> Draconic Guardians of Equestria
>  by Defias
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> Prelude
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	The time had come, the moment to strike was at hand. The combined forces of the Human resistance and the Obsidian Draconic Guardians were fighting valiantly and without heed, but were started to tire and wear thin. The time for Vakarious to act was now. The time to follow in his fathers footsteps.....

Two Hundred and Fifty years ago, the biggest military force on Earth had been formed at the strong 'suggestion' of Vakarious, Dragonlord of the Obsidian Draconic Brood, and leader of the Obsidian Draconic Guardians. The Dragons numbers ranged in at about 14 billion, while humanity ranged in at about 7 billion, giving Vakarious the largest military force at his disposal, numbering in at about 21 billion, all of them strong warriors. However, be he who he is, large numbers or not, 21 billion warriors were not even a single percent compared to the seemingly endless number of Burning Legion forces. The war between Earth and Evil itself had been a long fought one, being fought for little over 250 years. Demon after demon fell, and demon after demon replaced the fallen. Only those demons killed by Dark Elementium were destroyed permanently. All was not in vain, however. 

After 250 years of the Legion forces not gaining more land than they had, which included the entire eastern seaboard, most of Europe, Japan, and Southern Africa, as well as the entire Antarctic, the Dark Lord himself, Sargeras, had grown tired of his forces faltering. After Kil'jaeden had been sent back to The Void by Praetorian himself, Sargeras made his frustrations clear. He would not suffer another Azeroth, however. No, he would not rely on his forces to open a portal for him to enter. Sargeras himself would fall from the skies this time, never again trusting portals. Frustrated as he was, however, Sargeras had been impressed by the forces and resistance this world had put up. He dare say it, he may have even respected them. Sure, worlds before had resisted, Azeroth even repelling them many times, but no world had ever fought, and lasted this long, against a full force invasion. Especially a world with absolutely no Arcane users at all...


Praetorian was doing what he did best: Ordering troops around and hitting the Legion forces hard. He had to admit, he was glad the humans created such effective weapons of war. Even he cringed a little bit when hearing the faint buzzing of the Gau-8 Avenger... 

With collaboration from the Draconic Guardians, said weapon, and many others, were made even more deadly and effective against demonic forces. One prime example with the above weapon, were rounds that were self replicating, as well as an energy force for the plane itself to stay airborne indefinitely, and a very special, deadly slug: Dark Elementium rounds. While nowhere near as dense as Depleted Uranium, Dark Elementium, when propelled to extreme velocities, still had a tendency to want to keep going through almost anything. And given the element's unique property of completely destroying the souls and essences of all those they killed, they were the perfect weapon for an enemy that would normally just be reborn somewhere else...

"Infantry, continue forward. Tank battalions, flanking formation. Air to ground support, strafing run along the Dreadlord casters. Air to air support, continue assaults on Fel flyers. All forces, we will soon be pushing against Erebar. Do not relent." Despite the sounds of gunfire, cannon fire, fire and steel clashing together, Praetorian's emotionless, almost synthetic like voice echoed through his troops ears the loudest, rallying both dragon and human as a single fighting force. The art of war was truly his own.

"Fall back! Fall back!" "The Destroyer his here, retreat!" the cries of retreat could be heard clearly from the battered human forces after seeing Sargeras himself land.
"Belay that order. Should we fall, we fall here and now, in Glorien's honor. Show this "Dark Lord" the mercy he would show you."  Despite the Dark Lord himself landing in front of them, somehow, Praetorian's voice enforced the humans resolve, halting the "retreat". One thing was certain, Praetorian had taught all of those under his command to fear him more than they feared the enemy, Sargeras himself included.

"The time has come, brother. The moment is at hand. My father would have been nothing but proud and honored by your actions, Galvadir. I just hope he would see the same of me." 

Vakarious, son of Glorien was, all things considering, nervous. Not because of the fate that lay before him. Not because of the monstrosity he would have to face. Not even because of the results should he fail. He was nervous, because he was unsure if he had done his father, the father he had never met, yet had, proud. If he would approve.

"Millions of years ago the same was said by your father. When the time came for him to do what was needed to be done, the only thing he worried about was whether his progeny would be proud of him. I can assure you, Obsidian's Rebirth, son of Titan's Herald, your father would be more proud of you than he of me." Praetorian's normally emotionless voice was filled with just that, emotion and pride.

"I will make sure the sacrifice given of all here was not in vain. Rest assured, the Burning Legion will pay for their crimes against nature, their crimes against order, and most importantly, Sargeras' betrayal of the Titan Pantheon. I will not allow such weakness to destroy anymore worlds." And with that, Vakarious flew off. There would be no speeches, there would be no glory. All that was needed to be said, was said by his actions. The only glory he cared about, was the glory of the battle field...


~~~



As he landed, Sargeras couldn't help be admire the surrounding landscape. He had viewed this scene many times before on many different worlds. He had always admired the destruction he could cause by simply being on a world. Call it a slight weakness, but he thoroughly enjoyed just observing for a time, not paying any mind to anything else. A weakness indeed, as he would find out...

Vakarious was unlike any other Dragonlord, or Dragon Aspect for that matter. After he had matured, he was summoned by the Titan Pantheon, to observe and confirm whether he was truly worthy of replacing his father and leading his Brood. After being declared worthy, another thing was bestowed upon the dragon: The power of the Pantheon itself. Vakarious had proven that not only was he a capable, as well as sane leader, he showed the potential to wield power absolute. And while the Power of the Pantheon within him still paled in comparison to that of the fallen Titan Sargeras, it would prove very useful nonetheless in the battles he faced.


~~~




Sargeras stood there, marveling in his work, the destruction he wrought. And, as he stood there, he suddenly found himself disarmed of his terrible blade, Gorribal. He soon found himself face down in the very ground his presence was corrupting and destroying as well. Immediately rising up, he noticed a creature all too familiar. He had seen dragons before, even lauging at the one called "Deathwing" many eons ago. This dragon, however, was different. This dragon wielded a power very familiar to him, while also another power very foreign. Before he could grab his blade however, the dragon struck again, this time with what seemed like a familiar flame: Shadow flame.

As he was struck by the dark purple fire, Sargeras found it actually painful and burning him. He had been struck by every type of magic before, as well as every type of flame. He himself was quite literally made of fire, seemingly immune to such effects. Yet, here he stood, being bathed in an all too familiar, yet not familiar, deep purple flame.

Vakarious unleashed the wrath of thousands of dragons, and the fury of his fathers success. A very special type of fire that was fueled by the Old Gods themselves: Dark Flame. Dark Flame had the visual appearance of Shadowflame, a fire that employed shadow energy with fire, but it was not. Dark Flame was the harnessed power of the Old Gods unleashed by fury, similar to that of Dark Elementium, it's solid form. And much like Dark Elementium, those killed by Dark Flame had their essences and souls completely destroyed, forever ceasing to exist. There was no equal to this flame, and Vakarious both wielded it, and knew it. After unleashing his fury, he began his unrelenting assault on the Dark Lord, never giving him a chance to fight back. And while it may have seemed as though he was winning, Vakarious knew that he was only causing superficial damage at best. It would be a long, long fight.

As Vakarious continued to hack, slash, claw, stab, and conflagrate the Dark Titan, Demons, Humans, and Dragons alike seemed to circle around and just watch. Watch their respective leaders, these dreadnoughts, fighting the ultimate battle. A battle which would forever decide the fate of the world.

"Enough, impudent whelp! I will sear the flesh and scales from your disgusting frame!" 

Shouted the enraged Dark Titan. At once, Sargeras, with his strength, managed to "swat" Vakarious away, if only for a second, giving him time to retrieve his blade: Gorribal. Once he had done so, he finally got a true look at his attacker. This dragon was massive, rivaling even Sargeras himself in size. His wings far wider than the Dark Lord was, even with his arms outstretched. The dragon was just as well covered, wings included, in a very glossy armor that seemed purple in color, but also not. The beast's eyes and mouth showed the only sign of true flesh, flesh that, as well, was a glossy dark purple. Impressed by the being that hover before him, Sargeras set aside Gorribal for the moment.

"I had not realized a creature of such, power and size existed. Myself excluded, of course," Sargeras mused. Vakarious, deciding to play along for a bit, decided to humour the Titan.

"For over 200 years, we have fought. We have not faltered, nor will we. What stands before me is not a being of power, or a leader of an endless army. What stands before me is a traitor. A traitor to his brothers, a traitor to all he once stood for, fought for. Such actions are not the sign of a leader, but that of a coward. There is no strength cowards possess that I cannot extinguish. You, Sargeras, are not power incarnate, nor are you a power that cannot be defeated. You may posses some destructive ability, but you are nothing more than a weak minded fool. As my father before me vanquished the ancient evil C'thulhu, I to, shall vanquish the evil coward that stands before me." 

There was no cheering, there was no gasp, there was no response from Sargeras. All that came after, was a ravine that formed under Sargeras, the volley of thousands of Dark Elementium shards, the fury of the four elemental lords, Vesta, Vulcan, Neptune, and Aether, and the falling of the deep purple sky above him.

A sudden realization had reached the Titan's mind. A realization he had never came to before in his entire existence, even as a Bronze Titan. Fear. Not fear of the beings that assaulted him, but fear that with the coming of his end, that his work, his thousands of years of work, would be undone, all for naught. Wasted. This moment of fear, of weakness, only lasted but a fraction of a second. But it was enough. It was enough to send the Titan into a blood lust not yet witnessed by any living or non living thing in existence. A blood lust not even thought to be possible, yet here it was. With all of his might, he brought Gorribal up, and in unleashed fury, attacked indiscriminately. Demon, dragon, human, and elemental alike were all destroyed.

"Brother, the Dark Lord is in his equivalent of a Draconic Frenzy. Pull back and take advantage of the chaos that ensues." 
Vakarious could clearly hear Praetorian in his thoughts. If what was said was true, then Sargeras would feel no pain, and if he felt no pain, Vakarious could strike him without the Titan becoming aware of his presence until it was too late. In theory, of course.

The theory was simple. Vakarious would use a special favorite form of attack he called "the scorpion strike". In short, he would fly behind Sargeras, attach himself to his back, claws in deep as possible, and begin attacking repeatedly with the Dark Elementium javelin at the end of his tail, resembling the stance and attack of a scorpion. In theory, he would implant shards of Dark Elementium into the Titan, which would then begin siphoning and draining his power slowly, possibly equaling Sargeras out in terms of power. Once again, all theory, something Vakarious hated acting on.

And so began his attack which, for the most part, was working, really well. Too well, in fact, as the Dark Elementium did indeed start draining the Titan's power. Something which proved to be problematic, as Sargeras had regained his senses upon noticing his weakened state. As he regained his senses, he saw the creature responsible. It was the dragon, the dragon that was starting to prove his equal, if not greater. This was something Sargeras would not abide.

It was, however, too late. The damage was done, Sargeras' complete immunity to all forms of physical weapons, and high resistance to magic, began to wane. Sargeras began to feel another thing he had not felt in centuries, if not for a few millennium: Pain. Even the very small wound that that cursed insect of an Orc inflicted was just an annoyance more than anything. This was different though, his power, no, his very essence, was being drained from him.

"What...have...you DONE to me whelp!"
"As with all beings in the universe, you are no more immune to the effects of Dark Elementium, the very blood of the Old Gods in solid form. The same substance as Dark Flame, the fiery blood of the Old Gods. As with all things, your essence, your existence, will be drained and extinguished. Your end comes, betrayer of the Pantheon. Today is a day of days, the day you fall."

