Draconic Guardians of Equestria

by Defias

Chapter 5

Twilight Sparkle and Vakarious had been walking around Canterlot for 3 hours, after Twilight coaxed the latter into accepting a grand tour of Canterlot.

"You know, when I said I was in your debt, this isn't exactly what I had in mind," Vakarious grumbled. While he did admire the architecture somewhat, the local populace annoyed him. Typical rich people, ponies, whatever. Thinking themselves above those who actually have to work for their wealth, instead of being handed a fortune by sheer chance. Reminds me greatly of England, a place I haven't even been, yet am referencing.

"Oh stop complaining Vakarious. As Rainbow Dash would put it, you need to 'lighten up', and start enjoying the sights while you're here."
"Look, the city itself is rather nice, impressive to some extents, however, the pe-ponies here get on my nerves. I HATE 'holier than thou' attitudes, especially coming from those who are worth less than dirt. The only pony I met here that didn't make me want to tear out my eyelids, and was actually rather enjoyable to converse with, was that Fancypants one," Vakarious said. Really, do they pick their names by drawing them from a raffle or something?

"Well...I'll agree with you there, I never really was quite fond of the ponies here myself. But, I'm glad you at least like the city itself. On your world, did you have cities as big as Canterlot?"
"We had cities, yes, but most weren't quite as big as this one. They were much, much larger. Some of them easily 10 times this size. A particularly favorite city of mine was a city called Los Angeles: The Angels, in the people's native tongue. Though not hanging off the side of a mountain, the city itself is around 500 or 600 square miles, though that is just a very rough estimation," Vakarious said, noticing the irony in how he was now explaining a lot to Twilight.

"That's...amazing. And there are more cities like it?"
"Yes, a lot more. Los Angeles has an approximate population of around 3 million, and it isn't even the largest, population wise, city in the world," Vakarious replied.
"Perhaps if a stable connection between my world and yours is found, I could bring you a picture of the city."
"Hmm, a picture would be nice, but I think it would be a bit more fair if you gave me a tour of that city instead," Twilight said, some excitement present in her voice. However, she was met with just silence from Vakarious for a bit, before he finally responded.

"Unfortunately, that won't be possible. The city, in short, does not exist anymore."
"Doesn't exist, as in, somepony cursed it to vanish, like the Crystal Empire?" Twilight asked, taken back by his answer.
"No, as in, it is completely destroyed, the only remnants of it remaining some small smoldering buildings and a couple ruined skyscrapers. I'd prefer not to speak on the subject, if you wouldn't mind," he responded, devoid of emotion still. I'll work on inner feelings when I'm on my own. I really need to get back though, I've wasted enough time here already.

"Oh, well...okay...We should probably go before it gets late, then," Twilight said, trying to change the subject.
"I agree. I've already lost enough time to do what I need to do to begin preparations," Vakarious responded.

~~~

As the pair made their way back to Ponyville, Vakarious decided to ask Twilight for her aid, once again. Well, unless there are other cities as big as the one she took me around, which there probably are, I've really got nothing to lose asking for her help yet again. If she's as skilled in Arcane arts as Celestia claimed she is, she might actually be able to help me.

"So, I have yet another request to make from you, Miss Twilight."
"Ugh, I told you, you can just call me 'Twilight'," she said, making her annoyance obvious.
"Now, what do you need?"
"There is really no simple way to ask this, so I'm just going to say it. I require a spell that can track and detect large amounts of Arcane residual energy in order to locate the Ley Line, or rather, a focus of a large amount of magic, from which I most likely came from. Are you able to perform such a spell, and if so, will you aid me?"

Twilight stayed quiet for a bit, acting as if she were deep in thought at the request. After Vakarious had shown multiple signs of his annoyance, she laughed.

"Yes, I can perform that spell. And I will, but on one condition," Twilight said with a grin.
Of course. Whatever, I'll just get whatever the hell she wants over with as soon as I can.
"Name it."
"It's going to take some time for the spell I perform to find what you want. So, while the spell is searching for the magic you're looking for, you have to let me do a research paper on your ponies...Er, people.." Twilight said, still grinning. That's really not as bad as I thought it was going to be. That's actually a very simple thing to do.
"Deal."
"Excellent!"

~~~

"Alright, so how long this spell of yours going to take?" Vakarious asked. Twilight Sparkle and Vakarious had landed a half an hour ago, but before they began the spell Vakarious asked Twilight to perform, they made a short stop over by Fluttershy's cottage. Twilight merely wanting to say hello to her shy friend, and Vakarious wanting ask her where exactly Fluttershy found him, to narrow down the search. After giving his thanks to the shy Pegasus, Twilight and Vakarious made their way to the edge of the forest to begin the spell.

