Dark Scales, Soft Stripes

Chapters

Prologue - Old Friends, New Enemies
Wait, What's your name?
Chapter 1 - Extra - The Dragon Scar
Dinner, and Some Clubbing
Chapter 2 - Extra - Corner Rat
Of Pink and Poisons
Buck the police!
Chapter 4 - Extra - The camping trip
Chapter 3 - Extra - A birthday surprise

Prologue - Old Friends, New Enemies

It's been a It's been four years that I've been in prison, and I have just gotten out yesterday and an old friend has asked to see me,under what circumstances, I don't know. The message came in a red envelope, which is odd for him, for he was never one for importance.

When I got to the restaurant I hurriedly took my seat, as I was very eager to see my friend

after such a long time. But what I had gotten threw me off a cliff to say the least. A tall,

lanky man with a white goatee, and snaggletooth the size of your index finger walked up

and took his seat across from me.

"Excuse me sir." I said with a scowl "But that seat is reserved for a dear friend that I've not seen in years."

"Oh? Is that so?" He said with a smirk "Well, I don't see a name on it anywhere. And besides,

I AM a dear friend of yours. You just don't know the half of it yet" He said in a matter of

fact tone and an overly ecstatic smirk.

"Wait. What? What does that even mean?!" The dragon scar on my arm started glowing red, when it does that it means shit is about to hit the fan, but nobody seemed to notice. Nor ever notice for that matter... weird.

"Ah, and here is my turn to become confused. What, He didn't tell you? Oh well. I was

sent by your friend to... give you a second chance." He was dwelling on the last part with a diabolic

grin.

'I don't know whether or not I like this but all sources point to shenanigans. I'll play

along and see where this goes' I thought, and put on my best inquisitive smirk.

"So, what did you have in mind? A bribe, of sorts? Or are you planning on hiding me away

for the rest of my known life like the rest who offer me a second chance?

"Oh, but your known life is what I am hoping for you to wager! I can give you a new life,

as somebody entirely different." He pulled out a large, almost comically long scroll. "Just

sign here, here, here, here, oh don't forget an initial, HERE!”

'This scroll is mostly composed of squiggles and his requests were bizarre, but none the

less. I signed the squiggle-contract in all of the places the man pointed out.’

"OH GOODIE! Now off you go" He squealed as he pulled a sledge hammer out of nowhere, then

proceeded to knock me unconscious… or kill me. After having this happen to me about 2 times already, I could never know when the next time would give me serious brain damage or mess up my lifeline.

Authors note: Feel free to leave criticism comments, as this is my first story and I

would like to improve it in any way I can.

Wait, What's your name?

Chapter 1 – Wait, What’s Your Name?

‘Let’s see, where do I start? Throbbing head, mostly numb limbs, and eyes that just don’t wanna focus. Yup, I’ve been in this situation one too many times now. Let’s have a go at this, one more time.

Hands: tough and odd, but usable.

Legs: They feel longer and… more bendy, but same as the first, usable.

Head: Ow… Ok I can roll my neck and… twitch my ears? The hell? Oh well, continuing on…

Eyes: Slowly opening and… done! Now to focus. Come on, focus! Ah there we go.’

Staring down on me is an honest to God, dragon. My mind takes a few seconds to process what’s happening before entering panic mode.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!” I scream. The dragon now seeming to panic.

“NO, wait shrimp, the dogs can’t hunt you anymore, you’re safe!” The apparent, she, said.

I had no idea what she meant about ‘dogs’ but I needed to calm down. Or at least try

“CALM DOWN!? BUT YOU’RE A DRAGON AND I’M A… What the hell am I?!” I say, now questioning my existence, as well as that man at the restaurant.

“Actually, I’m a drake, and so are you. But you’re special! You’re one of the rarest kind of drakes, The Wingless Tiger Drake!” Ok so the panic is over, but now ensues the confusion.

“Ok, now I have some questions: 1 – Who are you, 2 – Where are we, and 3 – Where did you find me”

“Well, my name is Roxy, and you are currently in my not so very humble home in a town called Cliffhanger. As for where I found you, well you were incapacitated on the outskirts of the Badlands, near Gem Fido. I could only assume the worst.

I took a moment to look around. Her ‘home’ was a cave with a stone oven, fridge, bed, and a small pile of treasure, which is what I assume to be her hoard. The oven was currently burning, and I noticed she had been fanning it with her tail. So I asked the obvious.

“What’s for eats?”

“I was wondering when you’d ask. It’s my famous cobble surprise!” She bellowed and gestured to the dish sitting over the fire. “It still has to cook for a few more hours, so how about a tour of the town?”

I agreed to her offer, and so we set off.

