NO POV.

Magic. A fundamental key aspect that is present in all living things in this world. With it, a single person can shape their future. In this world magic is but a tool to reach greater heights, and pave the way to greatness.

Wealth, status, and power, these are needed to climb the ranks in society and have a luxurious life. However, the ultimate goal isn't merely to become the most rich and powerful. The more ambitious mortals of this world are known as Celestial Candidates. These individuals all have but one desire. To reach the Celestial Realm, and attain GodHood.

To train the next God of the Celestial Realm, special schools are made to teach their students. Students are able to learn how to fight, create magical tools and weapons, and increase their magical abilities. All to train them for a tournament.

For one to raise their ranking as a candidate, special tournaments are held throughout the year for anyone to participate in. These tournaments are observed by the Gods themselves and can determine who shall receive a higher rank. The journey of a thousand steps always begins with one.

Today is the day of the new year for the freshman entrance exam. Over 1,000 candidates from across the land have gathered here in order to enroll in one of the few magic schools, Canterlot High. All the candidates gathered in a massive arena that was levitating over five feet off the ground. The arena itself was the size of four football statues in width and length. The exam will be monitored by the school's headmistresses Celestia and Luna, as well as other examiners posted in the viewing platforms hovering over the arena.

As preparations were made and the last groups of candidates gathered. One young woman was mentally preparing herself for the exam. She had long purple hair with a hot pink highlight tied in a ponytail. Her skin was fair, and she had amethyst eyes. She wore a purple tracksuit and white running shoes. Perched on her shoulder was a small dragon, with purple scales and green spikes along its spine and purple wings. Her name was Twilight Sparkle and her familiar was named Spike.

“Yo, Twi! Over here!” A raspy voice called from the distance, catching Twilight’s attention. She saw that a group of her friends were waving her over. The one who called out had prismatic hair, tan skin and a toned body, and magenta eyes. She wore a skintight workout bra and shorts with lightning bolts on the side. On her hips were two short swords. The one who called was none other than Rainbow Dash.

Twilight rushed over, happy to see that her friends were able to make it to the exam. As she got closer, she saw that closest to Dash was a girl with long blond hair tied in a bun at the end, and a seton hat on her head. She had skin that was slightly tanner than Dash’s, freckles on her cheeks and light green eyes. She wore a pair of jean shorts and leather boots, with her light orange plaid shirt tied in a knot at the bottom. On her back was a large Warhammer with an apple on the side and the words, “Apple Juicer” written in red lettering. “Howdy, there sugarcube, glad ya made it here.” Applejack spoke in a Southern accent.

Twilight’s shoulders relax as she lets a breath of relief out. “Glad to see you girls here, I was getting nervous thinking about the exam. So, are you girls ready?” She asked to check to make sure that everyone had their gear and equipment while storing Spike’s chin.

“Well of course silly, why else would we be carrying weapons and wearing protective gear heh?” A girl with big puffy hair braided into a ponytail. Her skin was slightly tanner than Twilight’s, with baby blue eyes. She wore a light blue vest with chainmail over it, along with blue shorts and pink leggings that went up to her knees. However, she wore rollerblades instead of shoes and had glowing bracelets on each wrist. Pinkie Pie was the oddball of the group.

“I-I’m just glad to not be alone here.” A soft and almost quiet voice spoke up. The sweet gentle voice belonged to a girl with long light pink hair that nearly covered half her face. She had piercing emerald eyes, tan skin, and wore a dark green turtleneck sweater, and light brown jeans. In her hands she held onto a wooden staff with a gemstone at the end shaped like a beautiful rose.

“Fluttershy there is no need to worry darling, besides had none of us shown up you always have your familiars.” With an elegant voice Rarity reassured her nervous friend. This young woman had skin that was fair and smooth, and eyes that sparked light blue, like gems in the moonlight. She had long violet hair that curled near the end. She wore a breastplate over a black long-sleeve shirt with metal gauntlets on each arm, along with black skinny jeans with metal shin guards. Her weapon of choice was a rapier. “Hopefully we don’t end up with any filth or grime from this physical exam, I simply detest getting all sweaty.”

“Well I don’t know about the rest of you girls, but I’ve been itching to try out my new spells and moves.” The final girl had a mix of red hair with yellow highlights tied in a neat bun, almost looking like the color of fire. Her skin was tan and she had teal blue eyes. Like Pinkie Pie, she wore a chainmail vest over a red and yellow tank top and a black leather jacket over that. She had leather shin guards over her light blue jean pants and steel-toed boots. Sunset Shimmer was raring to go for a fight, with her broadsword strapped to her back.

"Attention candidate, may I have your attention please!!"

From the center of the arena, a voice was projected over loudspeakers that filled the air. Standing in the center was a slender man wearing a black two-piece suit, with sunglasses. "We will now be announcing the rules for this year's freshman entrance exam!" Hearing the announcement every candidate was on edge, many were eagerly waiting to start while others were nervous and even a little scared. Rainbow Dash and Applejack both glanced at each other smirking as they started to stretch.

