• Published 4th Apr 2023
  • 8,243 Views, 471 Comments

Misplaced Wings - FIygon



A young child mage gets blasted by two very powerful mages. Mysteriously waking up as an alicorn kirin colt with bizarre blue fire and alicorn magic. Unsurprisingly, controlling his emotions and new powers is a tough ask.

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8 - Starting//New

"Mom? Momma please wake up..."

"Dad? Mom stopped moving! She-"

"Dad? Dad!"

"Hello there, little gem."

I sat up abruptly in bed, cold sweat forming above my eyes. I wiped it off quickly, trying to get my breathing under control. The fire started crawling up my arm yet again, and I took deep breaths just like Lovelight showed me.

I looked around me; I was in my temporary room. It was much nicer than anything I was used to, but it was also nothing special. I had cleaned guest rooms like this plenty of times in the past. A desk in the corner, a soft, comfy bed, and a wardrobe to store things. I glanced over at the large window next to me. It had grown dark out, but there were still vestiges of sunlight on the horizon.

Taking one last deep breath, I crawled out of bed. I still felt tired as ever, but the threat of sleep was far worse than the sleep deprivation. Lifting myself out of the indent my body made on the mattress was hard, though. It was very comfy.

I heard a light knocking on my door all of a sudden. I was slightly spooked, but otherwise just called out, "Come in."

The door opened quickly to the sight of the small purple dragon. I think his name was Spike. He looked at me with a sincere smile, "Hey, dude." I just came to see if you are hungry; we’re eating dinner in a minute."

I nodded. "Okay, that sounds good."

Spike seemed okay with that answer, but he kept hesitating before walking off and looking back at me. Finally, he made a decision and walked over to me, "I never really introduced myself. I’m Spike, by the way, Twilight’s assistant." He held his hand up to meet me.

I gave a small smile and reached my hoof down from the bed to take the handshake. "I’m Mellow Spark, resident fire hazard."

He released a genuine laugh at that as the handshake ended, "Hey, don’t sweat it, dude. I’ve seen plenty while living in Ponyville."

"So," I started looking at him curiously, "are you a dragon?"

"Yup," he presented himself a bit more proudly, "the one and only in Ponyville!"

I kept analyzing him for a moment. He was a bit taller than me. "Are all dragons so… small?"

"Hey, I’m not that small for my age!" He defended himself with a raised eyebrow, "I’m only eleven after all. One day I’ll be a massive dragon, so you better respect it." I could tell he was joking easily; he was a rather lighthearted person.

"That makes you older than me," I said with a head tilt. Then my eyes widened. "What do you do as Twilight’s assistant?"

Spike walked over and hopped up on the bed, dangling his legs off the side. "Oh, uh, you know. I clean up after her in the library and make sure she gets meals and drinks. She has a habit of forgetting if I don’t." He looked down at his feet as he kicked them back and forth, "I carry things for her, clean the halls, and make sure her schedule is perfect. Oh! And I write and send letters with my breath, and I’m sort of a messenger."

I was now feeling a small bit of panic and becoming more weary. Spike seemed to notice my shift in posture, and he waved his hands vigorously. "Don’t get the wrong idea. Twilight is always asking if I’m okay with it."

I squinted at him oddly, and he sighed as he rubbed the back of his head, "It gives me something to do. Sure, it’s a little annoying sometimes, but she’s my best friend. And she wouldn’t just treat me like a slave; she’s not like that."

His eyes widened again, "No offense! Uh... I'm sorry..."

I sighed with a little bit of relief and tilted my head at the taller dragon. "It's alright. Do dragons not usually have friends and stuff? Are they all servants? Like, do you go to school? And do you have any friends?"

He smirked sadly, looking down at the floor, "No, I’m the only dragon in Ponyville." He thought for a moment, before he huffed the rest out sadly: "And usually when I make friends, they tend to not be around very often."

I hummed sympathetically, "I would offer to be friends, but I have no idea what the princesses will do with me when they meet me."

He looked up with a sincere smile, "It’s alright; let’s just enjoy the time you spend here." He suddenly remembered, and tapped his two claws together nervously, "Even if it isn’t going so well…"

That’s right, earlier, I had probably caused Twilight a lot more grief over me. I couldn’t say I was the happiest about the interaction, or the way she handled it, but I knew it wasn’t Twilight’s fault exactly. She was trying her best to make amends, but I clearly had problems I needed to work out. Thankfully, Fluttershy understood.

"I just don’t understand her, I guess." I said quietly.

Spike nodded. "Not very many people do, especially at first."

