"Luna!" Celestia cried, dashing through yet another polished oaken hallway. Everything in the house looked alike. Even the nails were evenly spaced beyond comprehension. One hallway differed only in name from another. But Celestia knew this house. After all, as a foal of Faust she had to: it was her home.
"Luna!!" Celestia shouted again, bursting into her sister's room. It was a mess, as usual, but Celestia didn't care this morning. She peeked over and under the mountain of toys and pillows, seeking her consistently vexing sister. Eventually, through the domestic rubble she spotted a small black form, snoring slightly. "Wake up!" Celestia cried, throwing a nearby sock at her sister. "We're going to be late!"
"Wha-?" Luna jumped on contact with the sock. Blearily, she opened her eyes and rolled to face her sister. "What for?" she asked slowly.
"The Drawing!!" Celestia cried, half screaming with frustration. "The Drawing for the Arena! It's happening in ten minutes, and if we don't get there-"
"THE DRAWING!" Luna shouted at a volume that made the whole house shake. "Of course! Thou hast reminded us. Bless you, sister!"
"Make haste!" Celestia shouted, charging down the hallway. Almost immediately in her wake, her sister ran, her tiny horn bristling with energy. They were two of the finest spell casters in town, although the yearned for more: for wings. Celestia had entered last fall along with her sister in the hopes of being chosen. They had been rejected for the past two years on account of being too young, but Luna had finally come of age, and Celestia's hopes rested on this drawing.
The two unicorns barreled outside, forgetting to close the door in their incredible haste. Luna thought of it, but by the time she did so levitation was almost impossible due to distance, so she thought little of it. The two sisters charged past the guard house and through the gate, leaving Fausticorn mansion without a thought to the guard. He shook his head sadly as he watched the two go.
"I hope we aren't late," Celestia worried aloud. Luna shook her head.
"It commences at ten past eleven, and we have a grand thirty seconds to get there," Luna replied, holding steady with her sister on the road. She had always felt a little left out since her sister went on to become a teenager. Although, she herself was naught but two years behind her sister in age, it always felt like the difference of worlds.
"Thirty seconds!" Celestia cried, glancing at the sun. "You're right! Hop on my back, and lend me some power!"
"Certainly," Luna replied leaping upon her sister's back with one skilled motion. She leaned her head over her sister's, and touched their horns. A small spark arced between them as Celestia's began to glow.
"Hold on tight," the eldest said, concentrating upon her magic. She cast a small bubble about the two of them, and slowly the world about them began to fade, and be replaced by a blank vortex. Inside their bubble, Luna could watch the lines roll past them as she plunged through the tear in space time. It always fascinated her how there were geometric shapes reminiscent of the real world, although nothing was ever clear. She could watch them whoosh by from her spot on her sister's back for hours.
But as quickly as it started, the sisters' time out of reality had begun, it ended, sending the two of the them tumbling out of a black hole that opened in the middle of the commencement speech. The crowd gasp as the two fillies, after landing on a few poor stallions in the front row, proceeded to rush to a pair of seats.
"What is this?!" a guard boomed. Celestia and Luna blinked at him innocently, sending him into torrents of rage. "What ARE you doing?"
"Calm down Theo," a mare clad in red armor said firmly. "They're the Faust girls."
"Oh," the first guard stepped back, rolling his eyes. "Of course."
"Well," the speaker on the podium; a gray alicorn with dark maroon lines on his face and a small line of text for a cutiemark said awkwardly. "After that interruption."
"Terribly sorry we're late, mister Hoofing," Celestia cried, but was promptly scolded by her sister. In those days, social skills were more Luna's forte. "That is, terribly sorry for saying that. Continue, mister Hoofing."
Hoofing rolled his eyes and sighed. Those two were the two mare circus of the town. As mayor, he had an awful lot of work just keeping Hoofington from being ripped apart single hoofedly by those two. He would have had them kicked out of the Drawing and disqualified if it hadn't been that their mother was the wealthiest alicorn in the country. "Faust..." he muttered, adjusting his spectacles and looking back down at his notes.
"Ah yes," he said, finding his place. "As you all know, the Arena is an important milestone for our young. Whether they pass or fail determines their future, or if they'll have one. I am sure you all knew this upon entering, or entering your foal. It is a great risk these daring young ones take every four moons. A risk that is wholly necessary.
"Why make it so morbid you ask? Why should those who fail in the face of great danger not be permitted to live? Well, I ask you this: Alicorns were raised on struggle. On a ferocious battle of one versus all. Our ancestors, the founders of our very nation, struggled hard and struggled well for our lively hood. Each one played a part, but only one was rewarded. Why? Because only one. Lived.
"That was simply because, in the struggle for greatness, they realized only one could live, because if the others did, it wouldn't have been possible. That is what we strive to recreate for our youth. As an alicorn, failure is not an option. If it was, we wouldn't be standing here today. And now, without further ado, I present to you the drawing for the 49th Arena!"
