//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Draconic Guardians of Equestria // by Defias //------------------------------// As the sun began its decent, the hour of twilight was upon the sky. Situated at the edge of a forest, sat a quaint, plain looking house, or cottage rather. In fact, from further back, one would be lead to believe that such a home belonged to another person wishing to stay away from the rest of society. Such people were fairly common, actually. However, upon further inspection of the own of said cottage, one would not find a man or woman wishing to keep out of sight of society, but rather, a creature once thought to be nothing more than mythology... "Here you go little chickens...Oh my, you were hungry weren't you?" said a voice, almost whispering. The voice in question belonged to none other than a Pegasus. The Pegasus in question was quite unique, and not just because of the fact that it was a mythical creature that spoke in a fluent language. What made this particular creature unique was its pink mane, and tail of the same color, and the markings it had on its flank. Most notable, however, was the distinct facial expressions it had, as well as the female voice that followed. "I suppose I should head inside now, before it gets...dark..." the yellow Pegasus said, or rather whispered to no one in particular. As she turned to her cottage, however, a sound very reminiscent to that of thunder was heard in the distance, followed by a quiet yelp from the apparently timid Pegasus. Going against her better judgement, as usual, she decided to look towards the sound of the loud crashing sound. Upon doing so, however, she soon observed that it was no ordinary thunderstorm in over the Everfree Forest, which in itself was quite common, rather, what followed this sound was a dim purple and pink aura. Under normal circumstances, the timid creature would have immediately ran inside of her home, locking all doors, windows, and any other means of entering her home. And if she was brave enough, she MAYBE would have went into town the next day to inform her friends of the sound she heard and the sight she saw, assuming, of course, that they weren't busy with anything else. Under normal circumstances, of course. Being the caretaker of animals that she was, she glanced over towards the sight one last time, a habit she made, just to make sure there were no animals that had gotten hurt in anyway. Upon doing so though, she noticed something at the edge of the tree line. It was a creature she couldn't quite make out from the distance, however, she could tell that the creature in question was hurt, or injured in some way. And while she really longed to just go into her home, lock herself in, and hide in her bed, her drive to save whatever unfortunate animal was out there had dominated her fears, and so she went to help the animal. As she neared the animal, she began to make out its features much clearer. When she finally approached the animal, she let loose a yelp and almost ran away. The animal had the physical appearance of a particularly unpleasant species known as Diamond Dogs. However, this animal was different. For one, it lacked hair, the sharp teeth, jewels, pointy ears, and tail. Still afraid of the unknown animal before her, however, the timid Pegasus began to run away until the animal started coughing very loudly. Upon even closer inspection, the Pegasus could make out two very deep, very painful looking wounds. A very large slash mark was located on the animal's side, while the stomach of the animal bore a similar wound. "Oh dear...I can't just leave you out here, even if you are scary looking..." still unsure of the danger such an animal before her possessed however, she still debated bringing the animal back. That was, until, the animal briefly opened its eyes, and met with her own. She recognized the look in its eyes. It was a look of pain and fear, though she wasn't quite sure what it could be afraid of. After looking the animal in the eyes as she did, though, she finally decided to bring the animal to her home. And with that, the Pegasus lifted the animal onto her back, and brought him home to begin nursing him back to health, and more importantly, clean out the two wounds that were green and surely infected. ~~~ As Sargeras brought about Gorribal, Vakarious had no time to dodge, or block the attack. With only one option left, Vakarious took to his human form, just barely avoiding the blow which would have surely killed him. As fast as the Dark Lord had plunged his blade into the ground, he retracted it, beginning what seemed to be a teleportation spell. Perhaps Vakarious won? Or perhaps the Dark Lord was simply summoning more minions? He didn't know. The last thing the dragon/human saw however, was