"I bet I can take down more monsters than you, AJ." Rainbow Dash said while stretching her legs.

"Whoever beats the most monsters wins thirty bits." Applejack said as she cracked her knuckles.
Twilight stroked Spike's head as a way to calm her nerves, while she prepared herself both mentally and physically for the exam. Fluttershy audibly gulped and pulled the neck of her sweater to try and cover her face, peeking her eyes out just a bit to at least see and hear the announcer.

Pinkie Pie was shaking with excitement; her entire body was vibrating while having a massive smile on her face "I can't wait to get this party started!" She giggled as she bounced on the toes of her feet, warming herself up.

Rarity was a little preoccupied as she found herself examining the announcer's attire and mumbling notes about it to herself. “Hmm not a bad style, but it could definitely use a few accents here and there.”

Sunset took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, steading herself and listening to the announcement. “I got this; I've been training for this day.”

A window made of pure magic slowly manifested high above the arena. Soon images of monsters could be seen. "This year's exam shall be like the last two years before. Magical beasts of different shapes and sizes will be summoned into the arena. The goal is to defeat or tame as many as you can before the allotted time runs out."

A digital clock with 60 minutes was set above the monitor. "Now to earn points is as I said before, you can do so by defeating or taming monsters. Other means to earn points are to show off your combat abilities and magical prowess." The MC pointed to the spectators in the stands. "Of the one thousand candidates here, only one hundred shall be accepted. Your goal is to prove your worth to those watching."

"Now for the more important rules." The MC called out. "The use of weapons and items brought in is allowed and candidates are permitted to work together in groups. However, candidates are forbidden from harming other candidates or sabotaging each other." The MC said while wagging his finger.

"Has that happened before?" Fluttershy asked her friends while hiding deeper into her sweater.

"Unfortunately, yes, but don't worry. The headmasters will catch anyone violating that rule in an instant and make an example of them. Publicly humiliating them and punishing them, helps with making sure no one tries it, it's rare but some idiots still try their luck." Sunset told Fluttershy to give her a sense of assurance.

"And finally, should a candidate be knocked out of the ring or rendered unconscious, they shall be disqualified and forced to leave." A stick figure showing being knocked out of the ring and knocked unconscious played on the monitor.

"Heh, as if anything they throw at me could take me down. They'll have to catch me first." Rainbow Dash boasted as her friends rolled their eyes.

"Oh and one last bit of warming." The MC pointed upwards to the clock. "The moment the clock reaches the last 10 minutes of the Exam, a boss monster will be unleashed. This particular beast will be ten times stronger than all others summoned, so do keep that in mind."

“A boss monster?" Spike spoke up, for the first time somewhat nervously, but was calmed down when Twilight gently scratched under his chin to ease his worries.

"I hope it's not anything ghastly like a giant slug or a slime monster." Rarity shivered in fear and disgust at the idea of such a disgusting creature, and while her friends did find her idea over dramatic, they secretly wished that it wasn’t either of the two either.

The MC jumped high in the air, as a floating platform appeared for him to stand on. "Are our Celestial Candidates ready?!" He called out looking to see if all were prepared.

The candidates all erupted into roars of cheers as they were all ready to prove their worth in the exam, and take their first steps to Godhood.

"Then let this year's extreme exam begin!!" The MC shouted out, raising his hand into the air.

The moment the clock started ticking, magical circles appeared in the arena. From them, magical beasts of all shapes and sizes were summoned.

Massive red boars with large tusks that had fire emitting from their hooves, and flames in their mouths squeaked as charged.

Golems that stood nine feet tall, made of stone, with glowing red eyes towered over the student, and began to toss boulders.

Thick turtle-like creatures covered in slimy seaweed and webbed feet, marched onwards spitting jets of water from their mouths.

Some of the candidates were frozen with fear, for some this was their first time seeing battle and knowing their futures depending on how well they did. But for others, they quickly charged headfirst ready to put all their training to use. Spells were unleashed, spells and skills tossed around.

Charging forward, Twilight summoned a bright purple scythe construct made from her magic and ran forward. Spike jumped off her shoulder and took a deep breath before firing multiple balls of fire at a rock golem that was charging from her right, blinding it while Twilight ran to the flame boar that was charging towards her, and began slashing away at it. Twirling her magical scythe in her hands without any effort, before decapitating the boar’s head in one clean slice. All the while her familiar torched the rock golem into a molting puddle.

Checking to see if her friends were doing okay, she saw that Rainbow Dash had taken off like an arrow from a bow. A green light was emitting from her shoes as she suddenly took to the sky, flying high up over a rock golem. Drawing her blades, she smirked as they glowed a bright green, twirling the blades in her hands, she crossed them over her chest and dived down.

Wind began to spiral along her blades as she came diving down. “Wind-Slicer!” She shouted as her blades carved through the golem’s arm off in a single slice, slowly it crumbled apart to the ground.

