A LIGHT THAT NEVER COMES

Prologue

     The unicorn's cloven hooves clicked against the floor.  His horn glowed bright red against the wall, his blue eyes looking around the hall.  The translucent silk curtains cast shadows against the floors, a chilly breeze dancing around the room.  It was almost dawn. The unicorn knew that the child he was searching for had to be awakened. 
Unless the child was already awake and in hiding.  Yes, that was possible.  Yet, the unicorn knew where he was hiding.  The young colt always hid in the same spot, almost like he wanted to be found.  He was very lonely, after all.
Just as the sun shined through the windows, the light that always comes, the unicorn stood outside the child's door.  He raised a hoof, his horn no longer glowing red.  With the sun up, there was no need for magic.
Just before his hoof collided with the door, a small head poked out.  The unicorn stepped back, a small alicorn with a marigold coat and a purple mane stepping out.  In his mane was a stripe of indigo, and his eyes were magenta.  He yawned as he clumsily came forward.  His wings fell from their places at his sides, hitting the floor with a soft 'thud'.  His ears looked as if they were too big for his already large head, and his yawn finished with a small squeak.  He wiped tears from his eyes, before dancing in place. 

"Teacher!  Teacher!"  He called, his voice squeaking with his words.  "Guess what today is?  Guess!  Guess!"

"Is it.." the unicorn said slowly, playing colt's game.  He knew what day it was.  "Your birthday?"

The colt started giggling, cantering in a circle.  The unicorn smiled at his innocence, before choosing to speak again.

"Your mother intends to visit," he said, the colt now trotting down the hall.  The unicorn kept an even pace with him, his horn casting the same red glow as before to open the door.

"Does she?"  The colt asked excitedly.  "Is she bringing me something?  Oh!  Did you get me something, Teacher?"

"I did," the unicorn said, watching as the colt hopped down each step.  He was cute to watch.  His horn let out a little purple spark, the colt's ears perking up in excitement.  "But you have to eat breakfast before you can have it."

"Then I'll eat speedy fast!"  He chirped, tripping on one of his wings at the final step.  Even though he hit the floor, he stood back up and danced some more. 

"Don't eat too fast," the unicorn instructed, opening the doors to the dining area.  "You could make yourself sick."

The colt galloped ahead, hopping into the chair with incredible grace. 

"What'd you make, Teacher, what'd you make?"

His hooves impatiently clicked against the bamboo surface as the unicorn levitated a breakfast platter towards the child.

"I made ham, eggs, and waffles," he said softly, watching the child attempt to cast the same levitation spell on a fork.  His horn sparked again, before evenly glowing purple.  The unicorn watched, already able to see an improvement since the colt's previous attempts.  The magic wrapped around the fork, slowly lifting it.  He was sweating at this point. 

His magic stuttered, his eyes flashing a pure white before the magic totally stopped.  The fork clattered to the floor as the child let out a frightened cry.  Tears started to form in his eyes as a trickle of blood began to leak from his nose.  The unicorn pulled a handkerchief out of seemingly nowhere, dabbing the child's muzzle.  A few tears fell anyway, the unicorn smiling at him.

"It's alright, Destiny," he said, Destiny looking at him with his round eyes.  "You're doing much better.  You'll be able to cast a simple levitation spell in no time."

At least, he told himself, pulling another fork out of the nearby drawer and tossing the other into the sink.  At least it didn't make a loud crack as blood pooled from the crevices of his horn again.