What Dreams Can Come

Chapters

Chapter 1. Inception
Chapter 2. Awake
Chapter 3. A Sticky Situation
Chapter 4. Santuary

Chapter 1. Inception

The fire giant standing before me pulled his arm back and tossed the giant ball of magma towards me, like a baseball player delivering a fastball. The sphere of molten rock was too slow as it was easy enough to dodge and I didn’t even feel the heat.

I quickly rushed forward to end this with my giant claymore. All I would need was one cut.

I took a moment in my thoughts to admire the size of my opponent and the surrounding landscape. He was easily 100 feet tall with a burly build and clad in a loincloth that looked like it was made of liquid fire. What I think counted for hair looked like a bonfire on his head while his expression had a look of pure fury painted across his rough facial features. I guess he wasn’t happy to see me again.

The surrounding landscape was basically a hellhole with the nearby volcanoes spewing lava and plenty of steam vents releasing their scalding contents sporadically. Not exactly a place you’d want to visit too often.

But enough about the paradise I was currently in, it was time to dispose of a violent fire giant.

Before I could get too close the giant leapt backwards high into the air and landed, causing a tremor that made me stagger and some nearby vents to release their payloads.

He then cried out in rage as he manifested a blazing sword in his right hand while with his left he conjured a fireball as least half his size, and lobbed it at me.

It was too big to dodge at the speed it approached me, so I took a defensive stance, readying my sword across my right shoulder.

My giant claymore began to glow blue with an otherworldly aura as I channeled magic into it. In a few seconds the fireball had nearly reached me while my claymore was now ablaze in blue fire along with electricity crackling across it.

When the flaming sphere of death was so close to me I could feel the heat radiating from its fiery form, I swung my claymore forward, releasing a large swath of magical blue fire that cleaved the opposing fireball in twain, causing it to quickly deform and dissipate.

It was no time to celebrate because the moment the fireball disintegrated I felt the earth tremble behind me. I turned around and found the giant had used his fireball as a distraction to sneak behind and flank me.

He swung his colossal flaming sword down towards me hoping to cut me down where I stood, but fortunately I had just enough time to bring my sword around to block his assault.

The impact of our blades meeting created a violent shock wave that sounded like thunder and sent nearby rocks and debris flying.

Slipping from underneath the giant’s sword I expertly tossed a pellet full of flash powder into his face. The bright light dazed him, causing him to stagger back a bit. Meanwhile, I moved in for the killing blow.

Within mere moments I was close enough to cut a large gash slightly above the right ankle of the monster. The giant cried out in pain whilst counter-attacking with his left foot.

Before he connected I placed my hand on the wound and performed the transfiguration spell. With a loud *pop* the giant was gone and in my hand was an ice cube.

I quickly placed the ice cube in the freezer next to me I had just conjured. It was about seven feet tall and five feet wide, and standing before me like a large door. After placing the ice cube in the freezer and closing it, I turned around and started walking.

After sheathing my claymore a small movement in my left peripheral vision prompted me to stop. I didn’t turn to look at whatever it was directly, but instead focused as well as I could without doing so.

I beheld a man in a very nice business suit. It was the sort that you’d see a Wall Street trader wear in movies. He was about 6’5” with a thick muscular build and his skin was pale as though he spent almost no time outside.

I couldn’t make out his face, but I could at least note that his hair was like a raven’s plumage, a black color with a violet sheen. He was just standing there.

I turned my head towards the stranger without moving the rest of my body. He was no longer where he stood before, but was still in my left peripheral, except closer now.

This time I quickly shifted my entire body in the direction of the stranger while putting a hand on the hilt of my claymore.

Again the man was gone and this time nowhere to be seen even as I made a quick sweep of my surroundings.

Relaxing a bit I decided that I should just get on with my journey. I turned in my desired direction and standing right in front of me was the smartly dressed stranger.

I couldn’t react since I now felt frozen in place as though I was now a statue. As fear gripped me I saw that my earlier assessments about the stranger’s appearance were correct. Additionally, I now could see that this man had a rather masculine face with a fairly square shape, high cheekbones and a wide set jaw. It held a smooth yet roguish quality about it, and a smirk was planted upon his rosy youthful lips.

However, his most striking feature was his eyes. They appeared to be a pale blue and looked as if he held twin moons within them. They seemed as if they held an infinite amount of wisdom within their depths.

Although I couldn’t move I sensed no hostility from him. Finally the stranger spoke in almost a whisper, “Awaken, and ignite the spark within you.”

****

“…Have a nice day.”

My eyes shot open as I found myself where I had been sleeping, which was on a plane in first class. It was early morning, and it appeared that I had just woken after the plane had finally landed in New Zealand.

The flight attendant had just finished announcing our arrival, and I had woken up to only hear the last bit of it. Meanwhile my fellow passengers were starting to make their way towards the exit.

