This is a Secret Santa story for  coldredemption, involving his character getting turned into a beefy blue dragon! Hope you all enjoy!


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“Argh! Darn it!” yelled Tray, looking down at his shoes. Today had been a pretty uneventful day for him - he didn’t really have much going on, so he’d decided to go for a walk around his neighborhood simply to pass the time. Unfortunately, he hadn’t been paying attention to where he was walking, and with one step he felt his shoe go right through something small and round. He lifted his shoe up, and sure enough - embedded right in the sole of the shoe was a small pebble, buried almost all the way to the edge. Groaning, he fished the pebble out, grimacing when he saw the damage it had caused - his sock was clearly visible through the hole it had left.

With a sigh, he tossed the pebble aside and continued the trek back to his house. He knew these shoes were old - he’d had them for several years now, and it was probably getting to the point where he’d need to replace them soon anyway. Still, he’d hoped to get just a bit more use out of them before that time came. He’d grown pretty fond of them, after all, and he didn’t really want to have to go through the hassle of finding a new pair that both suited his style and was comfortable to wear. But there was no point in putting it off, he supposed. He knew he’d have to go through this eventually, and he figured it was probably better to be doing it sooner rather than later anyway.

As he approached his house, though, he noticed something strange: there appeared to be a package sitting on his front stoop. He frowned - he didn’t remember ordering anything, and he couldn’t think of anything that one of his friends would send him, either. He walked up to his front door, noticing that there was a note attached to the package. “Tray - thought you might need these,” he read. “Hope you enjoy them!” He frowned, turning the note over - there wasn’t any kind of signature or name on the paper, other than his own. In fact, there didn’t seem to be any kind of return address on the package either - only his own address. He tilted his head in confusion, shaking the box slightly. Who would send him something like this? And what could possibly be inside the package?

As soon as he got inside, he immediately grabbed a pair of scissors and tore open the package. But as soon as he saw what was inside, he stopped short. It was… a pair of shoes. Design wise, they were pretty similar to his old shoes - they looked to be the same general style, and they looked like they would fit his feet just like the old ones did. But there was one major difference between them - while his old pair of shoes had been an unremarkable brown color, this new pair was covered in what appeared to be patterns of bright blue scales. Trey looked them over, feeling even more confused than before. Why had someone sent these to him? Whoever it was couldn’t possibly have known that his shoes were going to get damaged today, right? And even if they had, why would they send him shoes that looked like… this?

Tray examined the shoes all over, trying to think of some explanation as to why someone would give these to him, but… no matter what, he just couldn’t think of anything. Sure, the scale pattern was pretty, but they were far too gaudy to be something he would want to wear in public. Still… it wasn’t like he had anything to lose by trying them on, right? If he really didn’t like them, he could always sell them or donate them somewhere. With a shrug, he bent down and took off his old shoes, before slipping the new ones on. After that, he started walking around a bit, trying to get a feel for how they felt. They were surprisingly comfortable, even more so than his old shoes had been. Even the scale pattern was starting to grow on him - while it had looked gaudy and overly flashy before, now something about it felt natural, like this was the way his feet were meant to look. Despite his initial thoughts, Tray was starting to feel really attached to those shoes, even though he’d only worn them for a minute or two. Smiling, he went over to his couch and sat down on it, pulling out his phone. They were probably still too flashy to be worn every day, but he was sure he could find some use for them - perhaps he could wear them on special occasions, or even just around the house whenever the desire struck.

After a bit of time passed, Tray glanced up at his clock. It was getting late - he figured he should probably get started on dinner soon if he didn’t want to be eating super late. Putting his phone away, he stood up - and nearly toppled over. “Wha- hey!” he yelled, desperately grabbing onto his couch to try and support himself. As he tried to straighten himself out, though, he happened to glance down at his feet, causing him to suddenly stop short. He blinked. Once, twice, three times, trying to comprehend what he saw. The blue scales from his shoes were still there, but… the shoes themselves were completely gone. In their place… in their place was something he could hardly even bring himself to describe. Instead of shoes or his normal human feet, he saw what appeared to be a pair of massive, scale-covered paws. Clearly reptilian in appearance, starting with raised, digitigrade heels and ending with three long, thick toes, each one topped with a razor-sharp claw. Cautiously, Tray moved his right foot forward, the monstrous paw before him moving as he did. There was no doubt about it - those paws were his. Those monstrous, reptilian, blue-scaled paws had replaced his feet entirely.

His body trembling, Tray slowly bent down, trying to get a better look at his new paws. As he did, though, he suddenly noticed something - the blue scales from his paws were slowly rising, covering his ankles and starting to crawl up his legs. He watched as they crept up and up, moving up his lower legs, past his knees and up through his thighs. Yet that wasn’t the only thing about his legs that was changing - it looked like they were getting bigger as well, swelling up with fat and muscle. As he watched, Tray slowly ran a hand across his new scaly haunches, feeling how thick and powerful they had become. He should have been scared, he realized - but he wasn’t. He felt more intrigued than anything, watching his lower body change from human to something decidedly more reptilian. As the scales continued creeping up under his shorts, he felt his upper legs swelling more and more, threatening to tear through his shorts. And yet they didn’t - in fact, his shorts felt just as comfortable as they had before despite his powerful new legs pressing against them.

