16:35 pm

Ponyville was more silent than usual. The Weather Patrol had warned the entire town about two days ago: that would be the hottest day of summer. The Sun seemed twice as big as usual, blinding everypony crazy enough to look at it directly. The streets were almost empty, and even the animals were hidden, looking desperately for a shadow. It was possible to boil an egg in the ground. Only a little group of fillies playing with a ball were able to resist the Sun, but just because nopony had told them that that day was the hottest day of summer.

Twilight Sparkle, fortunately, had no worries about the heat. Living in a tree filled with books, the pony was protected by twelve different spells, casted by somepony dead long ago, that lowed the temperature. The purpose of those spells was to assure that the books and the house never burst into flames, something easy with the oldest scrolls (the fact that a baby dragon lived in that tree too didn't help at all, being honest)… and at the same time, they comforted the librarian.

The lavender unicorn was alone in her house. Her eyes closed and her horn glimmering, it was pretty easy to see what she was trying to do: magic.

The spell was difficult, but not too much. It was number seventy-four, and its purpose was something not very spectacular, like freezing water or melting ice. Euphoric, Twilight felt her magic working, and a smile appeared on her face. Number seventy-four was dominated…

And then, a strange sound came from the window right next to her. It was very weird: it sounded like two fluffy objects hitting with a strength only reserved to the biggest stallions and mares (and a little filly who defied the laws of physics with her ability to throw balls kilometers away). Something like:

PLOUMF!

That surprised Twilight, but the pony didn’t lose her concentration. It was just a weird noise, nothing to worry about. After all, the whole day had been filled with weird sounds, like ponies screaming or birds screaming or wood cracking and making a noise that seemed a scream, and... well, lots of screaming. And the spell was almost casted…

…and then, a few grains of pollen came from the window and landed in Twilight’s nose.

It’s a widely known fact that everypony who spends at least three hours a day reading an old book in an old library develops a strong allergy to every kind of pollen and/or lactose. Unicorns and pegasus are specially sensitive. Scientist all over Equestria had tried to discover why, but for more than a thousand years, the answer is still a mystery. The fact that ponies with glasses are even more sensitive to this “magical” allergies makes everything worse. It’s like if the universe thought that, if you’re an egghead, you must have allergies to every kid of pollen and/or lactose. And it’s not a normal allergy: eggheads can still eat flowers or eat pies. They just can’t smell them, because if they do…

AAAAT-CHOOOOOO!

Yeah, that’s what happens. But just the word “at-choo” is not enough to describe the massive explosion that Twilight’s sneeze was. Think about ten thousand kilograms of TNT, and then put some pollen, something green and slippery (you better don’t think about it too much) and an almost finished spell that suddenly changes direction and purpose in life (and realizes that spirals and the number sixty-three -I guess it's sixty-three, but I'm not sure. Don't worry about this thing, it will make sense in a few pages -were spectacular), and you’ll have a better idea of what happened at the library.

It wasn't pretty. In fact, the word “abomination” fits it pretty well. Or “aberration that shouldn't have seen the light of day”. Or “room filled with pony mucose”.

Just a second after that, something exploded outside the window. A little line of smoke entered the library.

Twilight sneezed again, this time more quietly, and shook her head. –Unghhh… -she blinked once, twice, three times, and finally tears stopped and she was able to see one more time. –Oh, shoot. Please, please, please, tell me the nothing has happened with the spell…

Fearing something terrible, the unicorn approached the window. She had heard an explosion after her sneeze, and nothing good came from explosions. Twilight looked outside, and…

-Oh, no! Oh, gosh I’m so sorry! Please, please, please be okay!

Next Chapter: Third - The third page of the letter, in which a lot of things happen but the three fillies don't notice because they are just kids and don't know a lot about the world. Also, something about a ball. Estimated time remaining: 16 Minutes