The walk to town was about a half an hour long, and while we talked, I found out, it was much easier to walk on four legs than two. We ended up talking about the many species on this rock, and at the mention of the word pony, I finally recognized this place.

Another subject that was brought up was my personal stats. Usually I don’t let anyone have any information about me, but she seemed harmless… Mostly. And this is where I stand now, on the subject of my name. And then it hit me how Ironic it was. I told her, and that caused about a five minute delay on our trip into Cliffhanger, all because of her hardy laughter.

The next and final subject was my tattoo.

“So what does it even mean” I could tell she was in deep confusion about my tattoo.

I looked at my used-to-be dragon tattoo, which is a now-is dyeing soul marking and said “It was meant to symbolize the pain in my life, as well as the pain I brought to others.”

She looked somewhat dumbfounded by my explanation. “What kind of life did you have, to have had something like THAT scarred onto your arm?!”

At this question, a wave of sadness washed over me. “Most of the time, I just wound up on the wrong end of the knife. But the one who did this to my arm had made no mistake in doing so. (But that is for another chapter!)

After telling her the compelling story of how I almost died, we were at the town. We decided on heading to the market first, and I was surprised to say the least. Usually dragons are brutish an in no possible way civilized, and my guess is the drakes took to adapting that.

At the market they had all kinds of booths of assorted foods, there were many gems, stones, and some fish too. At the end of the market path, we were met by a large cliff face that out looked the two isles in the badlands.

“So how did you end up here anyway?” She had surprised me almost to the point of me falling off the cliff!

“AH! Jeez, give me a heart attack why don’t ya’? And I don’t know what you mean.” And now it’s time to play: Who’s That Scaly Freak.

“I mean, your species is tropical, and reside usually in the Feline Jungle.” She deadpanned.

“Oh, well I’ve never been much of a tropical person. Didn’t like the humidity.” I didn’t lie entirely. I don’t like tropics.

“So you came to the Badlands through Gem Fido? Are you insane!” Was she worried?

“I have no idea, hell I don’t even know who I am MYSELF anymore. I don’t think I would be stupid enough, or weak enough to have been captured. And even if I was captured, being what I am, I would have escaped anyway!” Ok, enough small talk. Time to be blunt!

“Now, we’ve gotten all we need, and by the time we’re there, you should be able to spice your cobble dish, and we can eat”

The entire walk to her cave, she was mostly quiet. And by mostly, I mean letting out the occasional sigh. She refused to look at me too

When we got home the food was still a half an hour from being done, so we began spicing it. She taught me how to shred gems to work as the spices. All you have to do is shred them into chunks with your claws, then add them, or if you want to, you can cut them up about 3 more times to get flakes. We did a little of both, using rubies in chunks, and sapphires in flakes. Then she told me to set the table, and that we need to talk…

As always, leave constructive criticism, and be ready for more updates!

As for their upcoming talk, it will be a family thing

Chapter 1 - Extra - The Dragon Scar

Chapter 1 – Extra – The Dragon Scar

I had just been tied up, and strapped into a steel folding chair carelessly. My entire body felt raw, as the ones doing the interrogation were not gentle in the least. I had chosen to say nothing, and for that I am paying the price.

I heard footsteps down the hall. I had heard those footsteps every time I ‘visited’ here. They were the footsteps of my brother, Mason. He wore a charcoal grey tuxedo, black hiking boots, and a necklace with an ornate ruby in the center. ‘Legend’ says that the gem he wears is made from the blood of those he has killed.

(All of which I knew was BS, but let the monkeys have their fun I say.)

“Ah, how good it is to see you again, brother!” Mason said with his trademark shit eating grin.

“Glad to see you too, Mason! And what may be the reason for kidnapping me, and beating the tar out of me today?” He scowled at this remark.

“For one, I told you to address me as Mr. Reed! And second, it’s rather important that I did this today, as I was delivered a message, to give to you.” My brother was currently the head of the family mob, so it’s no surprise he’s always the one to deliver my mail, which was delivered to him. He had then tossed a red letter into my lap.

The letter was addressed: To Drake, From Daniel.

I was taken aback to say the least. I had not seen my only true friend in such a long time, on account of my one and a half year sentence that my brother pinned me into. I was so surprised, and joyful, that I had tears in my eyes.

“Oh no, my poor baby brother is crying! Would you two gentlemen please ‘console’ him?”

With that, Mason walked out of the room, and a bucket of hot wax was brought in. They used a specially shaped dish to burn the image of that damned dragon onto my arm.

After my quest to seek medicinal help, and a week in the hospital, I found out I had third degree burns and that the Image would forever be scarred onto my arm.

