Chapter 4: I had the strangest dream.....
(AN: this involves a dream realm, a few of my past stories have had one of these [or something like this] future stories I may do may have this as well. I like the thought of the dream world. Wolfsbane is owned by TenshuraX)
Draco was flying, soaring through the air without a care in the world. He smiled as he felt the wind in his mane, looking down he overlooked the entirety of Sweet Apple Acres. Then he felt a strange rumble that seemed to envelope the world.
Then without him moving a muscle the world twisted so that the land was on his left and the sky, his right. He felt another rumble and before him he saw a black box rocketing towards him. He stopped and frantically tried to fly backwards but found he could not. He closed his eyes, and the black box smashed into him with the sensation of diving into water.
When he opened his eyes he was in darkness, his acute hearing picked up soft whispers, but they sounded as if they were being said backwards. More disjointed warped sounds came to his ears.
Then the darkness cleared like fog in sunlight and a large amorphous shape loomed before him blocking the sourceless light. This figure looks vaguely like a dragon and he felt a strange sense of peace wash over him. The shape spoke, its voice a deep bass that reverberated through this strange realm. The voice was strong yet held hints of vast, ageless wisdom. It spoke as if it had seen innumerable eons of life flash before its eyes.
“Hello, descendent. Worry not, I shall not harm one of my kin.”
“Who are you?” Draco asked.
“I am the first flame, the forefather to all who breath the fire of creation, the precursor to all dragons. You might say I am the Dragon of Beginning.” The voice replied.
Draco nodded. “Where am I? And why am I here.”
“I have felt a great disturbance in the flow of natural forces. I have brought you from the realm of dreams to my realm. You must heed my words. Soon you shall be tested, and should you fail... all those you love and all that you hold dear will be consumed in the black fires of death.”
Draco's eyes hardened. “I will not allow that to happen to my friends. I will stop whatever is threatening Equestria.”
The shape laughed it's deep booming voice shaking the foundations of the empty void. Then the shape turned it's gigantic head towards Draco, and he could see eyes of pure fathomless gold. Draco stared into the pools of liquid sun and felt insignificant, young, as if the he was nothing more then a speck of dust faced against the vastness of creation.
“Good young Draco, since you have decided to help your friends I wish to give to you a gift....”
Draco nodded, trusting the Dragon of Beginning.
The shape reached with a claw that was easily as big as Ponyville and gently touched Draco's forehead. Draco's eyes glowed gold and he stiffened as something strange yet not unfamiliar entered his body filling him with its warmth. Within his mind something that had been locked away by his father when he was young clicked open. Draco felt power flow forth from his mind encompassing his body.
The shape released Draco and he shook his head still filled with this unknown, yet familiar power.
“Awake young one, and beware the voices that whisper, the voices that offer your greatest desire. For if you listen to them, all you hold dear will be lost.”
Draco nodded, and the void vanished followed by the feeling of falling.
Draco jerked awake sitting up in his bed, he looked around feeling as if he was being watched.
A whisper spoke from nowhere, the same voice from his dream. “Harness your gift.....”
Draco closed his eyes and felt that same feeling of power from the void and smiled knowing it was not a dream.
He walked out of his room, as he looked out the window he noticed it was nearly noon, and was startled that AJ had let him sleep in.
As he entered the living room, he saw AJ eating an apple pie. “Why didn't you wake me up for chores today?”
“Yall have been workin' hard tha last few days, ah think yall needed a break.” AJ replied, offering the dragon-colt a piece of pie.
Draco took the pie and took a large bite out of it. “Thank you AJ.” Draco nuzzled the farm pony, and smiled at her pink blush. Draco nuzzled her neck more until a small voice said “AWWWWWWWW.”
Both of them turned towards the source blushing. They saw Applebloom staring at them, a wide smile on her face.
“Are yall a couple?” Bloom asked.
The pair look at each other wordlessly agreeing on the same thing.
AJ nodded, followed by Draco.
Applebloom smiled again. “Yall make a cute couple.”
“Thank yah kindly lil sis.” AJ replied.
Draco turned towards AJ. “AJ would you mind if I visited Twilight today? I had the strangest dream last night, and I was hoping she could help me make some sense of it.”
