The Final Test

Starlight awoke with a jolt, only to painfully collapse. She groaned and weakly dropped her head between her hooves, which were settled on the glass beneath her.

Glass?

Starlight lifted her head slowly, wincing each time her movement was a little too sudden. Her head ached horribly.

She was trapped in a glass box, only big enough for a single pony with a few extra inches on the sides so she could move around. The box stretched up to the ceiling, much like what she'd trapped Fluttershy, Rarity, and Twilight in for the test of Genorousity. She shakily pushed herself up, looking up at the ceiling. There was an opening carved out, which was covered by a metal door. There were hinges on one side that shone gold in the faint, yellow light that was glowing from somewhere in the room.

This was the first time Starlight was consciously noticing the light. She looked outside the glass. There was a lump that was only a little smaller than a full-grown pony. A small, yellow light glowed from the horn of the pony, revealing a little bit of the pale pink coat and the purple, blue, and pink mane. The lump rose and fell slowly.

Starlight froze where she was. It was one of her captors, no doubt, yet her weariness and pain in her head made it hard for her to identify who it was. She started to slowly lower herself back to the glass before the pony could notice she was up. But it didn't matter who it was. The moment anypony realized Starlight had regained consciousness, she would be thrown back into the torture.

Starlight tried to lower herself back to the glass, moving slowly. She sprawled her front hooves the way they were before, but when she stretched out her right hoof, she accidentally hit it on the glass wall. It created a clinking sound, subtle, but enough to draw the other pony's attention.

The yellow glow lit up brighter as the pony stirred. They turned to look at Starlight, their bright blue eyes meeting hers. A wide smile spread across her face.

"Ooo, goodie! She's awake!"

The alicorn shot a burst of magic, and suddenly torches roared to life. The only other pony in the room was Princess Cadance, who was had stopped her pacing once Flurry Heart spoke. The pink pony knocked on a metal door, which opened almost immediately. The rest of the ponies made their appearance. Everypony except the princesses had a smile spread across their face. Apple Bloom's was the sickest.

Princess Cadance approached the glass, walking elegantly. Flurry Heart stepped aside to give her room. She smiled at Starlight. "Ah, our friend's timing couldn't be any better."

If there wasn't glass in their way, Starlight would've spit at the mother and daughter duo. Anger boiled in her blood.

"Friend?" she chuckled lowly. "What kind of friend does this?"

A loud bark of laughter from somewhere else in the room. Starlight didn't have to look to know it was Rarity.

"To think such a question would come from you!" Rarity laughed. "Oh my. And to think a traitor would create something called the Friendship Test. You clearly don't know the first thing about friendship."

Starlight drew in a shaky breath. "I know that friends wouldn't do this," she said hesitantly. She felt several eyes boring into her. She suddenly felt a string of hope, and she clung to it tightly. Maybe there was a way out of this? "And I know what I did was wrong. I shouldn't have hurt anypony, but I was stupid and determined to prove how pathetic I thought you all were. After all, how could the power of friendship overrun the power of magic? I'm one of the strongest unicorns in Equestria. I just wanted to prove that. I- I'm sorry."

The room went quiet, then Rarity smiled kindly. "It looks like you're finally learning the true meaning of friendship," she said softly before her smile turned sinister. "A little too late."

"Rarity," Sweetie Belle warned, shooting her sister a look. "Don't be so harsh." The young unicorn pressed her hoof to her chest and cleared her throat. "What my sister meant was; your apology is unaccepted."

Starlight was overwhelmed with terror as Cadance stepped closer to her, a grin spread across her face. "Sweetie, are you ready to take notes?"

Sweetie Belle nodded, so the pink alicorn continued. "As you can see, you're encased in a glass box. I'm sure you've noticed the metal door above you. That door is currently blocking off a large amount of water. It may be more than enough to fill your tank. Once your tank is full, a seven-minute timer will begin. If you can survive, well, you'll have passed this test."

"But right after, my test will begin," Flurry Heart picked up. "While your tank is filled with water, I'm going to turn it to ice. We're going to see how long it takes for the ice to kill you."

Starlight opened her mouth to try and protest, but before anything more than a breath could leave her mouth Sweetie Belle nodded and Rarity looked at the clock.

One tick.

Two ticks.

Three ticks.

"Begin."

Cadance's horn lit up on cue, and the metal door above Starlight lit up blue. The door swung open, and water mercilessly poured down. It poured directly onto Starlight, soaking her and making it hard to breathe. Starlight yelped and backed away as it began to fill her tank. Rarity chuckled and covered her mouth with a hoof.

“My, darling. You look much better when you aren’t drenched like a merpony,” Rarity teased.

The water continued to pour down. Starlight’s head was soon covered. Her hooves lifted off the ground as much as they could with being chained down.

Starlight’s heart rate increased greatly, pounding against her chest. She was beginning to panic.

Just seven minutes. Just seven minutes.

