There are just some things that life can’t prepare you for. Waking up in a cage? Maybe. Turning into the opposite sex? I don’t think so, changing into a different species that was thought to be nothing more than a myth? Definitely not. And yet this is where I found myself.
I guess I should explain, you see, my name, my real name, is Brandon Barnett. I am….I was a 21 year old. I had a slight weight problem, a lack of energy a bad temper and I loved weed even though I had only recently started to smoke. It started at a Party, which was an odd place for shit to hit the fan but it was a party nonetheless.
I have never been the popular type, I did what I needed to, kept my head down and read a lot or played Video games. Most would think I was antisocial, and they would be right, to a degree. You see I was a very no nonsense person, when it came to matters of importance. Paying bills, going to school and getting good grades, Making sure I had enough money so that when I finally moved out of my dad's house I wouldn't have to struggle to eat.
Because of the way I was socially, I could recognize and avoid drama and the BS of the common man. Whereas the average high school guy was worried about going to prom and finding the hottest chick to go with, I was more concerned with whether or not I had to study my ass off to pass an american government class. When said high school guy was starting to wonder if his Girlfriend, the cheerleader, was cheating on him with Brad, the football captain, I would wonder what book I should read next.
Now that’s not to say I was perfect or that I was infallible, I had made many mistakes in my teen years. Breaking into the high school I would later attend just to steal some poptarts had not been the smartest move, nor had it been a good idea to break a CD and set off a fire extinguisher which would later result in me being caught.
I was not perfect, and I had made many dumb and stupid mistakes, but when it came to me and the world as a whole, I felt like I had a pretty good handle on things, and I tended to avoid all the things that seemed irrelevant. Which is why I was so confused to be at a party. While in High school I had never even heard a whisper of someone throwing a party, and if I had I would have paid it little mind, the thought of attending a party with people I barely knew, who I hated just a little bit, and who I wouldn’t talk to in the halls let alone the street, it all repulsed me.
To me, Parties were bad choices were made and pregnancies started, so to find myself in the middle of a party was confusing beyond measure. I attended a local community college. I had no cash for a vehicle and I had to take the bus to get to and from school, tickets for said bus were paid with student aid money. It was the beginning of a new semester, and my job life and my school life had gotten tangled up in my schedule.
This day, there was to be a lunar eclipse, an event that didn’t happen often, and I was determined to view it, but I didn’t want to attend classes this day, so instead I began looking around the campus. In my searches through the warm morning sun, I came across a line of houses setting just on the edge of a nearby lake. Students could use rent these houses so that they could be near the college. I don’t know how I’d gotten swept up in the party.
One Minute I was standing outside looking in thinking that this was wasted time, effort and money, I could see the red solo cups and hear the loud music, the various people walking in and out with smiles and laughing told me of how they were all having fun, then the next thing I knew I was standing beside some girl, with a cup of vodka in my hands, laughing at some stupid joke some guy had made.
I couldn’t believe how much fun I was having! I would normally hate these kinds of things, the close proximity to a bunch of people I didn’t know, the loud speakers that blared some song by some rapper I didn’t care to know about, even the scent of body sweat and vomit didn’t bother me as much as I thought it would.
I was nodding my head to the music chiming in at odd times as I repeated the lyrics, most I butchered I’m sure, and I was drinking. A lot. I remember my cup running empty and before I could go and grab another, someone had pushed a new, full, cup into my hands. I hastily gave out a thanks before I downed half the cup.
Before I could finish though, someone had turned off the music. “Alright ya’ll! Eclipse is starting soon so every grab your glasses and head outside!” Someone yelled causing me to look in that direction, however I didn’t seem him. I was surprised and went to check my phone.
I didn’t realize that I had been at that party for nearly 4 hours. The intoxication and the music had scattered my thoughts and made things hazy. Although to be honest, the room didn’t start spinning until recently. Shaking my head I turned towards the door with the rest of the others as I grabbed my own pair of lunar eclipse glasses. I struggled to get them on before I realized I had to take my own glasses off.
Like the others I was staring up at the sky, however where others seemed to be fine and able to keep their balance, I seemed to be stumbling. People began to chant down from ten, as if this was new year's eve and they were counting the seconds until the new year, I on the other hand couldn’t think, I could barely keep my eyes open. All that liquor had made me drowsy and I struggled not to pass out. When they reached 1 the world was cast in darkness and so to was I.
