Over a thousand years ago, so long ago that I can't even remember the exact date or time anymore, Luna and I waited in line for our turn to impress the most powerful alicorn in all the land, the Princess Aurora. She ruled over the land, in much of the same way that I do today. For as long as any pony could remember, she was in control. The Princess was a benevolent enough ruler, but ruling for so long on her own had come to exhaust her and caused her to focus less on the happiness of her subjects than on duty, order, and control. But she could no longer control all of Equestria on her own, so she sought an exceptional student or two to mentor.
Luna and I, while fairly skilled at spells and other kinds of magic, were different from the other ponies hoping for a chance to learn from the Princess. Most were Canterlot citizens or other ponies of minor royalty, ponies with personal connections to those that allegedly would be judging. We would have to really stand out if we even wanted a chance of being accepted, but we were probably too young to recognize how hopeless we truly were.
We first heard the announcement from one of the messenger ponies that traveled throughout the land of Equestria to spread the news far and wide. Luna and I at that time lived in a tiny village on the outskirts of Trottingham, a town so small that it didn't even have a proper name. Other ponies just referred to us as the ponies from Little Trottingham, if they called us anything at all. Luna and I were lucky enough to be visiting the bigger town for supplies when we happened to hear the announcement.
"Attention all citizens of Equestria," the messenger called out in his loudest Royal Canterlot Voice. "This is a message from the Princess. 'For too long I have ruled on my own that I now seek a student or two to train and mentor to rule at my side. In a fortnight, I will be holding a test in Canterlot for any talented unicorn foal eager to learn according to my rule. All will be accepted for the trials, but few will be accepted to be my students. Examine your skills set, and if you know unicorn foals more skilled than you, don't waste my examiners' time.' That is all."
With that final sentence, the messenger was on his way to the next town. Luna and I looked at each other, wearing a similar smile.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, sis?" I said with excitement. "This could be our big chance! Our chance to go out and learn magic beyond what we could learn in our tiny village!"
"That would be great!" Luna said, and then frowned. "But would they really want us? I mean, neither of us even has our cutie mark yet."
"Maybe through learning with the Princess we will earn our cutie marks! We've been here in the same city for all of our lives, and we haven't discovered our special talents. Maybe one of our special talent is, I don't know, something Canterlot-related?"
Luna thought about it for a minute, and then regained her smile. Then lost it again.
"But it sounds like so much work..." Luna complained.
I rolled my eyes, but kept my smile. "If we get accepted, we know that she knows we can handle the work. If we don't, then I'll take it as a sign that we are not ready. Happy?"
Luna nodded. "It's settled, then," I continued. "We will talk to mother tonight, and tomorrow we will be on our way to Canterlot and the rest of our lives!"
We clapped our hooves together and galloped as fast as we could to share this news with our mother.
~ ~
One thing we forgot to take in to account was what our mother's response would be. We hadn't considered the massive undertaking it would be to travel all the way to Canterlot simply for a test that our mother didn't think we would pass anyway. She might not have told us this directly, but the hesitance in her eyes gave her true emotions away.
She was a simple unicorn pony named Morning Glory, trying to make a living on her own after the passing of our father during the First Griffon War. His passing must have left her scarred, though, since she was never the same after that. Always reserved, always timid, not stepping out and doing more than what was expected of her. We suspected that she had higher hopes for Luna and I, but didn't want to see us crushed by the cold hoof of rejection.
Over the course of the night and into the morning, Luna and I begged and pleaded just for the opportunity to show what we could do. We made grandiose claims that we would never ask for anything ever again and we would always do what we were told, regardless of the test's outcome, and other excuses young ponies generally make. In the end, we wore her down and we packed up what little we needed to make the long journey to Canterlot.
The townsfolk waved goodbye to us, wished us good luck, and jokingly hoped that we wouldn't come back any time soon because we were too busy with royal business. Our mother smiled weakly, then ushered us to the path to Canterlot. We had a long road ahead of us.
