My Son, My Soldier, My Hero

by That_Random_Pony

Stalling

Another few months passed, worse than Draco had expected. Dozens of ponies claimed as witnesses to his outburst, and it went all across Equestria.

The animal prince.

The monster protected by the princess.

Most of Ponyville's residents avoided him as best as they could, some keeping neutral as they had no idea what had happened. He had hundreds of reporters clamoring for answers, a crowd of ponies always there to call him a monster. His mother and aunt had also taken some heat, the two being asked if Draco was going to turn out just like Nightmare Moon and become evil. Celestia took offense and said as much… while Luna became a bit physical via her magic. And then, Moon's creation came into question.

What was he? Where did he come from? Was he a servant of Nightmare Moon? Did the evil mare create him? Moon took it and shrugged it off, saying his mother created him and nothing more. They asked very ridiculous and far-fetched questions, but he was very calm. Still, he told Draco how hurtful some of the questions were. He was also taking heat because of the fact that he and Draco were seen almost always together.

And then they went to Ember.

Draco expected her to do many things. Many things that she did do. She smashed dozens of cameras, thrashed a few stallions shouting for Draco to find a cave and leave, and set a few manes and tails on fire. Moon and Draco used their statuses to forbid any action to be taken against her, but Draco still discouraged her to hurt them. She did so reluctantly, for their sake.

The dragoness was currently in her own home, as was Moon and Draco. The two shared the same house, since they agreed there was no point in having different houses when they would be hanging together for most of their days. Draco kept in touch with the other mares, especially Rainbow and Twilight. Rainbow visited regularly, much to his delight, and they went into his room for some talks… and other things. Mostly cuddling.

But now he was helping the girls fix up the barn for Twilight's eighteenth birthday, which was tomorrow. He used his dexterious fingers to hammer the nails into the banner, giving a nod to Rainbow who was holding up the other end. Using the barns upper beam system, he swung swiftly to the other side and nailed it into place, giving Rainbow a playful nudge which was returned via her flank.

"Draco!" Moon called. "I'm going to need some help."

"Comin'" Draco chuckled as he dropped down. The two carried the enormous pile of hay out of the barn and to one of the storage sheds on the farm.

"The barn's comin' along nice, thanks to yer help," Applejack grunted, pushing a table into place. "Ah hope Twi likes the decorations."

"Oh, she will!" Pinkie smiled, pulling her signature party cannon from out of nowhere.

In one blast, confetti and streamers were scattered perfectly over the room and the ponies. "We can't have the decorations in such a mess!" Rarity said, using her magic to start rearranging the party favors. "Just a bit of organizing and this will be Twilight's best birthday yet."

"And maybe some of Pinkie's sweets would be nice," Fluttershy suggested, Angel atop her head helping to place the ribbons.

"Great idea!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Be right back!"

She zoomed past Draco and Moon on her way to Sugarcube Corner. "How does she do that again?" Draco asked Rainbow. The colorful mare shrugged with a chuckle.

"It's Pinkie. No pony gets it," Rainbow grinned.

"And the last time somepony did was when Twilight tried explaining it," Rarity giggled. "Oh, she misfired her magic and set herself ablaze for a moment."

Draco's eyebrows raised. "Was she hurt?"

"Nah. She just got pretty smoked," Rainbow laughed.

"After being set ablaze?" Moon chuckled. "She must be very lucky."

"Yeah. Let's jus' hope her luck don't get us-"

A blur of pink shot back into the barn. "She's here!" Pinkie squealed silently.

"We can't let her see this!" Rainbow whispered.

"I got it!" Draco silently shouted, bolting out the back of the barn. He ran around to the side, waiting for Twilight. She came into view just ahead on the trail, and Draco jogged over to meet her. "Hey, Twilight!"

She looked confused but she smiled even so. "Hi, Draco," she chirped. "What are you doing here?"

"I-I-I uh… well…"

C'mon! Distract her!

"I-I… I uh, wanted to… ask you if you wanted to… take a walk! I mean… do you want to?" Draco asked. He missed the subtle blush, but Twilight hesitated.

"A-Actually, I needed to talk to Rarity about-"

"C'mon… it'll only take a couple minutes," Draco insisted. Twilight looked towards the barn, then back to Draco.

"…not too long, okay?" Twilight laughed softly. Draco nodded with a smile and gestured for her to follow alongside him.

They started randomly through the fields outside of Ponyville, walking on in silence. Twilight glanced up at him from time to time, unsure of why he suddenly wanted to walk with her. It wasn't that she minded… but… she was curious. Maybe, he had thought over whatever it was he had to and made a decision?

"S-So, what did you want to talk about?" Twilight asked. Draco kept silent, panicking as he thought of something to say.

"Um… well… how was the Gala?" He honestly wanted to know how the party had gone, since he was occupied with some "business."

Twilight groaned and then laughed as she recalled the few weeks before. "It was a disaster, to say the least," she giggled. "But Celestia said it was the best Gala ever. They really overplay how grand it is."

Draco chuckled and kicked a rock. "Well it is for the nobles," he reminded her, getting a roll of her eyes in response. "So how did you girls spice it up this year?"

"Well, Fluttershy went crazy over the animals in the Royal Gardens," Twilight began. "Rarity nearly beat Blueblood to a pulp, Pinkie forced a lot of nobles to dance, Applejack almost pummeled a few more nobles, and Rainbow was pretty disappointed about the Wonderbolts kinda ditching her."

Draco laughed weakly, surprised to hear Blublood being a flankhole. "And what did you do?" Draco questioned, nudging her playfully.

She responded with a magic rope tripping up his legs. Draco faceplanted into the dirt, looking up to see Twilight smirking then sticking her tongue out. When she looked forward, she smacked into one of the few scattered trees in the fields. Draco laughed loudly as she stumbled around dizzily, and he stood back up and cleared away the dirt. Twilight groaned as she clutched the side of her head.

