A simple family heirloom or so Mark thought. Next thing he knew he was in Equestria as a teenage dragon.
When Mark receives a harmless family heirloom, a strange magic actives within wisping him off ti the land of Equestria, but not as a human Now stuck in a world full of magic, and in a teenage dragon, he must find out how he got here and why. The bracelet he'll soon discover is more important then he realized.
Note that the story takes place somewhere around season two.
In a cavern system hidden beneath Equestria a group of ponies had broken into an argument about their secret project. A muscular blue unicorn turned away from his workshop station slamming his hoof down upon the large table that took up the center of their hideout. Several gemstones clattered to the floor as the table rattled. "The longer we sit here arguing the more likely it is that Discord will find us. I can control the device no matter what guardian says." He said angrily his eyes fixed on a tunnel at the far end of the room.
An Earth Pony at the far end spoke up "Mars, Guardian said dragon eye wasn't ready to be used yet, something about a lack of surge protection."
Mars reached towards his neck grabbing a golden necklace. "Then why in the world would I need this then. Isn't this supposed to channel everything?" As he moved the necklace around light from the cave's torchlight shimmered off its surface.
A unicorn who stood behind Mars reached for a series of papers. After a bit of shuffling he spoke "We've speculated that even with the necklaces buffer the users magic would still be at risk."
Mars turned around glaring straight into the eyes of the scientist "You recruited me because I have the ability to channel more magic then others you have found." His hoof gestured toward the far tunnel "So why in the wild world of Equestria do we trust a dragon with the master key of the darn thing. I mean how does a dragon control unicorn magic anyway?"
The scientist back away as he replied "Without him we wouldn't have the focusing crystal and from what he's told me he says he can use the key to channel it for him like a horn. I still don't get how that will work."
Mars looked about the room "Oh yeah give almost unlimited power to a dragon nothing could go wrong."
"It's not like that; we need both of you to make this plan work." The earth pony replied.
Mars looked at the earth pony annoyed, "Of course I'd hear that from an earth pony. What do earth ponies know about magic anyway?"
The earth pony approached Mars and shot his hoof into the air "You unicorns are all the same. Do you think I would even be here if I didn't?"
Mars shook his head his anger building by the second "Regardless, I don't trust..."
Their bickering was quickly interrupted as the cavern around them shook. The trio quickly climbed into the table as pieces of equipment started toppling over.
"Earthquake!!" the earth pony said as he tried to stay upright.
"No look" Mars said as he pointed down the far tunnel. A series of bright red and blue lightning bolts shot forth from the opening as the shaking continued. "It's Guardian he's betrayed us. I told you this would happen!!"
The trio scrambled to their hooves as they charged down the tunnel toward the device chamber dodging several bolts as they snaked along the cave floor. As they reached the chamber, they were met with what could only be described as a multicoloured lighting storm.
Standing in the middle of the storm of light was a teenage sized dragon. A bracelet on his right arm glowed with such intensity that from a far it looked like a mini sun. His black and purple scales almost seemed to glow as lighting shot out of his body in every direction. Beside him lay a large pyramid shaped device. On top of the pyramid sat a large red crystal which glowed as bright as the dragon's bracelet. The blue gemstones that run down the sides of the device also shimmered shooting out bolts of energy toward him.
The group's progress into the chamber was halted as intensity of the lighting made it nearly impossible to pass. Mars could only watch as the dragon squirmed about as the energy continued to rage around him.
"Guardian you traitor you said you were on our side." Mars shouted his voice just barely audible through the roar of thunder around him.
The dragon looked up his eyes shining bright red "Stand back." Guardian's movements seemed to be random as his limbs waved in the air "You shall not have me you monster." He shouted to no one in particular
Mars dodge a strike of lighting as he shouted back "I knew you would do something like this, you dragons and your greed couldn't resist could you."
Guardian fell to his knees as he grabbed his right arm. "No, it's not like that...you got to get out of here..." His body continued to thrash about never stepping away dragon eye.
Mars's adrenalin raced "Why so you can take horde the power for yourself." He said as he tried to proceed forward only to be knocked back as a bolt exploded the ground in front of him. Mars vision blurred for a second as he clambered back to his feet. His vision cleared just in time to see the pyramid light up an inferno.
