The trip to Sweet Apple Acres was a short one since it was on the edge of the Everfree forest anyway. On the way there Raiju began expressing his confusion to the other ponies.
"I am baffled...I mean, I have only met 4 ponies, only two of which I have actually had full conversations with but two ponies whom have never meet me gave up their child to me? Why?”
"Yeah, Twilight told me about that.” Rainbow Dash responded. “That’s really strange, have you thought of a name yet?"
"No...I don't really know where to start with a name."
"Oh that reminds me.” Twilight interrupted. “I’ve been wondering for a while now; what does your name mean? It seems really bizarre.
"My name? Well actually it's a play on the name of the first technique I ever learned. It essentially means balled lightning.
You've seen me use it before; it's actually a very difficult technique to use effectively, that’s why my parents were elated to see me use that technique before anything else.
They talked a while longer until they finally made it to Sweet Apple Acres. They walked around looking for Applejack until they heard her in the barn. Twilight and Rainbow Dash went inside as Raiju waited outside, because he couldn't fit in the door. Applejack was very busy stacking up hay bales and talked to them while see worked, until Rainbow Dash stopped her to say hello.
"Hey Applejack."
"Howdy Rainbow, how ya' doin'?"
"I'm fine."
After greeting her as well, Twilight said. "Applejack we need some help. We need a bunch of apples for a new resident of Ponyville, he doesn't have much and needs a bit of help getting started out."
"Why sure Twilight where is he? I'll show y’all were you can get some."
"He's just outside, waiting for us let's go."
The three began walking out of the barn when Applejack noticed Raiju standing, looking around the farm, enjoying the view.
She grabbed the other two ponies and pulled them behind the Hay bales she had just stacked.
"What in the hay is that?! And what's it doin' in Sweet Apple Acres?"
"Applejack clam down. That's who we were talking about. He isn't dangerous we promise, he hasn't eaten in over a week."
Applejack reluctantly came out from the hay and walked outside.
"H-Howdy there...Mr..."
"Hello! You can call me Raiju, you must be Applejack. Your friends have told me all about you, and how you grow all the apples for Ponyville."
"Yeah, Applejack you think you can help him out?"
"A’ Course I can help. How many apples ya’ think ya’ need?"
Raiju thought about it for a moment when he said. "Hmm...I dunno maybe a barrel full?"
"Well...normally I don't give out that much for free, but seen' as your Twilight and Rainbow's friend I can spare some this time."
Raiju was surprised by the pony’s willingness to help him so quickly after meeting him. "Wow really? I really appreciate this I promise to pay for it next time...somehow."
"Thanks Applejack.” Twilight said. “Hey you don't think you can come with us into town can you? He needs to get some things for that filly but we think that the more ponies we have accompanying him the less scared everypony else will be."
"That seems like a mighty fine idea, I guess I can take a bit of a break."
They tied the barrel to his tail and began walking towards Ponyville. They all seemed to get very nervous as they approached the town, worried about what the other ponies might do. They finally made it into town when they noticed that it was completely silent, and the streets were bare. They walked down the main street until they got to the general store. Twilight knocked on the door and a middle aged pony slowly opened the door. She walked inside and bought a large amount of filly formula and diapers, she walked back outside magically carrying the supplies as the door locked shut behind her. Twilight proceeded to tying the supplies to his tail like the barrel of apples.
"Well this should be enough to last you quite a while."
"Thanks Twilight, I promise I'll pay you back as soon as I can."
"Don’t worry about it, you’re new and you need help, simple as that. Next stop…Sugar Cube Corner? We know that Pinkie
is going to want to meet any newcomers."
"Good idea.” Rainbow Dash said. “She's gonna want to throw a party, and what better way to introduce you to everypony than with a party?"
Puzzled, Raiju asked. "Wait, I'm confused. How do you know she's going to throw a party?"
All of the ponies laughed and told him to wait and see. Once at Sugar Cube Corner the group of ponies walked inside, while Raiju played with his new daughter outside. The group told pinkie there was someone new in Ponyville, and she quickly told them that she needed to meet him right away. They pointed outside and Pinkie Pie was outside in a flash and immediately noticed Raiju, before he even noticed her there, Pinkie was already hanging upside down from his horns,with a giant smile on her face she began asking Raiju questions in rapid succesion.
"Ooooooh, you must be new to Ponyville. I know everypony in Ponyville, and I’ve never seen you before, so that means you’re new! My name is pinkie pie, what's your name? Where are you from? What's your favorite kind of ice cream? Why-"
Applejack suddenly interrupted her. "Hold on their Pinkie Pie, slow down so he can answer you."
The group went on to explain everything to Pinkie Pie from the beginning. She looked confused by the whole thing.