A long bout of silence passed between us. I was still thinking about what made me so upset. Was it the forest? My magic that I’ve never understood, not even when given a second life? Or maybe it was just the crushing realization of everything that’s happened to me up until this point. Looking over the balcony had really cemented it in my mind. It hadn’t been just some odd fever dream. I was truly in a new world, I had escaped him. I was finally free.

I hadn’t known what to do with myself. I was feeling so many emotions. Shame because of the fire. Helplessness because of my unknown new magic. And relief, that I was somehow away from that hell. And Fluttershy had been the first one to truly understand that I was just emotionally exhausted. I needed to thank her later.

And I could do that. I could thank an adult for showing me the miniscule amount of respect. For acknowledging my existence. And if I could do that, what else could I do? My options felt limitless in my mind for a moment, and a feeling of happiness washed over me.

I felt a few tears roll down my cheek, and I lifted a hoof to rub them away. "Are… you alright?" Spike asked genuinely.

I nodded with a genuine smile. I felt like a weight was slowly being lifted from my chest. None of these people wanted to hurt me; they didn’t want to exploit me and make me do awful things. I could finally live.

I looked over to Spike, "I feel better than ever."

He laughed slightly, "Great."

I put a hoof up to my chin and asked Spike a few more questions. My voice was even a bit more cheery than before. "If she’s able to make the kitchen run on magic, why doesn’t she just make the rest of your jobs run on magic too?"

He shrugged, "She probably could; I’ve never asked her."

"And why are you the only dragon in Ponyville?" I asked, leaning in curiously.

"Twilight hatched me!" He said surprisingly, "It was an accident, but her magic was so strong that it hatched me. We’ve been together ever since."

"You’ve been with her since you were born? Doesn’t that kinda make her like… your mom?" I said with raised brows.

He chuckled nervously and waved his hands in a dismissive gesture, "No, not really. We’ve been good friends, but she’s never treated me like that. She was young when I hatched too."

"Oh."

He suddenly looked up at a clock, then smacked his forehead. "We should get going for dinner; I’ve gotta make the table."

I held my hoof out and placed it on his shoulder with a small smile, "I’ll help."

He smiled back at me with an appreciative smile and nodded, and we both hopped down to the ground and made our way down the hallway. While conversing with him, I learned he was into something called ‘comic books’. He said he’d show me them later, after being intensely surprised that I’d never seen one before.

I followed him into the dining hall, and he explained that everything was ready, but the kitchen wouldn’t serve unless the table was made. He showed me over to where he kept it all stored, "I'm not guessing you know how to use magic to float yours yet?"

I shook my head wildly, "No, the only thing I’ve done magic-wise is fire."

He nodded as he pulled out an additional stepping stool. And he explained how he would set the table, apparently the magic in the kitchen was picky and wouldn’t serve unless it was set a specific way. Spike was super surprised that I already knew the ‘formal’ setup for serving a table. And that I was quite fast at it as well.

Midway through setting it up, I heard hooves approaching, and my stomach dropped a little. "Spike? Have you gotten it ready for dinner yet-"

She stopped dead at the door with a surprised face after seeing me. I felt a bit of worry wash through me, but I worked to finish my side properly, and Spike finished his just a bit sooner. I glanced at Twilight; she seemed to be calculating it in her head, and she smiled wearily, "Mellow, you know you’re our guest, right? There’s no need to help-"

Fluttershy came in just as she was saying that. And seemed to piece it together, covering her face with a worried expression.

"I asked to help." I said with a small smile, "I do like to help others, when it’s not… uh… slavery." I said with a bit of a shiver.

"He’s good at it too!" Spike said with a smile.

Twilight nodded slowly. "Spike, can I… speak to you? Privately?"

Fluttershy bumped her friend’s shoulder, "We’ve waited a while for dinner; I think it can wait. Plus, I think you need to…" Fluttershy cleared her throat, taking quick glances at me.

Twilight sighed and walked to a purple seat, pulling it back with her magic and sitting down. Spike took a seat near the other side of the table. Fluttershy flew over and gently wrapped her hooves around my midsection, lifting me into a seat right next to hers. I couldn't see the table in a normal situation, but thanks to my tiny body, I got the treatment of a few stacked books on the chair for me.

Dinner was… sure… awkward at first. Who would’ve guessed.

Let’s see, we had a guilt-ridden princess. A former slave. A dragon. And a royally contracted babysitter. What a merry band we were!

The food itself was also eyebrow-raising for me. Pasta with some sort of red sauce on top. Which was fine by itself, but it was also topped with many different types of flowers. It definitely took me a moment of introspection on the ways of herbivorous creatures to gain enough spirit to take a bite. And I was pleasantly surprised by the flavor. If you’ve ever smelled a plant and thought it would taste good only to be wrong, well, that’s what it actually tasted like in this world.

