"So, how old are you now anyway? You said you were barely an adult earlier." I asked. The dragon-pony and I had been walking for awhile. He seemed really nervous about going to town.

"Oh... uhh... I just turned 18 a few days ago..." He responded hesitantly. I frowned.

"I thought ponies were considered adults way before that..." I said doubtfully.

"Oh, they are. I'm not really a pony though, so I age slower..." He explained. I nodded.

"So, what's your name?" I asked. He turned his head up and seemed to be thinking.

"I don't know. I think I had one, but it has been years since anypony called me anything other than 'freak' or 'monster'." He said sadly. My heart cried for him, but I didn't let myself shed any tears.

"That's... really sad man... How about we call you... Blaze?" I asked. He thought for a moment, then nodded.

"I like it. What about my last name?" Blaze asked. I snorted.

"You don't need a last name, you're too cool for that... like Chewbacca." I said.

"Who's Chewbacca?" Blaze asked. I laughed.

"Nopony you need to worry about." I said. Then my brain finally caught up with some math. "WAIT! YOU'VE BEEN LIVING ON YOUR OWN FOR 13 YEARS?!?!?" I shouted in shock. He didn't react.

"Yeah, 13 years of being hunted, burning down trees in my sleep, and killing animals to survive. Fun times." He said bitterly.

"Dude, I understand. You don't need to remind me at every turn how bad it was." I said. "Anyway, wait... did you say killing animals to survive? Why would you need to do that?" I asked. Blaze flinched this time.

"I... I uhh... eat meat..." Blaze said slowly. "I can eat vegetables and stuff too... but it's not enough..."

"Oh, I understand." I said. He looked at me in confusion.

"It doesn't bother you AT ALL?" He asked. I laughed and shook my head.

"It can't bother me if I'm the same way!" I said happily. His jaw dropped.

"Y-y-you eat m-meat t-to?" He stuttered. "And the ponies STILL let you live around them?!"

"Actually, I live with one. Yepp, they all accept me. One even cooked a steak for me... god that was an akward moment." I said simply.

"Oh, you live with somepony? Is it a mare?" He asked. "Wait did you just say that one COOKED MEAT FOR YOU?!"

"Yeah, I live with a lavender unicorn named Twilight, who is most likely gonna yell at me when I get back. Yes, there's a butter-yellow pegasus with a long pink mane named Fluttershy. She takes care of all animals, even meat eaters. She cooked a steak for me... yepp, still really akward..." I explained.

"Oh, is the lavender one your special somepony?" He asked. I sighed.

"You know, I kinda wish she could be... or maybe anypony actually, but I just got out of a really important relationship... besides, there's no way anyPONY could like something like me..." I said sadly. "You're lucky, you may be different, but you're still close enough to a pony for somepony to love you..." Fang nuzzled my hand to cheer me up. I smiled and patted his head.

"I don't know about that. I'm really different. Maybe they won't even want to look at me..." He said doubtfully. I laughed.

"Oh, I seriously doubt that. They don't have a problem looking at my son, and he's much MUCH more different than you are." He looked up at me in confusion again.

"I thought you said you didn't have a special somepony! How do you have a son?"

"Oh, he's adopted." I explained. He nodded, but his confusion didn't disappear.

"Well, what kind of pony could you adopt that looks even more different than me?" He asked.

"Look, you'll have to see him to understand ok?" I sighed. He nodded. We kept walking for awhile, until he broke the silence again.

"Hey, I didn't notice you had wings like me before!" He shouted in suprise. "Are you part dragon too?!" I laughed again.

"I guess, in a matter of speaking, I am now!" I stretched my wings out. It always felt good to flex wings, like freedom had just been achieved. "Yeah, another thing you need to know about me, I can copy the magic of anypony else." I explained.

"That's.... weird... but I guess it explains the horn..." He pointed at my forehead. I reached up, and sure enough, the was a horn. It felt different though. It curved backward and stayed close to my head instead of growing outward like a normal horn. I looked back to Blaze, and sure enough, he had a pitch-black horn on his head that blended in with his coat.

