Draconic Guardians of Equestria

by Defias

Chapter 12

On Earth, the situation was far more dire than when the Burning Legion had first invaded. Vakarious' position as Dragonlord was more than just a title, and more than just a position of power. It was symbolic, the one who was meant to be untouchable, a deity. And he had just disappeared. So While it had only been three days since Vakarious' sudden disappearance, word of his supposed 'death' spread quickly, leaving the dragons of Earth, and even the humans who had fought with him, in despair. However, word of his recent communication between him and his sister had spread just as quickly. Instead of taking it as a comfort though, many took it as an uncertainty. A question in their leaders ability to lead from another world, or if it was still their leader at all.

Praetorian, Vakarious' guardian and second in command, walked within the ruined city Tucson, Arizona with one of his own personal generals; a Dragonspawn named Ember Fang. Praetorian had established the formally medium sized city as his base of operations long ago, though the reasons only he knew. The talk between him and his general revolved mainly about the Burning Legion's sudden withdrawal, and how to go about removing the remnants and holdouts. However, even his own general showed signs of uncertainty.

"Something is troubling you, Ember Fang. Speak it," Praetorian said to his general.
"If our leader lives, then where is he? And how can he be our leader, if he is not here to lead?" the Dragonspawn asked Praetorian.
"He was located on another world following the Legion's withdrawal. He was found by way of communicating with his sister, Alestra. Uncertainty and angst is understandable among the soldiers. You are expected to show control and order," Praetorian answered, walking with the Dragonspawn.

"My apologies. It's just, the men have begun saying things regarding Master Vakarious' leadership, and question his word now. I suppose they have gotten to me," Ember Fang stated.
"Then I suppose you compose yourself. The words of your men can be forgiven and forgotten. Your words have potential to end your life," Praetorian informed. Ember Fang stopped and glared at Praetorian at this.

"While I understand your defense of the 'Dragonlord', I will not allow you to stand here and make hollow threats, just because I question his ability to lead, without having the ability to communicate," Ember Fang said.
"You may openly mock and criticize Vakarious' rule while he is here. You will not do so when he is unable to defend his leadership. And do not consider it a hollow threat," Praetorian said, returning his glare to Ember Fang.
"This is insane. It was Vakarious himself who granted us free reign to say anything we wished about him without threat of persecution. Besides, he never would have become Dragonlord in the first place if not for the wishes of a dead dragon millions of years ago," Ember Fang said. At this, Praetorian grabbed the Dragonspawn by the neck, pushing him against the remnants of a building, and held him there.

"You will watch your tongue, or I will remove it. Vakarious may have granted you free speech, but as you pointed out, Vakarious is not here. As I take his place in his absence, you will not insult the Dragonlord during his time of leave. And know this: If you EVER speak ill of Glorien's name again, Dragonlord or no, I will end you. Do I make myself clear?" Praetorian said, releasing his grip on the Dragonspawn a little to allow him to answer.
"Absolutely clear," Ember Fang said, barely able to make out the words.
"Good. Now continue your search for demonic holdouts, and do not return to me until your task is complete," Praetorian said, releasing the Dragonspawn, allowing him to fall onto the ground. Ember Fang didn't say anything in response, merely walking off into the distance.

