Forbidden Fruit

by Vargras

Brains and Brawn

"...Well, that's hardly surprising."

Twilight Sparkle idly kicked a pebble, sending it plummeting into the abyss that lay in front of them. The Trial of Sky had lived up to its name, based on appearances alone - a vast pit lay stretched out before them, and there was no clear way to the other side aside from flying. A series of hoops simply floated in the air, but none of them had the characteristic glow surrounding them that was typical of unicorn magic. How, exactly, they were managing to stay afloat was a mystery. It didn't help that several crosswinds were blowing through the course either.

"Guess I'll get this one too, Twi." The earth pony step forwards, but was stopped by a hoof on her shoulder.

"No. You're taking a break this round because of your injury. Besides, it's easier to control the wings from this spell if you've had experience with magic before. I'll just need a brief break after performing it. It's not exactly easy." The unicorn stepped off to the side, and after her friend was at a safe distance, she began to perform the spell. Things felt different this time, compared to the last time she had cast it - instead of being encased in a chrysalis like Rarity had been, she watched as several lavender feathers swirled around her, steadily closing in on her as the spell progressed. Her horn had shifted from merely glowing to giving off a piercing light, and she grimaced as she continued to concentrate on the flight spell. Wings slowly began to sprout from her back, and as they continually grew, the feathers closed in tighter and tighter around her. With the spell at an end, the feathers exploded outward, gently drifting to the ground as Twilight gave her new wings a testing flex. "Huh. That's an odd sensation... I'll have to document this some time."

Applejack simply blinked at her friend, not quite sure what to make of it. She had seen the effects of it before when it had been used on Rarity, but it was still bizarre to see a change of that magnitude. "Ya... kinda look like th' Princesses, sugarcube. I mean, with th' horn an' th' wings an' all."

"I... suppose I do look kinda like an alicorn, don't I?" The lavender mare turned and glanced at her back, visually inspecting the wings. "Seems like the spell went off without a hitch. I'll still need to do some test flights so I know everything is in working order - having something go wrong over that pit doesn't exactly seem conducive to our search."

"...condu-what?"

Twilight giggled and turned back to face Applejack. "It just means that it helps with things."

"Oh, right." The earth pony laughed nervously - she never did like missing out on something on account of Twilight's speech patterns. "Yeah, that'd be kinda bad. Anywho, break time, right?"

"Yep!" She took a seat upon the ground and floated an apple from her bags, taking a bite out of it as it levitated in the air.

Above them, the figure slithered about the ceiling as it watched, the two mares completely unaware of its existence. It watched them both with intense curiosity, particularly the lavender one - it didn't think it possible to cheat at the Trials, and yet, this one had. It was so very young too! Normally, such a feat would be grounds for immediate disposal, but this situation was different. They had no pegasus with them, after all. Such a technicality was enough for the being to grant them unspoken permission to continue. For now, it would simply watch and wait.

And prepare for the future.

-----

Having sufficiently rested, Twilight flew about the entrance of the room as she grew accustomed to her wings. She was a remarkably fast learner as far as spells were concerned, and flight seemed to be no different - already, the unicorn was pulling off maneuvers that Rarity had never dared attempt. After landing beside Applejack, she surveyed the course. "So AJ... what do you think of it? Just... fly through the hoops?"

"Looks like it, Twi. Jus' gotta watch for them crosswinds. Rainbow Dash always talks about how bad they are, an' ya know how good of a flyer she is. Jus' be careful, and ya should be fine." She placed a hoof on the lavender mare's shoulder and gave the unicorn a reassuring smile. "I know ya can do this, Twilight."

Twilight Sparkle nodded and took up a sprinter's position, mentally and physically preparing herself before taking off. Almost immediately upon entering the Trial itself, she found herself thrown woefully off-balance by a brutal crosswind, though she was quick to compensate for it by shifting her wings. She flew through the first hoop with relative ease, and was about to make the turn towards the next one when she felt herself get blasted from above by another strong gust. The mare flapped her wings rapidly as she struggled to regain altitude, and she just barely made it through the second.

From her spot at the entrance, Applejack tried to cheer her friend on, but the roar of the wind within the room made such a thing almost impossible. "C'mon, Twi! You can do it! Don' give up!"

The unicorn grunted as she battled against the wind and pushed her way through the third hoop, but one still remained and try as she might, she simply couldn't reach it. Every attempt left the mare beaten and battered by the gale-force winds, and she hovered in place as she thought of ways she could pull it off. Desperate, she tried to picture the countless stunts and tricks Rainbow Dash had pulled off - most notable, of course, was the Sonic Rainboom. Inspiration struck her, and she knew what she needed to do. It would no doubt freak out Applejack, but it was necessary. Twilight flew to the top of the room and sent herself into a dive, hurtling herself straight towards the abyss below.