The golem spun around trying to swat at Rainbow Dash, until a loud thundering crack rang out. Behind the golem Applejack had swung down her hammer covered in an orange aura straight down on the golem’s right leg, shattering the leg into pebbles. This forced the rock golem down onto its last knee before the two candidates came from behind and smashed the rock giant into dust.

“My kill!” Both girls said in unison before looking at each other angrily. “No, that was my kill, I got the last hit in!” They shouted in unison again looking frustrated.

Across the battlefield, Rarity stabbed her rapier into the ground and summoned a shield made from gemstones, blocking a barrage of paralyzing water from a group of kappa. Rarity held out her rapier and shattered the shield into multiple smaller shards of gemstones. "Dazzling Gem Storm!" The gems fired rapidly, cutting down the kappa as they were shredded apart like paper.

A golem roared and charged towards Rarity. She scoffed and waited for the monster to get closer towards her. With a raised fist the golem slammed its fist down towards Rarity, but she twirled to the right narrowly dodging the attack, before thrusting her rapier into the shoulder of the golem, soon shards of emeralds spouted from the golem. As Rarity then pulled her Rapier out and jumped over the golem, she winked at it before thrusting her rapier into its head, with a strong thrust the golem’s head exploded and its body crumbled into chunks of stone and emeralds.

During the battle many candidates that hadn't fully prepared for a battle on this scale were either knocked out of the ring or beaten unconscious, others running away from the magical beasts.

The examiners in the stands watched as many candidates fell in battle, crossing names of the lists. While others paid special attention to certain individuals.

Amid the chaos, Pinkie Pie was humming a song while casually skating around without a care in the world, two kappas saw her and cackled as they ran towards her. The two jumped up into the air before turning themselves midair to crush her with their shells, but upon impact they just... bounced? The kappas both curiously looked down and saw they did land on Pinkie Pie, but her hair just... stopped them and now held onto their bodies? Pinkie giggled and shook her hair, shaking the two monsters out of her hair.

"Hehehe, silly kappys. It's gonna take a lot more than that to stop me. But to stop you two, on the other hand?" Pinkie smiled and her bracelets grew to the size of hula hoops, that shined bright pink. Pinkie then used her bracelets to cut the kappas down in one swipe, their bodies bursting into confetti.

"Who wants to party!" She giggled bouncing up and down, before spinning like a top at an incredible speed, her bracelets stretched out as she became a whirlwind of pink lights. Her body started spinning around the arena, cutting down monsters left and right.

A golem charged up to her, raising its fist over its head before slamming them both down on top of her. Slowly it pulled its arms up and looked down at the crater it made to see Pinkie Pie turned into a pancake. But what shocked it the most was that Pinkie Pie just stuck her thumb in her mouth and blew herself back to normal. Looking up at the golem with glee, Pinkie laughed.

"My turn." Pinkie slammed her bracelets together, making them combine and morph into a large snake. It hissed at the golem before wrapping around it, slowly squeezing and crushing it. The golem tried to break free but was slowly being crushed. Pinkie Pie ran up to the head of the giant and smiled, booping it on the face, causing crackles to start forming along its body before crumbling into pieces.

Over with Fluttershy and Sunset, the two were battling against a small horde of kappas as they fired their paralyzing water balls at them. Sunset used her sword to deflect the attacks back at them while Fluttershy ducked behind trying to avoid the frighting monsters.

"I can't do this; I can’t do this!" Fluttershy cried as she ran off avoiding the attacks of the spitting kappas.

"Fluttershy, you need to calm down! If you don't then you'll get-WATCH OUT!" Sunset darted towards Fluttershy and tackled her down as a fire boar was launched at them like a projectile, and exploded upon impact.

The two looked over and saw three golems using the fire boars as projectiles while stomping about. The sight of the boars squealing in terror and being used so cruelly made something snap inside Fluttershy. Her grip on her staff nearly snapped it in half as she got up, a yellow aura surrounding her, as her eyes turned white "How DARE YOU USE THEM LIKE THAT?!" Fluttershy slammed her staff to the ground as a green rune symbol appeared under her.

Pointing her staff at the golems, she cast a spell. "Rose Thorns!" Two large roses sprouted from the ground and a dozen vines with sharp thorns along with them. With a stomp of her staff, the vines whipped and slashed the kappas down that tried to jump her. The golems started throwing more boars their way, but the flowers stopped and caught the boars in midair, before lowering them down to Fluttershy. They squealed and squirmed in the flora’s grasp as Fluttershy approached and raised her staff. The gem at the end of her staff began to glow a gentle yellow as she spoke her enchantment. "Beast Taming!" The two boars' eyes turned yellow as they all slowly stopped struggling and were set down. Both faced the woman and kneeled to her. She smiled and petted them both as she spoke. “Aww did those mean golems throw you?”

Pointing her staff at the golems, the two boars turned to face them. “Go get 'em.” The boars squealed with rage before charging forward like runaway trains. The two beasts crashed through the golems' legs and knocked them down before they began trampling them into dust with their hooves.

Sunset watched in stunned amazement as she started to tame more and more boars, and began riding them through the battlefield. She couldn’t help but laugh a bit as she watched the stampede plow through monsters left and right.

