//------------------------------//
// Returning Home 
// Story: My Son, My Soldier, My Hero 
// by That_Random_Pony 
//------------------------------//


Draco waited with Ember for a few minutes before Twilight and her assistant came. They wondered why he needed Spike, but he explained by telling the little drake to send two letters he had written. One to his mother, and the other to King Draco. Ember's condition was that of a dragoness in her Illness, and so he made sure that Twilight and Spike stayed a safe distance away from his home. He sat outside, waiting for a response from his mother. There was only one way to get there, but he at least wanted his mother to know he was going back. Spike's stomach gurgled, and soon he belched out a scroll with his mother's seal. 

Dear Draco,

I'm sorry to hear about Ember. King Draco has already sent me a request to allow a carrier dragon to get you and her, and I've already approved it. Wait near the Everfree Forest, and make sure no pony gets near Ember. A squad of Solar Guards are clearing the streets now, so be ready for the dragons.

                                                                     --Love, Mama

Draco sighed with relief, flinching when he heard something break upstairs. "So she's boiling and sick?" Spike questioned.

"Yes. I thought her boiling would keep her warm, but she'll just kill herself if she keeps this up," Draco sighed, grimacing at the thought.

"But you're taking her to the Dragon Kingdom, right?" Twilight asked. "I'm sure she'll be fine."

Draco nodded weakly, unsure himself. Twilight nuzzled him, then stood back as Draco got up. He went inside and climbed the steps, going straight to his room. A lamp smashed against the wall, barely missing his head. Draco caught a second one and dropped it on the rug before going over to Ember, who was trying to will her claws to rake him. He grabbed her arms and held her close, her grunts of self control reaching him.

"Don't… touch… me…" She weakly croaked, her tail smacking his arm. He pushed it away and carried her, wrapping her in two thin blankets.

"We're going back, Ember," he whispered. "Come on, your dad's waiting for us."

She growled lowly, drifting in and out as he carried her down the stairs and outside. His friends stepped back, following from a safe distance away as he went to the fields. The Solar Guards lined the streets, saluting to Draco as he passed. Some groups of ponies around him were murmuring and whispering amongst themselves, but he could hear them.

"Good thing he's leaving."

"Going back to his own kind, probably."

"And that dragon. Its disgusting, the two of them."

"Isn't she some coal eating princess?"

Draco snarled and shot vicious glares at them, causing them to quiet down. "Don't worry, Ember," he whispered. "I'm gonna get you some help."

She growled softly leaning into his arm. He reached the fields, and on cue an enormous carrier dragon touched down. King Draco jumped off of the dragon and ran towards him. Draco assumed he had taken the antibiotics needed to keep him healthy, and he took Ember from him. He checked her vitals and temperature worriedly, running his claws over her face.

"F…Father?" Ember croaked. The King nodded and held her claw. 

"Why is this happening to her?" Draco asked. "She already went through this a couple years back."

"Some dragoness' go through two Illness passages," King Draco said quickly, beginning to walk to the carrier. "Most of them… don't survive."

Draco's body locked up momentarily. "I'm coming with you," Draco said.

"She's much more ill than before Draco," he warned. "The second Illness can't be cured through medicine, and with the fact that she's boiling would-"

"I wasn't asking," Draco snarled, grabbing the king by his arm. "She needs someone. Anyone. Especially now. If I get sick you can keep me in the caverns, but I'm gonna be there to help her."

The king admired his persistence, and he smirked. "The second Illness will last for a month. The medications will be useless, so you'll have to deal with her outbursts."

Draco nodded, turning around and walking to Twilight. "Listen… I'm gonna be gone for a while," he told her. "I want you to tell Rainbow about us, and that you know about her and me. Just tell her what I told you, and that she has to Pinkie Promise that if I choose you she won't be mad. Alright?"

"Alright," Twilight nodded, getting on her hind legs to hug him. "Stay safe. We're gonna miss you." Draco moved back and gave her a loving kiss before going back to King Draco.

He sat across from the king as the carrier took off, and once again he watched as Ponyville became a blur, then disappeared behind the clouds. King Draco was… glaring at him.

"Now… what happened in Gryphos?"

                                                                                                   




Eretkul Starship

"So Reku'un's first kill was a Govek?!" Figanti laughed boisterously. 

"He's already stronger than one," Jerosh smiled. "Perhaps he has already experienced his power as a Signa."

Or the Iikro used his body.

What are you talking about, Nyla?

We've gotten close enough for me to register some memories. The Govek did attack, and it was killed… but Reku'un didn't attack it. Only when the Iikro assumed control of his mind did he strike.

…

He was scared.

The six warriors and single Nera'ak fell silent. "He's almost ten. His rites should be coming along now, especially now since we've used his energy to hatch you Nyla. He'll need someone to help him learn to control it," Fermot said.

"And once we arrive we can properly train him," Derekosh chuckled. "Those bastards won't know where he is by the time they're dead."

Jerosh glared at his younger brother. "We will train him, brother, but for now he can only defend himself. We'll have to wait-"

"Wait?" Agnee questioned. "We've assembled the Council, we've assembled the Signa, all we have to do now is get Reku'un."

"No. We need to gather the dreadnaughts then find the cruisers holding our people," Jaqeluu sighed. "Jerosh is correct. It will take time, but if Reku'un can just hold on, we'll have enough warriors to fight the horde."

The brothers quieted as the wisest of them spoke, and Derekosh growled angrily before standing from the mat and stomping away. "Let him cool off," Jaqeluu told Agner. "He lost Jignat in the invasion."

"Which is why one of us should see him," Agner argued. "He loved her, and now she's gone along with your wife and Jerosh's."

The two closed their eyes, saying small prayers and remembering their loved ones. "Derekosh just needs time…"

"And a few thousand Sobalka to vent on," Fermot chuckled. "Uncle, will you be able to guide him through his lessons as Makti?"

"Given how your father spoke to me about half of it, yes, I can," Figanti smiled. "You should all rest. Tomorrow we assault the vessels near Vrakshein."

"We're not children anymore, Uncle," Fermot chuckled. "Minus Agner."

"I have one lunar cycle before I am of twenty-five cycles," he pointed out. "I am nearly there."

They laughed loudly, but in the holds beneath them, Nyla softly sighed. 

If you can hear me, Reku'un, please be safe. I barely know of your sorrows and merriments, but I want to know what it is to be a true Nera'ak. And you must guide them as Makti. 

May Minira watch over you.