There was but one thing Sargeras had left to do, lest he be consumed. Sargeras may have been weakened, but he was by far, not weak, at all. He still had his blade, Gorribal, after all. He had made his mistake once more, though. He had underestimated the forces of this world, and unless he retreated now, a concept he hated more than his fellow brethren, he would be destroyed. Sargeras understood the powers of the Old Gods, and while he didn't exactly fear them, he didn't seek out conflict with them either if it could be avoided. He knew of their devastating power and evil, though. He knew even more the devastation merely their blood contained, and if this dragon, no, abomination, not only harnessed the Old God's power, but was sane AND still served the Titan Pantheon? Then Sargeras did not stand a chance by any conventional means. This dragon had the potential to undo all of the Dark Lord's work, to undo him. This dragon possessed the power to completely destroy him, instead of merely sending him to the Twisting Nether.

Sargeras had decided, then, in only a second of time, that he would fall back, as would his forces. But the Dark Lord would not be disgraced so easily. No, he would ensure that this dragon knew death, true death. He would kill that which had humiliated him so.

And in just a swift motion, Sargeras incapacitated the dragon with blinding fire. It didn't actually hurt the dragon, nor did it last very long, but it succeeded in distracting the dragon just long enough for Sargeras to bring his terrible blade about. In one fell swoop, Gorribal had slashed across Vakarious' chest, the dragons armour, however, negating almost all of it. But it was enough. The dragon was injured enough to require landing and grasping his chest, granting enough time for Sargeras to bring about another slashing strike, this time to Vakarious' side. Sargeras, however, did not have enough time to bring about the final blow, as the black blood of the Old Gods was indeed finally starting to take its toll on the Dark Lord. With what remained of his arcane power, he managed a portal to the Twisting Nether, where he would once again plan, plot, and scheme. 

When the dust had settled, and the Dark Lord disappeared, Vakarious was no where to be found as well. Just as the Dark Lord had, Vakarious disappeared into a rift to another realm. Not the realm of death, or even the Twisting Nether, however.
> Chapter 1
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	As the sun began its decent, the hour of twilight was upon the sky. Situated at the edge of a forest, sat a quaint, plain looking house, or cottage rather. In fact, from further back, one would be lead to believe that such a home belonged to another person wishing to stay away from the rest of society. Such people were fairly common, actually. However, upon further inspection of the own of said cottage, one would not find a man or woman wishing to keep out of sight of society, but rather, a creature once thought to be nothing more than mythology...

"Here you go little chickens...Oh my, you were hungry weren't you?" said a voice, almost whispering. The voice in question belonged to none other than a Pegasus. The Pegasus in question was quite unique, and not just because of the fact that it was a mythical creature that spoke in a fluent language. What made this particular creature unique was its pink mane, and tail of the same color, and the markings it had on its flank. Most notable, however, was the distinct facial expressions it had, as well as the female voice that followed.

"I suppose I should head inside now, before it gets...dark..." the yellow Pegasus said, or rather whispered to no one in particular. As she turned to her cottage, however, a sound very reminiscent to that of thunder was heard in the distance, followed by a quiet yelp from the apparently timid Pegasus. Going against her better judgement, as usual, she decided to look towards the sound of the loud crashing sound. Upon doing so, however, she soon observed that it was no ordinary thunderstorm in over the Everfree Forest, which in itself was quite common, rather, what followed this sound was a dim purple and pink aura.

Under normal circumstances, the timid creature would have immediately ran inside of her home, locking all doors, windows, and any other means of entering her home. And if she was brave enough, she MAYBE would have went into town the next day to inform her friends of the sound she heard and the sight she saw, assuming, of course, that they weren't busy with anything else. Under normal circumstances, of course. 

Being the caretaker of animals that she was, she glanced over towards the sight one last time, a habit she made, just to make sure there were no animals that had gotten hurt in anyway. Upon doing so though, she noticed something at the edge of the tree line. It was a creature she couldn't quite make out from the distance, however, she could tell that the creature in question was hurt, or injured in some way. And while she really longed to just go into her home, lock herself in, and hide in her bed, her drive to save whatever unfortunate animal was out there had dominated her fears, and so she went to help the animal.

As she neared the animal, she began to make out its features much clearer. When she finally approached the animal, she let loose a yelp and almost ran away. The animal had the physical appearance of a particularly unpleasant species known as Diamond Dogs. However, this animal was different. For one, it lacked hair, the sharp teeth, jewels, pointy ears, and tail. Still afraid of the unknown animal before her, however, the timid Pegasus began to run away until the animal started coughing very loudly. Upon even closer inspection, the Pegasus could make out two very deep, very painful looking wounds. A very large slash mark was located on the animal's side, while the stomach of the animal bore a similar wound.

"Oh dear...I can't just leave you out here, even if you are scary looking..." still unsure of the danger such an animal before her possessed however, she still debated bringing the animal back. That was, until, the animal briefly opened its eyes, and met with her own. She recognized the look in its eyes. It was a look of pain and fear, though she wasn't quite sure what it could be afraid of. After looking the animal in the eyes as she did, though, she finally decided to bring the animal to her home. And with that, the Pegasus lifted the animal onto her back, and brought him home to begin nursing him back to health, and more importantly, clean out the two wounds that were green and surely infected.

~~~

As Sargeras brought about Gorribal, Vakarious had no time to dodge, or block the attack. With only one option left, Vakarious took to his human form, just barely avoiding the blow which would have surely killed him. As fast as the Dark Lord had plunged his blade into the ground, he retracted it, beginning what seemed to be a teleportation spell. Perhaps Vakarious won? Or perhaps the Dark Lord was simply summoning more minions? He didn't know. The last thing the dragon/human saw however, was a pinkish purple glow around him. A glow he knew all too well, mainly due to his over zealous sister. A rift had been created over a fairly medium sized ley line. The rift only lasted a second, but it was long enough to suck the dragon into its maw. 

As the dragon spent what seemed like hours in an apparent purple tunnel, he began to succumb to his wounds. He had been shot at by human weapons, he had been impaled, burned, fallen from great heights, been subject to many painful involuntary experiments from his sister, and even remembered the pain of going through the standard Old God immunization. None of it prepared him for the burning of the Fel corruption that had inflicted him, though.

As he began to black out, he had finally landed at the edge of a forest somewhere. He was only conscious for maybe a minute. Judging from his surroundings, however, he deducted that he was either dead, or at the very least, somewhere else. Either way, he was not on Earth. Deciding he'd rather not deal with the burning pain, and definitely not wanting to allow himself to become Fel corrupted, he opted to let himself falter. As he began, however, he felt himself being lifted and carried off somewhere. He wouldn't allow himself to become a prisoner, but, he did not posses either the will nor the strength to try and fight his captor, or captors. And so he let the realm of unconsciousness claim him.


~~~


Vakarious awoke in a bed, unrestrained, and completely healed. Either I died and am ascended, or whoever found me is a damn skilled cleanser of demonic corruption. He pondered the thought, until he realized he was in a familiar room. Curious, he got up and walked over to a window, and saw a sight he hadn't seen in over a thousand years. The Roman Coliseum. Just as I thought, I'm dead. There is absolutely no other reason I would be in the room that belonged to me when I had just barely reached drake hood. Though, I suppose the possibility of me just being asleep and dreaming is there as well. Me being dead seems like a more sound possibility, though. 

He may not have been as skilled in the arcane arts or the spiritual side of the elements compared to other dragons, but he wasn't ignorant to those powers either. He knew very well, from experience, what visions and memories could bring.

"...Allow me the right to fight this cretin, and rid the world of this filth, my Emperor. Should I fall, then I will have proven that I am unworthy of serving as your personal guard. Should I succeed, then I will have proven that this filth's 'power' is weak, and not needed," said a familiar voice. I remember this event. It was when I first learned of my Brood's most hated enemy, even now still. Silus the Heretic, as he called himself, had allowed himself to be captured by Roman troops and brought to the Coliseum. If I remember correctly, he was actually a dragon, one of my own, or former I should say, and went by his self given name of Draken'Kar. Draconic for Chaotic Insanity. His name translate made absolutely no sense, but given what it meant nonetheless, it fits. Makes sense that it wouldn't make sense.

"Very well. I will allow it. Silus, you shall fight the best of my Praetorian Guard, Lucius. Should you defeat him, you will replace him, and this power you wield will be used to further empower my Empire. Should Lucius succeed in ending your life, your existence will be erased from history, your very failure being forbidden to speak of. No one from this point forward will ever have known your name, and speaking your name will be punishable by death," said the Roman Emperor.

"Understood, my liege," responded Silus, almost mockingly.
"Very well then," the Emperor shouted. Then, turning to Galvadir, or 'Lucius' "When you are prepared, you may enter the arena. And Lucius, know this: Should you fail me, your fate will be no different," the Emperor informed Lucius.
"Understood my Emperor. Know this, however. The Empire shall fall before I allow myself to be bested by filth such as this," said the Praetorian guard.

Moments later, 'Lucius' and 'Silus' were soon both in the arena floor. Everything is happening just as I remembered it. In less than a couple minutes, that idiot Silus is going to lunge at Galvadir, then Galvadir is going to under sweep him and impale his chest. I cheered, and after the fight, if it could be called that, I went up to Galvadir and told him amazing of a fighter he was, and how cool it was how fast he killed him. That was when he informed me of who and what he really was, and that he was not dead, as he somehow possessed power that rendered him unkillable by anyone, except the Titans themselves, or a Dragonlord.

"You were a fool to have thought yourself capable of besting me. I delight in the irony of your last words to your precious Emperor. Soon, all will kneel before me! I. AM. DRAKEN'KAR!" a series of cheers and shouts were heard, and when Vakarious looked out the window, he noticed that Galvadir was charred, a spear protruding from his chest. What the hell? No, no that's not right. This isn't what happened, Galvadir won! He had that snake impaled! This is impossible! 

As the humanoid figure began surrounding himself in a familiar dark purple aura, the dead fighters around him began rising, marching in formation around him. Then, they began to declare their allegiance to this being, Vakarious' best friend, brother, along with them. Soon, however, he heard a heavenly, female sounding voice echoing in his mind. 

"It is time for you to awaken, do not let your nightmares consume you," was what the voice was telling him, repeating it until....


~~~


Vakarious awoke to the sounds of chirping birds and morning sunlight seeping through the windows. The dragon was unsure of what to make of his surroundings, a concept he was starting to really hate. Well, I guess I'm not a prisoner, considering the comfort of where I am and the lack of restraints. As he began to get up, he felt a sharp, burning pain throughout his body. After stifling a cry of agony, he felt around for the source of the pain. Confirms that I'm not dead, at least. I still have the wounds I sustained from that damn demon, and they're still new. Granted, they're bandaged, but new. He pondered that thought. Bandaged? Who the hell bandaged me?  Not that I'm ungrateful, but, what the hell...? Suddenly, he could hear a voice calling to him, albeit very quietly, himself barely able to hear it.

"Are you okay in there? I heard you wake up, but, if you weren't awake and I woke you up I'm sorry..." the voice said.
"All things considering, I'm better than fine. I'm great. Surprised I'm not dead, to be honest. I take it you're the one who fixed me up?" Vakarious replied, wanting to give his thanks to the one who bandaged him up, and possibly even saved his life.

"Oh...I didn't know you could talk...I'm sorry, that was rude of me...Give me a few moments, when I'm done feeding the animals, I'll bring you something to eat," the quiet voice said. He was confused, but it was irrelevant. 

"It's not a problem, don't worry about it. And while eggs sound fine, you won't really need to hassle yourself with getting me any food."
"Oh no, it's the least I could do...After all, the way I found you, you looked like you lost a lot of your strength," replied the voice.Not wanting to be rude to the person who saved him, Vakarious just shrugged went along with it. 

"Alright, take your time though. I'd really prefer not to intrude or be a problem at all."
"Oh no, it's no problem at all."
"Oh, before you go, I'd at least like to catch the name of the one who saved me, if you wouldn't mind?" Vakarious asked.
"O-oh, my name is Fluttershy..." the quiet voice said.
"Thank you then, Fluttershy."

Under normal circumstances, he would have pondered the odd name. But considering he was a dragon named Vakarious, he decided he really wasn't one to judge. As he heard the person named 'Fluttershy" leave, he swore to himself that he could hear the sound of hooves clopping on the hard floor. Considering the fact that I was wounded twice by a blade that destroyed thousands of worlds in the past, I won't consider it out of the realm of possibility that I might hear things or imagine things. And with that thought, he began a cleansing process the Titans had taught him to try and at least ease the Fel corruption in his wounds.