When I finally got out of the hospital, I had opened the letter. It had his trademark dragon seal. Inside it read:

Dear Drake,

I’m happy to see that you have finally recovered! (And there he goes with his psychic crap again.) And am asking to meet you at the Canard Danse (Dancing Duck) restaurant to catch up, and discuss important matters. See you soon!

Sincerely, Daniel

He always was good with being formal. Even in pressuring situations. So I couldn’t tell how important he was speaking. This is the last thing I remember before heading to the restaurant to meet Daniel. And, oh how happy was I on that day!

At least until things started getting weird…

If you guys have been following my story (already) then you should know why I put this here. And if no one has noticed yet, this is my soon-to-be audition for the Chess Game of the Gods collab. Stay tuned, and happy reading!

Dinner, and Some Clubbing

Chapter 2 - Dinner, and Some Clubbing

We sat down to eat on the stone bench and slab arrangement, which is what I presume to be the dining table. And today I learned something about certain species, such as dragons and drakes. Our species along with some others, can eat certain minerals!

With that, the cobble surprise consisted of cobble stones, ruby chunks, and shredded sapphire. To get the rubies and sapphires as they are now, Roxy taught me how to use my claws to carefully cut and shape the gem bits. The rubies were cut into small squared, and had the edges rounded. While the sapphires had the same process done, but were shredded after that, into flakes.

I took the first bite and it was amazing! The cobble stones tasted like ranch dressing, the rubies tasted like watermelon, the sapphires tasted like blueberry, and I noticed that there was some fish in the salad. So we were about to eat a fish fruit salad... yummy yummy. It was once again, as the name depicted, a surprise!

"So, you wanted to talk?" I asked with my mouth full (screw manners). I was still a little nervous about what it was she wanted to talk about.

"I wanted to tell you something about my family. I've never told this to anyone before." YEP! That's what I was nervous about. A teenage girl with family issues. Albeit, she was about one and a half times my size, but she explained to me how the males are smaller than the females (and there goes natures female dominance rule). But when I pointed out that I was way too small, she explained that Tiger Drakes, being the hybrid offspring of a tiger and a drake, have become smaller thanks to the tigers side of the family. Anyway I'm getting way off track. Back to the conversation at hand.

"When I was just a whelp (a baby drake/dragon), my family was captured and enslaved by diamond dogs. After a few years, my family and a griffin family helped each other to get me and their daughter out of the mine. Our mothers stole keys from the guards to unlock our shackles. And after that, our fathers helped us sneak out of the mines, showing us how to tread lightly and stick to the shadows. But near the entrance, our fathers were caught, beaten, and later, killed. From within the fray, we escaped, and the griffin, who I later found out her name, immediately fled." She now had tears dripping from her cheeks, and a regretful look on her face.

"I should have just stayed in the mines! If I did, our fathers wouldn't have died, and our mothers either, or so I assume" The flood gated had burst, and taken the townspeople with it. (One of my own metaphors, stating: She was now openly crying, and she didn't have the mentality to attempt to console herself, only harm herself even more.)

After eating, she was still lightly sobbing. So when we got up, I did the first thing that came to mind to console someone, a death hug. But before I knew it she had swept me up, and was now proceeding to crush the life out of me, while sobbing into my shoulder. After my instinctual panic was done, I began to return the hug.

When our death hug competition had finished, we went to clean the dishes. But when I saw the sink filled with lava, my reaction was similar to when Scooby Doo would jump into someones arms with his trademark "YIKES" ... only, with me, there was no one to catch me, and so I fell on the floor.

"What was that all about?" She deadpanned

"Nothing, anyway, how are we supposed to wash dishes with lava?"

"Simple. The lava is cooled enough, as to not turn it to rock, and as to not melt the dishes." After explaining this, I still had no idea how it worked. I then came to the conclusion: It's magic, I aint' gotta explain shit!

After dipping the dishes (that's exactly what we had to do to not allow them to melt) I heard a scream from outside, female judging by the pitch.

"Did you hear that?" I asked, when my: grab weapon. take action, instincts took over.

"Hear what?" She asked.

"Ok, that confirms that the tiger side gave me better hearing. Now what to use as a weapon." I spotted an oddly shaped stalagmite on the floor, just as I heard another scream. It looked like a stone club, with ore spiking out of it. I think I like it. I break the stone club from the ground before dashing outside on all fours, holding the club in my mouth.

When I had finally reached the mouth of the cave, I spotted the source of the screams. A colorful assortment of ponies, who many of you readers will probably recognize.