"You shall not have me." Guardian shouted as him and the device became surrounded by a dome of blue and red energy. The dome warped as the two coloured mixed into a vibrant purple. The entire chamber became illuminated in purple.
Mars made his move as the dome dispersed the storm of lighting. His horn lit up as he charged forward with all his might. All the while the dome became brighter and brighter. Like a battering ram Mars slammed his horn into the barrier. The dome exploded in a flurry of light, a loud thunderclap following in its wake.
The other ponies who had watched the entire ordeal from the entrance looked back into the chamber. Dragon eye was now gone the only remnant was a black scotch pattern showing where it had once been. Mars had disappeared as well leaving only Guardian lying in the center of the chamber. The two began to enter the chamber to help Guardian but suddenly stopped when they heard the main chamber door burst open.
The two ran up the tunnel and where terrified at what they saw, before them stood the god of chaos himself. Discord laugh as he spoke "So this is where you have been hiding all this time. I must say your noise maker sure lead me right to you. Now it's time for chaos."
Discord snapped his fingers as a dog whistle appear in his paw. With a single blow, groups of large dogs made of pure shadow emerge from the walls. The ponies attempt to flee were soon proved futile as the beasts jumped on them absorbing them and taking them away to who knows where. Discord stood for a moment laughing at his chaos. Noticing the several scorch marks along the tunnel pathway he decided to check it out.
Guardian felt drained as every muscle in his body screamed at him to just pass out, but he knew that if he passed out now Discord would have his way with him or worse find out what power his bracelet had. HIs vision was unfocused but he could see clear enough to see Discord approaching him from the chamber entrance. With his last bit of strength he had he channel the aura of the world around him into a spell.
Discord rubbed his hands together "Well been a while since I had a dragon puppet to play with, hahaha." He cackled slowly approaching enjoying every second. Without warning, his prey began to glow. He watched as the dragon's form transformed into energy and warped toward the bracelet on his arm. Before discord could even blink, the bracelet disappeared. Discord merely stared onward "Well whatever puppets were so three weeks ago anyway."
While the bracelet had managed to teleport itself away, Guardian's weakened state had caused a side effect. The bracelet hurled through the void until it ended up in totally different world from which it came. Now rendered dormant it was nothing more than a shiny trinket.
Mars opened his eyes to find his surrounding had completely changed. Looking around he could see he was in the middle of a large forest. He shook as his body tingled with an unknown sensation. His hooves gave off tiny sparks of light for a few seconds and faded. His body filled with rage as he screamed into the sky "Even if it takes me forever I will find Dragon Eye. Count on it Guardian!" Now determined in his goal he turned around and walked further into the thicket. As he did, his necklace pulsed with a low yellow light matching his own magic aura.
Tick, tick, tick, was the only sound to be heard in Marks room as he stared intently at the blinking cursor on his computer screen. After an hour of staring not one word had been typed. With his inspiration failing him, he groaned "Still nothing coming to me, man I hate writers block." The last hour had been filled with nothing but the low hum of his computer and constant head scratching "Gah, this isn't helping any." He said as he rose from his chair and walked out of the office.
Mark stood still as he looked about his basement lounge unsure of what to do to unwind his strained mind. Plopping down on the couch, he sighed. The wall across from him was lined with several movie posters, most of which were Science fiction related. His eyes scanned the wall as he tried to think. His interest in the genre had been what had lead him to become a writer. His interests had expanded since then, but it always remained the center of his focus. Needing some new perspective, he stood up and walked over to large bookcase that took up the far wall. His finger slid across the rows until he came to the book he was looking for. With a quick tug, he pulled it out and admired the cover. The cover showed a great battle taking place. A knight took up the majority of the page standing on top of a dragons chest his sword plunged into its gut. While fantasy wasn't his first choice when it came to reading, he had slowly become intrigued with the genre. While science could be explained as magic when it was unclear of how it worked, real magic was just that, a mystery, an unknown factor that could shape the world to the users will.
As he flipped find the bookmark, a loud knock at the door caught his attention. Running up stairs, he opened the door to find a rather bored postman. The Postman expression changed in an instant as he recognized Mark. "Mark, how's it going? You never told me you live here."