As Tray raised a hand to pat his new legs beneath his shorts, he suddenly felt another strange sensation - something extending out his rear, pressing against the back of his shorts. Before he knew it, whatever it was had exploded out the back, growing bigger and longer before finally landing on the floor behind him. He gasped - whatever it was, he could FEEL it touching the floor as if it were part of his own body. But only for a second - after that it suddenly lifted up, curling around his body long enough for him to get a good look at it. It was a tail - a long, draconic tail, covered in blue scales just as his legs were with dark blue spines running right along the tip. He reached out a hand to grab it, gasping again as he did - once again, he could FEEL his hand touching it, almost like he was grabbing one of his own arms or legs.

Meanwhile, the scales continued to travel up Tray’s body, across his torso and towards his arms. As they did, he could feel the muscles across his core tighten, becoming stronger and more pronounced. Amazed, he ran a hand across his tighter chest and abs, feeling how much stronger and bulkier his midsection had become. But that wasn’t all - As the scales made their way across his arms, they too began to bulk up, the muscles growing and swelling underneath his shirt. Looking down, he even felt like he’d grown a fair bit taller as well, the ground seeming much further away than it had. Yet somehow, his shirt still fit him perfectly, as if it too had grown to fit his much larger frame. Even his blue jacket, the one he almost always wore, seemed to be just as comfortable as it had been a few minutes ago. Looking down at his hands as the scales covered them, he saw that they too had changed slightly, sharp claws sprouting from his slightly thicker fingers. He wiggled his fingers, noticing that they still felt fully dexterous despite the changes - naturally fitting him just like his clothes did.

As the scales crept up Tray’s neck, he felt a strange sensation in his jaw before it suddenly shot forward, growing out into a long, draconic muzzle. Mesmerized, he reached up and ran a hand across his new snout, running his flatter tongue along his new sharp fangs at the same time. A sudden pressure atop his head signaled another change, which he once again reached up to check. Sitting on the sides of his afro were two pointy horns, curved and facing forwards. But as he was admiring those, a sudden pressure in his back signaled one final change. He grunted, bending over as the pressure released itself, two massive growths breaking through his shirt and jacket. Eyes wide, he looked behind him to see two huge draconic wings, spread out stoically behind him. He exhaled slowly, reached out and running a clawed hand across them. Once again, he could actually FEEL his hand running across them, just as he had with his tail.

Once Tray was sure the changes had fully stopped, he immediately took off running, only stopping when he was in front of his bathroom mirror. There, standing in front of him, was a huge, muscular anthropomorphic dragon, covered in brilliant blue scales. His beard and afro still adorned his head, just as his clothes remained on his body, but everything else had been completely overtaken by this draconic transformation. For a moment, he just stared, unable to believe what he was seeing. Then, slowly, he lifted an arm up next to him and flexed it. A chuckle escaped his draconic maw - his arm felt strong and powerful, far more solid than it had before. He raised his other arm and flexed it as well, feeling that same power course though it. Before he knew it, he was striking pose after pose in the mirror, grinning to himself the entire time. He couldn’t help it - he felt so powerful that he just had to show it off, even if it was just to himself in the mirror.

After a while, though, Tray got bored with posing and decided to turn his attention to the rest of his body. He ran a hand across his tail, chuckling as he felt it wiggle in his grasp. Just like the rest of him, it felt solid and strong - having it was an alien feeling to be sure, but not an unwelcome one in the slightest. He opened his mouth to examine the inside of his new muzzle, putting his sharp fangs and draconic tongue on full display. They perfectly fit his appearance, as did the regal looking horns atop his head. And his wings! They looked even more magnificent in the mirror than when they’d first appeared - stretched out behind him, they gave off an aura of power and strength that perfectly matched the rest of his body. One look, and he could tell that they’d be capable of carrying him great distances in the air, something that he was eager to try out. And of course, he had to turn his attention to the place where it all started: his feetpaws. They felt strong and comfortable, just like the shoes that led to them had. Just standing there, he could tell that they’d be able to carry him great distances without ever hurting or becoming sore - not that they’d need to, of course, thanks to his wings.

As Tray stared at himself, though, a thought occurred to him. Turning away from the mirror, he headed down into the kitchen, where he’d left the package containing his shoes. Looking over it, he picked up the note that had been attached and read it again, feeling confused. It had to have been the shoes that did this to him - but how? Were they enchanted or something? More importantly, who had sent them to him in the first place? He wished there was some kind of name - then he could at least thank whoever had been behind this whole thing for letting him experience something like this. But as it stood, he didn’t even have a guess as to who it could have been.

After a few seconds, Tray shrugged, turning towards his front door. Whatever. It didn’t matter who sent them to him - all that mattered was what had happened to him, and what he was going to do with it. Grinning, he stepped outside, turning his head up towards the sky. As long as he had this body, he was determined to make the most of it - and that was exactly what he was going to do. He jumped up, spreading his wings and taking off into the sky. He wasn’t sure exactly where he was going to go, but it didn’t matter - he would figure it out. He just needed to experience this as much as he could, for as long as he could - that was all that mattered to him.