//------------------------------//
// A New Guardian Appears! 
// Story: Friendship is Aura 
// by KangTheGuardian 
//------------------------------//

	The sun rose over the horizon, starting yet another day in Ponyville. Little by little, the villagers began to wake up and leave their houses. Some of them had another day of work ahead of them. Others just wanted to spend time with their friends. It was like any normal day, with the exception of one thing. Today, the villagers stopped in their tracks to look at the mysterious figure sleeping under one of the trees in the Town Square.

Lucario slowly woke up as the rays of light hit him. The night before, he had decided to sleep outside. He didn’t want to wake somepony up just to ask for a bed. After all, he was used to sleeping outside. He preferred it, even. He had done so several times while out on missions in Rota. Even during nights at the palace, he still chose to sleep either in the royal garden or on top of a roof. He didn’t know if it was because of his Pokémon instincts, but he just found it more calming. Maybe it was because of the night sky. The first time he could remember seeing the sky was during the night. The stars were sparkling everywhere and the moon shone down on him. That image had been with him forever since.

As he opened his eyes, he noticed the villagers watching him. Some of them just seemed curious or even excited, but others looked scared and terrified. He caught glimpse of a mother dragging her child away from him by the tail. Maybe it was a mistake sleeping out here after all, he thought to himself. Up until now, he had just met ponies who were accepting of him, like Twilight, her friends, and the girls from the forest. A part of him had started to believe that all ponies were like that. It seems like he was wrong.

He stood up and brushed some bark and grass off himself. Even this simple act caused some of the ponies to flinch. He was going to ignore them, but then a stallion in the crowd suddenly shouted.

“Y-You beast! You have some nerve just walking into our village and sleeping wherever you want! Get out now before I’ll chase you out myself!” Lucario glanced over at the stallion. He had stepped out of the crowd and was now facing him defiantly.

“I’m sorry for causing you distress. I assure you that I mean you no harm,” Lucario answered. The stallion seemed surprised for a moment. He hadn’t expected Lucario to be so formal. However, the hatred soon returned to his eyes and he collected himself.

“Mean us no harm?! Don’t think you can trick me so easily, monster! I can see what’s going on here. Two days ago, the Everfree Forest suddenly explodes, and now you are here. A creature that I’ve never seen before in my life. I can spot that you’re trouble, believe me!”

Some members of the crowd started to nod their heads in agreement. Some of them were still skeptical, but Lucario knew that the situation was growing worse. “I understand that you’re frightened right now, and you have every right to be. But-”

“What’s going on here?!” a voice shouted over the crowd. Lucario recognized it as Twilight’s. True enough, the purple unicorn soon pushed herself past the other ponies and placed herself between them and the Pokémon. “Is this how you’re greeting newcomers nowadays? You have no right to treat them like that!”

“That’s right!” Lucario jumped when he noticed that Pinkie Pie suddenly stood next to him. “Ninja Mister is the nicest and coolest guy I’ve ever welcomed, and he will SURE-I-CAN your flanks if you’re mean to him!” Twilight was about to tell Pinkie that she didn’t make any sense when the stallion spoke again.

“Oh, what a surprise, Twilight Sparkle! Who could’ve ever thought that YOU had something to do with this?”

Twilight turned back to the stallion, visibly taken aback. “What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“Don’t play dumb with me! Every time something happens in this village, you and your friends seems to be just around the corner. The parasprite invasion, the purple dragon attack, the ursa minor incident, the list goes on. You’ve been nothing but trouble ever since the day you moved here!”

Twilight stepped backwards from all the accusations. “I-I…”

“You bring nothing but chaos and disorder wherever you go! Not to mention all the weird company you’re always in. Like that meddling zebra from the forest, or that traitorous witch you call Princess Luna! It’ll be better if you-“

A shockwave suddenly burst out from the town square. Several ponies in the crowd fell over from the force and various objects on the ground blew away. Strangely, Twilight and Pinkie found themselves unaffected by it all. So when they turned around, they were the first to see the blue energy that suddenly surrounded Lucario. His expression was filled with anger, and it caused even Pinkie to somewhat back away from him. He slowly walked up to the still paralyzed stallion and looked down at him. The pony was petrified with fear.

