Arcane Academy: Celestia's New Student

by TheDimensionRift

Part 1: Chapter: 12

The green magical spherical barrier arose and surrounded two unicorns who stood at opposite ends from each other. Ignis simply stared on at the two, there was a feeling of intensity in the air, he knew this match was going to be one that the crowd would adore.

“I’m sure your both aware of the rulings for the duel?” Ignis asked, the microphone still in front of his muzzle as he spoke. Astral and Cherry simply gave him a nod of recognition and continued to stare at each other. “Well then, I guess there’s only one thing left,” Ignis transported himself outside of the arena once again and signaled for the match to start. “Duel!”

“Remember, just because we’re friends doesn’t mean I’m holding back,” Astral laughed through a serious smile.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way, it’d be bad if I beat you when you weren’t trying your hardest,” Cherry retorted back with a giggle. Her horn soon began to glow a bright magenta as she said this. “I may not be a 2nd class like you are, but I promise I won’t be a pushover.”

“Neither am I, I’ve got a couple of new spells I’ve been dying to test out, now’s a good a time as any.” Astral’s horn now hummed with a blue aura, the two unicorns fired direct beams of magic towards each other. Surprisingly, they both cancelled out and magical sparks flew everywhere. The two fired another set of blasts only to be met with another cancellation.

There was a moment of rest before both combatants exhaled and ran around the arena in a counter clockwise direction. They started slow, then, their trots turned into full speed gallops, all the while, they continued firing volleys of magic back and forth. The intense action was drawing cheers from the crowd, Ignis even found himself intrigued in the match as well. The cheers of the onlookers only grew louder when the two participants stopped and then began galloping in the opposite direction, still releasing magical blasts as they did.

“I see what you mean about Astral being skilled,” Mary started as she watched the duel continue. “But it looks like Cherry is pretty good to”—

“It’s already over, Astral has won,” Midnight said as he cutoff Mary.

“What are you talking about!?” Mary snapped. “Cherry is giving it everything she’s got and you mean to tell me that Astral is still going to win?”

“Can you not see it?” Midnight asked as he glanced over at Mary and then back to the battle. “Perhaps I gave you too much credit.”

“What do you mean?”

“You said Cherry is giving her all right? Well the same can’t be said for Astral. I’ve seen her give her all before….she’s holding back. Whether it’s because their friends or another reason, she’s still holding back.” Midnight tapped his chin. “I’d say she’s only displaying about a fraction of her true strength.”

“You can tell?” Mary asked quizzically as Midnight stared back at her.

“Of course I know what it’s like to hold back against somepony. Also, I’ve had somepony hold back against me before.” Midnight’s words seemed to imply something though Mary couldn’t tell what at first. “Princess Celestia,” Midnight began as he bowed his head humbly and motioned for Mary to do the same. “I apologize for having to leave so abruptly, but I’m afraid I have some matters to tend to, and then afterwards I wish to check on Silverlight’s condition.”

“Midnight,” Solar Wind began with a ‘You better not’ tone of voice. “I will not have you making trouble for Silver,”

“Relax mother, I’m willing to give this friendship thing a chance as you can see. I won’t cause trouble, I just wish to know how he escaped from his illusory prison.” Midnight motioned toward the door and Sir Trottsalot began pushing his wheelchair in the direction he specified. Mary trotted ahead and opened the door for the two to exit before she followed out behind them.

“Maybe he’s learned the importance of having friends after all, though it’s a bit early to jump to conclusions.” Solar Wind shifted her expression back to Celestia for answers.

“Don’t fret for Midnight’s sake, he will learn the importance of his friends,” Celestia said with her usual warming smile. “He just needs time, you’ll see.”

---

“Your not going to try to do an assignment are you?” Mary questioned as she walked beside Midnight’s wheelchair. “Your still in no condition to—”

“I’m not doing such a thing,” Midnight began as he attempted to make himself comfortable in his chair. “We’re going to visit an old friend of mine, I’m going to need your help though. He stays in one of the caves on the mountainside that overlooks the school.”

