Episode 3: Being Put to the Test, as a Pony
As the train rolled along the tracks, a certain individual couldn't believe what was happening to him.
Flash Sentry sat alone in one of the compartments, looking out the window as the landscape flew past him. He then looked down at the device in his hand. The belt-buckle relic that hadn't left his side since he acquired it. And as he stared at the device, he thought back to what had happened not two weeks ago.
Flash had never been so scared, as he was escorted through the castle along with his parents. Four guards around them were marching in perfect sync, all wearing the same armor and carrying a spear.
Flash's fingers ran over the relic he had been brought to Canterlot because of. He remembered Shining leaving his town and telling him not to mess with it until he figured out how to stop it from magically returning to him. But Flash couldn't help himself and had started playing with it as soon as he was alone.
In the time between Shining's leaving and a royal chariot arriving at their doorstep, Flash figured out how to work the device quite well. The cards could transform into anything he imagined, from swords, to bows and simple kitchen knives. He had also figured out what the buttons on the side could do.
The release button removed the device from his waist, allowing him to take it off, whilst the dispel button got rid of anything it made and slotted out the cards. But it was the last two buttons that were the most interesting.
"We're here." Flash looked up and saw a large set of doors, causing him to gulp as they began to open. When they did, Flash and his parents were greeted to the sight of a beautiful throne-room. A long white room, with stained glass windows that allowed the light of the sun to shine in in a rainbow of colours. At the back of the room, there was a golden stage that had a throne on it.
And sitting upon that throne was the most important pony in all of Equestria, though she refused to admit it. Celestia. She was an amazingly tall woman, with snow white skin along with a rainbow mane and tail. She wore a white dress with a gold belt and gold trim around the bottom, along with pink fingerless elbow gloves with golden bracelets around them. She also had a golden necklace and crown, whilst her shoulders were bare to reveal her sun cutie mark.
The guards marched them inside and as they did, Flash spotted two other individuals in the room. One was Shining, who smirked at him, whilst the other was a mare Flash didn't recognise. But he knew who she was. The recently returned Princess of the Moon: Luna.
She was a tall individual. Not as tall as Celestia but still stood above Shining. She had dark blue skin along with a mane and tail of blue and purple. She was wearing a purple dress with black cloak covering her shoulders and back that had holes for her wings. She also had a necklace hanging from her neck that had a silver metal crescent moon over her chest.
Flash's eyes glanced between the two sisters and noticed another difference between them. Celestia, despite how imposing she looked, had a loving motherly warmth to her. Luna appeared very distant and stared at him as if she was trying to determine the best way to kill him. It did not make Flash feel good.
They finally reached the bottom of the stage and as Celestia stood up, Flash's parents bowed and Flash quickly followed suit. "Rise," they heard Celestia speak. They stood up and Celestia examined Flash, smiling as she did this. "So, you are Flash Sentry?"
Flash gulped. "Yes, your highness."
Celestia then looked at the object he was carrying, "and that is the relic that has bound itself to you?"
"Yes," he repeated before offering it to her. Celestia's horn glowed as the device was lifted into the air and floated towards her, the omni taking it in her hand and examining it. Luna flew up onto the stage and stood beside her, also examining the belt.
"How interesting."
"I've never seen a relic that looked so...modern," Luna exclaimed. "I would like to see it used."
"I too would like to see how it works," Celestia floated it back over to Flash and dropped it into his hand. "If you would be so kind as to demonstrate for us." He nodded and slapped the belt onto his waist, causing it to form the belt and card case. He then spun the belt open and took out a card, slotting it inside and shutting the melt with some well practised movements.
The princesses were amazed as the belt unleashed the light, which formed the lightning shield sabre that Flash drew from it and held up defensively. He then switched it to its blade mode, swinging it around with practised precision.. "You've been using that thing whilst I was gone, haven't you?" Shining gave his a suspicious look, making Flash blush.
"Maybe."
Celestia examined the sword in Flash's hand and when Shining moved to take the sword, she saw it vanish. "So only you can wield the weapons it creates?"
"Kinda."
"What do you mean, kinda?" Luna asked.
Flash pointed to one of the buttons, "disenchant. If I press this, it causes whatever I have out to become...well disenchanted. I guess it breaks the connection between the belt and the weapon, allowing it to stick around. But, it loses all its power." He summoned the weapon again and held it up, "I could disenchant this and anypony could wield it. But they wouldn't be able to use the lightning or wind attacks it has now and it would be stuck in whatever mode it was in when I did."
"I see," Celestia hummed. "And you figured this out...how?"
"I...might have another copy of this sword back home." Celestia raised an eyebrow, "and...I used it to supply the town guards with new weapons and armor. And replaced all the books in the library."
"Flash," Shining groaned. "I can understand being curious, but that might be a bit too much."
"How did you replace all the books?" Luna asked. "If that device can only create using your imagination, you either read all those books and have an eidetic memory or..." Flash gulped, then pointed to another button.
"This one. When I press it, it scans whatever's in front of it and can make a copy of it. But the is a higher quality than the original. I just scanned each of the books and disenchanted them."
"I see," Celestia smiled. "Well, that device is obviously very powerful. Which brings us to the problem at hand. Letting such a powerful device remain in the possession of an untrained individual." Flash frowned and looked down. "Shining Armor tells me you wish to become an Adventurer and that you are a rather good hearted individual." Flash smiled at him, "but you weren't able to get the necessary scores for a scholarship to the Academy."
