Scary. Thats the one word which snapped into Twilight's mind at the sight. Here she was, standing at the threshold to one of the great classrooms of Celestia's academy, a filly, no older than 8, the youngest ever applicant, but all she could think of was the word scary. Not daunting, terrifying or dreadful. Just scary.
"Go on honey."
Twilight Sparkle felt the soft muzzle of her mother pushing at the back of her neck. Strong and insistent, but still forever more comforting than the shroud of her favourite blanket. She peeked back to her parents once again. They stood tall and proud as any member of the Sparkle family would. Neatly groomed coats, manes and tails layered over a body refined to a royal figure. They had walked through the halls of the castle as if they were taking a daily jaunt through the park. Despite all this though, Twilight could only see gentleness and caring.
"Go on, honey."
Again, the muzzle pushed at the back of her neck. Taking a deep breath, Twilight shuffled forwards into the room. To the right of her sat row after row of seats, banked for ease of view for the occupants. Today, that consisted of 4 examiners. Stoney faced and cold of heart, they looked on as Twilight moved to the centre of the vast marble floor, worn by the hooves of many a lecturer over the years.
"Welcome, miss Sparkle, to your entrance examination."
One of the examiners spoke at her with a unsympathetic and bored sounding voice. Twilight once again glanced back to her parents. The looked back with warm smiles, a practical heatwave compared to her examiners, and gestured for her to mimic them. She gave a nervous grin to the top row, but as she did so, a set of door opposite to the ones she entered through opened and a stallion rolled in a cart.
The cart filled the small filly with no small amount of fear. Nestled in a heap of straw on top was a large speckled egg, the contents of which confused the filly. The diagram on the side showed her the task. She had to use her magic to crack the egg and release-
"A lizard?" mumbled Twilight under her breath.
"Well, miss Sparkle?"
Twilight glanced back up, then back to the egg. She let out a nervous chuckle and began.
No matter how much she tried, strong enough magic wasn't coming to her. In quick succession she swapped from position to position and strained with all her might. Sparks sputtered from her horn and pressure grew in her head, building to the point where she could feel the vessels in her nose starting to give under the great strain. She stopped. She glanced to the examiners, still glaring at her. then hung her head in shame.
"I'm sorry I wast-"
An explosion shook the room as waves of colour rippled across the sky. Twilight screamed as waves of energy hit her, overflowing her magical reserves, causing uncontrolled magic to burst from her horn. A bright aura burst into existence around her as she was raised into the air, eyes burning white.
Energy lanced out from the magic bubble she was contained in hitting objects in the room at random. A blast struck the examiners, sending them flying into a wall. A blast hit the egg shredding the tough shell as if it was paper and sending the small dragon inside into a frenzy as it clawed its way away from the glowing orb of purple.
"Twilight!"
A beam of magic surged out and grappled onto the source of noise, her parents. Over a few seconds Twilight felt their emotions flowing through her. Confusion, shock and anger, but most of all fear gripped them with iron claws. Her mothers voice echoed through her mind.
"I love you, Twilight"
Then with an almighty crack, her mind fell silent. Twilight drifted around insider her bubble with no sense of anything outside the purple walls. her mind was blank as magic continued to surge out from her horn, riddled now with hundreds of small cracks from the great pressure and strain. She was faintly aware of moving white and splintering wood somewhere nearby, when two great wings wrapped around her and pulled her into a downy chest.
"Calm, child!"
As Twilight came down from her magical storm, she looked up to see a stern white face, looking down on her with worry and empathy. Then she looked over the colossal wings which held her. the room was in devastation, but her eyes only fell on the black mark, speckled with red, that stained the floor where her parents once stood.
"MUMMY!"