Once upon a time, a long time ago…

When the world was young and the gods walked openly amongst ponies, long before the founding of Equestria, there lived on the world's highest mountain three great goddesses. Each a mare of unparalleled beauty and grace, they ruled over all they saw with wisdom and benevolence. Under their care, the ponies of that land prospered and grew in knowledge and power. For many seasons, all was well.

Now, it came to pass that one dark day a great wind arrived from the far east, bearing with it a mischievous spirit of the foulest chaos. When his eyes beheld the peaceful land of the goddesses, he was incensed.

"Now," said he to himself. "This will do not at all. Behold, the ponies here are happy and harmonious. They mock me with their peace and plenty, and give me not my rightful due. Therefore I shall unleash mine wrath against them, and they shall know discord."

So saying, the spirit took form and walked hidden amongst the ponies of the land, seeking always to use his power to spread disharmony, destroy unity, and corrupt the ponies for his own wicked amusement. Yet, at every turn, the spirit found himself opposed by the divine magicks of the goddesses, and though he was the mightiest of his kin he prevailed not against them. Wherever he went he found the goddesses waiting for him, and he was smote into the ground by their majesty a thousand times and more.

But the spirit was cunning. Knowing then that he could not prevail by force of arms, he sought instead a way to break the harmony of the three, that they might quarrel and bicker while he spread his chaos throughout the land without check or end. Spying on their mountain for forty days and forty nights in the form of a great eagle, he found that each of the three harbored a secret vanity. For though they all claimed to be equals, in her heart each goddess believed herself the fairest of them all, irresistible to any who saw her.

Cackling with malicious glee, the spirit devised a plan to spread his discord through the gods themselves. Cloaking himself in the form of a humble supplicant, he climbed the mountain the very next day, a small chest of exquisite gold and silver atop his back. When at last he reached the summit, he approached the grand temple wherein the sacred trio made their abode. Entering therein, the spirit found himself before the three great thrones of the divinities.

"Hark, mortal!" said one goddess. "Wherefore dost thou come before us? What wouldst thou ask of thy goddesses?"

"I ask nothing, oh most magnificent of all the divines," said the spirit, "Save that thou receivst this humble token of gratitude from a humble pony of the earth: the firstfruit of all the land."

So saying, he removed the chest from where it sat and opened it at the hooves of the goddesses, bowing low. Inside was a lustrous golden apple of peerless comeliness, delicate and polished. In truth, it was the firstfruit of a tree of chaos, and its bounteous shine brought forth irresistible desire from the hearts of all who saw it.

"For the fairest goddess," said the spirit with a bow, and was gone.

Now, each of the three goddesses treasured in her heart the notion that she was the fairest, and that the exquisite fruit was thus meant for her and her alone. At the same moment, each reached forth to claim the offered bounty. Their hooves met over the treasure, and for a moment all was silence.

"Yon stallion sayeth that the apple 'twas meant for the fairest," said the goddess of the day. "Certainly, he speakest of us."

"Nay!" said the goddess of the night. "Thou wouldst have to be unsighted to believe that he spake of ought but us!"

"Thou art fools both, if thou truly thinkest such," said the goddess of love. "For the fairest of all can be naught but us!"

So saying, the three began to squabble and quarrel over which should have the golden fruit, while the spirit watched with impish delight. Laughing at the foolishness of his foes, the spirit did go forth across all the lands of the goddesses to wreak havoc. This time, there were none to oppose him, for the goddesses, each caught in the net of her own conceitedness, would not cease their sparring to claim the prize with which they were so taken.

So it was that the ponies of the land fell into strife and disharmony, while the spirit reveled in his triumph. The earth and sky moaned under the unnatural burden as brother fought brother, sister fought sister, parent fought child, and all forgot the teachings of those who had once ruled over them.

Meanwhile, the goddesses found that they could reach no agreement betwixt the three, for none was willing to give up her pride for the others. Alone, none could hope to prevail against the spirit of chaos, but so enthralled were they by the apple that not one was willing to sally forth against him till the matter was settled. At last, the groans and pleas of the ponies below became too much for the goddesses to bear, and it was decided that the issue must be resolved by one not among them, that they might smite the foe together once more.

The three sought judgment from their brethren amongst the gods, but none were found willing. Not their brother, god of the sea, not their sister, goddess of the wind, not their father, god of the earth, not their mother, goddess of skies, nor were any others found in the courts of divinity willing to settle the question. All feared the wrath of two not chosen too greatly to lend aid, for by this time the vanity of the goddesses had acquired a great and terrible repute.

"Now," said the goddesses to one another, "if our kin the gods will not determine a solution to the controversy, we must seek an arbiter in the world of mortals."

So saying, the three peered down from their great mountain, and espied climbing upon its slopes a stallion. A handsome colt in the prime of his youth, the three agreed that he looked to be an exemplary appraiser of loveliness in mares.

"So," said they to each other, "we shalt give the matter over to the stallion to settle, and those not chosen shall acquiesce to the verdict rendered. Then, as one we shalt chasten the spirit of chaos once more, and this time bind him within an inescapable prison, that he might torment our ponies no longer."

Concurring, the three divines appeared before the stallion, who abased himself before them.

"Oh great goddesses," said he. "I come to implore your aid. Our lands are riven with strife, our crops wither and rot, and now mine own tender young sister is stricken down and bedridden with plague. Please, I beg of thee: help us, for we can do naught against the spirit of disharmony without thee."

"Calm thyself," said the goddess of the day. "We shalt aid thee, but first thou must do us a service."