"It shouldn't take longer than a few hours, give or take. Now, while it begins searching, shall we head back to the library?" Vakarious had to hand it to her, she definitely wasn't shy about taking advantage of moments that would possibly never come again.
"Yes."
"Good, let's go then!" Twilight said before trotting back to her home/library. What I must have done to get myself into this, I probably won't actually find out. Vakarious thought to himself, before shortly following Twilight Sparkle.

~~~

The walk to the library was, for the most part, uneventful, the only excitement being the occasional stare from a random pony or two towards Vakarious' wings. Even in some sort of disguise I stick out like a sore thumb... Vakarious thought to himself, slightly annoyed at the concept. After they made it to the library, Twilight had set up a room for them so she could begin her studies. He had to admit, her level of excitement both bothered and worried Vakarious slightly.

"So, now that we're here, where would you like to begin? Keep in mind, I was never really into the scientific aspect of my people, while I always loved studying the different cultures and history of my people," Vakarious started first, not wanting Twilight to start asking questions he probably wouldn't have the answer for.

"Well, my first question was actually going to about your people's culture, but since you seem to imply that there's a lot of different cultures, how MANY are there exactly?" she asked, quill and parchment at hand, or hoof rather.
"There are MANY different types of cultures. So much so, I don't even know what all of them are. However, the basic commonality between humanity's culture as a whole is religion. I don't know if that's a thing here, but religion plays a VERY large role in how human society shapes itself," Vakarious answered.
"Hmm, and how exactly does this 'religion' play a big role in human society?" Twilight asked.
This is going to take A LOT of explaining to do...Starting with human religion 'probably' wasn't the best way to, well, start though I suppose....

~~~

After what seemed to be a grueling 5 hours later, Vakarious had recounted every aspect he possibly could about human religion, all of the wars he could recall, and the advancement of human technology in such a relatively short time. Everything that made humanity what they were, in his opinion. Although Twilight Sparkle was saddened by the amount of wars humans had, and shocked over what many of the wars were fought over, she was nonetheless very interested in humanity. Vakarious, however was still focused on getting back to his world.

"I apologize if I may seem rude, but, I need to ask. Is the spell you casted done yet?" Vakarious asked. He had spent 5 hours of doing nothing but explaining everything he knew about humans, which he had to admit, wasn't all too bad. It wasn't often that someone, or, 'somepony', actually cared about human history, or history in general. He only wished he could talk about his draconic history as well.

"Oh my, I didn't even notice how much time as passed. The spell may indeed be finished, if you'd like to go and see to it," as Twilight noticed the piles of scrolls, notes, and books around her, she realized just how much she learned and wrote down in those 5 hours.

