It was too early.
The sun’s gentle gleam peered through the curtains to the small house in Ponyville. The summer heat was sweltering. Outside ponies played and danced. They worked on their crops and tended their shops. It was a busy summer morning.
Not for Lumi.
The white unicorn rolled onto her stomach, body wrapped in the covers of her head. She grasped her pillow and pulled it over her head.
“Five more minutes,” She mumbled to herself and pulled the pillow closer to her head.
The sun continued to beam into her room through the open space in the curtains. Time passed, and soon the ray was closer to the unicorn’s eyes. That was her signal; it was time to start the day.
“Ughhhh, okay already!” She mumbled as the sun hit her eyelids.
Slowly she rose out of her bed, the blue blankets tangled around her legs. She kicked them off lazily with a sneer and rose to her hooves. Her short white mane was tousled around her head, and her tail was a tangled mess. She trotted slowly to the bathroom.
She turned on the faucet and splashed water onto her sleepy eyes. She stared for a moment at her reflection; the bright pink orbs stared back at her still full of tiredness. She grabbed a brush from the edge of the sink and ran it through her mane.
The tangled mess straightened into a shorter spikier mess, but that would have to do. Lumi glanced back her tail and sighed. With a quick motion she ran the brush through, wincing in pain as the tangles came undone.
Again she looked at herself in the mirror. The plain white unicorn, she thought, nothing special here. Never will be.
It was time to face another day, and she wasn’t really sure if she was ready for that. Lumi gathered her things in her satchel. Textbooks, quills, ink and paper, they were the materials of her misery. She was off to magic school, the last place that a troubled unicorn wanted to be.
She paced out of her room and to the front door, passing her mother.
“Lumi! Don’t forget your books!” The lilac colored unicorn called.
“I didn’t” Lumi replied as she opened the front door.
Her mother whistled and Lumi turned. She had that look on her face that Lumi hated, her mother, Lux, motioned to the textbook sitting on the table.
Lumi sighed and attempted to raise it with her magic, instead the book shook a little and then went still. Suddenly a violent burst of purple smoke erupted from the book’s pages. Lux jumped back, and Lumi turned her head with a frown.
“I’m sure they have another copy honey!” Lux said, coughing slightly as the purple smoke filled the room.
“Yeah, I’m sure” Lumi said as she stepped outside and closed the door.
It was a short walk from Lumi’s small cottage to the carriages that transported ponies to Canterlot. Lumi’s mother was an artist who chose the quiet life of Ponyville over the hustle and bustle of Canterlot. Lux had also attended the great school for unicorns, as had every unicorn in the family. Lumi was the next in line.
Lumi gazed at the bright blue sky as she sat in the carriage, her own thoughts drowned out the babbling of her accompanying passengers. Some days she dreamed of something bigger for herself as her thoughts drifted off into the clouds, a life far different from this one.
Her daydreams were interrupted as the carriage made a bumpy landing in Canterlot.
The Magic school for Gifted Unicorns was the prized academy of Canterlot. The children of nobles and aristocrats attended, along with those of great academic skill. Its halls were alive with unicorns practicing magic in all different forms, from simple levitation to advanced summoning.
In stood in the center of Canterlot, with its spires rivaling only those of the castle where royalty dwell. On the center tower was a statue of the founder of the school, a great and ancient unicorn. Two giant ivory double doors stood with grand carvings of magical practices welcoming those who entered.
Lumi never felt welcome here.
She made her way through the halls as the other unicorns lingered and socialized before classes were to begin. Lining the halls were portraits of past students and their accomplishments alongside tapestries depicting of magical history’s great ones.
The classroom Lumi entered was large and round, the ceiling high and vaulted. The desks were in neat lines in the back, but there was plenty of space for practicing. Lumi had reached her third year, the beginnings of advanced magic. The high ceiling and wide space made an accidental summoning an easier problem to deal with.