"HEY! Stop breaking the forth wall, and help us!" I heard the pink one in a net shout. I didn't delay at all when I saw one of those damned dogs, that were the source or Roxy's pain

As I rushed towards it, I heard in my head 'That's my job. Anyway, go get em'!) I was now only about 10 feet from the dog when I switched into a pounce instead of a dash, and grabbed the club in my hands, and brought it down on his head, turning it to mush. The second dog, who had a belt lined with chemical vials, tossed one towards me and I instinctually hissed at him, because he was the one dragging away the pink one who was mentally cheering me on even though she looked horrified. What happened when I hissed though surprised me. A liquid flew from my mouth and into his eyes, making him scream with agony as he dropped the netted pony and ran off into the brush. The third charged at me full on, while the other two took their leave along with who I had just figured out, must have been their leader. The top of the club hat a point to it, and so I dropped onto all fours and as he came close enough, rammed it through his lungs, causing him to choke on a mixture of stone, and blood.

Once the dirty work was done, I turned to see that the 5 ponies were huddled behind their pink friend, who had quite a large smile.

"Thank you for saving us. I owe you one it seems." She was making a deal I had already accepted.

At the mouth of the cave I noticed Roxy "Where did you learn to fight like THAT?" She looked sincerely amazed.

"When your running from your family's mob and you've been cornered, you learn to find the nearest weapon, and take action!"

Next chapter will be another back-story tale. Thanks for the support, as this is my 1st story. I also took you guy's advice, and made the chapters a little more detailed. And as always, leave your constructive, or destructive criticism!

Chapter 2 - Extra - Corner Rat

9:00 - 1 hour before the interrogation

I had been running for a half an hour straight (the entire time this song playing) and my legs were beginning to tire "Get him dammit!" I heard one of the goons say to one of the lower ranking security staff. I ran into an alley, and what do you know, it was a dead end. I could hear them closing, and fast so I did the first thing that came to my mind in these situations: Get weapon, Hit hard, Dodge quick.

The first thing I spotted was a metal pipe lying on one of the dumpsters, so I grabbed it. I quickly inspected it, to find that the end of the pipe was worn and jagged. 'That might come in handy' I thought to myself. As soon as I reached the back of the alley, the goons were at the entrance. I leveled my feet the best as I could on all of the garbage, crouched only a little, and put up my pipe in a barring stance.

There were about 6 in total, 2 were higher up in the ranking, and had 2 to command each. Of course the higher-ups sent in the security goons fist, as to use them as meat shields if the situation got hairier that it already was. the first one to charge was on the left, I shifted my foot for stability, and prepared to swing his: Standard issue reed family rapier, at me, but I blocked, and used the momentum to knock his sword from his hand, then proceeded to give him a nice bloody indentation on the side of his head.

The next ones to come get some, were the last security goon on the left, and the first security goon on the right. I shifted my right foot, and leveled out my pipe to meet both of their strikes, this wouldn't allow me to use the momentum, but it proved to be a descent defense stance any other time. They both swung at me, as I lifted my pipe to meet their blows. It made me skid back a couple inches, but as soon as they reeled back for another swing, I took the opening. I hit the left one over the head with the pipe, at least, minor brain damage, at worst, dead, and swing for the other goons head, meeting the side with a satisfying crack!

The last goon tried to scramble away, but was pushed back by the bouncer goons. They started arguing, but it all ended with one of the bouncers pulling a gun, and popping a bullet into his head. The bouncer then nodded to his partner, and he pulled out his gun too and they both looked up towards me. I jumped behind a dumpster just in time to avoid a cascade of nine millimeter doom. They started walking forward, all the while keeping their eyes, and shots, trained on my position. As they neared my position, I started getting up, swinging for a low uppercut along the way. I had succeeded, and now one of the goons was thriving in pain, grasping his crotch. I quickly picked up his gun, and put a bulled in the other ones eye.

Rule number one of being cornered: Never fight fair, and always keep on your toes!

"Now that that's over..." I start, as I throw the gun into the face of the only one still alive, and kick him in his rib cage. "Tell your buddies, and your boss: Drake says hello" I throw the now blood caked pipe into one of the dumpsters, hoping to proceed with my day. That is, until two other bouncers ran around the corners of the alley, bagged and bound me, ready to take my to their leader.

Well guys, here's another bit of Drakes past day. Please leave comment questions, to add to my list of things to answer in my soon to be: Ask Drake and Mason. Please be specific, and inquire on who your asking. Thanks for the favs and comments, and as always, have a nice day dragons and drakes!

Of Pink and Poisons

Chapter 3 - Of Pink and Poisons

"Sorry for frightening you all" I said to the ponies as I sighed "I had to go through hell back home and seeing someone else get hurt nearby while I had an obvious chance to save them for once, I lost it. Please accept my apologies."

The 5 ponies seemed to have calmed down at my sudden mellowness. I tossed aside the club and began walking towards the ponies, but as I began doing so, they began quivering again."Am I really that scary? Or was my species supposed to be killing machines?"

