At the top of a mighty mountain lay the majestic city of Ether Peak built upon a natural nexus of magical energies, home to House Arcane. Even in the morning, the streets of this center of trade and magical study were abuzz with activity. In the main manor in the center of the city lived the Lord, Lady, and heiresses to House Arcana. As the sun rose, they all awoke, Lord Night Light and his wife, Twilight Velvet, one of their two daughters, Trixie Lullamoon, the daughter who had not been chosen to gain the Element, and the loyal assistant to the heir, Spike the Dragon… however, the heir herself was not awake. When Spike went to her room to find her, he found an empty bed, the young dragon rolling his eyes before leaving. Instead, he found her in the library, several candles having been burned through as puddles of wax, a myriad of tomes and scrolls scattered about, one of which the heir was drooling as she slept, her mane a mess from a late night study session. Spike sighed as he looked at her, saying, “I should’ve checked here first,” before he picked up one of the heavier books, struggling with it before letting it drop, slamming hard and loud on the table bringing the talented Twilight Sparkle to full wakefulness with a cry of shock, blinking and looking around in confusion before she noticed the sun.
With a cry of panic, she took off to her room, shouting, “IS IT TODAY! OH STARS!”
As she began to get ready as quickly as she could, the dragon just sighed and followed after her to assist his friend, saying, “Gonna be one of those days.”
In the partially above-ground and partially-underground mountain city of Stone City III, a pink-coated mare in a regal bedroom was snoring loudly. There were three other beds, all empty of their occupant and neatly made while the pink earth pony’s own bed was a mess, her body sprawled sideways with blankets and pillows sprawled everywhere. From snoring though, she immediately sprang up to full wakefulness with a gasp, declaring, “I am awake!” A grin spread widely before she jumped up, excitedly declaring, “AND TODAY IS THE DAY!” Lady Pinkamena Dianne Pie beamed as she began to zip around the bed chambers of the four potential heirs to House Merriment, rapidly doing in moments what took her sisters quite a while, showering, brushing their mane, and finally dressing. Once ready, dressed in a rather nice gray dress with silver linings, she began to spring to the dining hall to have breakfast with her family, an odd ‘boinging’ noise associated with every hop.
In the city above the mountain top, the grand home to House Generosity, the heiress to the House slowly awoke in her room in the second highest tower of the grandiose city of Canterlot. A green mask of goo upon her face, she got up, the unicorn magically removing the sleep blind as she made her way to the bathroom. The sun wasn’t up when she awoke, but by the time she had finished cleaning up, it was definitely morning and far away Lady Pinkamena had sprung up to declare the obvious. She hummed to herself as she went to sit at her vanity table, horn glowing as a myriad of objects and clothes swirled around her, an elegant purple gown adorning her body while she put the finishing touches on her mane, putting it in an elegant bun as she said, “Yes… today is most definitely going to be the day!” She looked into the mirror with a smile, going over her appearance, but frowned when she noticed one of the purple gemmed earrings was missing. She began to look around for it, but when she noticed a distinct lack of that piece of jewelry, she began to fume before her eyes narrowed in realization. There was only one pony who could have stolen her earring, and with an angry cry she shouted out, “SWEETIE BELLE!”
There was another Heiress who awoke before the sun was fully up, but that’s because she had duties to perform. Setting out from the ancient, but sturdy, castle of Cookie’s Rest upon a hill near the sleepy town of Ponyville, the Heiress to House Honesty made her way to the fields nearby dressed in a simple outfit and her trademark, rather rustic hat. She trotted through the fields, inspecting what needed to be inspected, making notes on the clipboards hanging outside the homes of the farmers, and even taking a moment to refill the feeding trough for some pigs, Lady, or as she preferred, Farm Mistress Applejack Apple handled her morning chores, things that she could easily delegate to somepony else, but she still felt the need to handle it herself. Once that was done, she took care of her morning run, getting back to the castle just as the sun began to truly rise. After a quick shower, she got dressed in a rather simple, but still befitting her station, outfit, making sure it was nice and tidy as she looked into the mirror, saying, “Today is the day!”
Up in the spacious and beautiful city of Sun Shire, home to House Compassion, there was a pegasus who was hiding nervously under her blankets. Her room was one of enchantment, enchanted earth from the surface made to stay above in the clouds, allowing her room to be adorned with beautiful flowers and serve as home to several small animals, including her personal pet, Angel Bunny, who was impatiently tapping his foot while looking at the blanket enshrouded mare. The soft voice of Lady Fluttershy Soleil called out, “Yes, I know what today is… but… but it didn’t happen last year… what if it doesn't happen this year either?” The bunny just frowned, yanking the blanket off of her, exposing the yellow-coated and pink-maned mare in her nightgown, the mare sighing and covering her face with her hooves, softly saying, “I… I don’t know if I could handle mommy telling me no again, especially if the other heiresses get theirs today… I mean, Chroma already has her’s, but still…” Angel rolled his eyes before going over to her, consolingly patting her on the side. She looked up before sighing, nodding as she said, “You’re right Angel Bunny… I have a responsibility to go… even… even if she says no… but hopefully she’ll say yes.” Smiling softly, she gave him a peck on the forehead before she started getting dressed, putting on a silver circlet first as she took a calming breath, nodding as she said in the best assertive voice she could managed, “I can do this… today will be the day!”