~ ~
Canterlot was more beautiful than any of us could have ever imagined. After being used to the thatched roof cottages and dusty dirt roads of Little Trottingham, Canterlot was heaven in Equestria. It looked very similar to how it does today, as I have tried to preserve its former glory over the years with magic. But instead of having the more worn and aged feel that it does today, everything was all shiny and new. Princess Aurora had renovated everything to her own design, making pristine white, spiraling towers erupt out of the ground from every corner. The streets were paved with what must have been the clearest marble, and it was as sparkly and clean as everything else. Even the ponies themselves sparkled and glittered like we had never seen before, with their over-the-top fashion and expensive accessories. To most visiting Canterlot, they must have felt overwhelmed and out of their league, but to Luna and I, it felt like we were finally going home. While we might have looked like small-town ponies, now that we had seen the glory of Canterlot, we knew this is where we belonged.
Lucky for us, our mother had a distant aunt who lived in Canterlot and was more than happy to let us stay there while we took the test.
"Oh, it's no trouble at all, my dears! I've been waiting so long for another member of this family to aspire to the cultured life of Canterlot. There have been far too many simple farming ponies! Not that your husband was a simple farm pony! He was a warrior, that one, just like my cousin Lean Hoof! Do you remember him? Well, I remember one time -"
She continued to ramble on, so Luna and I quietly excused ourselves to unpack our few things upstairs. We felt slightly guilty leaving our mother all alone with that mare, but she could handle it. She was more of a listener than a talker anyway.
"I can't believe we've actually here! Canterlot, the capital of Equestria. It's even more amazing than I dreamed!" I said, dramatically falling back on to my bed. All of us were exhausted from the long journey, but the adrenaline of knowing that tomorrow we would have the opportunity of a lifetime kept us awake and strong.
"Nor can I! There are so many ponies, more than I have probably ever seen in my life! Yet somehow...I feel like I belong here," Luna remarked, lying back on her bed as well.
"I feel the same way," I said, deep in thought. "That has to be a sign, right? A sign that we are meant to be here?"
"I guess we'll find out soon," Luna said with a sigh. "Should we be practicing? Trying to remember everything we've learned?"
"I'm not sure," I wondered. "Do the judges want to see an exceptional unicorn with already well-established skills, or do they want one who may not be the most skilled now, but shows potential? I think our best course of action is just to go in fresh and show them what we can do unrehearsed. We'll give them an honest audition. That's all they can ask for."
Luna nodded. "At least now we have an excuse to do less work! I'm exhausted. How do you ever stay awake during the day?"
I laughed and rolled my eyes. "I could ask you the same about the night! You're always up, wandering around and basking in the moonlight, when all normal ponies like myself want to sleep."
"Then you're missing out! The real beauty of the moon can only be seen late in the night, so I have to stay up to truly admire it."
I chuckled. "That explains why you're always so tired during the day. Maybe if you actually got some sleep, then you would have energy for the day."
Luna dismissed my comment, replying, "If you say so."
The two of us laughed and talked until late in the night, when exhaustion finally overcame the nervous excitement. We had a big day ahead of us, one that I still have not forgotten to this day.
~ ~
The next morning, we woke up to the smell of freshly cooked hay pancakes. Luna and I galloped downstairs and were greeted by our great aunt.
"Good morning, you two! Ready for your big day of gaining honor for our family? I thought to myself last night, 'What can I do to show them how proud I am?' and, of course, I thought of making breakfast! What better way to start an important day than with a hearty breakfast? So then I thought to myself -"
"Thank you," Luna and I said in sync, interrupting her rambling as politely as we could. We took our plates and began eating as our mother made her way down the stairs as well.
"There you are, Glory! I was beginning to think you were going to sleep through the entire morning! But, obviously, you couldn't do that, and I decided -"
"Good morning, Mother!" I interrupted, disregarding whatever it was that our great aunt was saying.
"Good morning, dears," she said quietly, but with a smile that we hadn't seen in a long time. "I am proud of you both and know that you will do your absolute best."