As I followed suit to exit the plane I couldn’t help but reflect on the dream I just had. I’d been having it at least once a week for the last three months. However, the strange man I always meet at the end had been in every dream I’ve had for the last four months. Every time he tells me the same thing before I wake up.

I’ve told some friends and family, but while they agree that it was strange they didn’t think it was anything to worry about. I wasn’t that sure myself, but it wasn’t like I hadn’t had repeatable elements in many different and unrelated dreams. Often having telekinesis in my dreams was pretty cool.

Yet the dream I’d just woken up from was different. In the beginning I couldn’t hear anything the stranger said and only saw his lips move before I woke up. About two months ago I could hear him tell me to wake up. Now I finally heard him say the whole message.

I have no idea what he meant by telling me to 'ignite my spark.' A spark is often a euphemism for potential. Maybe my subconscious was trying to tell me something. It did make me wonder if that would be last time I saw the strange man at the end of my dreams.

Repeat dreams or elements often end after a condition has been met or fulfilled. For example when I finally turned around and beat the monster that was chasing me to a pulp my chasing dreams were never the same, or when I finally found out the steamroller of doom was driven by a rat I never saw it again. Perhaps now that I heard the whole message I wouldn’t see him again.

I guess I’ll find out later. I should just focus on the task at hand now.

At the moment I had just started my self-imposed vacation. Last year it was a trip down part of the Amazon River and almost getting attacked by piranhas. This year I decided on New Zealand. Mainly because I really wanted to take a tour of Hobbiton, the place they filmed The Shire in the Lord of the Rings series. There were other things I planned to do as well such as hiking, camping and a myriad of other things, but going to the Hobbiton movie set was my first stop.

Making my way into the terminal I got to the area I planned to meet my ride to The Green Dragon Inn where I would be staying for a few days. I was looking forward to trying their custom brewed cider and non-alcoholic ginger beer. I didn’t really drink anything alcoholic. The idea didn’t really appeal to me since I liked being in full control of my faculties. Additionally I wanted to stay healthy as long possible. I would go with being alive and healthy forever if it were an option. I hope someday it will be.

I had been waiting for my ride for a few minutes, but it didn’t seem like it was here yet. I decided to do another sweep of the numerous chauffeurs holding up various people’s names once more.

My ride didn’t seem to be there at the moment. Perhaps he was delayed. With nothing else to do at the moment I decided to just explore the terminal.

While ignoring any gift shops and restaurants I eventually spotted someone I never thought I’d see. Right there along one of the hallways was the man from my dreams. He had the same light complexion, same pale blue eyes and the same black hair with a violet sheen. However, he was dressed slightly different with a casual grey suit.

At the moment he seemed to be levitating a fifty pound dumbbell above his right hand while a billboard on a stand next to him said, ‘Come See the Amazing Hypnos and His Physics Defying Feats of Magic and Wonder.’

I was sure I hadn’t seen him just moments ago. How could I have missed him? No one has hair like that. The violet sheen on a raven’s feathers is caused by their nanostructure causing the light to refract in a certain manner. Human hair just can’t do that. Sure we can get crazy colors, but unless there had been a recent nanotech invention in hair dye what I was looking at shouldn’t be possible. I’m pretty sure I would know about it since I keep up with as much nanotechnology news as feasible.

Nobody else seemed to even be glancing towards the guy. This was certainly peculiar considering the spectacle he was making.

Deciding to approach the man I greeted him in the normal fashion, “Hello, my name is Dante. Nice trick you got going there.”

“My name is Hypnos,” he responded in a genteel manner while putting forth his hand, which I met in a handshake. I couldn’t help but notice that the dumbbell was still floating where it was before he put forth his hand. There didn’t seem to be anything holding it up as far as I could tell.

“It’s nice to meet you face to face,” he said with what seemed a mischievous grin as though he had just told a hilarious inside joke. If I tossed out all logic that might be the case.

“So is Hypnos your stage name, or your real name? It sounds familiar. I feel as if I’ve read it somewhere.”

“It’s my real name. It’s Greek.”

“Greek? Hmm, I’m pretty Hypnos is the root word for hypnosis correct?”

“You would be correct, but I’m sure you’re not here to just talk about names right?”

“No,” but something about his name felt off now. Hypnosis was an induced trance, and a synonym of trance is sleep. Digging around my memory now I’m pretty sure that Hypnos was a Greek god, and going with how Hypnos is the root for hypnosis I’m pretty sure it was the Greek god of sleep to be precise. I’m definitely going to Google that name now. I've read a lot of Greek mythos, but no story he was in instantly springs to mind.

So if his name is that of the Greek god of sleep, and I’m ninety-nine percent sure I met him, or someone that looks like him, in my dreams, what does that mean?

Before I could finish my train of thought Hypnos interrupted, “Are you alright?”

“Oh. Sorry, I was lost in thought for a moment there.”

“It’s fine.”

“I can’t help but ask. Would you mind if I handled the weight you’re levitating?” I had a suspicion for how it worked, but I doubted he would let me touch it.