Flash sighed, "yes your highness. Does this mean you're gonna take the relic away from me?"
"I'm afraid that's not possible. It's clear that that relic is bound to you and only you. The only way we could take it away would be to kill you, which obviously isn't an option."
"So what are you going to do?" Misty asked, clearly worried about her son.
"Good question." Celestia sighed and sat back. "I've looked at your scores and whilst you don't qualify for a scholarship, you could get a sponsorship."
"Sponsorship?" Trail asked.
"It's when a high ranking Adventurer or the Crown itself agrees to fund your education. Adventurers usually give it to relatives or family friends. You would be allowed to study at the Academy, though in return you'll work under the Adventurer until they consider the debt paid."
"Seriously?" Flash asked, "and you think I could get one?"
"Possibly, though where is the question. I'm afraid the crown is only permitted to sponsor up to five Adventurers a year and my sister and I have already handed out those sponsorships." Flash frowned, feeling his renewed hope dwindling again. But then...
"I'll do it." They all looked towards Shining, who smirked at Flash. "I do owe you one and I'd like to see what kind of Adventurer you can be with some proper training."
"Really?" Flash asked, resisting the urge to run over and hug him.
"Yeah, just be ready to use that device whenever I need it." Flash nodded as Celestia laughed.
"Well, I guess that's settled. However, Shining sponsoring you doesn't automatically mean you're in the academy. You'll need to pass its entrance exam before you'll be permitted in." She thought for a moment, "the closest Academy to your home is the Manehatten Academy. I suggest applying there."
"Manehatten Academy," Flash repeated with a smirk. "Got it. I won't let you down."
"We'll see," Celestia told him. "We'll see."
And now, here he was. The train had arrived at massive city and Flash looked out the windows, amazed by what he saw.
Manehatten Academy was just a short train ride from the city, but it couldn't be located inside due to the enormity of the place. It was a massive area, located right next to the water. On the water, there was a large pier with a beach on either side of it that also had a bridge that led to a structure built atop the water.
Behind the pier was a large round grassy plain with a fountain in the middle of it and several trees and flowerbeds filling it. The fountain had a path around it that went in four different directions. One path led to the pier at six o'clock, the three o'clock path led to what looked like a small village that likely housed the students when they weren't in school. The nine o'clock path led to a large dome-like building and the twelve o'clock path led to a massive castle like structure, which Flash realised was the school itself.
The train pulled into a station on the far end of the village, allowing him and everypony else that was on the train out.
Flash could hardly believe he was actually there, unable to not stop himself from looking around. But if he wanted to make this his permanent home, he needed to get accepted.
He moved through the village and as he did, he found the place was abuzz with activity. Multiple equestrians in the same uniform were scattered around. Said uniform was different depending on the gender. Males were wearing black pants and white shirts under a long black blazer with trim that was either red, yellow or green. They also wore ties the same colour as the trim. The girls, meanwhile, were wearing a white dress that stopped just under the knee, with a similar blazer on top along with a red, yellow or green bow around their necks.
These were the students of the school, who were showing the new applicants around.
Flash was so amazed by what he was seeing, he accidently bumped into somepony. "Hey!" He staggered back and saw who it was he had bumped into. She was a blue magi mare with a silvery white mane and tail, wearing a darker blue hoodie over a purple shirt with a purple dress that had a star wand image surrounded by light. She had what appeared to be a very old magic staff in her hand.
She did not look happy about what Flash had just done. "Sorry."
"Watch it!" She cried, "do you know who you're talking to?" Flash shook his head, "I am Trixie Lulamoon. The next top student at this academy." She looked Flash over, "and you are clearly some nobody from a backwater town who managed to luck his way into this place."
Flash frowned, though she did have a point. "I said I'm sorry."
"Whatever. Just watch yourself from now on. The next time you cross Trixie, she won't be so forgiving!" She raised her staff and in a burst of smoke, she vanished. Flash blinked at the sudden disappearance, but shook his head and continued on. This time, he focused on getting to the area the exam would be taking place in.
But along the way, he arrived in the central ground and found the place was set up like a school festival.
Students were running a bunch of booths, which were selling food and had a bunch of games.
"Step right up, step right up. The raffle is ready for you to play." Flash raised an eyebrow at this and moved over to the booth, which was surrounded by a bunch of different equestrians looking excited.
Curious, he flew above them and checked out the booth. He saw the raffle that was taking placed and spotted the prizes.
There were a few basic prizes, such as a teddy bear, bars of chocolate and some pretty high grade magic stones. But there were also some amazing looking weapons, which looked like they would usually cost a small fortune to buy or have made.
He watched as someone stepped forward. He was a blue avian stallion with a dark blue mane and tail, wearing a white shirt with the famous Wonderbolts emblem on it. On top of that was a blue jacket and he was wearing black pants. On his back was a bow along with a quiver full of arrows
He put some bits down and reached into the box that had a bunch of tickets in. He then pulled out a single ticket. "Three eight two," the mare running the booth checked the list. "That ticket will get you a magic stone of your choice."
"What?" He cried, "ahhh! I wanted the weapon." Flash watched him look at the stones and pick up a green sky crystal. It was a high quality one and if forged into a weapon, would give him great control over air and lightning.
Flash continued to watch as several others tried for a ticket, getting the lesser prizes like the teddy bear and whatnot. He then saw a light green terran mare with dark green hair walk up to the table. She was wearing a striped jumper with two shades of brown, along with blue pants and a large green backpack.