“You can dislike me and throw accusations at me all you want, but my friends have nothing to do with it. Leave them out of it, are we clear?” He crouched down and stared right into the stallion’s eyes. “And if you ever speak ill of Princess Luna again… I’ll chase YOU out myself.” For a brief moment Lucario’s eyes glowed yellow. The sight was enough to break the last of the stallion’s will. His eyes rolled up and he fainted where he sat.

For a moment, everything was silent. The ponies watching the scene were all quiet, their jaws on the ground. Finally, a mint green unicorn standing a few feet away from Lucario started cheering.

“YEAH! That sure showed him! What was wrong with that guy?”

“Did you hear what he said about Twilight and her friends? How could he even think that?”

“Was he even here during last year’s Nightmare Night? Princess Luna is awesome!”

“I say we lock that guy in a cell! He definitely deserves it!”

Twilight sighed in relief when she heard that the villagers were happy about this turn of events. She walked up to Lucario with Pinkie bouncing closely behind her.

“I’m not sure what you did there, and I would like you to explain it to me later… but thank you, Lucario.” She was still a bit upset from the stallion’s words and brushed a small tear from her eyes. “But why did you get so angry about him badmouthing Princess Luna?”

“I met her yesterday when I was searching the forest,” Lucario answered.

All of Twilight’s thoughts about the recent event were instantly forgotten. “Y-You met Princess Luna in the Everfree Forest?! What was she doing there?!”

Lucario briefly considered telling Twilight about how Luna had been watching him. He eventually decided against it in order to not make Twilight think badly of her. “Coincidence, it seems. We talked a little, and I gave her the objects I found at the site for safekeeping.”

“Objects? So you found something over there?”

“Yeah, my mentor’s staff. He used it to transport me to Equestria. It was broken however, and I doubt it can be repaired.”

“Why did you get so mad about the guy being mean about Princess Luna?” Pinkie Pie suddenly asked behind Twilight. Twilight blinked a few times before facehoofing herself.

“Pinkie, I just asked him that a few seconds ago!”

“Yes, Twilight, but Ninja Mister didn’t say why he got upset. He just told us how he knew Luna in the first place. He didn’t answer your question at all!” Pinkie smiled and bounced in place. Twilight shocked herself when she realized that there was logic to Pinkie’s statement. She looked back at Lucario and noticed that he was just as surprised and shocked as she was.

“Well, I…” Lucario tried to explain without success. He didn’t know the answer himself. He had only gotten gradually annoyed and angry by the stallion’s accusations towards Twilight. However, the second he insulted Luna, something inside him just snapped. He had no idea why.

Lucario never got to finish his answer, as loud thunder suddenly echoed throughout the village. It was a piercing sound that forced all the ponies present to cover their ears. Only Lucario seemed unaffected by it, but his eyes shot open in surprise just like the rest. When the sound settled down, Twilight lowered her shaking hooves from her ears.

“Lucario… t-that…”

“I know,” he answered. He turned towards the Everfree Forest. “That wasn’t thunder. That was a roar.”

His suspicions were soon realized when he detected a giant creature suddenly rising out of the forest. Its green body was covered in scales, and large wings soon spread out from the trees around it. Smoke was visibly blowing out from its mouth.

“Twilight, get everyone away from here. Take them to the safest area you know, now,” Lucario ordered the paralyzed unicorn. His voice was calm, but like that of a commanding leader during a crisis. Twilight managed to pull herself together and forced herself to speak.

“W-What about you?!”

“Just do as I told you. Pinkie, help her in any way you can,” he said before activating Magnet Rise and flying away towards the forest. Pinkie saluted him and stepped over to the terrified crowd.

“Okay everypony, follow our lead!” she shouted. She when inhaled deeply before having Twilight’s hoof shoved in her mouth.

“Pinkie, if you make everypony scream and run away in panic, I’ll turn you into a flour sack!”





It didn’t take long before Lucario reached his target. The behemoth was easily over 50 feet tall and towered over the treetops like a pony standing in grass. How something this big had managed to keep itself hidden was a mystery. The monster had noticed Lucario approaching and simply waited for his arrival. This, coupled with its studying eyes, told Lucario that it was more than a mindless animal.

