Canterlot Academy Trials

“LEE!”

BANG!

Just as the gun was fired, Bullet raced over to her and forcefully grabbed Lee’s wrist. The end result was the bullet being fired off in a random direction and lodging itself into a nearby wall.

“...Lianhua--what are you--what are you doing?!” Bullet yelled, still clutching his abdomen with his other arm, wincing from the pain he received. “Why would you try to take your own life? What for?!”

“...I…I don’t know…” Lee sobbed and looked at the ground blankly, “...no. I do know. I…simply don’t feel as if I deserve to be here.”

Bullet shoved Lee against the nearest wall and yelled, “How dare you think such a thing?! Dammit, I love you! You already have someplace to belong!”

Lee fell silent upon hearing his words and could only look down at the floor in shame. After the battle, she had been left mentally distraught over what her parents had been telling her this entire time.

“...I am sorry…” she muttered and shook her head, “...I allowed their words to take hold of me. I figured the only way I can make things right would be to end my own life for the sake of everyone else out there.”

“Argh…” Bullet sighed and let go of Lee, dropping her to the floor. He turned around and grabbed the bridge of his nose. “You dumb broad. Then again, I guess I can’t blame you for feeling so hurt after all this. Just promise me you won’t ever do that again, okay?”

Lee nodded, and managed to stand herself up. “...you’re…right. I can’t keep running. I was a fool to think that was the way to solve my problems.”

“Yeah, you were,” Bullet agreed, “But that’s behind us now. Whenever you’re upset about something or have a problem, come to me. Or those guys out there you call your friends.”

“Of course--ah…!” she gasped and glanced outside of the destroyed palace building, “I wonder if everyone is okay. I hope they didn’t get too hurt because of me…”

The end result was all of Hei and Bai’s soldiers accepting defeat as soon as they heard word of their superiors being taken out. On top of that, Emperor Chang had finally returned from saving dozens of citizens from that burning building and was cursing up a storm wondering how the foolish nobles managed to even get this far with such short-sighted methods. The citizens were confused for a moment, but started to cheer upon Chang’s arrival once they realized what had been going on.

Both Hei and Bai were beaten by their daughter within an inch of their lives so that they could be interrogated later about what they were doing in the Serpent City. Meanwhile, Blue, Thiasus, and Mistwalker were all taken to the nearest hospital for treatment of their wounds after the battle had concluded. All of the primate-folk involved with assisting the two nobles were to also be arrested for their involvement.

Lee and Bullet meanwhile were taken to the Emperor’s private infirmary where Chang could speak with them privately.

“...well, after speaking with all of the witnesses at that crazy meltdown as well as your friends and those two horrid nobles, I managed to find out what had transpired during my absence,” Chang muttered as he rubbed his glasses to get them clean, “One of their little peons had set an orphanage on fire while I stepped outside, preventing me from aiding any of you. Smart for an evil bastard.”

“Battlefield removal,” Bullet commented, “They knew you were strong enough to end this situation with little effort so they got rid of you to make as much chaos as they could.”

“What information were you able to get from my parents?” Lee asked.

“Well that’s just it,” Chang sighed, “They intend to fully disrupt the natural order of not just Wukong, but the entire world as well. They intend to use the Serpent City as their launching operation for more trafficking of creatures of all kinds including ponies, kirin, and especially dragons.”

Bullet folded his arms and sat back on his medical bed. “...figures. I knew exactly what I saw out there. Hoo boy…”

“Blue will not like this news,” Lee muttered, then shook her head, “We cannot wait any longer, Lord Chang. There are more souls suffering down there and the more we wait, the more that number will increase.”

“I understand you desire for haste, but…” Chang shook his head, “Ne Zha and the other members of the heavenly realm might not--”

“Lā shǐ!” she hollered, “Screw the heavenly realm! The gods sat idle while my parents continued to abuse their power,” she grit her teeth with her eyes narrowed, “So I won’t wait any longer either. We are to finish what we started, my lord. Better to act than to worry.”

Chang was unable to argue with someone so determined. If there was any way they could finally stamp out the corruption that plagued their territory, now would be the time. Regardless of what the gods had to say, he knew Lee was right: Better to act, than to worry.

“...and just like that, you’ve already proven yourself more capable than any of these other false nobles,” Chang complimented her tenacity. “Alright then. I think I know what we’ll do next--”

Just then, a monkey soldier in service of Chang would enter the room. “Sir! Sorry to interrupt, but I have an important message from the West!”

Chang turned to him and asked, “Yes? Speak, general.”

The soldier would offer Chang a scroll. “It’s a letter from Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

“Oh?” Chang would open it up and begin to read it….

Lee would speak up, “What does it say, my lord?”

“Hmph…” Chang smirked with his glasses reflecting the light. “So that was their plan then. Apparently Lady Twilight has informed us that some of Bai’s spellcasters managed to infiltrate Equestria and serve as a distraction so they couldn’t aid us.”

Bullet scoffed. “It’s only natural that they’d eventually figure it out. Lady Twilight is arguably the best magic user outside of the immortals themselves. What a foolish thing to do. So what now, big man?”

“Well, those two monks are going to be held prisoner in Equestria,” Chang shrugged it off, “No longer under my jurisdiction. For now, we need to focus our efforts on the Shu Region. And with that, we’re going to need to interrogate those two nobles.”

Lee flicked her tail and had a devilish grin on her face. “You leave that to me, my lord. I know just how to get those two primates who call themselves my parents to talk.”