Canterlot Academy Trials

Once they were briefed on their mission, everyone got ready to head out. Though for Blue, he was stopped momentarily by his kirin marefriend while he was gathering his belongings…

“...Don’t get sidetracked while you’re there,” Mei warned him, “You’re there on a mission. Not to sightsee.”

“I mean, I’m gonna try and focus as much as I can,” Blue admitted as he put a backpack onto his shoulder. “Apparently they’re super fond of dragons which is why the professor selected me for this mission. They’re more likely to trust me I guess.”

Mei rolled her eyes. The kirin and monkey-folk had always been at odds with each other in the background for many years, though it wasn’t a publicly discussed topic due to both nations choosing to bury their sentiment for each other away from prying eyes. At any rate, she was grateful that she wasn’t the one being sent on such a mission because she knew her presence there would only stir up even more conflict than there already was.

“...yeah, fair enough,” Mei muttered as she shook her head, “Just…be careful, alright?”

“Of course I will,” the dragon replied with a confident smile, “What--you think I’m gonna lose sight of what I’m supposed to do while I’m over there?”

“N-no…I just…” Mei grit her teeth.

Blue put one of his wings around her and pulled her close to his body for a quick hug. “Relax. You know I’m better than that.”

“...sorry. You’re right--” she put a smile on her face once she found herself next to him, unable to stay bitter so long as Blue was around. “...I’m being a bit petty. Besides, I’ve got my own mission to worry about. Gonna put on a show for a charity event in Canterlot.”

“Sick,” Blue replied with a quick smooch to Mei’s forehead. “Tell me all about it when I get back. For now, I gotta get going.”

“Got it. Good luck out there, Blue.”

“Won’t need it,” he retorted with a snort as he flew out of his dorm room.

Once they bid each other goodbye, Blue flew off to the train station where the rest of his new team’s teammates were waiting.

The buck spoke up to him first. “Nice of you to finally make it. Was silently betting to myself whether you’d be late or not.”

“Okay--and?” Blue shrugged his shoulders, “I’m here now, so what’s the big deal?”

“Nothing. You just surprise me is all,” Thiasus continued as he flipped through his book. The brown-coated buck glanced at the dragon with a curious eye. “Not to come off as rude but most dragons I’ve met tend to have…taken advantage of my kindness.”

“...ouch--yeah I feel ya,” Blue scratched the back of his head, “I’m a dragon myself and I’ve been taken advantage of by other dragons. Don’t worry--I’m cool with you though.”

“Good. ‘Cuz I have a feeling that I was brought on here for my extensive research into the Wukong territory,” the buck went on with a knowing smile, “My sense of strategy is insurmountable. And thus, I think we’ll be just fine.”

“Yeah, look--whatever you say man…”

Meanwhile, within Canterlot…

As the newly created team headed off on the train to the Wukong Province, some of the other students in Canterlot were busy with their own bits of work.

In particular, Atomic Nebula, Luster Dawn, and a few other students who specialized in magic were performing a magical exercise with Princess Twilight near the old Castle of the Two Sisters.

“...why are we here again?” Dawn asked with an annoyed roll of her eyes.

Nebula, with a book levitated in front of his face, would reply, “Apparently the magic imbued within the castle is starting to weaken. In order to preserve it, Twilight wants us to inscribe some runes on it. Right, Princess?”

“Correct,” the alicorn replied from just ahead of them as she opened the doors to the castle. “If future generations are to look back on ours and learn something, one of them should be how to maintain a strong enough connection to the world around them.”

“Does that include old castles?” Dawn commented with a huff.

“It doesn’t seem so bad,” a male griffon student commented, “I like dusty old places like this.”

Nearby, a female changeling student would add, “Right? It feels homey here. Like one of my old hives…”

“C’mon, Dawn--it shouldn’t be that hard,” Nebula added, “All we gotta do is put some runes on some rocks. Better than giving a friendship seminar at least, right?”

“...yeah, you know what,” Dawn picked up the pace and started trotting along even faster, “Fair point. Let’s just get this over with.”