“You answered my challenge faster than I thought, newcomer.” A deep, booming voice welcomed him as he stopped a short distance away.

“Challenge?” Lucario questioned. “What are you talking about? Who are you, and what do you want from me?”

The behemoth chuckled slightly at this. “It seems I was right about the forest forgetting about me. In that case, allow me to introduce myself. I am Razorfang, the dragon of the Everfree Forest. I was, and still am, its king and ruler. The entire forest and perhaps all of Equestria used to tremble at my feet. Feeling accomplished in my success, I entered my hundred year-long sleep in my cave. I thought the forest would forever remember my name, but it seems like I was wrong.”

“A lot can happen in a hundred years,” Lucario countered. “Even you can’t expect everyone to cover in fear of your legend for that long.”

“But they do, newcomer.” Razorfang lifted his claws and gestured over the forest. “I know this because I woke up for a short while just a little over a year ago. By that time, I could feel the animals still recalling me, still passing my story down to their children. Yet I woke up again yesterday, and my name was almost as good as forgotten.”

“And what do I have to do with it?”

“Everything!” the dragon suddenly roared and pointed his claw towards Lucario. “The animals forgot about me because a new name took my place. Everywhere I can hear the rumors spreading of the timberwolves’ defeat. How a newcomer had appeared out of nowhere and scared them off. You are the only thing they can think about, the only thing they fear, the only thing they respect! But timberwolves are but ants to me, as are you, and I’ll remind everyone of that here and now!”

Razorfang finished his proclaim and watched Lucario for a reaction. He had expected something like fear, uncertainty, or even defiance in the newcomer’s eyes. He found none. Lucario’s face was expressionless, simply looking disinterested at the so-called King of the Everfree Forest. Then he just sighed and turned around.

“I’ve no intention of playing along with your games, dragon. If you want those titles you mentioned, you can have them. They don’t have any meaning to me. Go back to your sleep in peace knowing that.” He then slowly started to fly away.

Razorfang was almost trembling in rage. The newcomer had completely ignored his challenge. Was he looking down on him? Did he not view him as a great threat? How dared he humiliate him?! He was about to roar in anger when he noticed that Lucario was flying towards the village located outside the forest. An evil grin suddenly spread across his face.

“In that case, you wouldn’t mind if I reminded the ponies of that village as well, would you?”

Lucario immediately stopped in his tracks. “What did you-”

“That’s more like it!” Razorfang shouted. Fire erupted from his mouth and engulfed Lucario and the forest in a sea of flames.





“Twilight, what’s going on?! What was that thunder?! Why are we evacuating?!” Applejack was just as confused as everypony else that were now led by Twilight and Pinkie out of the village.

“A dragon is about to attack Ponyville! Lucario flew off to try and stop him, but we must get everpony to safety as quickly as possible!” Twilight’s organizational-abilities proved invaluable for making sure that nopony was left behind. She had already gotten a complete list of everypony living in the village from her library. She checked them off one after another as they walked down the road out of the village.

A sudden rainbow-colored trail caught her eye. She barely managed to catch Rainbow Dash with her magic before the pegasus could fly into the forest.

“Rainbow, what are you doing?!” she exclaimed as she brought her friend back down to the ground.

“You expect me to just run away when Ponyville is in danger?! Let me go! I’ll teach that scalebrain a lesson!”

“Lucario is probably doing the best he can already, Rainbow. We just have to trust him and make sure nopony gets hurt.” Despite the crisis, Twilight couldn’t stop herself from smiling inwardly at her friend’s bravery. Loyal and dutiful as always. Rainbow gave in and stopped resisting. Part of her was actually jealous that Lucario was upstaging her.

The evacuation stopped dead in its tracks when the skies above the forest suddenly were bathed in red. Even from this distance, Twilight could feel the wave of heat hit her face. Whatever traces of Rainbow’s bravery that remained was now gone without a trace. She jumped into the air and ran back to her spot in the line.

“Lucario…” Twilight said to herself. She then remembered what the Pokémon had wished of her, and she returned to her evacuating duties.