Mark smiled, "Oh I've been fine, just doing the usual. What do you mean I've told you before?"
"Oh right, I must be mixing up the other Mark across town." He chuckles as he hands Mark a clipboard.
Mark signed his name as he looked down at the crate next his friend "What with the crate?"
Taking the clipboard back his friend replied "Not sure but it's from all the way across the country from the posting on this thing. Anyway I got to get to my rounds see you later."
Mark Waved goodbye as he pulled the crate inside. After examining the container, he grabbed the handle and slid the lid off. Inside sat a large envelope along with round metal object placed inside a foam mold. Taking the envelope out first, he opened it and looked inside. The envelope was filled with an assortment of images along with a very official looking document. Wondering who had sent the crate to him, he pulled out the letter and began to read. “Dear Mark Knight, in accordance with the statements left in the deed by George Knight, the following contents belongs to you.” Mark paused as he remembered the funeral for his Uncle George. Mark thought to himself 'Uncle George, Right he was an artifact collector wasn't he?' After a moment, he continued to read “Enclosed are several images and a family artifact.” The letter continued on listing out long lines of legal talk. He quickly read the rest and placed it on the table nearby.
Mark carefully popped the metal bracelet out of its container. The bracelet was large coated in what appeared to be gold, the rims lined with small gemstones. The outside rims consisted of blue gems while the inside rims where red. As he continued to examine it a small emblem caught his eye. He looked closer to see it was a dragon eye embedded into the inside and outside of the ring. Inside the emblem was yet another small, crimson gemstone positioned in place of the pupil. The gemstones sparkled like glass as sunlight bounced off its surface.
Mark dropped the bracelet as shock shot up his arm. As it clattered to the floor, it began to glow in a soft white light a few moments later the light faded. A little taken back by the sudden light show he rubbed his eyes. He stared for a long moment down at the bracelet hesitating to pick it up. After it was clear it was silent once more, he picked it up. The sensation returned lingering for several seconds. Another light softly glowed from the metal and faded before Mark could see. As he examines it in more detailed, he notices an small inscription under the eye in ash coloured lettering “Dragon eye master key.” He read "what in the world does that mean." It took him a moment to realize he had said that out loud, but the thought quickly passed. Mark found it was helpful to talk to himself when alone. It helped him think better most of the time.
"Well might as well try it on" he says as he slips the bracelet onto his left arm. Despite it being metal, it felt soft against his skin. Adjusting the position of it, he thought to himself “I wonder where George found this.” Mark pulled out the photos and looked at them for clues. Many of them were images of George at a dig site at an old building of some kind. One photo showed George holding it up to the camera as he climbed out of a pit. Other photo's showed the close up of the dragon eye symbol and engravings. Before he could examine the images further a red light emitting from the dragon eye on the bracelet. The light pulsated slowly as it grew in intensity. Mark collapsed onto the floor as a shock shot through his body. The red light began to expand as it spread down his arm and over his chest. Panicking he reached for the bracelet and tugged with all his might. His body felt like it was on fire as the glow spread over his body “what’s going on?” His efforts proved in vane as the glow flowed over his head. Mark screamed as a sharp pain shoot through his entire body. His vision blurred as the world around him slipped away in a flash of blinding white light.
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.
---------------
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." ---------- `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."
Mark flew high above the canopy scanning the horizon for any visible landmarks. Recalling the map, he stared eastward towards a large mountain jutting out of the earth. The rough shape of a city perched half way up the cliff could be seen, large waterfalls poured down its sides sparkling in the evening sun like diamonds. "Talk about location." He thought as he flew off towards his goal. He wasn't sure what his next plan of action was but one thing was for certain, he needed to find answers.
The forest stopped quiet suddenly replaced by plains and rolling hills. Despite constant flying for the last ten minutes he didn't feel tired. He slowed to a hover, carefully taking in the new sensory around him. As he did so, he observed something that could only be described as mystical, and out of fantasy. He watched as winged ponies flew about, moving the clouds as if they were balls of cotton. He blinked a few times stunned at what he saw, "Well, now I know I must be dreaming." He kept watching for some time, the pegasi moving on once done their task. His attention returned to the task at hand as he watched the pegasi fly into town. Looking down towards the marketplace he saw more ponies walking about. The ground was as a sea of colours as they went about their business, selling goods, and socializing.