“Of course not. Go ahead and take it.”

“Um, okay.” Reaching out I grabbed the bar on the dumbbell and pulled it towards me. It didn’t seem to weigh anything at first, but after a few seconds it gradually got heavier until it was definitely fifty pounds of weight I was handling.

“Pretty amazing right?” he asked in a giddy manner. It was like he was dying to tell me a secret of some sort, such as how the trick worked.

“Yes,” I responded in a slightly apprehensive tone while handing him the weight. He just took it and casually tossed it back to position it was in moments ago. One thing is for sure. This man had my attention.

“That’s nothing. Check this out.” He pointed to the cardboard sign that advertised his show. To my utter astonishment the letters began rearranging themselves into different words until they spelled out, ‘Would You Like to Ignite Your Spark? If So, You Must Do So In Equestria. Would You Like to Go There?’

Wait what? What kind of question was that? The only thing I could think it would refer to was the land where My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic takes place. Sure I watched the show and considered myself a brony, but that still wouldn’t that account for the display before me?

“That’s not…,” I slowly uttered.

“...possible? Oh, it is. The question now is: what will you do?”

I was a little taken aback at this. Giving a nervous chuckle I thought that I could either just walk away and always wonder, ‘What if,’ or actually accept this strange offer from the man that haunted my dreams. Okay, reality was seriously starting to break down here.

“There’s no rush. Take your time,” he snickered a bit at this.

I was already planning a three-month vacation at the moment. If I could go to Equestria for this I would. I couldn’t think of a better place for a vacationing anyway, but the idea of going to a place with magic was pretty appealing as well. Meeting the characters of the show would also be awfully sweet.

Still staring at the billboard I finally replied, “All right. Fine. I would like to go to Equestria. If it were possible.” Well that’s it then. Now I find out, ‘What if’.

“You’d be surprised at what’s possible.”

I looked back into Hypnos’ eyes. It was just like in my dream. Only this time his eyes were glowing like the full moon and swirled as twin vortexes.

My mind was in a stupor trying to process what was happening as Hypnos seemingly gazed into my soul while I couldn’t seem to look away. “Bon voyage,” he declared, and my world turned black.

Author's Note

Fun Facts: The dream at the beginning is based on one I actually had, albeit with a giant the size of a Mount Everest and in a world that might as well have been a sun.

It's also impossible to outrun a steamroller if you can't run faster than molasses.

(Taking some feedback from a reader I decided to redo parts of this chapter. Mainly it was that Hypnos had barely any characterization. I had to change the entire approach, but now I feel it's a lot better. I hope you guys do too.)

Chapter 2. Awake

A very apparent discomfort permeated my body. A sort of tingling and restlessness that demanded I start moving. I opened my eyes to find myself staring at a stone ceiling, while moving my hands a bit to discover I was lying on a stone floor. Well, that explains why I’m so uncomfortable.

With my eyes open I found something looked off with my nose. Or rather, in this case, you would call it a snout. It most certainly wasn’t human. I soon realized everything about my body felt different.

I quickly sat up to get a better look at myself. I seemed to be reptilian and covered in scales, which I almost thought were black but turned out to be more of a navy blue. Examining my hands and feet they looked to be claws. Only now I just had three fingers and a thumb.

I was beginning to feel a slight panic set in. “What the?!” After losing my composure for a moment I took a deep breath to calm down a bit and then recounted my situation. “Okay, so I got off the plane, and met that strange man named Hypnos I saw in my dreams. I sort of wish this was a dream, but it feels too real.”

I took a moment to consider myself more fully after positioning my legs Indian style. My body was proportioned nearly the same at what I had before, which was lean and muscular but still humanoid. Although it was still a little weird since I had no belly button on my abdomen. Now it was only smooth scales and muscle.

There was a loincloth around my waist, but after giving myself a brief examination I found it wasn’t really necessary because I was now like a lizard: retractable. The loincloth color was a dark earthy red, but I couldn’t tell what the loincloth was made of.

I also had large wings and a tail, and I took a minute to get a feel for the muscles in my new appendages. The unfamiliar sensations coming from my new limbs felt bizarre, and the tail felt like having an extra arm or leg, only a lot more flexible. I’m glad no one was around to see me slap myself with my new tail as I got used to moving it.

The wings were a little harder to get the hang of, but I was eventually able to flap them around a bit. I guess I can fly. Or at least I’ll learn to fly. Maybe my situation isn’t so bad if I can at least do that. Where am I anyway?

Taking stock of my surroundings, it seemed I was in a large grey chamber that was rectangular, and about a hundred square feet. There were words all along the walls in Latin along with the occasional arcane looking symbol. I had taken Latin in high school along with a friend of mine, so I could read bits and pieces of it. The language wasn’t that useful, but it was fun to learn and made reading Harry Potter again more interesting.