She picked a desk in the back where she always sat and removed her texts from her satchel. The trumpets sounded for the students to begin their lessons and the unicorns started filing in. She kept her eyes down as the desks filled with chattering students. She wanted to disappear.
The professor entered the room as the students settled. He was a dark blue unicorn with a purple mane that was neatly combed back. His tail was short and cropped and twitched as he spoke His name was Professor Magister. Lumi liked him more than her past instructors; he didn’t focus very much on opening the textbook.
“Today’s lesson will be an advanced spell; we will be learning how to conjure flame!”
Gasps of excitement filled the room; Lumi looked up from her desk quizzically.
“I think Lumi should sit this one out.” A voice from the front of the class said. It was a boy unicorn, smirking at Lumi.
“Yeah, we don’t want her to burn down the school.” Another said.
Lumi shifted her gaze to the floor, and wished that she was somewhere else. She hated them for thinking of her like that, but she knew it was true. And she hated herself for it.
“Ahh, Lumi!” The professor said. “Come up here, this is by far one of the simplest spells of this term.”
Lumi looked around horrified as the class snickered; she rose up and walked to the front of the class. Professor Magister motioned for her to come to the practice area. She stood in front of him and he spoke to the class.
“Now, this spell of very simple…” Lumi didn’t hear the rest; she was sweating and trying to hide herself by looking as small as possible. The professor finished speaking and Lumi looked over at him, as soon as a flash of bright orange flame shot from his horn. She smiled at the magic and was taken aback and the flame danced around the room as if it had a life of its own. And then in a flash of red smoke it was gone.
“Now, that was the most basic of flame spells.” The professor said as he looked over his astounded class. He turned to Lumi, “Now go ahead and remember what I told you.”
Lumi swallowed hard, what if she didn’t remember? She hesitated as the class stared at her, the snickering ponies talking amongst themselves. She took a deep breath and steadied herself, imagining the flame darting from her horn and closed her eyes. She felt the heat of the fire rising up in her. She concentrated harder, her mind filling with swirls of orange and red.
Professor Magister gasped and Lumi smiled, she must have done it! She opened her eyes and stood triumphantly.
But she was not met with a pleased smile. Instead the professor stared at her horn in horror. Just then a burst of flame knocked the professor on his back, and Lumi’s knees buckled. The professor jumped up yelping in fright
“Professor!” Lumi cried, face hot with embarrassment.
Suddenly a rush of water hit the professor and he dropped to the floor in a sopping pile with a groan.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!” Lumi cried as she ran to help him. In her field of vision walked two long white legs with gilded hooves. She stopped and looked up.
Princess Celestia stood behind the professor with a stern look on her face. The students all bowed as did Lumi, not breaking the Princess’ gaze.
“Are you all right, Magister?” She asked the dripping unicorn.
He held his head and looked at her, “Yes yes I am all right. Thank you Celestia.”
Lumi started to apologize but the princess’ stare stopped her.
“You must be Lumi.” She said.
“Yes.” Lumi barely choked out a response.
“I must ask you to come with me.”Lumi looked around as Celestial’s magic gathered her satchel and brought it forward. “Now” Celestia said.
Lumi wasn’t sure if her legs still worked as they seemed to be set in stone. She cautiously stepped forward and followed Celestia as she set Lumi’s satchel on her back.
Celestia exited the classroom and out into the hallway, shutting the door behind her.
“I am so sorry, Princess! I didn’t mean to- to hurt anyone!” Lumi said, her eyes felt moist with tears.
Celestia stopped and looked back at the young unicorn with a smile. “You are a student Lumi and you will make mistakes. That is not why I am here.”
“It’s not?”
Celestia chuckled as Lumi wiped the tear from her eye. “No, there is something far more important we have to discuss. Come with me to the castle, we will speak there.”
As Celestia turned to lead Lumi to the castle she knew the chuckle she had uttered was because of nerves. She knew that the coming matters would alter this unicorn’s fate for all time, but was she ready?
