CELESTIA : i
"Tia! Tia! Wake up! Today's the day!" A small pair of hooves jabbed Celestia unnecessarily as her eyes fluttered open. Good goddess, she could be annoying. Sitting up, Celestia's clothes were wet. The dumpster that they had slept in had the top ripped off in the violent winds. Celestia had slept through the shaking of it all, comforted by a luxury, a blanket she had stolen for Luna. Luna had offered to share, as it was fairly large. Luna was excited, only six. Celestia was nine, and she knew how to read. She had been reading as long as she could remember, and she taught Luna to, too. The two had hung out at the local Canterlot Library, which had a vast selection of magic books, and often hung out in one of the tutoring rooms. Practicing and practicing, as they walked through the streets, others looked down at them. With dirty manes and tails, the Day sisters were not a lovely sight. Yet, they knew their superiority over others. They, combined, had the magic of all the ponies that lived in the dumpster alley, which was about twenty in total.
Today was the day they would show it, as auditions for Twilight Sparkle's School for Gifted Unicorns. They only bothered to audition since it provided a home, as it was a boarding school, food, and of course, knowledge, with the free scholarship for those who passed in the top four percent. This happened once a year, and only fifty ponies made it in. Celestia and Luna would have to be in the top two. Hell, the school would give them a home for two months before kicking them out, so it would be worth it if they waited one hour to get an audition.
Celestia had pulled the strings, eventually getting them an audition together, just so the two sisters could comfort each other in case if one had a random scene of stagefright, performing in from of three judges. Sitting up, Tia smiled at her sister, happy for this morning. This morning, they would have a delicious breakfast. Celestia used her magic for stealing items, things that Luna and Celestia just got by on. But today, Celestia had splurged. She had caught the dairy truck rumbling by, then had an easier time as it stopped, out of gas, but only for a few minutes. It had given the white mare enough time to steal two bottles of milk, a block of cheese, and two yogurt cups. The food would have spoiled if it was winter, but Celestia had packed them in the snow nearby, putting a weak magic veil around them. A regular unicorn could have broken it, but most peasants were uneducated and sometimes couldn't even use the horns. It would zap them and singe off the fur where they touched the veil, and would scare them off.
"Hey, Luna." Celestia greeted her sister, voice groggy. "I have a surprise." Crawling out of the dumpster, she arrived back with the food. If possible, Luna's bubbly face got brighter.
"No way! Tia, you didn't have to splurge! Thank you so much!" Luna said, grin not leaving her face until it was replaced with desire as the smell of fresh dairy hit their noses. Making two napkins appear, Celestia knew she had stolen napkins, and it was illegal magic, but it was still taught to get items of your own. Yet, it was two napkins, and as they laid them out, Celestia couldn't care less. Giving a bottle of milk to Luna, Tia unwrapped the cheese and yogurt tins. Luna sent a beam of magic out, evenly dividing the cheese into two halves, one for each of them.
Quickly, the duo dug in, savoring every bite. The cheese was soft and delicious, a tasteful semicircle of cheddar for each of them. The milk appeared to taste like skim, although it might have been one percent. However, the peach and strawberry yogurts in which they shared were delightful, a joy to them both. Stuffing themselves, they finished all the food with an overly full stomach. They would have to hike a bit to get to the school, about twenty minutes at a moderate pace, about a two minute journey if Celestia could teleport them place to place, but the duo wanted to save their magic.
Relaxing and letting their stomachs digest some of the food, the siblings trotted off, letting Celestia teleport them in a small flash, cutting off five minutes. The two slowly made their way there. They would still be several hours early. It began at eleven AM, and it could be no earlier than eight-thirty. Admiring the Canterlot architectural structure, the two got dirty and disgusted looks from upper class men and women, but they didn't mind. They didn't come to the heart of Canterlot often, but they would hopefully be living there soon.
Arriving after a leisurely stroll to the school, they patiently waited in line to get in.
"Names?" An attendant asked, with an overly nasally voice.
"Celestia and Luna Day." Luna piped up. After a minute or two of the mare going through the list that had to be at least five-hundred ponies, she smiled and stepped out of the way, waiting for them to go through and slapping two stickers on their sides. It had their numbers, number twenty and twenty-one. Stepping in, other ponies gave them quizzical and once again, as always, repulsed looks.
"Excuse me," Celestia queried. "Do any of you know where the bathroom is?" One mare, one or two years older than Celestia pointed in the direction of where it was, and with a flash, Luna teleported them in. Celestia, glaring at Luna, felt distressed.
"Luna! You're going to channel down your magic!" The older mare chastised.
"Cel, those people out there were judging us. Old or young, most of them can barely teleport a foot (0.3 meters). We just teleported fifty feet (15.2 meters)." Grinning, Luna whipped up a comb-- illegally-- and quickly brushed her hair, Celestia following the act. Before Celestia could get mad again, Luna teleported them out, just as an announcer walked on stage. There was no way it could be eleven! It was only nine-o-clock! Ignoring the other ponies stares of envy and shock, the siblings watched.
"Welcome, everyone! There is already about fifty of you here, and the judges are all prepped. We never expected so many of you to sign-up, first of all, so we are starting auditions early! Numbers one through five, please come with me." The attendant smiled, as five ponies got up and followed her, all looking nervous. Time crawled by. Ten minutes later, numbers five through ten went. Eventually, a boring thirty minutes later, the attendant called for numbers twenty through twenty-five.
Celestia and Luna were ushered into a small waiting room, and the attendant pulled the duo through, and they stumbled up onto the stage to face a terrifying sight. Three judges. One looked disapproving, she had purple hair and white fur. Another smiled, she had orange hair and yellow-orange fur. Finally, the last one looked insanely bored, with rainbow hair and cyan fur. One was an earth pony, one was a pegasus, and one was a unicorn.
"What are your names?" The earth pony asked, smiling.
"I'm Celestia, and this is Luna, my little sister."
"How old are you?"
"I'm nine, she's six."
"Do you know who we are?"
This was a knowledge test. After analyzing for a few seconds, Celestia beamed, but Luna spoke first. "You guys are the Queen and the Princess's best friends! You're Rarity, you're Applejack, and you're Rainbow Dash!"
The three looked pleased. "You may begin." Rarity said, with a polite nod.
The two turned to look at their challenge they would face for the first time. There was nothing. Glancing at Luna, they exchanged a nod. What they were about to do had happened once before, and they swore to never speak of it again, until now. Celestia aimed her horn at the wall, creating a window to the outside.
The judges already looked puzzled.
"Watch the sky." Celestia commanded. The three judges eagerly watched the sky.
Focusing, Luna and Celestia were in sync, as their horns glowed with immense magic. The sun, on the edge of the sky, was brought to the middle, thanks to Celestia. Letting out a breath of air, she stepped back for Luna, who made the moon rise up and cover the sun. Instantly, a beam of white magic shot out, incinerating the castle that covered it's path, before landing on Celestia and Luna, before slowly fading away. Blinking out the white light, the three judges stared at them in awe.
"You two are so in." Rainbow Dash said, trying not to let out a nervous laugh, anxious for Trixie's reaction.
"Actually, they aren't." Glancing towards the back of the room, Luna and Celestia saw two figures. Twilight Sparkle and Beatrix Lulamoon. Instantly, the two peasants bowed. The Queen and Princess walked towards them, and Celestia's heart dropped. Were they in trouble?
"They aren't in because I will take the older one, Celestia as my personal protege. Luna will be Trixie's." The Queen said, smiling softly at the awestruck duo.