~~~



As Fluttershy began her daily routine of feeding the animals under her care, she retrieved a couple of eggs from her chicken coop. She wasn't quite sure what her guest ate, or preferred, but she figured that she really couldn't go wrong with giving him eggs.

While she was pretty sure he could talk, the fact that she was surprised bothered her nonetheless. Not because the strange creature was capable of understandable speech, but because she figured her assumption that he didn't talk may have offended him greatly. Sure, he told her it was no problem at all, but she would say the same thing if someone did or said something similar to her.

Once Fluttershy had retrieved a decent number of eggs, she started heading inside to the kitchen, to prepare breakfest for her new guest. As they were being cooked, she decided to head back to the guest room to check on her guest, to make sure he was okay, and more importantly, that he didn't run off until he was healed enough.


~~~


As Vakarious stood at the window and looked over the landscape, he naturally couldn't help but wonder where exactly he was. One minute he was fighting an enraged Titan traitor in essentially a hell on earth environment, and the next, he was in a cottage in a tranquil field bordering a forest. At the moment, there's really only one way to figure out where I am...Aether, Vesta, Vulcan, Neptune, heed my call! I require knowledge as to where I am! Nothing. Even when they were busy with whatever they said they were busy doing, the Elemental Lords at least informed him that they were busy with said business. Interesting. Then again, the last thing I saw them doing was pelting said angry Titan with elemental attacks and what not. Considering the deep silence they enter when they're weakened or something, it does seem possible they were, well, weakened. Oh well, soon as I can turn back into a dragon, I'll just fly up and see where I am.

"I'm just coming up to check on you...If that's um...if you don't mind that is..." he could hear Fluttershy asking, quiet as ever.
"It's your home Fluttershy, I don't think it's really appropriate for you to be asking me permission to check up on someone in YOUR home. Oh, and my name is Vakarious, if you will," he said. He found it quite odd that she was this, well, passive. I'm probably in Canada somewhere. Though the fact that there isn't snow anywhere makes that debatable. Ugh, I've fallen into Human stereotypes, how terrible of me.

"Oh no, I don't mind at all, um, Vakarious. I find that It'd be rude to intrude on somepony, whether it's in my house or not," Fluttershy responded. Well, too each their own...Somepony...? Just as he was processing that thought, Fluttershy came into the room, balancing a plate of eggs on one of her wings. A...Pegasus...? A Pegasus that speaks fluent Engli-er, Common? Sure, Pegasi used to exist on Earth during C'thulhu's rule, but they were his minions...I thought them, as well as Unicorns completely wiped out...? As Fluttershy sat the plate down on a nearby table, she noticed her guest, or, Vakarious rather, was looking at her with unease. 

"Are you okay Mr. Vakarious? If you don't mind me asking, that is..." she asked, nervously. Vakarious was dumbfounded. He was a little over 2,600 years old, yet here he was, frozen at what he saw. I fought a suicidal fight against an enraged Titan, fought an endless army of demons, bore witness to horrors unimaginable from my father's time, yet here I am, frozen and looking completely idiotic, because a Pegasus stands before me. Well, time to play it smooth. 

"Where am I?" was all he said. Smoothe idiot. Smoothe. I wouldn't be surprised of Praetorian somehow appeared and hit me upside the head right now.
"Why, you're um...you're in Ponyville Mister Vakarious..." Fluttershy responded, seemingly confused.
"And pray tell, where is 'Ponyville'?" he asked, further scolding himself.
"Well, um...Ponyville is part of um...Equestria..." Fluttershy answered, even more confused now. "Where are you from Mister Vakarious? That is, if you want to answer..."

Well, she's been pretty hospitable towards me. At the very least, she didn't tie me up and torture me to death. I get the feeling though, that showing her my true draconic right now would be unwise, considering she seems used to and accepting of my human form.As Vakarious pondered these thoughts, Fluttershy spoke up again.

"Well, I brought you some eggs. I'm not sure if I made them wrong though, so if I did I'm sorry..."
"Nonsense. They'll do just fine. Thank you," Vakarious responded. He then thought about how to answer her question. He decided to be simple. 
"As for your question, I'm from a place called Earth. You haven't, by any chance, heard of it, have you?"

"No, I can't say that I have, unless you mean this Earth, where Earth ponies are from...but if that's a different place and I just don't know if it, I'm sorry...and I'm sorry if I should know what or where that is..." Fluttershy responded. Not gonna lie, the whole nervousness thing around me is starting to get old and annoying. Fast. I mean sure, I'm a different creature in a land where dragons and Humans probably don't exist, but damn, even humans weren't this paranoid. I mean, they were worse, but that's besides the point.

"You don't have to be sorry for something that's not your fault."
"Oh, okay then."

As he began eating, a knock was heard on the door, followed by someone calling Fluttershy's name.

"Fluttershy, I came by today because of the storm last night, and I just decided to see if you were okay," said the clearly female voice.
"Oh, that's Twilight!" Fluttershy said, pretty excitedly. 
"If you don't mind Vakarious, I'm going to get that. Would you like to come down and eat, so you can meet her? That is, of course, if that's okay with you..." 
"That'll be fine," he said, while musing to himself. Twilight huh? Odd to have as a name. Title sure, if it has the same meaning I'm used to. And with that thought, he went downstairs, plate in hand, to meet this friend of his savior.

> Chapter 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	As Fluttershy lead Vakarious downstairs to meet the one called 'Twilight', a thought came to him. Why is she being so trusting and hospitable to a being she has never heard of nor seen before, that somehow possesses the ability to speak the same language as her? For the matter, why am I being so trusting for the same reasons, when I was the most distrusting person on Earth? And how, and why, am I able to speak and understand the same language as her? As they neared the door, Fluttershy shouted outside, letting 'Twilight' know that she had a guest over.

"Oh, just to let you know, so that way you're not surprised or shocked, I rescued somepony from the edge of the Everfree forest last night, if that's okay..." the shy Pegasus said, right before opening the door to reveal a lavender colored Unicorn. Well, if a Pegasus exists, why can't a Unicorn?

"Hey Fluttershy. Who's the pony you res--" she was, naturally cut off from surprise at the strange bipedal being that stood before her, next to her friend, holding a plate of eggs. And of course. Be it on Earth, or, wherever the hell I am, I screw up up my first impressions with the local populace. Wonderful.  With that thought Vakarious shrugged, and composed himself.

"Hello. My name is Vakarious. And to whom do I owe the pleasure?" the Unicorn just stood there, dumbfounded for a bit, until she snapped herself back into reality.

"O-oh, I'm sorry. I'm Twilight Sparkle. Pardon my, initial reaction, and pardon me even further for asking, but, who and what ARE you?" the Unicorn, once back into reality, seemed more formal and composed than her Pegasus friend. Of course her name is Twilight Sparkle. 'Cause why not? I'm going to assume 'Twilight' isn't a title. Still though, kind of ironic how she does seem pretty similar to my sister, Alestra.

"Don't worry about the little, hiccup, so to speak. As I said, my name is Vakarious, and I am what my homeland calls a 'Human Being'." before she could ask anymore questions, Fluttershy spoke up.
"Why don't you come in Twilight, if you'd like?"
"Of course, that'd be nice," Twilight Sparkle said.

By the time the lavender Unicorn came inside, Vakarious already finished the eggs given to him and set the plate down on a table. If I wasn't who I was, and if I haven't already seen all the crazy crap I've seen, I would be handling all of this very, very poorly. Quite frankly, I'm surprised I'm handling all of this as well as I am. Maybe my surprise, stress, and shock were all lost over the 250 years of war though. As they entered a living room of sorts, they all sat down, Fluttershy breaking the silence by talking to Twilight Sparkle.

"So what brings you over here again, Twilight? If you don't mind my asking," Fluttershy asked, seemingly less shy, if that were possible.
"Oh, like I said. I saw the storm over the Everfree forest last night. While normally a storm over the Everfree forest occurring randomly isn't that unusual, I sensed a lot of magical build up, and on the way over here, felt a lot of magical residue. So, I just came to make sure you were okay, then I was going to investigate it a little bit and report any findings to the Princess," Twilight Sparkle said, almost as if even random magic storms were somewhat common. Great. A unicorn version of Alestra. And wait, she knows a Princess? Well, I always was one for asking stupid questions.

"If I may ask, which is probably something I'll end up regretting, but, who is this 'Princess' you speak of?" Vakarious indeed asked. He was met with silence, of which he expected. After all, if someone on Earth asked who even some worthless actor was, they'd probably get shot or stabbed.
"Um, well, Princess Celestia, along with her sister Princess Luna, rule Equestria together. She's responsible for raising the sun, while her sister raises the moon," Twilight Sparkle said, almost as if she was just insulted. 
"I get you're not from Equestria, but, even beings outside Equestrian borders know who the Princesses are. Just who are you exactly?"
"As I said, my name is Vakarious, and as I also said, I am a human being. And, as for the storm you were referring to, I am of the strong belief that it had something to do with my appearance here. I just have but one simple question," Vakarious asked. If they didn't shoot at me, or attempt to lock me up, maybe I'll be able to get away with asking for an audience with this 'Princess'.

"What is it" Fluttershy asked, surprising Vakarious.
"Well, it's more for Miss Twilight Sparkle. But, considering I heard you say you report to the Princess, and the fact that I, an unknown creature possibly entered into this world through a storm, would the odds of me being granted an audience with the Princess be out of the question?" There is no way in hell this is going to work. I'm going to have to get out of here soon, find a damn ley line, and work with whatever arcane power I have to try and at least find Earth. Ugh.

"Under normal circumstances, it's not really that simple. But considering everything you said, I think it would be possible. And honestly, I think it'd be a great idea," Twilight Sparkle said, with no hesitation. Hmm, whatever, stranger things have happened that me being wrong. But seriously, what the hell? Me, strange creature, arcane storm, and I'm going to see the ruler of this world with no background check on me at all? Either I'm clearly outmatched here, or these horses are way too trusting. As am I, apparently, since I'm not even hesitating meeting their leader. I've gotta ask...

"I have to ask, both of you. Why are you both so naively trusting me so much? I mean, as I said, I'm a strange creature, I came here from a particularly violent arcane storm, yet I'm given shelter by Fluttershy here, and you didn't hesitate for a second agreeing to an audience with me and your Princess, despite me not knowing she existed." I probably could have sounded less annoyed, but, honesty is key here.

Fluttershy seemed a little hurt by Vakarious' words, but, she'd answer him the best she could.
"Well, you were hurt, and scared..." 
"Scared...?"
"Well, yes...I could see it in your eyes..."
"And how would you know what I was by just looking at my eyes?" it was a dumb thing to ask, considering Vakarious shared a special connection with life in general. Seeing a persons, or any beings intentions by just looking into their eyes, was not as outlandish as he made it seem. The fact that I was apparently afraid of something and I don't even know what, worries me.

"It's just my special gift..." Fluttershy said.
"Fair enough. But what about everything else I asked?"
"For one, you're right. Your sudden appearance after a strange storm is indeed report worthy to the Princess. As for 'naively' trusting you: I'm not putting blind trust in you. Quite the contrary, actually. It is because I DON'T trust you at all, that I think you should see the Princess. As she is the most powerful being here, if you were bad news in anyway, or you did try anything, I have complete confidence that she could stop you with ease," Twilight Sparkle said, with both a hint of confidence and bragging. Bullshit she could 'stop me with ease'. I'll let this Unicorn believe what she wants to believe though. Arrogance apparently isn't only a human nature.

"Fine. While I truly do not mean you or your kind any harm, it just strikes me as odd that you'd be so trusting of me. But as you yourself said, you don't trust me, which is good. Where I'm from, you can't trust Humans for all of the tea in ch-the world." Pretty sure they don't know what China is.

"Well, now that we're clear, shall we get going? We'll need my number 1 assistant to send the Princess a letter," Twilight said.
"If you don't mind Twilight, I'm going to stay here. I still have to feed some of my animals, and I have to fluff Angel's tail the way he likes it," Fluttershy said.
"That's fine. Well then Vakarious, shall we go?" Vakarious merely nodded.


