Equestrian Psycho

Chapter 12- Trial By Fire

Chris input a few more codes into the configuration system before closing the access panel. He stood up and took a look at his finished project. To the untrained eye, it appeared to be nothing more than an MMA fighting cage, but if someone looked closely, they would see small shifts occur here or there. He looked on at his masterpiece and let in and out a slow contented sigh. "I am definitely going to get that Sirian the biggest birthday present," Chris said with a smile.

After returning from his mission, he'd been told that he'd been gone for two days and had kicked his workload into overdrive, after spending some time with Sweetie and Heavy Ladle, of course. He'd gone to work refurbishing the new section of the castle that had been set aside for Ranger Operations, the new training facility especially. However, he'd hit a wall, literally. After a wall had come crumbling down, he'd called for a little advice.

Cruger had been extremely helpful when Chris had given him a call and had gone far beyond anything he had asked. Cruger had sent over some new equipment, including some very fancy microbots that had made remodeling far easier than Chris could have imagined. Then he'd been hit by a lightning bolt. He'd taken the tech from the gravity weights and modified it into a gravity generator, and built up an arena around it. Of course, he'd been dumb enough to switch the dumb thing on while standing on it and almost been crushed, along with most of the cage. He'd morphed and got out of the field to switch it off. Needless to say, the repair rate of the Architectural Microbots had come in handy.

Now, if we could just stop getting flung into the wall by that treadmill, Sam stated.

Chris let out a huff of laughter. "Yeah, that's getting kind of annoying," he agreed. The sound of hydraulics drew his attention to the door to the room as Shining Armor walked in.

Shining let out a whistle as he walked up to Chris. "Quite the impressive setup you've made here," the stallion said. "But you know the first trial is going to be starting soon, right?"

Chris started and activated his morpher to check the time. His eyes widened in shock when it read eight-thirty. Yellow Static lit up his body, and he began to race around. "I'mlateShininggottagobye!" A rush of wind whipped past the unicorn, and he turned just in time to see a blur rush out the door.

He gave a little chuckle. "So much for his team keeping up with him."

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Many recruits sat in a college-style classroom, waiting for... something. Then there was a commotion outside the room, the sound of heated voices, and the door finally opened. They all looked to the door to find Starlight Glimmer and Chris walking into the room.

"Sorry, I'm late, folks," Chris said as he made his way up to a desk and podium. "I was getting a few things ready for your final test," He explained as he stopped in front of the stand and looked out at the recruits in the room. "As you all know, one of the traits I listed out for a good Ranger is their intellect. A ranger must be able to think on their feet and solve problems that, if not solved, could be very dangerous." He swept his gaze across the room. "Half of you will not make it past this stage of the trials," he stated firmly. "As such, you must answer all questions to the best of your ability. Archmage Starlight will by overseeing the rest of the test. Good luck to all of you."

Chris moved out of the way so Starlight could take the podium. "As Captain Scott said, this test is designed to push the limits of your mind," she began as a stack of papers was enveloped in a light blue aura, levitated off the desk, and distributed to each recruit. "There are one hundred questions and scenarios. You will have four hours to complete the test. After four hours, your test will be taken and scored, regardless of whether or not it is complete. Time starts now. Good luck."