Mark jaw dropped as he connected the dots. "Okay, intelligent ponies, I was not expecting that," He stared down at his own dragon body. "Nor was waking up as dragon." He face palmed when a sudden realization came to him "Ponyville, really, they named their town after their species. What next, Hoofer dam?" He thought to himself, taking a few moments to observe the area. After deciding now was as good as a time as any, he soared down toward the market. --- --- ---
Applejack let out a breath, wiping the sweat off her brow. She had just loaded up the last of her baskets into her cart, ready for the trip back home. It had been a great day of sales, and she felt proud of it. Slipping on her saddle bag she went up to the front and prepped to leave. As she adjusts the straps, she spotted her good friend Twilight strolling through the market, a grin across her face. "Oh hi, Twilight."
"Hi AJ, finished for the evening already?” Twilight asks stopping next to her orange friend. She hummed a cheery tune, a white saddlebag with purple trim sat on her back.
Applejack nodded, “Yep, I'm going back to the farm early today. Big Mac is making his famous vegetable stew and I agreed to lend him a hoof." As she explained she noticed the large grin on Twilight’s face, "So, what has you in such a happy mood?”
Twilight levitated out a pocket watch and stared at it as she replied, “Oh I'm just in a great mood that's all. Although, I did find this interesting book a few hours ago.”
“Let me guess, new spells to try,” she said sarcastically.
Twilight let out a chuckle, “Hey, I'm not always looking up new spells. If you must know, it was about the energy properties of magic and such. It was quite the fascinating read and-" She froze as her gaze moved passed AJ, to the sky behind her.
"Twilight?" Turning to see what twilight was so fixated on AJ gasped, “Twilight, is that a dragon, or am I seeing things?” She says watching the figure fly towards the market. --- --- ---
Mark descended to land, his focus on not crashing like so many times before. Unfortunately he realized that he was going way too fast. Before he had time to slow the sound of splintering wood echoed through the market as he came to a halt, his face planted into the dirt.
Pulling his head out of the ground, he heard someone talking to him. "Hey, watch where you're flying," a very annoyed pony said staring.
Mark spat out clump of dirt and immerged from the now wrecked stall. "Oops, hehe sorry I'm still not used to flying it seems." The mare looked up at him now towering over her. She screamed, bolting down the street in a panic. Several ponies stopped dead in their tracks and were now looking at Mark. He smiled feeling a little shy at the sudden attention. "Oh dear, this can't end well." He thought to himself as he watched the mare run away.
"Hey dragon." Mark jumped as a blue pegasus mare with a rainbow mane flew up and stared him in the face. "What makes you think you can just come into Ponyville and cause trouble?"
He shook his head in defense, raising his hands up, "L-look I'm not here to cause trouble really," he blinked at what was happening before him, "Wait did you just talk?"
The mare stared at him as if he was crazy, "What is that supposes to mean? Of course I can talk. What are you drunk or something?"
"No, it just I've never heard a horse talk before."
"What?" the mare pointed her hoof at him annoyed, "You sure? You're talking nonsense right now."
Mark watched as the rather defensive mare was yanked away from him, "Rainbow, leave him alone. Can't you see you're scaring him half to death?" Applejack said spitting out her tail.
Rainbow turns to look at Applejack grumbling, "Wish you would stop doing that," She huffs staring back at Mark with her usual cautious gaze.
The wheels in Marks head kept turning as he watch the scene unfold, on the one hand it was a good thing they spoke English, what mythical creature didn't. On the other hand, he hadn't really been expecting talking ponies at all. Before he could get lost in thoughts again, a sudden flash of pink popped up in front of him shouting, "Hi” The sudden appearance scared the living daylights out of him, causing him to backpedal and trip over a rock. Falling to the ground with a thump, he reached his hand to his chest, his heart racing. "Will you ponies please stop invading my personal space?" The pink pony bounced in excitement. “Oh wow a dragon, of course I’ve seen dragons but never one your size. Usually they are big and mean,” She let out a grrr and kept talking, “Except for spike-”
Mark wasn't given a moment to interrupt as Pinkie kept rambling on about this Spike fellow, and then other topics. She swapped topics at such a rate that Mark couldn’t keep up.