"Always the quiet ones." She said as she held up her sword and she smirked "I won't let you have all the fun!" Sunset charged ahead using her sword to cut down a few kappas that had charged her.

One kappa tried swiping at her head, but Sunset used her sword to block the attack. The attacking kappa was using all its strength to try and overpower her, but Sunset stepped back, before sidestepping to the right letting the kappa fall forward.

Using this opportunity Sunset lunged forward and plunged her blade into the kappa's head killing it instantly. Two golems stomped towards Sunset arms raised poised to attack. Holding her blade up, her body began to glow red before enveloping the blade in this aura and igniting it into flames. "Inferno Blade!" One golem brought down its arms toward Sunset, but her reflexes were faster as she swung her sword cutting off its arms, her flames igniting what remained causing it to melt the stone. The giant roared in pain but quickly followed up with another attack by swiping at Sunset. Twirling her sword Sunset sliced the golem along the waist cutting it down, as she pointed her sword, and took aim at the second golem.

A large fireball building up at the top of her sword. "Solar Burst!" Slashing her sword through the air, Sunset launched the fireball at the giant, the attack exploding upon impact as a large cloud of smoke and rubble covered the area.

The golem was covered in flames, its body flailing around trying to put out the flames. There was a red flash and slowly the golem’s torso slid off as it slowly began to melt into magma. When the dust settled Sunset slowly walked away with a confident smirking as she sought out her next target.

High up in the main spectator stands, Celestia watched with a soft smile as she saw her two students battling it out on the field. “Hard to believe those are the two little girls that you took under your wing eight years ago.” A voice pulled Celestia’s attention away from the exam, and she saw her sister standing beside her. “Both were so interested in magic that they snuck into a library at night so they could have it all to themselves.”

Celestia giggled as she watched her sister take a seat next to her. “Yes, I remember when the guards brought them in, calling them the mischievous bookworms.” Both laughed as they could see it as though it happened just yesterday. “I think it was that day I decided to keep a close eye on them, before offering to be their tutor.”

Luna nodded her head and sighed. “Mmm and now look at them, once fledgling now learning to take flight.” Slowly Luna shook her head as she tried to focus, she pulled out a clipboard and examined it carefully. “The number of promising candidates this year seems fairly low compared to recent years. We may be able to reach our one hundred free spaces, but I’m afraid that most will be lackluster.” Luna sighed before passing the list to her sister.

Celestia took hold of the list and examined it. The list was connected to the clipboards of the examiners, which showed the names of the candidates as well as their scores. Whenever a name would black out it meant the candidate had been either knocked out of the arena or knocked unconscious. Sighing Celestia rested her head on one hand. “Hmm, some of these candidates have either low scores, or are being taken off the list faster than they can earn points.”

As she examined the list, she saw two names with zero scores. She pointed the name out to her sister. “What of these two here?” She asked Luna, passing the clipboard.

Luna examined the two names and looked out to the arena and seemed confused. “I don’t see them, but this shows they haven’t been knocked out or thrown from the ring. Perhaps they are late, should I cross them off the list sister?”

Celestia shook her head. “No that won’t be necessary, if the time runs out and they haven’t earned a high enough score that will be on them.” She glanced at the names and smiled. “Cheeky little boys aren’t they, being late to chance to rise to Godhood.”

Outside of the stadium, two figures were running up along the stone stairs that started at the foot of the mountains. Both were male and each one panting as they ran. “I told you to set an alarm before bed last night banana brains!” One shouted.

“Oh don’t put this on me, if you weren’t too busy flexing with your shirt off all last night, you would have woken up before me!” The second argued back.

“Yeah, well we would have made it for the opening ceremony this morning had you not stopped to stare at the fruit lady’s melons for five minutes this morning!” The first voice shot back.

“Oh, shut up, they were big and round and she let me feel them up!” The other laughed. “Besides I never saw watermelons as big as hers, and I didn’t hear you complaining when I shared the one I bought with you on the way here!”

The second voice remained silent for a moment before sighing. “Well, I hope we aren’t too late to get a few points in.”

“Don’t worry about it, at this rate we’ll make it just in time for the big boss, besides don’t you know it’s badass to show up fashionably late?” The second voice teased.
“Whatever! Just hurry your monkey ass up!!”

Over forty-five minutes had passed, and nearly half of the candidates had been either knocked out of the ring or rendered unconscious. Now candidates started to become desperate as it was only five minutes till the large boss monster was summoned.

Twilight and her friends all gathered into a defensive circle formation, each helping to fend off any magical beast that came their way.

"Keep it up, girls! We're almost near the end!" Sunset said as she held up her sword "Sunlight Flash!" A bright light emitted from her sword, blinding some of the kappas.

This caused them to accidentally hit some of the golems with their attacks, paralyzing them which allowed Pinkie Pie to throw her bracelets at them, slicing them all in half as they crumbled away.

Applejack raised her hammer and slammed her feet hard on the ground, an orange aura surrounding her hammer as she brought it down "Seismic Earthquake!" The force of her hammer shook the ground causing it to tear open, which allowed some of the flame boars and golems to fall in.