The treetops in the entire area were scorched, but Razorfang had made sure none of them caught fire. As eager as he was to prove his might, he knew better than to start a giant forest fire. Beneath him, animals were running for their lives. They did not want to risk staying near the dragon in case he changed his mind. As for Lucario, he was gone. His remains scattering into dust along the smoke, Razorfang thought to himself. His deep laugh soon echoed throughout the forest.

“Do you remember now, weaklings?! Do you now recall the great Razorfang that rules over you?! Has your memory really failed to remember my might, my strength?! Behold, the dragon of the Everfree For-”

Razorfang’s speech came to an abrupt end when a blue ball of energy exploded in his face. The force was great enough to make him stagger backwards. He clutched his face and roared in pain. He span his head towards the direction the attack had come from.

Lucario was floating some distance away from him. His paws were still outstretched after throwing the Aura Sphere at the dragon. His disinterested expression was now exchanged for one of seriousness and anger.

“You were going to do what to the ponies?”

“Why you…!” Razorfang breathed out another wave of fire towards Lucario. The Pokémon immediately dove down between the trees below. Razorfang was about to aim down when he remembered his wishes to keep the forest from catching fire. Had the newcomer already realized that?

He didn’t have much time to think before Lucario suddenly jumped out of the trees just below his head.

“Sky Uppercut!” Lucario’s clenched paw hit Razorfang just under the jaw. To his great surprise and agony, he found his giant frame launched halfway into the air from the strike. As he fell back down, he raised his tail. Several spikes suddenly grew out of its tip as he swung it right into Lucario’s side. 

Or so he thought. His opponent simply grabbed hold of one of the spikes and held on to it as it swung back behind Razorfang. There, Lucario let go and began running up along the dragon’s spine. Once he reached the root of Razorfang’s left wing, he placed his paw on it.

“Force Palm!” Lucario didn’t flinch at all when a giant shockwave erupted from his paw. The impact spread pain over every inch of Razorfang’s wing. The dragon spun his head around, breathing flames over his fireproof back. Lucario simply jumped off and once again took cover in the forest below.

Razorfang had never been so enraged in his whole long life. This creature was but vermin to him, yet time after time it outwitted him. Worse, it damaged him. Him, the great dragon of the Everfree Forest. He refused to accept this. He refused to let this newcomer humiliate him anymore.

“If you wish for me to burn this place down so badly, then so be it!” he roared. He stood up on his hind legs and breathed in deeply. Not a single tree or straggling animal would be spared from his wrath. However, he couldn’t see that Lucario ran up behind him and rushed towards his feet.

“Low Kick!” Lucario made a small jump and kicked both his feet into the dragon’s heel. Razorfang immediately felt his foot slide over the ground, causing him to lose balance. He fell flat on his back, a small tremor spawning from the impact. He was surprised over how much the fall hurt him. The air was knocked out of him and he began coughing. He opened his eyes and saw Lucario floating about a hundred feet above him. 

The Pokémon’s paw was glowing blue, and the dragon expected him to throw yet another sphere at him. Instead, Lucario suddenly dove down towards him. His fist was held back in preparation for a punch. Razorfang desperately tried to force out a breath of fire, but his coughing prevented him. All too soon Lucario reached his torso.

“Focus Punch!”





The ponies outside Ponyville could barely make out Lucario’s small figure as he crashed down into the laying dragon. They held their breaths as they lost sight of him behind the treetops. A few seconds later a loud smashing sound echoed past them and the ground shook slightly under their hooves. Some of them could even swear that some of the trees swayed from the impact. They heard the dragon cry out in agony before everything turned silent.





Lucario stood on top of the unconscious dragon. He was panting slightly, but otherwise he was uninjured. Dust was rising from the ground around them. The scales on Razorfang’s stomach were cracked and broken after the Focus Punch. But it would take more than that to cause fatal injury to a creature of this size.

Suddenly, Razorfang stirred beneath him, coughing repeatedly. He raised his head and noticed Lucario standing on his stomach. He attempted to move, but his body was aching all over.

“That’s enough. You’ve lost,” Lucario told him. To the dragon’s even greater annoyance, the Pokémon casually sat down and rested on his belly. “I also think that my attack from before paralyzed your wing. You should rest for the moment.”

