The Rise And Fall Of A Unicorn King

Sombra was awake late at night as usual, studying for his entrance exam to Princess Celestia's School For Gifted Unicorns.  The entrance exam was rumored to be a doozy this time around.  It was not anything simple like teleportation or levitation, not even self levitation.  No, it was something quite more this time.  While there was many rumors, no one truly knew what the test was actually going to cover.

-***-

The next morning he awoke bright and early for his exam.  The administrators sat in the back of the classroom, ready with clipboards and pencils, all levitated with their horns of course.  The door opened and the students were let into the room and guided to their seats.  A parchment and booklet was provided for each.

The students sat down, took the quills in horn, and the test began.  The students read their booklets of questions and quickly jotted down their answers.  Some of the students finished early and turned in their parchment.  Others not so early.  Sombra had thought the test seemed a little easy, actually.  Because of his reading, there wasn't really anything on the exam he didn't at least recognize.  Still, he took his time to double-check his work to make sure that he didn't make any careless errors.  The teachers jotted some notes down as they observed the applicants.

Once everypony was done, the test administrator dismissed the students, sending them to the cafeteria to get refreshments after the grueling exam.  As Sombra was about to leave, the administrator asked him to stay behind.

“Young Sombra, I thank thee for thy time.  You've shown an amazing talent for the subject matter.  We shall speak with the princesses regarding thy performance and let thou know their decision.”

Sombra beamed, excited at the opportunity!  “My thanks!  But, what of the others?"

The test administrator shook his head.  "The others did not demonstrate the same aptitude of study and comprehension as you have.  You breezed through the entire thing, getting most of the answers correct with little effort.  Despite finishing early, you still took time to go back and double-check your work to make sure nothing was in error."

Sombra was even more excited, not only did he do well, but he was best in the class.  A promising start.  "Well, even if they do not accept me, I will just try harder next time.”  His light gray coat and black mane seemed to glisten with his enthusiasm as he trotted along happily into the waiting room.

There he waited.  And waited.  And waited.

Finally, a very stern-looking stallion emerged from the next room over and approached Sombra.  His hardened countenance was cracked by a smile, small at first, gradually getting larger.  “Thou hast been accepted!” he said with enthusiasm.  The faculty was always excited when they could admit another gifted young unicorn to the school.

"This is a triumph deluxe!" Sombra said, matching the older stallion's excitement.  Sombra was jumping up and down in circles around him repeatedly saying "Yes" in rapid succession.

“You will want to pack your belongings right away," the faculty stallion said.  "The student body receives room and board while attending Her Royal Highness's academy.”

"Yes sir, immediately sir!" Sombra replied eagerly.

Sombra was so excited he ran home and packed his things immediately and headed right back to school.  His assigned room was waiting for him once he returned, even though school didn't start for a few weeks yet.  Textbooks for his first year were picked out for him and sorted, placed into a corner of the room with a course syllabus on top.  Sombra was so excited he had a hard time going to sleep that first night at the academy.  It certainly wasn't going to be his last.

Looking around he saw his bed, a writing desk, and not much else.  Might as well get a head start on reading, Sombra thought to himself as he cracked open the first one and settled down in bed.

"Introduction To Magic..." he said out loud as he read, giddy with excitement.  He continued to read well into the night.