Chapter 2: Distant Lightning

Twilight galloped as fast as she could, pulling books of the shelves at random while she searched for the flight spell. "Its got to be here somewhere!" she muttered to herself. Just then, Spike came downstairs, yawning. "Whoa Twilight! Isn't the princess coming today? Why are you making such a mess? And so early in the morning. It's only 5." "Well yes, but Fluttershy asked me to make some wings for a bird that broke her wings. You know, as a temporary replacement. But I can't find it anywhere!" Twilight answered. The lavender mare, now on the brink of panicking, cast a finding spell. But instead of the usual purple aura that surrounded her horn, there was nothing. Nothing save for a white spark that lit up briefly and vanished. Twilight tried again and again. The result was the same. When the baby dragon saw fear written all over her face, he asked, "What's the matter, Twilight?" "My magic...it's not working..." the unicorn whimpered in response.

Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light, and Princess Celestia and her little sister appeared. "Princess! What's happened to me? Why can't I cast magic?" Twilight Sparkle couldn't get the words out fast enough. But when she looked up at the princess, there was disapproval radiating from her. "Twilight, I'm afraid you can't be my student anymore. The day a unicorn loses her or his ability to cast a simple finding spell, is the day she loses her potential. I'm sorry, Twilight," Celestia announced angrily and gravely. And with that, she was gone. Twilight stood dumbfounded for a moment. Then she screamed, a scream that could probably been heard in Canterlot, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

       Twilight woke up, still screaming. Spike immediately leaped out of bed, plugging his ears as he tried to get near to the screeching unicorn. "Twilight! What's wrong?" "YOU SAW! I'M NOT CELESTIA'S STUDENT!" "Err, Twilight, that was a dream, I have no memory of that!!"

       Indeed it was a dream. In real life, the sun was shining warmly above Ponyville. The birds were chirping as they flew in the beautiful light. Twilight took a deep, shuddering, breath. Then, she cast a finding spell, and realized, to her immense relief, that it worked. She bounced out of bed, and to her assistant she seemed fine. But inside, Twilight was shaking. I've NEVER had a dream like that. "Come on, Spike, let's get some breakfast and Sugarcube Corners!" she tried to say cheerily. Spike jumped on her back and she galloped out the door.

       Now as mentioned before, the sun was shining, but her dream cut off every single ray of sun from her. When they finally arrived, Twilight trotted over to Pinkie, hoping that the bouncy pink mare could give her a smile or two. Pinkie, upon seeing her, said nervously, "H-hi, T-twil-ight." Somehow, Twilight knew that she wasn't the only with a very, very bad nightmare.