Also, Spike didn’t have flowers, but… gemstone specks. I chose not to question it.

My grip work definitely left much to be desired. I couldn’t twirl it or keep the pasta on the fork for long enough to take a bite. A few times it would slither off the fork and splash back up to my face, and Fluttershy would clean my face gently with a cloth. I bet she thought it was endearing, as she giggled each time it happened. Well, for me, it was humiliating.

After a while of eating, Twilight broke the awkward silence. Clearing her throat, she looked at me, "Mellow. About earlier-"

"It's okay." I said quickly and dismissively, assuming this conversation would be coming eventually.

"No, it's not okay." Twilight said with a sigh.

"You don’t need to explain, Princess Twilight. It was just a differing opinion, that’s all."

She looked at me owlishly, "You don’t need to address me so… formally. I just wanted to say I’m sorry. Again. I didn’t think about how you felt, and I just spoke. And then I immediately felt awful about it but I didn't know what else to say."

Twilight took a deep and calming breath, placing a hoof on her chest. "So, Mellow Spark, I give you my sincerest of apologies. And... I hope we might still be friends." She gave a smile afterwards.

I analyzed her for only a moment, but it was true. I couldn't sense any deception in her words, unless she was cheating with magic. She was a friendly pony. "Apology accepted." I said with a simple head nod, then I tilted my head at her, "And earlier wasn't entirely your fault."

Fluttershy gently set her hoof on my back, and I smiled appreciatively at her. "I think everything caught up to me and I just realized it wasn’t what you said that had upset me. There was just so much happening and…" I sighed. "I’m just really happy that I’m free now, that's all."

I felt Fluttershy slowly pull me to her side, and she wrapped her other arm around me. "That’s great, Mellow! I’m proud of you for being so mature. And you’re so strong and brave; remember that, okay?"

She nuzzled me. That was the second time now that somebody had said something so nice about me. And the warm feeling that accompanied it was one of the best feelings ever. I giggled, "Thanks Miss Fluttershy." I said, glancing up at her with a wide grin.

She awed, and pulled me even closer for another moment. "Please call me Fluttershy, little one." Embarrassingly, I leaned into the embrace. Trying to soak up the affection as much as possible before it inevitably ended.

After a few moments, I began to hear another set of hooves in the hallway. Before I was ready, a new pony walked in. With pink fur and a purple mane striped with a few strands of blue. "So sorry for being late." She walked over and quickly sat next to Twilight. I was wondering what that extra plate Spike set out was for.

"It’s alright." Twilight said, glancing at me and then back at her.

The new pony followed her gaze, and her eyes widened in surprise when she saw us. She nervously smiled, "Hi… um…"

"Starlight, this is Mellow Spark." She gestured over to me, "Mellow, this is Starlight Glimmer. My apprentice."

I raised my hoof awkwardly and tried to look smaller out of instinct. "Hello, Miss Starlight."

She smiled warmly, "It’s nice to meet you, Mellow." She said casually.

Spike hopped up, taking his plate and Twilight’s into the kitchen, seeing as they were done. Both Fluttershy and I were done as well, so I quickly grabbed both of our plates and carefully ran after him. "Hey Spike, wait up!"


"Twilight." Fluttershy said with a raised brow as the two left, "Should we be… stopping him?"

Twilight sighed with a shrug, "I don’t want to bring up bad memories for him. If he really wants to help Spike, then I guess it’s alright."

"The little one is super cute," Starlight said between bites.

Fluttershy hummed nervously, "I’m glad he seems to be taking earlier well. I just hope he isn’t keeping his feelings bottled up or anything."

Twilight nodded. "Even after being forgiven again, I still feel like I have no idea what I’m doing."

Starlight hummed, "That’s because you’re horrible with foals." She said absentmindedly.

"Yes, thank you… Starlight." Twilight muttered. Both Twilight and Fluttershy stood from their seats and headed into the hallway.

Fluttershy hummed thoughtfully, "Maybe if you just give it a bit of time…"

"I don’t have time," Twilight started. "Celestia gets here in two days. That’s not enough time to make amends. Celestia trusts me to take care of him, and I haven’t done very well yet. His acceptance of my apology was genuine, but it’s not as if he trusts me yet."

Twilight entered her library, Fluttershy still on her tail. "Maybe I should just leave him for you. He clearly trusts you more. And I can’t blame him." Twilight sat in her chair at her desk, laying her head on her hooves.