“Wait!” Mary exclaimed as she stopped in front of Midnight and narrowed her gaze, she blocked his path with a confused expression. “First, I thought you didn’t have any friends? And second, what do you mean he lives in a cave? There is a lot your not telling me here Midnight!” The black haired unicorn closed his eyes and let his thoughts do battle for a few moments, he let out a deep breath as he opened his eyes once more.

“Well, I guess we are friends now, so I’ll tell you.” Mary moved out of Midnight’s way and they continued down the hallway toward the front entrance of the school. “First off, I didn’t have any friends, however, the one we are about to see is an old friend of my mother’s. Second, he lives in a cave because he’s a dragon…anymore questions?” Mary continued to walk by Midnight’s side without saying anything else, she was too shocked to form any words.

---

“Okay….I’ll admit, you’re a lot better than I originally thought,” Cherry said through quick pants of exhaustion.

“Come on Cher, you know I’ll win. Why don’t you just forfeit now and we can both go check up on Silver?” Astral rolled out of the way of a magical bolt of pink as she finished her question. “Persistent to the end, your like Silver in a way.”

“Come on Cherry! You got this!” Chip called out from the sidelines. It was almost hard to hear him with several others in the stands making equally loud noise.

“Chip, what the heck?” Astral questioned with annoyance as she rolled out of harm’s way again. “Who’s side are you on anyway?”

“Sorry Astral, but she’s best friend status so she’s got you beat by a long shot!” Chip cried back with a laugh. “No hard feelings.”

Astral took a moment after dodging another attack to realize the distance which was put between the two unicorns. She then prepared for her final attack, one she had prepared for just an occasion. She took her stance as her horn began to glow, she took notice of Cherry who drew nearer with her horn also embedded in a glow.

“Let’s wrap this up,” Astral taunted with a laugh.

“I couldn’t agree more,” Cherry replied as she fired a rather large sized blast in Astral’s direction. Rather than fire back, Astral conjured up a glass like rectangle which appeared before her. Cherry’s blast hit the mirror like object only to ricochet back to it’s sender, hitting Cherry with a direct shot. It sent the unicorn sliding across the arena, however, she recovered and was even able to stand on her hooves once again before she hit the barrier which surrounded her. “What….was…that?”

“Magical Reflection Spell, it takes whatever form of magic is being thrown at it and returns it back to it’s sender with five times it’s original power.” Astral teleported to Cherry’s location in the blink of an eye and was now standing right in front of the badly damaged unicorn. “You might want to get those healed up before they get any worse,” Astral chimed with a smile.

“Ye— yeah, I guess your right,” Cherry replied with a slight bit of hesitation.

“It appears as though Cherry is unable to battle, meaning, Astral wins!” Ignis hadn’t expected to receive the reaction that he did, the stadium like arena erupted with cheers and hoof stomps of applause. ‘I guess seeing a real fight really got this crowd going. I have to say, that was an impressive display, truly.’ Ignis released the barrier and allowed for the two combatants to exit the arena, though he wasted no time moving on to the next match. “Let’s keep blowing through these matches! Next is Mint Chip versus Lucky Charm!”

“Well it’s about time!” Chip said as he made his way to the arena. “Time to give this crowd a real show!” As he moved from the sidelines to the arena, Chip ran into his two friends who, oddly enough, both of them wore smiles.

“Good luck in your match Chip,” Astral said

“Your not gonna stay and watch?” Chip asked with a grin. “It’ll be one heck of a show.”

“I’d love to, but I want to check on Silver’s progress.” Astral gave Chip a wink and teased the unicorn. “Sorry Chip, he’s best friend status so he’s got you beat by a long shot.”

“Pfft, your loss,” Chip scoffed before continuing toward the small stairs and ascending to the arena.

“I’m going to stay and root for Chip,” Cherry said with a laugh. “Give my regards to Silverlight.”