"I don't get it...any way we need to throw you a party and introduce you to everypony in town."
She quickly zoomed off leaving Raiju baffled. The ponies all laughed as the group began walking back towards the Everfree Forest. They untied everything from Raiju's tail and began making their separate ways when Pinkie ran over to tell everypony that the party was going to be in the cave the next afternoon. They all said their goodbyes and went home, Raiju began remaking the room he made to be much larger for Pinkie Pie’s party. The next day, around noon Twilight showed up at Raiju's cave and was amazed by all the work he had done.
"Wow, this is really shaping up to be a beautiful home."
"Thanks Twilight, c'mon and I'll show you the clearing I made from the trees I've been taking down."
Raiju brought Twilight around the side of the cliff the cave was in, and walked into a small clearing with a creek running alond on side of it. It was a beautiful area, flowers started to grow and everything seemed much more lively than the rest of the forest.
"I love this spot...I come here to sit and think, it's calm, peaceful. As I build more inside the cave this clearing will get bigger, and it might be a good spot for a picnic or something."
"That's a great idea! We should get going though, Pinkie is going to set up for the party and, for some reason, she always likes doing it alone. Ok, you're going to need a foal-sitter of this afternoon...I guess we can ask Fluttershy, but that could be a problem."
"You don't think she will?"
"No, no she would love to, it's just that she is very easy to scare and she might not answer her door seeing you there, no offence. How about I bring her and you can go with me to pick her up after the party?"
The two of them walked to Fluttershy's cottage, Raiju handed over the filly and hid in the forest nearby waiting for Twilight's return. Twilight knocked on the door and Fluttershy answered with her bunny, angel, riding on her back.
"Oh hello Twilight. How are you today? And who is this cute little filly?"
"Hi Fluttershy. This is someone new to town's filly, and Pinkie is throwing him a party. He has nopony else who can take care of her. Do you think you can take care of her until later tonight?"
"Sure twilight. What's her name?"
"Well...she actually doesn't have one yet. It's a long story. I'll be back later tonight with her father, hopefully he can answer all of you questions. Maybe you can help him come up with a name."
"That a little, umm, strange...well I'll be happy to take care of her for tonight."
"Thanks Fluttershy, her dad is really grateful for this. We don't expect the party to last long so we might be back really soon."
Twilight handed over the filly and the two said goodbye, after fluttershy closed her door Twilight began walking back to the cave when Raiju caught up with her to walk with her the rest of the way. They arrived at the door to the cave where they heard music playing from inside. Raiju took a deep breath, knowing that everypony will likely try to run away and opened the door. All of the ponies inside turned and began to welcome him home until they all saw him, the room went completely silent.
Twilight looked over to Raiju and, with a faked smile, said. "Well at least they didn't scream and run away right?"
Pinkie Pie came out from behind a large crowd of ponies with a party hat in her hooves.
"Welcome home!! Here put this hat on."
She placed the hat on top of Raiju's head and stood back to take a look at him. She immediately began laughing historically until she fell on the floor. Twilight also began laughing as did a few other ponies in the room. Raiju became confused at why they were laughing and asked to see what was so funny. Twilight magically lifted up a mirror up to his face so he could see, after looking at himself with the tiny bright pink party hat on his head he began laughing too. This was great, it helped lighten the mood and made everypony much more comfortable. The party went on for about an hour with everyone having fun much to Raiju's surprise. Towards the end of the party Raiju walked up to Twilight.
"Twilight this is great! everypony is having a great time. I'm actually really surprised. I kind of expected them all to run away as soon as I got here."
"Yeah I'm really glad that everypony is willing to give you a chance."
"Me too. I just-"
Just then a pony that had just left could be heard screaming not too far away. The ponies all ran outside with Raiju not far behind to see what was happening. As they exited the forest more screams could be heard, a Pegasus pony few by and said that there was a dragon not far from Ponyville.
Raiju quickly stopped him and asked. "A dragon?! Wait, how large and what did it look like?"
The Pegasus said that it was about Raiju's size and was black with golden, almost glowing, wings. Raiju's eyes widened as he called out to all of the ponies to run back to town, then he raced over to the field the Pegasus said the dragon was near. The dragon came into view flying very fast and very low to the ground as Raiju stood waiting for him to land.
"What are you doing here...Rukodiora?"
The dragon stopped and hovered just a few feet off the ground with beautiful golden wings having spines traveling along the sides of it's tail coming off his wings which hugged his body until halfway down its tail, there was also a rock about 3 feet in diameter circling around him. The dragon responds.
"I could ask you the same thing Jinouga. Unless you are here for a snack too?"
"No, quite the opposite. I have been “employed” by the ruler of these lands to defend it against threats like you."
