//------------------------------// // Chapter VIII - Respect // Story: Ignis Draco Nocturna // by Sketch D Tail //------------------------------// Chapter 8: Respect It was a nice and quiet morning to Ponyville's streets. For once in many years, nothing strange was happening. Well, that is to say, nothing too strange. "NatsuNatsuNatsuNatsuNatsu!!" Yelled three hyperactive voices. Not even two seconds later, lots of weight was put on the sleeping immortal's back that went up and down, up and down. With a hearty and sleepy groan, the man woke up, albeit very reluctantly. "Ugh, what?! It's too damn early you three, what do you want?" He complained, shooing the three bundles of annoyance off his back. "It's already eight o'clock, that's not early." Scootaloo remarked, looking at the clock hanging on the wall. Natsu just dug his face in his pillow. "I don't care what the damn time is, what do you want?" He asked. "We need your help Natsu." Piped up the young unicorn filly. "We need you to come to our school for show and tell!" They all begged synchronised. "Why?" He deadpanned. "We were told by Miss Cheerilee before the weekend to get something to bring in for show and tell today but we all forgot since we were having fun with you on Nightmare Night." Apple Bloom explained. "You had the whole weekend to get something, are you sure you weren't just slacking off?" He asked the three fillies, looking them in the eyes. It was the last straw, the Cutiemark Crusaders have to resort to that. They hung their heads for a second, before lifting them again with biggest puppy dog eyes and pouted lips. On the outside, Natsu was unphased, but his mind spoke otherwise. God fucking dammit that's too cute! Seriously, that level of cuteness should be illegal! he thought before finally giving in with a sigh. "Fine, I'll come. Just let me get some coffee first." ~~~~~~~~~~~ With a cup of coffee in his left hand, his eyes half-open and his right hand covered over his mouth from a yawn, Natsu sat in front of thirty prying eyes. "Okay, so I'm here way before I should normally be awake and I need to be somewhere else in a few hours. Can we get this over with?" "Girls," Miss Cheerilee said slowly, her eye slightly twitching. "would you care to explain why you brought Mister Natsu here?" She asked the three crusaders, wondering what caused them to forget their homework like this. "Yeah, why'd you bring this loser here? It's not like he's not gonna do anything special." Mocked a pink filly with a tiara upon her head. Now, among the years, Natsu had been called many things from Gray and other ponies, but none of them made him angrier than being called a 'loser'. So, as an act of vengeance and a lesson for the filly, Natsu shot a stream of fire out of his index finger. Like a bullet, it went straight to the filly's head and from the flames sprouted a small hand that gripped her tiara and ripped it off of the her head. As if obeying his command, the flames returned to their source, right in front of the pink haired man's face. But was he finished? Oh no he wasn't. As a final act of revenge, the fire wizard opened his mouth and ate the tiara. The loud chomps and cracks resounded and ricocheted across the classroom as jaws dropped to the floorboards. Three hundred bits worth of pure Stirling silver with five diamonds encrusted on it was just eaten as if it were a simple smack. "You were saying you little runt?" Said Natsu with a smirk, taking another sip of his coffee to wash the taste of metal in his mouth. "Now, I'm sure that you're all waiting to hear about the awesome and amazing adventures I went on when I was younger and that you have a lot of questions about me, but I have one condition; never ask about the war. Those memories are better forgotten. You hear me?" All the fillies and colts nodded to Natsu's request and were ready with their abundance of questions. All of them ranging from what magic was in his homeworld, the human race, how humans traded and worked, wizard and dark wizard guilds, the Fairy Tail guild to even simple questions like the people he knew and the missions he went on. Each question, Natsu was able to answer to the best of his ability. Before he had realised it, after all the questions he answered and memories he remembered, Natsu and the class failed to realise that the time had already reached 11 am, past recess and nearly time for his appointment. "Damn, that time already?" Natsu said, almost sad that he couldn't continue his story of the weird mushroom that grew on his head that one time. "Sorry, I need to go to the memorial in about an hour, can we finish this up?" He said looking to the teacher. Miss Cheerilee nodded to the elder human and looked back at her class. "Well, does anypony have any final questions for Mister Natsu?" She asked. "Oh! Oh! Oh oh oh oh oh OH!" Sweetie Belle called, her hoof waving in the air like it had it's own mind. "Yes Sweetie Belle?" Natsu said, smiling at her eagerness. "Is it possible we can get our cutiemarks in Dragon Slaying? Can we become dragon slayers too?" She asked with all the wonder and hope in