//------------------------------// // Second // Story: The Creation of Discord and the Heartbreak of Celestia // by sister_mike //------------------------------// "Well done, Dissonance, well done," Star Swirl the Bearded said. He turned to the rest of the class. Behind his back, Dissonance gave Celestia a wink. Her heart fluttered slightly, and she hoped that Luna wasn't watching as her cheeks glowed slightly. She also hoped that his wink hadn't been as obvious to the rest of the class. "As you can call see, this spell is doable," Star Swirl said sternly to the other students. "As we have now just proved, Celestia is not the only one who can master it. If these two can do it, then the rest of you can. Luna, you're next please." Luna sighed and stood. She walked by Celestia and as she passed Dissonance, he stuck out his hoof and Luna stumbled slightly. Luna glared at Dissonance, and he chortled to himself. He sat down on his pillow next to Celestia's and leaned back smugly. The three alicorns sat in the back of the classroom. A week earlier Star Swirl had decided that the "lesser" students needed to be up close in order to learn better, and so he decreed that his three top students, Celestia, Luna and Dissonance—the three alicorns—would sit in the back and let the other three unicorns sit in the front. Celestia leaned over to Dissonance as Luna set herself up for the spell. "Well done," Celestia said quietly. Dissonance sighed and rolled his eyes. "It wasn't as nearly well done as you did it yesterday," he said. He watched as Luna performed the spell right on the first try, just as he had done. "But I suppose it was good enough." "Magic comes differently to everypony," Celestia said. She smiled smally, "Besides, I thought it was impressive." "Oh Celestia, you're too kind for your own good," Dissonance said. Star Swirl praised Luna as he had Dissonance. Luna trudged back to her seat and sat down on the other side of Celestia. Star Swirl then went on to the first of the three unicorns, Emerald Bead, who proceeded to fail the spell. Sombra and Midnight Star both failed as well. Star Swirl sighed and rubbed his temples with his hooves. "Ok," he said. "We will forget about this spell for now. I have decided to take on a different tactic with you ponies. For the next week, I shall pair you with somepony that will challenge you. " He stood and stared at the class closely. Luna yawned beside Celestia. "Luna, you will be partnered with Midnight Star. Sombra and Emerald Bead shall go together, and Celestia and Dissonance," Star Swirl said after a few minutes of careful thinking. Celestia didn't dare look over at Dissonance. She could feel Luna's eyes turn and stare at her, but Celestia kept her gaze dead ahead. She kept her breathing even and steady, and tried not to think about how thrilled she was about the situation. How chills ran down her spine, knowing that she and Dissonance were going to be working closely together for the next week. The next day the new lessons began. As Luna and Celestia walked towards the class, Luna sighed, frustrated. "I asked Star Swirl why on earth he would pair me with that incompetent pony if we were supposed to be challenged by our partners. I should have been paired with you or Dissonance. We are all on the same level," Luna said. "What did Star Swirl say when you asked him?" Celestia asked. "He said that Midnight Star is supposed to challenge my patience," Luna said with a groan. "How is that supposed to help me further my magical abilities?" "I guess it's not about challenging us magically. It's about challenging us in different ways," Celestia said slowly. The more she thought about it, the more this seemed to be true. She and Dissonance were very much opposites. As she watched him now, as they entered in the classroom, she watched as he carefully picked up a spider from the corner of the room and magically floated it over and placed it on Emerald's back. She shrieked and began to buck around the room, trying to hurl it off. Dissonance laughed so hard, Celestia was surprised the windows didn't break. "Enough," Star Swirl snapped firmly. "Today we are taking our lessons outside. Everypony get with your partner and follow me." Luna groaned and walked over to Midnight Star. Celestia took a deep breath and walked over to Dissonance. The two walked in silence behind the rest of the class as Star Swirl lead them outside. He lead them into a small wood, with sparse trees. He then began to give directions on what they would be doing for the lesson. "The key is to counteract each others' magic," Star Swirl said. Celestia visibly saw Midnight Star gulp. Luna was far more powerful than him. Even she wouldn't want to be paired with her sister. "Begin." In seconds Midnight Star was knocked on the ground. Celestia hadn't even seen Luna's horn glow. Celestia turned just in time to feel Dissonance send a spell her way. It was an ordinary, simple knock-down spell. Celestia side-stepped it just in time. She then pondered for a second and sent a similar, though slightly different one, back. Dissonance counteracted it with a blast of his own magic. He grinned at Celestia, and she couldn't help but smile back. They threw around another few easy spells at each other, before they began to get into the harder things. Dissonance tried, and failed, to turn Celestia into a frog. Celestia in turn half turned him into a rabbit, but he counteracted the spell before she could finish. To add to the challenge, Dissonance jumped into the air and began to shoot magic at her from above. Celestia dodged out of sight and tried to hide under the trees. She then aimed at his wings and clipped one of them, innocently of course, and Dissonance staggered. He almost crashed to the ground, but regained himself just in time. The lesson was over before Celestia even realized it. The time had flown by so fast that she did not notice that she was hard of breath, or that Dissonance hadn't stopped smiling at her since the first attack. And that she had been smiling the whole time as well. "It's all fun and games eh?" Dissonance said, as they rejoined the group and began to walk back to the classroom to wrap up their lessons for the day. "Until somepony loses an eye," Star Swirl muttered. "What do you mean by that?" Luna asked. Star Swirl stopped and sighed. He gestured over to a pegasus and earth pony that were arguing on the street. The unicorns in the class didn't notice that they had stopped and continued towards the classroom. Star Swirl faced the three alicorns and sighed. "All of this bickering between ponies is nonsense. No matter our differences, we're all still ponies. This frivolous feud over who should rule Equestria needs to end soon, or else we'll be in eternal chaos once more," he said. He paused and eyed over the alicorns. "If you three would finish your training in time, I would almost suggest that you should rule Equestria. You embody all form of pony, and you are the only three alicorns in existence. As your bodies represent harmony, you could bring it to this great land." Star Swirl turned and walked back to the classroom, not saying any more on the subject. Luna flashed Celestia an odd look and then continued walking behind their mentor. Dissonance paused thoughtfully and looked over at Celestia. "Rule Equestria?" he said, his voice taking on a mocking tone. "That's too much responsibility for me. Besides, you would have to like me first if we were to rule together." And then, so fast that Celestia was sure she imagined it, Dissonance leaned over and gave her a quick kiss.