//------------------------------// // Act One: Chapter Three - Auditions // Story: Turning Points // by Slatewings //------------------------------// Act One: Chapter Three - Auditions Celestia and Luna’s voices rang through studio while a harried Tourmaline ran about frantically. “Come on Miss Tourmaline! We’re going to be late!” “We’re going to miss the audition!” Tourmaline ran to the window and yelled back to the fillies in the carriage outside her studio, “I’ll be there, I just need to find something real quick.” She ducked her head back in and continued rummaging through her drawers. “Oh where are they!? AH! There we go.” She stuffed the extra quills in her saddlebag and sprinted to the kitchen. “Um... how about .. OH these!,” she said to herself as she shoved the box of candied carrots into her bulging bags. “Come on!!” Yelled the fillies in unison. “Okay! Okay! I’m coming!” Tourmaline yelled in return. She threw on her coat and buttoned it tight against the cold. One last check through her saddlebags later she was out the door and reasonably sure she hadn’t forgotten anything too important. “Thanks for waiting,” Tourmaline thanked the driver before taking her seat in the coach. “Not a problem ma’am,” the chestnut earth pony answered with a wink, “I’m already on the clock.” The carriage pulled away from the studio and rolled none too quietly down the cobblestone road to the castle. Celestia bounced from window to window watching the houses and ponies pass by, both growing more posh as they neared the castle, and rocking the carriage a bit as she did. Luna sat quietly on the plush cushion reading to her self. Tourmaline, on the other hoof , was neither excited or nearly so relaxed. She fretted and minced in place whilst digging through her saddle bags, double and triple checking their contents. “Sit down Miss Tourmaline! You’re making me all antsy doing that,” complained Celestia. “Antsy? You’re the one who’s bouncing around like a rubber ball,” Tourmaline retorted, “I just want to make sure I have everything I need.” Celestia plucked a pamphlet from Tourmaline’s bag, “Well I doubt the audition is gonna cover ‘Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Crocheting (But Was Afraid to Ask)’.” “It’s just a hobby!!!” yelled Tourmaline in embarrassment. “Whatever, grammy,” Celesia laughed and stuck out her tongue. “Oh grammy, is it?” Tourmaline gasped in mock outrage. “Well fine then,” Tourmaline levitated a box from her bag, “If you’re going to go there then I guess I don’t have to share these with you.” “Candy carrots!” Celestia exclaimed, pouncing on Tourmaline. “Gimme!” Luna did her best to ignore their exchange. Tourmaline laughed and let Celestia take the box. Tourmaline went back to double checking her bags. “Just sit down, Miss Tourmaline,” Celestia said around a mouth full of carrots, “You’re not going to need any of that stuff and you’re running around like a sugar ant in a cider barrel!” “Hey, this crazy ant wouldn’t even be in this cider barrel if you hadn’t signed me up for this thing, Tia.”. Celestia giggled, “Best prank ever.” Tourmaline plopped down on her seat and pouted. If it had been somepony else she probably would have agreed. She really had no idea what to expect. She knew the Choir was a prestigious order in the palace but they rarely associate with the nobility she knew. Most of the nobles, even the open minded High Horse, could not view them as equals thanks to their habit of recruiting new members from the ‘rabble’. She drew a book from her bags and resolved to spend the trip quietly not thinking. “More Crochet?” Luna asked. “Not you too, Luna...,” Tourmaline sighed, “No it’s a book on history and mythology.” “Sounds exciting,” Celestia rolled her eyes. “It’s part of my job, you know. Nopony is going to buy a statue that’s not technically accurate,” Tourmaline explained, “Besides, it’s pretty interesting. This one’s about the Great Fracturing.” “Good story,” responded the drivers voice outside the carriage. Tourmaline opened the front curtain, “You know your mythology?” “Yep, that’s one of my favorites. Sad one though.” He laughed at Tourmaline’s expression, “Don’t be so surprised, miss,” he answered, “I spend all of my time walking from a to b. Most of my passengers aren’t very good conversation, no offence, so I rigged my self up a do-hicky to hold a book out for me to read as I go,” he glanced back over his shoulder, “Of course if’n I had magic like you unicorn folk I wouldn’t need it. Which, ironically, is what that story is about.” “In my line of work, there are plenty of days I wish we unicorns still had your earth pony