In the massive, fortress-like cloud city of Stormholm, a rainbow-maned Pegasus was getting ready for the day. It was an important day, not for her but for someone close to her. With her mane and tail brushed, the heiress to the House of Loyalty, one of Equestrian’s ruling houses, gave a smile to herself in the mirror before going to the armor rack next to the mirror. Upon it was her armor, golden colored with splashes of prismatic color, the mithril suit, as always, flawless, as was the spear in the rack beside it. With practiced ease, Knight Commander Chromatic Dash donned the shining armor, finished off by her helmet, the lightning bolt-shaped red crystal glowing, her element of Harmony. Channeling its power, her spear glowed the same shade of purple as she levitated it over to her and onto her back, nodding as she looked to the mirror once more, saying, “Today is her day….”
The sun was setting outside of the manor house of Ether Peak, the setting sun visible outside the window of a bedroom that looked more like a laboratory with stacks of books, beakers, and chalkboards with magical theorem covering it. Down in the main hall, the celebration was winding down as the doors to Twilight’s bedroom burst open and she stumbled in in her fancy dress, Spike following after her as she let out a cheer, leaping up, face flushed from having one too many as she excitedly cheered, “I did it! I have the Element Arcana! I’m gonna be the heir to the House! WOO!”
Spike just sighed, asking, “Twilight, I thought your Dad was only letting you have one glass of wine?”
She turned to him with a comical solemnness as she said, “Oh, I did only have one glass of wine, Spike… I just didn't say no to a refill when the server came by.”
She giggled drunkenly before leaping up and onto her bed, sending scrolls, quills, and books bouncing and falling off as she giggled tiredly, Spike smiling as he went to help tuck her in, saying, "Yeah… I would not want to be you in the morning. Good night Twilight.”
In Stone City III, the party continued as the Nobles all celebrated the appointment of the new heir to the House… Pinkamena, the second oldest daughter. The normally serious mares and stallions of the House, usually busy with some mining issue, or another conflict issue with the Diamond Dogs, but now they celebrated, beaming, smiling, and laughing, everything having been organized by the chosen Heiress herself, though she’d had to do a quick change to the banner, crossing out ‘Maude’ and writing her own name instead after the ‘Congratulations’ part. Even Lord Igneous Pie with his scar and eye patch and Lady Cloudy Quartz with her ever-present tight bun were socializing and smiling. Off to one side was the eldest daughter, sipping some tea before she turned to head out early before she suddenly felt weight on her back, a giggle signifying who it was before Pinkamena said, “Hey Maude!”
When Pinkamena pulled away, she was graced with one of her older sister’s rare smiles as she nodded, saying, “Sister, congratulations again. I’m going to bed now though, I have a busy day tomorrow.”
Before she could leave though, her pink sister said, “Wait, Maude… listen, I just wanted to say that I’m sorry Dad picked me instead of you, I don’t get why since you’re the oldest one and-“
Maude shushed her with a raised hoof to her lips, saying, “Pinkamena, don’t apologize… I told mother and father to choose you… I’m not good for the Element of our House… you are… you are Merriment, Pinkamena, and you always have been.” Pinkamena blinked before tearing up with a smile, the two sharing a quiet hug before parting, one bouncing back to the party while the other silently walked off to be on her own.
The entirety of the grand city of Canterlot was awake, even as the moon was going high into the sky, every house celebrating the anointment of the new Heiress of Generosity, Lady Rari Di Francesca. In the castle itself, the room was alive with the most finely dressed and prestigious of the city’s nobles and officials whole the orchestra played and ponies danced. She had shared dances with her parents, her sister, and several would-be suitors, making polite conversation with some of the movers and shakers of trade and fashion, everypony who was anypony doing their best to get in her good graces, getting many compliments on her earrings, which she’d managed to get from her sister. As the night passed, she noticed her sister beginning to doze off and smiled, walking away from Hoity Toity and Photo Finish to go to her and help get her to her room. She tucked her in just as her parents silently entered, the three sharing a brief moment, each giving her a hug and kiss goodnight before they returned to the party and she went to her own room. Upon entering, she smiled at the sight of an envelope on her pillow, a brown one with a simple, but at the same time elegant golden-thread, as in actual gold and not just the color, trimming to it. She knew who had delivered it, a gray-coated blonde Pegasus, but what was important was where it came from. She trotted over to the letter, picking it up and holding it under her nose, taking in a deep breath and smiling at the smell of fresh apples before she opened it to read the lovely letter from her secret admirer.