the world, her green eyes sparkling like emeralds. For the first thirty or so seconds, Natsu just sat there in silence with a stoic look his face before standing up and walking over to the storeroom, closing the door behind him. Everypony was confused to what brought this on, but jumped the moment they heard a hearty laughter coming from in the little room. Minutes passed as the laughter continued to pour out before the man decided to come out, his laughter descending into chuckling. "Sorry kid but that's impossible. The only way to become a dragon slayer is to learn the magic from an actual dragon, and to my knowledge, the only dragon I know who can do that is my pops, Igneel." Natsu said, still struggling to contain the thought of little fillies fighting dragons. "Can we go speak wit' 'im?" Apple Bloom asked Natsu, and at once, that proud smile dropped from his lips and his eyes darkened with sadness. "Sorry, but that's definitely impossible. Igneel disappeared when I was just a kid and I haven't seen a single scale of him ever since." He explained, his heart drowned in sadness. "Maybe you're just not looking hard enough? I mean, how hard is it to find a dragon?" Scootaloo questioned him, who would very soon come to regret those words. What was once sadness had immediately turned into rage. "Excuse me?!" Natsu barked, outraged at the question, so much so he crushed the mug that was still in his hand. Natsu arose from his seat and began to walk to the orange filly with fury in his eyes and in every step. "I'm one thousand and thirty one years old, I have traveled to very furthest corners of Equestria more than four times over, I put Zebrica and the Minotaur lands on the map! I've talked to every, single, dragon I ever came across to ask even for the slightest clue to find Igneel and you say I haven't looked hard enough?!" He screamed to Scootaloo, ultimately scaring everypony else in the room. When he reached her desk, Natsu planted his fist so firmly into it that it split straight in half and fell to the ground. "You try being my age without knowing a single thing about why your father, the only family you had at the time, disappeared without so much as saying goodbye!" "Mister Natsu!" Cheerilee screamed to the enraged human. It was loud enough to get his attention, and he looked to the purple teacher with the same fury as seconds ago. "Let's talk outside." She said, and with a little coercing, Natsu went out the door with the mare. "What?" He asked begrudgingly. "What you said was completely out of line. Scootaloo is just a child, she probably didn't know what she said had hurt you." Natsu leaned his large frame against the tree they were under. "That doesn't excuse her for actually saying it. She doesn't know anything about what it's like to lose her family." He said. Cheerilee sighed and looked to the floor, her own eyes saddening. "You're right, she doesn't know what it's like, but that's because she doesn't remember." If she didn't have Natsu's attention before, she definitely did now. Natsu's eyes widened and he looked to Cheerilee with a look of shock on his face. "Ten years ago, her parents were victims of a catastrophic tornado. Their home was completely ripped apart and they were killed under the debris. She was only a newborn foal at the time. She never knew who her parents were, she doesn't even remember their faces." Many things went through Natsu's head at that moment, all of them about Scootaloo. “How could I have been so mean? Why did I say something like that? I didn't know anything about her, and I yelled at her like that.” Those were to name a few, but one was a dominant implant in his mind that would stay for as long as he lived. She's just like me. "So we're both orphans.." He said defeatedly, looking into the blue sky. Natsu grunted and scruffled his hair before moving away from the tree. "Fine, I'll go apologise to her." "One last thing. Please, keep this between us. Scootaloo doesn't know anything about what happened and while it is cruel to keep it from her, I want to at least wait until she's older and can learn to understand." The human looked to the teacher with a confused look. "What're you talking about? We were talking about how my temper got the best of me, nothing else." He said smirking as he walked back to the schoolhouse. Natsu wasn't good at lying, but boy did he know how to keep a secret. Upon re-entering the building, he saw all heads turn towards him and looked on in fear of the man. All except three. While Cheerilee was talking to Natsu, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were trying so desperately to cheer up Scootaloo, who was so desperately trying not to cry in front of the whole class. They kept telling her that it wasn't her fault that Natsu got upset, how was she to know that his father disappeared and never came back. It didn't make her feel any better though. It wasn't until Natsu had come back to her shattered desk that they looked up at him, and he could they were angry with him. He couldn't blame them, they had a right to be mad. "Listen Scoots, I'm very sorry about