fortitude,” she admitted. “Or the pegasi’s wings,” he responded “I dunno, I don’t do well with heights.” “Well when your hooves get as tired as mine, you might change your mind.” Tourmaline giggled, “Yeah, you’re probably right. Most ponies think you earth ponies got the short end of the carrot.” “I recon they do, miss. And I bet they’ll still be thinking that when I turn a hundred.” “Ahh yes, the longevity thing. Touché Sir Driver.” “Pas touché,” he answered, surprising Tourmaline again, “I’m not the kind of pony that cares about that kind of stuff. Ponies are ponies, although lots of’em can’t see that these days.” “Very true sir.” “Well I don’t have any idea what you guys are talking about,” Celestia piped, “What do you think’s going to be on the audition?” “I have absolutely no idea, Tia,” Tourmaline answered. “Think they’ll let us try to lift the sun?” “Probably not, Tia.” “Hm... your right,” Celestia thought for a moment, “They’ll probably start us off with something smaller, like the moon.” “The moon is the same size as the sun,” Luna remarked over her book. “Is that really true?” Celestia asked. “More or less,” Tourmaline answered, “It looks about the same size as the sun from the ground but a little closer so it’s a little smaller, but the lunar tides are stronger so it’s definitely heavier.” “Well what about...” “Tia,” Tourmaline interrupted, “we have no idea what they’re going to ask us to do. We’re just going to wait and see.” “I’m glad YOU’RE not worried, Miss Tourmaline,” Luna said, “You’re bound to get in.” Tourmaline smiled, “Well thank you very much Luna. I appreciate that. I just hope it doesn’t take too much away from my work. If we’re lucky, we’ll be able to see each other more.” “Doubt it...” Luna said, turning her head. “Huh? Why do you say that?” Tourmaline asked the filly. “Ya Luna! You have as much a chance as the rest of us, sis,” Tia said as she sat next to her sister. “Ya right,” Luna grunted, “Tia, you’re great with magic. I saw how you handled that bully, I could never do a spell like that. And, don’t forget the carving, or that awesome freezing spell....” “Oh ya... that one was awesome,” Tourmaline shivered at the memory. “And you, Miss Tourmaline, I’ve never met anypony better at levitation that you. You can throw around five ton rocks like they are nothing but have enough control to sculpt the most beautiful artwork I’ve ever seen.” Tourmaline fought down the blush at the compliment, “Luna, you’re a very talented pony. I’ve seen you pull out some impressive spells without ever trying them before. Besides I doubt very much moving the sun and moon is done with simple levitation anyway.” “I just,” Luna continued, “I want to do something Daddy can brag about. I know he’s already proud of me but that’s because he has to be, he’s my dad. I want him to be proud of me because of me.” “If’n you want my opinion,” the driver interjected, “It’s not just about talent.” “What do you mean?” Luna asked, leaning through the window. “Well, I figure moving the sun and moon has got to be hard. Nopony could do it on their own. That’s why you don’t have to, you’ve got the whole Choir there with you. So I doubt it’s as much about skill as you’d think, though I guess you do need a certain aptitude.” The driver rounded a corner before continuing, “Making sure we have a plenty and sunlight during the day and rest at night is about the biggest responsibility I can think of. I think thats what they are looking for. You need to have somepony who knows how to give in, somepony who isn’t going to try to be a hot head and hog all the glory. They need ponies who you trust the moment you meet’em.” “I don’t understand...” Luna confessed. “Character, sweetheart. Talented ponies are a bit for a dozen. Hay, everypony has a talent right? Got to be lots of ‘em who are good as what the choir does. What I bet they want are ponies you can depend on, and that’s something a mite rarer,” he cocked his head to look at Luna, “Are you somepony I can depend on?,” he asked her. “I... I want to be.” “Then you’re gonna do your daddy proud no matter what, little filly.” Luna beamed like Tourmaline had never seen before. “You really think so?” Luna asked. “Trust me. I’m a daddy myself,” he answered and turned back to the road, “Oh wow, look at that.” He gestured with a hoof to the road before them. The three passengers crowded the window and looked out. Far ahead on a hill they could make out the Palace standing tall among the lesser structures with the long road winding from their cart through the market to the palace courtyard gate. On that road was solid line of carts, wagons, carriages, and