a pinkish purple glow around him. A glow he knew all too well, mainly due to his over zealous sister. A rift had been created over a fairly medium sized ley line. The rift only lasted a second, but it was long enough to suck the dragon into its maw. As the dragon spent what seemed like hours in an apparent purple tunnel, he began to succumb to his wounds. He had been shot at by human weapons, he had been impaled, burned, fallen from great heights, been subject to many painful involuntary experiments from his sister, and even remembered the pain of going through the standard Old God immunization. None of it prepared him for the burning of the Fel corruption that had inflicted him, though. As he began to black out, he had finally landed at the edge of a forest somewhere. He was only conscious for maybe a minute. Judging from his surroundings, however, he deducted that he was either dead, or at the very least, somewhere else. Either way, he was not on Earth. Deciding he'd rather not deal with the burning pain, and definitely not wanting to allow himself to become Fel corrupted, he opted to let himself falter. As he began, however, he felt himself being lifted and carried off somewhere. He wouldn't allow himself to become a prisoner, but, he did not posses either the will nor the strength to try and fight his captor, or captors. And so he let the realm of unconsciousness claim him. ~~~ Vakarious awoke in a bed, unrestrained, and completely healed. Either I died and am ascended, or whoever found me is a damn skilled cleanser of demonic corruption. He pondered the thought, until he realized he was in a familiar room. Curious, he got up and walked over to a window, and saw a sight he hadn't seen in over a thousand years. The Roman Coliseum. Just as I thought, I'm dead. There is absolutely no other reason I would be in the room that belonged to me when I had just barely reached drake hood. Though, I suppose the possibility of me just being asleep and dreaming is there as well. Me being dead seems like a more sound possibility, though. He may not have been as skilled in the arcane arts or the spiritual side of the elements compared to other dragons, but he wasn't ignorant to those powers either. He knew very well, from experience, what visions and memories could bring. "...Allow me the right to fight this cretin, and rid the world of this filth, my Emperor. Should I fall, then I will have proven that I am unworthy of serving as your personal guard. Should I succeed, then I will have proven that this filth's 'power' is weak, and not needed," said a familiar voice. I remember this event. It was when I first learned of my Brood's most hated enemy, even now still. Silus the Heretic, as he called himself, had allowed himself to be captured by Roman troops and brought to the Coliseum. If I remember correctly, he was actually a dragon, one of my own, or former I should say, and went by his self given name of Draken'Kar. Draconic for Chaotic Insanity. His name translate made absolutely no sense, but given what it meant nonetheless, it fits. Makes sense that it wouldn't make sense. "Very well. I will allow it. Silus, you shall fight the best of my Praetorian Guard, Lucius. Should you defeat him, you will replace him, and this power you wield will be used to further empower my Empire. Should Lucius succeed in ending your life, your existence will be erased from history, your very failure being forbidden to speak of. No one from this point forward will ever have known your name, and speaking your name will be punishable by death," said the Roman Emperor. "Understood, my liege," responded Silus, almost mockingly. "Very well then," the Emperor shouted. Then, turning to Galvadir, or 'Lucius' "When you are prepared, you may enter the arena. And Lucius, know this: Should you fail me, your fate will be no different," the Emperor informed Lucius. "Understood my Emperor. Know this, however. The Empire shall fall before I allow myself to be bested by filth such as this," said the Praetorian guard. Moments later, 'Lucius' and 'Silus' were soon both in the arena floor. Everything is happening just as I remembered it. In less than a couple minutes, that idiot Silus is going to lunge at Galvadir, then Galvadir is going to under sweep him and impale his chest. I cheered, and after the fight, if it could be called that, I went up to Galvadir and told him amazing of a fighter he was, and how cool it was how fast he killed him. That was when he informed me of who and what he really was, and that he was not dead, as he somehow possessed power that rendered him unkillable by anyone, except the Titans themselves, or a Dragonlord. "You were a fool to have thought yourself capable of besting me. I delight in the irony of your last words to your precious