~~~


The whole trip to Twilight Sparkle's apparent home/library was filled with nothing but silence. And, so as not to cause a panic in the town, Twilight had hidden Vakarious in some clouds. As they approached the library, Vakarious noticed what it was. A tree huh? That's actually kinda nice. I can feel that it's alive too, and not even in any pain. Now that I notice it, the elements of this world aren't crying out in pain either.
As soon as Twilight Sparkle opened the door, she called the name of what appeared to be her number one assistant. 

"Spike! Spike! I need to send a letter to the Princess!" As he listened, he could hear the sound of not hoof steps, but actual, footsteps. Familiar footsteps at that. What he saw dumbfounded him yet again. So, village of horses, and a dragon whelp lives among them? I'm just going to pretend that I thought dragons didn't exist, though maybe my true form won't be so terrifying to them...I'm not going to risk it though, instead I'll just play dumb.

"If you don't mind my asking, what is he? No offense," Vakarious whispered to Twilight Sparkle. Twilight merely giggled at the question, but she answered.
"Why, Spike is a dragon. He's just a baby dragon though, but he's a dragon nonetheless. Do dragons not exist where you're from?" Vakarious had to fight with every part of his being not to break out in laughter, so he simply answered the best way anyone else in his position would answer.

"No."
"Oh. Well yes, he's a dragon. Most dragons of this world are actually much, much bigger, and have wings, which allow them flight. Unfortunately, with the exception of Spike, most, if not all dragons, are very greedy, territorial, and very hostile," Twilight said, seeming a little disappointed. Isolated dragons that are territorial and filled with greed? Pathetic. Not even worthy of being called dragons. Dragons that are feral as they are, whether they're capable of speech or not, are nothing more than animals. Pests that do nothing but destroy. But, I'll give this little whelp a chance. He seems good enough.

"Sorry Twilight. I had to um, fix my bed..yeah...Anyway, is this thing here the reason you need to send Princess Celestia a letter?" the little baby, or, whelpling asked.
"Yup. Spike, meet Vakarious. Vakarious, meet Spike, my number 1 assistant," Twilight said, with Spike seeming proud of the title.

"Pleasure," Vakarious could see why Praetorian was always so emotionless. It was kinda fun to do to them.
"Ready to write when you are Twilight!" the little dragon exclaimed, happily.

Dear Princess Celestia,

Last night, a strange storm occurred in the Everfree forest. While I understand that storms randomly occur in the Everfree forest quite frequently, this one was different. For one, it only lasted a very little amount of time, lasting just long enough for a bolt of lightning to be cast, and when said bolt struck, a strange, purple glow surrounded it.

This morning, I left for Fluttershy's to make she sure was okay, then to investigate what I could of the storm. However, when I made it to Fluttershy's cottage, she had explained that she had rescued an animal near the edge of the Everfree forest. The creature in question that she rescued turns out to be, well, a sentient being. He calls himself a 'Human Being', who he claims his name as 'Vakarious',  speaks our language fluently, and what has me even more at ease, is his lack of surprise of his surroundings, or the fact that he interacts with us as if he's known of our existence before.

Considering the fact that the time the storm took place and this new being's arrival, I think it is no coincidence that the two are related. In fact, Vakarious himself reasoning that he came from the storm. Quite honestly, he makes me uneasy. He has requested an audience with you at your earliest convenience, but I'm not sure such arrangements should be made. I think he should stay in Ponyville so we can observe him for a bit.

Your faithful student, 
Twilight Sparkle.


"Okay Spike, send it," Twilight said to Spike. Suddenly, Spike gave a breathe of green fire, and the letter disappeared in a green trail towards an open window, leaving just a small bit of ash behind.  Letter by dragon flame. We haven't use that since the Americans came over to, well, America. Vakarious mused to himself.

"Strange, I didn't know burning letters was common practice here," Vakarious said, acting as if he had no clue what happened.
"Oh yes, it's strange dragon magic. Unfortunately, since we don't know much about dragons, I couldn't even begin to tell you how it's done," Twilight said. That's funny, for your Princess being very powerful, I could tell you every single detail of how that letter spell is done. Hell, I could probably even show you how to do it, given your apparent affinity for magic.
Just then, Spike started grabbing his stomach, and let loose a loud burp, along with a scroll bearing a seal of some kind. And look at that, he can even receive letters. I'm guess he's around 20ish years about.

"Wow, that was quick!" Twilight exclaimed, feigning excitement to conceal her worry.
"Well, this will only take a bit, then I can show you around Ponyville Vakarious!" she said.
"Can't wait," Vakarious said, feigning excitement as well.


My most faithful Student

I know of the storm you speak of, though I didn't witness it myself, my sister, Luna, saw the entire event, and what you described is indeed what my sister saw as well. I fully believe that what occurred that night was an opening of a concentration of magic known as a 'Ley Line'. I will explain further when next we meet.

As for your new guest, I do not doubt at all that he arrived through that storm, though I cannot answer as to how he may have done so. However, I expect, and trust, that you will treat him no different than you would treat anypony else, and that you will treat him with respect. He is in an unknown land surrounded by unknown creatures to him.

Also, please inform Vakarious that I will indeed grant him an audience and inform him of his situation personally by tomorrow. I will send royal guards to meet you at your library in the morning so you may depart immediately.

Sincerely,
Princess Celestia


Although she was a little annoyed, she realized that the Princess was right. Vakarious didn't deserve the disrespect she had shown him. Still, she wasn't sure how she'd take him about town without causing a panic, or at the very least, causing everypony to stare at him.

"Well?" Vakarious asked, arms crossed and brow raised.
"The Princess will see you. Tomorrow, in fact. So we leave in the morning for Canterlot. In the meantime, I'd like to show you around Ponyville and introduce you to the rest of my friends. Although, I'm not sure the rest of the town will quite share my um, 'open mindedness' about you, if you catch my meaning," Twilight said, nervously.
"Oh, that won't be a problem at all. If I may, can I see your ha--hoof?" Vakarious asked.
"Um, for what?" Twilight asked, hesitantly.
"Where I'm from, my kind can form connections with the wild life of my world, allowing us to change our appearance to that of any animal," Vakarious said, honestly and confidently. His confidence, however, was broken by a very loud shriek and the shout of something he was pretty sure was bad.

"CHANGELING!" Twilight shouted.
"Um, what now?" Vakarious asked, confused, though pretty sure he offended her. Maybe I called her fat by accident?
"You're a changeling! I knew there was something off about you!" She said again, this time a little quieter.
"Um, yeah, I'm not quite sure what creatures inhabit this world, but whatever a changeling is, I'm probably not one of them."
"Um, if you can change your shape to look like anypony, then yes, you're a changeling!" Twilight said, anger in her voice this time, as well as her horn beginning to light up with a purple magical aura.

"Yeah...it's not that simple. I can't make myself look like anyone I want, nor can I change my gender. Whatever form I take of any animal or person, is a unique look to me, and me alone. I can't, for example, make myself look like you," Vakarious said, which seemed to ease the shrieking/angry Unicorn.
"The reason I can change my form is because of our natural connection to life and boring stuff like that," he said, reassuring her that he wasn't whatever she said he was.

"Now, can I see your hoof real quick?" Vakarious asked. This time, Twilight agreed, albeit reluctantly. After a few seconds, Vakarious let her hoof go, and began the transformation. After a few more seconds, where once a human stood in her library, now a sleek, very dark glossy purple Pegasus Stallion stood.
"Wow...that was some amazing magic," Twilight said, still in awe.
"Not really. Besides, that power is restricted here, since I seem to not be attuned to this world like I am my own," Vakarious said with a matter in a blunt tone.
"So, if I may ask, what does your Cutie Mark represent?" Twilight asked.
"My what now...?" Vakarious asked, confusion clearly in his voice.
"You don't know what a Cutie Mark is do you..."
"No I do not," Vakarious answered, now looking at what Twilight was looking. And sure enough, on both sides of his flanks, he bore the insignia of the Obsidian Draconic Guardians. I hate this form. Sure, I'm more flexable in it than normal Earth horses, but I hate hooves. If I can't have claws, then I don't like being on all fours. I'll be sure to only use this form in public. Much as I dislike humans, their body structure is amazingly damn comfortable and practical.

"A Cutie Mark is obtained by young ponies when they discover their unique characteristic or talent. A ponies Cutie Mark represents their special talent, and often, ponies live their lives doing whatever their special talent is. For example, my Cutie Mark represents my affinity for magic, while my friend Fluttershy's represents her care and gift with animals," Twilight informed.
"Oh," Vakarious responded simply. Frankly, he didn't care all that much, and actually hated the term.
"Right...Anyway, what does your Cutie Mark represent?" Twilight asked again, annoyed because her explanation went unappreciated.

"It's the insignia of the Obsidian d-Guardians. The Obsidian Guardians is a very large group of d-people that devote themselves and their entire life to the protection of my world, the elements, and preservation of all life, great or small," Vakarious said plainly. At least I'm not lying, merely leaving some key things out. Vakarious mused to himself.

"Oh," Twilight responded, the same way Vakarious responded to her little rant. Though unlike Vakarious, she was actually very interested in these 'Obsidian Guardians' and their goals. Vakarious wasn't bothered either way by her apparent lack of interest in his explanation. Both, because he just wanted to return to his own world, and because he could see through her terrible attempts at feigning disinterest.