She pulled out a ticket and got the same prize as the avian from before. She chose a brown land crystal, which would allow her to wield land magic in order to use plants and earth attacks.
But no sooner had she taken her gem, the blue magi Flash had run into arrived. "Out of Trixie's way." She slapped down some bits, "she's going to win that magic staff." She reached into the box and pulled out a ticket, but it wasn't a winning one.
Trixie frowned at this and put down more bits, allowing her to pull another ticket. This time, she won her own magic stone and took a yellow lumino crystal. She played again, winning a chocolate bar, then another chocolate bar, two more duds and a Sea Magic Stone. After yet another dud, she tried to take out more bits, but found she had used them all.
"NO!" She cried, stuffing the crystals into her pockets and chowing down on the chocolate bars.
Flash laughed at this and was considering playing himself. But in that moment, an overhead speaker rang. "Would all applicants for the entrance exam, please head to the training dome." Flash's nerves flared up as he flew over to the dome, where a bunch of other equestrians got in line at the check in desk.
The terran and avian he saw earlier were right in front of him. The terran mare took a pair of brown metal gauntlets out of her bag, putting them on as she reached the front of the line. "Name?"
"Wallflower Blush." The magi mare nodded and found her name, allowing her to pass as the avian stepped up.
"Soarin Skies." She checked and nodded, allowing him to pass as Flash stepped up.
"Flash Sentry." The mare looked through the list, but couldn't seem to find him. This worried Flash, as he feared he might not have been added to the register. What would happen if he wasn't?
"Ah," she finally said, "here you are." Flash sighed. "Late addition. Couldn't put you in alphabetical order. Please go through." Flash thanked her and joined the large group, which was located right in front of the domed building. In front of the building was a stage, which everypony wanted to get a look in.
Flash joined several avians in the air, then looked around at all the ponies attempting to get in. He wasn't sure, but he could guess that there had to at least five hundred ponies and maybe more.
"Out of the way!" He looked down and saw Trixie push through the crowd, wanting to get to the front where the stage is. "Don't you know who I am?" Flash rolled his eyes, but focused on the stage as somepony stepped up onto it.
He was a gray middle-aged terran, with a gray and silver mane and tail, wearing a black overcoat over a white shirt with a brown vest and tie. The terran looked out at the many ponies and didn't look impressed.
"Welcome, to the Manehatten Adventurer's Academy. I am the principal of the Academy, Grand Hoof." Flash's eyes went wide, as he had read about Grand Hoof. A well renowned Adventurer who had even fought in a war that Equestria had taken part in before Flash was even born. "This school is where the next generation of Adventurers will be trained. We accept only the best of the best here."
The crowd began to murmur at this, all stating that they belonged there. Grand Hoof didn't seem to agree.
"You might have been the greatest warrior, magician, flyer or whatnot where you came from. But you were nothing more then a big fish in a small pond. And this academy is the ocean. Curb your egos, or you will find yourselves crushed."
This statement seemed to have the desired effect on some of the equestrians, but those like Trixie smirked. Clearly, they felt they were still the best.
Grand Hoof then pointed at the dome entrance behind them. "Through those doors is a magically produced environment. In said environment, you will encounter a large variety of illusionary monsters that are just as strong as the real thing. Every monster has a particular point total. Weaker monsters will have lower scores and stronger ones will have higher ones."
A magi proctor started floating around a box, which had a bunch of strange goggle-like devices inside of them. Each of them took a pair, as Grand Hoof continued to explain.
"These goggles will magically connect to you when you wear them. They will show you the scores of the creatures you run into and whenever you slay one, that number will be added to the total your goggles show in the corner. The goggles also have a life bar and every time you're hit, you'll lose some of that life depending on the severity of the hit. Lose all your HP and your score will drop to zero."
"So they're testing us on how well we can fight and avoid damage," Wallflower realised as they placed their goggles on.
"You will have thirty minutes before the test begins," Grand continued to explained. "Use that time to get into an area you feel best suits your fighting style. Once the test begins, you'll have three hours to defeat as many monsters as you can. At the end of the test, whoever has the highest scores will be admitted into the Academy. Are there any questions?" A lot of people raised a hand, "no...good. Then you'd better get going. Your thirty minutes begins...now!" The doors opened and he stepped aside, the hopeful students all breaking out into a mad dash.
The avians took to the sky and were the first ones inside, Flash amongst them as he looked around and found himself in a rocky area. He flew straight up and in doing so, saw that the area they were in was massive. Far larger than it looked from the outside.
It was a large round area split into four quadrants. Aside from the rocky area, there was also a forested area, an island filled water area and a sandy area. Flash decided to stay in the rocky area, Since it seemed to be the hardest place for monsters to sneak attack him in. A few more applicants also seemed to be thinking that, whilst others headed to one of the other few areas.
Flash spotted the others Equestrians preparing their weapons and he attached the belt to his waist, taking out two cards as he did so. One was a cutlass-like sword with a lightning bolt blade and the other card had a red and yellow round shield with a round central door that looked like it split open. He placed both cards into the driver and summoned them, the weapons materialising in front of him.
He took them out of the light and was ready for whatever was thrown at him, swinging his sword around and getting a few sparks from it.
Everyone waited with baited breath, as the half hour slowly ticked on by. But eventually, Grand Hoof's voice called out above them. "The test will now begin in five...four...three...two...ONE!" A loud clarkson buzzed and as soon as it did, all hell broke loose.