Waking up an unspecified amount of time later, I could feel my head pounding and crying in pain. I felt like shit, my head throbbed, my body ached the light hurt and the smell of iron and rust filled my nose. Groaning I opened my eyes just a bit only to see bars. Cursing under my breath I realized I had been thrown in jail. The cops had probably shown up soon after I fell asleep to break the party up. Seeing me passed out they probably decided to throw me in a cell until I had sobered up. Without even looking for a bed or a bench to lay on, I rolled over and promptly fell asleep again, hoping beyond hope, that when I woke up next, I wouldn’t feel like shit.
That wasn’t the case. Someone must have noticed that I had woken up, because I could hear whispers, hushed and nearby. Through my pounding head and tired mind I caught a few words that didn’t at first make sense to me.
“Dragon, female, and Dangerous” were the three that stuck out the most to me. Hearing them, I had to lightly laugh, someone was a nerd. I had always been a fan of dragons, my favorite had been a purple dragon from a video game, he and the game shared a name and they were both called Spyro, but to hear someone whispering about dragons not far from me? Could it have been an officer? Or someone else who they threw in the drunk tank? Maybe they had seen my tattoo and knew what it was from?
It had been from another dragon from the spyro game, or rather, it was from the reboot series, that went under the name of “the legend of Spyro.” The dragon that I had gotten the tattoo idea from was called Cynder. She was a female dragon, who had been stolen as an egg and corrupted by dark magic, and was forced to do the bidding of an evil dragon named Malefor.
Cynder was a slender female, she had black scales, whoever in the third game they took on a slight purple sheen to them, her wings and chest plates were a deep maroon color. She had emerald green eyes, six ivory white horns and a bladed tail that looked like a scythe. The tattoo that I had gotten, was a symbol or a birthmark that she had on her upper leg shoulders. It was hard to describe, but it was one large diamond with a smaller one above it, a small triangle under the large diamond and turned upside down, and four curved horn looking shapes, two on each side, I had “improved upon it a little by having the tattoo artist, tattoo it to look as if it was ontop of scales.
“Hey.” I heard someone meekly whisper to me, causing me to grunt and curl into a ball, my hand moving to rest over my head to try and block out their voice.
“Oh dear umm...please wake up?” The voice said again, this time I noticed the voice was female. She had a soft voice, but hidden under it was fear, and reluctance. I groaned again.
“Leave me alone, my head is killing me!” I pleaded with the voice, not even bothering to turn to look at her. I noticed my voice sounded odd, more squeaky and kind of….young, but there was something else off about it, I just couldn’t tell what.
“Oh, I’m sorry, you did hit your head pretty hard, I….I can take a look at it, if you don’t mind I mean?” The voice said, causing me to groan, partially in frustration because I just wanted to sleep, but because she sounded so cute when she was being shy.
Making up my mind I decided to let, her, I figured it was better to let her take a look in case I split my head open, plus if I had a concussion it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to fall asleep. Lifting myself up into a kneeled over position I couched and licked the inside of my mouth. It was dry.
Try as I might though I couldn’t bring myself to stand upright. Part of me knew it would be a bad idea, because the room would spin and then I’d fall on my ass or worse crack my head open, and partly because trying to stand upright felt…..unnatural. I tried to open my eyes again but the pain that lanced through my head at the sight of light forced them closed. Eventually I collapsed on my stomach and just laid my head down
“Fine you can look at my head, but I want water” I mumbled out as I slowly faded in and out of sleep. What followed next was odd but I blamed it on my alcohol abused brain, but I heard something clicking against stone followed by something soft and warm trace over my head. Pushing gently at the skin as whoever this woman was looked for wounds. It would have been nice, if not for the fact that every time she touched me, my skin seemed to crawl and my stomach lurched.
Her examination ended soon enough, and I heard her thank someone nearby before a bowl of water was placed in front of me. I know it was water, because I had asked for it, and I could hear little drops hitting the ground, likely from a crack in the bowl.
The bowl was placed in front of me and without thinking I reached out to grab it with my hands, only to be rewarded by the sound of water spilling over the floor and a surprised epp from the woman. Groaning even more I opened my eyes, pushing through the pounding of my skull so that I could find the water and drink it, however as I opened my eyes I stopped.
Standing before me, was a pony, but not just any pony. I knew this pony. Back in 2010, a show came out called my little pony Friendship is magic. I got interested and watched the show, and I fell in love with it, however five years down the line I began to grow bored of the show. I watched new episodes when they came out sure, but I didn’t have the hype for it that I once had, however none of that was going through my mind at that moment.