Fluttershy huffed, "Maybe ask somebody for advice? Somebody who’s really good with foals?"

"That’s…" Twilight sat in thought for a bit longer, until eventually she shot up in her seat quick enough to spook Fluttershy. "That’s a great idea!"

"It is?" Fluttershy said as she slowly unfurled herself from the ball she was in.

Twilight quickly pulled out a feather and a piece of paper and quickly began writing a message. Fluttershy sat in awkward silence until eventually Twilight rolled and stamped it loudly. "Perfect."

She held the scroll up. "Spi-" she covered her mouth, thinking to herself. "I won’t trouble him with it for now."

"How will you send it then?" Fluttershy asked curiously as Twilight walked towards a balcony.

"That’s easy," she began, concentrating as her horn glowed. "It’ll be slightly slower, but I’ve never forgotten the spell."

After a few moments, a purple bird materialized on the edge of the balcony. Glowing and sparkling with white specks, Twilight walked over and put it in a side bag. The bird instantly took off towards its destination. Looking like a comet in the night sky.


As we washed the dishes, Spike was explaining one of his favorite comics.

"Oh, and at the very end, when they’re about to defeat the evil Mane-iac, she immobilized the Power Ponies, and-"

As I was drying one of the plates, I was so engrossed by his story that I lost concentration on my hoof grip. It started tumbling towards the ground, and I shot my hoof out to grab it but failed. A flash of panic from years of slavery made me shout, "No!"

I shut my eyes quickly, expecting to hear it shatter. But it didn’t, and I felt weird. I slowly opened my eyes to the sight of the plate hovering just above the ground, surrounded by a deep blue aura. Much like the color of my mane. I stared in awe as the wispy color drifted from where it was up towards my horn. I had never really felt my horn until now, and it felt warm and tingly.

Spike laughed, "Nice one, dude!"

I smiled slightly. But suddenly my horn began sizzling and cracking, and the feeling was building up more and more in my body. I had no idea what the feeling was, but I suddenly felt myself lift off the ground.

Along with every other plate, dish, and bit of silverware in the entire kitchen. All covered in the same blue glow.

I tried to hold back whatever feeling it was as best as possible, but I couldn’t, as my magic seemed to be picking up everything in sight. I started to roll midair, due to the lack of gravity. Occasionally, a plate would end up shattering, no doubt due to the immense amount of magic energy attached to it.

I took one look at Spike’s wide eyes and muttered, "Help…" Really nervously.

Spike ran out of the room, yelling, "Twilight! Starlight!"

Alright, so I was on my own for a moment. My only experience controlling magic was as an element. I’ve never had this sort of raw magical energy before. If I lost control of my water magic, it would only drench me, but I was quite literally defying the laws of physics right now!

I could feel the power inside of me; it was similar but not exactly the same as leylines in my old world. The best way to describe it is that my old magic felt like I was taking a raft down a rapid river. This new magic felt like I was surfing on a piece of driftwood in an avalanche and right over a waterfall.

One of those is significantly easier than the other.

I tried following the stream of magic I felt in my horn further into my body to find the source and cut it out, but it was useless. Each time I tried to concentrate, I would feel yet another surge, and it would break my concentration.

Now not only were the plates combusting, but the pots and pans were bending in odd shapes, crumpling like paper. And the silverware was being shot out in different directions like small projectiles. I was growing increasingly worried.

I heard hurried footsteps in the hallway. And I turned to meet the wide eyes of the three adults. Fluttershy shouted worriedly, "M-Mellow!"

I waved awkwardly, then felt another wave of magic come out of my horn. Which made me spin super quickly, which was disorienting to say the least.

"I thought you were lying when you told me about him." Starlight said as she watched me in awe.

Twilight nervously walked forward into the kitchen, narrowly dodging a fork that embedded itself in the wall above her. "Okay, Mellow, I need you to try and calm down." She started slowly.

My still dizzy brain blurted out, "Trying my best over here!"

Twilight’s horn began to glow, and my vision turned purple as she enveloped me in some sort of bubble. The resounding crash of many things hitting the kitchen floor was unpleasant. However, Twilight kept her concentration steady and lowered me to the floor, in the ball.

My magic, with nothing else to latch onto, was simply bouncing off the walls of the orb. Every time it hit me, I felt something change. I went from being made of rocks to having my body grow spikes like a porcupine… The weirdest one was when my front hooves turned into lollipops. The worst part is that I was tempted to lick them.

After a few moments, my magic seemed to chill out, and I was back to "normal". And my magic slowly died down, but I still didn’t know how to contain it. "Okay," Twilight said with a bit of a relieved sigh. "You should be able to close it off now."