Instantly, a bunch of lights filled the areas and those lights took the shapes of different types of monsters. Flash looked towards the closest light and found a large black bird with a feathered emu neck, long wings, sharp claws and a long yellow beak. The goggles he was wearing put up a one hundred and fifty besides the bird as it squawked before shooting towards him.
He raised his shield and the beast, which was the same size as him, slashed at it. The shield protected him and allowed Flash to push it away before charging forward and cutting through its body, the bird squawking before it exploded and the one hundred and fifty points transferred the total in the corner of his vision.
Several other avians also managed to cut down these birds, whilst many magi and terrans were dealing with the grounded monsters that were two foot tall rock humanoids that were only worth a hundred points.
Flash couldn't be idle. He spotted the closest bird monster that wasn't fighting somepony and charged, the creature seeing this and charging forward as well. This time, Flash raised his shield and channelled some power into it. The circular middle opened up and from it, a blast of fire flew out and struck the bird in the chest. This made it cry out and left it open for Flash to finish it off, earning himself another hundred and fifty points.
"Can't stop," he told himself before charging at another bird.
All over the testing areas, Adventurer hopefuls battled to try and gain as man points as they could.
"Get some!" Soarin cried as he launched an arrow into a shark that was covered in metal armor, causing it to explode and earning him a good two hundred points. A large crab monsters then leapt onto an island and he flew over to take it out, several overs doing the same and knowing whoever got the killing blow got the points.
In the forest area, Trixie was fighting against a green humanoid with vine arms and a flower on its head.
"Feel the wrath of the great and powerful TRIXIE!" She thrust her staff towards the creature, "Icicle Shot!" Ice exploded out of the staff and flew at it, impaling it in the chest and making it explode as a hundred points was added to her total.
But as she smirked over her victory, something shot out of the trees. A giant wasp-like monster that had its stinger pointed right at her. It impaled the girl and made her gasp, but then she smiled before exploding into particles of light.
"Surprise," Trixie's voice made it turn to see her standing a few feet away. "Luster Shot!" A laser fired from her staff and struck the wasp, making it explode and giving Trixie another two hundred points. "Too easy."
In the desert area, Wallflower Blush ran through the sand with her fists clenched.
Then, the sand in front of her exploded as something pulled itself out from under it. That something was a scorpion-like monster with large snapping claws. It charged forward and Wallflower leapt back to avoid its first claws, then dodged the second claw before the stinger thrusted towards her.
She sidestepped the stinger as it impaled the ground and she grabbed it, letting the insect pull it back and throw her into the air. This allowed her to pick up speed as she fell towards it. Pulling her fist back, she screamed before throwing the punch forward, smashing into the centre of its back.
It roared in pain before exploding, Wallflower standing up as two hundred and fifty points were added to her score.
In an unknown location, Grand Hoof and several other Equestrians were sitting in a line and watching a bunch of monitors.
Said monitors were showing the many different applicants attempt to battle it out for a place in the school. One screen was showing a list of names that had numbers on them, the numbers constantly changing and making the names swap places with one another. New names sometimes replaced ones at the bottom, showing that name had fallen out of the highest points.
"Not a bad haul this year," a magi teacher announced as he watched Flash fighting against a rhino-shaped rock monster. He blasted it with fire before thrusting his sword into a gap between its rocks armor, causing it to explode and increasing his score.
"Maybe," Grand told them. "But against monsters of this level, any two-bit adventurer would have an easy enough time. And then there are those that aren't up to the challenge." As if to prove his point, a screen showed a magi stallion attempting to blast a ten-foot long sea-serpent with fire. But the flames had no effect on the creature and it rushed forward before biting him on the shoulder.
Though it wasn't real, it still depleted his life gauge to zero and caused his score to drop to the same number. The beast let him go, only to get shot between the eyes by Soarin.
"It's only the first hour," Grand continued. "The weaker monsters are gonna stop spawning soon. If they want to earn a place here, they'll need to be able to survive against more powerful foes whilst exhausted from the effort of the first hour."
Flash panted as he flew out of the rock area, deciding to try his luck in a different area. He was sweating up a storm, but he wasn't done yet. He checked the score on his goggles.
4350
"I have no idea if that's good or not," Flash sighed. "Just gotta keep taking down monsters until I'm out of time." As he said that, the trees besides him rustled and he spun towards it just in time. Seconds later, a giant wolf made out of sticks and leaves shot out at him.
He gasped and raised his shield, able to block the beast's claws. But its other paw swung at his face and nicked his cheek. He didn't feel anything, but his life gauge went down.
"Oh no you don't!" He cried before launching a blast of fire from his shield, hitting the timberwolf and burning it to a crisp.
4600
Flash panted as he was on guard, trying to see if there were any other monsters around him to fight. He slowly moved backwards, unaware that there was someone behind him that was doing the same. At least until he bumped into them.
"GYAH/WOW!" They leapt forward and spun around, Flash coming face to face with Trixie Lulamoon. "Oh," Trixie lowered her staff, "it's you."
"Hey," Flash once again went on guard and looked around. "So...how many points you got?"
"Ha!" Trixie smirked, "as if the Great and Powerful Trixie needs to compare her score to a lowly weakling like you." As she said that, a scream filled the air and they looked towards it.
Realising there was likely a monster there, the pair rushed through the trees. Flash took to the air and flew through them, where he found a pair of terrans on the ground. Standing over them were a pair of humanoid creatures made of wood that was covered in moss.