It wasn’t enough to comfort her. The tank continued to fill. Rarity eventually looked at the clock and smiled.

“The timer has begun.”

Starlight felt her heart sink.

She thrashed around the best she could. She glanced at the glass walls that held her prisoner.

Glass!

Starlight swam back to the very bottom of the tank, steadying her hooves and trying to stay on the ground. She edged closer to the right wall. She reached out her hoof as far as she could and banged on the glass. She did this repeatedly, urging it to break.

Howls of muffled laughter filled Starlight’s ears. She ignored them and continued her efforts. But it didn’t work, the glass was too strong.

Starlight looked down at her chained hooves, then up at the ceiling, where the door remained wide open. If she could get free, she might be able to climb into the ceiling and get to somewhere with air. Her screaming lungs and aching chest blocked off all reason or thoughts of the flaws in this plan. She had to do something. She needed air.

Starlight began yanking on her left hoof, trying to rip it free from the chains. It only caused her more pain, and blood trickled into the water. Starlight was beginning to grow frustrated. Her attempts continued to fail, and her desperation was making her irritable.

Starlight lowered her head and dug her horn in the area between the chain and her hoof. She counted down in her head.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

Starlight jerked her head upward and pulled on her hoof at the same time. Pain exploded in Starlight’s head. Her hoof remained trapped, and more blood filled the water.

Something else was in the water now, too. Something purple, the same color as Starlight.

Her broken horn floated in front of her. She felt nauseous, seeing her own limb broken and floating in front of her.

Starlight swam forward, running out of options. She banged on the glass, hoping somepony would feel some kind of remorse and help her.

Instead, she was met with laughter.

“Blue is not your color, darling,” Rarity taunted. “Not for your face, at least.”

Starlight just banged on the glass again. She beat the glass over and over and over. Her hoof was beginning to ache, but she ignored it. She needed air, now.

After several minutes, Starlight heard a muffled ding. The metal door above Starlight lit up blue again, and it closed, preventing anymore water from coming in.

Flurry Heart danced excitedly in place as Sweetie Belle scribbled down notes. “My turn!” she sang.

She lit up her horn. A yellow glow engulfed it, and soon it shot directly at Starlight’s tank. The water began freezing over at a quick rate, chilling Starlight down to her bones. She felt her blood freeze, moving stiffly until it stopped moving all together. Her bones felt like icicles that would snap at any moments. Her eyes were stuck open, and her broken horn was off to her left, still within sight.

“What’s the temperature?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“10 degrees,” Flurry Heart replied. “Should kill her in a couple of minutes.”

Starlight made attempts to move, but it sent jolts of freezing pain through her body. She was forced to remain still. Ice dug into her skin, but the freezing sensation inside her body was worse.

She wasn’t sure how long it was before she eventually felt her heart freeze over. It felt like it had been an eternity of suffering. She couldn’t help but feel relieved as she slipped away from life. At least the afterlife would be warmer than this. Starlight had never been more relieved to die than she was now.

As Starlight died once again, Rarity stopped her timer. “Ten minutes,” she told Sweetie Belle. Her little sister scribbled the notes down.

“Maybe I should have made it a little bit warmer,” Flurry Heart commented, tapping her chin. “Ya know, so she suffered.”

Rarity shrugged. “It’s too late to go back. We need to move on with the test.” Rarity scanned the room. “Who’s going next?”

Shining Armor pushed through the other ponies to stand front and center. “Me,” he announced firmly.

Rarity sighed. “Alright, I guess we’re moving again. Unless anypony else needs this room for their test? If so, let’s do that first.”

Nopony answered. The ponies who hadn’t gone yet exchanged glances, and Spike shook his head. Rarity nodded.

“Okay then. Discord?”

The lord of chaos grinned and slithered forward. “Already on it,” he said with a snap of his fingers. Starlight’s body vanished from the ice and glass, plopping onto the floor. Scootaloo zipped away into a room. There was a rectangular glass window so that the pony inside could see the room. There was a control panel inside. Scootaloo pressed one of the buttons, and the sound of glass scratching on ice echoed throughout the room. The glass slid back into the floor, leaving only the ice behind. Flurry Heart struck it with a blast of magic. It instantly melted into water. It hit the floor with a big splash, covering everypony in water.

Rarity shook her head and looked at her hooves in distaste. The water covered the floor. It was a very thin layer, but it was there nonetheless.

“Come on,” Rarity said, leading the way out of the room. Everypony followed behind her, Starlight’s body draped over Discord’s shoulders like a scarf. The water trickled out once Rarity opened the door, making its way into the other room.

Rarity turned as everypony cleared the previous room and did a quick head count. Once she was sure everypony was there, she turned and led them down a hall. The hall ended in two large wooden doors. Rarity pushed them open, revealing a staircase.

Rarity hopped up onto the first step and trotted upstairs, leading the way to the room where the next test would be performed, the clock clutched in her magic.