"Well, okay then...Shall we get going then?" Twilight asked, wanting to break the awkward silence.
"I suppose. Though, I'd like to learn a little about this Princess of yours first. Both, so I'm not completely socially unaware, and since I will be making her acquaintance tomorrow," Vakarious said.
"Hmm, well, alright," Twilight said, kind of annoyed. Not because she had to explain the history of her mentor, something she in fact loved doing. It was more so because he was right.

~~~


"...And that's when Princess Celestia's sister, Princess Luna, was freed from, well, herself," Twilight said. She had spent the last hour telling Vakarious everything she knew of the entire history of Princess Celestia's rule, and Twilight's time as her student. 

Damn it. Finally, holy shit. And I thought Twilight Alestra explaining the physics of Quantum Arcane Energy Straining was mind hell. And this Princess of hers is only 1,000 years old, yet apparently 'oh so powerful and wise?' Bullshit. A thousand years ago I was walking the streets of Rome when she apparently took power. And Discord is apparently this 'powerful spirit of chaos and disharmony?' Yet, he allowed himself to get turned to stone twice, and now listens to Fluttershy...? Clearly she hasn't met anyone like Draken'kar or Sargeras...Not to mention Celestia's sister and her going crazy...Such actions would have led to her death on my world. My kind do not tolerate traitors, no matter who they are or how sorry they are. The sooner I'm off of this damn world, the better.

"So. Any questions?" Twilight asked, a little excited.
"No no, I think I got the gist of it all. Quite a lot of interesting history there, though," he said, trying to hide his sarcasm, and trying not to roll his eyes.

"I think I'd like to meet the rest of these friends of yours now, though, if you wouldn't mind," he didn't like the idea, but anything was better than spending any more time with what seemed to be an exact replication of  his sister, Twilight Alestra.
"Good idea! And since this form of yours is a Pegasus, you're going to love my friend Rainbow Dash!" Twilight said, excited still. The temptation of opening a giant ravine and just bathing this world in flame grows and grows with each passing minute. No, no no no no no. Bad thoughts. Doing so would make me no better than the Old Gods or Burning Legion.

"Sounds fun."

> Chapter 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	On a particularly sunny day, a lavender Unicorn was walking with a new glossy dark purple Pegasus that seemed to be new in town. The Pegasus in question was, frankly, quite strange. His wings resembled those of the Royal Night Guard, his tail seemed very reptilian, and his Cutie Mark was a circle with a dragons head within it. All things considering, while I may hate walking and being in this form, I can't deny the fact that for a Pegasus of this world, I look pretty awesome. As they approached a clearing in a field, Vakarious could hear a slightly raspy voice calling Twilight's name. Curious, he looked up, and sure enough, he saw a Cyan Pegasus with a mane and tail being the colors of the rainbow. Gee, I wonder who that is...

"Hey Twilight, what's up? Who's your new friend?" The rainbow Pegasus asked, teasingly.
"I'm knew in town, actually. My name is Vakarious, though. Twilight told her her friend's name, and, judging from your color scheme, I'm going to assume you're the one called 'Rarity'. Again, just an assumption, based on the fact that your mane and tail are SOOO well taken care of," Vakarious shot at her, intending to be as sarcastic as he possibly could. Quite honestly, he was expecting, and wanting her to react as negatively as possible, maybe even making her kick him or something. But, life is not so fortunate.

"Um no. My name is Rainbow Dash! I'm letting you off the hook this time, since you're knew and all, but surely you've heard of the name right? Right? C'mon, what am I talking about! Of course you have! No one is as amazing as the one and only Rainbow Dash!" She exclaimed, not holding back on any show boating whatsoever. 

"Hmm, I notice you have my personality. Frankly, I love my personality, because it makes me, well, me. With that said, knowing exactly how I am, I now know, given the impressions you've made upon me, that I want to stay as far away from you as possible, and never talk to you. Ever," 
Vakarious said. He normally wasn't this cruel to mortals, but this world was starting to make him go mad. He could resist the whispers of the Old Gods, could even make them fear him, yet this world was going to be the death of his sanity. He needed to let loose some cruelty.

"Hah! Whatever you say chump! With messed up wings like those, I bet don't even have a personal wing power of 0.1! Let alone being able to create a sonic rainboom!" 
The rainbow mare exclaimed, proudly yet again. Twilight just sat back and laughed. It was almost as if she was watching Rainbow Dash argue with Rainbow Dash. This was not a moment she was going to pass up, and enjoyed every minute.

"Uh huh. No clue what wing power is, nor do I really know what a sonic rainboom is, though I have an idea, I have to be honest, though. I'm not impressed, at all. As far as I'm concerned, you're all talk, with nothing really to show for it. Not to mention the idea of a creature such as yourself breaking the sound barrier and living to tell about it is the most stupid concept I have ever heard," Vakarious retorted. He wasn't annoyed by her, he just really, really needed to vent his cruelty, and her pride was just the thing to do that with.

"Tell you what hot shot, I'll race you from here to that cloud over there, to the north. If you beat me, not only will I be impressed, I'll also stop knocking you about your wings. I beat you, then you'll never hear the end of it. Deal?" She challenged
"As a favorite man of mine said: Let's see see if the mare lives up to the challenge!" and with that, Vakarious and Rainbow Dash were off.

Surprisingly to Vakarious, Rainbow Dash was indeed quick. Damn it...I'm going to lose to this one of all the things here...Why the hell did I quote a first level boss anyway...Idiot... Just as surprisingly to Rainbow Dash, however, was the fact that, giving a good amount of effort, this new Pegasus was actually keeping up with her, neck and neck. She wouldn't allow herself to be made a fool, though. No, she would show this new Pegasus his place. As the last meters of the race came to an end, Rainbow Dash let loose all of her speed, completely blowing Vakarious in the dust, or in this case, clouds.Well damn, I lost. Who knew. All things considering, for example the fact that this is a knew body and this was the first time I've flown in it, I did pretty damn good. At least, I'll tell myself that. Knowing how much effort she put though, especially at the end, I know for a fact I would blow her away in my dragon form. Oh well, such is life.

"Impressive, if I do say so myself. Given the fact that this is the first time I've flown and race, after all," Vakarious said, not showing a single ounce of shame or embarrassment, much to Rainbow Dash's chargin.
"What are you so smug about? You lost, by a long shot loser!" Rainbow Dash teased. She wouldn't admit it, but if what he said was true, and that this was his first time flyi---

"Wait, your first time flying, what do you mean? How have you never flown before...? Even Fluttershy was flying when she was a filly," Rainbow Dash questioned the new Pegasus.
"Oh, yeah, you don't know yet, do you? I think I'll have Miss Twilight Sparkle here explain," Vakarious said, purposely putting the Unicorn in the spotlight.
"Well Twilight, who is he?" Rainbow Dash demanded....

~~~

"...And that's how he ended up here." Twilight had finally finished her explanation, panting a little.
"And you're sure he's not a changeling...?" Rainbow Dash asked, for the 3rd time.
"Positive," Twilight responded, annoyed at the repeated question.
"So, as much as I'd like to meet the rest of your friends, by which I mean I'd really rather not, I think it'd be a less waste of time if you just gathered the rest of them up and we told them the entire situation at the library. That's just my 2 cents," Vakarious stated bluntly.
"Well, I think you're a little upset because Rainbow Dash blew you away in that challenge, hence why you think you wouldn't want to meet the rest of my friends. But I think you're right, it would save a lot of time and stress just telling them all the situation. And one question..." Twilight began.
"Form of currency where I'm from," Vakarious interrupted.
"Alright then...Why don't you gather everypony Rainbow, and I'll take Vakarious back to the library," Twilight said, with Rainbow Dash giving a quick salute before flying off. Lovely, I get to be lectured by the rest of these 'friends' of hers. I'm beginning to debate whether it was a good idea shifting into my human form. Vakarious shook the thought, and followed Twilight.


~~~


As Vakarious followed Twilight into the library, a burning pain in his side and stomach reminded him of a question he wished to ask the Unicorn. So, reluctantly, he began, turning into his human self.

"Alright, you're gonna be a bit repulsed by what I'm going to show you, which is completely understandable. But, it's even more important that you find a way to cleanse what I'm going to show you. Now, can you promise me that you'll seriously look into fixing this?" Vakarious asked, trying to sound as sincere as he could.
"Okay, but I'm not really a doctor, I'm just skilled with magic and magical properties," the Unicorn responded.

"I know, that's why I'm asking you to do this," Vakarious retorted. Shortly after, he removed his 'shirt' and revealed his wounds. Twilight Sparkle was indeed repulsed by what she saw. While she didn't like seeing his wounds, it was the green, unnatural coloring that surrounded and embedded them.

"What...IS THAT? WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU!?" Twilight shouted.
"Calm down, it's not that serious yet. What this is, is called 'Fel taint'. It is a corrupted form of Arcane energy, or, magic. Normally the amount that you see here is non deadly, however, given the deepness of my wounds, much of the Fel taint was allowed to go deep within my body. Now, the reason it is of utmost importance that you find a way to cure this is because of two possible outcomes: Either I die, which would be rather unfortunate for me, or I become insane and mindless, and start wreaking havoc upon the town killing innocent, um, ponies, which would be unfortunate for me AND you. Now, can you find a way to extract, or better yet, destroy the taint?" Vakarious asked, showing no emotion in his voice. Now was not the time for such weakness. After a bit of just staring, Twilight finally moved closer to inspect the area of Vakarious' wounds. After some looking and scanning magically, she finally had an answer for him.

"I don't know what this stuff is, but you are right. It is a form of magic, just a tainted form of it. Now, if I extracted it, it wouldn't be painful for you at all, but the risk of it affecting me is great. However, I can destroy it as well, without actually harming you physically, but, in doing so, it would cause you great pain," she responded bluntly.
"Destroy it. I care not for the pain that will ensue," Vakarious said, voice still devoid of emotion.

A few moments and shrieks of agony later, they were done. The process of destroying the Fel taint was very simple, the procedure only taking a couple of minutes. However, just as Twilight had said, it was very painful for the dragon. He endured though. He would not allow an innocent to become corrupt by such foul magic, no matter how much she annoyed him. In fact, he was now in her debt, which he had no qualms of informing her about.

"It was nothing Vakarious. Really. Besides, considering me being able to hurt you payback for you saying you didn't want to meet the rest of my friends," she stated, when she heard a knock on the door suddenly. "Speaking of which, they're here! C'mon, in your um, hu-man form," she told him.


~~~


As far as introductions were concerned, these weren't so bad. Vakarious was already quite friendly with the quiet Fluttershy, he was impressed with Rainbow Dash's speed and brashness, and was grateful for Twilight Sparkle's help in cleansing the Fel taint within him (Despite the fact that he didn't tell her exactly what it was and how he got it in the first place, much to her chargin). As for the rest, the one called Rarity annoyed him slightly due to, what he called to himself, 'self righteous attitude', but did admire her gem finding ability. The one called Applejack was probably his favorite next to the shy Pegasus who saved him. However,  it took all of his will, sanity, strength of courage, and every fiber in his being not to go into a Draconic Frenzy when around the one called Pinkie Pie. Her name irks me, her bouncing irritates me, and I hate parties. Though I wasn't fond of them in the past, I never, ever hated them to the extent I do now. I swear the Titans better somehow hold me back if she EVER tries to throw me one of her surprise parties.

After the introductions were finished, and some of Twilight's questions answered, Vakarious decided he'd look up some more information on the history of this world. It never hurt, and besides, he always liked the history of different races and cultures anyway. 
Hmm, the 'History of the Crystal Empire'. Intriguing. 'The days before the Regal Princess Sisters'. Another intriguing one. Hmmm, one dated only a few months ago. Lets see, 'The Crystal Empire: King Sombra's Tyranny'. Latin and tyranny huh? This requires study! As he was about to begin reading the book, he was interrupted by none other than Spike. 