"Huh, wasn't expecting the horn..." I muttered. Right as I said that, we exited the forest. "Ok, well, let's go meet my friends shall we?" I asked. He looked at me in fear, but eventually he nodded. We snuck up to the library. Well, Blaze snuck, I just walked. When we got there he hid in the low hanging branches. I knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" Fluttershy called.

"It's the pizza pony." I called back.

"Oh! Sharky's back!" Fluttershy yelled.

"Yeah, and there's somepony I want you to meet. Now open the door please!" I called again. Twilight's aura wrapped around the door and it was flung open. I was met by two hug-tackles. I dropped my axe and fell to the ground. "Oof. You girls... not that I don't like your hugs, but that is gonna hurt me someday." I laughed.

"Yeah, if these hunts don't get you first..." Twilight said sadly.

"Ha! There's not a monster out there with the strength to get me!" I said with false confidence. "Speaking of which, I'd like you girls to meet the monster from today's hunt. BLAZE!" I called. The girls both sat up in fear. Blaze didn't show up.

"Sharky... who are you talking to?" Twilight asked. I frowned.

"Hold on a second... BLAZE! GET DOWN HERE!!" I yelled. Still no answer. "Hold on girls..." I said. I moved them both off my stomach. I stretched out my dragon wings and flew up to the branch Blaze was hiding on. "Hey, what's going on?"

"I-I-I'm not g-g-going d-down there..." He stuttered. He was shaking like a leaf. I groaned and grabbed him.

"Yes you are!" I jumped down from the branch, landing a few feet away from the girls. I set Blaze down. "Here he is girls!" I cheered. Blaze looked at them in fear, and curled up in the fetal postion.

"T-this i-is the m-m-m-monster?" Fluttershy asked, still scared. "H-he's... a p-pony..."

"Well... kinda..." I answered. I nudged Blaze with my foot. "Come on buddy, they won't bite." I promised. He slowly lifted a forehoof and looked at the girls. They both gasped.

"Oh my! He has dragon eyes!" Twilight said. "That is so... so... FANTASTIC! I've got to study this!" She ran over to Blaze and started looking him over. "Ok, normal pony body, curved horn, dragon wings...." She droned on, listing all of his features. I smiled down at Blaze.

"See? I told you they wouldn't be scared of you!" I said happily. "Well, I'll leave you three here to get to know each other. I've got to get to work!" I took off towards Sugarcube Corner.

"WAIT, YOU'RE JUST GOING TO LEAVE ME?!?!" Blaze screamed. Twilight sighed.

"You get used to it eventually..." Twilight muttered. Then she went back to analyzing him.

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"Hi Mr. and Mrs. Cake! Hi Pinkie! Sorry I'm late, I was busy with my other job." I explained as I walked into Sugarcube Corner.

"Yeah, Pinkie told us. It's a real honor to have a Night Knight as an employee!" Mr. Cake said proudly. "I will still have to dock your pay for being late!" He laughed.

"Actually Mr. Cake, I don't want you to pay me any more." I said. He looked at me with a little bit of fear.

"You're quitting?! No, you can't leave now! We need your help!" Mr. Cake said quickly. I laughed.

"No, I'm not quitting, I just don't need you to pay me anymore. The Princess pays more than enough. I still want to help you though!" I explained.

"Oh no, I insist that you be paid. I know you don't like accepting things, Pinkie told me, but being paid is..." I opened my bit pouch and showed him the contents. "SWEET CELESTIA! THIS IS YOUR PAY?!" He shouted. I closed my bit pouch and reattached it to my hip.

"Actually, that's half the pay for one job." I explained. "Now will you let me work for free?" I asked. Mr. Cake's mouth was open, and he didn't seem able to close it. He nodded though, and I smiled and walked into the kitchen.