"Bringing him back to us as soon as possible would be preferred, Alestra," Praetorian whispered to himself, looking over the ruined city.

~~~

"Ah'm just not sure about 'em. He's from another world no doubt about that, but you saw what it looked like. 'Suppose it was him who did that?" Applejack said. She had gathered her friends, with the exception of Twilight Sparkle, who said she had work to do at the library, to talk about their guest in Ponyville. Applejack had everyone meet up in her barn, and began discussing what they should do about Vakarious, if they should do anything at all. And Applejack definitely had no qualms about expressing her distrust of Vakarious.

"I must agree with Applejack. For all we know, he could have been sent to do here what he did to his own world," Rarity added, agreeing with Applejack.
"I can't believe you guys, especially you AJ!" Rainbow Dash shouted, pointing a hoof at Applejack.
"What are ya talking about Rainbow?" Applejack asked.
"You know what! You're completely judging somepony before even knowing them! The same thing we did with Zecora, the same thing we did with Discord. Can we at least TRY and give him a chance before completely out casting him?" Everyone in the room, especially, Rarity, was surprised at Rainbow Dash's outburst.

"Listen sugercube, we're not judging him. We just know absolutely nothing about 'em, other than he's a big dragon from another world. With Zeocra, what we knew was all based on rumor and stories, childish, inappropriate, and rude as it was. Discord, based off past experience. What do you know about 'em, Rainbow?" Applejack asked Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash tried to answer, but she had nothing. Applejack was right, she didn't know anything about Vakarious at all.

"Alright, fine. We don't have to completely trust him, but we should still give him more of a chance than we have been. Fluttershy, you met him first, what did you think of him?" Rainbow asked Fluttershy, who cowered behind her hair at first when she had been put in the spotlight.

"Um, he was hurt..."Fluttershy answered.
"Yes, we know that, but what else?" Rainbow pressed.
"Well, he looked scared, and lost..."Fluttershy continued.
"And?"
"And...I don't think he was intentionally sent here...if that makes sense," Fluttershy answered

"There, see? He wasn't sent here intentionally, and he probably wants to leave," Rainbow Dash said, relishing in her 'victory' of having Fluttershy 'agree' with her.

"Now just hold on a moment, Rainbow Dash. Maybe he wasn't sent here intentionally, and maybe I'm just metaphorically grasping straws, but what if he was banished?" Rarity considered.
"Okay, so what do we do? Spy on him until he does something weird?" Rainbow Dash asked, knowing she had finally been beat.
"No Rainbow Dash, all we have to do is take into consideration that he 'could' have less than pure intentions for us," Rarity answered.

Before the group could break the silence they had found themselves in, various objects within Applejacks barn began springing to life, startling the group at first. However, the group relaxed, having an idea of who it could be, with Fluttershy breaking the silence.

"Hi Discord," Fluttershy greeted, even though there was no one else except her friends.
"Am I really that predictable? I must say, my rather 'restricted' use of magic has certainly made me boring," Discord said, appearing before the group. The group, with the exception of Fluttershy, sighed at Discord's appearance. Though the group was happy to give Discord a chance following his reform, they still found themselves at unease around him sometimes.

"If you don't mind me asking, what brings you to Ponyville today Discord?" Fluttershy asked.
"Oh, I was just passing through, and overheard your little conversations. You ponies are quite loud, really, though I do appreciate the swift defense, Rainbow Dash" Discord answered, bowing a little towards Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash just rolled her eyes, though. Discord then began conjuring a reclining chair for himself. "Perhaps I can help."
"Help? Us? Now why would you go an' do that?" Applejack asked.
"Well because you're all my friends of course! Right?" Discord asked, sounding innocent.
"Uh huh, and what's the catch?" Applejack continued.
"Daww, I wouldn't call it a 'catch', that makes it sound sinister. Call it more of an 'I owe Discord a favor in the future' type of thing," Discord said. The group looked at each other, unsure of what to make of the situation, until Fluttershy spoke up.

"We would be very glad to accept your help, Discord. Now, what did you have in mind?" Fluttershy said, catching the groups attention, and seemingly surprisingly Discord as well.
"Well, simple. I follow this Vakarious fella around for awhile, then tell you all what I find out about him. And since I'm feeling nice, in return, all you ponies have to do is wear a silly hat at this years Grand Galloping Gala!" Discord exclaimed excitedly, earning an even more confusing look from the group.

"Um, that's it?" Applejack asked, skeptical of the situation.
"Yup! Cross my heart hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" Discord said, going through all the motions.
"While we do appreciate your help Discord, I don't think that will be necessary Discord," Fluttershy said. "I don't think it would be very fair to him, having somepony spy on him just because he's not from here."
"Hmm, very well Fluttershy. But will you all wear silly hats still?" Discord asked, fingers crossed.
"No!" The group, Fluttershy and Pinkie excluded, shouted.
"We will!" Pinkie exclaimed, grabbing Fluttershy, much to her surprise. The rest just looked at her
"Daww, it's no fun if only two ponies do it. But I suppose fair is fair, considering your last appearance at the Gala," Discord said, to the dismay of the rest of the group. "Well, I'm off. I get the feeling if I'm away from the castle too long, Celestia will begin hunting me down. Goodbye everypony!" And with that, Discord was gone. The group decided be on their way to their respective homes, as the sun had begun its decent.

Discord, in the meantime, stood outside Vakarious' house, unseen by anyone. While he wasn't a shining example of 'good', he certainly didn't trust someone who could block out his magic either. He ultimately decided to leave the entire situation up to Princess Celestia, though, and teleported himself back to Canterlot Castle. After all, she wanted him to keep watch for the Unicorn known for being the only one immune to the Elements of Harmony.

~~~

"Well crap, didn't mean for that to catch fire. Guess it's good it wasn't too important," Vakarious said to himself, putting out a small fire he started on a small living room table. "Spells definitely have a lot more kick in this form though, which is kinda cool. Always hated how I had to use my true form in order for any spells to have some sort of effect," Vakarious said out loud. For the past hour, he had been practicing various spells and abilities in his Pegasus form, from simple conjuring spells to more complicated fire spells.

And indeed his spells were greatly enhanced while in his Pegasus form. While normally his fire spell had a fairly short range and relatively weak effect in his human form, the same spell had almost tenfold the power. What's more, because the 'nodes' for his spells were his wings, he could cast twice as fast now as well. Indeed, he was basically a smaller version of his true Dragon form, with the exception of his physical strength and the fact his spells came from the base of his wings, and not his mouth.