In each corner of the room, and in the middle of each wall to my sides, there was a glowing white orb that just floated. They gave off a pure white radiance that provided light for the chamber.

On one end of the chamber was a set of metal doors and on the other was a large circular mirror. Its framing was a silver colored metal, which completely surrounded the mirror. The framing was attached a stand made of the same material. The stand itself was anchored to a small dais attached to the floor.

Reminds me of that big mirror in one of the Zelda games.

The mirror itself was completely smooth, and there markings along the metal frame.

I decided to go examine it, so I picked myself up from my sitting position and stood up. I almost fell over as I did this. My legs and feet were structured differently than what I had before. Having a tail was also an issue, and I found I was taller. Where before I was and even 6’ I guessed I was now about 6’6” or 6’7”. I couldn’t be sure since I didn’t have any way to measure myself, and not only that I didn’t know the size of the place I was in. I could actually be giant, and I was in a truly colossal chamber, but that was unlikely. Then again waking up a different species then you were before was unlikely as well.

After steadying myself I examined my whole frame. My body was nearly proportional to a tall human athlete, so about what I was before, except with added height. My wings looked to be about seven to eight feet in diameter when open. My tail was about three and a half feet long reaching slightly above my raised ankles.

A peculiar thing that I noted was that I seemed to have what would be described as a cartoon outline. I brought one of my arms right to my eyes to see if was just a trick of the light, but it didn’t change that it still had an outline. How is that possible? Either the physics that govern light have changed, or my brain processes photons differently now.

Glancing at the mirror I saw that it too had an outline. I wished that I had the resources to find the answer to why that was, but there were more important things to do at the moment. Like trying to walk.

Looking at my feet showed I had three large claws where my toes once were, and a smaller claw further back. I was standing on the front of my feet with my ankles in the air, and it felt uncomfortable to try to force the ankles down. In fact when I tried I lost my balance and ended up in a heap on the floor.

After picking myself off the floor and standing up again I took a few tentative steps. It felt awkward at first since I had to account for my tail as well as get used to my leg and foot structure, but I eventually got the hang of it.

Making calculated steps I made my way towards the mirror. I was about one foot in front of it when I stopped. Looking into the mirror now I tried to determine what I was.

My face was definitely what you would call draconic, and my eyes were the color of gold. They almost looked like they were glowing, but it was really just the lighting. My pupils were slitted, and I had two horns protruding from the back of my head.

I stuck out my tongue to find it was much like a lizard’s, and I could taste the air. That was going to take getting used to. Of course it was just another things in my already odd quandary. My teeth were also clearly carnivorous.

Am I supposed to be a dragon? I don’t think so since I seem too anthropomorphic, but it's probably the case.

I finally took a good look at the mirror’s metal frame. It too had Latin written on it like the walls did. Part of it basically said stuff about delving into the mind. I didn’t examine the rest of it as I felt there was more pressing matters to attend to, and I could always look at it later.

The first issue was where exactly was I? I had said I wanted to go to Equestria. So was that where I was? In that case I would now consider my situation as awesome, however sudden it may have been.

Did that mean I was dragon from the show? Likely, but I’ll just have to see.

I turned around and made my way across the chamber and up to the metal doors. They weren’t made of any metal I’d ever seen before and were dark crimson. Pushing them didn’t seem to get a response. So I pushed a little harder for a few seconds and still nothing. Wait, I’m not falling for one of the oldest mistakes in the book am I? Taking a look at the hinges on each door I easily surmised that I was supposed to be pulling.

I quickly did a big facepalm. I just know it’s going to be one of those days now, isn’t it.

Now actually pulling, with a little effort, I got one of the doors open. I wonder how strong I am now? These doors look like they weigh a freaking ton, but I can’t really gauge that completely since the hinges lessen the weight by a large margin. Magic also might factor into this somewhere.

Looking out past what I now knew was the entrance to a single roomed structure; I beheld what seemed to be an elaborate cave. It was completely dark except for the light that bled out of the building I was in.

Retreating back into the chamber I made my way over to examine one of the light sources in the corner to the right of me. It was a sphere that seemed to be made of diamond. I couldn’t be sure, as it could’ve also been a kind of crystal. It was suspended mid air next to a string of words along with some symbols set in the wall.

The words were Latin, and it talked about siphoning energy from the sphere. Perhaps the arcane symbols also facilitated that. Evidently the orbs weren’t just lighting fixtures but also power sources for the structure, or at least facilitated with that.

I gingerly grabbed the orb in my left hand, or now claw in this case. Oddly, it wasn’t hot or even warm. It felt like a gemstone and pretty solid, but was completely smooth to the touch. It fit perfectly in my palm, and was about the size of a baseball. It didn’t feel like it weighed anything either.

Tossing the orb a bit in my hand it didn’t come back down, but rather suspended itself at the apex of the toss. This should be useful. At least I have a light source, and can find my way out of the cave I’m in.

I held the orb as I made my way back through the open door and stepped out into the cavern.