my outburst. It was uncalled for and just downright mean of me to yell at a kid who didn't know any better. I'm sorry. I might have something that can make it up to you, Sweetie Belle, you asked whether you could get your cutiemarks in dragon slaying, right?" Sweetie Belle nodded in confirmation. "Well I can't give you dragon slayer powers, but how about this; I let you join the Fairy Tail guild, as life-long members?" Slowly, very slowly, Scootaloo's face began to brighten. She moved in to hug him, to which he gladly returned. It was a touching moment, until Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom spear tackled the both of them into the ground, thanking Natsu for such an honour of being part of his guild. Part of his family. "Just don't tell anyone okay? I don't want Rarity, AJ or Rainbow coming in and beating my ass up." The heartful apology hugs couldn't last forever though, as Natsu had literally no time left to spare. It was time for him to leave. Many of the students were begging and pleading for him to stay and show them some more of his magic, to which he almost succumbed to. But alas, as he explained to them, his family has been waiting for him for so many years. After hearing that, they (very reluctantly) let the human go on to his meeting. When Natsu reached the library, he entered to see Twilight freaking out like she had stolen Celestia's favourite cake out of her fridge. It turns out she was distressing about what to wear to such a place like the war memorial site. It took a bit of coercing, but Spike and Natsu had convinced that she didn't need to wear anything special, or anything at all. They knew Rarity was going to, but that's her, she will wear anything to anywhere if it showed off her talents as a fashionista. They just prayed it wasn't too flashy. After about half an hour of cleaning and drying his clothes, Natsu, Twilight and Spike left Golden Oakes Library and made their way towards the edge of the Everfree forest. When they got there, everypony was already waiting for them. Rarity, as predicted, decided to bring a sleek, black gown that showed off her figure very well. What wasn't predicted however, was the arrival of two other ponies that were with the group. "Come to pay your respects have you? Celly, Luna?" Natsu question upon seeing the sisters of the sun and moon. "We haven't been here to give respects in a while ourselves. Plus, Celestia figured you'd come here as well after all these years of running, now that you've finally settled down." Natsu chuckled at the comment. "Define 'settled down'. Did you bring the stuff?" He asked the royal sisters. "All here, ready for you to serve out." Celestia said, raising a bottle, a stack of small dishes, a small box and a bunch of roses with her telekinetic grasp and levitating it to the human. "Thanks, I owe you for this." He said, grabbing the objects out of the air. And without further ado, the eight pony mares, drakeling and human all entered the Everfree forest. During their travel, some questioned why the memorial for the war was in a dangerous place like the Everfree and not somewhere like Canterlot's own gravesite for fallen soldiers. ‘Because while those soldiers died for their country, those who fought in the war, died for the fate of the world. They deserved a higher respect and a gravesite of their own’ was the answer Celestia gave, but all three immortals thought of and agreed with. Before long, after going past the ancient ruins of their old castle, the three siblings, ponies and drake reached a vast open field. It was almost surreal at how such a place was completely devoid of any of the chaos that was the Everfree. All one could see we green, fresh grass, a beautiful, open, blue sky and the tombstones that dotted across the area. Nopony said anything and nopony could hear anything, nothing but the screams of pain that echoed throughout all of time. It was strange really, even by equestrian standards. It was like the past was trying to speak in the present. And it was working. Neither Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie or Fluttershy wanted to feel sad, but all they could do was cry silently. It was like a movie, they could see the scenes being played, they could see the death and despair in the barren land and they could feel everypony's pain. There was so much pain, despair and torment, that they were suffocating from it. ‘And they were the ones who experienced it firsthoof and lived to tell the tale. How can they live with this much pain riding on their shoulders?’ Twilight thought, looking to the royal pony sisters and their surrogate brother. All of them had the same expression plastered on their faces, but it wasn't full of pain, regret or sadness. It was like they were asking for forgiveness. Taking a deep breath to steel himself, Natsu walked forward to the graves in front of him. He stood where they lay. He stood six feet tall, they layed six feet under. Here he was, at the graveyard that brought all the painful, all the sad, all the angry memories he harboured for one thousand years. In one hand he held the roses and in the other, the bottle and dishes. Over five hundred gravestones were placed in the ground, each looking like they were made just the day before: clean, prestine and ever living. But it was eight gravestones in particular that he was looking at, the ones payed here were considered heroes of the War of the Sun and Moon. They read from left to right: 'Private Iron Sword', 'Private First Class Swift Wing', 'Lieutenant Rosa Hawkeye', 'Lieutenant Speed Havoc', 'Lieutenant Colonel Hays Hughes', 'Major Hoofstrong', 'Colonel Flame Mustang', 'General Silver Shadow'. Each stone was accompanied with the words 'Valiant warrior, extraordinary pony of Equestria and proud member of the Fairy Tail family. Rest in peace.' "It's been a long time, hasn't it my brothers and sisters?" Natsu said sadly with a smile of the same emotion. Rarity's ears perked up at Natsu's comment. "Your family is buried here darling? I thought you were the only human in Equestria." She questioned. "I am the only human. You know those names I said a couple of weeks ago, back at the picnic?" Natsu asked, looking back to the six mares. Everypony nodded and Natsu looked back at the graves again. "Out of all the soldiers in Equestria back then, those eight were the ones I would call family in a heartbeat, loud and proud. I trusted them with my life and they trusted me with their lives. I loved them all for who they were, even their flaws. Iron Sword was cocky, Swift Wing was overly eager, Mustang was lazy, Hughes was constantly talking about his wife and daughter like some kind of perverted old man, Havoc was extremely disrespectful and also perverted, Hoofstrong....let's just not go there, and Hawkeye was bossy and strict. She was like the big sister of the guild, and sometimes that wasn't exactly a good thing." This time, it Twilight's turn to question the flame wizard. "What about that General? General Silver Shadow?" "Ahh, good ol' Silver. Him, he may as well have been my actual brother. We were so alike back then. We both thought that friends and family were much more important than money or political power. The only difference I'd say we'd have is that I'm a bit more childish than he was. He was carefree, just not as much as me." Natsu couldn't help but chuckle at a memory that surfaced to his mind. "It's funny, I can still remember the day he and I skipped training with the others to go grab a few pints. Hawkeye absolutely mullered our asses when we came back that same afternoon, drunk off our tits and reeking like hard cider and beer. The worse part was, we couldn't run away from her. We were that drunk." "Ya got any more funny stories about them, partner?" Applejack asked, walking up next to the man. "Sure." Natsu said quietly, a genuine, happy smile gracing his face. "Now Major Hoofstrong, this guy, was a handful. He was worse than Rarity in terms of overreacting, this guy took it to a whole new level and we also didn't exactly have the best beginning. He actually thought I was scaring some lady and he full on attacked me, and the surprising part was that he was almost as strong as I am." Rainbow laughed at the pure disbelief in the story. "Quit yankin' our tails. There is no way anypony could compare to you in terms of raw strength. Even I admit that I could never beat you in power, and you never get that kind of thing from me." "You've never met Hoofstrong. Seriously, that dude was ripped." Natsu said, proclaiming his truthful words. ~~~~~~~~~~ High above the clouds and into the heavens, six n stallions and two mares looked down upon the earth on the cloud they rested on. "Heh, it's about damn time he stopped feeling sorry for himself." Said a young mare. Her mane, tail and eyes a charcoal colour, contrasting her cream coloured coat. On her body was a set of black armour that covered everything except her lower legs, wings and head, and on the pauldrons, the mark of Fairy Tail in all its glory. Behind him, a giant, older stallion wearing barely any of the same black armour, threw his hooves into the air and proudly flaunted his abnormally large muscles. In the center of his chest layed the same guild mark. "Oh 'tis wonderful news to hear! I was so worried for Master Salamander after all these years!" He hollered into the air, somehow seeming to sparkle all around his body and bald head, save the small golden lock on his forehead. Another young pony, a stallion, with a steel grey coat and blonde mane and tail rolled he eyes at the elder one's overreaction. "We know Major. For seven hundred years, you were just cryin', bitchin' an' moanin' about Natsu. The other three hundred you spent talking to us about it. Seriously, I was beginning to think it might've been better to be Natsu than to sit here and listen to you." he said. "That's enough Iron Sword." Commanded another, deeper voice. Resting on the edge of the cloud was yet another stallion, who's coat was blacker than the deepest void, even darker than his armour, and who's mane and tail glowed in a mysterious silver with his golden, slitted eyes having the same glow to them and his leathered, bat-like wings