"Moss Ents!" Flash realised before raising his shield. "Fire!" Flames exploded from the shield and struck the ents, setting them alight and allowing him to fly in and cut one down.
But as he turned towards the second, a blast of light flew out of the tree and blew the creature's head off. It vanished and Flash heard a laugh, making him look back and see Trixie smirking. "Don't think Trixie will let you have all the fun." Before Flash could say anything else, she suddenly vanished in a puff of smoke.
Flash coughed at this before turning to the two on the ground, "you alright?"
"Err," the terran stood up, "physically. But those things took out my life points. I'm out of the running to get into the academy." The other terran, a mare, sighed.
"Same." The pair began to head towards the exit, whilst Flash frowned. This test was the real deal and if he wanted to stand a chance of getting in, he couldn't relax for a second.
Time passed as more and more of the hopeful applicants were eliminated from the test.
Some lost by simple dumb luck, becoming surrounded by too many monsters to take out. Whilst others lost due to their own ignorance, attempting to take on an opponent too strong for them or who was weak to an element they didn't have. And some simply took too much damage, whether that was from getting multiple small hits from multiple opponents or one big hit from a strong opponent.
Either way, only the best of the applicants were left fighting. This included Soarin Skies, who was currently collecting arrows he had shot at monsters. One of his arrows had flown into the forest area, which he was forced to enter in order to retrieve.
As he did, he heard some rustling and spun around with his arrow notched. But before he could shoot, he saw it was Wallflower. "Oh," he lowered his weapon, "you're that filly who won the Land Stone."
"And you're the one who won the Sky Stone," Wallflower looked like she was having trouble figure out what to say next. "So...how high have you scored?"
"Oh," Soarin checked his goggles. "I'm on eighteen thousand five hundred. You?"
"Eighteen thousand nine hundred and fifty."
"Almost nineteen thousand. Not bad. But have you seen any monsters in the last few minutes?"
"No," Wallflower shook her head, "I think the number of ones spawning is starting to go down." They then heard a rustling sound and got into a battle stance. But they lowered their guard when they saw it was just Trixie Lulamoon.
"Oh," Trixie sighed, "you two again. Well, you'd better not get in Trixie's way. There are probably very few monsters left in this area and they're all going to increase my score." The pair frowned at this, only to hear a voice speak out from above them.
Applicants. Only thirty minutes remain in this test. For those who haven't gotten the necessary points, this is your last chance to increase your score."
"Has it really been two and half hours?" Soarin asked in amazement. The three checked their scores and frowned, unsure if the amount they had would earn them a place.
Inside the viewing room, Grand and the other teachers watched as many competitors went into a made rush to get as many points as possible.
Many of them were starting to cut through the monsters blocking them, but others were getting eliminated due to their haste. "Now it's time for the final test," Grand stated as he looked down at a big red button. "Time to unleash the ultimate monster." With that, he pressed it and all four quadrants became illuminated.
Trixie, Soarin and Wallflower all cried out, as they were blinded for a moment whilst the light pillar appeared in the middle of the forest.
"What's happening?" Trixie cried, as the light started taking shape. It slowly dimmed and as it did, they were able to open their eyes and were shocked by what they saw. "HYDRA!" It was a hydra. A giant brown lizard-like monster with four long, snake-like, necks that had a large dragonic head on the end of it.
The three of them stared at the beast in shock, whilst their goggles brought up the creature's points. And to their surprise, they found that each head had a point total of ten thousand. "No way," Soarin whispered. "Taking down just one of those heads would be enough to earn us a place in the academy."
"But that point total has to be because of how strong it is," Wallflower pointed out. Sure enough, a trio of avians flew towards the hydra and attempted to take down one of its heads. But the beast swung at them and sent one flying off a great distance, then grabbed another in its fangs and bit down whilst knocking the third down to ground and appearing to step on them.
"That thing's tough," Soarin gulped as Trixie laughed.
"Maybe to weaklings like you. But the Great and Powerful Trixie will be able to wipe out all four heads with a single move." She charged forward towards it and as the hydra was so focused on the rest of the equestrians fighting against it, it didn't notice her until she was close enough. "Take this! Icicle Shot!" She fired a buck of ice spikes towards the beast, hitting it in one of its necks. And whilst the attack seemed hurt it, it wasn't enough to do any actual damage.
The other heads then focused on her and flew down to try and bite her, but Trixie managed to leap out of the way just in time. She then raised her staff, "Illusion!" In a puff of smoke, she suddenly vanished and the beast appeared to be tricked by it. But then, it started sniffing the air before growling.
It suddenly spun round, swinging its tail across the ground. This caused it to knock down several trees before slamming into something that appeared invisible.
"Augh!" Trixie's voice cried out, as she suddenly reappeared whilst flying backwards. Her staff went flying off and struck a tree, breaking into pieces, whilst she hit the ground and her life points dropped into the red. She groaned as the hydra stared down at her with all four heads, making her think this might be the end.
But in that moment, a bunch of arrows began hitting it around the eyes. This annoyed the hydra and it turned to see Soarin charging towards it. "Oh yeah!" He fired another arrow, hoping to take its eyes out and blind it, but the beast simply closed the eyes he was aiming for and thrust its head forward. The other heads watched and seemed to somehow be directing it, forcing Soarin to fly away. "WOW!"
As it was doing this, Wallflower ran forward with her gauntlets raised. "RAAAAAH!" She leapt up and threw a punch, hitting it with all her terran strength. But its chest was as hard as rock and this caused her gauntlet to crack. She gasped at this as the hydra spun its tail around, attempting to swat her away.