Tears began to well up in my eyes, and I had to fight to hold them back. I couldn't remember the last time my mother told me she was proud. Luna and I just assumed she was thinking it based on the way she acted around us, but she hadn't expressed it out loud in a very long time.
"Thank you, Mother," I said, choking back tears. "I promise Luna and I won't let you down."
I heard a big snore, and Luna woke up abruptly. "What? Oh, I promise too!" I glared at her. "Sorry, it's just so early in the morning..."
"That may be true, but have you seen the sun? It's nearly time to get in line for the test! Some ponies might already be there, and we don't want to be at the back," I said, anxiously glancing out the window at the sun.
"How did you -? Never mind," Luna said.
Even then, it was clear that Luna and I had a connection with the moon and sun respectively. Luna showed her ability through her nightly walks and night-owl tendencies and I did through my uncanny ability to tell the time without a clock or sundial. Neither of us suspected that it would have something related to our cutie marks - that is, until later that day.
As we approached the line, however, Luna and I found ourselves unable to find our breath. The line was enormous, spanning over and under bridges, across town, and through buildings. We were supposed to show that we were special in a crowd such as this? The task seemed impossible, yet Luna and I were determined. We each had a similar feeling that we were meant to be here and weren't about to let that go on the basis of some giant line. But it sure was long...and crowded...and full of wealthy Canterlot ponies that must have had more education than either Luna or I.
We finally found the end of the line, near a small bistro on the other side of the castle. The line seemed to move pretty fast, but we had at least a few hours of waiting ahead of us. I had no doubt it would be almost dark before we finally entered the academy.
Still, ponies continued to line up behind us until we could not see the end of the line anymore. In a way, I had hoped that we might be the last. I knew that generally ponies remembered the first and last ones they saw, often forgetting those in the middle unless they were truly spectacular and unique. So, to stand out this time, we would have to amaze the judges.
"This line is so mind-numbingly boring, don't you agree?"
I shook my head to get out of my daze and looked around for the source of the voice to see if it was talking to me. My eyes stopped on a colt in front of us in line that was staring directly at me, as if waiting for a response.
"Oh, yes, I do agree. But it will be worth the wait in the end, I think," I said, finally registering what he said.
"If you get accepted, it will be worth it. Otherwise, what do you get out of it? Sore legs and maybe a sun tan, Miss Blindingly-White Coat," he responded. "But I have no doubt the Princess will be awed by my impressive display."
I looked at him skeptically. He seemed like a normal unicorn pony to me, with a dark brown coat and a snow-white mane and tail. It was pretty luscious, I had to admit, and he did have a peculiar cutie mark. It consisted mostly of a bunch of swirls and blobs of different colors that seemed to fade away inexplicably into the rest of his coat. Other than that, I supposed, he didn't look that special. Maybe I would go so far as to say he was handsome, but that didn't mean he was any more skilled at magic than Luna or I.
"Oh, really? And what makes you so confident?" I asked.
"Let's just say that I have a form of magic that I think the Princess will find unique, something she can't possibly turn down. And if she even considers it, I guess I'll have to win her over with my handsomeness," he said, smugly throwing back his mane. I was sure he felt confident in his magical ability, but the second part seemed more of a joke than actual narcissism. So I just laughed.
"What? You don't think the Princess will fall to her feet at the sight of my luscious, flowing mane? I'm shocked."
Luna began to laugh as well. "Well, if she doesn't fall for your lusciously flowing mane, then maybe she'll fall for mine," she said, throwing back her mane in a similar manner.
That broke the colt's stoic expression as he burst into a laugh. "I'd love to see the look on her face if you tried to do that! But who knows? Maybe she's one of those mares 'playing for the other team', if you catch my drift. She hasn't found a stallion to rule with yet!"
At that, I became more defensive. "That could be true, but the reason she rules on her own is because she doesn't need a stallion to make the crucial decisions. A mare is fully capable of ruling on her own, if she wishes."