giving off a intimidating appearance. On his neck, in a solid white, the mark of the guild rested. "Swift and Hoofstrong are right, but it's not like we can do anything now. We're dead, there's no escaping that fact. We can't help our brother." he said with a deterred attitude. All three former soldiers stood and snapped to a salute. "We're sorry General Shadow, forgive our rudeness." Apologised Swift Wing. The old general laughed heartily at the salutes and apology. "Seriously? A thousand years of being in the same family and you're still referring to each other by our ranks? Just call me Silver already." A stallion, barely into his thirties, looked to his fellow soldiers with a grin on his face and a cigarette inbetween his teeth. His sapphire eyes almost covered by his spikey blond mane. "Yeah, seriously guys, how is calling each other by name so hard?" He asked his dead brothers. "Oh shut up Havoc, just because you no sense of respect like Natsu, doesn't mean we don't." Said another stallion of the same age, his onyx black mane and tail differing from his fiery red coat but perfectly matching his armour. Havoc snorted to his old friend. "Whatever Mustang, it's not like you have any authority over me now." He said nonchalantly. "Why I oughta-" The deceased colonel began to give the lieutenant a piece of his mind, but was beaten to the punch. Literally, both the colonel and lieutenant were smacked over the head. A mare with long, golden hair tied back with a large fringe almost covering one of her brown eyes. On her side layed two crossbows and her very cutiemark being the Fairy Tail guild mark. "Stop it now. There's no point in us fighting amongst each other. Honestly, I'd thought you two would've grown up by now." She said sternly, glaring at the two men. Mustang wasn't too happy being scolded again by his wife, but felt a hoof fall on his shoulder. Looking behind him, Mustang saw and smiled at the grey unicorn with a black mane and tail that he called his best friend for so many years. He saw the small stubble, the glasses and the single, stupid bang that never could be slicked back no matter what you did to it. "C'mon Sparky, just let it go man. Havoc isn't changing any time soon, it's a waste of time arguing with him." Said Hughes in a calm tone that immediately snapped a nerve in his friend's head. "How many times do I have to say it?! Stop calling me Sparky!!" Barked Mustang, annoyed at the nickname he received from Natsu one thousand years ago. Silver shook his head glumly at the sight, but smiled anyway. ‘They haven't changed, not even after all these years. You'd be glad, dragon boy.’ Thought the batpony as he looked down upon the earth where he saw his brother in arms reach into his belt and pull out the small box he received earlier. While the former guild members were bickering amongst themselves, Natsu was busy on the ground, distributing a rose and a dish of sake to each grave that belonged to his family. "Oi Havoc, if can see me, this one's for you buddy." Natsu said, taking a cigarette out of the pack. Putting the tube of death in his mouth, Natsu lit his thumb on fire like a match and ignited the cigarette, taking a puff while looking to the sky. As he watched the exhaled smoke float through the air, he thought of what he could say to his family. "Mustang, you better take proper care of Hawkeye up there, otherwise your ass will be curb stomped to hell and back. Hawkeye, you have my full permission to do so if he hurts you in any way and trust me when I say I'll be laughing the whole time you do it!" He said, laughing at the situation he had made in his head. "Swift, Iron, you two better behave up there. You can't disrespect the other ponies up there like you did to me got it? That means you too Havoc. Hughes, you've got your wife and daughter up there with you, so I got nothing else to say except to take care of them you perverted bastard. Hoofstrong, stop making a damn drama out of everything okay? No one cares about your theatrics." He said a smile, while Hoofstrong grumbled in the skies. As Natsu gave his last words to his family, he came at an impasse, especially as he had reached the only person he trusted more than the entire world. "Shadow, I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise to you. I may have stopped the war, but Celestia was the one that did the deed. So, I'm sorry that I couldn't keep my promise." Natsu sadly said as he lowered his head, broken up that for the first time in his life, he couldn't keep a promise. Silver shook his head. "That's bullshit. You didn't break your promise at all, you idiot." he said, smiling gently at the human. Seemingly like he heard the stallion, almost like a whisper in the wind, Natsu looked up into the cloud above him and smiled. "I'll move forward, for all of you. Just make sure you watch over me, got it?" "Hehehe, I wouldn't have it any other way Natsu." Rarity walked up to Natsu, a baffled look on her face. "Why are you telling this Mustang to take care of Hawkeye? Is he a colt cuddler or something?" She asked the human. Like clockwork, Natsu, Celestia