"Oh how cute the ponies needed a guard dog to protect them from the big bad monsters. You're an embarrassment to your species, which is definitely saying something."
"That is enough, now I am going to have to ask you to leave Equestria...NOW!"
"I do not take orders from you, but I'll gladly rip you apart just so you'll shut up and get out of my way"
As he finishes saying this, a red and black beam comes shooting from its mouth. It impacts the ground leaving a scar across where it hit. Raiju dodges it and immediately raises all of his spikes as electricity begins to spark around him.
"So you're unleashing your energy now hunh? Well then...I won't mess around either!"
Just then he let out a massive roar as his wings began to change color. The part closest to his body turned a dark red-orange, a black aura surrounded him as he began taunting Raiju.
"Since you said that you know what species I am, I suppose I don't need to tell you what kind of power I am capable of."
"I know exactly what you are. The dragon of the magnetic pole, Rukodiora, able to control magnetism and anything magnetic, so yes I do know exactly what you are capable of."
The two then began ferociously fighting with neither getting any hits on the other. They both were incredibly agile, quickly moving out of the way of each other. The fight continued for almost an hour, they were both becoming more and more exhausted. The dragon was getting very frustrated from missing.
"STOP MOVING SO I CAN KILL YOU!!"
He then began to circle around slowly in a figure eight, ferociously flapping his wings. The ground beneath Raiju began to shake until a massive chunk of the ground ripped itself into the air an began breaking appart. Raiju leaped from the piece of earth he was on, grabbing onto the dragons feet. It couldn't fly with all of the extra weight and fell to the ground where Raiju pinned him down with a grin on his face.
"You leave yourself wide open after using large amounts of you power. Now...you have lost. You are to leave Equestria and never return."
"How did you know...it doesn't matter. Fine, I know when I have been bested, I will leave."
Raiju stepped off the dragon and let him go. The dragon leaped into the air and flew away as a group of ponies walked to Raiju who was now visibly exhausted from the long battle. Twilight stepped up to him, ecstatic of his victory.
"That was amazing! I can't believe how you turned that around and used his own attack against him."
Raiju responded between breaths. "Patience. It is key in almost anything you'll ever do, something I learned long, long ago. I’m just glad he lost his before I became too tired to fight, I couldn't have lasted much longer."
Pinkie Pie suddenly burst in between the two shouting in amazement and waving around.
"Wow that was CRAAAAAZY! You were all like whoosh and he was like GRRR."
Twilight interrupted pinkie pie as Raiju smiled from the complements.
"Pinkie pie hold on he's tired and probably wants to see his daughter and get some rest. Let's go pick her up from Fluttershy's house."
"Yeah it's getting late. I don't want her to think that I'm a bad parent."
The two set off across the field which was now ripped apart from the dragon ripping chunks of metallic rocks from the earth. While they made their way to Fluttershy’s house, Raiju asked Twilight a question.
"Twilight...there have been two attacks on Equestria in under a week! The Princess said something about the nest being close; do you know approximately how far it is?"
Twilight though about it a moment, when she recalled going there herself. "Well when we followed spike, when he went there, we walked for a little over a week before we got there."
"A week?! Then that means it's almost on the border of Equestrian lands. I might need to go and speak with whatever is in charge; I just hope that it isn't the main nest otherwise we will have some serious issues, very soon."
"Main nest? You mean there's more than one?"
"Yes there are five in total; north, south, east, west, and the main nest. The main nest is home to the most powerful dragons, most noticeably the dragon generals, the most powerful of all dragon kind."
Flutershy's cottage then came into view, they walked up to the door, Twilight knocked and poked her head in. Fluttershy was on her couch with the filly sleeping nearby.
"Oh come on in Twilight." She tried looking behind her. "Where is her father?"
"Well ya’ see, he can't really…fit inside you house. C'mon he's just outside."
Twilight wove her over to the door. Fluttershy was very confused but walked over anyway, they took a step outside and Raiju, who was playing with a few raccoons who were sliding down his tail, turned around and said.
"Hello. You must be Fluttershy."
Before he could even finished greeting her, Fluttershy yelped and ran towards her house. Twilight expected this and had already slammed her door shut. Fluttershy stood against her door terrified, Twilight started to try and calm her down.
"Fluttershy! Just calm down. There is nothing to worry about."
Raiju seemed concerned. "I just wanted to come here and thank you personally for taking care of my daughter."
Fluttershy wasn't listening; she was still searching for an escape. She saw her window open and leaped through, a few seconds later the door opened a small crack as Fluttershy placed the baby, gently on the ground on a mat.
Twilight couldn’t believe how she was acting. "Fluttershy! That's just-"
Raiju interrupted her, looking very sad. "It's ok Twilight. I understand...I'm not really the kindest looking thing in the world. Well I'm going to head home I guess, today was fun...up until a few hours ago that is."
