Project DracoBreaf

Chapters

Chapter 1: Right Now
Chapter 2: Noodle Soup
Chapter 3: The Project
Chapter 4: A Mission
Chapter 5: Unexpectedness
Chapter 6: Complete and Utter Darkness
Chapter 7: Disciplinary Action

Chapter 1: Right Now

It was right in the middle of flight class. I was sitting there, at my desk, with a bored expression as I listened to an uptight, bold, expressive mare teaching us all the different ways to fly. On the chalkboard, there were flight patterns along the lines of loop-de-loops, barrel rolls, aileron rolls, all different kinds of flying tricks. Now, of course, I knew that maybe with a bit of practice, I could maybe get those flight patterns down in time.

But perfecting flight patterns was not at all what I was interested in. I was interested in everything dragons. There was just something about them that raised my curiosity to insane levels whenever I thought about them. The way they flew, the way they fed, the way they celebrate tradition, everything about dragons, I was just yearning to learn about. I didn't fear dragons so much as I wanted to know more about them.

Right as I was daydreaming about dragons, I heard the teacher call out "'Scuse me, 'guy-who-likes-dragons!'" in a cynical manner. Right after she said that, the class burst out giggling at her remark.

Shocked at the sudden turn of events, I replied with a "Yeah? What's up?," trying to ignore all the giggling students.

"You apparently have a 'pre-arranged absence' today."

I became confused. I wasn't told of any pre-arranged absences before I got to class. "Does it say when?" I asked, trying not to cause any more disruption.

The teacher looked at the pass, then said "It just says... right now."

"Okay then! Guess I'm outta here!" I replied before quietly taking the pass, and leaving the classroom. That's odd. I thought to myself. Am I going to a dentist appointment, or something?

I made it into the office, and began trotting up to the paper. "Sir, no trotting in the office." one of the secretaries said in a firm, yet calm tone as to not cause more disturbance.

"Oh, sorry about that." I embarrassingly replied as I quickly stopped trotting and started walking.

When I got to the desk where the sign-off paper was, the pony there asked "Do you have a pass?"

I swiftly replied "Yes, yes i do." as I took out the excused absence pass I was given earlier.

He looked at the pass with confusion. "Right now? And it's in all caps, bold handwriting?" He said as he hoofed me back the pass.

With a smile, I replied "Must be important. I bet that pass was sent by the princess."

"Heh. I doubt it. Can't be that important, ya know?" He replied with a small giggle. "Go ahead 'n sign it, bud." I dabbed my hoof in a jar of ink next to the signing paper, then placed my ink-covered hoof in the little square on the sheet of paper. When you can't use magic, you gotta find some way to sign a paper.

I then left the cloud-structured building. I looked around for my ride out of here to find an incredibly fancy carriage, pulled by two royal guards. They were having a conversation with each-other. One of the guards looked and saw me. He then said "Hey! Are you that pony we were sent to pick up?"

Looking around to find nopony else was in the area, I replied "I-I guess so?" in a clumsily scared manner.

"Come in! The princess needs to see you!"

Wait a second, what? I thought as I held back the most insane burst of laughter I would've ever been able to pull off. I joked that the princess needed to see me earlier, but I never would've thought that actually was what happened. I'm not an element, I'm not a student of the princess, I'm not even a unicorn! Never the less, I nervously walked onto the carriage and sat down.

"Okay, kid. Sit tight" one of the guards said. Both guards then started building up speed by galloping and flapping their wings. Eventually, we started to lift off the clouds. The carriage went downwards, away from Cloudsdale.

As we kept flying, we approached a place I only ever saw in books and film: Canterlot. It was built along the side of an incredibly large rock, almost a mountain. Despite it's location, it looked incredibly stable, like it had been there for decades, and wasn't going to fall anytime soon. As we got closer, I also saw that Canterlot was the fanciest town I had ever seen, with many of the ponies there wearing monocles, fancy suits, beautiful dresses, and other accessories that would normally be considered "too expensive" where I come from.

I was awestruck at the aesthetic value of the city. I asked the guards "How does the town sustain itself like this? It all looks amazing!"

One of them simply replied with "It's the magic that makes things work, my friend."

Of course, I thought in a disappointed tone, Of course they use magic to make this.

Just then, one of the guards yelled out "Permission to land!" incredibly loudly, to the point where I jumped in shock.

I could barely hear a guard down by what looked to be a runway we were approaching yell "Permission granted!" We then came in for the landing, and slowly made our way down to the runway.

Once we got all the way down and came to a complete stop, the guards said "Well, here's your stop. That guard over there will escort you to the princess." as he proceeded to point his hoof to a guard standing by a gate. I made my way to the gate, and gulped out of nervousness. I had never seen the princess in person, much less talked to her. What is she going to do? Did I do something? Is my passion to study dragons this concerning? I had never thought about it closely until now, and I became terrified as to what she could do.