"Guess you want me to check the book out before actually reading?" Vakarious inquired.
"No, I know a secret about you though," the little dragon said. Vakarious wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he was a bit uneasy right now. 

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone at all, Pinkie Promise. But, are you related to dragons in anyway?" Spike asked, waiting patiently.
"Um, and you would get that idea from, where exactly...?" Vakarious asked, trying to play dumb.
"Vakarious: Draconic for Obsidian's Rebirth. I'm a dragon dude, I know draconic, even if I'm still young," the little dragon replied. Well, shit.
"You swear you won't tell anyone else, right?" Vakarious asked.
"I Pinkie Promised," Spike replied.
"Yeah, I don't know what that is. You're a dragon though, so do you swear a dragon's oath that you won't tell anyone else?" Vakarious asked again.
"I, Spike the Dragon, swear a dragons oath not to tell anyone else whatever secret you are going to tell me," Spike replied.

"Alright. My name is true. I am Vakarious, Dragonlord of the Obsidian Draconic Brood, and leader of the Obsidian Draconic Guardians, guardians of the world known simply as Earth. I don't know if you have any clue of what all of that is, but basically, I'm the leader of a large group of dragons, and said group protects my world from any and all things that would threaten it's existence, so to speak," Vakarious said, quietly and bluntly.
"Whoa...." was Spike's only response. Vakarious expected as much.
"So, how old are you...?"
"Well, my egg was conceived around a couple million years ago, I lose track of the exact time. However, I was hatched around 2,600 years ago," Vakarious responded, whispering still.
"So...You're older than Princess Celestia...? Even Discord...? I didn't think that was possible..." Vakarious could tell the little dragon was in disbelief.
"Well, I'm not from this world, so, yes, it makes sense. I need to get going though, if you wouldn't mind," Vakarious stated, trying to make sure the little dragon knew that he just wanted to read the book he had.



~~~



As the party to welcome Vakarious to Ponyville began to die down and everyone began to leave, Vakarious felt it comfortable to go back to using his human form. How the hell the pink one turned a simple introduction into a large ass party in less than a minute is beyond me. That's something I'm going to have Alestra research.

"That was a great party don't you think? Did you like it Vaky? Huh? did you? did you? I like it a lot, it was super duper uper fun! Oh my gosh! We should totally have party to celebrate how fu----" Pinkie was cut off by Twilight's hood in her mouth, something Vakarious was thankful for, yet another thing he owed Twilight.

"Look, Pinkie Pie is it? I don't like parties. I never have. And while I do appreciate the gesture of this one, I would greatly appreciate it if you didn't throw anymore 'parties' for me. Forever. Can you do that for me please?" Vakarious asked, just wanting a simple yes or no.
"You don't like parties? But who doesn't like parties? Everypony likes parties!" Pinkie exclaimed.
"Yeah, well, in case you haven't really noticed, I'm not a pony. With that said, no more parties for me, deal?" if there was one thing Vakarious hated more than anything, it was repeating himself.
"Okay fine! But on one condition! You should totally come over by Sugar Cube Corner tomorrow to meet Mr. and Mrs. Cake and their twins!" she practically shouted out her 'compromise'.
"We'll see. I have important things to do tomorrow, so if time is available, I will." Vakarious responded.
"You have to Pinkie Promise that you'll be there tomorrow!" Pinke exclaimed. Now, there was one other thing Vakarious hated almost as equally as repeating himself, and that was being told that he 'had' to do something, especially by mortals. He was even annoyed by it when the Titan's ordered him around.

"Now, I'm going to let you go easy, since you don't know me. But there is absolutely nothing in this world, or any other world for that matter, that I 'have' to do. Now as I said, since you do not know me, I'm letting you off easy this time. But for future reference, know that I do not allow others to tell me what I 'have' to do. Now, with that said, I will try to make it tomorrow if time allows it. Deal?" Vakarious asked, keeping his tone calm, yet stern. Pinkie just looked at him for a second before responding.

"Okie dokie loki!" She exclaimed before bouncing outside of the library.
"Wow, I've never seen anypony get out of making a Pinkie Promise with Pinkie Pie. How did you manage that?" Twilight asked, seemingly dumbfounded.
"Simple. Don't let someone else dictate what you do," Vakarious responded slightly bluntly, slightly amused.
"Hmm, didn't ever think of her as dictating what we do, we just liked being there for Pinkie," Twilight responded.
"Well, you can't be there for someone all the time. Otherwise, my life would be far too easy. Disappointment is a part of life as well, after all," and with that, Vakarious began making his way towards the door.

"Oh, a couple things before I forget. First, I'd like to check this book out, The Crystal Empire: King Sombra's Tyranny, and, Fluttershy, I was wondering if I could stay at your home tonight. If not, understandable," Vakarious asked.
"Oh, of course, I don't mind at all," Fluttershy said.
"If I may ask, why do you want to read this book?" Twilight asked, slightly confused. Is she seriously asking me why I want to check a book out...? Is there some law I broke or something, is there some proper etiquette to borrowing a book from a library...?

"Well, yaknow, I just saw it and thought it'd make for a pretty cool chair. Since, you know, that's what books are used for and all," Vakarious said, trying to sound as sarcastic and condensending as possible.
"Right...Just take care of it. I hoof wrote that book from scratch, and it's the only copy I have right now," Twilight responded. And with that, Vakarious took on his Pegasus form and followed Fluttershy to her cottage.


~~~


As Vakarious followed Fluttershy, he couldn't help but recall and ponder over something she had told him.
'Well, you were hurt, and scared...' True, I was definitely hurt, but what the hell was I afraid of? I mean, I remember being apparently lifted by her, and I remember that dream I had, which was after I was dropped here. So what could I have been afraid of? More importantly, why am I even pondering this, when instead I should be figuring out how to get back to my world? And why am I not stressed out about any of this? Ugh, Galvadir, Praetorian, whatever the hell you want me to call you, I wish you were here right now...

"Are you okay Vakarious?" Fluttershy asked the seemingly dazed dragon.
"Um, yeah, I'm fine. Just pondering some thoughts, is all," he replied. It was the truth, at least.
"Oh, well, okay then. If you want to talk about anything though, then, you know..." Fluttershy struggled.
"I'm fine." Vakarious stated coldly, cutting her off. Fluttershy didn't respond for the rest of the way.

"Well, we're here. If you need anything, or want anything, just please let me know," the shy Pegasus said. 
"Will do," Vakarious replied, still cold. Fluttershy headed towards her room, feeling too tired to continue her daily routine of checking on and feeding her animals for tonight. Fluttershy also couldn't help but feel sad for Vakarious. While she had barely known him for only a day, she knew something had happened to him, that much was certain to her. What's more, is whatever happened to him, troubled him greatly. So she would wait until he either opened up to her, or somepony, or until he somehow got over what was bothering him.

Vakarious, however, had his thoughts elsewhere. 'The Crystal Empire: King Sombra's Tyranny.' Let's see what you did and how long you lasted Mister Shadow. 'Note, all information contained within this document is mostly speculation, and should be left up to the reader's interpretation. Speculative pages will be marked accordingly. It should be noted, most of the unknown speculation on King Sombra, is his biography, his reign as king of the Crystal Empire, how long his rule lasted, and the details of his imprisonment.' Well, let's see if Sombra here is in anyway related to the Old Gods.

> Chapter 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	As the sun began to rise, so to did the life that thrived in the day. And so the day would begin as any other normal day, with those creatures of the day beginning their usual morning routines. However, one such creature had her routine interrupted, if only for a brief moment.
"Oh, good morning Vakarious. When did you wake up?" Fluttershy asked, remnants of sleep still obvious in her voice.
"I haven't slept yet, and I probably won't for another day," replied the alien dragon. Fluttershy was a bit concerned at this, as well as a bit annoyed. Her friend, Twilight, did very similar things like this when she was in her 'zone'. But, just like she always handled the situation with her friend, she would handle this situation the same way.

"Oh, well, okay. If need anything, let me know," she said to him.
"Will do," was all he replied. Surely there must be more here than just 'His heart was as black as night, and his rule as cruel as ever.' I understand this was about a thousand years ago, but even American history speculators at least 'tried' to put some effort into their educated guesses. Ugh, guess I'm reading what's known about him from his recent reemergence. The fact that this bit of history disconcerned Vakarious greatly. Either the self esteemed Princess had no clue what was going on, or she was hiding a lot more than she let on.

'The Crystal Empire's return to the North: Please note, the details of how the Crystal Empire came to be as it is today, as well as details of the Crystal Heart, will be found in the book 'History of the Crystal Empire'. All information in this section is purely revolving around the tyrant king, King Sombra, detailing what exactly is known about his power, personality, or lack thereof, and mental ability.' 

As Vakarious turned the page, he saw what seemed to be a picture of the King himself, following detailed descriptions of the entire encounter in the north.

'After being turned to shadow a thousand years ago, King Sombra's was in a very weakened state upon his return with the Crystal Empire. However, even in this weakened state of being just shadow, King Sombra was still very powerful, requiring the Princess of Love, Princess Cadence, to keep up a barrier of love around the Empire continuously, even then barely keeping the king at bay.' 
Well, isn't that interesting? 
'As reported from the Captain of the Royal Guard and now crown prince of the Crystal Empire, unicorn magic, even as powerful as his own, was proven ineffective against the king's shadowy form. And once making contact with the shadow itself, Shining Armor's horn and magical ability were completely disabled the rest of the encounter...


~~~


'...And while King Sombra was seemingly disintegrated by the wave of love pulsating from the Crystal Heart, it is my full belief that he was not completely destroyed, and may once again, return some day.'
And so concludes my personal research, as well as speculation, on the tyrant king, King Sombra. 
Vakarious was deep in thought after what he had just read. 
From what little was described of his abilities, such as a trap door which leads to one's greatest fears, it really would seem as though he had some sort of power from the Old Gods. Hell, showing people their greatest fears was one of the ways I had to show the idiot leaders of humanity the coming of the Burning Legion. Hmm... As Vakarious kept pondering over these new findings, a knock was heard from the other room. 

"Oh, hello Twilight, how are you this morning?" Fluttershy asked her friend.
"I'm doing great this morning. What about you? Were you able to see to your animals last night?" the lavender Unicorn asked.
"Oh, no. It was late, and I was tired. It's okay though. So, do you want me to tell Vakarious you're here?" the shy Pegasus asked, trying to change the subject, as she didn't want Twilight to feel bad about skipping a night of tending her animals.
"Oh, yes, if you would please."
"Okay, I'll be back down in a bit."

And so Fluttershy went up to her guest's room, however, she was surprised to find her guest waiting by the stairs, in his Pegasus form. Fluttershy was confused as to how he could have known they were here...

"It's a gift. Not to mention I could hear those guards from a mile away," Vakarious answered her unasked question.
"I'd like to thank you again, Fluttershy, for your hospitality, your trust in me, and for saving my life. I am in your debt," Vakarious said, leaving before she could reply. Fluttershy just simply stood there, still surprised, before saying goodbye to Vakarious and wishing him good luck.

"So, are we ready then Miss Twilight Sparkle?" 
"Yes, the Royal Guard is ready to depart when you are. Keep in mind, the flight to Canterlot is quite far away, and will take around 45 minutes to an hour. Oh, and you can just call me Twilight, if you'd like," Twilight informed.
"Very well, let us delay no more, Miss Twilight," Vakarious responded, hiding a smirk.


