//------------------------------// // Flashback: The Beginning // Story: Midnight's Nightmare // by G33kySt3v3 //------------------------------// Everfree City, 20 Years Before The Longest Night "Alright Twilight, it's time to go to the castle for your entrance exam!" exclaimed a very excited Twilight Velvet. "Then you can finally pursue your dreams of learning all kinds of magic in the Princess’s School for Gifted Unicorns!" "Woo-hoo!" A seven year old filly Twilight exclaimed as a small burst of magic spilled out the top of her horn. "I can already feel the knowledge being soaked through the books and into my mind!" "Now now, while I have no doubt you'll be able to pass the entrance exam, don't get excited too quickly Twilight." A surprisingly calm Night Light said. "Alright Dad, I'll try to be more calm." A slightly embarrassed Twilight replied. "You're going to want to get going if you don't want to be late!" A thirteen year old Shining Armor said, knowing very well the reaction the young unicorn would have to the word late. "LATE?!! I can't be late! We better go now! See all of you guys there, love you bye!" And then Twilight was gone before anyone could say anything. "Well I guess we better go after her... Thanks for getting her moving Shining..." A slightly confused and apprehensive Twilight Velvet said. Everfree Castle Shortly after Twilight got to the castle she realized none of her family had followed her at quite the speed she had left, and so she was forced to wait for them since she couldn't start the entrance exam without her parents there. Not that she really wanted to try to do it without her parents' support. It's a good thing her family knew her well enough that they got there quickly, now it was time for the entrance exam. They entered the wing designed for Princess Celestia and Luna’s school and walked up to the desk, Twilight was too busy being a 'little' nervous to pay attention to the conversation her parents had with the pony at the front desk. Soon the conversation was over and they were on their way through the halls toward the exam room, and then, in what felt like a sudden flash they were in the exam room! Maybe I'm more nervous than I originally thought. Twilight thought to herself. A light colored earth pony opened a door from the other side of the room and rolled in a cart that had a nest looking thing in the top with a purple and darker purple spotted dragon egg nestled inside. The instructions on the cart were but a simple picture, and an obvious one at that. I'm supposed to hatch a dragon egg?! Twilight thought. Then one of the instructors spoke up, "Well Ms. Sparkle?" Twilight looked at the egg and gave off a nervous laugh, causing all the instructors to pull up their clipboards and scribble something down. Well that didn't help my nervousness... Twilight thought bitterly to herself. Well– Here goes nothing... Twilight mumbled as she took a step back and tilted her horn toward the egg, willing any amount of magic she could to the top of her horn, which was to say... Almost none. Twilight was just much too nervous to put any magic to spell casting right now. And so after Twilight had tried to put magic to it again, and failed again, she looked sullenly at the dragon egg and the instructor spoke up again after another one yawned. "We don't have all day, " The instructor commented harshly. Twilight then resorted to wild hoof gestures to get the egg to hatch while still trying to will anything out of her horn. Both Twilight and the instructors knew that these hoof gestures were getting her nowhere... After trying extra hard and failing, again... Twilight fell flat on her stomach and glanced up at the instructors, since she knew there was no way she would be able to do this. "I'm sorry I wasted your time." Twilight mumbled out, not even caring if they actually heard her. Twilight then turned sadly away from the instructors just as one of them leaned forward for their clipboard and accidentally knocked over their coffee mug. The unexpectedness of the loud shattering noise echoing through the hall and the built up anxiety of failure was too much for Twilight, causing her magic to explode into action.  Unfortunately the magic was too much for the still inexperienced Twilight, and it flooded the room with its power. Still trying to control it Twilight first pointed it at a source of frustration, the unhatched dragon egg. The amount of power was more than enough for the almost hatched egg, and a baby dragon quickly emerged from the broken remains. The magic however, was not done yet, and quickly started affecting other things in the room, including living things. Twilight’s uncontrolled magic soon had all four instructors in her aura, easily lifting them several hoof-lengths off the ground and canceling any spells they tried to cast against the unpredictable magic. Twilight’s magic wasn’t done yet, and had soon surrounded the filly’s parents as well; unlike the instructors however, the magic wasn’t content to just hold them there, and had also transformed them into potted plants. Finally, the magic could find only one more outlet and turned back to the now hatched baby dragon, Twilight still desired to age the dragon and so the magic did. The hatchling’s body exploded into action, soon having a neck and head that couldn’t fit into the exam hall, causing it to break through the ceiling. Through it all, the young filly stared around the room in terror at her out-of-control magic, sure that this would be the worst day of her life. Just as Twilight closed her eyes to accept defeat and allow this magical flare to run its course, probably ending with her waking up exhausted days later, she felt something touch her shoulder. Twilight quickly whipped her head around, staring in wide-eyed astonishment at the pony that had somehow pushed through her magic to lay a hoof on her. Seeing the Regent of the Day, Princess Celestia, smiling calmly down at her was such a strange experience for the young filly that her flare and all its effects ended almost instantly. "Twilight Sparkle," Princess Celestia started after all the unpredictable magic ended its terror.  She knows my name?! Oh I'm doomed aren't I? Twilight thought. "Oh I'm so sorry I didn't mean-" "You have a very special gift! We don't think We've ever come across a unicorn with your raw abilities!" "Huh?" "But you need to learn to tame these abilities through focused study." "Huh?!" "Twilight Sparkle, We'd like to make you Our own personal protégé here at the school!" "Huh?!?!" "Well?" Somehow Twilight still had the mental capacity to look at her parents to make sure it was okay and was quickly spurred into action by their facial expressions nodding very enthusiastically towards the yes decision. "YEEEESS!" Twilight shouted. "One other thing, Twilight."  "More?!" Twilight queried exasperatedly as she stumbled to the floor at the suddenness of Celestia adding more to the already exhausting experience. Princess Celestia said nothing, instead walking over to Twilight’s new place on the floor and pointing a hoof towards her flank. Twilight shifted around so she could look at what the princess was pointing at, and there adorning her flanks was a pair of her very own cutie marks! The cutie mark pictured a six-pointed magenta star with five other white stars surrounding it. Twilight could not believe her eyes, and soon exploded off the floor. "My cutie mark! Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes!" Celestia seemed content to let the young filly have her moment while Twilight jumped around her and chanted the same word over and over again.