother stopped caring for me,” the unicorn furiously wiped away tears as they began to form and now returned his usual grumpy gaze at the earth pony. “My mother stopped caring for me because she was too busy worrying about every other student in this academy. That’s why, that’s why I hate you and everypony else at this stupid school!”
Midnight seemed to be huffing in a fit of rage now as he stared down the white haired pony who no longer returned his gaze. After awhile of no sound except for the breeze in the wind, Silverlight began to laugh, first softly than uncontrollably. Seeing this, Midnight only grew even more infuriated.
“Now you mock me!? See this is why I hate you! This is why I must become a member of the Arcane Agency, then mother will have no choice but to acknowledge me and-”
“Is that really what you believe!?” Silverlight’s sudden outburst silenced the unicorn and gave him an opportunity to speak. “Your mom hasn’t stopped caring for you, in fact, I’m sure your what’s always on her mind every time you go out doing an S rank assignment,” a look of sudden shock enveloped Midnight’s face as Silver continued on. “Why do you think that rule of 2 ponies per team when tackling an S rank was created? It wasn’t because of me almost getting myself seriously injured, it was because your mother feared for your safety as well as everypony else’s. She was worried that you’d be just as likely to get injured as me. Sure I’ll admit, your one heck of a magic user and your really skilled too, but there are just something’s you can’t do alone no matter how strong you are,” Silverlight walked over to Astral and placed a hoof on her.
“There’s something that the teachers her can’t teach you; something that only you can learn on your own if your willing to take the lesson; something only friends can help you realize. Maybe you should try making some,” he laughed as he slowly approached the unicorn, when he reached him, Silver extended a hoof and smiled kindly at Midnight who stared back with a confused expression. “So, whaddya say, 1st Class Academy Student Midnight Star?”
Midnight Star looked down at the earth pony’s hoof and than back at his kind smile which he was giving him.
“You’d really offer me your friendship, even after putting you in the hospital wing for a week?”
“Don’t worry about that, I don’t hold grudges, unlike a certain grey unicorn I know,” Silverlight teased.
The unicorn raised his hoof with hesitation, but just as he was about to accept his first friend, a snake like figure slithered around the two ponies and yawned with a claw over it's mouth.
"Excuse me fellas, but can we skip the whole 'power of friendship' nonsense and get back to the fighting? This love feast is beginning to bore me,"
The two ponies jumped back startled out of the creature's clutches. Silverlight stared at the creature with a dumbfounded look, he had never seen anything so strange looking in his entire life, the creature had many mismatched body parts which didn't seem like they belonged.
"Whoa, somepony didn't know what he wanted to be when he grew up, right Midnight?" The earth pony laughed and noticed the look of shock on the unicorn's face. "Hey, Midnight, snap out of it," he said as he waved a hoof in front of Midnight's unwavering face. "what's wrong with you?"
"Paw of a lion; claw of an eagle; leg of a lizard and the other of a goat; those mismatched horns; that snake like tongue and those yellow and crimson eyes. There's no doubt about it, the creature standing before us is Discord, the spirit of choas,"
"Ah, somepony who actually knows about me, I'm flattered," Discord said as he bowed his head before the two ponies. "You must be quite the knowledgeable one,"
"So I'm probably gonna sound like an idiot for asking but-"
"Discord is the living embodiment of chaos itself," Midnight interrupted, as he shot Silverlight a glare. "His magical powers know no bounds and it took princess Celestia as well as princess Luna to seal him away in stone. As to what he's doing way out here in our neck of the woods is beyond me,"
"Just taking the opportunity to spread a little chaos while performing a favor for an old friend," Discord snapped His fingers and poured himself a floating glass of chocolate milk. "Anyways I'm supposed to evaluate the skills of a certain somepony and blah blah blah,"
"As much as it pains me to say this," Midnight said through gritted teeth. "Discord is far too powerful for even a 1st Class Student like myself to take on alone, so, I'm going to need your help,"
"Fine by me, it doesn't matter who it is, anypony who dares drink chocolate milk in front of me with not a dollop of whipped cream in sight shall feel the wrath of Silverlight!" The pony screamed as he dug a hoof into the ground.
"My, my, two for one? Why it must be my birthday!" Discord said as he put on a party hat and threw out confetti which seemed to appear out of thin air. "Your the second pony who recommended whipped cream with my chocolate milk, perhaps I should look into it"
"All right earth pony, pay close attention, as long as you follow what I say we might actually stand a cha-"
"You just try to keep up with me!" Silverlight cried at as he rushed Discord head on.
"You idiot!" Midnight called back to him as he rushed Discord along with Silverlight.