//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Not A Good Thing // Story: Magical Mistakes - Twilight the Changeling // by ThePrinceOfTheNorth //------------------------------// Chapter 1: Not A Good Thing Minutes earlier... Twilight charged the reveal spell. It was a fairly uncomplicated spell, but she'd needed it to cover more than one pony, but couldn't find any versions of it that did, so she made her own. A green ball began growing from the tip of her horn, covering it, then her, then the podium, then it began covering the ponies in the crowd, but all the while, she knew she felt something was wrong, and so attempted to stop the spell. The ball continued to grow, slightly quicker now. She tried again. The ball grew to encompass the entire crowd before her. Suddenly, the spell collapsed, sending all the magic straight back into her horn in less time than it took her to blink. She was sent flying back off the podium and about half a kilometer into the fields surrounding Ponyville, feeling a strange burning sensation the entire time. The bruning sensation subsided after a short time, and she tried to get up, only to fall right back down again. Her mind was clear, though, and she could see everything around her... ...including hole-filled, black chitin-coated legs where she felt hers should have been. She stared at them for a moment, completely dumbstruck before she realized her mistake. There was a reason that spell wasn't ever made an area of effect spell, and she'd just learned why. She was a Changeling, no doubt about it, and the angered yells of, "Where did you take Twilight," could be heard from even where she was sitting. Realizing her impending danger, she got up and started running. She only then realized how weak she'd felt, and after a short while ran headlong into a stone wall, as she'd been distracted by her thoughts. While not visible on the outside, she could tell one of her forehooves were broken, as it was numb and would not respond to her commands. She heard the hoofbeats and yells getting closer, and tried to teleport away. Her horn would not cooperate, and simply fizzled out. She began limping away clumsily, aware she was bleeding green blood from a scrape on her foreleg, but she had more important things to worry about. Thankfully, and not a moment too soon, as he pursuers had almot caught her, she was able to safely teleport away. She found herself in an empty field near the edge of the Everfree Forest, and saw that dark stormclouds were approaching. She decided, against her better judgement, to wander into the forest, hoping she could make it to the old castle before the storm broke. No such luck, though. Fifteen minutes later, the storm raged overhead, drowning her mind with bangs and explosions. Her exhaustion from using the teleport spell while in such a weakened state finally caught up with her, and she fell over. Unfortunately, the part of the path she was currently on followed a ridge, which she quickly slid down into the mud below. She tried to get up, but her muscles were too weak to respond. She realized she was falling asleep, and tried to fight it off, but it was a losing battle. She was about to give up and let sleep take her when she was lifted by something. She couldn't tell what it was, but it wasn't magic, which made her fear the worst possible things that it could be. Suddenly, she heard a voice, my voice. "You're safe now," I said to the changeling in my arms, "Rest now. I'll get you someplace safe where they can't hurt you." And with that, Twilight passed out, letting blissful sleep take her.