The colt looked taken aback and dropped his goofy smile. "I didn't mean to imply anything like that. I was just joking, you know? It's what I do."
I sighed and returned to my normal composure. "I know, and I'm sorry. It's just something I feel very strongly about, so I tend to overreact when the subject is brought up."
"I can see that!" the colt laughed. "I thought any second you were going to explode into a fiery rage... But hey, it certainly would have gotten the Princess to notice you!"
I smiled at the thought. "Then maybe you didn't make me angry enough."
Luna's eyes widened. "Please, please don't take Celestia up on that. You do not want to see her when she's really angry. It's not pretty." I glared at her again. "It's true! And he seems like just the colt to accept your challenge."
"An accurate analysis, my dear! And while I am bored out of my ears waiting in line here, even I don't want to experience something like that."
I rolled my eyes at them both but continued to smile.
"So what makes you two think you have what it takes? Other than having the ability to get into a seething rage. Neither of you even has your cutie mark!" the colt said, gesturing to our blank flanks.
Luna and I looked at each other. Why did we think we had a chance? We weren't overly talented or extraordinary, so why would the Princess choose us over so many potential others?
"I...don't really know. It's just...a feeling we both have, that we're supposed to be here. Like we were meant to be here all along," I explained and Luna nodded.
"Sisters?" he asked and we nodded. "I guess there is something in that. The unstoppable royal sisters! It has a good sound to it. And again, who knows? Maybe your cutie marks will turn out to be something royalty-related. Then they'll have to choose you! And then they'll just choose me for good measure, because they need some male representative in this overly female family."
"If you say so," Luna said with a laugh.
"That is kind of what we were thinking, though, regarding our cutie marks. Luna and I have spent all of our lives living in a small farming village and never received our cutie marks in anything farming-related. What if we find our special talent here?" I explained, although I wasn't sure why I was spilling out all of my thoughts to this random stranger. He was just so easy to talk to with his laid-back manner and quick banter. And did I mention he was handsome? With all of his talk of making the Princess fall to her feet in awe, I couldn't help but see that there was some truth to his words.
"You two certainly don't look like farming ponies - no offense. Although, personally, I think that's more of a compliment..." he trailed off.
"What is your super special talent anyway?" Luna asked. "Your cutie mark just looks like a bunch of blobs and squiggles."
He smiled widely, clearly proud of his indescribable cutie mark. "Oh, I can't tell you that - not yet, at least. It's all a part of my super secret brand of magic that I'm going to show to the Princess. But I do have a super special talent, if I do say so myself. And I do."
I chuckled at that, but still eyed him skeptically. "What could possibly be so special that you have to keep it a secret?"
"That's for me to decide," he said with a smirk. "But, I assure you, it's worth the secrecy! Oh, it is so worth it..."
I raised my eyebrows. He was oddly enamored of this talent of his, which made me even more curious to know what it could possibly be.
"Well, when we all get out of this, you have to promise to share this 'grand secret' of yours," I said.
"I would be happy to oblige!" he said, bowing overly far.
For the next few hours, we chatted and joked about everything from the state of politics to the meaning of cheese. We inched closer and closer to the front of the line until, finally, we could see the door to the building and the gruff unicorn shouting, "NEXT!"
Apparently the Princess had not been fully satisfied with the crop of ponies so far, as she had not sent to rest of us in line away yet. The more we inched closer, the more heartbroken unicorns we saw trudge away from the room. Some were in tears, some were nearly screaming with rage, but a surprising amount didn't seem bothered whatsoever. If anyone was bothered in place of those unicorns, it was their parents, clearly convinced that their son or daughter was the best of the best. The Princess did not agree.
Only ten more minutes, then five, and then it was time for the colt in front of us to take his turn.
"Arrivederci, Celestia and Luna! See you on the other side," he said, trotting confidently inside. When he said that, I realized that we had never learned his name.
"Wait! What is your name?" I called to him, and he turned around abruptly.
"They call me Discord, Master of Chaos!" he said with a smile as the doors closed behind him.