“But what about—?”

“I’m fine, these scratches will heal on their own.” Cherry’s smile made it clear that she wasn’t going to miss her best friend’s match even if she did need medical care.

“If you say so,” Astral gave her friend a quick nod before she dashed to the giant double doors and turned right.

“I hope Silver is awake already, but right now, my best friend needs me.” Cherry turned her eyes toward the dueling arena as she watched the green dome cage in two more combatants. “Come on Chip! Show him that it takes more than luck to be a great wizard!”

---

“Whoa, that’s….that’s a lot of gems!” Mary exclaimed as she stared at the horde of assorted gems and rubies which resided in the cave. Thousands of gems; rubies; emeralds; and sapphires all lay scattered all over the cave floor with a single large mountain sized pile resting in the center of the cave.

“Avoid touching any of them at all costs,” Midnight warned with a stern expression. Just as he said this, Mary stopped moving all together. “He’s eaten his fair share of ponies before so you wouldn’t be the first.”

“What the hay Midnight!?” Mary’s face now carried an expression of worry. “I thought you were friends!?”

“He’s friends with my mom, me and him are more like acquaintances,” Midnight admitted with a slight laugh.

Mary would have continued her questioning if it wasn’t for the heaven shaking roar which reverberated throughout the cave and shook the unicorns to their cores. Both ponies looked around for the owner of the cry, instead, they found two large, purple reptilian eyes which watched them from the safety of the shadows; angrily glaring at the three intruders which have infiltrated his domain.

“Well, hello to you too,” Midnight retorted to the eyes as he glared back.

“Midnight Star? Is that you?”

“Unfortunately it is.”

“What’s with the get up?” A large black claw emerged from the shadows and pointed at Midnight’s chair.

“It’s called a wheelchair. I suffered my first defeat, my first EVER need I remind you, and sustained a fractured hind leg.” After hearing the unicorn’s words, another claw emerged, followed by a head and the rest of it’s body. Mary could now see the rest of the dragon’s black scaled body as he towered over the ponies as though they were ants.

“The mighty and prideful Midnight Star bested in combat?” The dragon laughed at his own question as he watched Midnight grow irritated. “Who could it have been, I wonder? Was it possibly that white haired earth pony you once sent to my den?”

“Tch, don’t you chastise me Tenebris. When was a the last time you did battle with any dragon?” A dark scaled claw slammed down in front of Midnight, startling the unicorn and causing a tremor on the cave floor.

“Quite recently as a matter of fact! Tenebris boomed, clearly annoyed with Midnight’s recent remark. “Not too long ago I traveled back to The Dragonlands to participate in The Gauntlet of Fire.”

“Midnight, what’s the Gauntlet of Fire?” Mary whispered as she made an attempt to hide herself behind her friend. Tenebris now narrowed his eyes as he took notice of the other unicorn. Unlike the one standing behind Midnight and pushing his wheelchair, this pony wasn't stiff as a board and even appeared to shake at the sight of the massive dragon.

"You brought another? Here? Midnight, I don't necessarily care for you and trust you very little as it is. And then you have the audacity to enter my den with another one of your kind without my consent? I think I’m starting to dislike you even more."

"The feeling is mutual,” Midnight said as he narrowed his glare towards the dragon’s eyes.

"Midnight!" Mary exclaimed as she cowered behind her seating friend. "I thought you said you two were acquaintances?"

"Oh, please, we may not even be that.” Tenebris refocused his eyes on Midnight before he continued. “The only reason I allow you to return to my den is because you’re not ecstatic or wanting to make friends like most ponies. Your cold, distant, and care only for yourself, and I like that. You remind me a lot of myself; I also can't eat you because your mother would, as she said, 'tear me scale from scale, turn me into a pair of boots and then sell my hoard'." A slight hint of fear shone in the deep violet purple eyes of the dragon as he mentioned the last phrase. "Anyway, the Gauntlet of Fire is a trial that is held once a new Dragon Lord needs to be crowned. I might have participated if I had made it."