Razorfang stared at Lucario for a while before grudgingly taking his advice. He let his head lay back on the ground and attempted to catch his breath. For a few minutes, the two of them just stayed silent, reflecting on the battle. At least Razorfang was. He had been completely defeated. He hadn’t even been able to put a scratch on the newcomer. It had been like fighting a fly with the strength of an ursa major. On top of it all, the entire forest had witnessed everything.

“Tell me…” Lucario spoke from Razorfang’s stomach. The dragon raised his head again to look at his opponent. “Why are you so obsessed with being remembered?”

Razorfang’s eyes briefly widened in surprise. Then they closed as the dragon seemed to reflect on some distant memory.

“Creatures like you should count yourselves lucky. Your time in this world is short, barely a fraction of a dragon’s lifetime. But that short time you have is just perfect. You’re born, you learn, and you accomplish. When your time is at an end, you’re surrounded by friends and family you’ve gotten to know. Then you pass on happily, thinking that you’ve made an impact on the world.”

Razorfang opened his eyes and watched the clouds passing by above them.

“You’re lucky that you don’t live long enough to see them forget about you.”

Lucario blinked and turned his head towards the dragon. Its eyes were not filled with grief or sadness, but hopelessness.

“You told me before that even I couldn’t expect the animals of this forest to fear me forever. You’re right. I can’t. But by the heavens, do I want them to. Every time I wake up, no one can recall me. The friends I once had are gone. The home I once had have disappeared or changed. History had turned into legend. Legend had turned into myth. No matter how much I try or how I pass on my name to others, it always ends the same way. By the time I’ll leave this world, there will be no one there. Just visions and memories of the past. And even if there is someone with me at the end, they’ll eventually forget about me all the same.”

Razorfang sighed and laid his head back on the ground. The clouds from before had disappeared, new ones taking their place. “I gain, and I lose. Time and time again. What’s the point of it all?”

“You will never truly lose anything.”

Razorfang blinked and looked at Lucario. He was now standing up and looked back into the dragon’s eyes.

“Even if the world forgets about you, you yourself never will. The good times and the bad times. Your friends and your enemies. Your fulfilled dreams and your regrets. You will keep all those memories with you for the rest of your life… and thinking back on them will always make you smile. You’ll probably not understand what I mean now, but remember this…”

Lucario walked up to Razorfang’s face and smiled.

“The aura will always be with you.”

He then activated Magnet Rise and flew away. Razorfang stayed on the ground, his mind having lots of new things to think about.





Lucario saw the ponies gathered outside the village and landed near them. As he stepped closer, he could see that all of them had their mouths open in shock. They simply stared at him for what felt like an eternity. Just as Lucario was starting to feel awkward, Pinkie’s voice could be heard over them.

“See?! I knew it! NINJA MISTER! I called it!”

An explosion of cheers and stomping hooves then erupted as everypony rushed to him. Twilight and her friends hugged him. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were bouncing in circles around him. Others he had never seen before patted his shoulders and thanked him a dozen times over. He had gotten a few cheers before from the people living in Cameran Palace, but nothing like this.

An elderly looking mare with a light brown coat and a white mane walked up to him. “As the mayor of Ponyville, allow me to thank you for protecting our home. Who knows what that dragon could’ve done to the village if you weren’t here? On behalf of everypony, thank you.” She bowed her head in gratitude. “Please, if there’s anything we can do to repay you, it would be our pleasure.”

Lucario thought of the offer. He remembered something the stallion from before had mentioned and decided to ask.

“Miss Mayor, is it true that Ponyville has often experienced situations like this? I heard something about parasprite invasions and ursa minor incidents earlier today.”

The mayor blushed and giggled awkwardly. “Oh, haha, I’m afraid that we aren’t exactly strangers to these kinds of things…”

Lucario nodded, his suspicions proven right. “Then allow me to become this village’s guardian.”

The mayor and the ponies around him were taken by surprise. “Y-You wish to continue protecting us?! Even when your very life was in danger today?!”

“Yes,” he answered. He looked back at all of his new friends smiling behind him “That’s the least I could do for my new home.”

To be continued…