//------------------------------// // Awakening // Story: Barry Phantom // by Applefai //------------------------------// Barry awoke feeling nauseous, his head buzzed as his vision could barely make out shapes. His ears rang as he heard a steady beeping sound. His head, as groggy and heavy as it felt, seemed comfortable; he felt as if he were resting on a cloud. He moved his hand back to feel what cradled his head, his eyes widened as a small smile raced across his face. He had only dreamed of comfort like this when he competed for the role of Dragon Lord, but unfortunately his hope was dashed when Spike won and then passed the torch to Ember. A tear welled up in his eyes as he closed them in hopes that this wasn't a dream. The dragon's eyes shot open as he heard a door open, Barry’s eyes had cleared by this point, so when he saw who walked in, fear swept through his body as his heart sped up. Scribbling on a clipboard was the newly crowned princess herself Twilight Sparkle. The click of the pen was unbearable to the dragon’s ears, but at least, the puny pony princess didn’t reprimand anything that was playing in her gentle pony soul. “How are you feeling?” she picked up her stare at the teenage lizard. “Last time you were awake, there was an unbearable bellow of your voice.” “I’M IN EQUESTRIA!?” the dragon shrieked in confusion. “Shush…” the purple alicorn placed her hoof on the snout. “ You're going to wake Spike up…” Barry glanced at the bedsheets and spotted something peculiar. His scales took the color of proverbial white with green underbelly. “W-what have you done to me?” “I don’t think I have done anything to you, my dear.” Twilight pouted, pointing out a reason. “You have done it yourself.” “Me? What are you talking about?” Barry asked, confused. "I found you in the castle last night, you probably don't remember, but I'm guessing you were here of your own volition." The princess said as she magically adjusted his IV bag. Barry groaned as some pain returned to his body. "The morphine must be wearing off, I'll give you some more if needed, but we don't want you getting addicted." Twilight responded as she sat down. "Would you like any breakfast?" Twilight asked the young drake. “I’m not hungry…” the teenage dragon replied dryly, his body again feeling gloomy from the sudden relaxation and disappearance of agonizing strain. “I’m sure you are starving, but just don’t know it,” Twilight said, her voice pondering about something. “It must be an effect of the medicine.” “I’m fine,” the dragon rolled his eyes in denial. “I need to go home.” Barry reached for the IV needle, but the pony princess grasped his claw with her magic aura. “No, DON’T!” her voice was really stern. The teenage dragon looked startled by her retort, immediately placing his left arm on the surface of the mattress, as he felt the pressure. How else was he supposed to know that she would react like a real dragon? “I… Forgive me…” he said meekly, causing Twilight to feel a little remorse for scaring him. Twilight sighed as she spoke. "I'm sorry too, I didn't mean to scare you. But you mustn't remove that, I still need to make sure you're ok, but also, you can't leave the castle. Barry awkwardly smiled. “I guess I’ll have cereal then…” As the pony princess left the bedroom. The teenage dragon moved his green eyes. He monitored the room in which he laid, he saw an assortment of books he could read, but most importantly, he found himself in a pretty nice room, too nice for somepony or somescaly to break in. It was her bedroom. Barry thought to himself, 'why would she allow him to sleep in her room' the young dragon just sat there pondering why he's been shown so much kindness. He peeked down at fingers of his whitened claw in curiosity and then on the other one, just to be sure. Abruptly, The teenage dragon stiffened up, as Twilight entered the room with a bowl. She was visibly happy for some reason. “Here you go, Barry!” The dragon suffered a disturbance, his instincts sharpened, while muscles got steady in self-defense. “How do you know my name?” “Spike recognized you,” the new princess of Equestria replied, remembering one of her voyages to Dragon Lands. “You were always talking about pillaging Equestria out of their pillows, don’t you?” Barry blushed. “P-pillows? What pillows?” The young dragon asked, feigning ignorance and also wondering how she knew. Giggling at the dragon's tomato face, Twilight sat him up so he could eat. "It's ok, I understand why you'd want to steal pillows, to be honest, why don't I send some over to the Dragon Lands?" “I'm sure they'd like that, ma’am.” The teenage dragon caught the spoon and started munching on sugary cereal. Twilight picked up her clipboard, still staring up at every motion of the scaly creature. Barry curled an eyebrow. As he was supposed to take another bite, the spoon landed in the bowl. The dragon, confused by a sudden sound, tried to pick it back, but was unable to. Something was going on with his arm. It became lighter... He looked at his right and gasped. His right arm was transparent and light, he could put it through a solid object and it back with the utmost ease. Barry quivered and did one’s best, like damsel in distress, to make his claw more distinguishable for himself. Waved it both sides, breathed at it and in the meantime, tried to punch the wall behind his bed. “Fascinating,” Twilight looked crookedly like a puppy. “I need to take a closer look…” The pony galloped closer to the scaly patient, her gaze searching for something supernatural. “Show me.” “W-what?” Barry feigned ignorance once again. "Your claw, it seems that you have acquired spectral abilities." Twilight said examining the arm. "Spectu what now?" Barry asked, confused at the wording as he flailed his arms like a puppet. "Spectral as in ghosts." Twilight said as she put his arm down, jotting down notes on her clipboard. "I'M DEAD!?!?” Barry yelled out shocked thinking that she just wrote his necrologue, completely misunderstanding anything that caused her to giggle. "No, you're not dead, just take a deep breath and think solid thoughts. If my hunch is correct, you can turn these powers on and off." Twilight said, placing a caring hoof on his chest. Barry slowly inhaled as he closed his eyes, his body faded in and out a few times before finally phasing through the phase of airy tenderness. When the dragon opened his eyes, he gasped in terror as he saw that he was somehow melded into the bed. The teenager was stuck in a footboard top rail. His scaly legs were tweaked under the pressure of the cushion on his face. Howling in fear, the dragon burst out crying. “You are making progress, Barry.” the purple alicorn ignorantly spoke, as her experiment suffocated. A spark of realization struck her. “BARRY!?” Twilight forthwith used her magic aura to raise the innerspring and help the teenage dragon to have a breath. Inhaling deeply, Barry drew a deep breath as he was held. "What happened?" he asked as he gasped for breath. It was a good sign Spike didn’t hear a thing.