AJ nodded. “Yall get goin' now.”
Draco nodded, then cantered towards the door. “AJ, meet me at the Ponyville cafe around six. I feel like taking you on a date.”
AJ smiled as Bloom 'AWWWWed' “Ah'll be thar.”
Draco returned her smile and exited the farm house taking off into the air as soon as he was clear.
As he soared over the orchard he kept feeling the power pulsing withing him, aching to be unleashed upon the world.
As he soared over the town he spotted Pinkie Pie bouncing next to a stallion he did not recognize, Draco soared downwards as he decided to say hello.
“Hello Pinkie, who's your friend?” Draco asked while eying the stallion. He was brown, with a dark-brown mane. His eyes were like Draco's own, only yellow. His cutie mark looked like a wolf fang, sharpened to a deadly point.
Pinkie Pie smiled as she noticed her dragon-colt friend. “Hiya Draky-wakey! This is my good friend Wolfsbane! He just moved here from Trottsdale!”
The brown colt held out a shaggy hoof, and Draco shook it with his own emerald hoof.
The colt smiled as he added to the pink party mare's intro. “Came here to find something... different, had to find a change of pace yah know? And since I knew Pinkie here, I decided to move here where I at least knew ONE pony.”
Draco smiled back warmly. “I know the feeling. Nice meeting you Wolfsbane. I have to head to Twilight's.”
The pink mare waved goodbye to her emerald friend as he trotted towards the treebrary.
Draco entered the library and spotted the lavender unicorn nose deep in a book. Draco loudly cleared his throat, and Twilight smiled as she spotted him.
“Hello Draco what can I do for you?”
“Do you have any books on Dragon legends? Specifically ones that involve someone called the Dragon of Beginning?” Draco asked.
Twilight rubbed her chin with a hoof as her horn glowed. Several books floated around her as she then re-shelved themselves as they were dismissed. Then Twilight exclaimed and set a large book down on the floor, shelving the other back.
“Find it?” Draco asked.
Twilight nodded and pushed a large tome towards him.
The book was large bound in gray, and trimmed in gold, on the front was a symbol of a dragon wings spread mid-flight mouth open in a silent roar.
The title said. Mythos Draconos.
Twilight's horn glowed as she opened the book to a page, and Draco saw a depiction of a dragon. His scales were burnished silver, his spines vibrant gold. The title of the passage said. Aurix Dragoon.
Draco read aloud. “Aurix Dragoon, or the Dragon of Beginning. The legendary forefather of all dragons, the first and oldest of his kind Aurix was created by the Pantheon to watch over the dragons of Equestria. Legend has it that he had a younger brother named Nazhærn. Aurix and Nazhærn ruled Equestria in an age of dragons the likes of which shall never be seen again.
However Nazhærn quickly grew power-hungry. He turned into an evil tyrant of darkness, and all the dragons under his rule were tortured mercilessly. However, Nazhærn's greed and hunger grew. He wanted his brothers place, to rule all of dragon kind in an iron clawed grip. Nazhærn knew that if he attempted a coup he would be swiftly beaten.
So Nazhærn or Dragoon Eclipse as he was known in his own kingdom scoured Equestria, searching to find anything that would give him an edge over his brother. His greed led him to find an artifacte most evil and artifacte named simply Dragoon Losvir or Dragon's Bane. With this trinket Dragoon Eclipse Waged war on his brother, the war lasted for centuries ending only when Nazhærn banished his brother into the stasis realm. However, a renegade from Aurix's army stole the Dragon's Bane and struck a mighty blow against the Dragon of Betrayal, banishing him forever into the shadow realm. Legend has it that Nazhærn vowed to escape and force all of Equestria to bow before his might.
Aurix has been said to continue watching all dragons as the Pantheon commanded of him long ago. He will occasionally enter the dreams of a dragon he deems worthy and grant them the gift of magic, should one receive this gift they should work their hardest to harness this gift, for it will be needed in the chosen dragon's future.”
Draco closed the book, and turned to Twilight noticing she had listened to the entire story. “Why did you want to research this anyways?” Twilight asked curiously.
Draco inhaled and told her about the dream he had, meeting Aurix and the warning the Dragon of Beginning gave him, ending with the gift given by Aurix.