"Karma!" Draco snickered.

The purple mare shook her head and gathered herself. "Shut it," she pointed teasingly. "I didn't get what I was expecting, so let's leave it at that."

Draco shrugged with a smirk. "Alright, alright." He glanced to the side, catching a few nasty glares and looks from the more public area of the fields.

Twilight tilted her head questioningly and looked to where Draco was looking. She could see the hatred and disgust the ponies were giving him, and he seemed to be trying to brush it off. But she knew him well enough to know that he was hurting. He had their trust as a prince, and now they saw him as that thing that showed itself months ago. His fist twitched in an attempt to clench itself, but it relaxed as she placed her hoof on his arm.

"Just ignore them," she smiled. "C'mon, just keep talking."

He sighed softly, chuckling to himself. "Alright. So how's it feel to almost be nineteen?" Draco asked.

"Aside from the fact I'm eligible for alcohol, it doesn't really feel too different," Twilight shrugged. "And I can't wait for the party tomorrow."

Draco's jaw fell open. "How did you…"

"You obviously came from the barn, then you asked me to walk with you around Ponyville, and I saw Pinkie reloading her party cannon," Twilight laughed. "The fact that it's not enchanted scares me."

Draco slowly shook from his dumbfounded state and laughed. "Yeah… there's that," Draco grinned. "So you knew?"

"Before we started walking, and when you came I assumed you were in on it," Twilight smirked. "I'll do my best to act surprised, but don't scare me."

Draco nodded. "Promise," he laughed. "Maybe we should head back. I'll go ahead and say that you need Rarity so I can help finish it up. Just don't give anything away, okay?"

"'Kay," Twilight nodded.

"So what do you need Rarity for?" Draco asked.

A stronger blush crept onto Twilight's face, barely able to be dismissed. "Um… N-Nothing big," she laughed weakly. "J-Just… about something that's been bugging me… and something Rarity knows a lot about."

Draco registered the stammering and weak smile, but he wasn't sure why she was acting that way. "Oh. Okay," Draco chuckled nervously. "I'm gonna go get Rarity."

"Y-Yeah! Sure!" Twilight smiled. Draco nodded and ran ahead to the barn, disappearing from view behind the barn doors.

Twilight facehoofed and groaned loudly.

Smooth moves, Twilight. Real smooth.

Ember looked up at the evening sky, confusion and anger both present in her heart.

Why?

She had no answer. For months she had dealt with the ponies that threatened and jeered her, as well as the ones who did the same to Draco and Moon. But… Moon could handle it, and seeing Draco shrug it off… she knew, gods above knew how, that he was hurting. It angered her that the ponies that were meant to look up to him for guidance and with loyalty were yelling curses at him and calling him a monster. She had seen the darker side of him, the one that Moon said killed all the griffons that had the unfortunate luck of meeting him when they were young.

And it was powerful.

The creature that had injured her took down Princess Celestia and Princess Luna in one blinding motion. The scary part of it all was the fact that she hadn't seen it move…

…or Draco.

It was almost as if they were teleporting, but the marks on the ground proved they were in fact running around. And when it took flight without wings? And when it healed? All in mere seconds after the two princesses shot it. Then Draco ripped it apart as if it were a piece of raw steak. He wasn't in control, the beast was still in him, and now he had to deal with his own damn subjects. It tore her up inside, not being able to help him even though she wanted dearly to help.

And that was another thing. She clearly… liked Draco in a more mature manner. Be it her memories making way, or instinct that drew her to his strong body, she was very attracted to him. Every small smile he sent her way made her heart flutter about, and her tail would stiffen in the slightest bit and her wings would threaten to outstretch. But she barely knew him. She once knew him… but now he was only a friend she was beginning to know. He knew the Ember that was with him in his childhood, in his adolescence, in the mountain, and in the war.

Her? She knew his favorite color was blue, that he preferred a sword better than any other weapon, that he was thinking when he lowered his head, crossed his arms, breathed quietly, and frowned in just the smallest way. He was a kind… thing, to everydragon and everypony that he first met. Draco loved beef more than chicken. His favorite music came from a saxophone, and his second favorite was wind instruments. And she only had a clawful of memories that she could speak to him about.

What did she have to offer? The mares were Elements. Elements of Harmony. Twilight Sparkle was their "leader" as it seemed and Rainbow Dash represented Loyalty. They not only knew him before her, but the fact that they were ponies was even more of a strength. Ponies had soft fur, not thick scaled platings. Mares had nice-smelling, beautiful manes and tails. She had spines and a tail shaped like an axe and smelled of ashes and smoke. How could she compete whn Draco saw them everyday?

No… forget the mares. If I tell him… then I'll at least know what he feels. Tomorrow's noon, then. I'm sure he should be alone by then.

Author's Note:

Here we go, little morning update for myself. I'm tired as all Tartarus, so like, fav, comment (make sure you go to sleep early so you don't feel like s***) and have an awesome day or night! Peaces!

Comments

[Mylittlebronyhood]

Come on Ember grow up and go for it.

[Brakyo]

Well Draco, yer Ember situation ain't as resolved as you thought, I reckon!

[Rain_Bow_Dashie]

3468965 i was about to report the error... but then i would have reported something that was reported... dubbl reported...

[Xavven]

False alarm, The ship resurfaced the other day we're good.

[light snow]

Yes! Finally! Now tell me, what will be the stupid thing that will inevitably interrupt her from telling him?

[Azarias]

The ship is back baby!

[Falx_of_Lume]

4812976
Aw shit! that's RIGHT! Those kinds of things always seem to happen.