all other manner of transportation. “Oh my...,” Tourmaline worried, “I hope you don’t mind sitting in traffic sir driver.” The earth pony laughed, “Nope, not at all. I’ve got my book to read and you’re paying me by the hour. We can sit here all day if you want” Tourmaline laughed hollowly in response worrying about how much this trip was going to cost. “We could always walk, you know,” Celestia suggested. Somehow Tourmaline hadn’t thought of that. “I suppose we could... you girls don’t mind?” “Nope!,” they chimed. “Besides,” Celestia added, “We can always ride you if we get tired.” “Not happening.” Tourmaline donned her saddlebags and they hopped out of the carriage. She paid the driver and thanked him for what he said to Luna. “Don’t worry about it ma’am. The filly looked like she could used a few words from a father,” he responded. “Well thank you again, it was nice talking to you. Hopefully, we will get to continue our conversation one day,” said Tourmaline with a smile. “I’m sure we will, you’re going to need a regular driver to get you to the palace once you’re in the Choir, right?” She laughed in response, “We’ll see.” With a wave the trio turned up the road and started making their way to the palace gate on hoof. A few miles later Tourmaline began to understand their driver’s wing envy. The palace had grown larger ahead of them but seemed to recede if she looked up too often. It didn’t help that Celestia and Luna were getting so big either. “Are we there yet?,” said the voice of the impatient filly from her perch on one of Tourmaline’s saddle bags. “I’m really not in the mood to play the ‘are we there yet’ game Tia. We’ll be there soon, don’t worry. Then you get to carry me back home,” Tourmaline responded. “Wow...” said Luna, also from her back, “just look at all of them...” Tourmaline looked up from the road. They had passed cart after cart. Some held only one, some held whole families. It looked like ponies of all ages and classes were coming to try out. “That’s a lot of competition,” Luna said with a frown. “Yep it sure is. It’s too bad they’re all going home disappointed,” Celestia said as she nudged her moping sister. “I hope so...” “Oh don’t worry so much, Luna.” said Tourmaline, “Look, there’s even a lot of ponies your age. You might have a chance to make some new friends while you're here.” Luna smiled, “I guess that wouldn’t be so bad.” As they approached the palace, a member of the royal guard directed all carriages to an open field to be searched before they could enter the palace grounds. Another guard directed Tourmaline and the girls to advance to the palace directly, as they were on hoof. Groaning and wincing with each step, Tourmaline crossed the last of the distance to the palace and flopped down on a bench, spilling the fillies off her back. “Hey!” cried Celestia. “Sorry girls... my hooves are killing me,” Tourmaline responded, panting, “I just need to sit down for a minute.” A guard approached them. “A-hem!,” he said, pointing his hoof at a sign hung on a lamp post. It read: No loitering! All applicants proceed directly to the admittance desk to begin the evaluation. Tourmaline groaned dramatically but she climbed to her hooves, “Which way to the admittance gate?” she said piteously. The guard pointed and continued his patrol and the Tourmaline and the sisters found there way to the courtyard entrance. They approach the desk and, after a bit of waiting in line, find an overly primed unicorn stallion behind it levitating a note pad and quill. “Name and tickets please,” the stallion said with a yawn. “Tourmaline, Celestia, and Luna,” Tourmaline answered as she levitated their tickets out of her bags and placed them on the desk. “Why, they’re only fillies,” the stallion said, peering over the desk at the sisters, “Neither even has her cutie mark yet.” Tourmaline looked down at the girls. Luna’s eyes were downcast and Tourmaline could sense the budding disappointment in her. Celestia just looked insulted. “Ya...is that a problem?” Tourmaline snapped. “Not technically, no,” the ticket taker replied, “but the audition process is rigorous and, in the past, injuries or magical burn out are not unheard of. Surely, you’ve read the information you received with your confirmation.” “Well... ya of course I read it. You don’t have to worry about us. The fillies will do fine.” “Do fine, you say? Madam, this is no place for a foal at all. Moreover, I have to say, any mother who would think it okay to allow her children to take part in such an event is hardly a mother at all,” the ticket taker continued, looking down his nose at Tourmaline. Celestia