"And thank you for taking the time to tell me about your history. Given some of the past events, I know a lot of it couldn't have been easy."
"I didn't mind. And it was nothing, it gave me something to focus on besides waiting for the spell. If anything, I must thank you for taking such an interest in my people's history. But yes, I think we should go now," Vakarious added, before Twilight could say anything.

~~~

Before Twilight Sparkle and Vakarious departed for the Everfree forest, Twilight gathered the rest of her friends, so they could say goodbye too Vakarious. Vakarious wasn't really sure why they apparently cared for him as much as they did, or why they were apparently sad by him leaving.
They've known me for little more than a day. I haven't even helped anyone out with anything. Oh well, strange customs are strange. They are definitely far, far more honorable and enjoyable to be around than humans though. After they all said their goodbyes, and Pinkie Pie resisting the urge to throw a going away party, Twilight Sparkle decided to ask Vakarious what he was going to do once he got back to his world.

"First, when I can get a stable enough connection to my world from this one, I will contact my lead adviser and ask her the current situation. From there, she will begin creating and stabilizing a portal on her end, while I begin preparation to do the same on this end. Unlike my adviser, however, my skill in the Arcane arts is not as great, so it will take longer for the portal on this end to stabilize. It should take no longer than a day, though," Vakarious explained, not really paying attention to the confused expressions everyone besides Twilight and, for some reason Pinkie showed.

"I would, however, like for you all to meet my adviser. Assuming of course, you're all interested in meeting her as well," Vakarious added.
After everyone nodded in agreement, Twilight spoke up.
"I think it'd be very nice to meet her. Especially somepony else who is just as interested in magic as I am!"

Just then, clouds began to form over the groups location, similar as to the ones that appeared a couple of nights ago. However, instead of the purple/pink aura that surrounded the area, the area was instead saturated in an azure blue aura. After Vakarious changed into his human, a strand of light, which looked more like a sliver of lightning than anything, formed seemingly in mid air. Vakarious immediately 'grabbed' it, his hands glowing with a purple aura around them, and after a few seconds, the streak of 'lightning' stabilized, and formed into a calm window like portal.

Though the portal was no where near stabilized or even large enough for anyone to go through it, Vakarious, as well as the ponies behind him, could clearly make out another world. After saying something in a language none of the ponies understood, the image of the world seemed to zoom in, coming to what could clearly be made out as a city, or, former city rather. Makes sense Alestra would return to LA. If they thought me dead, Praetorian would have begun reconstruction of the city immediately, with Alestra following.

"Is that...the city you told me about Vakarious...?" Twilight asked, sadness clear in her voice.
"It is. There are many more that are in a much worse state. Worry not about the fate of this world, though," he said, voice as devoid of emotion as ever.
Suddenly, Vakarious was heard calling out the name 'Alestra' a few times, before the image in the portal finally shifted to a bedroom, with a female human in the bed.

"Alestra, wake up!" Vakarious shouted towards the portal, the human in question, or Alestra, finally coming too and facing the portal, then pausing in apparent shock.
"No...it can't be...There's no way this is real, I'm dreaming or I slipped into one of those visions or, something..." the female said.
"No, what you are seeing is real. I live, Alestra. And judging from the fact that you live as well, it's safe to assume that the Dark Lord did not succeed?" Vakarious said to the human, the last part in the same unknown language once again.
"By the Titans...What happened to you? Are you okay?" Alestra asked, seemingly over her shock as if nothing happened.

"It is a very long story as to what happened. But yes, I am well. Alive, at the very least, on a completely different world, but alive. Speaking of which, the local populace do not take kindly to 'our kind', if you catch my drift," Vakarious said to the human in the strange language again. The six ponies behind him just stood there, confusion clear on their faces.

"I understand brother. So, what is the world you're on like anyway? And what does this 'local populace' look like?" Alestra asked. Vakarious simply stepped aside so she could see the six ponies that stood behind him.

"Oh, my, god. THEY ARE ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE!" Alestra shouted in excitement, much to Vakarious' annoyance.
"Yes...Anyway, they're the ones responsible for why I am alive still, and able to even contact you," Vakarious said, trying to move the subject forward.
"Oh come on Vaka, you really can't expect me to let you live this down, ever. Who are they, anyway?" Alestra asked, grinning ever so wildly.
"I'm Twilight Sparkle, and these are my friend: Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie. We're all ponies who live in the town of Ponyville, located in the land of Equestria," Twilight said, introducing herself and her friends before Vakarious could say anything to Alestra.

"Oh my god, they talk. You realize Vaka, that you are pretty much living every little girls dream of being in a land of talking magical ponies and unicorns? I don't think even stuffy old Pratty could resist laughing at you. Not to mention the hilarity in the purple Unicorn's name!," Alestra teased, not paying any mind to the ponies she was referring too. The six ponies weren't offended though, far from it actually. They were all thoroughly enjoying the teasing Alestra was giving Vakarious, who had been so serious the past two days.

"Right...Anyway, if we can now move on from the immature crap, I'd like to be able to get on and off this world. So if would be so kind as to stabilize the portal from your end, I would be highly appreciative. Then, when this is all done and over, you can come here any time you want," Vakarious said, trying as hard as he could to not show his annoyance at his immature sister/adviser.

Truth be told though, he was actually very glad to see her, unchanged by the war and all. Though he wasn't showing it quite yet, he was actually happy, enjoying the moment of laughter both behind and in front of him, even if it was at his own expense. He had finally let his emotions give in.

"Alright alright, let me get to the Ley Line real quick," Alestra said, trying to hold back her laughter. In just a few seconds, the image transitioned from the room, to what appeared to be a volcanic canyon.
Finally, I get to return to my world and begin work on fixing the damage the Legion caused. I did quite enjoy this world, though. Maybe I could actually make friends with the people, ponies here? Returning is definitely not out of the question, that much is certain. As Vakarious continued his thoughts, Alestra came back, interrupting him with something that seemed important.

"Um, Vakarious..." Alestra said, causing Vakarious to worry at his sister's sudden change of attitude.
"Yes, sister?"
"I don't really quite know how to say this...The Ley Line that brought you to that world is, well um..."
"Get out with it," Vakarious stated, his concern growing.
"Um, the Ley Line is far, far too small to create an interdimensional portal to another world...In fact, the Ley Line you're using right now, is barely large enough for what you're using it for now..." Alestra said, trying to hide her concern.
"So, in other words..."
"The fact that you're on that world is nothing short of a miracle. There is no doubt that you were transported to that world via this Ley Line, however, whatever means that were used to do so, I do not know of. In other words brother, you are stuck on that world, maybe permanently," Alestra said, fighting back tears now. Vakarious just stood there, silent. There were no words from Vakarious, nor were there any thoughts going through his mind. Vakarious just stood there, staring blankly at the small portal that floated before him. The six ponies behind him began making their way to him to comfort him, but he simply dismissed them.

All content, all happiness Vakarious was feeling, was replaced by pain, remorse, sadness, and the sudden realization that he could not repair his world. That he could not see his family, or be the leader his dragons needed. Vakarious simply fell to his knees, oblivious to the females asking if he was going to be okay. Oblivious to the dragon he regarded as his sister. Oblivious to the ponies who had saved his very life.

Then, Princess Celestia's words, as well as Alestra's words, rang through his head: 'We must not give in to despair, lest we want the Legion to win.' 'But she is right. Your sister, that is. You must not simply turn away from your emotions, lest you become exactly what it is that you fight.' Vakarious then stood up, and began moving towards the forest.

"Thank you, sister, for your efforts. For seeing me. Thank you, Twilight Sparkle, friends, for saving my life, and being as hospitable as you have towards me. It was more than I deserved," Vakarious said, before closing the portal and heading further into the forest.
"Where are you going, Vakarious?" Twilight asked, worried about her friend.
"Away." Vakarious responded, before finally disappearing into the forest.

"Is he stupid? He can't seriously be going into the Everfree forest by himself, especially with the sun going down soon. He's going to get himself killed or something!" Rainbow Dash said, surprising everyone else.
"Ah don't know Rainbow, he seemed like he wanted ta be on alone fer a bit," Applejack said.
"I must agree with Applejack, Rainbow. He made his wish for privacy very clear, while he took in the rather, unfortunate news he just received," Rarity said, agreeing with Applejack.
"That's fine, but we aren't really going to just let him stay in the Everfree Forest by himself, are we?" Rainbow Dash asked, started to get angry at her friends for just letting Vakarious go into the forest in question.
"Maybe Rainbow Dash is right...I mean, what if he gets hurt again? The Everfree Forest is dangerous, which should give us more of a reason to go after him to make sure he is okay..." Fluttershy said.
"Pinkie? Twilight?" Rainbow asked, wanting to hear their opinions on the matter.

"Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are right girls. It doesn't matter if it gets dark, or how dangerous the Everfree forest is. We wouldn't be very good friends if we let him walk into danger without being there to help him," Twilight said. Pinkie just bounced, seemingly okay with either going after him or staying, and after a moment of quiet, Applejack and Rarity finally agreed to go after their new friend.

And so the six ponies set off into the Everfree Forest, hoping to find Vakarious before something happened to him.