As predicted, the earth pony sat and watched in absolute horror as her friend plummeted downwards. She shook her head repeatedly as she told herself that none of this could possibly be happening, and yet it was.

Just as things began to grow progressively more dark around her, Twilight sharply angled herself skywards once more, sending herself soaring through the air at a blistering pace. Her plan worked beautifully, and she flew through the final hoop as if the wind hadn't been there at all. Pleased with herself, she made a gentle landing and walked over to the next doorway, pressing the button beside it - the crosswinds immediately ceased, stopped by some unknown mechanism, and a bridge extended itself across the chasm. Applejack stared in disbelief and quickly gathered their saddlebags, racing across the bridge to meet up with Twilight Sparkle. She was less than pleased, of course. "Are ya tryin' ta make me think you went an' killed yerself?!"

"Applejack, settle down. I knew you wouldn't like it, but the winds around the last hoop were just too strong, and I couldn't get enough speed to make it. I had to dive down like that. Rainbow kinda helped with that one too."

"What? How the heck did Rainbow... Ooh, I get it now. Th' Sonic Rainboom." Twilight nodded and took her saddlebags back, and Applejack simply sighed in return. "Sorry fer yellin' at ya. We only got one trial ta go, though."

The unicorn nodded once more. "Yep. Trial of Arcane. Let's get to it!"

The earth pony turned and kicked the doors open, and they raced off into the darkness ahead as they ran for the final trial. Elsewhere, a pair of eyes followed the duo as they charged off - it was surprised the lavender one was so adept, especially considering it wasn't a natural flyer. The enthusiasm and concern of the orange one was also of note, as it had rarely seen such individuals that retained so much innocence. Not only that, but they simply had one trial remaining. Should they pass it, a meeting would be in order, and such a thing had not been done in a very long time. It relished in the thought that it might finally have contact with other creatures once more, as such a thing had not happened since she had been here. It smiled to itself as it slipped into the very walls of the fortress once more.

Soon, young ones. Soon.

-----

The Trial of Arcane looked more like a hall of mirrors, rather than something befitting a 'Trial'. Twilight looked absolutely befuddled by the room - it was filled with several enormous mirrors, each of them on what appeared to be a rotating platform. Circling the entirety of the room was a balcony of sorts, obviously to allow for a better vantage point, but a low ceiling prevented any real flying. Still, she was awfully confused by most of it. "So there's mirrors, and... that's all I've got. I don't know what they're for. I mean, I've looked all over and I haven't seen anything that's stuck out."

"That's 'cause yer overthinkin' it, Twi." Applejack stepped up beside Twilight, causing the unicorn to turn and look. The earth pony pointed up at a hole in the ceiling, and her friend quickly spotted it. "If it were me makin' these trials, I'd say ya gotta bounce a spell or something off them mirrors and into th' hole up there."

"That's..." She thought it over, and mentally slapped herself for overlooking such an obvious solution. Leave it to Applejack to see things in the most straight-forward and logical manner. "...actually a very good idea. Makes a lot more sense than what I was thinking this was all about. Good job, AJ."

The orange mare beamed at her friend's praise, and together the two of them began to walk around the room. There appeared to be three rows and three columns of mirrors, with the center-most mirror being angled to shoot the spell upwards. Present at the base of each mirror was a large wooden handle, obviously meant so that one could turn the mirrors. They weren't sure if either of them could manage to move such a thing, until Applejack decided to give a try. She hopped down to the floor and ran to the closest mirror, pressing herself against the handle as she struggled to move it. Little by little, the mirror began to shift, stirring up dust that had not been disturbed in centuries, and she continued to push onwards until she felt she was more than capable of moving them. "Ah, that ain't so bad! Kinda reminds me of Winter Wrap-Up an' pushin' the plows! Alrighty, Twi - fire off a spell ta see where it goes, an' I'll move the mirrors for ya. Jus' tell me which one ta move."

Twilight nodded and lowered her head, quickly firing off a very weak spell. It bounced from mirror to mirror, eventually sailing into a wall on the other side of the room - nowhere near the intended target. She sighed and glanced about the room as she searched for the proper mirror to rotate. "AJ, this one right here! Rotate it um... clockwise!" The earth pony nodded and gritted her teeth as she forced the mirror to rotate, stopping once Twilight had given her the signal. She galloped over and pointed at another, and one by one, the mirrors were all rotated until the unicorn was confident they were in the right positions. Grinning, she fired off another spell and watched as it bounced from mirror to mirror, ricocheting around the room until it reached the center mirror and flew upwards into the hole - and then nothing happened.