"You mean, you didn't make it? How would you have known then?"

"I've been around for longer than you can comprehend, I know what it means when my scales start glowing, that, and this isn't my first gauntlet that I was summoned to. Though I never made it to the Gauntlet because I got into a skirmish with several other dragons. Apparently I was flying in restricted air space, so, I rendered seven of the ten into piles of ash and left the other three as warnings for whomever it may concern. After which, I got bored and decided to return to my den, my scales stopped glowing shortly after so I can only assume that the gauntlet had begun." Tenebris let out a yawn which almost seemed to resemble a wind current. "I'm growing weary of our conversation and need to rest soon. So, Midnight, what have you come to me for? You know I don't like it when you show up unannounced, so this better be good."

"I simply came to check up on you, last time I came here you were gone; guess now I know why." Midnight's horn hummed with a golden glow and made a large saddle bag materialize before him. "Here's a gift, consider it a sign of our new formed friendship." Tenebris's claw reached out and scooped up the bag quickly; he then dumped out its contents to reveal several varieties of gemstones. "Come on Mary, we have to check on Silverlight next," Midnight stated as he motioned for Mary's puppet to push him toward the tunnel which led to the mouth of the cave.

"Make no mistake Midnight Star, a small offering like this doesn't mean I'll be your friend." Tenebris's voice echoed throughout the cave even though he was physically no longer in range. "Though, its always nice to receive donations for my hoard."

---

“Of course Princess Celestia…..I’d gladly accept the key to the city for being the greatest wizard ever.” Silver’s words came out in the form of several mumbles and snores as he lay in bed asleep. “No ma’am, there’s no need to pay me in bits. I’ll just take chocolate milk with a dollop of whipped cream and all the blueberry muffins you can give me.”

“Typical,” Astral laughed as she sat at the side of her friend’s bed. “Even in your dreams all you can think about is food, you eat a lot too. How come you never put on any weight?” Astral’s eyes stayed locked on Silver who now appeared to be wrestling a pillow, but she greeted somepony who she thought was her friend as they opened the door and entered the room. “You feeling better? Or do you want the nurse to check you out?”

“I’m grateful for your concern, but I think I’ll be fine.”

Astral quickly diverted her gaze to the doorway as she recognized the cold voice which spoke those words. Sitting in a wheelchair in the doorway was Midnight Star wearing his usual glare which Astral assumed by now was just his normal facial expression. Astral jumped to her hooves and assumed a defensive stance as she shielded her best friend with her own body.

“Midnight, I should have known you’d come. What? You thinking of attacking Silver now that he’s weak?” Astral’s horn began glowing as she shot a magical bolt straight at Midnight. It hit him directly, at least, it would have if another figure wasn’t blocking Astral’s way upon impact. Standing before her was a beige white haired unicorn with a glaring expression which seemed similar to Midnight’s.

“I won’t allow you to bring any harm to Midnight,” Mary said as she stood before the crippled unicorn, practically being a shield for him.

“Ma—Mary?” Astral stammered in confusion at the unicorn who appeared before her. “What are you doing here?”

“Protecting my friend,” the unicorn replied sternly with intensity in her eyes. This certainly wasn’t the same creepy Mary that Astral had met before, something about her was different, that much was obvious.

“Mary, there’s no need to be so reckless, I could have easily taken that and not sustained any injuries. But if that blast had been any stronger than you could have been seriously hurt.” Midnight’s tone was also one Astral had not heard before. It was his usual annoyance with somepony, but Astral could detect another tone hidden within it. Was it concern? Worry for another pony’s well being? If so, it confused her because for as long as she had known him Midnight gained the reputation of caring only for himself. “Why didn’t you use Sir Trottsalot?”

“Casting the spell for my puppets is easy, but prolonged use of the Puppet Master Spell will drain my magic. I had to put him away for the time being.” Mary paused for a moment as she returned to Midnight’s side, though she kept her eyes trained on Astral who’s horn was still glowing.