~~~

Meanwhile, deep within the Everfree Forest, Vakarious was walking, trying to clear his thoughts. He didn't know how long he had been walking for, though he figured a couple of hours, as the sun was started to go down.

Here I walk, on a world that is not my own. And here I am, instead of trying to figure out an alternate way of going home, I am walking, wallowing in my own self pity at the suggestion of a Princess that isn't even my own. Praetorian and my father would be disgraced. And the only reason I am here now, is because of that damn demon. Vakarious stopped his walk at the sudden realization that, if it wasn't for Sargeras, Vakarious would be on his world still.

Sargeras....Even the thought of that wretched demon infuriates me...The demon responsible for the ravaging of my world....The demon responsible for stranding me on this world...The demon responsible for the death of countless lives.....

Vakarious fell to his knees again. Not because he was in pain or sadness he felt, or the fact that he may never be able to make it to his world ever again, but rather, because of his anger. His anger towards the one responsible for everything. He felt another feeling within him towards the one responsible: Hatred. Hatred for the dark lord of chaos. He couldn't suppress his emotions any longer, and soon, his anger and hatred took over.

And so, for the first time since Vakarious had been on this new world, he let loose a loud roar of anger, possibly heard for miles around. Vakarious found himself no longer in his human form, either, but rather, he was in his true form: His draconic form. From the many birds and rodents that were around, to a manticore that happened to be nearby, creatures scurried away from the beast that suddenly appeared before them, clearly in a fit of rage.

