Dreamwire entered the small town of Ponyville. He had been journeying for some time, trying to find somewhere that he belonged. An accident in his youth had caused him to lose half of his horn, making even the simplest magical task near to impossible. Canterlot and Manehattan just left him out of everything, and without his magic, he couldn’t walk on Cloudsdale. Ponyville looked like his last chance to find a place he truly belonged. His cutie mark, a red circle with a red line coming from the middle of the circle to about an inch above, drew just as many confused looks as his broken horn.
He began wandering the small town, to get a feel for the land, maybe to find an apartment or renting house for him to stay. He saw large crowds at an odd, pastry covered bakery; best to avoid until the crowds had settled down. Unfortunately, he felt his stomach drawing him toward the building. He hadn’t packed quite enough food for the journey, and was paying for it now. With the strongest will, he managed to pull away. He just wanted to find a nice, small sit down place to eat.
Before long, he found himself at an old restaurant named The Greasy Spoon. He looked inside, and seeing it devoid of ponies save one green pony sitting in the corner, entered. He sat down at the bar, and ordered a simple stack of fried apples. While his food cooked, he looked more closely at the green pony, which seemed to be sleeping.
Even when the food arrived, he couldn’t stop looking back. There was something odd about that pony… but he just couldn’t tell what. The mysterious pony was in a corner without much lighting, so he couldn’t see much other than the green. Why would a pony be sleeping in a place like this?
“That’ll be four bits, sir,” a voice cut into his contemplation.
“Oh, right, uh, one sec,” Dream reached into his saddle bag and rummaged around for coin. He found a small pile and pulled it out. Three bits. Uh oh.
“Sir, I do not have all day. I need you to pay. I have another customer,” the barkeep said, with a stern look on his face.
“Well, y’see, um, there’s…” Dream began to stutter, worried. This would make a GREAT first impression on the townsfolk.
From nowhere, a… scaled… green hoof came down on the table, offering the missing bit, “No, no, allow me. I can tell a newcomer by his scent.” Dream looked up into a surprisingly wide, and surprisingly sharp set of teeth, set in a huge grin.
“Oh, understood, Mr. Dragoon. Thank you kindly,” the barkeep said, and took the offered money and walked back to his spot at the bar. Dream was still staring at the pony in shock. He had never heard of a scaled pony. He noticed an abrupt laugh coming from the green pony.
“Yeah, I know, weird, right? Dragoons aren’t very common. My name is the Green Dragoon. Nice to meet you,” Green said, making no move to shake hooves.
“Um, nice to meet you, Mr. Dragoon. My name is Dreamwire,” Dream replied, offering a hoof.
“Oh, I wouldn’t do that if I was you. Look at the table,” Dragoon told him, gesturing to the table top where he had put his hoof down. An inch deep gash was set in the table. “Razor sharp all around the edges, and some pretty spiky bits in the middle, too,” he continued, showing Dream the bottom of his hoof. It truly was a scary looking hoof.
“How did you know I was new in town?” Dream asked.
“Oh, that one is simple. 1, there has never been a recorded pony with a broken horn in Ponyville… or anywhere else, actually. And 2, I could smell it.” Dragoon answered.
“Smell it? How?” Dream replied, thoroughly confused.
“My nostrils are a bit… stronger than most. Comes with my dragon blood, you see.”
Well, he seemed to be a nice enough guy. Dream wasn’t upset about having himself saved at the last second. But something else seemed off- wait, DRAGON?!?
“DRAGON! You’re a Dragon?!?” Dream yelled, panicking a bit, and accidentally kicking the table over, drawing another stern look from the keep. Dragoon grinned and threw the keep a couple of bits.
“Whoa, whoa, clam down. I’m only half dragon. I’m also half pony. Bit of a scandalous affair with a misplaced pair of love spells.” Dragoon grinned again. Did this pony do anything but grin? “I’m betting you haven’t gotten around too much yet. C’mon, I’ll show you around”
The odd looking pair left The Greasy Spoon, Dream somewhat cautiously. I mean, he was half dragon. Soon enough though, he discovered that despite his fierce exterior was a true gentlepony. His Dragon Mark, as he called it, was an eighth note next to a dotted quarter note. Everything he did was in a rhythm, his walking, his talking, and he always seemed to be humming, or whistling. Even between all of that, Dragoon did a pretty good job of showing Dream around.
“Now, this isn’t a huge tour, because I haven’t been around here for too long. Maybe around 5 months. But I can show you everything I’ve been to.”
Soon enough, Dream knew the location and names of SugarCube corner, (the still hugely packed bakery) Rarity’s Carousel Boutique, (odd that Dragoon seemed so nervous, and stood behind Dream while showing him), Sweet Apple Acres, and City Hall. By the time he was done, Dream was exhausted. He had been shown a third of the town, and already met a group of ponies. Not one of them had mentioned his horn in any malicious way. He suddenly realized that night was approaching, and he had nowhere to stay. He sighed deeply.
“Need a place to stay for a while?” Dragoon asked politely, grinning his customary grin. Dream didn’t find it quite as threatening as earlier in the day, but still pretty creepy. Dream nodded his head sleepily, once. “All right, I got a spare room in my place. Don’t worry, it’s on the ground. Although I like clouds, I would still prefer a firm footing.”
Dragoon led Dream to his house. It was more of a hut, but was much larger than it seemed, and surprisingly warm inside, even without any type of fire. Dream stumbled into the room proffered to him, and collapsed falling asleep on the bed immediately.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dragoon frowned once Dream was asleep. It would take a VERY powerful force to break a horn, and Dream had been very vague about what had happened. He didn’t smell like the type of pony with enemies, so that probably wasn't what broke the horn. Nonetheless, Dragoon had a feeling that Dream knew something that certain people would want to know themselves. And even stranger, Dragoon could smell those secrets, and knew they had to be protected. He sighed. Another average day in Equestria.