and Luna all looked at each other, and fell onto the ground laughing like maniacs. Ever since he arrived, there have been a lot more laughs shared between him and the princesses. "Oh my god, no. Mustang isn't gay, although if he was then I would've won a hundred bits from Silver." At that moment, a grand chase broke out in the heavens. "Hawkeye's a mare." At once, the eyes of the six young mares all widened to the size of dinner plates. "A mare in the battlefield of war?!" They screamed in unison. "Oh don't sound so surprised, you six have faced off against Nightmare Moon and Discord on your own. It's no surprise that a mare like yourselves was on the front of the war." Celestia said, giving her best 'are you kidding me?' face possible. "At the front?!" They screamed once more, it was really starting to hurt Natsu's strengthened ears. "Yeah. Out of the eleven of us, Hawkeye had the greatest speed and accuracy. She was faster than you Rainbow and even more accurate than you AJ. She was the best sniper in equestrian history, she never missed a target that was in her sights. Not only that, but she was also one of the best martial artists of the time." Explained Natsu, his voice laced with pride remembering the day he recruited her into the family. Rainbow scoffed at the remark. "I don't believe it, nopony could be faster than the great and awesome and spectacular Rainbow Dash." She said cockily. Natsu's eyes narrowed and his lips formed a cruel smirk. "Oh really? Then how was I able to punch you when I first came to Ponyville? Wasn't luck, I'll tell you that." Natsu said with a smug grin that, in it's essence, said ‘eat shit’ to Rainbow. While Luna had no idea what had happened on that day, everypony else did, and laughed at Rainbow Dash's expense. Rainbow's muzzle went from cyan to red in a second, embarrassed that she was reminded of the one-sided match. Never in her life had she been beaten so easily. "Wait, where are you going?" Asked Luna when she noticed her brother begin to leave the gravesite. "A cave, I got the scent on our way here. I figured I'd try again and get those questions I have answered." Said the dragon slayer as he continued to walk away. Before he left their sights, Natsu threw up an arm and waved goodbye. "Don't wait up for me, enjoy your day everypony." "Whatever did he mean by that?" Asked Rarity. Like lightning, Pinkie Pie appeared next to her and piped up, "The dragon silly filly! He found one on our way here and he's going to talk to it." Upon hearing this, Celestia understood what the man was doing and looked to the mane six. "In that case, it's better if you six just head on home. This is personal to Natsu." She said. "Do you know why he's looking for a dragon, Princess Celestia?" Asked Twilight in both concern and confusion. The solar monarch giggled at her student's insatiable thirst for knowledge. "You just answered your own question my student. He's looking for a specific dragon; Igneel." "Igneel?" Said Rainbow, craning her neck to her right showing she didn't know what was going on. It wouldn't have been the first time. "Igneel is Natsu's foster father, he is also a dragon." Said Celestia matter-of-factly to the prismatic mare who's eyes widened. "Do you really not remember him telling you that himself when he first arrived?" Rainbow blushed for a second time at the embarrassment. "Why is he looking for his father?" "Yeah, he ain't said a word about his pappy ever since he moved to Ponyville. Let alone why he's looking for 'im." Said Applejack. She was right in that aspect, they all knew a lot about both humans and Natsu, but when it came to his father, it was like was purposefully hiding away a deep secret. A secret that both princesses knew, as the harmony bearers physically saw their faces grow deep in sadness. Caving in, Luna sighed deeply before speaking. "Natsu was just a little boy at the time, younger than even your little sisters, Miss Rarity and Miss Applejack. On the 7th of July in the year X777, Igneel disappeared." "Disappeared?" "Yes. Just like that, without a word of warning or farewell, Igneel just vanished. Leaving only the scarf that Natsu wears as a momento. There hasn't been a single day where I haven't seen him wear that scarf." They had never noticed it before, but Luna was right. Natsu has been living in Ponyville for nearly a month now, and not once had they ever seen him without the scarf on, no matter what the weather is. Even if it was searing hot, he would just move the scarf higher and wear it like a bandana. "Since the day he joined the Fairy Tail guild back on his homeworld, he has been searching from corner to corner of every country, all in search of Igneel. The fact that he is still looking means that even after a thousand years, he still hasn't found even a trace of his father." "That's unbelievable. A thousand years and Natsu hasn't found anything about his father?" Asked Fluttershy, upset at how somepony could leave their child like that. "No, not a single thing. Not a single clue to the whereabouts of Igneel has been made known to us, and it infuriates me how I