The yellow... pegasus?! Stepped forward and began glaring at me. It felt like my soul was being torn from me along with my free will, but with all of the times I've stared down death himself, I was able to glare back with a fierce growl that said 'You shall not pass!'. With that, she seemed to shrink down in even more terror than the others.

This time the pink one stood up. "Girls, why cant you see that he's not a big mean meany pants? He saved us from those evil diamond dogs!"

"But Pinkie, he killed them! Even they didn't deserve that!" The lavender unicorn reasoned. "And if you noticed, he didn't even seem sad about doing so!"

"I didn't look sad because I've been killed many times before. How? They brought me back to life so that they can do it again! I went through this for four years until I got out of that deathtrap. And I still want to make my brother suffer for putting me in there." By now the scar on my arm was glowing and emitting physical energy waves.

Their faces were ones of shock and concern "How could anypony do that?!" the lavender pony mindlessly asked.

"Because. They simply didn't give a fuck! If they didn't, I would not have these scars under my eyes. It's because of them that my lower field of vision is hampered. It's because of them that I had to stay in that hell hole for another fucking year!"

My dragon scar was now searing and producing small flames. I didn't know why, I didn't notice, but I did know that I wanted to kill someone.

"Ummm, Drake? What's with your scar?" Roxy inquired. Finally joining the conversation.

This is when I noticed my scar acting up. "OHHELLNOWHATSGOINGON!?" Was all I could intelligently blurt before I dove into a nearby pond. When I climbed out is when I got a good look at myself. I was about the size of maybe a regular tiger but probably a bit bigger. I had a dragon-like head but I had a tiger-like muzzle. I had horns protruding from the back of my head and curling towards the front of my head. I also had large, Sabre Toothed Tiger-like fangs. My body was scaled and has fur stripes along the bottom of my tail and on my torso, there was also a stripe under my eyes where my scars should be. Along the top of my tail, the back of my legs, and the base of my horns, I had darker, thicker scales.

I had a look of surprise on my face and my initial thoughts were 'A little shocking, but for what I am, I'd say that I look good. Not that I didn't look good as a human... man I'll miss that body, that is if this isn't just a coma dream or I'm dead.'

"You okay Drake?" I was snapped back to reality when Roxy spoke up. "Yeah, just a little shaken by how I look is all" I stated answering her question. Now that I think about it, she seemed a little overly concerned.

I looked back to see Roxy with a mix of a confused and worried look on her face, and the ponies calmed down a small bit. I walked up to them and sighed. "I can guess that you bunch are a tiny bit lost. May I offer service in your return home?" 'I may have never been a happy guy, but that doesn't mean I was never a nice one'.

"That would be nice. But do you promise not to harm anypony else?" Twilight was pushing this, but I may have already found a loophole in that sentence... Yep!

"But of course! I promise not to harm anypony that manages to walk into my path." I gave the smuggest grin as I held my head high. I was being honest, but of course I hoped no one saw that grin. But Mason would be proud!

"Wait!" Roxy shouted as we began to depart. "You don't know the land as well as I do. I think I should tag along so you don't get lost, I mean, so we as a group don't get lost." She smiled nervous at her slip up. She obviously didn't give a shit about the ponies. But I think she had something for me... weird. I'll go with this for a while.

"You're right," I said picking up my mace "We'd get lost instantly without a guide. Then we'd probably end up comically walking around in circles for an hour, before you came out to save us when we began yelling for help... yeah that sounds reasonable." Everybody looked at me with the most confused faces. "What? You all know it's true." With that, we all set out into the rocky plateaus.

************************************************************3 Hours later*************************************************************

We were close to the borders of both Equestria, and Gem Fido, I felt as if I were being watched though. "Who's there!" I shouted, noticing a convenient rustle in one of the bushes. "Come on out NOW! Or face the spiked wrath of Dullmure!" I shouted once again. I had named my club while we were walking. He're is what I found out though:

My new club was not there on accident. Roxy's family had been growing and shaping that stalagmite for years upon years, up until now. I also found out that the spikes are made out of a nearly unforgeable substance called omnichronite (om-nick-row-night).

The rustling in the bush spiked as a group of ironclad purple ponies with purple-black armor and bat wings stepped out of the bush (By now it was nighttime). "Halt! By order of Princess Luna, I order you to identify yourself and hoof over your slaves, dragon!" Spat the head horse. 'Heh, head horse. But wow were these guy's racist! Now I wish to vocalize this.'

"For one, we, being me and my friend here, are not dragons. We are drakes. A proud, more sophisticated and advanced race than those pigheaded dragons! Second off, these six ponies, and dragon, are not slaves. We rescued them from a pack of diamond dog slavers when they ran into our village. Third off... You really are a bunch of stereotypical, racist bastards aren't you?" I spat every word of those sentences, but as soon as I did the ironclad ponies took a battle stance, which in my experience, was very unbalanced and unpracticed. They literally looked as if a gust of wind would knock them over.