After what felt like forever Mark backed up from the babbling pony, looking over at Twilight a tad creeped out “Does she ever stop talking?”
Twilight gave Pinkie a nudge to get her back to reality. “Pinkie, you can stop now.”
Pinkie let out a giggle "Oh sorry, got lost in my own head again." She says offering a hoof to Mark, "i'm Pinkie Pie, nice to meet you."
Mark took her hoof in his claw and gave a light shake, "Uh, nice to meet you too, name's Mark." He replied still a bit in shock from the sudden attention. The crowd had long since moved on about their business, now satisfied that the visitor wasn't a threat. Mark took another look at twilight and noticed the horn, “Hey you’re a unicorn.” Mark excitedly said.
Twilight nodded, “Yes I am, why?” she asks
Mark rubbed the back of his head "Just never seen one in real life before."
Rainbow rolled her eyes "Right, real life, you sure you didn't knock your brain loose on impact?" she asks hovering by the others
"Rainbow you're not helping." Twilight replied as she saw the confusion in Marks eyes. "So you have never seen unicorns before, don't know how that is even possible unless you're from far away land."
Mark nods "You could say that." He was quickly interrupted as his stomach rumbled. “Do you know of a place where I can get a bite to eat?”
Applejack reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a spare apple with her teeth. With a quick flick of her neck she tossed it at Mark.
Mark snatched it from the air and bite into it, “Mmm, Thanks.”
Applejack gave a warm smile towards him, "Don't mention it, plenty more were those came from."
As Mark chewed on the apple he found It was better than any store bought apple he had ever tasted, these were defiantly freshly picked. He finished the apple in no time a grin on his face. "I'm really sorry for the cart but I could really use some help to find some answers to a few questions." He says after some time.
Twilight had remained, the others having gone off to do other things. Twilight nods "Well I'm sure I can help with whatever it is that is troubling you."
"Really well that's nice, I wasn't so sure of where to start myself to be honest." He lets out a breath and relaxed a bit. The fact that he had just rushed to get here without any other sort of plan was kind of unsettling, he still had little to no idea on his next plan of action, but at least someone was willing to offer assistance.
Twilight shrugs, "It's no problem really. I live in town's library so I have all sort of knowledge to help." She says as Mark follows her down the street.
Mark couldn't help but smile at the cute pony leading the way "I was just thinking that, well there be more panic and such, it's not every day a dragon flies into a town." He says
"You be surprised, around here, we can't go a week without something going awry." Twilight explains
"Sounds exciting," he said with a smile, "at least it's never dull." Following her for some time he spots a strange building that look a lot like gingerbread "Is that place made of candy?"
Twilight let out a smile chuckle, "No, don't silly, building can't be made of candy, they be too weak to last very long." She says "That's Ponyville's bakery, Sugercube Corner."
"That's pretty cute name for a bakery." Mark replied, staring at it and getting hungry "I don't have any currency on me, could I perhaps borrow some?"
"Oh well if you're still hungry you could join me for dinner back at the library." She suggests
"That's nice to offer, but I hate to intrude."
"Nonsense, Spike won't mind making a few more flapjacks." She says, "Besides, we are heading there anyway saves time."
Mark grinned yet again "This is going better than I had thought, maybe this won't be so bad after all."
Mark stared at the library with wide eyes. He was surprised that the town's library was actually built into a large tree. It frame towered upwards at least three stories with balconies jotting out from the branches. What really caught his attention however, were the doors that lead into the library. He chuckled a bit when he noticed it looked like a stable door.
Mark looked at twilight and commented “So you live in the library.”
Twilight continued along as she replied, “It's really quite nice. There is a study upstairs and a nice basement for my experiments.” She replied.
Mark thought to himself “Well at least I'll be able to find something to read while I'm here.”
Mark ducked under the doorframe as he followed Twilight inside. As he took his time looking about the room Twilight had levitated her saddle bags off and had laid them next to the coat rack near the door. Noticing someone was missing twilight walked across the room. Turning her head into an adjacent hallway she spoke, “Hey Spike, come meet our new guest.”
