I walked into the house, carrying my backpack. "Mom, Dad; I'm home!" I yelled, slipping the backpack off my shoulders and throwing it to the ground as I took off my shoes. I looked into the living room and saw my sister and Mom hugging each other, crying; I saw my Dad out back, leaning against the support beam for our patio roof. "Mom?" I asked, running over to her.
She looked up at me, tears flowing from her eyes. "Leon… do you remember visiting Grandpa in the hospital?" she asked, her voice cracking from crying.
"Yeah, why, what's wrong?"
"I'm sorry… but he… he passed away last night."
The world lost all color as I stared at my Mom. "What?" I asked, feeling the tears starting to well up.
"He died last night," she said and tried to hug me.
I instinctively pushed away from her and I ran out the front door. I ran all the way down the street, passed the block and continued running. I passed the school and went across the street to the little park, where the town library is. It had several calming streams running through it and the geese lazily swam through it. I sat down on the edge of the stream, secluded from everyone else. I looked over and saw two people dressed in a tuxedo and a flowing white dress, taking pictures with several other people.
I hugged my knees to my chest as I stared blankly at the family of geese. I could feel the tears run down my face but didn’t acknowledge them, just trying not to interrupt the newly wed's photo shoot.
I heard someone walking up to me and sit down next to me, draping an arm around my shoulders and pulling me into a hug. I didn’t see who it was, but I felt their tears on the top of my head as I cried into their shirt.
I looked up at them, but the sun was blinding me and I couldn’t tell who it was. "Leon?" They asked, their voice vaguely feminine and familiar.
"Why? Why did it have to be him?" I stuttered.
"Leon?" she asked again, this time her voice panicked as she grabbed me and shook me.
"What?" I asked, confused and scared.
"Wake up, we're almost there." She said, letting go of me as everything slowly fizzled out and the sound of a train horn blared in the background.
--**--
I groggily opened my eyes to see Twilight staring at me with concern. "What?"
"You were muttering in your sleep." She whispered, tears in the corners of her eyes as she gave me a hug." I'm sorry."
"For?" I asked, reciprocating the hug, but very confused.
"Your grandpa… I know how tough it is to lose a family member." She said, resting her head on my shoulder.
"Oh…" I muttered, enjoying her warmth. "It's okay, things happen for a reason eh?"
She pushed herself off me and looked into my eyes. "It does, we just can't always understand why." She wiped the corners of her eyes and gave me a small smile.
"Thanks Twi…" I said with a small smile of my own. She nodded and looked out the window and watched the scenery fly by. "We're almost there?" I asked.
"Yep," she said, staring blankly. "What do you think Princess Luna wants?"
"Not a clue," I said, walking over to her seat and staring at the window. "But we'll find out when we get there."
"Ponyville train to Canterlot, arriving in less than a minute; all disembarking passengers please be ready." A voice said over the intercom.
I chuckled as I sat down, waiting for the train to stop.
"Leon?"
"Hmm?"
She paused. "Are you ready to visit Canterlot?"
"Well… sure; I mean how bad are these ponies?" I chuckled. "Reminds me of the stereotypes I've heard about from New York."
She giggled. "You'd be surprised how deceiving stereotypes are."
For some reason, Dash popped into my mind when she said that. "Yeah, that’s true."
The train blew its horn once more before coming to a stop; the windows completely surrounded by buildings. Steam hissed out of the pipes and fogged up the windows. We exited the train and I stared in marvel at the city; it was bigger than I imagined, some of the skyscrapers blocking out the sun. Even more surprising was that the castle could be seen from the train station, standing tall over every building. My jaw fell as I saw thousands of ponies, all dressed in "fancy" clothing, wander the streets.
"Jesus… this is just like Los Angeles…" I muttered, turning around to see everything. I gaped at the castle. "So that's what it looks like on the outside." I stared, amazed.
I felt somepony pull on my tail. "Come on Leon, we don’t want to be late." Twilight said, dragging me along for a few moments before I started to follow her.
We made our way through the city rather easily, a pony every now and then looking at us, but most ignored us and went about their business. When we got to the palace, two guard ponies were standing at attention. They saw us and noticed Twilight, opening the door with their magic. She nodded to them as she passed by. They glared at me as I sheepishly smiled and quickly sped through the doors, which slammed together as soon as I passed the threshold.
I stared at the immensely grandeur hall, coming to a slow stroll as I stared at the room. It was the room where I became a pony and it was just as big as I thought it was, even larger now that I was half my original size. I saw Twilight talk to Princess Celestia as they both watched me, smiles on their faces. I blushed and quickly galloped towards them.
"So how are you Leon?" Celestia asked.
"Pretty good, can't complain too much." I said, after a quick bow.
"I'm glad to hear it." She smiled. "I see that you're carrying your sword."
