Chapter 2
Enter the Dragon
Marks eyes shot open as he felt the wind rush passed his ears. Before him was endless tunnel of light its walls glowing in brilliant shades of red and blue. Specks of light zipped passed him as they faded into the void beyond.
A dragon stood at the far end of the tunnel its back turned away. The lights intensified as the dragon raised its hands into the air. The tips of his fingers glowed bright as he turned to face Mark. The figure showed no signs of being aware of Marks presence as it formed a large sphere of energy around him.
Mark watched as thin beams of light spun around the spheres surface. The field was soon swarmed with a furry of colours as it went from a transparent bubble to a solid wall of magic. His skin crawled as bolts of rainbow lighting shot out in all directions. Before he could comprehend what was going on the sphere exploded outwards. The tunnel blew apart like smoke as the field expanded. Mark threw his arms up in front of him as the wall of magic impacted him like a truck. gravity returned as he flew back and fell into the void.
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Mark screamed as he returned to reality. "What in the world just happened?" He said as he held his hand to his chest feeling his heart race. As his initial shock of the situation wore off he started to notice things were not quite right. Bringing his hand up into view he screamed. His once tanned skinned was now black and scaly; his nails were long, sharp at their tips.
He scrambled to his feet and instantly felt off balance. He instinctively moved his foot backward to settle himself. At the same time he could sense something new swish around on his lower back. He turned to look and gasped as she saw a long tail adjusted to his stance. . "Tail, why do I have a tail?" He says as he moves it about. "Wait are those wings?" he flinched as he stared at them on his back.
"Okay that's a first for me, waking up as dragon." He says as he looks around his new surroundings. Before him was small clearing. Trees surrounding the area shot high into the air, their thick branches expanding outwards creating a canopy overhead. The sun leaked through gaps in the canopy creating a creepy yet calming atmosphere. His new legs proved to be a challenge as he took a few steps. He tripped over them and toppled face first into the dirt. After spitting out a mouth full of dirt and glanced around. "I need a mirror fast." After a quick scan of the clearing he spotted a lake on the edge of the brush. Getting up he walked over and looked down at his reflection. A pair of large sapphire eyes stared back at him. His face was long and narrow covered in shades of dark purple scales.
"How is this even possible?" He thinks as he feels his scaly face. As he stared at his reflection more he began to panic. “This can’t be real,” he said hearing is deeper voice. “I must have hit my head or had some allergic reaction to the metal," he began to laugh, “and, and now I’m dreaming, little old me has drifted off to dreamland.”
He leaned down and splashed water on his face taking a breath to regain his sanity. Standing back up he glanced about letting the realization sink in. “Okay so I'm not dreaming, but that still doesn’t explain what happened.” He stared at his wrist as he continued to wonder about his situation.
"Where is here anyway?” He wondered as he walked about the clearing. His attention was quickly drawn back to his bracelet as his arm tingled with a strange sensation. He watched as the jewels began to glow. He could hear the sound of a low hum as magic built up inside the bracelet. A blue mist flowed out like water as it spilled upon the ground. It bubbled and curled as it slowly formed into a large circle. Mark watched as the spectacle un-folded before him, the bracelet let off another shimmer of light as the mist moved about. Darker shades of blue warped about as details came into focus.
"This is so cool." He said as he got on his knees and moved his hand through the misty image. The mist broke apart as he moved his hand through it, but quickly reformed once it was clear. The image appeared to be a map of the surrounding area. He could see the clearing he was standing in surrounded by a thick forest around it. The map seemed to glow as he looked at it.
Mark stared at the map "Well that was convent." He touched the clearing with a finger. Upon contact it glowed slightly "Okay so I'm here in this clearing. So the question is, where I go from here?" He raised his hand to his chin and thought for a moment. As he scanned the map he noticed a sign on the edge. Curious he reached out and tapped it. Like before the image glowed on contact and changed as it shifted its point of view to center the sign in the map. "Cool" he says impressed. He could see writing on the sign and read it "Welcome to Ponyville?" He scratched his head "What kind of a name is that. Oh well at least it's in English." He stands up as the map blows away with the wind. "Not going to get answers just standing around, there a town nearby they should have some answers for me.' He gulps "Let's just hope they don't mind dragons."
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`The loud crack of snapping tree branches echoed through the forest like thunder, birds scattering in every direction. Down in a now partially destroyed clearing Mark was pulling his face out of the dirt for the 3rd time in a row.
He groaned as he rose to his feet flexing his wings. "They make flying look so much easier in films." He said as he scrapped clumps of dirt off his shoulders. His new body was proving to be more challenging than his original speculations. His tail despite being able to remember how to keep him upright had somehow forgot how to keep him straight in the air. HIs first attempt at flying was smooth, well hovering anyway remaining mostly in one spot. However when he had tried to raise himself higher into the air a sudden twitch in his tail resulted in an abrupt nose dive directly into the pool. On His second attempt had proved just as tricky as he focused on how his tail shifted as he moved his body in the air. Everything was going well as he rose higher into the air, as he approached the canopy above he shifted his body to move forward. Only took him a second to realize he had over compensated as he barrel rolled into a think bush, his face planting into the soft dirt beneath.
"Come on Mark you can do this." He said to himself. The thought of wondering through an unknown forest was scary enough, but on top of the fact that it was well past mid day with night slowly approaching made him terrified to explore on the ground. The unfamiliar sounds that echoed from deep within the brush didn't help his nerves either. He found himself constantly turning to look behind him thinking something was watching just out of sight.
After taking a breather to get his head straight he decided to try a running start to him get off the ground, if it could work for an airplane, why not a dragon? Walking to the edge of the clearing he took in a deep breath. With a thrust of energy he quickly got up to speed. He opened his wings wide flapping them to get lift. His body soon floated off the ground and was soaring though the air. He wobbled a bit at first as he made several small turns. He adjusted his tail to match his shifting weight and after several short laps around the clearing he felt comfortable enough to take into the air. With a thrust upwards branches snapped apart as he shot out of the canopy and into the wide open sky above. "New world here I come."