Rainbow Dash crossed her blades together and winds swirled around her swords. "Whirlwind Slash!" Rainbow Dash then sent two small tornados towards the monsters, lifting them up and trapping them, before the wind blades began slicing them into pieces.

Fluttershy summoned a shield made out of thick vines, she took a deep breath and focused her magic into her staff, the gem shined bright, and she slammed it down, she summoned two large grizzly bears each one unleashing a powerful roar. Both attacked four golems, the bear's strength far surpassed the golem’s strength.

Rarity deflected as many attacks as possible from the kappas and then summoned a golem of her own made out of ruby. The ruby golem charged through the water demons, easily steamrolling them. It charged towards the normal earth golems, grabbing their arms and tearing them off with ease. The ruby golem then used the stone arms as clubs and began beating down on the other golems and boars.

Soon the final second ticked as the last ten minutes began. All the magical beasts vanished, as a summoning circle as large as the arena itself glowed.

The candidates shielded their eyes as the light was brighter than the sun itself. The ground beneath their feet rumbled and shook, nearly knocking everyone off balance.

From the summoning circle, they saw a monster that stood 80 feet tall, the monster walked on all fours with razor-sharp claws and a massive tail. The beast’s scales were a grayish-brown color, it didn’t just have one dragon-like head, but four of them. The candidates were now facing a massive hydra. The sight of such a monster terrified nearly all the candidates down to their very cores. In a last act of panic and desperation, the candidates began unleashing their strongest spells and attacks on the beast. Fire, lightning, water, and earth spells struck the beasts, but none seemed to affect the hydra enough to show pain. The monster opened its four mouths before unleashing a deafening bellow, which paralyzed the candidates with fear, some losing the will to fight while others willingly ran out of the arena.

"And there it is folks, the boss monster for this year is a hydra!!" The MC called out over the speakers as he watched the match from above. "This is your last chance to get whatever points in, especially to any candidates who didn't earn enough points to make it into the top one hundred."

Twilight gasped for a moment, her body froze in terror, along with most of her friends. She looked up at the monster and quickly steadied her mind and summoned her courage. "Rainbow, Spike! You two fly high and distract the Hydra in the air, aim for the eyes! Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, you three aim for the legs, if we can halt its movement or at least slow it down we can stand a chance! Pinkie, you and I will try and work on cutting off the heads, Sunset you use your fire magic to burn the wounds to keep it from growing more heads!" Twilight ordered her friends as they all were now filled with hope and determination as they moved to enact Twilight's plan

Both Rainbow Dash and Spike took to the sky as per Twilight’s instructions, Spike took aim before launching fireballs at the Hydra's faces, while Rainbow Dash used her wind magic to blitz the Hydra, slashing at its head and neck.

Fluttershy moved behind the beast and raised her staff, causing it to glow before slamming down. "Vine Prison!" Fluttershy used her magic to bind Hydra’s back legs in thick vines, holding them in place.

Applejack charged at the right leg as an orange aura engulfed around her. "Charging Bull!" She dashed forward and raised her hammer, with a single swift and powerful swing, she slammed into the back of the right leg.

Rarity moved on to the left leg and used her rapier to rapidly slash away at the leg, a light blue aura surrounding her blade. Widening her stance, she began to glow. "Dazzling Slash!" Her speed began to speed up, doubling her attacks and making it look like there was a second Rarity fighting.

Holding out her hands, Twilight used her magic to create two battle axes taking one in each hand. Pinkie twirled her bracelets around before combining them together to create a massive buster sword that she wielded with ease. Using her magic, Twilight created glowing pink platforms for her and Pinkie to jump on slowly making their way to the hydra’s heads.

Two of said heads saw the oncoming attack and roared, the force of which was nearly strong enough to blow them back, had Sunset not fired two fireballs straight into their mouths stalling them. The fireballs explode in the beast's mouths, backing their heads reel back in surprise.

"Aim for the closest one!" Twilight said as she and Pinkie Pie both charged towards the nearest head. However, one of the heads immediately swatted them away, causing them to crash into the ground.

"Twilight!" Spike yelled out in panic.

"Spike, look out!" Rainbow Dash flew towards Spike and grabbed him, pulling him away just in time before one of the heads could eat him.

Twilight and Pinkie Pie both groaned as they pushed themselves up, holding their weapons and prepared to attack again. "Sunset! On my mark, use flash!" Twilight said as she used her magic to create more platforms "Pinkie, we'll have to move fast! Follow me!" The two ran up through the platforms while the others continued to attack the Hydra.

Other candidates joined in on the attack desperate to rid themselves of the monster that could easily knock them out of the arena. Twilight and Pinkie jumped from one platform to the next drawing closer to one of the heads.

The Hydra was bombarded by spells from all directions, as well as being attacked by Spike and Rainbow Dash who continued to aggravate it. Twilight constructed two sunglasses to shield her and Pinkie's eyes with her magic before looking to Sunset. "Sunset, now!"