“Can we all drop the hostility for Celestia’s sake, if you both insist on keeping this up than I’ll put the both of you on ice.” Both unicorns felt no true malice, but the stern expression on Midnight’s face begged to differ. Astral hesitated at first, but after a few silent seconds she gave in to Midnight’s demands.

“Why are you the both of you here,” Astral practically spat out her question. Mary assumed another defensive position but a raised hoof from Midnight made her ease off.

“I’ve recently made a bit of a reformation and decided to give this…..‘friendship’ ordeal that my mother has spoken about a chance. So, I’ve come to reconcile our differences and—”

“Reconcile our differences!?” Astral snapped at the unicorn. “You almost KILLED my best friend! I’m sure you wouldn’t understand because you’ve never had one, but he’s my best friend and he’s very special, and I wouldn’t know what to do if he was taken away from me.” Astral placed her hoof on Silver’s as she stared at him with hope in her eyes, she then looked over at Mary. “And why is she here?”

“As I said before, I’ve recently turned over a new leaf and decided to,” Midnight let out a sigh like what he was about to say disgusted him. “Make friends. I’ve been lead to believe that friends will aid me in my quest for strength; so, I recruited this puppet wielding mare as my first friend. So far she’s annoying and our relationship has been a bit…..bumpy, but I’m hoping that our friendship will strengthen.”

“I don’t think that’s how your supposed to talk about your friends Midnight,” Mary huffed in annoyance as she rolled her eyes.

“How would you know? Have you ever had any friends?” Mary opened her mouth as if to respond to Midnight’s question but he cut her off before she could do so. “Puppets don’t count.”

“I see what you mean about a bumpy relationship,” Astral giggled to herself. However she quickly ditched her façade as she remembered who stood before her. “So what? You think I’m still going to accept your friendship that easily?”

“I don’t see why not,” Silver laughed as he sat up on his hospital bed and stretched out. Astral let out a sigh of relief and embraced her friend in a hug. “So, Midnight, you finally decided to try having friends huh?”

“Yeah, and he thinks we’re just going to be friends just like that,” Astral scoffed as she stared back at Midnight. “That’s a crazy idea, huh Silver?”

“That is a crazy idea,” Silver laughed as he hopped out of bed and continued stretching his hind legs. “Because as far as I’m concerned me and Midnight already are friends.” Silver took notice of Mary who was standing at Midnight’s side. “Hey Mary, long time no see.”

“Nice to see you’ve recovered Silverlight, I half expected you’d be out longer.” Mary had replaced her stern demeanor with her trademark blank one; her Midnight glare had faded and she stared at Silver with an expressionless face.

“Nice to see that everypony except Astral is getting along, but friendship isn’t the only reason I came here,” Midnight said as he narrowed his eyes at the earth pony that stood before him. “Silver, how do you manage to escape Dexter’s illusion spell? Surely you didn’t perform the cancellation spell because that’s reserved for high level unicorns and you’re an earth pony.”

“To be honest with you, I’m not too sure myself.” Silver began laughing and placed a nervous hoof behind his head. “Let’s just say I took charge for once instead of waiting for somepony to come to my aid.” Midnight continued his glare at Silver, as though he was analyzing him; but not just him, but his words and actions too.

“I see, perhaps there is more to you than I originally thought. Very well than, good luck in your next match, I’m sure you’ll do the right thing.” Midnight glanced over at Mary who immediately knew what he wanted. She stepped behind Midnight’s chair and pulled him out of the doorway of the room. “You both might want to return to the arena soon, the next set of matches will begin shortly.” A smug grin formed on Midnight’s face as he and Mary left.

Almost as if on cue, Chip and Cherry came dashing in the room with both of them carrying concerned expressions.

“What the hay was HE doing here? Did he come looking for a fight?” Chip hopped on his hind legs and brought up his front hooves as he began shadow boxing with himself.