jumped onto the desk and poked the incorrigible stallion in the chest with a hoof, “Now you listen here bucko. Me and my sister have a right to be here. We’re citizens and taxpayers just like anypony else!” Tourmaline whispered to her, “You don’t pay taxes Tia.” “Well... I will one day! Besides,” she poked him again, “the announcement said ALL unicorns could try out for the choirs.” “You, you rude child, are not a unicorn yet, merely a poorly reared foal pretending she can do what she cannot.” “Well if you're such an expert then why aren’t YOU trying out for the choir? Are you too afraid Mr. Frilly Frou-Frou?” Celestia shot back. The stallion scoffed, “Well I never!,” He turned to Tourmaline, “Well? Aren’t you going to scold your daughter?” Tourmaline laughs, “Sorry friend. She’s not MY daughter. Besides, she’s right. So why don’t you just punch our tickets and open the gate so we can quit holding up the line.” The exasperated stallion managed to do so, despite suffering what appeared to be an uncontrollable bout of scoffing and huffing so bad that made Tourmaline wonder if his ego was large enough that he had actually choked on it while trying to swallow his pride. “Oh before you go in,” the stallion said as Tourmaline turned to leave. “What now...” she answered with a roll of her eyes. “I’m afraid you’re going to have to check your bag with me.” “You can’t be serious!” “Yes, I’m afraid so madam.” The way he said ‘madam’ sounded like he has spit it out. “Unless you feel the need to argue...” The stallion waved a hoof at a palace guard who started walking toward them. “Oh fine! Take it, I was tired of carrying it anyway,” Tourmaline huffed and she dropped the bag on the desk with a thud. She turned and walked away somehow suspecting she wasn’t going to see that bag again. After a quick magical once-over by a guard at the gate, they proceeded into the palace and were guided to the arcanium, where they are told the audition would take place. As they followed the gilded rope path, they pass ponies sitting on cushions and benches. Some simply looked tired, some disappointed. A few were crying openly. “I guess they didn’t make it,” Luna said, sounding worried. “It’s okay sister. Less competition, right?” Celestia reassured. They came to a large room and joined a group of a hundred or so ponies gathered around a lectern on a raised platform. As they entered, a stallion in a palace uniform closed the door behind them and waved a hoof to somepony on the other side of the room. Curtains closed, leaving candles as the sole source of light. A lone horn played a brief fanfare and a blue maned silver mare entered the room and ascended the platform with a naturally practiced grace. Without so much as clearing her throat, she addressed the room. “Thank you all for coming. My name is Clover, Court Magus, and I bid you welcome to the Arcanium,” she spoke with genuine welcome. “I know many of you are anxious to begin your examinations but I feel it is important that you understand the significance of this event.” Clover closed her eyes a she spoke, as if reading from a book only she could see, “The first Eclipse took place millennia ago and is recounted in the legend known as the Taming of the Spheres. In those ancient times, the alicorns came to call the stars of this world their home. They looked down upon the earth and saw the suffering of its creatures at the hands of the elements and beasts. They’re ruler, Queen Aetheris, was filled with pity and promised those below that they would used their powers to bring harmony to all that lived.” “They descended from on high and began their labor. The alicorns planted lush forests and verdant fields full of grasses, sturdy woods, and sweet fruits. They guided the winds and rains, ending the eternal storms and blizzards and ensuring fresh water for all those who lived.” “Queen Aetheris herself, gathered the most powerful of her subjects together and flew high into the heavens. They wrapped the sun and moon in their magic and brought them to rest.” Clover opened her eyes and looked out with a smile, “To those below it seemed as if the sun and moon stood together as one. The first Eclipse. Filtered by the moon’s power, the light from the sun was crafted into a powerful enchantment that set both great spheres into their courses. An enchantment that stands today, even all these untold ages since. After the Great Fracturing, and the separation of the three pony races, it fell to the us, the unicorns, to maintain that enchantment and preserve the harmony our ancestors created. “So you see. These auditions are not simply a chance you