Academy Wars: Season 1

by JP Jackson

Twilight: 1

Twilight's breath came in short ragged huffs though her nose. If she opened her mouth, she would likely vomit.

“Don’t be so tense,” said the mint green haired Unikai girl that stood beside her.

Lyra had been Twilight's good friend since they were both young, and now she stood beside her in what was possibly the greatest challenge of her life. Walking through a set of doors.

Of course it wasn’t the doors themselves that posed a challenge, she had walked through hundreds of doors in her life, it was what lay beyond them. These doors in the Fifthwind City department of mages lead to The Canterot Academy entrance exam. The most challenging and terrifying test composed by any living being, Unikai, Human or other.

Twilight gulped, she had done it so many times it was a miracle that she had any left to swallow. Lyra looked over at her friend.

“You okay Twi? Do you need a…”

“NO I'M FINE!” Twilight shouted, then covered her mouth, embarrassed, when the other waiting students looked at her. She sat against a wall putting her head between her knees and rocked back and forth, moaning.

“What have I gotten myself into?”

Lyra rolled her eyes.

“It’s just a test Twi, no need to freak…”

“JUST A TEST!? JUST A TEST!” Twilight shouted, everyone looked at her again but this time she didn’t care.

“THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT TEST WE WILL EVER TAKE IN OUR ENTIRE LIVES!”

“Twi, you scored 109% on your final at Sentinel, the highest ever! You’ll do fine.”

“I could of gotten 110%, but I misspelled Luconnian Arcain Configurarium Complex.”

Lyra sighed, she had done all she could to help her neurotic friend calm down, but to no avail. The two of them had been best friends since either of them could remember, Twilight had always been a very left brained color-inside-the-lines type of kid where as Lyra had always been a free spirit (a free spirit often sent to the Dean’s office sure, but free nonetheless) and had never really been worried about the problems of life like Twilight had been. Even when the both of them had left Sentinel Academy, the local magic school in their little town, Twilight had been tense and nervous never once acting like the most talented Unikai to ever come out of Sentinel, which she was.

A tall narrow faced human walked out of the double doors that lead into the dark hall where the test would be held.

“All students who are taking the test follow me,” he said in a deep dark tone.

Twilight felt like she was about to have a heart attack.

“Come on,” Lyra said standing, “Let’s go.”

“I don’t think I can…” Twilight said gasping.

“Sure you can you’ll do fine.”

Twilight stumbled to a standing position and shuffled through the doors with the rest of the wave of students.

The professor lead the wave of students down a winding maze of corridors into a plain white room where a slew of desk were arranged in a stiff organized square. Each with a stack of paper and a nameplate.

“Find your name and sit at the desk, don't touch the test.”

Twilight heard Lyra gag, these massive towers of paper on their desk were the test!

The two of them found their desks (Lyra was directly behind Twilight) and sat down, not touching the tests.

“The written portion of the test will begin in ten minutes, prepare yourselves the best you can and begin on my queue.” the long faced man walked to the front of the room and stood in front of a large clock that was ticking away. Twilight turned to Lyra.

“I cant do it!” She hissed under her breath at her friend.

“Relax!” Lyra said for what must be the hundredth time today.

“But what if i mess up what if I do something wrong!?”

“Five minutes,” the supervisor's voice echoed through the massive classroom.

“YOU’LL, BE, FINE!” Lyra said, putting emphasis on each word. “Test taking is like, your thing! You'll probably be the first to finish!”

Twilight let out a squeak of fright.

“Not good! Not good! the person who finishes first usually rushed themselves and got allot of questions wrong!”

“So finish last then,” Lyra said exhausted with Twilight’s anxiety. But it was too late, Twilight had already turned back to her desk and was breathing heavily.

“Begin your tests!” The Supervisor said, as the giant clock buzzed.

Twilight took several deep breaths. Okay, lets do this! She looked down at the paper.

1. What is the proper name for a non physical energy source?

Easy, Aetherial-Proper source. Next?

2. Where is True magic transferred from Aetherial energy to Practical energy?

Was this test for kindergarteners? The Arcania plexa in Unikai and the appropriate organ in humans.

Twilight blazed through the rest of the test answering each of the questions to the best of her ability.

77. What was the name of the Mage who invented the Arcane Reflux method?

Wave Dancer.

453. Where do you find a bezor?

The liver of a goat, (or dragon if you're looking for an elemental type bezor).