After walking a few feet I turned around to examine the building I was just in. My eyes widened as I examined it. First off, it was covered in faintly glowing words and symbols. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to be discernible. Sort of like a flashlight on its last few moments of life.

Second, the walls were completely smooth. It wasn’t like it was all cut from the same stone, but rather melted and poured into a mold. It wasn’t concrete either since concrete has easily discernible marring and texture. The edifice before me was instead what could best be described as flawless. Well, except for what was carved into it.

The walls were the same grey color of the interior, which I took a moment to scrutinize further. It turned out the interior was just as immaculate. I suppose I didn’t notice since the carvings nearly obscured that fact, and I was a little distracted earlier.

Leaving the orb suspended in the air I went to take a closer look at the outside walls and door. The doors as well as the walls of the building had Latin and other symbols carved elegantly into them similar to the inside of the building. The gist from what I examined was basically stuff about protection, preservation and concealment.

Wait, concealed? Does that mean the structure should be invisible or camouflaged in some way to just look like the back of the cave or something. Why can I see it?

Studying the section for concealment a few more moments I found a symbol that looked like four arrowheads surrounded by four bigger arrowheads. It seemed familiar to me.

Searching through my memories for a few seconds I realized where I’d seen it. It didn’t seem possible, but then again my whole situation was pretty improbable.

It’s the symbol of the Dragonkin from Gielinor. How would that be here if this is supposed to be Equestria?

The Dragonkin were a race of incredibly powerful draconic humanoids created by an elder god named Jas. They actually created the regular dragons on Gielinor, but were far more powerful than their creations. In fact they were probably the strongest race that ever set foot on Gielinor. They couldn’t die of age or disease, but could be killed, although this was extremely difficult. However, they were also completely infertile, which was why they experimented and eventually spawned dragons.

Studying the section with the Dragonkin symbol once more I found that the building wouldn’t be hidden from whatever race the symbol represented.

I wonder if the symbol was being used as shorthand of some kind. Either the intention of what race they meant could be imbued into whatever enchantments was on the glowing symbol, or maybe there was a section among the thousands of words and symbols that basically said let x = Dragonkin where x is the Dragonkin symbol.

That would be pretty cool. I had a degree in computer science along with my degree in business. Perhaps there is type of programming that uses magic, or I could just invent it.

At this thought I just burst out laughing, and nearly lost my balance again. I’m who knows where in, supposedly, Equestria, and I’m already thinking of ways to improve or expound on what is, apparently, some sophisticated enchantments.

That still begs the question of why a Dragonkin structure would be in Equestria. Then again, they could travel to different realms. It’s highly doubtful any of them are still here, but I hope not. Most weren’t very friendly, and that’s putting it mildly for what could better be described as murderous. At least the first ones that were known.

As for now, I need to get my bearings. There wasn’t anything here but the building I woke up in. The back wall of structure was hugging a dead end, with about seven feet of space between its sidewalls and the walls of the cave, so I couldn’t go that way.

The only available path out seemed to be the tunnel opposite the metal doors.

Therefore, after grabbing my floating orb, I made my way towards what I hoped was the way out.

Had I known what I was heading towards I would have stayed put.

Chapter 3. A Sticky Situation

After retrieving my orb of light I started making my way through the cave while guessing at where I might emerge.

If I truly was in Equestria there was only so many places I knew of. I could be in a cave within the Everfree Forest, making me very close to Ponyville itself. But, I could just as likely be within the deepest parts of the catacombs beneath Canterlot.

I laughed at how casually I had just referred to near legendary landmarks in Brony fandom that I might actually now get to visit in reality.

I abruptly interrupted my jovial attitude to consider my serious predicament. I guess I’m excited that I’m here and all, but shouldn’t I also be scared, or at least wary? Equestria isn’t exactly all roses and sunshine. There are dangerous aspects to it as well.

Letting out a sigh I kept my internal dialogue going as I continued navigating the cave. So what is the best first course of action? First I need to find out where I am, which I’m working on. Then I need to get the basic necessities since I have absolutely no resources, so food, water and shelter is needed. Does that mean I’ll have to hunt since I’m pretty much a carnivore? I hope Dragonkin are at least slightly omnivorous. Their diet was another unknown in the game. I guess I’ll just find out soon enough.

These things didn’t even cover what I would do once I got the essentials out of the way. It was likely I would be here for a very long time, if not forever. There were just so many things I could think to do, but another question was, why was I sent here?

Since sending me here wasn’t just random, but obviously premeditated, there had to be a reason or agenda for it, and if so, what? There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch, so it most likely will cost me in some way.

Who exactly was Hypnos anyway? A god? He certainly proved he had it in him by changing my species and sending me to another world. Then again he could easily be a wizard from a dungeons and dragons universe, but who’s to say? Hopefully I’ll eventually get answers to these questions, but for now it wasn’t my top priority.