Noticing the sun going down, he decided to allow himself to relax under the night sky. Just as he always had, he felt more comfortable under the night sky than the day. Perhaps it was the way the stars made him feel insignificant, despite who and what he was. Or perhaps he enjoyed how much larger the moon seemed in the night sky, and how even with the powers he commanded, it still felt out of reach to him. He did not know for sure, but what he did know, was that he'd much rather think about it outside of his home.

Vakarious left his home and, after a bit of walking, arrived at the park. Being that the sun had finally gone down, the park was completely empty, save for himself. He began staring at the moon while lying on his back, the position of doing so surprisingly not bothering him in his Pegasus form. However, he was interrupted from his stupor when a female voice began addressing him.

"It has been quite some time since I've seen anypony besides myself looking up at my night sky, as you are," the voice said. Vakarious got, and turned around to see another Unicorn approaching him, this one having wings as well, though he wasn't sure who it was.

"I don't think we've met," Vakarious said, surprisingly unable to identify the figure in the dark.
"Ah yes, where are my manners. I am Luna, Princess of the Night. And you are Vakarious, correct?," Princess Luna answered as she walked nearer to Vakarious.
"Yes, I am. The purple one, Twilight Sparkle, told me about you. I'm kind of ashamed I couldn't see who you were," Vakarious replied.
"Tis not an issue. After all, it is quite dark," Princess Luna said.
"Yeah, but I usually have pretty good sight in the dark. Guess not this time, though," Vakarious said. "If I can ask without sounding too insulting, what brings you out here tonight?"
"I figured I would make do on my sisters wish, and inquire further about the letter you sent her," Princess Luna answered.
"I see. Well, everything in that letter was everything I knew on the matter. Unfortunately, there's nothing more we could really find together. Though I get the feeling that's not the only thing your sister wished for you to 'inquire' about," Vakarious replied.
"Am I really so obvious?" Princess Luna asked, pretending to sound offended.
"No. The others, Twilight Sparkle and her friends, do not trust me. Though they try to hide it, I can tell. For that reason, it's understandable that the main leader wouldn't trust me either. After all, I wouldn't trust me," Vakarious flatly stated. His response took Princess Luna back a little bit, but she continued.

"It's not a matter of trust, at least with my sister, or myself. You showed her your world, and what became of it. She sees no reason to believe you to be a liar, especially after expressing your concern on a matter that doesn't even matter to you," Princess Luna reassured.
"And what is your reason for trusting me? Don't tell me you trust me just because your sister does," Vakarious asked.
"No. I trust you because I myself was, or perhaps still am, in a position similar to yours. You said Twilight Sparkle told you of my past, so you know why," Princess Luna paused a bit, then continued. "It's one thing to be seen as a monster because you are new, or different. It's another to be seen as a monster because you were one."

Vakarious found himself unable to answer. Throughout his life, he'd been seen by humans as a myth, a monster, even before he revealed his dragons. A story told to children to get them to obey their parents, an evil spirit told around campfire stories. So to be seen as all of those things because they were once a reality was indeed a heavy burden.

"You said you'd like to inquire about me. Go ahead and inquire, then. Ask me anything, and I'll try to answer," Vakarious said, breaking the silence.
"Very well. Tell me about you, personally. That's not much to go by I understand, but try answering anyway," Princess Luna asked. Even though it was a vague question, she wanted to see how he'd try to answer it.
"Well, let's see. I was born in 337 BC. In 1824 AD, I was pretty much given leadership of the dragons, and 2013 AD marked the beginning of the 250 year war with demonic aliens and Earth," Vakarious answered.
"I see. And what exactly does the term 'BC' and 'AD' mean? I assume it's a major change in your history," Princess Luna asked.
"It marks a very tragic event within Earth history. One of a very few event's I'd like to avoid talking about," Vakarious said, hanging his head a bit. Princess Luna could feel the sadness within him when he spoke, and decided to ask a different question.

"I'm quite curious. As you may already be aware, dragons outside of Equestria are, 'less than friendly'. What is your dragon society like, if there is one?" Princess Luna asked.
"Very different from the dragons here, that's for sure. Honestly though, dragon society, and to a lesser extent culture, is very similar to yours," Vakarious answered.
"Oh? In what way? Princess Luna inquired further.
"Well, our roles, or 'destinies', are found out for us at a young age. While there is a currency, it's more so out of commodity than necessity. Though every dragon is free to do whatever they wish, they have never been ashamed of their chosen 'destinies', and usually stick to that. I suppose the only difference, is we are much more aggressive, with our main goal," Vakarious answered.
"And what goal is that, exactly?" Princess Luna asked.
"The ensured continuity and protection of all that is natural, and above all else, life."