The carriage held a few other fillies and colts, most from more distant provinces. All had come to attend the prestigious Canterlot Academy. Prism shrank into the nearest corner of the carriage, intimidated by all the new faces. She hadn’t expected what came next, as the door opened once again to reveal a small lavender unicorn filly with a curled mane and large glasses. This new filly looked excitedly around the carriage, before practically jumping into the empty seat next to Prism. Whether not able to tell or refusing to accept Prism’s anxiety, the new filly struck up a conversation, “Hi, my name is Opal Aura, what’s yours?”
Emboldened by Aura’s confidence, Prism came out of her corner and sat more comfortably beside her new seatmate. “My name is Prism Ward.” She looked around, as if to see if anyone was listening in, “Want to stay together today?”
Opal Aura seemed ecstatic at this suggestion, moving closer to Prism and offering a hoof, “Can we can be friends? My family’s moving here so-” She was cut off by Prism taking the offered hoof with her own and shaking it firmly, “Deal!” The two fillies laughed, starting a friendship that would last for years.
As the two fillies engrossed themselves in conversation, they didn’t even notice when the carriage began moving up the winding road ascending the mountain toward Canterlot. It wasn’t until they were nearly up the mountainside that they were alerted by the shining light coming in through the windows. The two gasped in awe at the sight before them, as if all of Equestria had been laid out like a map. There were farms and villages in the distance, with paths lacing across the great forest beneath. Even clouds, with pegasi flitting back and forth between them, were nearly level with the awestruck fillies. Contented to watch out the window for the rest of the trip, the marble city of Canterlot beckoned before them, gold wrought gates lie opened on either side of the road were overseen by unicorn guard wizards and patrolling guards. The carriage lost no time in moving through the bustling city, coming before an enormous tower, the academy itself.
The ponies inside the carriage found themselves filed out in a neat row toward the massive Academy Tower, a cyclopean structure of marble and gold, with stained glass windows breaking its facing here and there to depict famous scenes of history. Inside, the smell of incense and the tingle of magic filled the air as a far grander and more opulent place was revealed than even the outside would indicate. Robed ponies ran back and forth carrying stacks of books and scrolls, Spells were being fired off and tested from among the uncountable stories with their balconies into this main hall. As the Archmage began their welcoming address, Prism and Aura looked to each other with utter delight at it all.
The Archmage’s speech droned and flew over most of the new student’s heads, but one thing did manage to make it through, the curriculum for the day: the entrance exam. All students, as traditional, would need to go to the front and draw forth their task on a stone from the great pot that had been used for this purpose since the days of Princess Platinum. In order to continue in the school, the students would need to complete these tasks with their spellcraft, being provided with studying material if necessary. These tasks had been created with the intent of being solvable by such novice mages, most being as simple as bringing the instructor an apple or finding a magic ring among identical mundane ones, though there were rumors of far more difficult tasks within the pot.
As there were only a given few rooms available for the tasks, the students were left to tour the campus as they awaited their turn to draw from the pot. While Aura seemed to relish the idea of the challenge, it shook Prism to her core. Aura reassured her friend, insisting that it would mostly be for show, since the task calls for no more than cantrip level magic. Worrying over the task occupied Prism’s mind, distracting her from the tour as it passed through libraries and spell chambers. Finally, Prism was called for, seeming petrified as the Master came to guide her. Remembering her mother’s words, she overcame her fear and followed the Master, looking back only once to see Aura smiling and cheering her on.
The wooden stage was well polished, but still showed wear from the day’s entrants making their way across it on exactly the path that Prism took now. The Masters of the Academy oversaw the ceremony, as was tradition, and one guided the scared filly up a small stepladder that had been set up near the pot. The pot itself seemed to tower over Prism, a massive clay thing with painting inscriptions depicting the early history of the Unicorns. As she climbed the ladder, she could see inside the darkness of the pot, but no further. One of the Masters gave an incantation before cueing her to reach in, and so she did, her hoof vanishing in darkness until it felt a small stone. Surprised, she brought the stone out to find a smooth oval of smoky quartz. The Master on stage took up the stone and held it to the light, announcing her task to all the room, “Prism Ward must light a candle.”
Masters stomped their hooves to the floor, before Prism was led to a small plain room. On a desk in the center was a tall candle in a simple stand. The Master who led her here introduced himself as Ace Blaze, and recited the rules. Prism was at an absolute loss for what to do. Following her first thought, she looked through her bags, finding the kit that her pa had made in case she got lost in the forest. Careful to use her magic to do so, she withdrew the flint and steel from her bag. Ace covered his mouth with a hoof as the filly used her magic to strike flint and steel together in an effort to light the candle, forbidden to interfere. Eventually, a spark landed true, and the candle came alight. As it did, the candle had to compete with Prism’s face as for which had lit up more.
Unfortunately, both were snuffed at once by Master Ace putting out the candle as he spoke with a bemused tone, “Very clever, but you really must do light this with a spell and our provided materials.” Seeing the filly’s sudden disappointment, he added the one hint he was allowed to give, “You did well though, I wonder what just one Spark could do.” Catching his notion, Prism remembered a spell cast by her mother to light the forge on days where it was her duty, and requested the materials for this Spark spell. Smiling gladly that the filly was on the right track, Ace took the spellbook excerpt from his robes, and put it on the table in front of the filly.