Wallflower swung a punch at it, attempting to stop the tail. But when the limb struck her fist, the impact still sent her flying backwards as her other gauntlet cracked. She staggered back and fell to her knees, panting as she looked up at the beast.
Soarin kept firing more arrows, but every one shattered against its body. And when he reached back to draw another, he found he didn't have any left. "No!" He cried before getting headbutted by the hydra, knocking him flying down and crashing into the ground as his life points also went into the red. "Not good." He picked himself up and when he did, he realised his bow had broken when he crashed into the ground. "Really not good."
Wallflower looked around and saw that Soarin and Trixie both down for the count. And as she picked herself up, the hydra raised a foot and attempted to step on her. "Raaaah!" She cried, slamming her fist into the bottom of it. But this only stopped it for a moment and she was forced to punch it again, then again and again and again. Every hit kept the foot from crushing her, but it also caused her broken gauntlets to crack more.
Then, after what was probably the fiftieth punch, her metal gloves broke.
She gasped at this and turned away, using all her strength in her legs to leap forward. She managed to get out from under its foot, but its claw tip struck her back and made her flinch as she fell to the ground and her life points fell to the red.
All three of them were in serious trouble know. They had barely damaged the hydra and now their weapons were broken. They were done for.
Or were they?
"RAAAAAAAAAH!" A voice cried out as someone flew at the hydra, slashing at it with a blast of lightning. This attack shocked the hydra, causing it to stagger back as their saviour flew down and landed in front of them. "Let's get out of here!" They nodded and ran off, having no other option.
As the hydra recovered, it looked around and couldn't see them anywhere. But it didn't have time to rest, as more equestrians arrived to try and take it down.
Back with Flash, he and the others had hidden behind some fallen trees.
"You guys okay?" Flash asked, seeing the three panting as he did so. They were clearly all exhausted and upset about what had happened, each of them taking out what little remained of their weapon. "Ouch, that doesn't look good."
"It's terrible," Trixie cried. "Trixie spent months saving up for this thing. It wasn't much, but it was hers. If my father finds out about this, he'll be so disappointed." The others seemed to be thinking the same thing. Flash could tell they all wanted better weapons, but they were just like him. Unable to afford the best gear.
He looked down at his belt and knew that if he hadn't gotten it, he would be in the same situation as them. Worse even.
He wished he could help, but even if he made them new weapons they wouldn't be any better then the old ones. Unless... "I think I have an idea." They looked at him curiously, as he dispelled his weapons and removed the cards from the buckle. "Do you guys each have those stones you won before?" They all nodded as he took out some more cards. "Alright." He put the cards on the ground. "Each of you, place the stones on one of these cards and touch the other end."
"Why?" Trixie asked.
"Just do it." They did so, Flash touching each with a finger as the others placed their stones on one and held the other end. "Okay. Now, each of you close your eyes and imagine a weapon you'd love to have that are powered by these stones. The best weapon you can imagine." They had no idea why he was doing this, but closed their eyes and thought of it.
They didn't need to think very hard, since each of them had had the best weapon in their minds for a long time. They imagined them. How they would look and how they would fight with them. And as they did, the cards began to glow. Flash, meanwhile, was simply thinking one thing.
'Absorb the stones. Use them as a power source. Let them become integrated with the weapon.' Sure enough, the cards absorbed the stones, both in Trixie's case, sucking them into the card as the weapons being imagined appeared on it. When the light faded, Flash opened his eyes and smiled seeing it had worked.
"What just happened?" Wallflower asked, as Flash took the cards and slotted them into his belt.
"If it worked, I just gave you guys an upgrade." He closed the belt and it suddenly unleashed a bright light, which formed three shapes within it. One was a long light blue staff, with a star-shaped patterns running along the metal. The end had a crystal star-shape that was a mixture of blue and yellow. The next was a green bow-like weapon, which had no string and instead had a metal rip-chord-like attachment on the back above the hand grip. The edges of the bow appeared to have blades running along it. Finally, the last was a pair of gloves that had crystal halves on the backs of them.
The three stared at these devices in amazement, each one narrowing in on the one they had been imagining.
Flash smiled before hitting the disenchant button, causing the light to explode off of the weapons and cause them to fall. But they were caught by the ones who had imagined them, the three looking them over.
"Amazing," Trixie whispered.
"It's just like I imagined," Soarin smirked as Wallflower put her gloves on. "That's the weapon you always wanted?" Wallflower blushed, but took a deep breath before slamming his fists together. Doing so made the gloves glow before they suddenly transformed into a pair of giant metal fists that went all the way up to her elbows. "Okay, that's cool."
"How did you do this?" Trixie asked Flash, staring at the device on his waist. "What is that?"
Flash smirked, "this is my weapon. A relic from ancient times that only works for me." He took out his two previous cards and slotted them in, summoning the lightning sword and fire shield. "Listen, we have to work together." That surprised them, as Flash turned to where the hydra was fighting more equestrians. "That thing's way too strong. There's no way anypony can beat it on its own. Our only shot is to fight it together. Each of us, uniting our strengths and removing each other's weaknesses. That's the only way we're gonna win."
"So we work together and each take out a head?" Wallflower asked, Flash nodding.
"Yeah right!" Trixie cried. "You just wanna use us to kill one yourself. The moment you take a head down, you'll leave us to fight it on our own."