As a guard escorted me through the hallways, I looked around to find that the inside of the castle was probably the most fancy thing in all of Equestria. I was simply awestruck at all the chandeliers, windows, carpeting, and everything else these hallways had to offer. The only ponies roaming the halls, for the most part, were guards patrolling, making sure nobody broke in to steal something. I continued walking, and saw the guard escorting me make a sharp turn to the right. Ahead, I saw a large, purple gate, covered in gems, minerals, and other aesthetic materials, making it clearly a door to someone worth respecting.

Speaking of which, the guard and I headed straight for the door, with no hesitation. The guard seemed on top of things. I, on the other hand, was sweating and shivering like crazy. I was so nervous to go up and see the princess, I honest to Celestia could've fainted. Finally, we got to the door.

The guard knocked on the door, and after some muffled voices on the other end, he said "Yes, your highness. We have the pony whom you've wanted to see for the past few days now." After that, a giant, yellow aura faded in around the giant, gem covered doors, making a glistening sound, and slowly, they opened. I thought to myself This is gonna *suck.*** as the doors finally opened enough to see what was ahead.

Chapter 2: Noodle Soup

I then saw just how large the room ahead was. If I thought the hallways were huge, I hadn't seen anything yet. At the end was a large throne, and sitting on it was Princess Celestia. The Princess Celestia. The very pony that ruled Equestria for years. No, decades. No, centuries. How a singular pony was able to live this long and still look like she had just reached middle-age was far beyond my comprehension.

Something else far beyond my comprehension was how she was able to manage all that she was tasked with. Passing laws, keeping things secure, catering to her prized students, heck, even raising the sun with just her magic alone. I had been sent to see her in pony. Live.

But now was not the time to be awestruck. Now was the time to pay attention to what she had to say. Right after inspecting me, making sure I was the one the guards were sent to pick up, she firmly nodded and boldly said "Yes, that is the pony you were tasked to have sent to me. You have done me proud, guards."

The guards then let out sighs of relief, and said "Thank you, your highness," and left the room. Could I have been the wrong pony? Was there a risk in delivering me here, to where it all could've been one big mistake? Stop getting distracted. I thought to myself. I gotta pay attention.

"May I have your name, sir?" The Princess asked.

"Oh, uh, are you talking to me?" I replied, intimidated by her presence.

"Why wouldn't I be? I sent you here for a reason. Now, name, please?"

Looking around for a few seconds, I finally responded with "I'm Sharpfeather." Realizing again that I was facing the princess herself, I hastily said "Wait a minute! I almost forgot!"

Apparently confused, Princess Celestia questioned "What, exactly?"

I then bowed down, saying "Your Majesty," with respect to the princess.

With a smile, she responded "Thank you kindly, Sharpfeather. Now, we've got a welcome supper prepared for you. I figure you'll feel right at home when you attend."

I became confused. "What exactly am I doing here? You took me out of flight school, for pete's sake!"

"Now, now, Sharpfeather. Don't be alarmed." The Princess assured me. "Now, of course, I brought you here for a very good reason. A reason I'll get to later." Just then, I could hear a small bell ringing. "Oh! Right on cue!" Princess Celestia said as she excitedly stood up from her throne and turned to her left. She trotted over to a door much smaller than any of the other doors I had seen today. She opened the door with her magic, like she was just ripping through paper. When the door opened, I soon followed the Princess through to find a giant table, just sitting there, with many, many guards occupying most of the seats.

"I hope you're into noodle soup!" The Princess cheerfully said with a smile.

"Uh, yeah, I'm down with that!" I gladly answered before taking one of the seats in between two guards. The guards both looked at me funny, as if I wasn't supposed to sit here.

"Who's this filly?" one of the guards asked before giving me a noogie.

"What? I'm not a f-filly!" I whispered to that same guard.

Then, another guard realized something, and whispered something to the other guard.

The first guard replied with "Oh yeah!" He then looked at me and said "Dude, you sit over there," pointing to a seat at the end of the table.

As I got up, I questioned "Well, how come?"

The second guard responded with "Pff, I don't know. Princess protocol, I guess."

"Okay..." I reluctantly said as I was making my way to my designated seat. I noticed it had a distinct look to it. It was green, had a reptilian scale pattern to it, and had a couple of dragon arms as foreleg rests.

Admiring the design as I sat down, I said "Hey! Nice design! How did you guys know about my interest?"

All of the guards just shrugged. The Princess, on the other hand, had an answer. "I'll explain later. Glad you like it, though! It certainly had us working hard for 3 moons."

"Tell me about it." A random guard pessimistically added.

Princess Celestia cleared her throat at him, and as she did, the guard optimistically replied with "Oh, uh, I-I mean, tell me about it!"

"That's better." The Princess proudly told him.

I then finally got to look down at my dish: fresh noodle soup, with a biscuit on the side. I picked up the bowl, and gulped down the broth. As I was doing so, a guard exclaimed "'Scuse me sir! Mind your manners for Celestia's sake!"