Emperor. Soon, all will kneel before me! I. AM. DRAKEN'KAR!" a series of cheers and shouts were heard, and when Vakarious looked out the window, he noticed that Galvadir was charred, a spear protruding from his chest. What the hell? No, no that's not right. This isn't what happened, Galvadir won! He had that snake impaled! This is impossible! As the humanoid figure began surrounding himself in a familiar dark purple aura, the dead fighters around him began rising, marching in formation around him. Then, they began to declare their allegiance to this being, Vakarious' best friend, brother, along with them. Soon, however, he heard a heavenly, female sounding voice echoing in his mind. "It is time for you to awaken, do not let your nightmares consume you," was what the voice was telling him, repeating it until.... ~~~ Vakarious awoke to the sounds of chirping birds and morning sunlight seeping through the windows. The dragon was unsure of what to make of his surroundings, a concept he was starting to really hate. Well, I guess I'm not a prisoner, considering the comfort of where I am and the lack of restraints. As he began to get up, he felt a sharp, burning pain throughout his body. After stifling a cry of agony, he felt around for the source of the pain. Confirms that I'm not dead, at least. I still have the wounds I sustained from that damn demon, and they're still new. Granted, they're bandaged, but new. He pondered that thought. Bandaged? Who the hell bandaged me? Not that I'm ungrateful, but, what the hell...? Suddenly, he could hear a voice calling to him, albeit very quietly, himself barely able to hear it. "Are you okay in there? I heard you wake up, but, if you weren't awake and I woke you up I'm sorry..." the voice said. "All things considering, I'm better than fine. I'm great. Surprised I'm not dead, to be honest. I take it you're the one who fixed me up?" Vakarious replied, wanting to give his thanks to the one who bandaged him up, and possibly even saved his life. "Oh...I didn't know you could talk...I'm sorry, that was rude of me...Give me a few moments, when I'm done feeding the animals, I'll bring you something to eat," the quiet voice said. He was confused, but it was irrelevant. "It's not a problem, don't worry about it. And while eggs sound fine, you won't really need to hassle yourself with getting me any food." "Oh no, it's the least I could do...After all, the way I found you, you looked like you lost a lot of your strength," replied the voice.Not wanting to be rude to the person who saved him, Vakarious just shrugged went along with it. "Alright, take your time though. I'd really prefer not to intrude or be a problem at all." "Oh no, it's no problem at all." "Oh, before you go, I'd at least like to catch the name of the one who saved me, if you wouldn't mind?" Vakarious asked. "O-oh, my name is Fluttershy..." the quiet voice said. "Thank you then, Fluttershy." Under normal circumstances, he would have pondered the odd name. But considering he was a dragon named Vakarious, he decided he really wasn't one to judge. As he heard the person named 'Fluttershy" leave, he swore to himself that he could hear the sound of hooves clopping on the hard floor. Considering the fact that I was wounded twice by a blade that destroyed thousands of worlds in the past, I won't consider it out of the realm of possibility that I might hear things or imagine things. And with that thought, he began a cleansing process the Titans had taught him to try and at least ease the Fel corruption in his wounds. ~~~ As Fluttershy began her daily routine of feeding the animals under her care, she retrieved a couple of eggs from her chicken coop. She wasn't quite sure what her guest ate, or preferred, but she figured that she really couldn't go wrong with giving him eggs. While she was pretty sure he could talk, the fact that she was surprised bothered her nonetheless. Not because the strange creature was capable of understandable speech, but because she figured her assumption that he didn't talk may have offended him greatly. Sure, he told her it was no problem at all, but she would say the same thing if someone did or said something similar to her. Once Fluttershy had retrieved a decent number of eggs, she started heading inside to the kitchen, to prepare breakfest for her new guest. As they were being cooked, she decided to head back to the guest room to check on her guest, to make sure he was okay, and more importantly, that he didn't run off until he was healed enough. ~~~ As Vakarious stood at the window and looked over the landscape, he naturally couldn't help but wonder where exactly he was. One minute he was fighting an enraged Titan traitor in essentially a hell on earth environment, and the next, he was in a cottage in