Cookie’s Rest was shaking, the old, but up kept castle being put through its paces by the partying of the entire gather House Nobles, Apples from all around having come to celebrate the bequeathing of the Element of Honesty unto Macintosh… only to instead have him decline and nominate his sister, Applejack, as the truly deserving heir. Still, despite the surprise, they celebrated! Young Lady Applebloom had fallen asleep in the lap of the sleeping Lady Smith despite how loud passionately (loudly) their family and friends celebrated around them. Up above though, the Heiress had snuck away, not even to her room when she began loosening the dreadful dress she’d been put in, tossing it off once in the room, leaving it crumpled on the floor. She went about getting dressed in her work clothes, smiling happily at the much more worn and comfortable clothes settling around her, going to the desk where the worn, leather hat rested next to her scrolls and brown, golden threaded envelopes. She picked up the hat, smiling warmly as she gave it a sniff, smelling ingrained in the old hat the smell of his pipe smoke and her perfume, softly saying, “Ah wish you coulda’ been here…” She sniffled, wiping at her eyes before they could tear up, placing the hat on and heading for the door, opening it wide to head out and get some work done… instead slamming into the wall-like body of her brother, letting out an ‘oof’ from the impact.
She blinked, looking up at him as he looked down at her. There was silence before he just said, “Nope.”
She let out a groan of frustration, saying, “Oh, c’mon big brother! Ah’ve been wrapped up in this cockamamie party all day, Ah’ve got work that needs doin’, harvest is comin’ up soon!”
He simply stared at her before once again saying, “Nope.”
She glared up at him before saying, “This is why ya declined the element, isn’t it? Didn’t wanna deal with this fancy-doo and the like!” He simply smiled and closed the door for her, but she could hear him remaining outside. She briefly contemplated climbing down the vines outside her window, but decided that would be too childish, groaning as she took off the hat, putting it back in its places before changing again. She emerged in the dress, shoving past him grumpily, saying, “Let’s just get it over with it,” while he chuckled and followed after her.
The two were quiet before he said, “Ya’ll look awfully pretty in that dress, Lady Apple.” This earned a rougher shove from the heiress, bringing a more full-bodied laugh from the big stallion.
All was silent in Sun Shire as ponies turned down for the night. There was no celebration, no parties through the night… the only disturbance came as the doors to Lady Fluttershy Soleil’s bedroom were flung open and immediately closed by a softly sobbing mare as she ran to the bed and crawled under the covers to muffle her crying. Her dress and mane were a bit of a mess from her fast, for her, run back to her room as she sobbed. Angel Bunny peered out form his cubby hole and frowned sadly when he saw her crying, going over to her and gently patting the shuddering, crying form under the blankets, only for her to sob out, “P-please Angel Bunny, I… I want to be alone.” The bunny frowned, sure that wasn't what she needed… but he hopped back to his little home, leaving her to cry. She sniffled, softly asking herself, “Why… why does she hate me?”
“She doesn’t hate you, you know.” Fluttershy looked up with a gasp, the makeup she’d put on before a bit of a mess from her crying, yet it did nothing to flaw her natural, almost angelic beauty. Standing on the windowsill for her room was her cousin, the shining armored Chromatic Dash, the rainbow-maned mare smiling warmly as she stepped into the room, taking off her helmet and setting it aside on a desk as she asked, “Am I intruding?”
Despite her earlier words to Angel, she gulped, shaking her head as she sniffled, but said, "She… she does though Chroma… why else wouldn't she let me have the element? Oh, it was so embarrassing!” Fresh tears began to spill, a look of pained concern coming over Chroma as she went over to the bed, crawling in with her and putting a wing around her to hugging her gently through her armor. She began stroking her mane in a way she hoped was soothing as Fluttershy continued on, saying, “All the nobles, and… and high officials… all there… all staring… and mom was looking at me and… and in front of everyone said ‘no’, saying I’m not ready…”
She curled up close to the armored mare, a soft blush coloring Chroma’s cheeks, but she simply smiled, leaning down to softly kiss the top of her head, saying, “She doesn't Fluttershy, she’s just waiting until she thinks you’re ready. It’s a lot of responsibility to take on, but don’t worry, you’ll get there… I promise, you’ll have your element next year… now c’mon, go to sleep… I’ll be here until you fall asleep, and then tomorrow you and your parents are coming to talk about the routes, we can hang out then, okay?”
The yellow mare sniffled before nodding, closing her eyes as she snuggled closer to the mare that secretly, and truly loved her, a smile on the knight’s face as she began to softly sing to help her to sleep, “Hush now, quiet now, it’s time to lay your sleepy head,” and even though she wasn't the best singer, Fluttershy smiled softly, and was soon asleep and dreaming.