Sunset held up her sword and imbued it with Light Magic. "Flash!" The bright light shone like the sun as it blinded the Hydra forcing it to shut its eyes, giving Pinkie Pie and Twilight both the chance to lunge forward and attack the nearest head.

"Buster Barrage!" Pinkie Pie wielded the giant sword as if it weighed nothing and delivered multiple slashes along the neck.

“Guardian Striker!" Her axes glowed brighter infused with more magic, as she started slashing down along the beast's neck hacking away at the flesh.

As the examiners watched the seven girls fight, Celestia stood up looking concerned. "Somethings wrong. This beast is much too strong, compared to all the others we summoned years prior."

She watched as the hydra would knock out all other candidates out of the arena left and right. "This beast has exceeded the normal parameters, shall I stop the match sister?" Luna asked, standing up as well.

As Celestia watched, she couldn't help but think to herself, as much as she wanted to stop this fight, she had to allow tough battles to happen. Begrudgingly she sat down. "No. They need to survive, if they can't handle themselves against this, then they will have a difficult time at our school." Luna, despite her reservations, sat down and watched the match unfold.

After a good amount of time, Twilight and Pinkie Pie both turned to look at the damage they inflicted on it, only to be met with shock and fear. Their attacks only left a handful of scratches on the neck, even the attack from their friends and other students had little to no effect on it!

The Hydra roared and stood up on its hind legs, towering over the students and nearly reaching the spectator stands of the arena, before suddenly slamming down both feet to the earth. The impact unleashed a massive shockwave sending hundreds of students flying across the arena or knocked off completely.

Fluttershy and Rarity were thrown back by the force of the shockwave, but Rarity quickly summoned a wall of sapphire to catch the two of them just before they could get knocked off, with Fluttershy summoning bushes against the gem wall to act as a cushion.

Applejack used her magic to plant her feet to the ground like a tree but still skidded back. The vines ensnaring the Hydra's legs were snapped off as it swiped its tail at Applejack, sending her flying back. A loud crack was heard and a scream of pain cried out from Applejack as she flew back.

Fluttershy aimed her staff which glowed brightly. "Sunflower!" Using her magic she summoned a massive sunflower to gently catch Applejack before she could be knocked back.

Applejack groaned in pain as she held her right arm. "M-My arm!" Applejack winced and groaned in pain, her right arm broken from the attack.

Rainbow Dash saw this and growled in frustration as she increased her wind magic to fly faster, using her swords to hack and slash at the Hydra, even stabbing one of its eyes. "I'll make you pay for that, you oversized lizard!" Rainbow Dash aimed for another one of its eyes but was immediately swatted away by another head, sending her hurling down to the ground. She hit the ground hard and skipped like a pebble on water, landing in front of Rarity and Fluttershy as she groaned, sitting up and holding her left side.

Twilight panicked as she trembled in fear "T-This wasn't supposed to happen. The plan should've worked!" She tried to quickly think up another plan, unaware of her surroundings as a tail was hurling towards her.

"Look out!" Pinkie Pie jumped and pushed Twilight off the Platform to save her as she took the hit instead, falling down towards the ground in a crater as she winced in pain, opening her eyes as she weakly stood up only to fall to her knees.

Twilight gasped in horror as she now found herself falling, she tried to summon another platform, but Spike had grabbed her and lifted her by her shirt, just strong enough to slow her down, and give her time to catch her breath and have a clearer head.

Summoning up some platforms she slowly caught herself, while her familiar looked at the beast worried about what to do next. "Twilight, what's the plan?" Spike asked

"I-I... I-I don't know. I don't know, the plan should've worked!" Twilight said, shaken up by the events that transpired, to make matters worse she was burning through more magic than she had planned, and she knew her friends wouldn’t be far behind.

Glancing around she saw that Sunset had been knocked down, but was slowly standing back up. Her sword was stretched out with a massive fireball building up at the tip. Twilight could feel the intense heat from where she stood, and saw that her friend could barely stand. Quickly she ran to stand behind her and off her body support.

Feeling her friend support her from behind, allowed Sunset to focus her magic before casting her spell."Dual Ballista!" Two large flaming ballistas appeared next to Sunset and took aim at the Hydra.

"Solar Burst!" Sunset then fired her attacks, with Twilight adding her magic to the attack to increase its power. The fireball took off with the two ballistas spiraling around it. The attack swiftly slammed into the beast’s torso creating a massive explosion that kicked up dirt and smoke, blinding everyone.

As the shockwaves from the attack began to fade, the spot where the hydra stood was still covered in smoke. There was a moment of silence as the candidates thought that the monster was finally defeated, that the exam was finally over. That is until fear sunk in once more as they saw the beast’s silhouette.

Out of the corner of Twilight's eyes, she saw the massive tail coming down on them, aiming to crush them. "Bubble shield!" Twilight stood in front of Sunset and created a shield over the two, the tail crashed down like the force of a frattrain, but the shield held.