I spent the next twenty minutes hiking at a slow cautious pace and making a mental list of what I could do once I didn’t have to worry about survival. Things like researching magic, which would be awesome, and what I might do for money and other resources.

The cavern kept curving left and right every so often, but the path never split. It had the characteristics of a primary cave, which is a cave formed along with the surrounding rock. There was the occasional crystal formation on the ceiling or wall, but not many other features.

At least there weren’t until I arrived at a large chamber that revealed a sizable underground lake. It seemed pretty deep, as the light from my orb didn’t penetrate it enough to reveal the bottom.

It also smelled like something lived here or at least in the water. Nothing I could recognize as I was still getting used to my enhanced nose and tongue. The best way I would describe it would be: murky. Like the smell of a fish tank occupied by a shark.

I was now wary to approach too close. I didn’t want to find out if a monster lived in it the hard way since I didn’t know how I would defend myself from something like that.

This thought put learning how to breathe fire as one of my essentials. Dragonkin could supposedly also create it with their hands, but that would probably be more difficult to learn.

I was far from defenseless at the moment because I now had claws along with my years of training in martial arts. I would still need to retrain quite a lot because of my new body. Nevertheless, it was just good sense to not get myself in a situation I didn’t know how to handle.

There was a good fifteen feet of space between the path, which whipped around a corner about a hundred feet away, and the lake. With the thoughts of water beasts plaguing my mind I placed my orb within the folds of my left wing. Since the orb was weightless, and would go where I pushed, this wasn’t too cumbersome. My actions doused the light it emitted to near pitch black, but there was just enough light for me to make out the wall.

To ensure the least disturbance, I tentatively walked to the other the exit of the chamber. Within a couple yards of the exit I heard a slight splash and I froze in step. I waited a few moments, but surprisingly nothing happened and I made my way to the exit.

After entering the tunnel I retrieved my orb from my back to illuminate my surroundings while still staring in the direction of the lake to ensure I was still in the clear. Another splash was heard and I caught some movement, but nothing broke the surface.

Now I was getting justifiably paranoid. I reluctantly turned around to discover I was in a small tunnel with a fissure in the ceiling at the end of it. This was obviously not the official exit, but I wasn’t going to complain.

There was a smaller path that branched near the hovel I was currently in, but there was only about five feet of space between the wall and the lake along long stretches of it. Now it was either risk a monster attack or find out if the fissure led anywhere.

When I got to the fissure I looked up to find that it led to what seemed like even more caves. Wonderful!

The fissure was narrow enough that there would be little chance of me falling while climbing it, and it only went up about 15 or 20 feet.

I was no stranger to climbing fissures as I’d been spelunking before, and had even grown up exploring many of the rocks and small caves in the hills near my home.

Though there was a strange buzzing noise that seemed to come from the caves I was going to climb up to. The buzzing noise wasn’t very loud, but it was distinct. It sounded like a wild bees nest, which would mean an exit. If there were bees I certainly didn’t like the idea of being stung. Could Dragonkin, or even just dragons, be stung? That was unlikely given the toughness of their hides.

Once again I held my orb with my wing in order to free up my hands. I adjusted it under my wing until the light was muffled to the point that I could now see that something was illuminating the chambers above me. Perhaps it meant I was close to the official exit, but I wasn’t too sure since it didn’t look like daylight.

I spent a few more minutes inspecting the fissure to determine the safest area to climb. Luckily the fissure was also situated against the wall so it wasn’t too difficult to navigate up to it once I started my climb, and having claws helped make up for my lack of equipment.

My progress was slow, but methodical, as I didn’t want to risk slipping. I felt a nagging feeling in the back of my head when I got about halfway up the fissure. Why is that buzzing bothering me so much? No, it’s not the buzzing. I feel like I’ve forgotten to remember something. Is it the buzzing? Is the buzzing supposed to be familiar? Why do I feel like I’m holding the idiot ball right now!?

I decided whatever was bothering me would have to wait, as I needed to focus on safely scaling the fissure. Obviously, the buzzing increased in intensity the higher I went.

It actually only took about five minutes of climbing before I dragged myself up into the other cave system. The buzzing noise was a lot louder now, but still distant.

Surveying my surroundings, I saw that these caves were covered with green phosphorescent lines that seemed to pulse like blood veins. It all seemed built and maintained, and the path diverged several time into different tunnels the farther I looked. Peering behind me I saw that the situation was the same in that direction as well.

It reminded me of an ant farm I once had, or those termite mounds in Africa. Only now, it was big enough to walk through. Wait, did that mean I would encounter giant termites?

Just then I heard one of the buzzing noises get closer. I turned around and out of one of the offshoot tunnels a changeling flew out. For what reason it was here at this moment I’ll never know. All I could think was, I’m in a changeling hive! I knew I was holding the idiot ball just now! What other creature makes that noise that I know of in Equestria? Nothing, that’s what!