“God damn it.” I groaned aloud getting a startled look from the butter yellow pegasus named Fluttershy. “Someone must have drugged me.”
“I’m sorry? But what did you say about being drugged?” Fluttershy asked looking concerned. I had to admit, this hallucination was very vivid and if I had to guess accurate. She sounded so real and so concerned. I ignored it though and shook my head.
“You can’t be real, None of this is real!” I replied as I backed away from her. “I’m having hallucinations, or I’m dreaming! Yes Dreaming I'm dreaming.” I said trying to convince myself, but….I knew I was lying. I could feel the cold and damp stone floor under me, I could smell the scent of stale air and mildew, the scent of iron and rust along with stale urine, and then there was the pain. It wasn’t agonizing or unbearable, but everytime I tried to move, there was a soreness in the whole of my body. My head, my muscles, even my eyes hurt.
“Oh I’m sorry but, um you’re not hallucinating, um I don’t think at least,” fluttershy replied trying to sound comforting however she was just too shy. “W-what are you seeing?”
Groaning I tried to shake clear my thoughts. Spotting the bowl of water nearby I reached for it, before I stopped and looked at my hand, or rather my claw. My hand was gone, replaced by a paw lined with 3 shining white claws and greyish black scales. Just above where my wrist would be was a small metal bracelet with little teeth along the edge that looked like they fastening into my skin.
“Scales.” I said plainly as I looked at my paw. “I’m seeing Scales on my hand, and a talking pegasus.” I replied as I looked up at her, now noticing my voice was all levels of wrong.
A sort of calm had fallen over me as my mind was taking things one step at a time, trying to piece everything together, so that I didn’t go crazy, however, that calm was broken as fluttershy smiled and waved to someone outside of the Cell, I had just realized I was in.
“Well in that case, you’ll be happy to know it’s not a hallucination.” She said cheerfully as she was handed, hoofed? Give me a mirror and held it out for me to look into. Taking a long look in the mirror I blinked, and so did my reflection. I leaned back and so to did my reflection I stuck my tongue out and so to did my reflection, and then…..my brain gave out and I fell over and fainted in surprise
When I woke up next I found that my surroundings had changed. I didn’t get to look at the cell I had realized I was in, but from what little I had paid attention to the cell I had been in was probably underground. Since I found that the floor was cold and the air stale. Now though I found myself on a soft warm bed, a small sheet covered me and soft light streamed through large windows. Lifting my head I remembered what I had seen. Looking down at my paws I nearly gasped as I still couldn’t believe it. I was still a dragon, but not only was I a dragon, I was perhaps my favorite dragon of all time.
I was Cynder. The black dragon who had been corrupted by Malefor the evil purple dragon. Oh and….I was female. Yeah I was definitely okay. I so didn’t need to take a breather and I wasn’t even freaking out in the slightest…..oh look there's a nurse…..She looks worried. I wonder what she’s saying? Oh right I’m breathing heavily and having a panic attack right.
Eyes moving around the room I couldn’t help but panic. My world was flipped upside down, I was now a dragon, which was awesome by the way, but I was a female, which was less awesome, since I had been a male before. The nurse, who was a white earth pony with a red cross for a cutie mark spoke softly to me
“Calm down. Everything is alright.” She said in a soothing voice which made me turn to look at her.
Then it hit me, I wasn’t even in the same world as before. My life wasn’t just flipped upside down, it was turned inside out as well. The realization that I wasn’t on earth only helped to increase my panic. How did this happen? Why was I here? How am I going to cope with a new body and new…..needs? That last thought made me shudder, and for a moment I was sure I was going to pass out again, however before I could I felt a much stronger wave of calm washing over me. Looking up I saw Twilight walking towards me, her horn powering down as she tucked her wings in.
Looking around again I saw that I was in a crystallized room, everything from the floors to the walls to even the windows were made of some sort of crystal like material. Turning back to face Twilight I saw that she had a concerned look on her face. Looking at her I tried to stand off of the bed, and promptly fell to the floor with a groan of frustration.
“Are you alright? Both Twilight and the nurse asked as they moved to help me off the floor. I shook off their hooves and moved away from them. Despite already knowing the answer I had to ask.
“Where am I?” I asked searching their eyes hoping to find some way to know they were fake.
“You’re in Ponyville.” Twilight replied as she tried to get closer to me, but I shook my head.
