The days had gone by, and Veretus learned that the ponies literally bent nature to their whims, as a testament to this, he had witnessed the still air of Canterlot become a slightly chilly breeze via pegasi and the greens of foliage had literally become orange and autumn overnight.
The stallion's issue with the well was quickly resolved after Luna informed him of the proper channels to take, and that a letter had already been sent to his mayor informing them of his plight.
Luna's grasp of becoming a proper ruler was coming along nicely, she still reverted back to the majestic plural sometimes mid-conversation, but he had also gotten her to stop her magically enforced shouting in casual conversation with lessers.
He still spent every night sitting in Luna's nightcourt, so much so that she had a seat with his proportions built. They spent much of the free time talking, which was plentiful since ponies required sleep, and very few with troubles were up at night to bother them.
The days were uninspiring compared to his encounter with shining armor, in which he hadn't seen either the Alicorn of Love or him since. Most days he simply sat in the royal gardens, which still seemed to be in eternal summer. Sometimes he would fly around high above Canterlot, observing the ponies as they went about living.
While to any mortal, it would probably sound boring and monotonous, but he was in fact having fun.
But tonight was going to be a different kind of fun. Tonight was Nightmare Night, and Luna had just woken up and told him they shall be going to ponyville, the town in which he landed outside of, and which lived the six mares which used the artifacts. Neither really dressed up for Nightmare Night, Luna because she was Nightmare Moon, and she did not want to hide from herself. And Veretus, while he could shapeshift, an aspect of his power would always reveal itself in those false forms. He also couldn't really be bothered.
"Are you sure you are ready for this Luna?" Veretus asked as they stood in front of a chariot with no wheels. While he had never seen one, chariots like this did exist in his reality, always pulled by some flying creature.
"We shall be, even if we are not presently." He could hear her nervousness. He merely nodded, Luna was braver than him. Even now, he could barely forgive himself for his fall.
They flew through the air, the carriage being pulled by two of Luna's bat-like guards. Veretus looked down towards the ground at Ponyville below. He couldn't see the line he dug through the earth with his descent anymore.
With a lurch, the chariot began a circled descent and the houses of Ponyville grew closer.
When the chariot landed the citizens of Ponyville crowded around the square, it was quite an unsubtle thing, a large vehicle landing in the busiest place of foot traffic. Luna stepped out of the carriage after taking a deep-
Hello Ponyville, we are delighted to join you in your day of revelry!
If Veretus didn't have the facial dexterity of stone, he might have flinched, Luna had just shouted louder than she ever had before. Perhaps she was more nervous than he thought? Regardless, he stepped out of the carriage, her voice had literally blown many away, with some ponies having landed on the surrounding roofs.
"Luna-"
"Nightmare moon and her dark consort! Run!" Were the words that interrupted his admonishing of Luna. His eyes snapped to the group of foals in which the words came from, the last of their group running behind a building.
Veretus knew it was merely kids doing what they did best, horsing around. Unfortunately, the innocence of childhood most often comes along with ignorance. And their words were that which broke the proverbial camel's back.
Every pony began screaming and ran off.
"Stop." Or atleast they would have if it wasn't for Veretus. His domain stretched to cover the entire town square they were in. Every pony quite literally froze in motion, his command heeded on a subconscious level.
"Thy would listen to foals of all things?" Veretus's voice came out with a sharp edge. "Your princess has repented, she has murdered her own ego more than you ponies can ever know. And still you fear her, still you deny her the right to make amends? A shame on your lineages."
The ponies stayed in place as he retracted his domain, they looked at the floor, the sky, even eachother, but they couldn't look at him.
"Veretus..." Luna looked at him with a complicated expression. He looked at her and apparently that was all that was needed as she nodded. Taking a step forward, she cleared her throat.
"My little- no..." She shook her head, remembering what Veretus had taught her, she would and could not emulate her sister. "Ponies, I thank you for listening to my royal guest, and I thank you for understanding. I have come here to celebrate this night with you all! Please?"
While being stuck here in this reality, and after observing the ponies, there was one thing Veretus learned. Ponies forgave and forgot really easily. They both forget their own faults, and others forgive them for those faults. So it was no surprise as Luna was quite literally swept up by a crowd and taken to participate in the festivities. He couldn't help but smile.