Mark watched as a small scaly creature came around the corner. The creature appeared to be wearing a pink apron and was holding a salad prong in his claw. On the way over Twilight had explained that Spike was a baby dragon. Mark had imagined Spike to be a bit taller, the one thing he hadn't imagined though was Spike's colour palette. His hide was a light shade of purple with a soft green patch running along his belly. He couldn't help but admit that it made him look cute.
Spike jumped as he saw Mark towering behind twilight. In a split second spikes expression changed from shock to excitement as he ran past twilight up to get a better look.
Twilight smiled as she introduced Mark “Spike, this is Mark. He will be staying with us for the night.”
Spike looked up at Mark as a big grin spread across his face, “Hey, another dragon awesome!” Spike head suddenly turned as the sound of an egg timer ranging from the kitchen caught his attention. "Ohh, the hay fries are done." he said as he bolted down the hall.
“Supper should be ready soon. Feel free to look around until then.” Twilight said as she followed Spike into the kitchen.
Mark glanced around the room for something to occupy his time. He soon spotted a large book sitting on a nearby book stand. “Equestrian Encyclopedia” was written on the cover. Mark pulled up a chair and began to browse through it. The first thing he searched for was information on dragons.
//////
The smell of fresh fries wafted through the kitchen as the gang ate dinner. As time went by Twilight and Mark began to discuss Equestrian history. However the conversation quickly turned into a game of 20 questions as Mark asked questions in rapid secession wanting to know more about the world at large.
Mark lowered his fork as he put his hand to his face. Twilight latest explanation was driving him for a loop. “So let me get this straight. You have two rulers, who are sisters…and princesses?” He paused as he took a breath, “and yet no king or queen before them.”
Twilight swallowed a leaf and replied “Well I'm sure the princesses had parents but Equestria has never had kings or queens, what’s so weird about that?”
Mark opened his mouth to reply when a thought occurred. “Maybe the government system wasn’t exactly like royalty from back home, but still why no queens.” Trying to think harder about the subject only continued to make his head hurt. After getting his thoughts back together he decided to ask some questions that would hopefully answer how he got here. Thinking back to when he was in the field he remembered the map that had lead him here had appeared from his bracelet simply by thought alone and this got him thinking. "This might seem like a silly question but, can dragons do magic?"
Twilight put her hoof to her chin as she replied "Well Spike can send letters with his fire. I've read that some dragons can even use elemental magic like fire, ice, and wind. Why do you ask?"
Mark pondered how to explain his situation and replied "Well this might sound strange but, I have only been a dragon for a day."
Twilight stared at Mark confused "What do you mean? Are you saying you were turned into a dragon by a dragon?"
Mark scratched the back of his head "Well no, but I woke up as one."
Twilight merely stared at Mark "I'm not sure where you're going with this."
Mark replied as he put his claws together "What I meant was that the only reason I came here was because when I woke up this strange map appeared from this bracelet and lead me here." Mark stretched out his arm letting twilight get a look at the bracelet.
Twilight's eyes scanned the bracelets fine detail. The dragon eye symbol caught her attention the most. The red gem that made up the pupil seemed to glow from an unknown light source. As Twilight stared into the eye she felt a strange sensation run up her horn. Whatever this bracelet was something powerful was sending energy to it.
Mark watched as a worried look came over twilight face. "What's the matter, Is something wrong?"
Twilight quickly swiped the worried look off her face and replied "I don't know. I've never seen symbols like this before. But whatever it is it can wait until after we eat." Without saying another word twilight continued eating her salad now deep in thought.
It was roughly 7:30 when the group finished dinner. Twilight was in full swing as she levitated several books towards her forming several towers around her. Several books now lay splayed open upon on the floor as she scanned them for information.
Not wanting to get in the way Mark began searching through the shelves for a book to read. He was surprised when he came across a book labeled “slumber 101” he couldn’t help but think why someone would write a book on that kind of subject. As he continued his search he started talking with spike. “So you have met other dragons before?”
Spike scratched the back of his neck and replied “Yeah though the one I met sort of wanted to kill me.”
Marks eyes shot wide at the comment “What?”
“Well I can see how now, I was kind of eating his gems.” Spike replied as he scratched the back of his neck. “How was I supposed to know a cave full of gems could be owned by someone?” Mark smirked and continued to pan through the shelves.