“You have magic....” Twilight said in disbelief. She powered a spell and scanned him with it. “Well I do sense magic but it's unfocused, it needs to be trained.”
“Can you help train me?” Draco asked.
“I don't know much about dragon magic but I can try...” Twilight said, levitating over a large chest. She opened the chest and levitated several objects out of the box. A feather, a sphere, and what looked like a gem.
“Let's start with focusing your magic to find what you're best at....” She began as Draco nodded, furrowing his brow in concentration. Abruptly one of Draco's hooves burst into flame, the fire changing and shifting colors every few moments.
“Whoah, well at least we know your affinity, fire.” Twilight said as Draco put out the fire. “Lets work on your control.”
About five and a half hours later Draco halted Twilight's teachings. “Thanks Twi, I think I can handle it from here, I can practice later. Right now I have to go see how Pinkie's doing and get ready for my date with AJ.”
Twilight dropped the sphere she was levitating staring at Draco aghast. “DATE?! With AJ?!”
Draco smiled at her reaction, holding up a hoof to stall future questions. “Before you ask, yes me and her are an item. I have to go, I'm not going to be late for our second date.”
Twilight merely smiled and socked him in the shoulder. “Go get 'er stud.”
Draco turned vivid red and cantered out the door but not before he heard Twilight say to herself. “I can't wait to tell the others.”
Draco quickly trotted towards the bakery, and entered when he arrived.
Draco spotted AJ sitting by a table chatting with Pinkie, then he spotted Wolfsbane watching the girls. “How's it going Wolf?”
“Pretty good, say Draco... is Pinkie single?” Wolfsbane asked.
Draco started then stared at the colt. “Are you thinking of dating her?”
Wolfsbane nodded, blinking his slitted yellow eyes.
“Good luck then, Wolf. She's single. But let me give you a warning, if you hurt her in ANY way, you'll have to answer to me......” To emphasize his threat, Draco lifted a hoof and engulfed it in color changing flame. Wolfsbane noticed this and gulped nodding in understanding. Nearby, a gray pegasus stallion noticed the flaming hoof as well and swiftly left the bakery.
Draco smiled and extinguished his hoof, cantering over to AJ. “Ready AJ?”
AJ glanced at a nearby clock and noted it was five before six. She nodded. “Yeah, let's go sugarcube.” Pinkie Pie waved them off saying. “Have fun on your date you two!”
Draco looked back to see Wolfsbane talking to Pinkie then heard her gasp. But he focused on his own mare knowing Wolfsbane would take his warning to heart.
“You told her didn't you.” Draco asked the farm mare as they trotted towards the cafe.
The farm pony merely nodded in reply. “Yah know, yah never told me when yer birthday was.”
“Two weeks.” Draco replied.
“Tha second Wednesday of Spring?” AJ asked. Draco nodded in reply. “Ah'll have tah get yah something nice.”
“You don't have to do that....” Draco replied.
“Of course ah do, yer mah stallion, its mah job tah spoil mah coltfriend.” Aj replied nuzzling his neck.
“And I'll have to make sure you're spoiled as well.” Draco replied nuzzling her back.
In a nearby alley the gray pegasus was holding a ruby, speaking into it. “Master I have news.”
“If it's bad I will have your head.” Nazhærn said.
The stallion gulped but continued. “The half-breed has learned magic.” There was a pause and the gray pegasus could feel seething rage emanating from the ruby. “My brother must have given him the gift.... fortunately we can use that to our advantage. In fifteen days I will be free, however my sprirt will be trapped in this pathetic gem. So I leave it to you.”
“What would you have me do?” The stallion asked.
“Place the gem on the half-breed's body. I shall take care of it from there. Succeed and I shall reward you greatly. Fail, and your pain shall be spoken of for millenia to come.”
The stallion gulped as the ruby stopped glowing, but he nodded anyways and spoke to the gem even if his master could not hear his words. “Yes master. All hail Nazhærn, Dragon of Betrayal.”
(AN: Another cliff-hangar, im getting good at those. Hope you like the equestrian dragon back-story, I know I enjoyed writing it. Next chapter will be coming soon. No spoilers this time around.)