Puzzled once more, she huffed and took a seat upon the ground, and Applejack soon joined her. "I don't get it, Applejack. I mean, you were right about what we're supposed to do. It just... didn't do anything. Maybe there's a specific spell? Or... or maybe a specific set of mirror rotations? What about-" A hoof pressed against her mouth, silencing her, and she glanced over at a laughing Applejack.

"Yer overthinkin' it again, sugarcube. Jus' try rampin' th' power up."

"You mean just... use a stronger spell?"

The earth pony nodded, grinning. "Yyyyyep!"

Twilight Sparkle nodded and stepped forth, channeling a larger and more potent spell than before. With every passing second, her horn glowed brighter and brighter, and she physically strained to keep such a spell under control. The unicorn eventually let loose, sending a searing white ball of flame bouncing off each and every mirror, and eventually it soared into the ceiling. Flames spilled out from the hole, and on the far side of the room, a massive stone door had lowered itself. They had done it - the final trial was complete. Ecstatic, the two of them hugged one another and took off for the door, running through and out the other side. They found themselves outside once more, and underneath a setting sun. They were flanked on either side by high stone walls, and it was evident that this was the proper path. Both mares continued onwards, determined to make a bit more progress before making camp for the night.

The figure had since followed the pair outdoors, and shadowed their every move. It would reveal itself to them soon enough, but for now, it found itself wondering how this chain of events had even begun - for countless years, it had stopped the unworthy from taking that which they did not deserve, and it had performed its job admirably. Yet, here were two beings who, despite barely being adults, had managed to pass all three tests. These two had proven themselves worthy enough to gain an audience with it, but whether or not they were truly worthy was another matter entirely. It decided it would find out that very night. The specter grinned to itself and stuck to the shadows as it glided along the ground.

Must prepare.

Comments

[Vargras]

New chapter is up. I DRAW THE BEST FEATHERS EVER.

[Banksyt]

I couldn't see the feathers... but i imagine there pretty good...
I love how you give Apple jack moral boost by having her figure out the last test... But it thought you could have fleshed a few more feelings from Twilight's "looked like near-death-experience".
I'm really liking this story, please keep it up!

[Vargras]

54214
I did have that section a bit more fleshed-out at first, but the more I read it, the more it just seemed to ruin the flow. I ended up removing it and leaving it in its present state as a result.

[Karrakaz]

right then.
you brought this on yourself!

i want, neigh i DEMAND a picture from you in the next chapter! the subject ? twilight with wings!

liking the latest two chapters a lot well thought out and i can envision most anything that happens in them which wasn't the case with the previous ones, keep it up

[Vargras]

54249
"i want, neigh i DEMAND a picture from you in the next chapter! the subject ? twilight with wings!"

fuuuuuuuu

[Karrakaz]

54272
you can do it! i know you can!, we need more pictures of alicorn main 6.... but i'll settle for twilight with things

[Vargras]

54288
It's only temporary (I think Twilight said herself in 'Sonic Rainboom' that the wings only last three days tops), and Twilight would likely pass it off as just resembling an alicorn and not truly being one. I can give it a shot, but it might take a bit. Finals are coming up, and I don't have much time to practice drawing ponies.

[Litteras Anticus]

Good, I liked it!
It is more a Twilight and Applejack story than a Applejack story, but you pull them both off rather well.
Besides, Twilight is by far best pony.
And the drawing is quite good actually.

The only problem is that the tests seemed a bit underwhelming. They were all cleared with relative ease, prehaps exept the first one.

[Vargras]

54357
A fair point. I did have Twilight struggle a bit with the second (but maybe not enough), and the third wasn't really intended to be overly difficult or anything, just something that required a unicorn, and to a lesser extent, magic.

[Vargras]

I've gotten a few other comments talking about how the last two trials were a bit lacking in difficulty. I might go back and tweak the second so Twilight struggles a bit more, but I'm at a loss as to how I could change the third and still keep it fairly magic-oriented.

[Karrakaz]

54312 i know, i know! it's just.... ponies!.... okay so i have no adequate reason other than wanting to see twilight as a mini alicorn... but that should be enough!

[Karrakaz]

55606 also, how the hell do the replies work on this site... makes no sense

[Vargras]

Next chapter is already finished (over 4500 words, lolwat), but it's extremely dialogue-heavy. Gonna wait until I can get someone to pre-read it, then it'll go up.

[ThePhantomAssassin]

Soon, young ones. Soon.

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