Once upon a long time ago, in a land newly dubbed as Equestria, there lived three tribes of ponies: Earth, Unicorn and Pegasus. Having just defeated the Windigos, the ponies had finally stopped their bickering and agreed to live in peace and harmony. For how long it would last, none of them knew. While the three tribes lived in peace, there was still some disharmony and argument over who should rule the entire land and govern all of the ponies combined.
In the heart of the newly created kingdom was the Everfree Forest. Known for its bewildering and mystical powers, it was here that the three tribes decided to build a castle for their undecided ruler. But as its construction moved on and a the three tribe leaders could not decide who was worthy enough to rule over all of the ponies, fear that the Windigos would return slowly began to spread through the kingdom. For if they could not once and for all put their petty differences aside, they would not survive. Little did they know that the Windigos were soon not the only things to be feared...
In the bustling and small new town of Canterlot, all ponies lived together more harmoniously than most places. Unicorns waved to Earth ponies, and Pegasi shouted hellos to Unicorns. While most circle of friends were still divided between the three, all were civil and polite. Fillies and colts of all ponies sat together in small classrooms before they were divided and sent off to different schools depending on their type.
And it is in such a classroom, a Unicorn classroom to be exact, that our story takes place. The classroom was dingy and small, the windows dirty and covered in cobwebs. Shelves upon shelves of books crammed every nook of wall, and tall stacks of other books took up most of the corners. A small chalkboard stood at the front of the classroom, with a small desk beside it. Pillows for students to sit on were spread out along the floor, with only a foot or so between them. There were only seven students in the class. Canterlot, though a growing town, was mostly new families with small foals. Young adult students were still rare, amongst all of the specified tribe classrooms.
Star Swirl the Bearded stood in front of the chalkboard, his hoof between his eyes. He sighed and cleared his throat.
"Let us try this again, Emerald Bead... Levitate and then transform," he said. He motioned to the chalice placed on the desk beside him and to the young mare who stood in front it. She licked her lips and sweat dripped from her horn and clung to her dark green mane. She glanced over her shoulder and caught her friend's eye. Her friend winked.
"You can do it, Em," Celestia said. Celestia was one of Star Swirl's star students. She and her sister, along with a young stallion, were proving to be his top three students.
Celestia sat back on her pillow and watched her friend struggle. She winced as the chalice barely levitated and then clattered to the ground. She glanced over at her younger sister, Luna. Luna yawned and looked out towards the sky, the sun barely peeking through the dirty windows as it began to set. Luna never seemed able to concentrate in the daylight, even when it was minimal.
Star Swirl frustratingly showed Emerald Bead how to do the spell again and promptly told her she was not leaving the classroom until she had mastered it. He angrily dismissed the other students. Luna eagerly shot to the door. Celestia gave Emerald Bead a sympathetic look and followed her sister out the door.
"It's not that hard of a spell," came a voice from behind them. Celestia turned and sighed.
"There's no need to be mean, Dissonance," she said. Dissonance was the other favored student. Quick magical abilities, fast reflexes, and a sharp mind, it was no wonder that Star Swirl the Bearded had favored him.
"Oh Celestia, don't be such a pill," Dissonance said. Suddenly there was a poof and the chalice that had been in the classroom behind them was bouncing on Dissonance's nose. "She'll learn it eventually."
"She's going to need that if she's to do so," Celestia said. She frowned at Dissonance. Dissonance smirked at her, and Celestia took a deep breath and tried to calm her fluttering heart. Though she herself wasn't into pranks and jokes, there was something about the jokester Dissonance that always had her heart running. She wasn't sure if it was because he was incredibly tall, or because his ashen colored coat was a mix of brown and grey like none she had ever seen, or because he was the only other Alicorn she had ever seen, aside from her sister, but there was something about him that made her want to learn more. To be close to him. Maybe they were just so opposite that it made him attractive.
"You're no fun," Dissonance said with a pout. The chalice disappeared, presumably back inside the classroom.
"And you're not nice," Celestia said. She turned back around and headed towards Luna, who was impatiently waiting for her and tapping her front right hoof.
"If you two could flirt a little less and hurry a bit more up, I can get out of this dingy old dungeon and watch the moon rise," Luna said impatiently. Celestia felt her cheeks grow red at the comment. She quickly trotted over to her sister and the two of them walked up the stairs.
"Luna," Celestia hissed. "Why would you say such a thing?"
"Please," Luna droned, her voice dripping in boredom. "It is obvious that you two have feelings for one another. Stop the charades and do something about it."
"Oh please," Celestia said. She glanced behind her as they exited the dungeon of the crumbly stone building where Star Swirl the bearded taught the young adult Unicorns their magic. Dissonance jumped and flew off in the opposite direction of them, as Luna and Celestia began to walk towards their small, modest home. "Dissonance is mean and cruel. You know I'm all one for fun and games, but he just takes it too far sometimes. Don't misjudge my kindness towards him as anything else."
Luna stopped and gave her sister a look. "Are you trying to convince me or yourself, dear sister?"
"I'm not trying to convince anypony of anything," Celestia said. "I am merely stating the facts."
Luna rolled her eyes and walked ahead of her sister. Celestia knew that Luna knew that she was fibbing. She could never hide something from her sister. Luna could read her like an open book sometimes. And maybe, just maybe, Luna could read Dissonance too. Could he possibly have the same fluttering feeling towards Celestia that she had towards him?
Celestia stopped and glanced back towards the direction that Dissonance flew away. Luna cleared her throat and Celestia turned back to her. She sighed and spread her wings, and took off into the setting sky behind Luna.
"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.