I just got done checking over my whole body to see if I was still in tact, before nodding, "Okay, good. Um… how?"

She sat down and pointed at her horn. "Can you feel that magic in your horn?" I nodded. "What I need you to do is concentrate on your horn, and follow that surge. It feels kind of tingly. Follow that leyline until you get to the source, and imagine yourself closing a door."

Alright, the explanation had been a little bit iffy, but I understood it well enough. Following her instructions, it took a while of following different leylines before I felt myself come across the source. I could tell it was the source because it felt like raw magic bottled up inside of me. Almost like a second stomach, I guess. There was a noticeable depletion in the source. I imagined myself closing a door, and slowly I felt my horn fizzle. And I dared to open an eye, and I sighed thankfully, seeing that it stopped glowing.

It was definitely odd to have the magic inside of me. The way I stopped using my old magic was way different. The leylines in my human body led to the outside, and I had to take in mana from my surroundings. The reason my water magic had been so potent was that I could take in mana at an extremely abnormal rate. So if I wanted to stop using magic, I would stop taking in mana.

Pony leylines were almost exactly the opposite. You’d take it from inside yourself and send it outward.

Twilight slowly released the bubble, which actually had a few cracks in it. I was almost instantly brought into Fluttershy’s arms. "Are you alright, Mellow? Oh gosh, that was so scary! Are you hurt?"

I giggled as she turned me over multiple times, "Hey… still dizzy. I’m okay." I told her.

She sighed in relief, hugging me again, "Don’t scare me like that." She scolded me.

"Well, I didn’t do it on purpose…" I defended myself wearily, looking around at the carnage in the vicinity.

I looked up at Twilight, who had a wide-eyed look as she scanned the room. "S-Sorry, Twilight."

She smiled and laughed, looking down at me in Fluttershy’s arms. "My theory was right!"

"Congratulations?" I muttered in confusion.

Starlight walked over, clearing her throat. "She thinks your fire in the forest was your magic awakening. And after seeing that? I think I agree."

"Magic… awakening?"

Twilight nodded eagerly, bringing out a notebook, and reading her notes. "Yep, your magic is awakening just like any normal unicorn foal. But it’s extremely volatile because you’re an alicorn."

I sighed, staring at my hooves in disdain, "Oh, joy…"

Fluttershy nuzzled the back of my neck, "Don’t worry, Mellow. It’s completely normal. Right girls?"

They both looked at each other, then nodded. Twilight walked over to me and looked at my horn with scrutiny, "Unlike other foals, you don’t seem to have worn your horn out. Which is great news."

"It is?" I voiced with an edge of worry.

"Yep, it means you just became my second student!" She spoke happily.

Starlight sighed. "What she means is that you can learn to control it already. Unlike really young foals who can’t, well, learn anything yet."

Was the room always so dark and hazy?


Twilight backed up and wrote herself a few more notes. Her lips pursed in confusion. "But it’s weird. Even if your horn isn’t worn, you should still be-"

"Mellow!" Fluttershy suddenly shouted as the foal went limp in her arms.

Fluttershy almost began to panic, but Twilight quickly put a hoof on her back. "It’s okay! He’ll be okay. Magic is still exhausting for new magic users. I’m surprised he stayed awake that long."

Spike came walking in and asked, "Is… he okay?"

Fluttershy placed him on her back and stood up, as Starlight glanced at the dragon, "He’s alright. Sadly, he didn’t get to hear you yell like a little filly earlier."

"I did not!" Spike refuted as Fluttershy passed into the doorway.

She turned around. "I think I’m going to sleep as well," Fluttershy said, taking deep breaths. "All of that gave me a scare."

The two other mares nodded, looking around the room. "We’ve got cleaning to do." Starlight muttered.

"Sleep well," Twilight called.

Fluttershy walked down the hallway to his room, shutting the door behind her with a small sigh. She gently brought the foal off her back, and smiled. He was snoring, and was so knocked out that he was like a stuffed animal. She giggled, pulling the covers back on his bed. She set him down gently, nuzzling his face.

When she brought her head back, the little kirin reached out to grasp something that wasn’t there. And when he did, he grew upset, his lips curling and quivering in his sleep. The action absolutely melted Fluttershy’s heart, and she contemplated for a moment. But it was not long before she crawled into the bed. Pulling the covers over themselves.

Instantly, the kirin colt grasped her chest and nestled close to her. Fluttershy couldn’t help the wave of protectiveness that flowed through her as she wrapped a wing around him and rested her head over his. The feeling she got from hugging him was like the warmth of a campfire curled against her. And she smiled before drifting off herself.