~~~


The flight to Canterlot was quite uneventful, and it was indeed very slow. Vakarious couldn't complain though. He took in the surroundings, confirming one last time what he knew: He wasn't on Earth anymore. Twilight Sparkle tried to make some small talk, but Vakarious was never one for such a sad excuse of 'conversing'. Either he talked a lot with his brothers and sisters, or he didn't say anything at all, unless it was important.

As they neared Canterlot, Vakarious could make out the city. It was a castle that seemingly hung off the side of a mountain, with a few waterfalls going through it. The castle keep itself was located near the back of the city, with it's only conventinal means of entry being over a draw bridge.
You know, I thought humans were idiotic for building their cities in the most harshest terrains. Japan for example, HUGE earthquake active zone, surrounded by miles of ocean. Yet, here sits before me, a castle city hanging off the side of a mountain. But, for all I know, the city may actually be very stable. Something to check I suppose when we land.
However, as the city grew larger, he saw, for a brief moment, the scenes of the first city being besieged by the Burning Legion replayed in his mind. The moment only lasted a second, but to him, he relived that attack...


~~~

"...Incoming enemy contacts!" shouted several human pilots. Vakarious, Twilight Alestra, and Praetorian both sat in anticipation of the coming battles. They only had 6 years to prepare for this moment. The three dragons watched as green balls of fire rained down from the sky, plowing through buildings and infantry alike. Human weapons were surprisingly effective, though. Many of the Human's anti air defenses were taking out a large majority of the green balls of fire. However, they still came, never ending, never relenting.

The city they watched begin to burn was once known as Los Angeles. Vakarious had grown fond of the city over the past years, eventually starting to even love it. He had always enjoyed the different life styles, the weather, and the skyline this city offered, always surprised such a creation made by humans could impress him so. And now, here he watch, helplessly, the city he had grown to love, be reduced to nothing but rubble and ash.

"Worry not, brother. The sacrifices made here today, will be honored in the future. We must not give in to despair, lest we want the Legion to win," Vakarious' sister, Twilight Alestra reassured him. Despite her immaturity almost all the time, she was still wise nonetheless, and also knew when moments called for serious attention.
"I know, sister. Despair isn't what washes over me, though. As with all battles, I am merely detaching myself from my emotions," Vakarious replied to his sister.
"Doing that does nothing but hurt you, brother. Without emotion, you are just a mindless killing machine, no better than the demons that lay your city to rest. Besides, you don't want to become a boring dragon like Praetorian over there" Alestra said jokingly, the gruff dragon in question merely grunting in response.
"It is what I must do. Emotion in the heat of battle is just another weakness that only causes rage, or hesitation. Better I feel nothing and destroy the enemy, than destroy the enemy feeling everything," Vakarious responded.


~~~


"Well, we're here! Let me be the first to welcome you to Canterlot Vakarious!" Twilight happily exclaimed. After Vakarious snapped out of his mere second of a vision, he had allowed himself some time to rest.
"It's big, and shiny. It could do with less gold, though," Vakarious stated. Truth be told, he really wasn't one for fancy art work or expensive decor. Twilight merely rolled her eyes, but she stifled a giggle, as she felt soon, Vakarious was going to be impressed after meeting the Princess, to say the least. After all, everypony always felt much better after meeting Princess Celestia, and even Princess Luna.

As Vakarious, escorted by what seemed to be a standard pair of Royal Guards, entered the castle keep, he noticed an assortment of stained glass windows in a very bright hall they had entered. The stained glass in question seemed to depict the entire history of Equestria since Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had come into power. Or at the very least, depicted their victories over certain battles he knew about. Definitely not one for modesty, are you Princess? As they neared two very large ornate doors, Twilight stopped Vakarious for a moment.

"The Princess has requested that she see you alone, if you wouldn't mind."
"Okay." And with that, Vakarious walked, escorted still of course, through the two very large doors...


~~~


...As Vakarious continued to be escorted, he could finally make out a throne with a particularly large white Unicorn on it...with wings. A winged Unicorn hmm? Intriguing. Vakarious mused to himself. He could feel immense power emanating from her. Perhaps it wasn't a joke that she raised the sun herself. With the power he felt around her, though, he could feel another thing. Compassion. For who and what she apparently was, she was very, very compassionate and understanding. Vakarious was quite sure, however, that his cold, brutal demeanor would be unacceptable still. As Vakarious and his escorts finally arrived to the young Princess, they began to bow, something Vakarious did not do. After noticing the glares from everyone in the room, minus the Princess herself, he decided to be the first one to speak.

"With all due respect your Highness, there is no being in existence that I have ever bowed to, and I intend on keeping it that way. I hope this will not be an issue?" Vakarious stated, more than asked.
"Of course it will not be an issue, Vakarious. I have never required my subjects to bow before me," the Princess said with a regal, motherly voice. "Now if you excuse us, I'd like to converse with our new guest privately."
"Yes your Highness," the guards shouted, shortly before leaving the room.
"So, now that we have some privacy, I assume you have a lot of questions, Obisidian's Rebirth?" the Princess asked, same motherly voice. God damn it Spike.

"Well, I only had one, but as of now, I do have two questions. The first being, how do you know the true meaning of my name?" He asked plainly.
"Dragons populate this world in far greater abundance than you'd think, Vakarious. Over time, I've learned much of their language. There are many translation books that exist as well, though, they're very far from complete."
"Right. As for my other question..." Vakarious stated. He honestly did not care for the dragons of this world. They were nothing more than mindless golems, no better than the demons he destroyed.

"Of course. I am assuming you're wondering how, and why, you're here, and if you can ever go back to your world?" The princess asked, keeping her tone never changing.
"Actually, no. I already know how and why I'm here. I also know that I CAN get back to my world. My question to you is this. Do you possess the power required to open the Ley Line that is connected from this world to my own, and can you sustain it long enough for me to make my return?"

Princess Celestia was taken back his question. Not because of his main focus of returning to his world, but the fact that he spoke of everything exactly how it was, as if he was experienced in some way with similar events.

"I am afraid, Vakarious, that I do not possess the kind of power required for what you seek..." the Princess answered, almost sounding saddened. Well, saw that coming. Expect the worst, and you won't be disappointed.
"Very well. Do you then, know the location of the Ley Line in question at least? While it's not exactly my, 'specialty', with enough time and preparation, I may be able to use what Arcane Energy I do possess to reopen the rift. However, I will need to do so at the 'core' of the Ley Line so to speak, which, if this world works like any other Arcane filled world, would be very deep underground."
"I am afraid I do not know the exact location of what you seek as well, Vakarious. However, I believe my student, Twilight Sparkle, may be able to help you find it. Her special talent is magic, after all. However, I must ask. How are you so, knowledgeable about such physics?"
"As you already know what I am, I suppose it would only help to tell you who I am. Or rather show you, considering how long using words will take," Vakarious said to the Princess, as the walls around them suddenly started dropping...


~~~


...Princess Celestia found herself standing in a grassy knoll, somewhere she had never been before. And standing before her hovered a massive dark purple dragon, whose scales glistened in the sunlight, and flew silently, despite the massive wings.

"This is the moment before my world was seeded with my kind. What you will bare witness is a sight no one else besides me, and only a single other dragon, have witnessed." The dragon that, Celestia could only assume to be Vakarious stated.

Just then, where she was standing, another, slightly smaller dragon, yet sharing a similar color scheme as Vakarious, appeared, passing through her as if she weren't there. 

The scene then seemed to skip forward, Celestia remaining where she was. However, where once a grassy knoll was, there was nothing but a charred, lifeless ground beneath her, which seemed to seep an unnatural black mist. She then saw a very large creature in the distant. As she looked closer to make out its features, she saw not any sort of animal or creature, but an abomination of life. As she continued watching this, abomination, she noticed in the distance a dragon, the very same one that appeared before her earlier, heading towards the hideous creature, bursting into a very large blinding light as soon as he touched it. After she watched the creature fall, and just dissolve into nothingness, the light she saw began to spread, cleansing all of the evil in the ground. After this light had passed her, the grassy knoll was back to its original state from when she first appeared.

As the scene skipped ahead once again, Celestia found herself surrounded by structures that reminded her greatly of Cloudsdale, and Pegasi structures in general. However, upon further examination, she could make out two figures, resembling the form Vakarious took. While she heard no sound, it was obvious to her that they were saying something to each other, though she hadn't the slightest clue as to what. She was caught by surprise, however, when the smaller creature of the two rushed to attack the larger one, attempting to stab him with a pole arm of sorts. However, the larger one was quicker, and up swept the smaller one, immediately impaling him.

Once more, the scene skipped ahead, Celestia finding herself standing on a hill, next to many strange machines surrounding her, as well as more of the strange creatures, along with hundreds of dragons. They were all fighting beings seemingly made of green fire, both sides falling to the complete slaughter. And then, as she noticed the dragons and their allies falling back, she noticed a very large being land from the sky. The being was nothing natural, being made completely of fire, and wielding a massive shattered blade. 

Before she could react, however, the images left her mind, and she found herself back in her throne room, with the dark purple Pegasus as well...


~~~


"What you witnessed were key events in my Brood's history. From the war with the Old God C'thulhu, to the war with the Burning Legion. All of those, my Brood has fought. That is who I am Princess, that is what I, and my Brood do. We fight those that would see our world destroyed. We will die before we let them succeed," Vakarious said, emotionless still. Vakarious assumed that Princess Celestia was in shock and horrified, and possibly even afraid of him. What she did next, however, would surprise him, to say the least.

"Dragonlord Vakarious, you are the most honorable, noble being I have ever had the honor, no, the privilege of being able to know. You are a protector of life, of the innocent. You, and the dragons that serve under you, have faced horrors beyond any of our imagining, pervailed against such horrors, and even defeated them. I am truly humbled," Princess Celestia said, bringing her wing about, as if to comfort Vakarious. 

"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. But then, this isn't lost knowledge to you, is it?" Celestia stated, more so than asked. Vakarious could barely admit it to himself, which in itself was a feat, but, the Princess was right. Ever since he had arrived, he had been in the same emotional state, or lack thereof, since his battle with the Dark Lord. 

Another thing that bothered him greatly, mainly due to the way his pride worked, was that while Vakarious may have been physically older than the Princess, she was by far more knowledgeable and wise than he was. Sure, he wagered that he knew more about the elements, arcane arts, and dark arts than the Princess, but she was more knowledgeable than he was in leadership. His dragons may have considered him a great Dragonlord, but even he knew his predecessor was many more times the leader than he. And that's who the Princess reminded him of: His father.

"What would you have me do then, Princess Celestia?" it was a dumb question, but he always was one for asking dumb questions.
"You have already surrounded yourself with an amazing bunch of ponies who, despite knowing you for only a day, do care about you. Open up to them as you opened up to me, at any pace you'd like. Confiding in friends will help you more than you know," Princess Celestia said, almost as if she'd had this conversations many times before. Of course it's something so pointless and childish. She mistakes me showing her the fate of my world for 'opening' up to her. Still, I can feel Praetorian's claw, ready to backhand me from across the world at just the thought of disrespecting someone who is so much like my father. And I suppose it'll give me something to do while I wait for the Ley Line to 'charge up', so to speak. Vakarious mused to himself for a bit, before finally coming up with an answer.

"Very well. I will allow my emotions to take hold, although, I don't believe I will seek friendship as you suggest, due to the fact that I don't intend on staying on this world for very long, and having 'friends' would just be wasted time. Not to mention I do not believe the rest of society would take me being a very large dragon as lightly as you have."And now is the part where she tells me I'm wrong and that they will understand and all that crap.

"It's your choice, Dragonlord Vakarious. Though I think you'd be surprised at how, accepting the friends you've made already can be," Princess Celestia said, almost hinting at something, though Vakarious had no clue as to what.

"If you'd please, I'd prefer it if you did not use my title. Given the fact that I'm not quite ready to reveal myself, such words would be, counter productive to that so to speak. Just as well, I never liked being so formal anyway. With all of that said, I appreciate the rather quick audience you granted. If there is nothing else, I will be on my way. I feel I have a lot of work ahead of me," he replied. Vakarious felt like he was being a bit disrespectful, considering the fact that he was the one who requested the audience with the Princess in the first place, but he was right. He had a lot of work ahead of him if he wanted to get back to his world.

"Very well then, and rest assured, your secret is safe with me and my sister, Princess Luna. I wish you good fortune and success in your endeavors, Vakarious. Be well," and with that, Vakarious began to make his way out of the throne room, when a thought entered his mind. How did she know about my sister Alestra, when I didn't make mention of her or show her at all...? He decided, however, that he wouldn't press the issue at the moment.  He had preparations to see to.

"I thank you again Princess Celestia, both for your audience, and your words. I bid you good day."