While I was thinking all that I also came to the conclusion that standing still and hoping I wouldn’t be noticed wouldn’t work, as it seemed the changeling spotted me immediately and started approaching me in an aggressive manner. Most likely because of the faint light my orb was giving off under my wing.

At this point jumping down the fissure might get me injured since I didn’t know my limits yet, and I also didn’t want to likely encounter an unknown monster. Instead I decided to take the brilliant action of running the opposite direction.

I fell several times, as I hadn’t had a chance to practice running, yet somehow the changeling didn’t catch up to me. However, it was still tailing me.

I wasn’t yelling yet as I knew that would only attract more changelings. I just hoped I would reach an exit soon enough before a swarm was on me.

I didn’t run into any of the offshoot tunnels as I was hoping the one I was on would take me to an exit since it was larger and most likely a main tunnel. It at least was curving slightly upward.

After about two minutes of running I finally saw the exit, along a whole squadron of changelings blocked it. Turning around I also saw that a squadron had joined my pursuer. I had been herded.

Well life is really a bouquet of roses right now isn’t it? Two choices now, which is either surrender or try to break out of here. I didn’t like the odds but…

Quickly grabbing my light orb from the folds of my wing, I rushed at the squadron blocking the exit screaming, “Freedom!”

They started shooting volleys of green light at me. I dodged most of them by the skin of my teeth until one finally hit me. It felt like getting hit with Ping-Pong ball while wearing body armor. Might as well have been tossing air at me.

Obviously the spells were meant to do a lot more damage, but I was heavily resistant. After all, draconic beings are supposed to be highly resilient to magical attacks. With this in mind I started just making a beeline for the exit while ignoring the magical assault, which was really just an annoyance.

Finally reaching the first line of changelings I tried to barrel through them like a linebacker while swiping at them with the claw in my free hand. I clipped one on the wings, but the rest just flew towards the ceiling. The ones in the back then transformed into manticores of all things.

The other squadron had caught up now so either I try to jump over the manticore changelings, and hope I don’t get mauled, or finally surrender. I wished I had learned to fly, or just breathe fire. Hopefully necessity would be the mother of invention right now.

Using the momentum I had already gained I sprung into the air while spreading my wings. I seemed to start gliding over the manticore changelings, and thought I was home free. Unfortunately the one below me did an impressive leap of its own, boosted by its wings, and swatted me out of sky into the cold hard dirt, knocking the wind out of me.

It seemed it would take a whole lot more to knock me out, but that really didn’t register at the moment because I was now roiling on the ground in agony.

The changeling that swatted me caught me completely by surprise so that I didn’t even blink when it hammered me into the earth. As such it had gouged both of my eyes, so I was busy wallowing in pain with my eyes slowly bleeding out onto my face. It hardly mattered that my face itself didn’t even have a scratch on it. Eyes were just too vulnerable no matter what you were.

As some adrenaline kicked in to dull the pain I finally realized I was probably surrounded, and really only had one logical option at the moment. After putting my orb, which surprisingly I had held on to, back underneath my wing, I held up my hands in the universal sign of surrender.

The changelings seemed to understand my meaning as I felt something grab both my arms, which soon began leading me to where I assumed was back into the hive. I didn’t resist at all since that would most likely just get me killed.

Surprisingly, they didn’t take the orb from me. But that was barely a small comfort since all I knew how to use it for was lighting, and now I was most likely blind.

I had already tried opening my eyes, and I saw nothing but darkness before shutting them again. I had no idea if they would recover at all or even how much damage was inflicted.

Now all I could really do was stew in my own thoughts as they marched me to what was most likely a prison of some sort. How did this happen? Why did this all go so wrong? Why did I end up in the worst possible place I can think of?

Was this supposed to be some kind of test? Throw me into the lion’s den and see if I make it out alive? What kind of sick game is Hypnos playing at!? It finally dawned on me that this really might be just a game to him, and I was his pawn.

So I now knew part of his agenda. Making sure I can survive in the worst situations and putting me through a refiners fire so to speak.

At least I was alive, so that counted for something. I just wish I had spent the time to at least learn to breathe fire. Even just pressing my offensive earlier probably would have worked. Unfortunately, hindsight is 20/20. “Oh, well,” I sighed in defeat.

I sensed a reaction from the changelings from my quiet ‘outburst’. They probably were just wondering what I was referring to. I almost thought to try and strike up a conversation, but it didn’t seem like that would make much of a difference at this point.

Deciding to occupy my time at least in a constructive manner I began tasting the air as I had before. It was strange since I could still smell with my nose, but what I could sense with my tongue felt similar yet completely different.

For example with my nose I could smell that it was dry, but with my tongue I could taste the humidity in the air, and pinpoint the odors I picked up with my nose. At least that’s the best way I can describe it.

I could also feel the vibrations coming from the flying changelings surrounding me with my scales, although it was very subtle. It felt strange that I could actually tell that I was surrounded rather than just flanked, but without practice I could hardly tell how many, or what their positions were and such.