"I won't!" Flash told her. "But if you're so worried about that happening, I'll be the last to take out a head. You can go first, if you're really scared of being betrayed. Let's face it, beating that thing's the only way to guarantee entry into the academy. So what do you say?"
The three looked at one another, Soarin then smirking before standing up. "I'm in."
"Me too," Wallflower stood up. "Just lead the way." They all turned to Trixie, who still didn't look sure. But then she looked at the staff Flash had given her. Her dream weapon.
"Okay," she stood up. "Let's do this." Flash smiled before turning towards the hydra, which was now on its own after beating or scaring the other competitors away.
"Alright," he cracked his neck, "then let's show this thing why we're gonna be attending Manehatten Academy!" The others cheered as they charged forward.
Flash and Soarin took to the air and caught the Hydra's attention, making the creature growl as Soarin pulled on the ripchord of his new weapon. This caused a thin metal pole to be pulled out as the front of the bow glowed green, "Aero Shot!" He released the chord, the metal pole flying back into the weapon before a blast of air flew out and struck one of the hydra heads.
The impact was incredible, knocking the creature head backs and surprising the others. But they quickly recovered from the shock and looked angry. However, before they could attack them, Trixie pointed her staff at the pair.
"Illusion!" Flash and Soarin glowed before countless other ones appeared around them.
"Wow," the Flash army said in unison as they looked around, "cool Null Magic." Trixie smirked as she and Wallflower got closer. The two avian armies began flying around the heads, distracting them as ground team got close enough.
Trixie then swung her staff around, "Lumino Wave!" The staff unleashed a crescent wave of light, which flew up and struck the hydra's chest. This caused it to stagger back, whilst Wallflower ran up to a leg that was in the air.
"Here goes nothing!" The gem on her right gauntlet glowed before it fired a vine, which shot towards the leg and wrapped around it tightly. Once it was tied tight, Wallflower grabbed the vine and pulled with all of her strength.
The hydra roared as it fell to the ground, Trixie leaping back to avoid it whilst Flash and Soarin flew out of the way. As it hit the ground, Trixie thrust her staff forward. "Go, Super Freeze!" The staff unleashed a powerful blast of blue lightning, which flew towards one of the hydra heads.
It struck the forehead and as it did, ice began to cover the entire thing.
Trixie didn't stop there and ran forward, spinning her staff around so that the end of it was pointing at the dragon. And as she did, a blade flew out the bottom to turn the staff into something Flash remembered from his previous life. A naginata. "Raaaah!" She swung the staff as hard as she could and struck the frozen head, causing the ice covering it to break apart and explode.
When it did, the head within it also blew up, followed by the rest of the neck. The hydra was now down to three heads and Trixie gasped when she saw her points go up by so much.
"One down!" Flash smirked before looking at Wallflower, "you next!" Wallflower nodded as the hydra tried to get up, but Trixie wasn't gonna let that happen.
"The Great and Powerful Trixie always repays her dues!" She spun her staff around and pointed at the body, "Super Freeze!" She lightning fired out again and struck the body, covering it in a thin layer of ice. Trixie groaned at this, staggering back after the spell completed. "I'm out of power. Sorry."
"Let's not waste this!" Flash cried, as Wallflower ran towards one of the heads. "Soarin, give her a boost!" Soarin nodded and flew down, whilst Flash pointed his shield at the hydra. "This should keep you distracted!" The shield opened up before unleashing a blast of smoke, which blinded the beast as Soarin grabbed Wallflower.
He lifted her into the air and as the smoke began to fade, he dropped her towards the first head they spotted. "Get him!"
Wallflower fell fast, picking up speed as the hydra's head slithered out of the smoke. But by the time it noticed Wallflower in front of it, the girl had already pulled her fist back. "RAAAAAAAAAAH!" She screamed before throwing the punch right into its forward, the impact sending it flying into the ground.
As it bounced off the forest floor, its head and neck exploded whilst Wallflower's points went up.
But before she could celebrate, the last remaining hydra heads flew out of the smoke and prepared to take out the last of her points. "NOT HAPPENING!" Flash and Soarin appeared between her and them, Flash launching out some fire whilst Soarin fired an arrow of lightning.
The attacks blasted the hydra back, whilst Wallflower thrust her fists forward. This sent out two long vines, which wrapped around the necks of the creatures. She used this to break her fall and swung down to the ice-covered body.
Once there, she pulled as hard as he could on their necks and forced the hydras to gasp and open their mouths. "Now!" Soarin nodded and shot towards one of the mouths, drawing his bow and aiming at the back of its throat.
"Here comes the birdy!" He fired an a blast of air shot out the bow, flying at high speed right down the hydra's throat. And when it struck the back, it exploded and punched a hole right through it.
The hydra roared as the head and neck disintegrated, leaving only one head left. However, there was a new problem.
"One minute remaining."
They all gasped. They only had one minute left before the end of the test. "Hurry!" Soarin told Flash, who charged forward. Wallflower tried to hold the creature back, but her vine finally snapped.
Flash gasped as the hydra head flew forward and tried to bite him. He shot to the side, barely managing to avoid the creature as it flew passed him. But he ended up scraping against the side with his arm, making him flinch as his health went down.
Shooting into the air, he launched a few fireballs into the creatures head. The exploded and the hydra roared before turning to look up at it. The ice on its body began to break apart, freeing it as Wallflower leapt off and was grabbed by Soarin. "Do it!" Wallflower yelled at Flash, as the hydra looked up at him.