I glanced back, looking at the hilt and nodded. "Yep but I was-"
"Wondering why I changed it?" She shook her head. "I can't answer that. My sister though, can." The door off to the side opened and revealed the once dreaded Nightmare Moon, Princess Luna. "Ah… speak of the pony." Celestia said with a smile. "Lu-lu, what are you doing up this early?"
Luna looked at us as she walked towards her throne till she paused and looked at me, her eyes calculating. "If I remember correctly, I called for Twilight Sparkle and the human." She said.
"True, but I assumed you wouldn’t meet with them till later."
"I would normally, but Twilight Sparkle has to get back to Ponyville to organize Winter Wrap Up." She said with a smile.
Celestia chuckled. "Indeed." She looked at us. "Then I'll bid you both farewell and I hope to see you soon." She sighed. "It seems I got paperwork to sort out anyways." She said, getting off her throne and heading towards the door Luna walked through, but not before giving a hug to Twilight.
There was silence following the door closing as the three of us stared at each other. Twi and I quickly glanced at each other before she cleared her throat. "So Princess Luna…"
"Please, call me Luna," she said in a tone softer than earlier. It seemed her entire demeanor changed once Celestia left; she seemed more relaxed now, the worry lines gone around her eyes. She looked at us. "I bet you two are wondering why I had called you?" She specifically looked at me. "And I bet you're wondering why Tia fixed your sword."
"Yes Pri-Luna." I caught myself.
"I'll explain when we get there." She said, a faint glow building in her horn.
"What do you m-" I started, but a bright flash of light cut me off. It felt as if I was being compacted, my ribs crushing my lungs. The pressure suddenly vanished as there was a loud pop and I was tossed on the ground. I groaned as I staggered up, looking around; we weren't in the castle anymore. It looked as if we were on top of a mountain, with nothing but endless trees everywhere. I saw Twilight stare in awe as well.
"Where are we?" Twilight asked, her voice sounding small and afraid.
"In our language, it's known as the Mountain of Sorrow." Luna said sadly. "It was the site of a terrible battle between dragons and griffins." She paused to look at us. "Ponies and several humans were caught in the crossfire and killed during the battle."
Twilight and I could only gasp in horror, Twilight holding a hoof to her mouth. "What in the hell are we doing here then?" I asked.
Luna raised a forehoof. "Patience Leon, he'll be along momentarily."
"Who will-" I tried to ask, but was cut off as a strong breeze and the sounding of drums ended my question. Twilight and I held on to each other as we tried to not fly away as the wind grew stronger, the trees almost bent over in half; Luna merely stood there easily and smiled.
Suddenly the sun simply disappeared as a giant shadow overtook us. I looked up, only to see a yellowish green colored belly. My eyes grew and my jaw dropped as a dragon bigger than the castle landed on the ground, creating small seismic waves.
It was ridiculously huge; it could easily be mistaken for a mountain range. It was a bigger than a mountain and longer than the bootlace worm. It was covered in dull gold and yellowish scales. Its wings were easily the size of several double-decker buses stacked end from end. Small, sharp spikes trailed down its spine and jutted out from the top of its head.
It folded its wings against its sides, creating a small windstorm as it bent its neck bent down to reveal a large head with eyes the size of two chariots stacked on top of each other, both a bright golden yellow. It smiled, revealing rows of sharp, white teeth. "Selena… it's been a long time." It said in a low rumble, causing stones to vibrate.
Luna went up to it and hugged its foreclaw. "It's been too long Glaedr; how has the past thousand years treated you?"
It chuckled, causing both Twilight and I to levitate briefly as it created mini earthquakes. "It's been an interesting millennium." He paused and slowly blinked as his eye stared at Twilight and I. He smiled. "And is this the fabled unicorn Twilight Sparkle?" He asked.
Twilight gulped. "Y-yes I am… but how do you know me?"
"You hatched my several times great grandson's nephew's son's son Spike and we do talk amongst ourselves." He chuckled again. "You've made quite a name for yourself young one; freeing Selena from Nightmare Moon's influence, stopping Discord, saving Equestria from the Changelings, and recently saved the legendary Crystal Kingdom on top of being Eliana's student." Twilight's face took on a heavy blush as she embarrassingly kicked the ground.
"It's Celestia now Glaedr." Luna said quietly. He looked at her quizzically. "Eliana changed her name to Celestia to help modernize her rule."
He snorted and a pouf of black smoke came out his nostrils. "Indeed," He paused and blinked again as his eye stared at me. "And this is the human that I've heard so much about?"
"Yes; his name is Leon Scott Kennedy of Earth." Luna informed him.
"You inherited a terrible history here on Terra, young Kennedy." He said sadly. "Your ancestors have done terrible deeds that most have forgotten or believe to be silly fables." He leaned his head forward and froze me with his gaze. "You intrigue me however; being that 'Celestia' deemed you suitable to be brought here and turned you into a pony." He faintly smiled. "And you did save an Element of Harmony correct?"