“Actually, it was quite the opposite,” Astral began as she looked towards her friends; a confused look frozen on her face. “He actually…..came to wish us luck.”

“Is this the same over confident, prideful Midnight Star that we’re talking about?” Cherry asked quizzically. “I hardly think that’s something he’d do.”

“Guess you guys just don’t know him then,” Silver laughed as he rolled his neck which gave a loud ‘crack’. “Now come on, let’s all head back to the arena and get in our second set of wins.” Silver looked at Chip and Cherry who’s expressions were filled with disappointment.

“Actually, only you and Astral made it to the semi finals,” Cherry began with a tone of gloom. Both her and Chip lifted up their faces toward the earth pony and gave half-hearted smiles. “We gave it out all, but we both lost.”

“Guess there was a reason behind that unicorns name of Lucky Charm after all,” Chip attempted to joke. “But we can still cheer for the both of you from the sides.”

“Thanks guys, but I don’t want you two to feel bad,” Silver now took a saddened expression himself. “You guys don’t have to come if you don’t wanna.”

“Silver,” Chip placed a mint green hoof on the shoulder of Silver and gave him a genuine smile. “It’s not your fault, maybe our destiny doesn’t lie in being Princess Celestia’s student. And besides, we’re gonna cheer on the both of you still. I mean, we’re friends after all, and we all made a promise to remain friends no matter what happened in this tournament.”

“Yeah, your right.” Silver’s sad face was lost and quickly replaced with his determined grin. He eyed Chip who apparently was thinking the same thing because he took off out of the medical wing room. “Hey no fair! You didn’t even give me a heads up time!” Silver laughed before chasing after his friend.

---

“Can’t you push a bit faster?” Midnight asked as he and Mary turned a corner. “At this right the semi finals will be over by the time we get there.”

“Your not as light as your figure leads you to believe,” Mary stated, a tone of annoyance hidden in her words. “And with my magic supply running low, I have to exert physical stre—”

“Wait!” Midnight exclaimed as he raised a hoof. Mary obeyed the unicorn’s command and brought his wheelchair to a halt right away.

“What now?” Mary questioned, her annoyance beginning to show. “First you want me to hurry and now you want me to stop? What is your prob—”

“We’re being followed,” Midnight gave a slight hesitant pause. “No. It’s more than that. We’re being stalked.” Midnight soon began yelling to whoever was following him and Mary, though Mary didn’t seem to see anyone in sight. “You have five seconds to come out from where your hiding or I’ll find you myself! Trust me, I’m not in the mood for games.”

“Okay, okay, geez. No need to be so hostile,” a familiar voice echoed through the hall. It wasn’t until the unicorn undid his transparency spell that Midnight caught sight of his and Mary’s stalker.

“And what do you want?” Midnight asked with a curious raised brow at the lavender unicorn who stood before him. “Moongazer, right? Tell me, why are you stalking me like some snake in the grass?”

“It’s quite simple really, I’ve come because my Lord wishes to make you an offer,” the unicorn began to wrinkle his nose in disgust. “And please, call me Sidewinder.”

“I don't need any charity handouts from anypony. Your just wasting my time, come on Mary lets g—”

“Dark Magic,” Sidewinder blurted as Midnight made an attempt to leave. Hearing his words, Midnight shifted his gaze back to the lavender unicorn, curiosity in his eyes. “We know you’ve always been interested in Dark Magic, Lord Ventus could teach you; she’s very skilled in the dark arts of magic.”

“Midnight, I got a bad feeling about what he’s say—”

“Hush Mary,” Midnight said cutting his friend off in mid sentence. “I’m interested in this little offer Sidewinder is extending. I’d like to hear more about it.” Midnight stared intensely at the lavender unicorn, eyes hungry for knowledge. "Please, go on."

Comments

[Grekoy]

Midnight no! I just starting to like him.

[TheDimensionRift]

7208390 Big fan of both PTS and Shippuden series, but yeah, there's several altered quotes or references thrown in everywhere.