"By order of Princess Luna, at any sign of retaliation, we are to subdue and capture your group at all costs!" Damn these guys are stubborn and might I add, stupid. Besides that, how in the hell did they plan to capture a rare and elusive (And not to mention dangerous) Tiger Drake, as myself? I entered my own, more sturdy stance, not drawing my weapon because I'm not planning on killing them, and got ready to subdue my own subjects...

Hey guys, sorry for the lack of update. School just started and I've been going through the usual things: Learn, eat, get picked on, go home... Anyways, look forward to a new extra chapter tomorrow, or should I say later today, counting that it's almost 1:00 while I'm uploading this. Please post comment questions bellow to help me with my new ask drake and mason story (So ask them questions about the story and their lives, not me). And as always, have a good night dragons and drakes!

Buck the police!

Chapter 4 - Buck the police!

The stare off the guard captain and I were having was immense. Everybody, even the guard grunts had stepped off. What surprised me though was that Roxy had backed away too. As the guard began to slowly slip his blade out of its sheath, I acted. I opened my mouth and hissed, and as expected, a yellowy liquid shot out of the back of my throat.

"GAH! MY EYES!" The guard captain bellowed as his eyes simmered. The guard grunts, all took 'defensive' stances, and drew their weapons. It was now that Roxy dashed jumped forward and spewed flames in their direction. The two pegasus' caught fire and started flying in circles... comically. I think these ponies are both meant to hurt themselves, and are just plain stupid or something.

This is when the earth ponies charged, held their spears high and heads low. Not bad posture, but not good posture either. When they were close enough, I leaped into the air and came down, clamping onto the pony's tail's and flinging them towards the unicorns, who were currently about to cast a spell. The spell misfired and hit their oncoming comrades, making them fall into a deep sleep immediately.

'Subdue spell eh? Well, we'll just have to avoid that.' I bounded above the next spell cast and delivered kicks to their head, somewhat near their horns. This knocked them out and made me laugh. "Haha, how pitiful! They were knocked out by one kick! I never knew I was that strong. Oh look! The pegasus have finally passed out also. Lucky lucky me." I said in a sing song voice.

My and Roxy stood together with proud smirks, while the ponies who we had met earlier had worried looks on their faces. All except for Twilight, who had a stern look... along with some obvious worry.

"What were you two thinking!? I asked you to promise to not hurt anypony, but you did it anyway!" 'Did she really believe that I would keep a promise? Yup, ponies are dumb.' "On the contrary Twilight. I subdued them through minor pain. Roxie hurt them. Not me." I smugly replied."That makes no diff-" I interrupted Twilight. "No Twilight. It does. I promised, she didn't. It is perfectly logical, and don't you start again on how ' harming others is wrong.' because I simply don't give a damn." She looked rather somber when I just pointed out her entire speech.

"Anyhow, we need to set up camp and rest okay?" The gang nodded at my notion, and we set off to the top of a cliff. When there, I set up a log we bought at the market back at the village, then Roxy set it ablaze. We all fell asleep next to the fire that night, but what I woke up to was bullshit.

---Later That Night---

It was Twilight's guard shift and I was awoken by a loud, very feminine scream. I groggily sat up on my front paw/claws and looked towards the disturbance. There was Twilight, cowering under a group of three Diamond Dogs... the same three from yesterday. "*Sigh* You morons can't just stay the hell away, even when most of your crew is dead, can you?"

They all turned towards me as I began to pick up my mace. "Really. What is so special about a group of ponies and their pet dragon?" I shivered when I noted him as a pet. "Quick! Kill the whelp!" The center one shouted. 'To hell with that!' I launched my club at the center Diamond Dog, and two of the outer points mangles his kneecaps. "GYAARG! Kill him now!" 'Yup he's pissed' I stood up when the two side dogs began to rush me.

I leaped over them and snatched my club from the center one, only to throw it back into his face, and pick it back up again, and then throw it at the right guard dog's (heh, guard dog...) face. When it made contact there was a sickening crack and splatter.

The last one began cowering in fear, and was beginning to beg (heh, beg...). "Please, don't kill me! I'll do anything you want! I'll dig for gems, I'll kill someone! Please, I'm only 18!" 'So that's why he sounded a little higher pitched than the others.'

"Cease your pleas pup! I have come to a conclusion. I will cut the option for termination if you choose to join me and my friend here on our random quest, which we don't even know about yet but I know is coming up..." Just then, Pinkie Pie jumped out in front of me and began complaining. "HEY! No breaking the fourth wall! That's my job mister, and don't you forget it." She said sternly. I like this side of Pinkie better than the bubbly side.

