I was being escorted by a pony with a bad case of creep face. Like, dude looked like he head butted a belt sander. As we approached the cafeteria he cackled.
"You'll have a lotta fun here pretty boy. Well, someone else might at your expense. This is gonna be good... I guarantee it."
He gave another ominous cackle before the door slammed behind me. I turned and made my way past tables lined with ponies who all looked like they were on something. They all had way too many tattoos and lots of missing teeth. One stood and walked over to me, followed by the biggest pony I'd seen yet. (He was still way shorter than me) The first pony sneered before saying,
"So you're tha new guy? Well here's how things werk around heah. I'm the boss. I tell youz ta do somethin, you do it. Or Brick over here will make you wish you was dead."
The pony gave a gap toothed smile. Mr. Sleezbag nodded before holding up a hoof.
"Now that youz know, kiss my hoof."
I looked from his hoof to his face before saying,
"Yeah, I'm not kissing that."
He glared at me.
"Think you're tough stuff do ya? I'm warnin ya. Kiss my hoof, or else."
"Your hoof comes near my mouth and you won't be getting it back."
I made a point of snapping my jaws as loud as possible, showing off my razor sharp fangs. Sleezy paled a bit before growling.
"Brick, feed him those teeth."
"On it boss."
Meathead lumbered towards me before throwing a wild haymaker that I back stepped away from. Okay, that was the sloppiest punch I've ever seen. He's probably used to fighting idiot prisoners or drunks. So long as I don't get hit, I'm golden.
He swung again and I dodged before nailing him across the face. He blinked before glaring at me.
"Heey. Hold still so I can murder you!"
Oooookay... he's too stupid to feel pain. So if I want to take him down, I need to take out his legs. Thank you dragon teacher for the fighting lessons!
He swung once again (I think he only had one setting) and I narrowly dodged it before grabbing his hoof. I darted behind him before planting a foot on his back and pulled his leg back as far as I could. With a loud pop it was out of socket and hanging limply beside him. He looked at his useless appendage before looking back at Sleezy.
"Uh... my leg don't work no morez."
Sleezy was looking nervous now. Good. Maybe I should--
"HEY! No fighting! That's an infraction!"
A group of pony guards lept between us as one levitated a slip of paper over to me... but not Meathead.
"Wait, why am I the only one getting one?!"
The guard sneered.
"You broke this pony's leg!"
"He started it."
"I didn't see anything like that. Now we gotta fix him before--"
I skirted around the guards and grabbed Brick's leg before popping it back into socket.
"There. Good as new."
Brick gazed dumbly at his leg as he slowly moved it around.
"It work good now!"
"Yeah. It work real good now."
He gave me the gap toothed smile again.
"Thanks! You are nice to me! I be friend now!"
"Yay. I'm so flattered."
I walked away from the two ponies before I heard something to my right. Looking over I saw the only non pony gesturing for me to come over to her table in the corner. She was a griffin with white feathers and a grey lion half.
"I'd be careful if I were you. The guards are preferential to the ponies."
"So like all of Equestria."
She shrugged.
"Name's Gwynn."
"Drake."
She nodded before propping her head up on a claw.
"So what are you in for?"
"Thievery and being a dragon."
She smirked.
"Same, except for the dragon part. What'd ya steal?"
"A crapload of gold from the royal vault."
She went slack jawed when she heard that.
"You... robbed Celestia herself?!"
"Yup. And got away with it. It was quite some time before they caught me."
She whistled.
"That takes either skill or stupidity to do. Me? I just got set up. I work for a bandit named Jackel. We all watch each other's backs when we're up to no good and occasionally do jobs for outsiders. Like a gang of thieves for hire. Anyway, a pony wanted someone to nab the contents of a safe that belonged to their 'rival' and I got sent out. The Royal Guard was waiting inside. Total setup."
I nodded before whispering to her.
"You tried to escape?"
She shook her head.
"Security's too tight here. If a whole bunch of us got out at once and got some weapons we might be able to, but the guards keep us on a short leash."
I nodded before asking,
"So why are you telling me all this?"
"Cause I can tell that you're going to try to bust out of here. When that happens, I wanna be on your good side. Also I just watched you humiliate the biggest douche in this place."
"Heh, fair enough."
She smiled before adding,
"Oh, and be warned. Today's visitation day."
"Visitation day?"
-------------------
I sat in a small chair as some pony came trotting in. Apparently he'd been visiting the prisoners for some reason and now it was my turn. He smiled at me and said,
"Hello friend."
I raised my eyebrow. The pony sat down beside me before continuing.
"Now I can tell that you're skeptical about me calling you my friend, but it's the truth. All of the goddesses' children are my friends."
"Goddesses?"
The pony nodded.
"Why of course! The divine sisters Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. They who control the sky and all that is below it."
I laughed.
"Woah woah woah, let me get this straight. You worship those two?"
"But of course! The goddesses deserve our praise for they are infallible and merciful. Despite the crimes you've committed against them, they still love you and will accept you into their flock should you give them the worship they deser--"
"Can it bub. There's only one God, and he definitely doesn't look like Celestia."
The pony gasped before shaking his head.
"Alas, another who will not come to the truth."
I watched in disbelief as he left.
"Trying to tell me that horse is God. Please, what a bunch of phooey."
----------------------
The next day I was led to the cafeteria with all the other prisoners. The ponies gave me a wide berth while Gwynn nodded to me before getting her tray. As I sat with her at the empty table (high school all over again) a guard stood on a catwalk above us and whistled.
"Alright everypony, listen up."
Once he was satisfied with how much attention we were paying, he continued.