Just then, I hastily set down the bowl, saying "Whoops! Uh, sorry about that."

Another guard rebutted with "You do know he doesn't have a horn, right?"

The other guard reluctantly said "Eh, you're right. Should've looked more closely."

The second guard then said "Please, carry on, Sharpfeather."

"Alright," I said as I finished my noodle soup, and ate my biscuit. Now, I was never a food critic, but wow did it taste good. This was probably the best noodle soup I ever had, despite that I never really had noodle soup that often. The taste was juicy, warm, and easy to eat. Swallowing it was like swallowing hot cocoa. I loved every part of it; The broth, the noodles, even the biscuit.

Now that supper was over, I went up the Princess Celestia and asked her "Excuse me, your highness. Is now a good time to talk?"

She looked from side to side a couple of times, and quietly replied with "Follow me."

I followed the Princess around, and we walked out of sight of any guards. She then began to use her magic, making a yellow aura appear on both herself and I. "Hold tight" Princess Celestia said. Just then, I could feel myself dissolving.

"W-what's going on, your majesty?" I managed to stammer, fearful of what was happening to me.

In a matter of seconds, me and the Princess were both gone. Next thing I knew, me and her were in a completely different room than any of the other parts of the castle I had been to. This room was gray, dark, and had just a few unlit candles hanging from the ceiling.

"Where are we?" I asked Princess Celestia before she looked at me directly in the eyes.

"I want you to bear with me under any and all circumstances. Promise me that you won't back out, because if you do, this could lead to Equestria's demise. Understood?"

I nervously nodded. I was frightened of what she was going to do, but if saying no meant that all of Equestria would cease to exist, I had no choice. "Proceed, your highness. I'll do whatever you need me to do."

Princess Celestia then responded, in a serious tone, with "Very well, then. Let's get started."

Chapter 3: The Project

Using her magic, Princess Celestia lit some candles that had been hanging from the ceiling. The room lit up, revealing a chalkboard. That chalkboard had what appeared to be a plan that the Princess had been working on for a while now.

At the top of the chalkboard, there were two words boldly displayed: “Project Dracobreaf.” DracoBreaf, I assumed, was a combination of the words “Dragon” and “Breath” combined into one with a couple of letters changed around.

“Now, I know what you’re thinking. It’s crazy, yes.” Princess Celestia said.

“I don’t even know what the plan is.” I replied.

“Let me explain.” She told me. Then, she continued with “For centuries, dragons have been a burden to all of pony-kind. We haven’t gone a full year without at least one invasion from a dragon, and it’s happened at every corner of Equestria.”

“Have you done anything about these dragons in the past?” I asked.

“Funny you should mention that.” Princess Celestia answered. “At one point, one of our mayors wanted to kill off all the dragons. Let’s just say he… isn’t a mayor anymore.”

Confused, I raised an eyebrow, saying “What do you mean?”

“I would like to see if we can somehow get it to where dragons can help us. Before we can do that, however, we need to study their behavior. After all, there has to be more to dragons than a craving for pony flesh.” Princess Celestia paused for a moment until she looked me directly in the eye and said “Sharpfeather, we need you to get out there and observe their behavior.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Princess Celestia's giving me permission to *observe** the dragons? That’s something I've been dreaming of for years! I've always wanted to see just how these creatures behaved, and now I'm getting my chance! This is amazing!*

Immediately after my excitement, I went right back to being confused. The last pony to try and go out to study dragons, despite that he had a chunk of dragon flesh with him, still got eaten right up by a large dragon. They could see right through the smell of their own kind.

“Princess Celestia, you are aware of the last time someone went out to study dragons, right?”

“Yes, Sharpfeather. I am.” Princess Celestia assured me. “That is why I will be putting a spell on you. It will turn you into a hybrid between a pony, and a dragon. We want to keep the pony part of you because if I turn you entirely into a dragon, you’ll destroy everything.”

“How… risky is this spell?” I concernedly asked.

“I don’t know a reversal to it, and I never got the chance to test it much. But if all of pony-kind benefits from this, it’ll all be worth it.”

I looked down for a minute, unsure whether to accept what she had to do. But then, I realized something: The sooner we remove this burden from Equesrtia, the sooner us ponies will be able to advance. What’s more, if ponies and dragons somehow become friends, we could grow as a society faster than ever, while the dragons remain unharmed! This seemed like a situation where the positives would certainly outweigh the negatives.

“I’m willing to help advance our society, Your Highness. No matter the cost.”

“Very well then. Here goes.”

Suddenly, Princess Celestia’s horn started glowing a yellow-ish hue, with a yellow aura around it. Then an aura suddenly appeared all over my body. I couldn’t move a muscle as I began to levitate in the air, without any control over anything.

