//------------------------------// // Fire and Glory // Story: The Returned // by King Sombra11 //------------------------------// Drakos Vast shadows cast by leathery wings stretched out across the blistering ground. Small animals below trembled as Drakos sighed, a sound which due to his leviathan form boomed like thunder. "The dragon lands, at last" he murmured contentedly. Soon his destination came into sight. A volcano. A gargantuan volcano that dominated the landscape. Upon closer inspection the molten mountain had many holes bored into it, like a giant ant mound. These holes however harboured creatures far greater than mere ants...Dragons. Dragons hoarded and slept in these vast caverns that they built. The higher up the volcano their caverns where the higher the status of the dragon. Molten lakes of lava pooled around the base as the fiery liquid spooled in streams down the sides of the volcano. Sleeping and bathing dragons could be seen wallowing in it, their thick scales immune to the heat. "Ahhhh...Dragon Mountain. Ancestral home of all the dragon race, it is due time their Ancient returns to them" heaved Drakos, suddenly putting on a burst of speed, his great wings lifting up and down cooling the air around him. As the gargantuan form of Drakos sped towards the volcano the other dragons finally noticed the giant's approach. "The Ancient!" a voice cried! soon the call was taken up by the whole populace currently residing on the slopes. Dragons could be seen sleepily stumbling from their caves only to gape in awe and also take up the cry. "The Ancient!!!". "The Ancient!!!". "The Ancient!!!". The edges of Drakos maw curved up into what could only be called a grin of utmost satisfaction. "So they do remember me after all" Drakos mused "This shall be divine". Canterlot The Elements and Royal Sisters sat around a round table in Celestia's private quarters. Whilst Celestia maintained a calm façade, the Elements were clearly shaken and Luna looked as if she had swallowed a spoon of salt. "Twilight what have you unearthed about this Drakos?" Celestia calmly asked. "He is...well he is something called an Ancient. I found passages in the scrolls of old and well..." Twilight trailed off. "Well what Sparkle? Inform us of your discoveries!" Luna said, her tone dripped with bitterness. Celestia glanced at her sibling worriedly and quickly lay a wing over her, drawing Luna close. "According to what -and I must stress very little- little I could decipher, the Ancients were three beings. The embodiments of Light and Dark" Twilight uttered shakily. "What bout tha third one Twi?" Applejack questioned. "The third...The third was Drakos" Twilight paused. "He was THE Ancient. Known as the primordial one. From what I can tell he was there before Light and Dark and ruled our world through flame and claw. The scroll wasn't clear...but it appears he devoured the embodiment of Dark." Twilight paused again as the sharp intake of multiple breaths interrupted her. Even Celestia looked uncomfortable. "Devoured...twilight are you sure?" Celestia asked, her whole face twisted into disgust and fear. "Almost certainly but there's more, apparently Drakos never found the embodiment of Light. According to this it hid itself away after Drakos devoured the Dark embodiment...and she may be hidden in the bad-lands." Twilight finished. Celestia looked down and sighed. A sigh that spoke of a unbearable burden carried over the course of thousands of years. She looked up and met the gaze of everypony in the room. "It appears we will be travelling to enlist the help of this...Light" Celestia said softly. With that everypony lifted themselves off the ground and trotted off to make their own preparations for the long journey ahead. Drakos "I AM THE PRIMORDIAL!!! I THE DEVOURER OF THE DARK!!! I WHO IN THE VERY BEGINNING BATHED THE WORLD IN FLAME AND REDUCED THE WORLD OF ASH!!! I WHO LEAD THE DRAGON RACE INTO AN ERA OF FIRE!!! At this the dragons watching cheered as Drakos roared his speech from the rim of the Volcano. Murmuring excitedly amongst themselves, the dragons looked on in glee as Drakos continued his speech, the molten spray dribbling from his scales and the vast wings twitching in anticipation. "I SHALL LEAD THE DRAGON RACE INTO A UTOPIA OF FLAME AND MOLTEN ROCK. WHERE THE ASH FLOWS FREELY AND THE GEMS BURST FROM THE EARTH!!! WE SHALL SHARE THIS WORLD WITH ON BEING IT IS OURS BY RIGHT!!! THEY ARE FOOD NOT FRIENDS!!! MIGHT MAKES RIGHT!!!". The dragons took up the chant, under the shadow of the colossal Ancient thousands upon thousands of reptilian voices chanted. "MIGHT MAKES RIGHT!" "MIGHT MAKES RIGHT!" The roaring chant taken up by the unholy host of dragons reached it's crescendo. "MIGHT MAKES RIGHT!!!" the dragons screamed. Drakos lifted his great scaly head, and... WHOOSH A great column of infernal flame burst forth roaring into the sky. The other dragons soon opened their own jaws and contributed their own flame to the great pillar. Some of the oldest dragons there remembered the tales of old. Of how a great being had come and released a great pillar of infernal flame, calling his brethren to war. Soon the column of fire reached high into the sky, it pierced the heavens and coalesced into one great flame that swirled the clouds together and formed a crimson hue which spread throughout the sky. Drakos finally shut his gaping maw, looking down he spat one single ball of fire into the volcano. Immediately a Great rumbling sounded as the molten lake in the volcanos centre began to rise. Drakos turned. BOOM!!! A pillar of ash exploded into the sky as the molten lava began to run fiercely down the sides of the weeping volcano. "Now" Drakos whispered to himself. "Now we go to war".