"Only a few announcements today. First, due to inclement weather today, you will not be going outside."
A few prisoners groaned.
"Also, prisoner 56 report to the main hall."
Looking down at my shirt I realized that I was prisoner 56. Great, more interrogation.
After my meal I headed towards the main hall. Once there I was escorted into a different room where a chair (like the ones in the dentist's office) was sitting. A mare looked over at me and beamed.
"Sweet Celestia! They weren't lying!"
I gave her a skeptical look. She gestured for me to sit in the chair as she continued.
"I'm Doctor Stethoscope, and I've dedicated my life to the study of dragons. You're such fascinating beasts, it's a shame that you're so secretive."
"So what exactly do you want."
"Well, upon hearing that a dragon was now a prisoner here, I asked Princess Celestia for permission to examine you! Don't you worry, you're in good hooves."
I really didn't like the sound of that. I looked over at the table she was standing next to and looked over the various scalpels and pliers.
"So what exactly are you going to do?"
She looked over and said,
"Well, I'm going to take a sample pf your scales, blood, firebreath, and teeth. Oh, and I'll be needing some claw clippings."
Oh hell no.
"Yeah, no thanks."
She giggled a bit.
"My my, you've learned Equine very well. Such a smart widdle guy!"
She picked up a scalpel and hit a button which caused restraints to clamp down on my limbs.
"Now be a good little dragon and I'll give you a treat!"
"What the heck! You can't do this crap! It's illegal to experiment on somebody against their will!"
She rolled her eyes.
"Somebody. You're a dragon. You count as a magical beast in the eyes of the scientific community. Whoever taught you to talk should have been more careful. I mean, it's almost like you think you're a pony!"
Welp, I was gonna wait a bit, but I guess I'm breaking out now. I lunged forward and bit through the iron restraints. What? My teeth can crush basically anything! Now that I was free, I gave the mare a menacing look. She gulped and darted for a button on the wall. I caught her tail and swung her like a club into the wall. She flopped onto the floor, unconscious.
"Welp, time to get my things!"
I unlocked my cuffs before conjuring my sword.
"For a high security prison, this place kinda sucks at security."
I exited the room and crept silently through the hallways. I found a door labeled "Prisoner Belongings" and opened it. After a brief search I found my coat. Once I was out of the striped shirt and back in my coat, I spotted some leather gloves with a matching knife and saddlebags. Hmm... I wonder who else in this place has fingers!
I heard the door open and spun around to see a guard gaping at me. I smirked before whacking him with the flat of my blade.
"Too slow bud."
Now then, I have a griffon to rescue.... Aw, what the heck, PRISON BREAK!
---------------------
Gwynn distractedly bounced a rubber ball against the wall of her cell. Unlike most prisons, the inmates here were confined to their cells until they had a scheduled activity. She heard a commotion from down the hall and poked her head out to investigate, along with all the other prisoners. Out of the gloom of the unlight emd of the hall strode Drake with a keyring he was twirling in his claws.
"Good morning! This is Drake speaking. Despite the stellar accommodations here, I've grown tired of this place. I extend the same option to you. Who wants out!"
Cheers rang through the prison. One voice could be heard over the rest.
"Me! Me! I wanna go back to my flower garden!"
-----------------------
I turned to that cell and saw Brick standing there, grinning like a buffoon.
"Brick! How's it going!"
"Good! How about you, friend?"
"Pretty good, pretty good. You want out?"
He nodded enthusiastically. I unlocked his cell and immediately was wrapped in a powerful hug.
"Drake is Brick's bestest friend forever!"
"Easy there... big guy!... you're choking me!"
He let go before trotting down the hallway. I released the other prisoners before stopping before the final cells. One had sleezy pony, and the ither Gwynn. I let the griffoness out and handed her her belongings. She grinned as she put everything on.
"Well! Not only did you get me out, you even got my stuff for me! What a gentleman."
I rolled my eyes.
"Eh, anything to tick off Celey."
As we turned to leave, sleezy banged a hoof against his cell bars.
"What about me!? Youz can't just leave me heah!"
"Eh... yeah I can. Ciao!"
I casually walked away, followed by the griffoness. We passed guards who had been knocked unconscious as we made our way to the exit. Looks like I didn't even need to fight! Win-win! Once outside, Gwynn turned to me and offered me her hand.
"Here's where we part ways... for now. I'll tell Jackel about you, you know, get you an ally in the criminal underworld."
"See you later then. It's been fun."
She nodded before flying off. I looked at the mountains extending around me and sighed.
"Dang it. Where do I go now?"
I chose a direction before setting off into the mountains.
(Later, in Ponyville)
"SPIIIIIKE!"
Twilight hurriedly flipped through her books as Spike ran over to her.
"Twilight? What's wrong?"
She groaned before responding.
"Drake broke out of prison! We need to catch him again! So, I've taken it upon myself to devise a variation of the teleportation spell that will only effect dragon. It should be able to send him directly to a specially designed cage that I will place a magical beacon inside!"
Spike nodded.
"Huh, does it work?"
Twilight gave him a sympathetic smile.
"That's... why I need your help."
Spike sighed.
"Twilight, are sure this experimental spell is... safe?"
"It should be. I mean, it's just teleportation!"
Spike sighed before smiling.
"Alright! I trust you!"
Twilight nodded before pointing at a small piece of paper with a large magical sign drawn on it.
"There's the beacon. You should be moved directly to it."
Spike closed his eyes as Twilight fired up her horn. There was a flash and Spike disappeared. Twilight looked at the beacon but grew worried when Spike didn't appear.
"Spike? SPIKE!"