Flash raised his shield and dived down, whilst the hydra prepared to attack with its mouth wide open. But before it could attack, several more Flash Sentrys appeared around him. Soarin and Wallflower saw Trixie on the ground, using the last of her strength to make these illusions.
The Flash army flew in different directions and the hydra couldn't figure out which one was the real one. And as the last few seconds ticked down, one of them threw his shield away and held his sword with both hands. "RAAAAAAAH!" He shot towards the neck and before the beast could stop him, he swung the blade around.
In the blink of an eye, the final hydra head was sent flying off the neck. The beast looked shocked as it completely disintegrated, right before a clackson buzzed to signal the end of the test. Flash panted as he floated there, whilst the others cheered at their success. Flash smiled, but knew it wasn't time to celebrate yet.
It took a while for all the remaining applicants to return from the testing area.
Those that lost their life points had been escorted out of the testing ground, the lot of them knowing they would need to either apply for another school or attempt the exam the following year.
Grand now stood on the stage as a large video screen floated behind him. "Congratulations, all of you who managed to survive the full three hours. I know many of you barely managed to do so, but even the greatest Adventurers sometimes make it back by the skin of their teeth."
Everypony smirked, happy they had been able to make it this far.
"However, even with how many were eliminated, there are still too many of you to accept. As such, only the twenty five applicants with the highest scores will be accepted." with that, he pressed a remote and the scores came up on the board. One by one, the winning applicants spotted their names on the boards and cheered.
Flash looked through the names, starting at the top and panicking when he saw the high scores they had. Then he went down, seeing the scores were getting closer and closer to his. And finally, he saw his name. And not just his.
12/Wallflower Blush: 28950
13/Trixie Lulamoon: 28700
14/Flash Sentry: 28650
15/Soarin Skies: 28500
"YES!" He, Soarin, Wallflower and Trixie cheered. They had done it. They were in the academy.
The rest of the announcement was a blur to Flash, who was just happy he had managed to get in. When the winning applicants were dismissed, he walked away without really thinking about what he would do next. But then, somepony punched him in the arm. "DUDE!" Soarin cried, "we did it!"
"Yeah," Flash nodded, "guess we did." He also noticed Trixie and Wallflower, who were still holding their magical weapons.
"Thank you," Wallflower told him. "If it wasn't for you, we never would have gotten in." She looked down at her gloves, "is it really okay to have these?"
"Sure," Flash smirked. "They were your crystals. Just consider it my way of thanks for helping me get into the academy."
"You helped us way more then we helped you," Soarin pointed out before getting an idea. "Hey, here's a thought. What if the four of us stay teamed up?" They looked confused at this. "I heard that at the academy, students usually end up in teams to do field exercises. If we put in an application to be a party, we can continue working together."
Flash was surprised by this, but smirked. "We did make a pretty good team. If we stick together, we'll go real far in the academy." He held his fist up, "I'm in." Soarin did the same and they looked towards the girls, both looking unsure.
"Are you sure you want me?" Wallflower asked, blushing. "I'm sure there a bunch more powerful terrans."
"Nah," Flash assured her, "you're perfect for the team. Come on. What's the harm is seeing how things go for now?" Wallflower smiled before moving over and placing her hand in, whilst Trixie stared at them.
"Trixie doesn't need a team," she told them. "But...if she will end up in one anyway, might as well be one I know can at least keep up with her." She brought her fist in and the four stared at one another.
"Alright," Flash told them, "then from on, we're a party. We stick together, watch each other's backs and combine all our skills to get the job done. You with me!?"
"YEAH!" Flash could hardly believe it. Not only had he gotten into the academy, but he had also gotten himself a party. His career as an Adventurer was starting to look promising.
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What a great way for Flash getting in the academy! Not only that but he also got his own party already!
I'm not sure if this is coincidence but the whole getting point by destroying the monsters reminds me of My Hero Academia where the potential heroes have to destroys robots in order to gain points.
Todays? Don't you means towards?
GRAND?!?!
I honestly didn't expect him to appear since I thought you would only using MLP canon characters (beside Flash's parents and Faust) but I am not intrigued which roles your OCs will play in the future.
Very ironically and a bit of hypocrisy that his Chronicles counterpart start off as an arrogant who was full of himself.
Grand did warned you to not being full of yourself, Trixie, you deserves that.
Cue Flash rescuing them
Oh… I forgot this! It's no surprise her father is none other than that jackass, Regal Burst.
This was awesome! The exam reminded me a lot of the entrance exam from My Hero Academia. It was also cool to see Flash meet, befriend, and form a team with others already. Him with Soarin, Trixie, and Wallflower is going to be an interesting combo for the main group.
It was also neat to see Grand Hoof is the principal of the academy. I saw a bit of his "drill sergeant nasty" attitude in his opening speech to the participants, but he wasn't wrong in anything he said. I wonder if Flash and the others will see a bit of his kinder side over time?
Well she did get back only recently. Luna seemed cold and a bit distant at times, though that was usually when she was trying to take things seriously.
I'm a bit surprised Luna used hers already too since she has only been back for about a month.
awesome team, keep up the story!!!
I think it's pretty obvious, but reading the other comments, we all thought of My Hero Academia.
But that's very good, I liked how they were able to overcome everything, it's going to be great, I was afraid that Trixie would not pass the test but everything turned out well in the end.
from here you can make great episodes, I'm sure some ponies that didn't pass the test will surely become villains in the future.