can't help Natsu at all." Said Luna, her voice restrained from lashing out and scaring her young subjects. Instead, she chose to grind her teeth in frustration. "What's worse is that he isn't the only one who had that happen to them." Celestia said sadly while thee bearers looked at her in shock of the statement. "Two other dragon slayers like himself, named Wendy and Gajeel, had their dragon parents disappear on that same day as well." She elaborated. "They all disappeared on the same day? Isn't that way too much of a coincidence?" Twilight asked, dumbfounded at how three dragons could just vanish without a trace. "'Tis true Twilight Sparkle, thine occurrence of this mystery is much too coincidental. We have tried to help our brother ever since he told us of this event, but we have found nothing. Not one scrap of information." Said Luna, her anger reaching to ‘stamping at the ground’ levels. "Our point is, my faithful student, it's better to leave this alone." Said Celestia finally, wanting to leave the subject where it is. "True that, it is better. But tell me something princess, aren't you curious to find out about Igneel too?" Said Rainbow as she flew up to the princess, a smug grin on her face. The princess opened her mouth to protest as it was an invasion of privacy, but stopped when she admittedly, was certainly curious. She wanted to know more about Igneel too. "Let's go." Was all she said before they followed Natsu's tracks in the fertile dirt to the cave he was in. Peeking inside, they saw the man in question conversing in what seemed like incomprehensible words. Well, to the normal pony that is. "What are they saying? All I'm hearin' is mumbo jumbo." Said a confused Applejack to her egghead friend. However, Twilight was at a loss for words herself. "I...don't know. I've researched all known languages on our continent and beyond, but never have I seen or heard anything like this. What do you think Princess Celestia?" She asked the solar deity. "I'm sorry Twilight, but even I do not know that language, it's a mystery to me." After one thousand years in hibernation, an old spark ignited in Celestia's mind. The spark for craving knowledge. "I must know what it is!" She yelled silently as her eyes literally turned into stars. ~~~~~~5 minutes earlier~~~~~~ Natsu was quite in a spot of bother. Not even twenty seconds after awaking the slumbering dragon in the cave, it chose to attack and preferably kill the human. Jumping away from a torrent of emerald flames, Natsu looked to the hulking, fully grown, green dragon in front of him. It was probably as big as Ponyville's town hall if it stood on it's hind legs, and it's wings could probably cover half of Ponyville entirely. Being on such a big dragon's bad side, is something no one wants. "Petranas pok! Si filki tuor ekess ukris! (Please stop! I just want to talk!)" Natsu pleaded, trying to reason with the large beast. And it worked too, the dragon had stopped its barrage of fire and looked at him with a mixture of confusion, wonder and anger. "You, how do you know the draconian language? Answer me!" He roared, slamming his almighty claw into the earth. "My father, he taught me how to speak in dragon tongue." Explained Natsu in a calm manner, flicking stray embers off his shoulder. "Who is your father? None should know except solely the dragon race." Natsu was about to answer, but he heard something, whispers. Whispers of voices that belonged to ponies he knew. "Origato udoka widegoa nomeno persvek dout ooble, yth tepoha visitors. (Let us continue this in your tongue, we have visitors.)" Acknowledging the ponies outside, the mature dragon accepted the small human's request. "Zi algbo, jaka anyui ve, svave ankua wux wer xanalre di darastrixi? (Very well, now answer me, whom taught you the language of Dragons?)" Asked the green dragon once more, growing impatient by not having an answer. "Sia opsola ui Igneel, jaci jahus wer ir svaust ankua ve. (My father is Igneel, he was the one who taught me.)" Said Natsu. The dragon reeled back at his words, his face frozen with shock and a bead of sweat. "Jaci ui dout opsola?! Svanoa ui batobot possible?! (He is your father?! How is that possible?!)" he asked, raising his voice not in anger but in fear. "Si mi jacida adopted deevdru. Jaci raised ve de svadrav si jahus vi ghergo drot. Petranas, tir wux tepoha tikil ulhyrr svaklar jaci ui. Tangis banpri rumours shilta letoclo. (I am his adopted son. He raised me from when I was a young boy. Please, do you have any ideas of where he is? Even simple rumours can help.)" Pleaded Natsu, desperate to find out anything about his dad. The dragon realised and heard the desperation in his voice, but was sad to admit what he knew. "Si mi bivai Deevdru di Igneel, shar si nafl tir ti vucot svaklar wux shilta wyoga dout opsola. (I am sorry Son of Igneel, but I really do not know where you can locate your father.)" He sadly said, crushing the hope in Natsu's tiny body. The dragon slayer slumped down and clenched his fists in frustration. "Riluoh, while si nomag ti vucot svaklar jaci ui, mobi ui vi darastrix batobot