I nodded quickly, my mouth refusing to work.
He laughed, a loud booming sound that sent the birds flying out of the surrounding trees. "There's no need to be afraid of me young Kennedy."
"On Earth, there are tales of dragons killing people and pillaging villages." I squeaked and quickly covered my mouth.
He laughed harder, causing Twilight and I to stumble into each other's hooves. "Indeed; I remember hearing the tales from previous humans, saying how a heroic human came against a dragon and defeated them." He paused as he held a claw against his jaw, lightly tapping it. "Beowulf, Hercules and… Bard was it?" He asked. I nodded again. "But as you can see, not a dragon has done that here since the Griffin Wars millennia ago."
"But what of that teenage dragon that bullied Spike?" Twilight asked, her face contorted in confusion as we briefly looked at each other and blushed, standing on our own.
Glaedr sighed, slowly dragging a claw down his face. "The son of Ancalagon… that hatchling never ceases to cause me trouble. Those do not represent our race young one, but they do show our greed and arrogance in our youth. When he grows into a proper dragon, he'll learn respect." He shook his head. "I'll probably end up having to beat it into him." He paused, stretching his neck and laying down on the ground, resting. "Now to get to the matter at hoof." He turned his head and looked at Luna. "Selena, you are aware of the problems with the Griffins?" She nodded. He turned to look at Twilight and I. "Things between the three races… are difficult to explain." He sighed. "There are talks of another great war between the three." He looked at me specifically. "When the dragons and Griffins heard of you appearing on Terra, both sides begun to prepare for war."
"What? Why?"
"You have to understand that you are the sole human in Equestria in over a century; most individuals don’t remember it but the ones that do only remember chaos and death." His eyes grew cold. "The previous owner of that title decided to team with the Changelings and a sect of Griffins to try and take over Equestria. Obviously he failed, but his memory taints your kind. We dragons stayed out of the conflict, watching from afar. We refused to pick a side and closed down our talks with either nation. We only heard of his defeat thirty years later." He paused, looking at the sun. "From what I heard, Celestia banned anypony to speak of it and erased it from record." Before Twilight could interject, he raised a claw in her direction. "Don't blame her young one, she was in a horrible position to begin with and had to cave in to her advisors. She did the only thing she could do at the time."
He continued to stare at me. "And this is why I'm intrigued that she'd allow you to remain here and turn you into one of her subjects; quite intriguing." He blew smoke out of his nose again, causing Twilight and I to cough a few times. "Leon," he said, looking at me with a small smile. "From what I hear and feel, you have a good heart and do what you can to help anyone that you can. I have faith that you can redeem your kind in our eyes." He gently tapped a claw against my forehead. He got up and stretched. "I'm getting too old to travel as much as I use too." He chuckled, loud pops echoing throughout the mountains. "I should head back before I'm missed." He said, unfurling his wings.
"Wait! I have so many questions!" Twilight said, running in front of him.
He laughed. "I have no doubt of that young one; Spike says you are a most inquisitive pony." She blushed. "However, you can always ask me anything you want. Just have Spike send a letter and I'll get it." His smile faded as he looked at me. "I wish you luck on your journey young Kennedy. We'll meet again someday." He paused, looking at Luna. "Selena, there's a darkness growing from the north, far stronger than anything you can imagine. And it's not just the Griffins; things are brewing that have lain dormant for as long as I can remember. Be careful and keep an eye out for some old friends. Discord is the least of your worries and allies may come from an unlikely source." He advised.
Luna nodded and hugged his foreclaw again. "Thank you Glaedr and I'll tell 'Tia , till next time."
"Till next time," he agreed, lifting off in a gust of wind and took to the sky, his scales sparkling in the sky. We watched him travel through the clouds, his tail wagging as it disappeared.
There was a silence as we all thought about what he said. Luna looked at me sadly as Twilight was staring off into the distance, thinking. I smiled sadly back, not sure what to make of his advice.
It just gets better and better. I chuckled. "Well… that was interesting." I muttered.
"It's always a treat to meet with Glaedr; he was one of my few friends before Nightmare Moon." Luna whispered.
"… So is everything he said true?" I asked, hoping.
"It is… Glaedr is the oldest living dragon and hasn't spoken a lie longer than I've been alive." She sighed as she looked at the ground. "Nor has his prophecies failed to come to pass." Her horn began to glow again. "It seems as if you two need to head back to Ponyville to help them with the Winter Wrap Up." She glared coldly at the two of us. "Do not tell anypony about Glaedr or of what he said, understand?" We nodded. "Good; everypony will know when the time's right." She said, before there was another bright flash of light and the familiar pressure of being compacted hit me.