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Ok, I'll admit it, not my best work day. I was doing great, until Pinkie tossed a sack of sugar at my and it hit my healing rib. Even with the Pinkie magic boosting me, I was slowed a lot. We still managed to get through a day's work and then some though. I said goodbye to the Cakes and Pinkie, and started walking towards the boutique.

"It's about time I get myself a freakin' shirt..." I grumbled to myself. Then a cyan pony smacked into my back. I fell forward onto my face. "ALRIGHT! WHO HAS THE BAL... Oh, hi RD. What's up?" I asked as I turned to see my assultant.

"Hey Sharky!" She greeted me. "I'm just here to take you to dinner remember?" She asked playfully. I groaned.

"Damn, I totally forgot!" I said. "I'm sorry, it has just been a really busy day. I was gonna go get a shirt made, but you're more important than clothing. Let's go!" I stood up and placed RD on the ground. "Ok, so where we going?" I asked.

"My place!" RD answered happily. I frowned.

"Ummm... I can't stand on clouds RD." I said. RD frowned.

"How'd you know I lived in a cloud?" She asked suspiciously. Crap.

"Uh... Ummm... Spike told me!" I shouted. She nodded.

"Oh, that makes sense. Well, I was thinkin we could hang out for awhile before we go to my place. You know, just long enough to let you grow wings." She explained. Whew, nice save.

"Sure, what do you wanna do?" I asked. She thought for a moment.

"Well, why don't we just talk?" She asked. I laughed.

"RD, you don't seem to be the talking type. Seriously, if you could do anything right now, no limits, what would it be?" I asked. She thought for awhile.

"Well, to be honest, I think I'd go see the Wonderbolts show in Manehattan. It's way to far th--" I put my finger to her lips and pulled out my iPhone.

"Consider it done!" I cheered. I hit the button to call Luna. The phone rang twice, then her face shimmered into view on the screen.

"Sharky! Hath thou completed thine mission already?!" She asked in suprise.

"Actually yes, a few hours ago actually. Turns out, it was a half dragon half pony! He's totally harmless... relatively speaking, and he's gonna settle down in Ponyville!" I said happily.

"Well, this is quite suprising... Congratulations on a job well done. Now, give us a moment to teleport thee thine pay..." She started.

"Actually Luna, I have a favor to ask instead. You see, me and RD here," I pointed the phone to RD. "Want to go to the Wonderbolts Show in Manehattan. Think you can help with transportation?" I asked. Luna gave me a huge grin.

"We can do better than that!" She said happily. "You see, we have our own special viewing platform for those shows. Thou may use it to watch the show!"

"Sweet! Thanks Luna!" I said.

"No problem. Anything for our friends!" She said. She hung up, and I put the iPhone back in my pocket. RD was staring at me open-mouthed.

"......NO WAY!!! YOU DID NOT JUST GET US A WONDERBOLTS SHOW FROM A ROYAL VIEWING PLATFORM WITH ONE... WHATEVER YOU CALL WHAT YOU JUST DID!!!" She squealed.

"Actually, I think I just did. By the way, it's called a phone call. Also, HOLY CROW I JUST GOT US TICKETS TO THE WONDERBOLTS IN MANEHATTAN WITH ONE CALL!!!" I squealed. Our geeking was cut short by a flash of black light.

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"So, this is Manehattan huh?" I asked. It looked almost exactly like Manhattan, but with ponies everywhere. Awesome.

"OHMYGOSH! THIS IS SO AWESOME! YOU ARE THE BEST EVER SHARKY!" RD exclaimed. She jumped up and hugged me.

"No problem, that's what friends are good for right?" I laughed. RD dropped the hug and fell away from me.

"Yeah, friends. Anyway... I can see the Wonderbolt's track from here. Let's go." She said. I scooped her up in my arms, and took off in the direction she was pointing.

"Hey, your wings aren't bound anymore!" I exclaimed in suprise.

"Eeyup, they healed already! Now go on! Let's get there before the show starts!" She said excitedly.