"Sorry Pinkie. Anyways, back to the current subject at hand; will you join us?" He looked at me nervously and flattened his ears as I said this. "Which one is your friend?" I facepal-facecla-facepa... OH FORGET IT! I faceclawed at his meaningless question and continued. "Her." I said flatly as I directed his attention towards Roxy.

"Oh, well, if her and none of these dull ponies 'I KNEW THAT THEY WERE NATURALLY STUPID' I guess that I can join your later-to-be-announced cause." I accepted this and decided that I would take guard duty for the rest of the night. "Alright, everyone back to your quarters for a good nights rest. Me and the newbie need to have a chat before dawn." Roxy looked at me with a small bit of skepticism but I brushed it off when she began to lay down and snore. Much as the rest, albeit a little more lightly.

---1 Hour Later---

"So, you said something about wishing to speak with me?" Asked the pup, again with a hint of nervousness in his voice. "Yes, I need to ask you a few questions. Question one; your name?" He answered quickly, and to the point. I like that quality. "My name is Grim." Now, time to question it's meaning. I always loved this part of the interrogation! "Now, may I ask the meaning of your name?" He looked at me hesitantly, but again answered quickly. Damn it this kid skittish. "Well, while in my more care-free days, I would always be seen lurking around the burial caves. Not only that, but many of those dogs I had known. I was considered bad luck, and soon became more divided from the rest of the den. Also, I bare a cloak-like design on my fur, in black, and a entirely white, coarse facial fur. I am somewhat skilled in scythes too!"

Wow, okay not what I was expecting. He could be a well picked addition to our team. "Good next question is; will you miss your family?" He looked crestfallen at my question, and I could see tears forming in his eyes. Nonetheless, he got straight to the point again. "I don't have a family. I was an orphan, and nobody would adopt me, so I chose the dead to serve as my family. They were good listeners, and in life I knew that they cared for me." Great, now things are definitely getting emo. Time to direct the conversation elsewhere.

"Well, I guess that if you accept our offer officially after this minor quest of getting these ponies home... We may become your new family. That is, if you accept us as so." He looked at me again with a nervous look, but this time with a hint of happiness. "Thank you, um, erm. I never got your name..." Wow, how forgetful of me. "Sorry, my name is Drake... Yes, Drake the drake. Laugh it up." I waited for the laughter, but none came. I looked back to him to see a look of sympathy. "Why would I laugh? My name is ironic too ya know?"

Realizing this, I chose that questions should be over... for now. "Right, that was the last question. Now, do you want to stay up for guard duty, or hit the hay?" When I ask this he quirks his head to the side. "Why would I hit hay? I don't even see any around here to hit." A literal guy eh? That of he's never heard of an idiom. "It's an idiom. It is a saying that in more realistic terms, means to hop in bed and doze off to dream land." He regained his composure before saying simply; "Oh". Yup, definitely option number two. "I'll get to sleep. It's been a long day. Good night Drake." I return his answer. "Good night Grim."

---In the morning---

I was awoken (I had fallen asleep at about 4AM) by spike, who was rapidly poking me in the head, watching my ear twitch and giggling. "Mrrgh. Why have you awoken me from my slumber whelp..." I say groggily as I hold my self up on my front claws (I noticed that my hind legs were paws, and my front ones claws. At least they're still a manor of hand.), still with closed eyes. Spike's response was; "Oh, sorry. It's just fun watching your ear twitch, hehe." 'Yeah, laugh it up shrimp.'

I soon woke up completely, and woke up the rest of my crew, now including Grim who was snoring quite loudly. I started my grand speech. "Right, we've got a long trek ahead of us so pack your things and hug your loved ones. We're heading out. They groggily began to protest but soon shut back up when I began to depart.

---Later that day---

By now we were met by the immense; Everfree Forest. All of the ponies were shivering in fear while us drakes and him diamond dog were beaming with joy at the thought of actually being able to kill something again.

"Right crew, off we go!" I was about to take a step when my ears picked up a rather quiet voice. "Aren't you scared? That's the Everfree Forest! All of the animals are wild, and care for themselves, much like the weather (Hmmm, sounds like a certain place I've been to and now couldn't give to shits about.).

"Of course I'm not scared! I'm a drake! Anything in there I can blind and have roasted and butchered within minutes. Now let's go!" My pep talk simi-worked. With that I mean that we had to push them all for about 20 yards before they would walk on their own.

---Later again that day---

Soon, after burning and breaking countless timber wolves as they were called, we were met with a large cliff hanger and a huge manticore behind us; and it was angry... To be continued.

