Chapter 1

The library was silent. Broken shards of glass and torn book pages littered the floor and scorch marks from magic blasts peppered the walls and ceiling. At the edge of the carnage, slumped against a bookshelf and lying in a pool of her own blood, Twilight Sparkle stirred. A dull feeling of pain hit almost immediately but wasn't serious enough to cause Twilight to black out again so she slowly pried her eyes open a bit.

Huh? Why is the floor wet? And shouldn't Spike be cleaning up this mess?

Twilight’s eyes snapped open the rest of the way in shock as she realised she was lying in a pool of blood and leapt to her hooves. Or, she tried to. In actuality her limbs merely unfurled like a wet flag in a breeze, the movement causing her to whimper as it sharpened her pain.

Why am I so weak? Is this my blood? Oh please Celestia don't let this be my blood! It is isn't it? Help! Spike! SPIKE!

“Ssssppike…?” Twilight’s breath gurgled in her throat and she coughed, bringing forth another splatter of blood. She tried again to call for Spike but only managed a squeak before remembering Spike was staying at the Carousel Boutique for the night. Twilight desperately tried to cast a healing spell as her throat started to fill with blood but her damaged horn sputtered and died, magic leaking away uselessly.

Must be a neck wound, nothing else could cause the blood in my throat. I can't heal myself, and there's nopony around to help. Sweet Celestia, I won't even get to say goodbye before I die.

Twilight’s eyes filled with tears and she blinked, sending them running down the side of her face in streams as the implications of her situation started to sink in. She was going to die. The pain had been steadily fading away for minutes, leaving behind a sad acceptance of her passing. Twilight’s breath caught as her airways were finally blocked by the blood in her throat, she coughed but only cleared a tiny amount of blood out. She coughed again, but her rapidly weakening body couldn't clear her lungs. The unicorn shuddered and went limp as she slipped from consciousness and left the waking world for the last time. The library was silent once more.

~~~~~~~~~~

A harsh light assaulted Twilight’s eyes as she opened them, squinting and looking around herself but seeing only an eye-searing white nothingness.

That's odd, my books said the afterlife was another version of Equestria, only with all the dead ponies rather than the live ones as residents. Guess they were wrong.

“Hello?” Twilight called into the void. “Hello?” Her breathing sped up as the stifling silence continued and she nervously started trotting forwards looking for something, anything to fill the void. “Maybe they live somewhere else?”

A tiny dot of black appeared in the distance and rapidly closed in, stopping Twilight in her tracks as it slammed into her chest, coating her front in a black tar-like substance that burned everywhere it touched. Twilight let out a shriek of surprise and pain as more black balls splattered on every exposed part of her body, sending her nerves into a frenzy as her brain tried to comprehend the sudden burning sensation. Just as the pain got too much for her to bear, all feeling in Twilight’s body cut out and she looked down in confusion.

“AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!” Her eyes widened in shock and fear as she watched her hooves dissolving into the void, streamers of black magic floating away before disappearing into nothingness. Twilight clamped her eyes shut in the vain hope that it was all a dream and she could wake up if she tried really hard. The magical decay continued unabated, and Twilight faded from existence.

~~~~~~~~~~

When Twilight finally worked up the courage to open her eyes again she noticed she was in a huge forest, with massive trees even taller than the ones in the Everfree forest, and leaves and branches covering the ground everywhere she looked. Very little sunlight made it through the thick canopy of trees, creating a gloomy environment.

Although, now that I think about it, this does look like the Everfree… It can't be though, the trees weren't this big when I was here last.

Determined to explore her new surroundings, Twilight scrambled to her hooves, then promptly fell over again. Letting out a growl of frustration Twilight tried again a little slower and made it to her hooves without falling. The more she moved, the more it felt like something was wrong with her body.

Maybe that black stuff did something to me?

Twilight stumbled over the uneven ground towards the nearest tree and found a small hollow tucked under one of its roots. The hollow had a thin layer of rotting sticks and leaves coating the bottom, and numerous insects making a feast out of them.

Ugh. Gross, even the bugs are bigger than normal! Wait...Is everything oversized, or am I smaller than I used to be? That would explain the massive size of everything, and if that's true that means this IS the Everfree forest! Now to prove my theory.

A quick study of her surroundings outside the hollow yielded no puddles or streams to see her reflection in, so Twilight set off in a random direction in the hope of finding a water source. The forest was eerily quiet with the only sounds being the occasional bird singing in the distance and a light wind setting the trees swaying and dancing. As Twilight pushed through a particularly thick clump of bushes she felt a sharp pain in her side, like she had snagged a clump of her coat on the bush. She turned her gaze on the offending bush and her mouth dropped open in surprise and confusion.

Since when have I had feathers?

If I have feathers, that means I have wings right? Twilight looked back and sure enough, there were a pair of lavender wings folded tight to her barrel. Her forehoof immediately shot up to her forehead and found the reassuring point of her horn. Thank Celestia, I'm not a pegasus, although my horn feels smaller than usual. It took a full three seconds for that thought to blossom in all it's importance in Twilight’s mind before sending her into a panic.

Oh my goodness I'm an alicorn! Why am I an alicorn!? But I'm a unicorn! No wait that can't be right because I died! DIED! Did I seriously have to die and leave my friends just so I could be an alicorn?! It doesn't make any sense!

Okay Twilight, calm down. You can figure it out later. For now, priorities. You need to make a list. First, find out any other changes to your body. Second, find water, that's what all the survival guides say. Third, sleep. Fourth, get back to Ponyville, wherever it is from here. Twilight's breathing slowed as her mind restored order, and she set off again on unsteady hooves, the events of the last couple of hours having sapped her energy significantly.

Author's Note

Well I hope you all enjoyed my first foray into writing. The next two chapters are already written, but I'm pacing the release, so that hopefully I have a buffer between the chapter I'm releasing and the one I'm writing.

Constructive criticism is welcome, but please be gentle
Tiny edit: I noticed I had conflicting chapter titles. The old one has been removed.