Twilight groaned as she poured all her magic into keeping the shield up, trying to buy them as much time as possible, hoping to run down the clock. However, when she saw the timer she saw there was still five minutes left on the clock. Her heart began to sink.

The Hydra growled and used its tail to blow away the smoke, all eyes glaring down at the two. It then raised one of its legs up high over the shield. Twilight and Sunset's eyes both widened in fear, the force along with its weight would crush them!

The Hydra brought down its foot on the shield and it shattered in a matter of seconds. Twilight fell back and into Sunset's arms as the Hydra raised its foot up once more. Sunset and Spike stared up at the Hydra and held on to each other, waiting for the end.

Twilight caught one glance as the foot came down and flinched. She flinched as she felt a wave of wind and thought she’d feel pain shortly after.

For a moment she didn’t feel a thing and had thought they died and were killed instantly, but she could still feel the pain she had taken prior and thought that she was still alive. Slowly she began to open her eyes to see what had happened, perhaps the beast was sent back before it could kill them. However, she could still hear the beast growling.

When her eyes opened fully her mouth fell open at what she saw. The hydra’s foot was just hovering over them, not because it stopped but because it was being stopped. Two men had their arms stretched out holding the foot back.

The first man had a lean muscular build, tanned skin, with black hair, and was wearing a black shirt with black leather armor, with a red Gi jacket over it, black baggy pants with black leg armor, and a katana strapped to each side of his hip.

The second wore a white T-shirt with a yellow jacket over it, black fingerless gloves. Around his neck was a long red scarf that flowed in the wind, and along his forehead was a black headband with a golden crest. His pants were also black and baggy, black running shoes with a yellow X across the side, and as well as….

“Is that a monkey tail?” Twilight asked, baffled as she saw along with his brown hair he had a long brown monkey tail coming out of his backside.

“Looks like we made it with time to spare.” The one with the tail said cheerfully as he and his companion held the beast back. “You owe me a bushel of apples after this.”

“First let’s ace this test, then you can have your apples. Are you ready?” The one with jet black hair asked his friend before seeing him nodded. With that both men reeled back a fist each, then quickly thrusted forward slamming them into the hydra’s foot.

Results were immediate as the foot rippled before the foot was sent flying back, forcing the hydra to fall backwards onto its back.

As the beast’s body dropped down, so did the candidates’ jaws at what they just witnessed. The very beast they were struggling against was now suddenly knocked backwards.

Twilight stared up at the two men as they began stretching their limbs. “Any ideas on how to beat this thing, Wu Kong? I forgot how we killed the last one before.” The man with jet black hair asked his hands resting on the handles of his swords.

“Hmm, last time we had to cut the heads and followed up by….um…..” The one with the monkey tail who now was known as Wu Kong, scratched his head while balancing on his tail. “Sorry Ryu, I kinda forgot.”

Twilight was still left shocked, mouth still open before Wu turned around and bent his knees so he was at eye level with her. “Um hey sorry to bother you, but you wouldn’t happen to know a way for us to beat that thing?” The monkey-tailed boy asked with a friendly smile. “Also if you leave your mouth open like that, a bug might fly in.”

Shaking her head to snap back to her senses, Twilight closed her mouth and tried to focus. “The best thing you can do is chop the heads off and burn the wounds shut before they can grow back.”

Wu snapped his fist into his free palm happily. “Oh yeah, that’s right, hey thanks. Guess pretty girls can also be really smart too.” He laughed as he jumped to his feet and turned to face the hydra. “Hey Ryu, did you catch that?”

The one known as Ryu nodded as he drew his swords to make sure they were sharp. “Yep I got it, so you do the cutting and I do the burning?” He asked as he and his companion started walking to the now-rising beast.

“You already know my answer to that man.” Wu Kong held his hand out as a small red poll suddenly appeared in his hand, before suddenly growing in length till it was a foot taller than himself. “Alright, shall we begin?” He smiled while twirling his bo staff.

“Wait!” Twilight called out, stopping the two who turned around when she called. “I don’t know where you two came from, but that thing is way too strong.” Despite seeing them knock the hydra back she was still worried for their well-being.

Both men looked at each other then smiled before looking back to her and spoke in unison. “Thanks but don’t worry because so are we.”

These words sent a wave of calmness throughout Twilight's body, the rush of fear she felt moments ago now washed away.

On the far side of the arena, the hydra slowly righted itself, roaring in frustration its four heads now locked on the two upstarts that struck. The nostrils flared and the jaws snapped in the air menacingly as they prepared to charge.

Ryu and Wu Kong both smiled as they got into a runner's stance and were smiling smugly. Soon their bodies were covered in thick auras, Ryu’s a crimson red, and Wu’s a golden brown.

“GO!!” They spoke in unison before taking off causing a shockwave.

In the blink of an eye, the two closed the distance between themselves and the hydra, both slammed their feet into one of the heads making it explode on contact. The headless neck spurted blood before Ryu ignited his blades and prepared to strike. “Hellfire Slash!” As he swung his swords twin waves of fire burned the beast’s wounds closed preventing a head from growing back in its place.

