Series Pilot - Loss
"Hey Twilight!"
Twilight Sparkle stiffened in shock, jumping back several inches and very nearly dropping the fragile glassware she had been holding in her magical aura. She glared daggers at the stealthy intruder over her withers. "Rainbow Dash, what are you doing? You can't just barge in here when I'm working. Do you have any idea what would have happened if I had broken this?"
"Yeah, yeah, but you didn't, so what's the problem? Besides, it's not like you're ever going to make some potion unless you know what it does, right?"
"That's not the point."
"Sorry. Thought you might like to know that Pinkie's planning another party tonight over at Sugarcube Corner. Apparently Gummy just started growing some teeth, so of course it means the whole town needs to celebrate."
"Of course I'll be there. Between you and me, I need to lose a few pounds, but I don't think a few sweets will matter too much."
"Yeah. I'm always up for some of Pinkie's cupcakes. But Gummy growing teeth?" The pegasus cringed. "Know any quick healing spells?"
"Oh, Dash, I wouldn't worry too much. I'm sure Pinkie wouldn't invite us if it wasn't safe. Although I might review one or two, just in case." Twilight trailed off, turning to a bookshelf and scanning the spines for the correct tome.
"Right. Later!"
"See you at the... never mind." The unicorn grinned and shook her head, realizing the room was now unoccupied except for her. "Always in such a hurry."
Outside, Rainbow Dash rocketed into the sky, pulling a series of barrel rolls to avoid some stray wisps of cloud until she reached her normal flying height. She had notified all of her friends except Rarity, who was currently in Canterlot hosting a private fashion show with a few of her new designs. With the necessary responsibilities taken care of, Rainbow landed softly on an especially high quality cloud that she had hoof-picked earlier while clearing the sky of the rest. She carefully smoothed out part of the white material, furrowed her brow, and with the tip of a hoof, started to scratch lines into the surface. "Time to get awesome!"
Several minutes later, Rainbow Dash hovered a few feet above the cloud and admired her work. By now, the cloud barely resembled the poofy cumulus it had begun its life as. On the surface, Dash had diagrammed her newest acrobatic trick in exquisite detail, sometimes attaching extra sheets of cloud paper at odd angles to sketch out complicated sections. She looked at the diagram one last time, then set her eyes on another cloud she had already set up. With a cry of exhilaration, she gave a mighty flap of her wings, propelling her straight towards her target.
Twilight hummed softly to herself as she finished her short tangent on healing spells. She re-shelved the heavy tomes, then returned to her potion table, making careful note in her notebook how long she had been away. After all, if this worked, she needed to know how long the mixtures had rested and how the extra time might affect the final result. The laboratory was silent except for the scratching of quill on paper and the occasional soft tinkle of liquid dripping from beaker to beaker. Her eyes were focused, ears tuning out every sound except for her own thoughts. She slowly lifted the last test tube in front of her vision, tipping a flask slowly, watching the liquid move down the neck... right... just about...
...there...
...slowly...
BANG!
Startled, Twilight lost focus and her telekinetic aura sputtered and died, leaving the delicate glass and its sensitive contents floating in midair. Her eyes dilated, watching the precious contents as they began to fall, slowly turning over and over as time seemed to grind to a halt. She reached out with her magic, trying to reestablish her magical connection to the containers, but as they fell faster and faster, her desperate attempts to lock on to the moving objects became more and more futile. As her brain finally began to realize that it was far too late to save the contents, she frantically raised a hoof to her face, shielding her eyes with her foreleg.
The glass hit the floor.
Twilight cringed, preparing for the explosion.
It never came.
Cautiously opening her eyes, she peered at the puddle of liquid on the floor.
“Well, that was anticlimac…”
BOOM!
Twilight was thrown back into the wall, leaving a spider web of cracks radiating from the impact. Books flew everywhere, pages smoking, thrown from the shelves by the force of the blast. Smoke filled the room as the center of the floor erupted in blue and orange flames.
Twilight groaned, trying to summon her magic in order to put out the fire, but for some reason she couldn’t. She tried to move, fear overtaking her as she realized she was trapped under a fallen support beam. “Help!” She screamed, hoping someone would hear her.
Rainbow Dash cheered as she broke the sound barrier yet again, leaving a brilliant ring of multicolored light in her wake. Whooping enthusiastically, the pegasus banked and twisted in the air, following her route with the precision of a master aerialist. Her maniacal grin faded when she heard a second explosion behind her. “That’s odd, I didn’t…”
Her words caught in her throat as she turned to look towards the sound. Smoke rose from the tree that Twilight used as her home and library, flames licking at some of the lower windows. “Twilight!” she yelled, putting on a burst of speed towards the tree. “Come on, please be okay!” She was almost there!
Just before she could reach the tree, the flames suddenly collapsed inwards with a sharp, piercing wail, leaving the tree dark and still smoking. Then the library exploded in a burst of blinding white light, sending out a shockwave that sent Rainbow spinning out of control to land painfully on the ground several dozen yards from the tree. She slowly raised her head, tears starting to form as she took in the scene of destruction before her. The library was gone.
“T… Twilight?”
Author's Note
BOOM!
Cliffhanger'd you on the Pilot, didn't I? I'm evil like that.
And whoa, 3:2 upvote:downvote ratio already? Sheesh. (Remember to comment, whether positive or negative. I'm curious why people don't like it. Feedback helps me improve, after all.) 