to join some prestigious order or to make a name for yourself. This is your chance to take part in that pure act of creation that brought peace and order to the world in that long bygone age. She gestured to the crowd, “So I hope you can appreciate how fortunate you are to be alive during this occasion. It has been a great many years since the last time the stars were right, not since I was an apprentice.” Luna raised a hoof. Before Tourmaline could tell her to put it down Clover pointed to the filly, “Did you have a question young lady?” Luna answered nervously, stammering only a little, “How long ago was the last Eclipse?” Clover smiled kindly from the lectern, “Oh, long ago, during the dawn of Princess Platinum’s four times great grandfather’s reign, Prince Quicksilver.” Tourmaline’s eyes went wide, “How could she...,” she whispered under her breath matching the murmurs rippling through the crowd... “How is that possible?” “But she still looks so young..” “But that would make her... carry the two.. um.. old!” Clover smiled at their bewilderment but offered no explanation. She continued and went on to explain the audition proceedings. “The first step in your audition will be attunement,” she explained, “The proctors will conduct a series of magical tests to see whether you are more suited for the Solar or Lunar Choirs. Each sphere has its own magical emanations and only a unicorn whose magic resonates in harmony with those emanations can control that sphere. Once you are attuned you will move on to the interviews. If you are one of those with the ill fortune to be unattunable you will be unable to go any further.” “What if we wanna switch, can we?,” interrupted a colts voice from the crowd. “No, young sir, you cannot. The act of attuning permanently alters your magics tellurian harmonic to match either the Sun or the Moon, it cannot be undone or reversed,” Clover responded patiently. She thought for a moment, “At least, not without risking permanent magic loss.” “After that,” she continued, “you will be interviewed by a panel consisting of the First Chair of each Choir and myself and will have an opportunity to explain why you wish to apply for a place in the choir and what membership means to you.” “How come you don’t do the interviews first? Seems kind of backwards,” the same voice interrupted. “Because,” Clover answered, somewhat less than patiently, “There are a great many auditions to be conducted today and the interview is something of a bottleneck. Better to not interview everypony when so many won’t make it past attunement.” She counted to herself for a moment before continuing her address, “If the panel finds your answers satisfactory, you will proceed for a brief test before being assigned to a tutor who will begin your training and make the final evaluation.” The colt’s voice again cuts her off rudely, “What kind of test is it?” “Again?!” Clover snaps before catching herself, “The test will be, like the act of raising the sun and moon, simple in form but quite difficult in execution,” she continued more calmly. “Although, young sir, I recommend you be more worried about my opinion on the panel at this point.” “Who IS that,” Celestia asked nopony in particular as she looked around. Clover continued, “Finally, I’d like to thank you in advance for your patience. We will do our best to conduct todays portion of the audition in a timely manner but there are many ponies here and it is unlikely we will be starting the interviews until the afternoon. Again I’d like to wish you luck today, and I hope to see many smiling faces at the interviews.” She gestured to an opening door to her left. “If everypony would please follow the proctors they will direct you to the attunement chamber. I hope to see you all soon.” She nodded to somepony in the crown, “Yes, even you, young sir.” Two proctors beckoned the crowd to follow. Tourmaline placed a leg over each sister and drew them in for a hug, “Well, are you girls ready?” Luna straightens herself and nods. Celestia jumps and yells, “Let’s do it!” Celestia bolted toward the door only to find Tourmaline levitating her off the ground. “Hey!” she yelped in surprise. “Let’s just take this slow, Tia.” Tourmaline carefully placed Celestia on her back before doing the same with Luna. “Know what, girls? I think I’m actually excited about all this. I have to admit it’s pretty special to be a part of something so historic. Thank you for signing me up, Tia.” Celestia giggles, “Well then it doesn’t count as a prank! I guess I owe you one then.” Tourmaline laughed and followed the chattering crowd through the door and down the hall.