Twilight clutched at her chest her heart was racing so fast it felt like it would leap out of her chest.

“You have ten minutes!” the supervisor said.

The room was spinning, Twilight’s heart felt ready to explode. This wasn’t normal test jitters!

“Five minutes!”

Twilight fell to the floor clutching her chest. her arms ached her jaw ached, she couldn’t see straight, everything was muffled!

“Twilight!” Lyra said leaping to her feet. She rushed over to her friend but the supervisor caught her arm.

“Wait until the test is over, Ms. Heartstrings!” He said as if nothing was wrong.

“But I need to help her!”

“You can help her all you want after the test, it’s over in two minutes!”

“SHE MIGHT NOT LAST TWO MINUTES!”

Two men in medical uniform entered the room and plopped Twilight unceremoniously onto a stretcher. Twilight tried to protest but all that came out was a meek “test…”.

She saw Lyra trying to get to her, she saw her struggling against the supervisor. Then everything went black, and she was the calmest she had been in days.

***

Hours, days, years. It was impossible to tell how much time had passed while she was asleep. Twilight stared at the ceiling, wondering what she would do now.

“I guess I could always get a desk job,” she muttered.

Lyra had visited almost every day, the first time she had she told her that she had missed the practical application test.

“You need a completion slip of both test to enter.” She had told her.

It turned out that Lyra had eked by on the tests and just managed to get accepted to the academy.

“That’s great!” Twilight had said. But she hadn’t felt any real enthusiasm, only jealousy.

Since she was a little girl, her dream was to one day be one of the Archmages that taught at Great magical academies like Avalon and Canterlot, the only way to do that was to graduate with the highest degree from Canterlot academy. And it looked like that dream was forever lost to her now.

She sat in her bed examining the poster on the far wall for what seemed to be the thousandth time. Yes, she knew how many servings of fruit she was supposed to have a day.

There was a knock on the door.

“Come in Lyra…” she said listlessly. But the person who stepped through the doorway was not Lyra at all. A beautiful Unikai woman, with long flowing hair of bright colors stepped into the room. Twilight gasped. It was Headmistress Celestia! The Dean of Canterlot academy AND the most powerful Archmage in history!

“M-MS. CELESTIA!” Twilight snapped her jaw shut and took a deep breath, stressing out hadn’t helped her in the past, it definitely wouldn't help her now.

She started over.

“Good morning ma'am. I’d rise to greet you but…”

“No need for that,” the Archmage said. “I have some news for you Ms. Sparkle.”

Twilight gulped, but how much worse could her life get? Any news should be good news.

Celestia summoned a small stack of paper out of nowhere and began to flip through it.

“Your written test was quite impressive, flawless in fact, except for the few questions that you didn’t answer. But I doubt you would have missed those. where did you go to school?”

"Sentient- I MEAN! Sentinel, Ma'am."

Twilight didn’t understand, what was the Headmistress getting at?

The headmistress sat on the side of the bed and handed the papers to Twilight, it was the transcripts from her test. Not a single question was marked wrong.

“Most students at your level average 60-70% on the entrance exam, just enough to squeak in, never have we ever had a student of your intellect.”

Twilight blushed. here she was, be complemented by the most powerful spell-caster since Archmage Astrum! And after failing a test!

“Unfortunately we are still not allowed to let you join classes without the practical exam.”

Twilight’s heart sank.

“Can’t you make an exception, pull some strings and let me take it?”

Celestia shook her head.

“Even if I could, you are in no condition to attempt the physical exam.”

Twilight touched the small scar that was left from the operation, she would have it for the rest of her life. And if she stressed out too much she would get another.

“However,”

Twilight looked up, Celestia was smiling deviously.

“I would be more than happy to take you on as a personal apprentice.”

Twilight gasped! Only the most skilled students were offered apprenticeships. and here was the the Archmage Celestia, asking her for one before she even started classes!

“Of course! I mean...” She started over “It would be my greatest pleasure, Headmistress.”

“Then contact me when you get out of the hospital, and please, just call me Celestia.”
“Contact me in my office when you get out of the hospital, and please, just call me Celestia.”

Author's Note:

This story is going to be awesome! I just know it! I have a whole lore worked out for this world.
If you have any questions about the story message me, I will be happy to answer your questions. (Please do not ask lore or story questions in the comments, that is for comments)
I hope you all enjoy this new adventure!