The hydra roared in pain and frustration, the remaining three heads preparing to chomp down on the two humans in midair. But the two smiled and kicked each other out of the way, sending them flying in opposite directions, and on either side of the now three-headed monster.

Wu Kong started to bounce on the toes of his feet while rolling both arms. “Hey ugly you gonna just stand there while we make a monkey out of you?” He began to chuckle to himself. “Haha get it? Monkey, because of my tail?” He twirled his tail in his hand. The hydra snarled as one of its head coiled back, before launching forward jaws wide open.

The monkey boy smiled before back flipping out of the way, letting the dragon's head slam into the ground, hurting itself with its own force. He stabbed his staff into the ground before pole-vaulting himself onto the neck while it lay on the ground and running up along it. As he ran along the neck of one head, a second darted forward to try and bite the filthy primeape and rid itself of a pest.

However, Wu Kong merely jumped over the oncoming head. His arms glowed brightly as his aura took the shape of a mighty gorilla, and raised both arms over his head and clasped them together. “Gorilla Smackdown!!” Pushing off the air he jetted himself over to the hydra-head with its mouth still open wide and slammed his arms down on the back of the head.

The impact sent the open jaw down onto the fallen head’s neck, forcing it to bite down. The two heads screeched in pain, as it was forced to bite itself. “Yo Ryu, help it chomp down!” Wu Kong shouted out.

Ryu was already running in, as he came from the side and launched himself forward slamming his head into the under jaw of the biting hydra. The force of impact caused the hydra to bite all the way through the neck in its maw.

The second head fell to the ground lifeless making the remaining two heads roar in agony. As they did Ryu drew both blades and ran to the neck where the second head was decapitated, crossing his blades together he ignited them with burning blue flames. “Flaming Dragon Claws!! He unleashed a fury of flaming slashes along the neck stub Cauterizing it. “Hey, Wu Kong how do you like your hydra steak, well done or charred?!” The man laughed before kicking away from the third head that tried to bite down on his body.

Wu Kong smiled as he appeared behind the third head that tried to bite Ryu, twirling his staff he slammed it down knocking it down. “Come on Ryu, you know I like my steaks cooked medium rare!”

From behind the fourth head closed in jaws wide open, Wu Kong was still in midair making those spectating gasp in fear believing he’d be eaten for sure. But the monkey smiled as his body glowed. “Eagle!” He shouted as his body changed to a red and white eagle and flew out of the way just as the jaws snapped. He shouted as his body changed to a red and white eagle and flew out of the way just as the jaws snapped. He flew over the snapping jaws and over to the back of the neck before shapeshifting again, only this time into a tiger.

The jungle cat ran along the hydra’s neck till it reached the base where the body and neck met, before shapeshifting into his human form. Raising his arm up his aura took the form of a tiger’s paw and claws. “Slashing Tiger Claw!”

With a strong slash of his arm, Wu Kong split the neck from the body of the hydra and fell along with the decapitated head and neck, arms folded in victory.

Everyone's jaws dropped once more, while Ryu shook his head smiling. “Show off.” Not wanting to waste any time he bolted forward, igniting both fists with burning crimson flames, he jumped high into the air before aiming. “Hellfire Barrage!!”

Ryu began to unleash a rapid barrage of fire blast at the stump of the hydra’s neck, the sound of sizzling flesh could be heard as the last head bellowed in furious pain.

Landing beside his friend, Wu Kong looked at the timer and saw there was only a minute left on the clock. “Hey, we need to end this quickly.” He said while holding up his left fist which began to glow a golden brown. “You thinking, what I’m thinking?”

His friend smiled as he raised his right fist as it burned a crimson red. “Oh yeah, combo finisher.” Both turned to face the hydra which was now charging at them like a stampeding bull, a look of rage and hatred in its eyes as it charged.

Both boys reeled their first back together and waited for the hydra to get close, their fists glowing more intense with every second that passed. When the hydra was only half a yard away both thrusted their fists out, shouting their final attacks.

"Burning Dragon Fist!" Shouted as a blast of fire shaped like the head of a massive dragon launched from his fist at blazing speed.

"Jungle King Fist!!" Wu Kong called out punching his fist through the air, as his attack took the shape of a massive gorilla head.

Both attacks flew side by side, jaws open. The hydra had no time to react as the attacks bit down on the remaining head and neck, causing a massive explosion of magic and energy to erupt. Dust and smoke filled the arena blinding everyone as the powerful winds from the explosion blinded the spectators and candidates. There was a brief few seconds of silence before the timer ran out, and a buzzer went off signaling that time was up.

Celestia stood up and used her magic to create a gust of wind to blow away the dust and smoke. The winds howled and did their job, as the results became clear to see.

Both Ryu and Wu Kong now stood on the body of the dead hydra, their arms folded as they stood side by side, each bearing a smug expression on their faces. When they saw Celestia they smiled and held up their hands. “So did we make the cut?” Ryu asked on behalf of the two.

Author's Note

Just in case for an added reference for Wu Kong, here is a photo of him