Suddenly, I felt strange things happen to me. My teeth became longer, more straight, and sharper. My once lush and soft mane became spiky in nature, hardening into a more tusk like material, not to mention, it was pushed backwards, and became longer, more straight, and sharper, like my teeth. My wings began to expand, and I noticed them take on a more webbed feel, getting rid of all the feathers that were once on my wings. Finally, my fur coat was no more, as it had been replaced with a more tough, scaly exterior.

It was official; I was a hybrid between a dragon, and a pony. I had been changed. Possibly forever.

Finally, the aura faded away, and I was made aware of my surroundings again. Princess Celestia was extremely tired from doing the spell. I mean, changing a pony’s anatomy can’t be easy, but if even she can barely stand doing it…

Exhaustedly, Princess Celestia said “Well, Sharpfeather… Or should I say, DracoBreaf…”

Not wanting my name to change, I swiftly replied “Please, call me Sharpfeather. Please....”

Bringing on a smile, the Princess asked me “Are you ready?”

With a smile, I told her “I couldn’t be much more ready if I tried.”

Chapter 4: A Mission

The Princess and I were on a balcony. Never in my life had I been so determined, and yet so nervous. The mission I was about to embark on was perilous, possibly suicidal. The worst part was, I hadn't even graduated flight school yet. Why Princess Celestia decided to pick me to study the dragons, and at such a young age, I will never know.

Princess Celestia, standing right beside me, said "So, here's what you have to do."

Immediately, I put all my attention to what she was about to say. Missing even a singular word would make things even harder than they already were.

The Princess continued. "You are to fly over there," she said, pointing at a volcano in the distance, "and as you do so, make sure no dragons see you. They've been known to be able to identify intruders very easily."

Now, I was decent at flying, I could get from one place to another, I could pick up a bit of speed, and while I probably couldn't U-turn on a whim, I was still capable of doing the basic maneuvers a pegasus needed to learn in order to stand a chance at succeeding in life. But without taking any breaks, I didn't think I would've been able to fly all the way over to that volcano. I was never the best flyer, though, judging from some of the other students in flight school, I probably wasn't the worst either.

Questioning the Princess' actions, I told her "Your Highness, with all due respect, you want me to fly all the way over there?"

Princess Celestia, thankfully unaffected by my comment, reassured me with "You don't have to do it all in one go. You can go ahead and take a break if you get tired."

Adding to her response, I said "Actually, I think taking breaks along the way, say, on the ground, might prevent dragons from seeing me better. Don't they usually take to the skies?"

Princess Celestia continued with "Excellent point, 'Dracobreaf.' Anyways, once you get ther-"

"Please, call me SharpFeather." I said, embarrassed about my alleged new name.

With a giggle, the Princess replied with "Okay, 'Sharpfeather.' So, once you get to the volcano, take notes on how the dragons behave. For now, you'll be doing this for the rest of the day. Be back by sundown, as I don't want any dragons to eat you up."

As she said this, a notebook, surrounded by Princess Celestia's yellow magical aura, began to slowly float towards me. Her horn, too, glowed in a yellow-ish hue. Eventually, I held my hoof out, signalling Princess Celestia to drop the notebook onto it.

"Good luck, SharpFeather." Princess Celestia said as I took off.

As I flew over there, I noticed that it took less work to be able to achieve the kinds of speed I was capable of. As less effort was required in order to fly at my normal speed, which was around 25 miles per hour, I was able to think of other things while I was on my way there.

Just then, I thought What about Mom? I never thought about it until now, but Mom might be a bit worried about me. By the time I reunite with her, she might tell me how worried she was, and how she didn't know where I was.

I then began to miss her. We'd hang out a lot, play board games, and go places. She was a pretty cool Mom. Of course, every time I'd tell her that, she'd always respond with "Well, that's only because you're such a cool son!" Every time she'd say that, I'd smile. Obviously, I was in good hands. Even if she was somehow my adopted mother, which obviously she wasn't, I'd still be glad to have her as a parent.

But now was not the time to think about parents. Now, I had to focus on my mission. So I sped up, going faster than I usually do. So fast, in fact, that in only around 10 minutes, I was almost to the volcano. Slowing down a bit, making sure I didn't crash into anything, I noticed two enormous dragons flying the opposite direction I flew. My reaction was to immediately fly down to the ground, as to not be seen by them. Luckily, they didn't even seem to react to anything I did, and flew onward to wherever they went. I decided to take the rest of the journey to the volcano on foot, galloping as fast as I could as to not get there after sundown.

Once I got there, I flew up to the admittedly low peak of the volcano. As I looked down, I saw what I came here for: A group of dragons, both big, and really big. I'm pretty sure a large dragon claw was about the size of a regular pony, if not much larger. I would not have wanted these dragons to have seen me under any circumstance. There was a floor made almost entirely of rock, with a few lava pools here and there, and in those lava pools, were smaller dragons. Almost as if these dragons were fillies, they didn't look much bigger than Princess Celestia, but still big enough to clobber a pony to death. They were also much more bipedal in nature, like completely different creatures. Taking notes of all this, I became more and more fascinated as I-

"'Ey! Look! A stupid wimpy pony!" One of the smaller dragons said as he pointed at me.