Reading over the pages front to back several times, Prism finally felt confident in trying the cantrip. Following the directions exactly, she made the final motion and aimed her horn at the candle, but nothing happened. Nothing at all. Trying again, she found the same result, only succeeding in making herself dizzy by the quick movement. Any sign of amusement left the face of Ace, replaced by a hint of confusion, this cantrip was accessible for anyone. Meanwhile, Prism tried again and again, checking herself and her stance each time. As she continued, her confidence eroded into panic and frustration, tinged with fear. Finally, with tears welling in her eyes, she slammed her head into the table next to the spell that eluded her, beginning to sob into it. Ace was still confused, the filly’s form was flawless, enough so that any pony should be able to cast the spell with it. Taking out his hand lens, he began to inspect the spell to assure it’s accuracy.
As Prism was crying on the table, she noticed the Master moving closer, but more importantly she noticed the spot of light that hit her eye from his hand lens, and got an idea. Sniffling as she did her best to wipe away her tears, she spoke to Ace, “May I borrow that? Also can we turn down the lights.” While the filly’s request confused Ace, the terms of the trial demanded that he go along with it. Turning down the lights, he checked if he could take the paper of the spell now, getting a quick nod as the filly started to move the hand lens closer and further from the candle. Using the faded light of the room, he couldn’t see any errors in the spell pages, they seemed to be in prime condition. As Ace looked closely at the parchment, he was surprised when the room was suddenly filled with a gentle, warm glow. Dropping his paper, he saw the filly smiling even brighter than before, her horn alight as she held the magnifying glass between it and the candle. This time, Ace couldn’t help but smile with her.
Prism excitedly recounted the story of her trial to Aura, who similarly told her of the time she’d had opening the door from the opposite side of her trial room. The rest of the day seemed a happy blur in spite of the struggle earlier, until the time came for the students to go home. Prism was called for a private meeting, and parted ways with her friend. Suddenly, the cold rock in her gut from the trial was back, with a vengeance. This fear was confirmed when she was led into an office with Ace, and her pa.
Hammer was more upset than Prism often saw him, his brow deeply furrowed, though he did lighten up as he picked Prism up in a hug before plopping her into a chair next to him. Turning to Ace, his face was once again all business, as he spoke with a tone of voice Prism recognized from his dealing with problem customers, “Now, Mr. Ace, I want you to explain to her what you told me.”
Ace made an almost pleading face toward the hulking blacksmith, receiving only a slow shake in response. Inhaling deeply, he sighed before starting, “First, Miss Prism, I’d like to complement your solution to the trial.” He gave a sincere smile to the filly then continued, “Unfortunately, there’s a difference between Unicorn Magic and a spell, and you didn’t cast any spells.”
Prism was shaken to the core by these words, barely able to get out a response, “But, I lit the candle with magic, didn’t I?” She pulled herself close to her father, out of some sense of defense.
Ace saw this, and showed pain in his face at the scene of the filly, knowing that it was his words which were hurting the child. Gathering his will once again, he continued, “That … Isn’t the problem. Do you remember the spell you tried to cast?” Prism nodded. “That spell is a cantrip, and you did everything right. This isn’t your fault.”
Trying to comprehend what Ace was talking about, Prism managed to make out a question, “...What’s wrong?”
Ace rubbed his temple slowly, barely able to say it himself, “I’m afraid that you can’t cast spells, Miss Prism, at all.” He continued, speaking of magical properties, and the distribution of magic within a unicorn, but Prism couldn’t focus on any of it. It was as if a thick grey rain was washing through the world around her, drowning out the color and sound. She was pulled back by a squeezing pull from her pa next to her, catching the last of Ace’s monologue, “-agic items just fine, but I’m afraid that true casting is out of the question.” Ace readjusted his collar and looked to both Prism and her father, “I truly am sorry.”
Now, Hammer spoke up, his voice nearing a growl, “You said that she passed the trial, so doesn’t she have the right to learn here?” Ace was perplexed by this, but gave a small nod, before Hammer continued, “Then that settles it, even if she can’t cast magic she can still study it. She can use magic items like you said, so she can learn about those too. This is the best place of learning in the world, there have to be things to learn.” He looked down to his daughter now, softly asking “So long as you do want to learn here?” An enthusiastic nod was all the answer that either of them needed. Hammer then looked to Ace expectantly.
Ace couldn’t tell what he felt most of all, pity for the filly, fear thanks to the father, or the twinge of happiness at seeing them both so ready to overcome what was by all means a crippling disability. In any case, he considered his options carefully before making his decision, “Yes, yes she can. I’ll take her on into my class personally, and she’ll do as much studying as she likes. There are magic items aplenty here that she can use to further her magical comprehensions. We have tomes and scrolls on all subjects here, I can’t imagine her finding a better and more comprehensive education anywhere in Equestria. We would be honored to have you, Miss Prism Ward.”
The idea of a such an opportunity managed to momentarily eclipse the bad news in Prism’s young mind. Grinning wide, she seemed to suddenly remember something, and insisted that she did have one condition, “I met a friend today, and we promised to stay together, can she be in your class?”
Enheartened by the filly’s ability to spring forward, Ace couldn’t help but agree. After all, having friends would help Prism’s development as her education went forward. Prism and Hammer, satisfied, left the office. Hammer looked to his tired daughter and picked her up suddenly, placing the filly square on his back, exhausted from the long day. By the time he’d made it to the road, she’d already started succumbing to sleep. Softly, he cooed to her, “I guess that your ma and I can wait to hear about your day, seems like it was a long one.”