His search was quickly interrupted as twilight got his attention. "Mark I think I found something useful." she said as she levitated a large book over to a nearby pedestal. A silhouette of a unicorn with his horn glowing adorned the cover, the title reading, Magical Energy and U. Mark had to admit the title was a little funny and the author probably couldn’t resist the pun.
Using her magic Twilight flipped through several pages until she stopped at a special section. The section was split into two pages each seeming completely opposite of each other. The outline of the left page had smooth curved lines of blue while the right page had seemly random lines of red running around its edges. Clearing her throat she read the first page out loud, “In the natural world two magic energies constantly exist. Pure/blue energy which is filtered controllable magic. Most magic spells pull in pure energy to form them. In most cases pure energy is easier to control than its counterpart.”
Marks eyes floated down to his bracelet as twilight continued to read. “Chaotic/red energy is considered the opposite of pure energy. Chaotic energy is also known as dark magic for its unfiltered properties. However, chaotic energy is known to be the stronger of the two energies.” Both pages made references to Discord and the elements of harmony neither of which Mark knew about at this point, although the name discord seemed oddly familiar to him.
Twilight looked over at Marks wrist and gestured him closer "Mark let me see your bracelet again."
Mark walked next to Twilight stretching his arm out in front of her. From what he had heard so far the two colours of gems on his bracelet made a little more sense now.
"What if the gems on your bracelet are somehow connected to both sides of the magic spectrum? Imagine the possibilities have having access to both at the same time. But I've never heard of anything like this being made."
Mark looked at his wrist "Wait, are you saying I have access to magic in the palm of my hand...um claw."
"I don't know but whatever this is it has the ability to channel massive amount of magic, and I think something has made a connection to it." Twilight began to reach for another book when a thought occurred to her "Mark at dinner you said you woke up as a dragon what did you mean by that?"
Mark scratched his chin as he thought of how to respond. Lowering his hand to his wrist he explained. "Well i wasn't originally a dragon. I really just found this bracelet today. Apparently it was some sort of family heirloom I got when my uncle past away." He began to move his arms as he continued "So I decided to try it on to see how it would fit and then this strange energy over took me. Next thing you know I am in the middle of a forest in a land of talking ponies."
Twilight rubbed her chin and responded "Oh I see." She paused for second as she took in his explanation "Wait if you became a dragon then what were you before?"
Mark thought for a while on how to explain. From what he had looked up, there were no humans in this world but he had found something close. "Well this might sound strange but I am actually from another universe. We call ourselves humans, mostly imagine me now only without scales and a tale and you come pretty close."
Twilight merely stared forward as she tried to take in the situation. A being from another universe was standing in her library and this being had somehow been transformed into a dragon. She'd never heard of such a spell in all her studies. The dragon could be lying to her but what use would making up such a grand tale serve. On the other hand even with all her studying she couldn't know everything. As her thoughts swam she replied "I've never of such magic before let alone the ability to travel to alternate worlds. I've only see that kind of stuff in comic books and even then it's not very accurate." She paused as she stopped herself from going on into one of her librarian rants. Turning to Mark she continued "I wish I could help you more but I really don't know where to go from here. But i'll keep looking to see if I can find something."
As the night went on twilight and Mark began to exchange facts about each other world. Sometime during the evening Pinkie Pie had brought a cake to welcome Mark to Ponyville. As twilight escorted Pinkie out of the library she glanced at the clock. Noticing the time she looked at Mark and said "Wow, pretty late isn't it."
Mark found himself yawning as he finished the last slice of cake "Yeah I hadn't really noticed."
As Twilight locked the front door for the night she replied "I will just go and set up the spare bed I have. I'll only be a minute."
Before going to bed Mark went to the second floor balcony and looked up at the stars. Despite him being on a completely different world the stars reminded him of home.
Somewhere around midnight his bracelet began to admit a low light. In his mind he began to dream. He stood in a large cave lit by torches that emitted more light than they should have been able to. The room was empty except for a shadowy figure sitting at a desk at the far end. Mark steps echoed through the cave as walked closer to the desk. Mark jumped as the figure stood up and turned to face him. The creature stepped into the light revealing it to be marks dragon form. Its large eyes peered at him with the expression of concern. Clearing its throat it spoke with a deep tone, “We need to talk.”