"Anything," declared the stallion, looking boldly into the goddesses' faces. "Merely deliver us from this discord, and I shall give thee I all I have."

"We seek neither thy goods nor thy years of servitude, only thy adjudication on a strife that has long vexed us," replied the goddess of the night.

"Name thy concern," said the stallion. "And I shall give thee my finest verdict."

"This apple," said the goddess of love, causing the golden fruit to appear in the stallion's grasp. "'Tis meant for the fairest of us three. But none can say which that is, and we would not leave without determining which of us that may be. Thou must choose for thyself whom is the most beautiful."

"Wilt thou swearest not to harm mine family if I choose thee not?" asked he of the divines.

"We so swear," they agreed, and the stallion accepted the goddesses' task.

But very soon he came to a realization: each of the goddesses possessed a beauty beyond the ken of mortals, and he truly found neither flaw nor blemish in any of the three. He feared their wrath should he choose without being certain, and so could not break the silence for some time.

"Perhaps," said the goddess of the night after some time had passed. "An inducement? If thou wilt choose us, we will make of thee a great king, conqueror of all thou seest and undisputed ruler amongst ponies. Thy royal line shalt endure a thousand generations and more, and thy descendants shalt outnumber the very stars."

So saying, the goddess filled the stallion's head with visions. He saw a thousand thousand armored stallions prostrate themselves at his hooves. He saw the most beautiful mares of all the land come before him and fight one another for a single night in his bed. He saw himself in a great palace, fit almost for the gods themselves. He saw an unbroken dynasty of rulers stretching as far towards the horizon as his eyes could perceive.

"If thou wishest to play that game," said the goddess of the day, approaching the stallion. "We offer thee in return for thy choosing of us the wisdom and magical might of the world. Thou shalt be renown throughout all the ages as the greatest scholar in the world, fountain of wisdom and learning. A thousand years hence, ponies will hail thine incomparable greatness and beg all the gods for but a fraction of it."

So saying, the goddess filled the stallion's head with visions. He saw himself astride the world as a titan of magical power, the earth and skies bowing to his will. He saw statues and monuments raised in his name, exalting his glory and proclaiming for the entire world his achievements. He saw his merest works treasured more than vast piles of dragon gold long after his death.

"If thou art resorting to crude bribery…" scolded the goddess of love, before turning to the stallion. "We offer thee this: a love eternal, pure and unsullied. Choose she whom thy heart burns for, and she shall be thine, and thou hers, for always and eternity. Never shalt the fires of thy passions for one another burn out, nor shalt anything drive thee apart, in this life or in any other."

So saying, the goddess stepped back with the others and smiled. Each was confident that her gift was the evidently superior one, and that surely this mortal could not help but gift to them the apple they had so long quarreled over.

Now, this stallion was a young colt, and the fires of youth yet burned hot in him. He did not hunger for conquest and domination as some do, nor were his thoughts turned to wisdom or a legacy left behind after death. But the love of a beautiful mare… that he did know, and craved for himself.

Reaching a decision, the stallion bowed his head and offered the lustrous fruit to the goddess of love. "For thee, oh fairest of all the divines."

Smiling at her victory, the goddess reached out to claim her prize. She took the apple from the mortal, ignoring the baleful glares of the other two. The stallion cowered at the menacing looks from the goddesses whose offers he had passed by, but the goddess of love merely laughed gently, and he found himself back at his home, the goddess beside him.

"A wise choice, mortal," said she. "Thou knowest well that the value of love is far beyond that of fleeting power or dusty wisdom. Now, we must go to smite the spirit of chaos for his crimes, but first, name she who it is thou wouldst have for thyself."

The stallion hesitated, but with the incomparable beauty of the goddess before him, he could think of only one mare.

"Tis thee, goddess," he said at last.

Melodious laughter echoed throughout the land, for every creature to hear.

"Clever mortal," said she at length. "So be it."

And so it was that mortal and goddess were joined together. Many and varied were their adventures over the years, and even as the stallion grew old, the goddess's promise endured. Some say that the two frolic together amongst the heavens. Others claim that they still walk among ponies to this very day.

---

"The end," said Princess Cadence, shutting the book.

"That's it?" said the small lavender filly called Twilight Sparkle with a yawn. "Booooring."

"Aw, you didn't like it?" her foalsitter frowned. "You asked for a classic tonight."

"Questionable plot, unsatisfactory ending, evident mathematical deficiencies in the authorship, and a bunch of lovey-dovey mush." Twilight stuck her short filly tongue out. "Who would want that? Colts have cooties. Bleh."

Cadence giggled at the cute little expression of distaste.

"I mean, come on, more descendants than the stars?" Twilight rolled her eyes. "Do you know how many stars there are in our galaxy alone? Factor in all those that we can't see from here, and those whose light has yet to reach us, and you'd have far more foals than our planet could ever hope to support. All that from one stallion?"

"He would have had a goddess helping him," Cadence reminded the filly.

"Even a god couldn't pay that much child support," Twilight argued. "And don't get me started on how-" she stopped for a sudden yawn. "Dumb the stallion's choice was. Obviously he should have picked the sun goddess's offer. Being the greatest sage of all time beats out everything else by a mile."

"I dunno, Twily," came a new voice from the bedroom's door. Shining Armor, just back home from his part-time job as a camp counselor, stepped into his little sister's bedroom to tuck her in.

"Yeah, whatever…" the sleepy little filly mumbled as she was methodically eased into bed by the two ponies, shutting her eyes almost the moment her head touched pillow.

Shining looked at his marefriend and nuzzled her gently.

"I think he made a great choice."

Cadence blushed.

---

AN: So, how'd you like it?