I kept testing what senses I had left to see how I could use them to navigate in case I would never see again. A very morbid way to look at it, but if that was the case I needed to start practicing.

My hearing was better than when I was human, so that was a plus. Combining my hearing with my other senses I was beginning to have an understanding of what they could tell me.

I could feel many different vibrations with my feet, but it would take practice before I could interpret the sensations in order to tell such things as direction, number and size.

As I mentioned earlier my sense of smell with both my nose and tongue were now a lot more acute. For example I could tell which direction the changelings were in. The changelings, by the way, did not smell very pleasant. It was like that strong smell you get from squishing a black ant on your finger.

Getting a feel for the airflow coming through the tunnel was a little more difficult. Normally our bodies filter out such sensations since it’s not important or necessary, but now I needed every advantage I could grasp. After a few minutes I could tell that there were several changelings in from of me that were flying because of the disturbance in the air their wings created.

Perhaps if I can practice enough I can eventually create a decent picture of my surroundings. I wonder if you can sense magic? Ah, who am I kidding. I don’t know the first think about magic here, much less sensing it. Maybe I have to do some sort of special meditation?

I continued practicing until I felt that we had entered a large chamber because the air moved and spread out more while the buzzing noise echoed farther. I also smelled something different other than the changelings.

They moved me towards one of the walls while I heard some of them prepping an object I could only guess at. It sounded like they were opening a gooey membrane of some sort, which I soon found out was pretty accurate.

I felt myself being lifted off the ground and unceremoniously tossed into what felt like sticky high fructose corn syrup. I quickly sank as I realized it could only be one of those changeling sacks that they keep their captives in.

Within moments I was completely submerged and started to panic. I had no way to breathe. I started to thrash around. Whatever opening it once had was already sealed, and any impact I tried to make in the shell was completely slowed down by the slime I was engulfed in.

I tried clawing my way out, but it didn’t seem to have an effect from what I could tell. It felt like trying to cut water. Most likely as soon as I made a dent it sealed back up. If there was a way to break out I didn’t have enough time to figure it out before I drowned.

I could barely think straight, but I at least managed, I guess this is it. Death by drowning. What a way to go, and on my first day in Equestria too.

Finally giving in to the urge that I knew would kill me I gaped in a mouthful of viscous fluids. Oddly it brought relief instead of pain. I started breathing the surrounding liquid in earnest until my panic subsided.

It felt odd, and it reminded of that liquid oxygen they used in that movie The Abyss. Turns out that was real science. Was this magic instead of science, or some glorious combination of both?

I didn’t get to dwell on that thought for very long because I could feel myself becoming drowsy. Of course it’s going to send me into a magic induced coma of some sort. Will I ever wake up?

That was all I could manage before my body embraced a deep slumber.

Chapter 4. Santuary

It’s a strange transition, going from awake to slipping directly into a dream. I’ve had it happen before a few times, but it’s a rare occurrence. You just close your eyes and things become lucid while your body feels like it’s falling through the bed. Then the images you were simply imagining moments before come into you vision’s focus and before you know it you’re completely inside a dream.

As I said, it’s a little strange.

This is sort of what happened to me when I succumbed to the induced sleep from the liquid I had to breathe in order to survive. It felt like I just left my body and went through the floor, if that’s what was under me that is.

Gone was the oppressive sensation of surrounding goo, and instead I felt like I had landed on a smooth marble surface.

Opening my eyes I found I could see, and it wasn’t anything I would expect. I was in a small square white room about the size of a lobby. On one wall was a door with gold decorations on it, but other than that there was only one more feature in the room.

In the middle of the room was a stand made of dark green jade, and on top of it was a reddish brown leather bound book. The stand was facing away from me so I couldn’t really tell much other than that.

It was clear to me this wasn’t a normal dream. For starters I knew I wasn’t conscious, and felt as if I had simply walked into a room in the waking world. That is, I didn’t have any weird dream logic start giving me a reason for why I was there, and I was aware of every bit of my faculties.

Speaking of which, I was also still a Dragonkin. Just another reason I knew something bizarre was going on.

With curiosity spurring me on I walked over to the stand to examine the book.

The outline of the cover had indented leafy designs, and on the front was leaf gold in cursive font. The words were in Latin, which read ‘Libro Omnia.’ A rough translation would be ‘The Book of All,’ or ‘The Book of Everything.’ A little odd since it wasn’t that big. Only about as large as a ‘For Dummies’ book, which is pretty big, but certainly not big enough to fit everything in it. A computer would have made more sense. Then again, my whole situation really make sense.

The book and stand made me think of what you would find in a wizard’s library.

I proceeded to attempt opening the book. There was no lock, but it felt like the entire thing was glued together. After a few moments of futile effort the leafy designs, as well as the title, started glowing a bluish hue.

I took my hands off it as if it was a hot potato. A voice then emanated from the book and said, “You’re not ready to read me yet.”