Vakarious wouldn't burn the world, nor would he kill any creatures around him in this fit of rage he found himself in. He may have been filled with anger and hatred, but he was still himself. He was still sane, and he would not take out his problems on those who didn't deserve it. Instead, he merely just let loose very loud roars of anger, while trying to conceal his body as much as he could in the trees: After all, he didn't want to be found by anyone curious, or stupid enough, to look for the source of the sounds.

~~~

"D-D-D-DRAGON!" Flutershy shouted, before quickly hiding behind Twilight.
"C'mon girls, Vakarious might be in trouble! We have to help him!" Rainbow said, trying to urge her friends forward.
"B-but darling, we can't just rush into the forest with a rampaging dragon about! We won't be doing Vakarious, nor ourselves, any good by getting ourselves into trouble with a dragon!" Rarity shouted to Rainbow Dash. It didn't matter though, because Rainbow Dash simply flew up in the air, and searched for the direction the roars were coming from.

"Ah ha! I found him! He's over here!" Rainbow Dash said to her friends before quickly flying off.
"Rainbow Dash, wait!" Rainbow's friends yelled, but they were too late, she had already made it over the dragon.
"Let our friend go you mons--" Rainbow Dash was cut off as she saw the size of the dragon. She had seen dragons before, and some of them were pretty big. But this one was immense, possibly bigger than the entirety of Ponyville itself. And its eyes were looking directly at her.

"Rainbow!" her friends shouted, before looking upon the monstrosity that stood before them. After a bit of silence, Fluttershy flew up next to Rainbow Dash, causing the very large dragon to focus on her in question. However, Fluttershy's friends knew exactly what she was going to do.

~~~

Vakarious just stood there, looking at the Pegasus he recognized as Rainbow Dash. This is absolutely wonderful....I come here to vent my anger, and the ponies follow me...And now, they're looking at what I really am. I figure I have two options here: Fly away really fast and lose them, then quickly turn into my human form and look injured, or I can just tell them what I am right now. Ugh, well, at least we're in this forest, so when they start attacking me, it'll just be these six, and not an entire town...

Before Vakarious could speak, however, Fluttershy had flown up next to Rainbow Dash, and started yelling something at him. He couldn't understand a word of it, however, he couldn't hear her at all because she was simply too far, and frankly, he was too deep in his own thoughts to pay her any mind. He was curious at her actions though, as she seemed to keep eye contact with him, doing something.
Is she...is she trying to tame me...? Twilight wasn't kidding when she said Fluttershy had a gift with animals...That's an ability only the most gifted dragons possess. I mean, it has absolutely no effect on me in the slightest, but impressive nonetheless.

After that thought, Fluttershy flew down next to Twilight, seemingly worried because her efforts were in vain. Vakarious just let loose a deep sigh (a large gust of wind to the six ponies), and began turning into his human form. The five ponies just stood there, with Rainbow Dash flying still. Where once a very massive dragon stood, a familiar human took its place.
Well, I'm going to have A LOT of explaining to do, something I'm really not looking forward too. Here it goes...

And with that last thought, Vakarious began his explanation as to what everyone, or, everypony, had just seen.

Comments

[Defias]

2234662 Thanks, I myself am a fan of both, I just couldn't think of any way to cross over starcraft with MLP lol.

2235071 It is starting to seem like she does know a lot, if not everything doesn't it? And of course, I'm always open to suggestions!

[FuriousDarkness]

Thinking themselves above those who actually have to work for their wealth, instead of being handed a fortune by shear chance.

Sheer chance.

They are definitely far, far more honorable and enjoyable to be around than Humans though.

Don't capitalize humans.

Suggestions: Elegon is a dragon composed out of pure energy. He is a RIDICULOUSLY hard boss in Mists of Pandaria. He looks a little like an Ursa Major/Minor.divinityguild.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Elegon.jpg

[Defias]

2239906 Fixed though embarrassing mistakes (though I do plan on revising the format a bit in the future still).
But I definitely know who Elegon is, the gist of his role essentially being a lesser version of Algalon the Observer. Sothe thought of the Ursas having a similar role in Equestria hadn't even crossed my mind. Definitely worth a thought now, though.

And He was a bit difficult the first couple of weeks, but he eventually became a quite a pushover, with my guild even killing him on heroic a few weeks ago (but I had quit playing by then).

Next chapter should be up by tomorrow though, had a bit of a busy weekend, so I couldn't get much writing in. But, as always, thanks for the input, and thanks for the suggestions!