James and Patrick Pelican

One day, James woke up to the smell of strawberry pie. It was his favorite flavor, and one of his favorite things that Mrs. Dragon made. He excitedly got out of bed, and ran towards the cave stove.

"May I have a slice of your strawberry pie?" James asked Mrs. Dragon excitedly.

"Oh, you're up already? I should've guessed. You could smell my strawberry pie a mile away!" said Mrs. Dragon.

"So is that a Yes?" James said.

"I'm sorry, James, but this pie is for Patrick Pelican. I'm giving it to him as payment for fixing my stove. I thought since we have no anthro money, Patrick would like the first thing out of the oven he fixed!" explained Mrs. Dragon. James thought this was a good reason, but he sighed in disappointment. He was really excited to get a slice! He was about to go back to bed, when Mrs. Dragon continued;

"Wait a minute, James. You could turn into a dragon and deliver the pie! I'm sure Patrick will let you have a slice if he gets to know you. Feel free to stay awhile with him, he's always lonely, so he could use some company."

James perked up. "Really? Where is his house?" Mrs. Dragon gave James the directions.

"Now, he lives in the Port Grindstone Lighthouse, just outside of Port Grindstone village. Follow the coastline from the mountains to get there. You shouldn't miss the tower peeking from above the trees." James' heart was racing in excitement. Ever since Mrs. Dragon adopted him, he seldom ventured out of Dragon Valley with Mrs. Dragon, let alone by himself. But, he was excited for his first solo flight out of the valley. And, it had been a long time since he's been with anthros, his own kind.

"Okay, I'll do it!" said James. Mrs. Dragon handed James the pie, and James walked over to the edge of the cave, shifted into his dragon form, and took off.

"Make sure that pie is in one piece when you give it to Patrick!" Mrs. Dragon said humorously.

James was now flying over the treetops outside of Dragon Valley. Flying was still rather new to him, but he was getting very skilled at it. He loved the feeling of freedom the wind blowing through his hair and under his wings brought, and he loved being able to see everything from up high. He was even glad he could only fly in dragon form, since the wings on his back were doing all the work. "I have an extra set of arms this way," he thought. Still, what he was carrying with those arms made it difficult to focus. The aroma of strawberries and sugar filled his nostrils, and it didn't help that a dragon's sense of smell is much better than that of a duck. James was tempted to just take a big bite out of the pie when he spotted the top of the lighthouse. He circled around just to make sure that this was the right place, and then he landed in front of the Keeper's Quarters. He walked up and knocked on the door, pie in hand.

"Just a minute," a distant voice said. James heard the slapping of webbed feet approach the door, and the doorknob jiggle.The door opened, and there was an elderly pelican in a sea captain's cap.

"Well, well. Another dragon! I don't recall seeing you before. What do you need?" he said in an Irish accent.

"I'm here to deliver this pie. My mother, Mrs. Dragon, made this for you to thank you for fixing her oven," said James. Patrick Pelican looked shocked.

"Mother? Why, Daisy finally had an egg hatch! But you look rather old. I'm sure Mrs. Dragon would have told me when you were born." James was confused, but then he realized he hadn't turned back into a duck yet.

"Actually, I'm a duck," said James, and he morphed back into a duck to show Patrick. Patrick looked shocked, but then his eyes lit up in excitement.

"My, a transforming duck! Why don't I put the Kettle on, and we can have a chat? You seem like an interesting lad!" said Patrick. James happily agreed and walked into the lighthouse kitchen.