I hid immediately, not wanting to bring and further attention to myself. Crap, I thought, I'm gonna have to hide somewhere else. If they see me again, it'll be the end of-

A group of those same types of dragons, including the one that spotted me, descended towards the ground in front of me. That same dragon walked towards me, exclaiming "So you think you can just barge in on our turf, spyin' on us?!"

"What's your problem??" I asked them, scared for my life.

"Our problem, is that you brain-dead ponies think everything's all "sunshine and rainbows," and that "friendship can solve anything," when that ain't how it's done! You gotta... Wait a sec' here!"

The dragon walked up towards me, inspecting my now dragon-like appearance. "This guy looks like a dragon/pony hybrid of some sort! What the hell's goin' on?"

I replied with "Uh, I can explain..." before all the dragons became furious.

"Alright, that's it! C'mon, guys! Let's roast 'em!"

Bracing for impact, I held up my dragon wings as some kind of shield. I then heard the sound of fire burning, getting louder, and louder, everything becoming brighter and brighter, and the environment becoming hotter and hotter.

Chapter 5: Unexpectedness

As the dragons hot fire came closer and closer to me, I had anticipated the most absolutely painful death, burning all around my skin. I had expected to scream in agony, as I would've slowly, but surely, burned to death. While I did end up screaming, something was missing.

There was a severe lack of pain. Almost none, as a matter of fact. What I expected to get from all these dragons breathing fire at me, I never got. I hadn't realized this until after they stopped breathing fire at me, to which I continued to scream for at least a couple more seconds.

One of the dragons, surprised by this, exclaimed "What!? He ain't burnin' up!"

Another dragon, almost enraged by the realization, added "Oh my Lord! Seriously! What the hell does he have, a coat of flame retardant??"

Eventually, I slowly uncovered myself from under my dragon wings, looking around to really take a good look at the dragons around me. Each of them gave of a very angry look, with a red dragon, apparently leading the pack, giving me this glare. Clearly, all these dragons hated me with a passion, but this one in particular...

"What's... happening?" I asked, incredibly confused about the situation.

Out of nowhere, the red dragon told every other dragon "Wait, I got an idea!" before proceeding to group up with the other dragons, as if they were making a plan in a hoofball game. They whispered about something... I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Whatever they were planning to do with me, I was not looking forward to.

Soon after, the red dragon turned to me, and started asking "Alright, dude. You uh... know a 'Spike' around here?"

Confused, I replied with "Wait a minute, Spike? What are you-"

"You know what? Never mind," The red dragon interrupted, "What are ya doin' here, anyway?"

I didn't know what to say. These dragons were rationalizing with me? Dragons, the same creatures known to eat ponies whole, asking questions? Still, I had to some up with something. But what? Just then, I remembered the thing I came here for.

"So all across the land, you've been attacking innocent ponies. I wonder, how come?"

A brown, fatty dragon to my right said "Hey! He's spying on us!"

Swiftly, I responded with "Nah, man. Just, bear with me. I don't wanna cause any more trouble."

The red dragon reluctantly agreed to answer my question. "Innocent ponies? What are ya, stupid? They keep takin' our food!"

Through my research on dragons, I immediately assumed "...The gems?"

"Wha- How- Yes! Of course it's the freaking gems!" a green, slim dragon to my left yelled out.

The red dragon butted in, saying "And it wouldn't be so bad if they wanted 'em as food too, right? Well, no! They use 'em for their stupid, dinky little decorations! They're puttin' us in danger... for nothin'!"

Of course, ponies don't usually trust the dragons and whatever they say. But something in my gut told me this dragon, right here, was telling the truth. I did notice quite a lot of the expensive decor in Canterlot was made of, what else, gems. You could buy a gem necklace from the store for cheap because of just how abundant these gems were. Turns out, the reason these dragons even survived at all was because these gems were so common; common enough, in fact, to supply a group of large dragons, each one the size of a skyscraper. Now, thanks to us ponies, their food supply was running low. And they were mad.

"Oh my Celestia..." I said, just now realizing the problem, before quickly flying away from the group of dragons.

"Where the hell ya goin'?" was the last thing I heard before I took off as fast as I could. I just kept flying, and flying, and flying, never stopping until I got to the balcony I came from earlier that day.

As I landed, I went inside to look around for Princess Celestia. "Your Highness!" I called out, before searching a bit of the castle for her.

It took a little while, but eventually, I found the Princess signing papers at a desk. One by one, she was going through each and every one of them, with maybe an occasional VETO stamp on a paper she didn't agree with. I didn't want to disturb her, but at the same time...

"Princess Celestia? Are you busy?" I quietly asked.

"Hmm? Oh, you're back! Have you got any information on the dragons?" Princess Celestia replied, expecting me to have gotten valuable information.