janik. (However, while I may not know where he is, there is a dragon that might.)" "Svaust?! (Who?!)" Natsu asked with the brightest shine in his eyes in centuries. "Persvek wer confnir months, mobi geou qe vi jennu darastrix migration. Astahii geou pok sva wer charirfla filki myvillion di tenpiswo. Svadrav wux re mobi, search ihk vi darastrix named Omega Flame, jaci geou vucot svaklar ekess ehtah wer daar. Riluoh, si zklaen cotui wux, Deevdru di Igneel. Omega geou ti majak svern rasv'kledul information filki hefoc batobot, wux zklaen gjahall jacion persvek vargach jalla wux tuor ekess ehtah dout opsola. (In the coming months, there will be a great dragon migration. They will stop at the volcano just north of here. Once you are there, search for a dragon named Omega Flame, he will know where to find the king. However, I must warn you, Son of Igneel. Omega won't give up information just like that, you must defeat him in battle should you want to find your father.)" Natsu sighed, another battle to fight for information. "I should've known it wouldn't be that easy. Please, tell me your name." It was an odd request, none really bothered to ask much of him, let alone his name. "I am Blackheart, member of the Jade dragon clan." "Thank you, Lord Blackheart, for helping me today. You were a great help to me. I owe you one now. So if you ever need a hand or anything, just call me." Said Natsu, reaching a hand out in hopes of shaking, but he got something different. "I should be the one calling you 'Lord', Son of Igneel." Said Blackheart as laid his wings in front of him and bowed before the son of Igneel. "I bid you good luck on your quest." "Oh don't bow, I hate it when people bow. Thanks Blackheart, you'll be the first to know if I find him." "I look forward to it." Said Blackheart as he watched Natsu walk out of his cave, a small smile gracing his old face. "Having fun eavesdropping, are you?" Said Natsu as he walked passed his nakama without even turning towards them. Each of his friends began scrambling to him, questioning everything that happened. "Natsu, what language were you and that dragon speaking in?" Twilight asked diligently. "Dragon language, and before you even ask, no. I'm not going to tell you how to speak dragon Twilight, or you Celly. Strictly dragons only." He said with finality, safeguarding his lips from released secrets that shouldn't be spoken of. Until he felt two large weights grip his legs. "But Natsu~uuuuuu! I wanna know! There is a piece of history in you that I don't know and I want to know i~iiiiit." Whined princess Celestia, pouting at her brother stubbornness to give out key information on dragons. That was a sight to behold by anyone in the immediate vicinity, the ruler of a country, grovelling like a filly begging her parents not to ground her. "Oh fuck off you fucking parasites!" Barked Natsu as he tried shake the incessant knowledge-thirsty leeches off his legs. ~~~~~~~~ Not very long after the man and his Equestrian friends had left his cave, Blackheart grew a solemn look upon his face. Getting up from his resting position, the jade dragon travelled deeper and deeper into the confines of his home. The cave went on for miles, like it was never ending. Not after much walking, for a dragon at least, Blackheart had arrived in a very spacious and open room with naught but a number of torches to light up the area and a very large mirror. Walking up to the mirror at the end of the room, the jade dragon let loose his green flames upon the mirror's face. Seconds later, Blackheart ceased his fire but the flames remained on the mirror, eventually turning the mirror face into a black void. Then, the black void opened to reveal the face of another dragon, a deep crimson red dragon with a number of scars etched across his face. "Your son's all grown up Sire, he has some really good friends with him." Said the green dragon with a hint of sadness. "Is it really okay for you to keep it away from him like this? He'll have to see you some time. You do know that, right Sire?" He asked the Dragon King. Igneel sighed. "I know Grandmaster Blackheart, but the time is not right. Not yet anyway." He said with full remorse. He hated doing this to his own son, but it had to be done. The former dragon lord looked to the king with a sad smile on his face. "I believe I told you to stop calling a banished like me by his title. I am no longer that dragon I once was." Igneel was about to reply to his fellow dragon but didn't get the chance when he began coughing, hard. Moving his grand palm away from his mouth, the jade dragon saw something drip from the king's palm. Something red. "It won't be long now will it?" Asked Blackheart, his face expressing sorrow. "No it won't, but I still need more time. There are things that I still have to do here in the empire. I can't let my son know." Said Igneel as he continued to look down at his stained claws. "Grandmaster Blackheart, this is not a command as your king, but a request as your drakehood friend. Will you accept anyway?" "Of course, anything for you old friend." "Please, look after my son."