Canterlot Academy Trials

“...I got carried away,” Grimrose muttered as she trotted over and reached out a hoof to help Thiasus up, “My apologies.”

“No, no, don’t worry,” the buck accepted her help with a smile as he stood upright, “The fight I just had with you has shown me that I have quite a lot to work on, Ms. Orcus.”

“...Likewise,” she admitted as she turned her head away from him, “...My body is…different than most ponies, and I’m not fully prepared for light magic that can purge my spirit. So thank you for that experience.”

Thiasus took a bow with a smile as they exited the arena. “The pleasure is all mine. For I am the eloquent Thiasus von Solis. You can rely on me.”

The two would leave and another intermission would begin in preparation for the next battle.

Up in the stands, Nebula had a relaxed smile on his face. “Whew…looks like everything went alright.”

“Shittin’ me, that was close,” Blue swore under his breath as he watched Rose and Thiasus leave. “I was genuinely worried that they were gonna cause permanent damage to each other or something. That kinda magic is…deadly.”

“Yeah,” Nebula replied with a sigh, “Can’t wait for my fight next. But uh…oh.” The next time he blinked, he realized that Mei was no longer present beside them. “Guess she’s up next, then.”

“Oooh, that’s gonna be good,” Blue replied with a smirk, “Imagine if our whole team made it to the finals! We’ll be recognized as the strongest in the city.”

Nebula rolled his eyes with a playful smile on his face. “Strength alone isn’t everything. Nor is making it to the finals. Our test scores also matter just as much, ya know?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Blue replied off-handedly, still wishing for them all to make it onwards regardless. “But c’mon, you can’t deny that’d it be great to have us all being recognized as some of the strongest combatants.”

Admittedly, it did sound enticing to Nebula. The unicorn stallion tapped his hoof against his chin and muttered, “Well…”

But before he could answer, their attention was stolen by an announcement from Flash Sentry.

“Alright. Our next one features a kirin--ooh, I like the sound of that!” the pegasus guard spoke cheerfully, “Her name is Moeta Bi-Ju. Clocking in at around 250 pounds, she’s kirin from the East looking to make a name for herself with special, unheard of tactics.”

“Did I miss anything?!” Grimrose yelped as she flew back into her seat, having been healed with various medical sigils courtesy of the ponies from the infirmary.

“Nope, not at all,” Nebula replied.

“There she is!” Blue squealed in excitement.

Mei--whose full name was indeed Moeta--pushed up her foggy glasses as she strode into the stadium and teleported onto the combat platform, awaiting patiently to see her opponent.

Whom Sentry would announce next.

“And on this end, we have an earth pony mare looking to try her hoof at her own brand of magic. Weighing in at 200 pounds, give it up for Dewdrop Mistwalker!”

A deep blue earth pony mare stepped into the field. Her eyes were obscured by a rather messy, teal mane that she was somehow able to see out of. Her cutie mark consisted of two silver swordfish whose long, sword-like bills crossed each other in an ‘X’ formation.

She didn’t say a word nor look at the crowd as she simply climbed her way onto the platform with a quick jump.

“Hey, how are ya?” Mei tried to make small talk with her opponent before the match started, but to no avail. Dewdrop remained silent, even though she was looking dead at Mei. Or at least, that’s what one could assume based on the direction the mare was facing. “Those are some…neat bangs you got there?” Mei tried again, attempting to compliment the mare’s manestyle.

But once again, no response. Dewdrop simply bowed her head once as a cloud of mist seemed to emit from her body almost automatically.

‘A kirin…so this is who they put me against? Guess I’ll have to make her mad in order to actually have an interesting fight that’s worth my time. I hate these crowds.’

Without further ado, Sentry called out to signal the start of the battle.

“BEGIN!”