"...That's what I want to talk to you about. The information I got. Do you got time?"

Princess Celestia, briefly looking down at her papers, looked at me and said "Well, I'm kind of busy at the moment. I'll let you know when I'm ready, though."

"Alright, your majesty." I said as I started walking away. Just then, I realized two things; I didn't have a place to sleep, and a family reunion happened to be tomorrow evening. My parents were going to be there, my grandparents were going to be there, my cousins were going to be there, everyone was reuniting for this special occasion. For a while, I had been looking forward to this family reunion. How I forgot about this event, I had no idea.

But perhaps maybe I could tell the Princess about it when she was free. After all, I imagine it'd be rude to interrupt her during potentially important work. I continued to walk on, and I found a hallway filled to the brim with doors. All these doors were next to each other, presumably to provide a resting place for the guards. My guess was correct as a guard walked into one of them, who appeared to be exhausted.

As I walked on, exploring more of this hallway, I noticed a door that had a piece of paper nailed to it. It had words written on it, saying "Reserved for Dracobreaf Sharpfeather"

"Well," I said to myself, "I am pretty tired. Maybe a nap would do me some good."

Placing my scaly hoof on the doorknob clearly optimized for ponies without unicorns, I opened the door to find a fairly basic room. Just a cupboard, dresser, and a basic twin-sized bed. As I went to lay down on the bed, I noticed it was really comfortable. But then I also remembered that if I wanted to keep the bed that way, I'd have to not poke anything with my new spiky hair.

So when I went to lay down, I made sure I laid down on the side of my head, instead of the back, like I usually do. This bed was so comfortable, I wanted to savor just how soft every part of it was. But, of course, I couldn't keep my eyes open very long. I had drifted slowly, but surely into a deep sleep...

Chapter 6: Complete and Utter Darkness

I was in a plain, covered in grass and flowers. It was not very populated, only the occasional mouse here and there. Trotting around this plain felt simply wonderful as the grass grazed my scaly hooves, the wind flowed past me, and the sun shined with great warmth upon my face. I brought a smile upon my face as I basked in the moment.

Just then, the once gentle breeze got stronger. Dragons, two of them, flew right over my head. These dragons were huge, and didn't look like they'd be stopping any time soon. Their wings spread far enough to cover 5 houses, they almost blocked the sun from my view for at least a second. I decided it would be a good idea to fly with them, maybe follow them to their destination. After all, I had to get some more info on the dragons in order to fulfill the Princess' request.

Opening up my somewhat large wings, I shot straight upwards, then took a hard turn towards the direction the two ginormous dragons were heading. Eventually, I caught up with them on their journey. Making sure they don't see me, I stayed away from their heads, and opted to fly by their sides. I kept this up for quite a while, making sure I didn't screw up and let them see me.

Eventually, we made our way to a giant, steep volcano. The dragons started rising, indicating that I should do the same. Eventually, we got to a point where we were far above the volcano. The dragons then started to descend, circling the volcano until they found their landing spot all of them then laid down, as if the flight was a long and hard one. I figured they needed the rest after all that flying.

I noticed then that my wings started to strain as I kept flying in place. So then I slowly flew downwards, as to not crash into anything. Eventually, I found the place to land, but there was one problem: Landing was incredibly difficult to do with my new wings. Struggling to keep myself steady, I grew more and more nervous.

"No, please! Not like this! I can't go yet!!!!" I exclaimed at the top of my lungs as I flew closer and closer to the ground. Eventually, I was close to the ground, but it was my face that was facing the ground, not my hooves, like how pegasi should land. I thought I was going to end up planting my face hard on the ground. I braced for impact, putting my hooves in front of my face and keeping my eyes shut.

When I exposed my face and opened my eyes up, I was in a completely different place than I was before. I was in an extremely comfortable bed, sitting upright. Looking around the room I was in, I sighed of extreme relief.

"Oh, thank Celestia, it was just a dream." I said as I got up and off the bed. Just to my left was the door out of my temporary room. To my right was a window. I looked out the window and saw that it was night time. The moon way up high, the stars sparkling in the sky, and guards below searching for intruders, using their magical unicorn horns to light up the way.

I then turned around and went straight to the door. Opening it, I asked myself, "I wonder of the Princess is free?" Looking at both possible directions I could take through the hall, I chose to go the direction I came from, which was to my right. I walked slowly over to where I could take a left turn. At that left turn was the hallway that led to the purple, gem covered door. Looking at that door, now that I knew what it took to make that giant, stolen source of food, looking at it made me sick on the inside.

Walking up to it, I opened the door carefully. As I touched the door, it no longer felt like I was pushing rocks. It felt like I was pushing food. Food that could've been fed to the dragons. Food that could've saved us from many attacks. Food that us ponies took for no reason. Food that-

Eventually, I realized what I was doing, and thought to myself, Stop getting caught up in your own thoughts, man! Let's talk about that with Princess Celestia!