Raiju gently picked up the filly and began walking back towards the Everfree forest while Twilight stood in front of Fluttershy's home looking very upset. When Raiju was completely out of view, Twilight teleported herself into Fluttershy's house where she found her hiding underneath her couch.
"Fluttershy your acting ridiculous, Raiju is one of the nicest creatures I've ever met; there is no reason to be afraid of him, all he wanted to do was thank you for taking the time to watch his daughter."
"B-But he's huge, and he's got sharp teeth and claws and-."
Twilight stopped her and began to explain everything to Fluttershy, starting from the very beginning of what she knows all the way up to a few hours prior, where he saved Ponyville from the dragon. While Twilight was telling Fluttershy everything, she came out from underneath the couch and after she was finished Fluttershy said.
"He has already done all that for Equestria even though everypony wants nothing to do with him? Now I feel really bad...I acted like a big jerk, I need to go apologies to him. Could you show me where he is Twilight?"
Happy that Fluttershy wants to make amends, Twilight responds. "That's an excellent idea, follow me."
The two set off for Raiju's cave in the Everfree forest, meanwhile Raiju had decided to sit in the clearing he had made with the filly. While sitting in front of the stream he began gently rocking his daughter and humming a sad sounding lullaby. After a while of humming Raiju's eyes began to tear up, and as a tear rolled off his cheek a voice startled him.
"Umm...excuse me? Mr. Wolf?"
Raiju turned around to see who was talking to him, as he turned Fluttershy had a brief moment of terror where she ducked and covered her eyes trembling. She looked up a second later, took a deep breath and sat down next to Raiju. She noticed the tears in his eyes and said.
"I'm sorry if I made you cry, I came to say that I’m sorry for the way I acted before."
Now realizing he never wiped his eyes of tears he does so while saying.
"No, no you didn't make me cry I understand how you acted, I'm a giant wolf covered in spikes and sharp claws, you reacted the same as almost everypony else. The song I was humming just brings back memories."
"Good memories?"
Raiju let out a sigh as his eyes began tearing up again.
"No Fluttershy...these are memories of a time I want to forget. It's just..." Tears began falling and he began choking up. "How I learned it is making me upset...any way." He said after regaining his composure. "I owe you an apology."
"Apologize to me? What for?"
"Twilight and I could have explained everything before but we didn't. We made you babysit for someone you don't know."
"It's ok, really. She was an absolute angel; she does like to try and fly around but she doesn’t seem to be a very strong flyer." Fluttershy looked at Raiju seeing many cuts and bruises from the earlier battle. She looked concerned as she asked. "Twilight said a dragon was trying to attack Ponyville and you stopped him. You're not hurt are you?"
Raiju just now realising that he is covered in scratches, smiled and replied. "Oh! No I'm not hurt, just a little tired."
The two talked a short while then said goodbye to each other and Twilight walked Fluttershy home. Raiju walked inside his cave to see that it has been completely cleaned. "A happy ending to an odd day. I suppose that I should write a letter to Princess Celestia detailing the attack today. I just hope these attacks become less frequent because I can't handle two a week. "
He placed a blank piece of paper on a table in his house, and began writing. After finishing his letter he teleported it to Princess Celestia by charging up a small bit and zapping it.
Meanwhile Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were talking to each other about Raiju.
Princess Celestia was pacing around the room saying. "I just don't know, He did save Ponyville and all of us watching but I still don't trust him after everything that their species has done. I know you've never even seen them before but surely you must have an opinion on the matter."
"Well you're right I don't know what they did in the past but from everything you have told me, he seems to be trust worthy to me. If he was going to attack Equestria he would have done it when he was in front of you, that would have been the most opportune time, would it not?.
"I guess you're right but-"
Just then Raiju's letter appeared in a flash between the two Princesses. It was slightly burned around the edges and fell to the ground. The two princesses seemed very confused; they had never received a letter in this way before. Princess Celestia lifted the letter up and magically unrolled it.
"A letter from...Raiju?!"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Princess Celestia,
Late in the afternoon a large dragon attacked ponyville with intent to devour its citizens. I managed to defeat the dragon after a very long fight, however the landscape were we fought is in total ruin due to its powers over magnetism. I am writing you this letter to inform you that I will be trying to repair the land to its former self over the coming weeks. I am however, pleased to inform you that no ponies were harmed nor were any structures damaged during the attack. If there is anything you need to ask me I would be happy to answer you.
-Raiju
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Princess Celestia couldn't believe it. Why wasn't she informed of this from somepony else? Could Raiju really be trusted? She was still very uneasy with the whole situation and felt she still needed to make sure over the up-coming months.