"I think that is the first expression I've seen you make." A voice returned him from his thoughts. The purple mare was standing there, looking like a stereotypical wizard, fake beard and all.
"Ah, purple mare, yes. I am glad that I can see one of us put their past behind them." He nodded, and then he noticed the small dragon standing bipedally beside her, dressed as a dragon for the festivities, ironic.
"Purple m- my name is Twilight Sparkle, and what do you mean one of us?"
"Apologies, Twilight sparkle, I'll now remember your name. I am merely glad Luna could have fun on a day dedicated to celebrating her worst moment." Luna had just dunked her head in a barrel of water in which what looked to be apples floated. Twilight had flattened her ears.
"I-I never thought of that..."
"That still doesn't answer her question." The dragon next to twilight spoke up. "What did you mean, 'one of us'?"
"Ah, in simple terms that perhaps doesn't do my crimes justice, I had gone through similar experiences as Luna, except I nearly succeeded in destroying everything. Does that satisfy the Question whelp?"
"You may not like talking about it, but that is no reason to call Spike names!" The mare piped up angrily, her embarrassment forgotten. And Veretus was confused, he had not-
"Are young dragons not called whelps here?" He asked as he realized the problem.
"You know about Dragons?!" The little dragon asked excitedly, looking up at him and interrupting Twilight's next words. He nodded towards the Drake.
"While I am sure there are many differences between my dragons and yours, I am the god of Dragons regardless."
"Oh, uh, I'm sorry your uh... How do you address a god?" The drake, Spike he believed Twilight called him, looked both worried and awestruck, a strange combination he'd seen many times on the battlefield.
"Usually something pompous and overdramatic... I do not enjoy titles. You may call me Veretus, or address me as Godking. Despite the fact I am far removed from my kingdom, apparently, Luna has decided I am visiting royalty." He shrugged. Spike turned towards twilight.
"I... Uhh... Look, I know I was- but I need to-"
"Go on Spike, the night is still young, we'll catch up later" she interrupted the drake before leaning down and whispering loudly. "Remember the notes."
The drake nodded before waving twilight away as the mare began trotting in the direction of Luna. Spike had then turned towards him.
"So... Uh..." The young dragon stammered.
"Do you wish to walk as you ask your questions young Drake?"
"Whataredragonslike!?" Spike blurted out quickly, Veretus took a second to separate his words.
"Come Spike." Veretus said as he began walking. The short dragon that barely came to his waist followed behind. "Do realize, what I share will only be about my reality's dragons."
"Your reality? Twilight mentioned that, but I just got confused?" The drake said.
"Hmm. Suppose the continent across from Equestria. Now imagine it being a near-infinite distance away."
"That's far... Sorry." The drake suddenly apologized, and now it was Veretus's turn to be confused.
"Why are you sorry? You had no part in my travel to here."
"Well, I just figured somepony should apologize for sending you so far from your friends and family..." The drake looked sheepish as he had to explain himself.
"I understand, but nobody should apologize, I was sent here by someone who cheated my challenge of combat." Veretus shook his head. "Enough about my plight, dragons were selfish and greedy creatures who saw other mortals as inferior beings" Spike began to open his mouth before Veretus interrupted the drake.
"Were is the exact word I used, and this goes back to the first demonic invasion. Back then, it took a legion commander to personally kill an adult dragon, and some dragons, nearing the end of their lifespan couldn't be felled even by a Demonlord. As this was merely a thousand years after the mortal races were first brought into existence, no dragon had yet succumbed to old age."
"How long do dragons live?" Spike asked, his voice filled with the innocent curiosity of a child.
"Nearly a thousand years spike." Veretus debated whether he should spell out what that meant to spike. His tether on life was long, and wouldn't burn out shortly. "Which means dragons in my reality have barely reached their thirtieth generation."
In the time he had said this, they had passed by at least ten ponies who had a passing remark about Veretus's 'gettup'. Whatever those words meant, Veretus was surprised at how little ponies were skittish on this night. Many in Canterlot would at least stare.
"You still haven't explained why they aren't like that anymore." Spike interrupted his thoughts in the way only a child can do.