“How did I get here?” I asked, this was a question I didn’t have the answer to and I was hoping someone could at least tell me.
“We brought you here after we found you in a cell in the castle of the two pony sisters in the Everfree forest.” She replied as she tried to move closer yet again.
“How did I get in a cell?” I asked myself more than I asked them.
“We...well we don’t know but there was evidence that someone had been living there for awhile. We found campfires and tents but we only found you.” She said looking confused and concerned “Do you know how you got there?” I Shook my head, I didn’t even know how I had turned into Cynder.
“Well Can you tell me your name?” I opened my mouth getting ready to tell her my name was Brandon, however what came out horrified me to no end.
“Cynder. My name is Cynder.” I replied, my mind screaming at me to try and correct my mistake but everytime I tried to say something to contradict my earlier statement, I found my mouth became suddenly dry.
“Cynder? Well My name is Twilight Sparkle and I’m a princess of Equestria, right now you’re in my castle. I had nurse Redheart, from the Ponyville hospital come by to check on your well being.” Twilight replied which caused the other mare to nod and turn to Twilight.
“I’ve checked on her and besides that thing we already talked about, she seems healthy, although I almost never examine dragons so I’m not 100% sure” she said as she turned to look at me with a sad expression before she bowed to twilight and turned to leave.
I watched her leave before turning to Twilight, She smiled and gave me a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry I’m sure we can find your parents and then get you back to the badlands.”
I shook my head “I don’t live in the badlands, I live in a ci-forest” I said cursing myself. Why couldn’t I tell her the truth? What was keeping me from telling her what was really happening? Of course I wasn’t entirely sure I wasn’t dreaming, but I digress it all felt real and even the bed under me felt real.
“Oh? Do your parents live in the forest as well?” I shook my head no, my parents didn’t live anywhere near this universe. Faster than I realized what was happening my mouth opened yet again and I spoke with no control over what I was saying.
“I don’t have parents anymore.” What the hell! Why was I saying all this crap!
“Oh….Oh I’m sorry….Can you….could you wait here for a second while I take care of something real quick?’ She asked in a strangely nervous tone. Mentally sighing I nodded my head and she promptly left the room. Watching her leave I noted she left the door open, either she didn’t close it all the way or she had thought she did.
Getting out of the bed I approached the door, my curiosity getting the better of me. Pressing my ear…..my head to the door, I listened.
“Dear princess Celestia, I’m writing to keep you updated on the dragon I wrote to you earlier about. She woke up and told me her name was Cynder. Normally in a situation where a child of another species is lost and separated from their family, I would attempt to find their parents or any relatives, however Cynder has made mention that she doesn’t have parents.” Their was a brief pause before the voice of twilight continued. “Since we won’t be able to find her parents I'm not sure what to do next. If this case involved a pony foal I would notify the nearest orphanage, but since this is a dragon, I’m at a bit of a loss. I’m not sure how a dragon whelp who wasn’t raised in a pony society would get along with pony foals. Any advice you could give me would be appreciated.” I heard her finish. “Ready to send it spike?”
“Yep Twilight.” I second voice said before there was a whooshing sound and the second voice spoke up again “So….if we can’t find her family….can she stay here?” I jumped at this and shook my head. I, of course, knew who the second voice belonged to. It was spike, a small baby dragon with bright purple scales and green spies along his head.
At this I decided to move away from the door not wanting to hear anything else and instead began to pace the room. This was so wrong. Everything was wrong! I didn’t want to stay here in this castle. I don’t know why, but looking at the crystal floors and walls, unnerved me and made me shudder. The cool crystal under my feet felt more like ice and for some reason deep shame overcame me, and I didn’t know why.
I just wanted to get out of here. Looking for a way out, I spotted two exits. One was the door where Twilight and Spike stood just outside, that was a no go. The second exit was a window. Moving closer to it I pushed the panes open and stared down at the grass 20 feet below me. I took a step back in shock. I needed to get out but how was I going to? A drop like that would hurt to much or kill me. Thinking quickly I decided on two options. I could try and use my claws to slide down the side of the castle. That scared the hell out of me, what if I slipped? What if a part of the castle broke off and I fell and landed on my back?
The other option and the much safer option, at least in my opinion, was to open my new wings and glide to the ground…...I just had to figure out how to work them. Turning to look over my shoulders I focused on the muscles in my back. Moving my shoulders I watched as my wings moved with them. It wasn’t that they were flapping, but they did move up and down as I moved my shoulders. The good news was that I could feel the muscles in my wings moving as my shoulders moved.