So there you go dragons and drakes! Another chapter. Sorry I've been so slow, again, school and shtuph. So I hope you enjoyed, and don't forget those comment questions. Tell your friends, and then tell em to tell their friends. Have a good night dragons and drakes.

Chapter 4 - Extra - The camping trip

Chapter 4 - Extra - The camping trip1 Month before lockup

Me and Daniel were walking down the path to a small clearing that would serve as our camping grounds. I was quiet for the most part, but Daniel wasn't. At least in his mind, that is. What was he thinking about? The answer to that was everything! But mostly his excitement about finally seeing his good friend Drake again, and being able to spend some together, screwing around for the most part.

We reached the camp site and I began to set up the tent. While Daniel set up the wood into a pyramid formation, supported by a small stone slab in the center to keep it elevated. He then lit and began tending to the fire.

"So, how long do you plan on being out here?" I ask to Daniel.

"As long as destiny requires our presence here." Daniel replied with his usual 'philosophical destiny' crap.

I chose to ignore his answer and continue setting up the tent. I know what you're thinking 'Didn't I just state he was jumping with joy to see me?', and the answer to that is yes, he just has an odd way of expressing it. When we finished setting up the camp, it was about noon, for we had taken the time to find some cliche logs to set up next to the campfire.

About 3 hours later of gorging ourselves on marshmallows we heard a rustling in the brush around us. A moment later, a pack of wolves stepped out, they didn't appear to be rabid, and Daniel confirmed that. But boy were they pissed, and hungry. Daniel directed me to back up along side him, slowly. As we did, they tread closer, which was a sign of a threat. We both drew our weapons. Me, a standard issue reed family rapier, him, a large blunt hunk of wood aka one of our seating logs. This is where I learned blunt weaponry. More so, all weaponry. So prepare for a lesson in more than self defense kids!

So the best place to strike is the head, we all know this, but as Daniel taught me there is a specific few locations on the head that are more vulnerable than others. You mainly wish to strike at the back of the head, where there is more vulnerable tissue. The most vulnerable place is at the base of the ear where there is little muscle to push through, so it's a clean trip to all of the head's nerves, and with a great enough blade, the brain.

And here we stand, after probably the coolest Man Vs. Beast battle ever, in the presence of at least 6 corpses, and 5 injured wolves limping away.

"We should bury them. It is only the right thing to do." Stated Daniel, in as calm a tone as always.

"That, and wont it help keep away higher predators?"

"Indeed it will! Good observation Drake." I prided the compliment as we went about our day graves-keeping.

---Later That Day---

"Well friend, you learned well today. Remember your experiences and you shall gain the mind to fight as a spartan warrior!"

These words I treasured for years to come, and go.

Chapter 3 - Extra - A birthday surprise

Chapter 3 - Extra - A birthday surprise4 Years before release

"You wanted to see me for a, 'birthday surprise', brother?" I asked as I stepped into his office. "I told you to address me as Mr. Reed! Do you understand me 'brother'!?" He spat. "But of course, 'Mister Reed'. As I said, you wanted to see me?" After I said this he snapped his fingers and two of the guards brought out a large, black bag with a zipper.

"Is that what I think it is?" I inquired. "But of course brother! It's your own body bag! And look, it comes filled!" He shouted with glee as the bouncers unzipped the bag. Of course, there in the bag was my neighbor, Mr. Gachipson. I have no Idea what it means, nor if it means anything. The point is he was a nice guy.

"Well then brother, I do believe you wish to have fun with your present! Guards, throw him out." As he said this, one of them picked me up and slung me over his shoulder, while the other did the same but with the body bag. "Oof! Oww..." I groaned as I hit the ground, and the body bag was flung on top of me. "Oh and Drake," My brother addressed me. "the police are on their way. Better find a way to hide that body!" He said with his trademark shit eating grin.

About 5 minutes later the police arrived and spotted me.I was pinned and cuffed within seconds. Afterwards I was taken to jail and signed in.

Day one: Today was hell. I managed to get one of the guards to give me a journal. It was beaten up, but at least it still serves it's purpose. My cell mate is 'nice' as far as it goes in prison though. That pretty much means he won't kill or violate me. We talk sometimes, but he's pretty touchy. The showers are exactly as depicted: dirty, smelly, and a lot of messed up dudes. The food wasn't horrible, but it makes you feel passive for awhile, drugs of course. Anyway, goodnight journal, looks like it's lights out.

Day seven: Well, this week as been eventful. I got beaten up by a fugitive for insulting his manners, blamed for that, resulting in another year in prison, and a broken arm from the fucking guard! If I can't survive a week! Then this place is going to be hell for me in the future. Oh well, four more years of prison here I come! Goodnight journal.