"Be calm Spike, now, the dragons had survived the first demonic legion unscathed, many of the younger generations had perished though. This only spurred the oldest dragons to mandate that they should be tougher on those who haven't reached their venerable age. The norm after that was for wyrmlings, the term for a dragon that had just hatched recently, to be abandoned after being taught how to defend itself, although, for some dragons, it was not uncommon to abandon the egg after making sure it had all the necessities to hatch."
"That's awful! Although... I guess I understand it..." Spike looked taken aback at first before becoming withdrawn. Veretus hesitated, while telling this drake about dragons was harmless in the grand scheme of things, motivating this drake... Would probably require him to go against the destiny this world set out for him...
"Spike." Veretus was already kneeling down, one hand resting on the pommel of his sword, the other resting on Spike's shoulders. "I put that practice to end a long time ago. No being deserves to be alone like that, fighting for their survival... But it still happens. It's unfair, and I hate that."
"I built the Dragon Knights for that exact purpose spike. Because perhaps if you had a partner who could grow with you, understand you, and fight with you, the world would seem less bleak..."
Veretus looked down upon feeling a weight upon his leg. Spike had taken to hugging it in lieu of being unable to match Veretus's size and give him a proper hug.
"Thanks... But these dragon knights... Are they cool!?" The drake had done an emotional 180 so fast Veretus could only blink. And he had no idea what this 'cool' meant.
"I suppose those bound to dragons of the ice element could be considered 'cool'?" He said uncertainly. He was afraid this was some form of lingo he didn't understand.
"No, no, cool as in, you know? Awesome? Were they an unstoppable group of knights that would save princesses and beat up villains?!" The young drake was excited and made a few punching motions which would only serve to hurt himself if he performed them in actual combat.
"Then I suppose they were, although there were no princesses to save. I built the dragon Knights as the antithesis of any who would seek to harm my kingdom, an order of knights who had to learn the value of life by caring for it. Each knight hatched and raised their own dragon partner. Their first priority was to redeem any evil, their second was to punish those unredeemable, and their third was to never admit defeat! These knights would be the first into battle, and the first to perish, all so that others could live!" He turned towards spike, his wings fully spread their impressive length, his crown of horns aglow in his divine metallic lights.
"The knights bled and died for my ideals, they fought and won for their own! And they were the best marshal force I and my companions could train them to be... Upholders of justice..." Veretus had reduced his voice to a whisper, yet it still carried along far into the night. He was no longer just speaking with his mouth, he was speaking with his divine soul.
He could tell spike was lost in fantasy. Most likely imagining exactly what one of these knights looked like, although it wouldn't be that had for the drake. He had used his divinity to shape the image of them for the dragon in his words.
"Woah..." the dragon breathlessly said and Veretus could feel the metaphysical anger of the world at him. He didn't care. He knew of no conceivable way to get back, and if he had to leave a being, a child no less, in a depressive mood, he would rather be dead.
"Veretus... I know I'm not good at fighting, twilight and her friends always do all the work. all I really know how to do is sort books and help with chores..." the drake began, his claws curled up into fists. "I want to be a Dragon Knight."
Veretus looked around, they had walked to the edge of the town, the houses only lights in the distance. the darkness of the night would be oppressive if he couldn't see in it as clear as day. But finally, he stopped stalling and looked down at Spike.
"...The original knights didn't know anything about fighting either spike." His voice was a whisper, but it echoes in the empty fields. "I don't know if I can train you to be one spike, the last dragon I trained... I killed."
Spike looked up at him, there wasn't any tears, those only happened in plays, but there was uncertainty and doubt, and also that resolve, the resolve that looked so much like...
"Very well..." he finally relented with a breathy exhalation. "The custom has only appeared in the past few hundred years, but I shall nominate you as a Dragon Squire. This means that until you perform a monumental deed of good, you shall spend your days training and learning. You also would not receive a dragon egg... but seeing as you already are a dragon, I doubt that will be an issue for you." Veretus was back to his confident self by the end.
They stood in awkward silence for a moment. Veretus didn't really know what to continue that on with, this wasn't a grand ceremony or a populated plaza in which he was making a speech, he just... made Spike a squire with no fanfare in the middle of a field. Spike was silent because he was lost in his own fantasies of fighting monsters and saving suspiciously diamond-flanked white unicorns...