I woke up, finding myself somewhere warm and safe. I could make out a thumping sound nearby, but couldn't tell what it was. I don't know how long I was there, but eventually I was sent out of this safe and warm place to reveal...a smiling face. Some part of me registered, “Mama!” and reached out inarticulately. A moment later, another face came to me. My.... brother? I supposed
.
“-ongr-tul—ions, m—s S-arkl-. Y-u h--e tw--s!” a voice said.
“Oh, th--'re -- be---if-l!” my “mother” said.
She sort of... imprinted on me. This was the one who held me for months, the one who gave me life. I reached out for her and (with some aid) hugged her.
“Oh y—r f-th-r wi-- be – pr—d!” she gushed.
“Wh-t –e t-i-r na—s?”
-Suffice it to say, my mother noticed that my eyes were like the sky, just before dark and called me Twilight. My brother's hair was grown in as soon as he was born. It was a VERY dark green, naturally going into a sort of stegosaurus-like pattern. He was therefore named Spike. it should probably be noted that my hair started growing in at one month, being a lustrous royal purple, with a pink streak in it.-
“Ma!” we exclaimed simultaneously.
“Impressive! Not even a few minutes old and they said their first word!”
Thus began our childhood.
We grew and developed quickly, much faster than the norm. I took my first steps at three months, fully walking at four. My brother was up and walking by four as well. I learned how to (sort of) speak as we were born, but I learned how to read by myself at just over 18 months, and thus speak much better around that time. My brother learned quickly too, having some innate ability to learn from my learning. Our progress was astounding, and our future potential, seemingly limitless.
At two and a half years I first discovered my magic. I remember mom's reaction to that.
“Mommy! Look what I do!”
“(Gasp!) How are you doing that?”
“But... you not proud, me?”
“(sigh.) Of course I am, sweetie. I just... remembered who your father really was.”
“Daddy?”
“(sigh.) Haven't you ever wondered why you were so interested in books of mythology? Specifically Egyptian mythology?”
“Noooo....” I had no idea what she was getting at.
“Your father... is Thoth, the Egyptian god of knowledge. And Spike's father is Horus.”
“Daddy.. god?” my two year old mind was blown. “Daddy is thofe? Toth? Thou- I no can say that.”
My mother giggled a bit. “Yes sweetie, he is. This means, however, that now your training intensifies.”
From there, our mother trained me both in my mind and magic, my brother learning the more physical side of things. We went to school five days a week, but never showed our powers. We knew better than to do that.
However... I was something of a nerd. Okay, I was a HUGE nerd. Either way, it meant I was going to be bullied. I usually got beat up until my significantly tougher brother came to my defense. At first I tried to love and tolerate and all, but it just got worse. Until one day...
Grade 7. It was lunch hour and i was outside, Naturally my usual bully came along. This was Bruce. Now, normally he was pretty harmless, giving me little more than scrapes or bruises, which I could heal with my magic when I got home. THIS time, however, he came with friends, and my brother had been called to speak with the principal, keeping him from me.
All in all, there were five in the group. They glowered toward me as I backed away. I knew that if I didn't try to defend myself I would get seriously hurt. When they pinned me down I panicked, reflexively lifting the lot of them in the air with my magic. With a gasp I dropped them.
They got back up, madder than ever, but suddenly I felt a flash behind my eyes. My muscles locked up. I could barely shout “Run! Run!” Sure, they were jerks, but I knew that whatever was happening would hurt -or possibly kill- someone who got too close.
I lifted into the air, energy saturating my body. A purple haze started forming around me. Students were running, but Bruce, the idiot, was still within range. My eyes went entirely white and the haze exploded, only then sending the moron running.
The energy dissipated, leaving a small crater, and at the center of it was a small lavender-purple horse, me, a six pointed star on my flank.
I came to much later, in the school infirmary, back to human form. When I asked what happened, I was directed to the bed nearby. Lying there was Bruce, now a pony as well, with second and third degree burns all over.
Reassuring the nurse, I used my magic to heal him. He rose almost immediately. Upon seeing me he shouted, “She isn't human! She's a FREAK! A FREAK, I SAY! Wait, why do I have HOOVES?”
The nurse cut him off. “Shut up you insipid lout! You've bullied this girl for months, and she just turned the other cheek. It was YOUR choice to stay within range of... of... whatever that was. And not only did she not kill you or taunt you when she had the chance, but, out of the kindness of her heart, she just HEALED you and saved your LIFE! Show some respect, or gratitude at the least!”
“Whatever. In my opinion I was right to bully her like I did. No, I should have done WORSE to a freak like her.” Then he turned to me, “Listen here. By tomorrow the whole town will know your little... “secret”.” he said, sneering at the last word. “For healing me like you did, I'll give you 48 hours. I suggest you move before then, because if we ever meet again I. WILL. Kill you. My parents will not brake if they see you crossing the street. I am DEAD serious.”
With that, he trotted off, leaving me on my knees, sobbing, feeling wretched and unclean, only the nurse and Spike comforting me.
It turned out that due to the magical energy emitted by the “surge”, as it became known, several other students were turned into ponies. This, supposedly, was permanent. They would be allowed to keep studying at the school, but it was likely that they wouldn't get past high school, if into it at all.
I told my mother what happened that day, and what Bruce said. My mother gave me a hug and reassured me before we started packing the van. We had to leave quickly.
When we were going to leave, i went to the school to set some things straight.
“Look! There she is! The girl that did this to us!”
“WAIT!” i shouted. “I understand that you're a mite ticked off at me. Fine. I understand and as a result am leaving town. BUT before you all try to kill me, I'll tell you this: Even though many of you have been changed, you can still learn how to be a great help to this world. Those of you with wings are Pegasi. I'm not sure how I know this, but you can fly, control weather and have prehensile wings. You could help by, say, clearing smog from cities, or bringing rain to parched lands. Those of you with horns, naturally, are Unicorns. You can use magic and have a stronger nervous system than any of the other races. You could, say, transmute oil into water, use concussive blasts to take out criminals non-lethally, lift heavy objects safely and so much more. Those of you with neither are Earth Ponies. You are stronger and hardier than the other two races and have a natural connection to, well, the earth beneath your hooves. You also have prehensile manes and tails. You can, perhaps, regrow clear cut forests, grow food that's more nutritious than what you get in the store faster than any farmer, and much more.”
“Why are you helping us if you did this to us?” one piped up.
“I had no clue that that would happen. If you want to really blame someone, blame my attackers, who triggered it. I'm sorry to those who were previously my friends, but this town is nothing but a death trap for me henceforth. Goodbye.”
With that i walked back to the van, leaving a trail of tears behind me.
“Be well, my friends.” I finished, closing the door.