Concentrating harder I was able to move my wings a bit, and with a little help from a wall, I was able to get my wings to stand straight out and hold them their. Smiling a bit I couldn’t help but feel a little giddy. It had always been a dream to fly and while gliding wasn’t flying, it was sure to be a close second. Taking a deep breath I decided to take a running start. Moving further back into the room I took a few more calming breaths, before I started to run.
Claws clacking on the crystal floor as I got closer and closer to the window. A small bead of doubt formed in my mind as I got closer but I forced it down and just ran faster. I was almost there now, I could feel the breeze coming into the window, and I was just about to jump, when I suddenly heard the door open and a shout of surprise.
“Cynder Stop!” Twilight shouted, causing me to turn to look at her in surprise. This caused me to stumble and fall out of the window.
To say I was afraid would be an understatement. I was fucking terrified. In my shock I had closed my wings and for the life of me I couldn’t get them to open back up. I saw the ground rushing towards me and I did the first thing that came to mind. I screamed. What happened next though surprised me. Instead of a scream escaping my mouth a burst of wind escaped instead. Opening my eyes I saw that I had slowed to a hover about 3 feet above the grass. Just as soon as I realized what I was doing did it stop and I promptly hit my face in the dirt and grass causing me to groan slightly.
The next thing I knew I was being lifted by a very angry, very surprised Twilight. “What were you doing? You could have been hurt?” She yelled, a tinge of worry in her voice as she looked me over.
At this time I had had enough, I couldn’t do it anymore. My ability to stay calm had finally reached its end and I struggled in her magical grasp. “Leave me alone! Let me go!” I yelled at her tears in my eyes as I suddenly opened my maw again and another blast of wind pushed against twilight causing her wings to snap open at the sudden gust and causing her to gain some air.
In her surprise the magic holding me aloft in the air disappeared causing me to fall on the ground with a slight thud. Without even thinking I got to my feet….paws, whatever! I turned away from her and I ran. I ran as fast as I could, Ignoring Twilight's shouts as she no doubt gave chase. I didn’t even realize I was running towards the town of Ponyville, I was to focused on what was happening to me. Trying to make sense of it.
It wasn’t until I heard screams that I realized what was happening. Me a dragon, running through the town of Ponyville with Twilight, a princess and bearer of the element of Magic, giving chase. It was clear what they thought, but I didn’t care, I just wanted to get out of here. This was a dream, it had to be. People didn’t just fall asleep and wake up as dragons!
I didn’t get very far out of the town before I had several other ponies chasing me. Turning to look over my shoulder I saw at least three others along with Twilight who were chasing me. The first mare, was an orange cow pony. She had a straw yellow mane tied in a ponytail and a cowboy hat on her head. That was Applejack The second Pony was pink. That's all I could say about her. Pink on pink with even more pink! That was Pinkie Pie. The last pony and probably the most likely to catch me, was a light cyan blue mare with a rainbow main. She was a pegasus and was quickly zooming towards me. That was Rainbow Dash.
During quickly and without thought I opened my mouth and a large gust of wind left my maw yet again to push the mare back. We stood their for a few seconds, her slowly making headway towards me before the wind increased and even she couldn’t fight against it. She turned and left the gust of wind. It pushed her back and allowed me to turn and continue running. I didn’t get far before a rope wrapped itself around my neck and pulled me back, nearly clotheslining me, thankfully my new tail, something I had no control over, swished through the air and cut the rope allowing me to run free yet again.
Looking over my shoulder I had to smile a bit as I saw them falling behind me, however no sooner had I smiled did it fade as I noticed a pony missing. I faced forward and promptly ran into something large and soft and very pink. Before I knew what was happening two strong yet soft hooves wrapped themselves around my body holding me tightly to what seemed a pillar of fluffy stone. I struggled and threatened, even begged, demanded to be released.
I don’t know how long I was like that before I broke down into sobs. All the while the pony who had grabbed me continued to hold me. Not crushing me but holding me firmly. All the while she slowly rocked as if comforting a child. The other three ponies who had chased me arrived soon enough, I could hear their hooves pounding to a stop next to me and Pinkie, but I didn’t dare look at them, my face was buried in the chest fur of Pinkie Pie, and I was crying. Why I was crying, I didn’t know, but I didn’t care, because despite everything that had happened to me, Crying felt good.