A great cheer went up in the crowd as a tarp was hoisted up, revealing a table with two spherical glass bowls on it. Behind it stood a drab, officially dressed mare. She had a face that looked like it had been pressed with an iron, and a suit to match. Her mane was red and yellow, the national colors, and her clothing, once again, followed suit. Celestia and Luna both agreed that it was quite hard to tell where cloth began and mare ended. Her eyes were slits of unenthusiastic professionalism, and her mouth was set in a permanent line. Bending her lips either way showed far too much emotion for her taste. The same followed with wings of horns
"I present, Miss Greentops!" mister Hoofing cried, waving a hoof at the mare.
"It's Greenposh!" she spat at the stallion. "Do I look like I have a green head?"
"Well your name is spelled-"
"Greenposh! G-R-E-E-N-T-O-P-S!" the mare spat back. Mister Hoofing took that moment to leave the stand and join the crowd. "But now," the mare continued, fingering through a few files. "I believe it is time for the drawing?"
"Yes," Mister Hoofing cried.
"Good," the mare set down her sheets of notes,stuck a hoof in the first glass bowl full of white notes. "Good day fellow citizens. I am here to draw sixteen of the sixty eligible contestants in this moon's Arena. You all know what that is, right?"
There was a stiff silence.
"Good," miss Greentops began to shuffle her hoof about in the bowl. The tension in the crowd was a tangible force as she began to draw the paper. Everyone's eyes were set on it. Celestia's heart beat ferociously in her chest as she licked her lips in anticipation.
"The first contestant for the Rite to Ascension is..." Miss Greentops paused to read the name. "Aegis Shield!"
There was a loud cheer from only one part of the crowd, that being Aegis's family, as he trotted onto the stage. Miss Greentops started to shuffle her hoof about in the bin of papers once more.
"The second contestant for the Rite to Ascension is..." Miss Greentops paused again. "Glowing Ember!"
There was a stunned silence as a small unicorn pranced up to the stage. She had a yellow coat and flaming red mane, but Celestia couldn't see anything else special about her. She smugly nudged Aegis and started talking.
It was in this manner that twelve more contestants: Frozen Flower, Shoddy Axel, Shining Dawn, Treetop Sword, Taught String, Sparkling Brook, Granite, Daw Fire, Hawthorne Claw, Treble Trainwreck, Gorgon, and Brawn Tyler were selected. By this time, the sun was already past high noon and on to low lunch area. Everyone wanted to get home, but the last two contestants had yet to be drawn.
Luna and her sister were slumped back in their seats, barely keeping their eyes open as one disappointment pile up on top of another. Luna was beginning to consider the merits of simply going home and skipping the last two heartbreaking drawings, when the fifteenth competitor.
"... Celestia Faust!" Miss Greentops shouted. There was a stunned silence as Celestia sat stock still, staring at the drawer and screaming: "What? What? What did you say?!"
"I said, Miss Faust, that you are chosen to be the fifteenth competitor in the Rite to Ascension," Miss Greentop said cooly. "Would you please take a seat with the other competitors?"
Luna pushed her sister in the right direction and started to cry and cheer as much as her little lungs allowed. The thought of never seeing her sister again hadn't crossed her mind: of course she would see Celestia again. Celestia could win hooves down, right? Or so she thought. Celestia, on the other hoof, didn't think so. Such a whirlwind of fear and excitement she had never felt before whirled inside of her, she didn't know when she was going to explode.
"And now, the sixteenth and final competitor for this years Rite to Ascension: I give you," she paused, glancing around the tensed crowd as she read the slip, but instead of reading out the final contestant, her face became contorted with horror. The crowd watched in confusion as she called a few alicorn stallions, including Mister Hoofing, to her and they spoke in rushed whispers. Luna hardly noticed. She was far too busy waving at her sister.
"Is that even legal?" Mr. Hoofing said in a louder voice than he meant to. A chorus of "huh" went round the audience, until one little filly spoke up.
"I bet it is, Mister Hoofing!" the tiny foal said, resting in her mother's arms. "Why not?"
The alicorns didn't heed the little voice, but kept speaking in worried tones to each other. Luna began to look at them suspiciously, but decided her sister was looking a little unloved, and presently started to wave at her again. In truth, Celestia hardly noticed the waving. She hardly noticed anything. Her eyes were clouded with thoughts and worried, and the walls seemed to be closing in.
Eventually, the little group on the stage seemed to meet a consensus, and Mr. Hoofing stepped forward. "Pardon the interruption, fillies and gentlecolts, but we had a bit of a dispute.
"It seems the sixteenth competitor in the Arena is..." he trailed off, seeming to have to force himself to say the next two words: "Luna... Faust."
The crowd went silent. Celestia toppled off her chair in the contestant's box and crumpled to the ground, fainting. Luna simply stared at Mr. Hoofing, her mind straining to comprehend what had just been said. Words failed her as the crowd's hot eye burned on her flesh. Eventually, she stood up.
"M- Me?" she asked, and there was a solemn nod. "T- That's... Lovely."