a tranquil field bordering a forest. At the moment, there's really only one way to figure out where I am...Aether, Vesta, Vulcan, Neptune, heed my call! I require knowledge as to where I am! Nothing. Even when they were busy with whatever they said they were busy doing, the Elemental Lords at least informed him that they were busy with said business. Interesting. Then again, the last thing I saw them doing was pelting said angry Titan with elemental attacks and what not. Considering the deep silence they enter when they're weakened or something, it does seem possible they were, well, weakened. Oh well, soon as I can turn back into a dragon, I'll just fly up and see where I am. "I'm just coming up to check on you...If that's um...if you don't mind that is..." he could hear Fluttershy asking, quiet as ever. "It's your home Fluttershy, I don't think it's really appropriate for you to be asking me permission to check up on someone in YOUR home. Oh, and my name is Vakarious, if you will," he said. He found it quite odd that she was this, well, passive. I'm probably in Canada somewhere. Though the fact that there isn't snow anywhere makes that debatable. Ugh, I've fallen into Human stereotypes, how terrible of me. "Oh no, I don't mind at all, um, Vakarious. I find that It'd be rude to intrude on somepony, whether it's in my house or not," Fluttershy responded. Well, too each their own...Somepony...? Just as he was processing that thought, Fluttershy came into the room, balancing a plate of eggs on one of her wings. A...Pegasus...? A Pegasus that speaks fluent Engli-er, Common? Sure, Pegasi used to exist on Earth during C'thulhu's rule, but they were his minions...I thought them, as well as Unicorns completely wiped out...? As Fluttershy sat the plate down on a nearby table, she noticed her guest, or, Vakarious rather, was looking at her with unease. "Are you okay Mr. Vakarious? If you don't mind me asking, that is..." she asked, nervously. Vakarious was dumbfounded. He was a little over 2,600 years old, yet here he was, frozen at what he saw. I fought a suicidal fight against an enraged Titan, fought an endless army of demons, bore witness to horrors unimaginable from my father's time, yet here I am, frozen and looking completely idiotic, because a Pegasus stands before me. Well, time to play it smooth. "Where am I?" was all he said. Smoothe idiot. Smoothe. I wouldn't be surprised of Praetorian somehow appeared and hit me upside the head right now. "Why, you're um...you're in Ponyville Mister Vakarious..." Fluttershy responded, seemingly confused. "And pray tell, where is 'Ponyville'?" he asked, further scolding himself. "Well, um...Ponyville is part of um...Equestria..." Fluttershy answered, even more confused now. "Where are you from Mister Vakarious? That is, if you want to answer..." Well, she's been pretty hospitable towards me. At the very least, she didn't tie me up and torture me to death. I get the feeling though, that showing her my true draconic right now would be unwise, considering she seems used to and accepting of my human form.As Vakarious pondered these thoughts, Fluttershy spoke up again. "Well, I brought you some eggs. I'm not sure if I made them wrong though, so if I did I'm sorry..." "Nonsense. They'll do just fine. Thank you," Vakarious responded. He then thought about how to answer her question. He decided to be simple. "As for your question, I'm from a place called Earth. You haven't, by any chance, heard of it, have you?" "No, I can't say that I have, unless you mean this Earth, where Earth ponies are from...but if that's a different place and I just don't know if it, I'm sorry...and I'm sorry if I should know what or where that is..." Fluttershy responded. Not gonna lie, the whole nervousness thing around me is starting to get old and annoying. Fast. I mean sure, I'm a different creature in a land where dragons and Humans probably don't exist, but damn, even humans weren't this paranoid. I mean, they were worse, but that's besides the point. "You don't have to be sorry for something that's not your fault." "Oh, okay then." As he began eating, a knock was heard on the door, followed by someone calling Fluttershy's name. "Fluttershy, I came by today because of the storm last night, and I just decided to see if you were okay," said the clearly female voice. "Oh, that's Twilight!" Fluttershy said, pretty excitedly. "If you don't mind Vakarious, I'm going to get that. Would you like to come down and eat, so you can meet her? That is, of course, if that's okay with you..." "That'll be fine," he said, while musing to himself. Twilight huh? Odd to have as a name. Title sure, if it has the same meaning I'm used to. And with that thought, he went downstairs, plate in hand, to meet this friend of his savior.