Princess Celestia looked up and noticed me. She said "Oh hello, Sharpfeather! You're ever welcome here! Now, come over here, I'm free from my daunting work."

I then walked up right in front of the Princess, stopping to bow once I got to where I needed to be. "Right here, your majesty." I said to her, cramming in as much honor as possible.

The Princess, giggling from my tone of voice, then asked, "So, you have information about dragons you wanted to share?"

I nervously stammered, "Uh... y-yeah..."

"Hmm? Is everything alright?" Princess Celestia questioned, obviously concerned.

"Yeah! I-I'm fine!" I hastily said, trying to cover up my feelings. Feelings I simply couldn't try to comprehend. Fear, confusion, and anger were all being felt at the same time. Instead of simply telling her my feelings right off the bat, I just held it back. I'm not her prized student, I'm just a randomly picked citizen. I honestly wouldn't have expected her to be so forgiving to me at this point.

Princess Celestia, with a look of suspicion, said "Alright, then. Carry on with what you wanted to say."

I then told her everything about what I found out. How gems were getting increasingly rare for the dragons, how they've been mad at us for using the gems for recreational purposes, and even how after I was proven to be fireproof, they let me ask questions about them. The Princess seemed very interested about what I had to say the entire time, almost as if she had never been aware of what had been happening to the dragons.

However, she didn't oblige and give the dragons back what they needed. Instead, she simply replied with, "How interesting of you to tell me. But, see, the thing is, we already have an established economy surrounding these gems. We can't just 'give them back to the dragons' and expect everything to be okay. That's just simply not how it works..."

That was all I heard before I felt more and more rage build up as she didn't just give me the answer I needed. The gems didn't belong to the ponies, they belonged to the dragons. Us dragons. By this point, I had accepted that I was no longer a pony. Nor was I a hybrid. Thinking within my own thoughts, I eventually came up with just four words that played out inside my head.

I am a dragon.

Those four words repeated inside my head. Again and again, I heard I am a dragon, I am a dragon, I am a dragon, I am a dragon....

The rage built up even more and more, until it got to a point where I simply couldn't hold it back anymore. I was about to erupt with anger as a volcano erupts with lava.

Speaking of lava, when I got to the breaking point, I felt a burning sensation thrust up from my throat to my mouth. Whenever I would hold it in, it would get too hot. It felt like fire in my mouth, which burned worse than hot sauce on a hot summer day. I simply couldn't contain it. I let it all out in a snap.

Fire spewed out of my mouth at an alarming rate, like how a dragon breathes fire. The fire extended out and landed just before it hit the throne in front of me, and by extent, Princess Celestia. As this was happening, I had let out a roar in anguish as I let out all my flames. It felt satisfying to finally get all that fire out, but at the same time, I still had some rage throughout.

Once I was done, the carpet in front of Princess Celestia stayed burning. She looked at me with a shocked expression, almost as if she had never been attacked by a dragon before. I just stood there, staring at her with the angriest expression as I breathed in and out hard intensely with my teeth clenched together. I had enough of her explanations, her excuses, her shenanigans. I had enough of her bullshit.

"Dracobreaf! What in Equesrtia are you doing!?!?!" Princess Celestia exclaimed out of terror. Clearly, she got the message. I wasn't one to talk about economics, or make excuses. I wanted answers to my questions. To reassure my point, I told her exactly what she should've known since she put the spell on me.

"Do you know what I am, your majesty?!?!" I aggressively asked her as I started flying off the ground, as a way to intimidate her.

Princess Celestia, for some damn reason being confused, told me "What are you talking about?!?! Dracobreaf, listen to me! I-"

"Don't fuckin' call me that!" I retorted, shrouded in pure frustration. "I'm a dragon!"

The Princess gasped in horror, then asked, "What did you just say?"

"Didn't you hear me? I am a dragon!!!!" I yelled furiously.

Just then, I bolted straight at her from the air. I was ready to give her the destruction of a lifetime. That no good, goody-two-shoes, misunderstanding, ignorant bitch.

Then I stopped. For no reason. I tried going onward, but a force just stopped me. I couldn't move a muscle. I couldn't beat the shit out of her, like I wanted, no, needed to do.

"So maybe I was wrong about turning you into a cross between a dragon, and a pony. Maybe I couldn't trust you after all. You've gotten so violent, I must seclude you until your behavior becomes acceptable!"

I then started getting dragged in the air to someplace else. I struggled and struggled to get out of her aura, but nothing I did worked. I wasn't keen on being as useless as a sitting duck. I kept trying and trying, until she eventually took me inside a small room. It was just big enough for somebody like me to be able to pace around, but whoever had time to pace around was just an egghead. I had to bring the gems back to the dragons. It was supposed to be my destiny. My destiny.

Eventually, the door closed, and all signs of light were all but lost. All I could see was black. Nothing of any sort. I couldn't see anything in the room. I tried getting out of this dark room by slamming the walls, breathing fire on the walls, just generally trying to destroy everything I could feel, but it was no use. No light ever shined through. All I could see was black. No other color. There was no escape. I was trapped alone, with nothing.

Just complete and utter darkness.

Chapter 7: Disciplinary Action

I thrashed and thrashed, breathing bursts of fire as I angrily attempted to escape this hell-hole of a little room. Like I said before, I couldn't see a thing. I didn't even know where the door was. For all I know, I could've been trying to get out through the wall, like an idiot.

But I didn't care, I wanted out. BADLY. I wanted to show Princess Celestia just how ignorant she was to this whole issue. She was taking our food. OUR FOOD. I told her about it, but she wouldn't listen. She just ignored me...

I went on in this mindset of being the most seething, bigoted pony anyone could imagine for quite some time. I didn't know how much time, as I was in complete isolation from any source of light to be able to see what time it was, but it must have been for at least a couple of hours.

After I finally came back to my senses, I realized just what I had done. I assaulted somepony. Not just anypony, but the Princess herself. The one who rules all of Equestria and keeps us safe. I hadn't considered her perspective at all. In fact, I tried to kill her. The only reason I hesitated was because she stopped me. If she hadn't been prepared, I don't know what I wouldn't done to her. I became afraid. Not of any punishment that could possibly happen, but I got scared... of myself.

I was the monster. I was a nightmare. I was a mindless beast, trying to kill somepony. I stayed cooped up in this corner for some time, brooding on about what had happened, and whether or not I should resent all of pony-kind or not. I didn't know whether to try to act like a normal pony again, or accept what I had become. I was essentially fighting myself. My morality was at stake.

I had become, in a sense, mentally unstable.

But then, all of a sudden, a large, blindingly bright light poured into the room, as if it had finally pushed through some kind of barrier. I had to both close, and cover my eyes, it was so bright. I couldn't even bother to see what caused it.

Am I dead? Did I starve, or suffocate to death? What the hell is going on?!? I frantically thought as seconds went by, with me trying more and more to get used to the ever-present light.

Once I was able to at least squint, I saw somepony. It couldn't have been Princess Celestia, it was too short, and it had no horn. No horn meant I could attack it. Maybe if I couldn't give the Princess a good hoof sandwich, I could at least let this random pony know who I am, and what I am.

So, once I stopped feeling the need to squint, I approached the pony with my wings opened up, my teeth clenched as hard as possible, and my eyes fully focused on the pony, which, now that I had a better look at it, I could see that it was female, had a yellow coat of fur, and a long, curly, pink mane.

I could also see that her eyes were closed, and her face was facing the ground, meaning she couldn't see me. To get her attention, I stood up, hooves apart, and tried growling like a dragon, with my teeth still as clenched as they were before. At first, it seemed to have to effect, so I did it again, this time looking angrier, and growling louder. I tried and tried to get her attention, but she didn't seem phased one bit.

That was, until she opened her eyes. The instant she did that, I got the biggest shock of my life. "SHIT!" I cried out as I jumped back against the corner, hitting my back hard enough to elicit an "ow..." I then thought What did I just see? Was that pure nightmare? right before she walked up to me.

She then walked up to me, looking at me with this stare. Her expression was blank, but the eyes clearly signalized that she wasn't happy with me. Looking at me directly in the eyes, it got to the point where I could barely look at her. Those eyes... it was like some force was paralyzing me with just how terrifying they were. Her intentions were unknown. I mean, for all I know, she could've been hellbent on killing me, or she was just sent here for a bet, I had no idea. But she scared me shitless.

"What, the hell, do you want from me!?!?" I screamed before covering my eyes, bracing myself for whatever she had in mind. Hate to admit it, but I then started crying.

"Um... Sorry I scared you, but... I-I was just wondering if you wanted a friend."

Did she just say that? I thought, No, someone else came in while I wasn't looking.

As I uncovered my eyes, I said out loud, "What the f-" before I saw that, indeed, it was her that made the offer to be my friend. Not only that, but she wasn't staring into my soul anymore. She was looking at me with a much calmer expression, a smile, if you will, and she was holding out her hoof to signal that she was willing to help me get back up on my hooves.

As soon as I looked at her, she hastily mumbled "I mean, if you don't want one, that's... fine..." as if she was incredibly shy towards me. I wouldn't blame her, a dragon-pony hybrid is definitely something to be afraid of.

But I put my hoof on top of hers, accepting the offer and standing up. She then ran in and hugged me. Tightly, as a matter of fact. Shocked, I didn't know that I was supposed to hug her as well. After all, I never really hugged anypony that often. Just not my thing, even as a normal pony.

"Fluttershy?" I heard Princess Celestia call out, "Are you doing okay?"

"Um... Yeah, but... Let's just say, he's kinda not," Fluttershy responded with a hint of concern.