~~~


"So how did it go? Did you find out everything you wanted to know?" a particularly enthusiastic Twilight Sparkle asked.
"It went as I expected it would, but nothing I didn't already know was learned. Your Princess is quite, intriguing nonetheless, however. I would like to meet her again before I take my leave from this world," Vakarious informed. He made sure to leave out the little discussion about him being a dragon. After all, neglecting to mention something wasn't quite the same as lying, if Twilight Sparkle asked if he was the leader of a group of powerful dragons, he would answer honestly.

"Well, I'm glad you liked her. I think. So, what now? Do you want to tour Canterlot for a bit? There's an amazing donut shop I know of quite close by," Twilight asked. She didn't really visit Canterlot that often anymore, usually only doing so when the state of Equestria was dire.
"No, sweets aren't really mind thing. Besides, I need to head back to your town. I have much to do, and I fear little time to do it in."
> 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.
> Chapter 6
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	After walking through the forest to vent his anger, Vakarious had inadvertently turned into his true draconic self, and soon after making some noise in is dragon form, Vakarious found himself in a rather uncomfortable position: Six ponies, three of which who were responsible for the little, if only, enjoyment of his time in Equestria, were all glaring at him with such intensity, even the Old Gods would tremble at the site.

Now, Vakarious had found himself in situations where he was the center of attention many times in the past, with a majority of those times involving people or groups of people pointing many knives, swords, or guns at him. And most of those weapons would have had no real effect on the dragon at all, thus not really putting his life in any sort of danger. And, while this situation wasn't that different, as is, his life wasn't in danger, he had never really been given the glares these ponies were giving him.

"Alright. I can tell you guys look a bit upset, and judging from the way you're looking at me, I assume it has something to do with me," the dragon said, making a futile attempt at easing the already high tension.
"You better tell us what is going on right now!" Twilight threatened, powering her horn as well. Vakarious simply rolled his eyes before responding.
"Look, turn your horn off and calm do--"
"Don't you dare tell me to calm down! You lied to us all! To me! To the Princess!" Twilight interrupted, her growing anger being made clear if the raising of her voice and the intensity of her glowing horn were any indication. Wow, she's really pissed off. I'd really hate to be whatever companion she had or found that ever had the THOUGHT of even just leaving her.

"Fine, don't calm down, give yourself a stroke if you want. It really isn't necessary to point a loaded horn at me though," Vakarious said. He wasn't worried about Twilight actually hurting him in anyway, he just figured explaining anything to her and her friends would be far more difficult with purple beams hitting him.Twilight complied though, the purple aura around her horn dissipating, though she kept her glare of anger locked on him. This did relax the rest of her friends though, though they seemed more concerned with their lavender friend more now than the humanoid being standing before them.

"Now, I suggest you all take a seat somewhere, because I will begin explaining everything I can from the top, and I guarantee you it will take quite some time," Vakarious said, the group, save for Twilight, sitting down.
"Now, I will begin by pointing the obvious out: I am a dragon. More importantly, I am the leader of a very large group of dragons from my world..."


~~~


"...And that is, for the most part, the gist of everything important about me. What I told you about myself before though, Twilight, and indeed all of you, was the truth. Everything about humanity, most of what I did, and everything I stand for. I merely just left out some 'minor' details about who I was," Vakarious said, wrapping up his explaination. Night had engulfed the forest long ago, Vakarious assuming his lecture extending well over a few hours. And of course, he still left some major details out, such as the dark Old God powers he wielded, and his Brood's greatest enemy, Draken'Kar. To Vakarious' slight relief, though, five of the six ponies seemed much more comfortable and relaxed around him, Fluttershy even apologizing to him for following him when he wanted to be alone. Twilight, however, still seemed rather upset with him, though she did seem a bit more calm now. If nothing else, she wasn't trying to kill Vakarious with her glare.

"I think, Vakarious, given the circumstances, it would be best if you left Equestria. While everything you said about yourself and what you stand for may be true, I believe it would be the best for everypony if you stayed away, given the kind of danger your mere presence could bring," Twilight stated, to the shock of her friends. Vakarious wasn't surprised, though, and in fact was expecting this sort of response.

"Very well. You are right, Twilight Sparkle, it would be for me to take my leave. I feel I must apologize, to all of you. I have hid major details about who I am from you all, I have been very short and cold with you all, even after you all provided such hospitality towards me, a stranger you knew only for a span of two days at most. And I am especially sorry to you, Pinkie Pie, for my inexcusable rudeness towards our offer of celebration for me. Before I depart, I thank you all, once again," and with that, Vakarious began his departure, hoping to leave before anyone could say anything, however, a voice he had not expected to hear broke the silence...

"Vakarious, wait," Rainbow Dash called out, much to her friend's, as well as Vakarious' surprise. "Twilight, he hasn't done anything to deserve being kicked out of all of Equestria," Rainbow continued. Vakarious found himself standing there, surprised that, of all the ponies, Rainbow Dash was defending him, mainly because she reminded him of, well, himself, or so he thought. He would have been in Twilight's position in a situation like this, telling an outsider from another world to leave.

"Rainbow, he's dangerous..." Twilight said, trying to convince her friend. Rainbow wasn't going to have any of it, though.
"No, Twilight, he's not! You're not even giving him a chance!" Rainbow Dash responded. Vakarious just stood there, curious as to how these new events would fold out, while the rest of the pony group looked at each other, confused on who to agree with, if either were right at all.

"He had his chance already Rainbow! He had his chance the first time he had everypony gathered in the library! Even if he just 'hid his past', he still proved that he can't be trusted!"
"Are you listening to yourself Twilight? You're being just as stubborn, if not more so, than when Princess Celestia had us reform Discord! At least Vakarious didn't turn us all against each other and turn Ponyville into the chaos capitol of the world!" Rainbow Dash shot back, hovering in front of Twilight now. 

This apparently had a great effect on Twilight, though, as she began recalling her memories of that day. Of the day she first met Zecora, and how everypony was afraid of her and shunned her just because she was different. Her rainbow maned friend was right.

"I'm...I'm so sorry Vakarious...everypony...I..I let my anger take control of me...Can you ev--"
"I forgive you, Twilight. Considering I know that feeling of losing control over your emotions, I believe I can say I understand." Vakarious said, trying to reassure the lavender unicorn.
"It doesn't make how I reacted right..." Twilight continued. Vakarious decided he'd cheer the unicorn up the best way he knew: Teasing her.

"Hmm, no, it definitely wasn't right, that's for sure. I mean, not only did you say such hurtful things, you also had a particularly dangerous magical horn pointed at me, glowing and ready to use. So not only did you hurt me with words, you almost hurt me with magic as well," Vakarious teased at Twilight. She was about to start crying because of what she realized she had done once again, until she noticed Vakarious grinning at her, then laughing, along with the rest of her friends. Soon, she found herself joining in with the laughter, which went on for quite a bit.

Well damn, it seems the Princess was right about that friendship crap afterall. Well played, very well played. Though Vakarious was still deterimined to find some way back to his world, back home, he realized that his stay on this world wouldn't have to be depressing for him, or at least, not as much. After all, he still lived with the memories of his past, and the issue of returning to his world was still at large. He would worry about that later though, instead focusing on the current events that present themselves to him.


~~~



"Um...I think maybe we should get back to Ponyville and out of the forest...if everypony wouldn't mind, that is..." Fluttershy said, suddenly breaking the silence.
"Fluttershy is right girls, we really shouldn't be in the Everfree forest in the dark like this," Twilight added in agreement with Fluttershy's suggestion.
"I'm confused. Why is the forest a bad place to stay at night?" Vakarious asked, recieving a few questioning looks before Twilight answered.

"Right, different world...Anyway, the Everfree Forest is obviously, the forest that lies outside Ponyville. And while the Everfree forest is 'technically' a part of Equestria, it is, nonethless considered the most dangerous region of Equestria due to many reasons. A few of those reasons being the dangerous flora and fauna the inhabit the forest, the vast size of it, as well as the unnatural way the weather works," Twilight said.
"Interesting. Though, how does the weather in the forest work that makes it 'unnatural'?" Vakarious asked, his curiosity peaked now.
"Well, unlike the rest of Equestria, the weather in the Everfree Forest isn't controlled by the Pegasi or magic, instead, it happens all randomly on its own. For example, rain may be scheduled on a Tuesday in Ponyville, so the Pegasi weather ponies bring the clouds about so it can rain. In the Everfree Forest, however, it rains all on its own. Attempts to control the weather in the Everfree Forest have always ended in failure, though nopony knows why," Twilight said.
"Hmm..." Vakarious pondered everything he was just told for a moment before coming up with a response. 
"You know, it seems like it's quite the opposite. It seems like the weather in the Everfree Forest, or everything in the Everfree Forest is the most natural in all of Equestria, compared to the rest of the country, where everything is controlled by weather ponies and magic," Twilight was going to say something, but Vakarious cut her off before she could begin.
"Then again, seeing as the weather is 'random' and acts on its own, my opinion may not mean much."

"Right. Anyway, we should really get going. This deep in the forest, who knows what dangerous creatures might be lurking," Twilight said.I have this strange feeling I'm going to regret joking about this, but, here I go. Vakarious thought to himself before responding to Twilight.

"You know, I highly doubt there is anything in this forest, or even this entire world short of your Princesses, that would pose any sort of threat to me. And, since I like you guys well enough..." Vakarious paused for a second, before continuing. "...Well, maybe not you Twilight, since you almost shot me, " Vakarious joked, causing Twilight to roll her eyes in response. "...Look, the point I'm making, is you could probably live in this forest forever, and no harm would come to you guys with my protection," Vakarious finished, jokingly flattering himself.
"Can we leave now please...?" Fluttershy asked.
"Fine, stay close though. I'll light the way since you all seem afraid of the dark scary forest," Vakarious teased.
"I'm not scared of the forest! I just, don't want to run ahead and abandon my friends is all," Rainbow Dash said, defending her honor that Vakarious apparently insulted.

"You tell yourself what ever you want," Vakarious teased.
"You know, I didn't HAVE to stick up for you!" Rainbow shot back.
"No, you didn't. Why did you stick up for me anyway?" Vakarious asked, leaning towards Rainbow so the rest of the group didn't hear. He figured it was some personal reason.
"No reason really, you just seemed kinda cool when I first met you. Most ponies would have been embarrassed if they lost a race as bad as you did. Instead though, you just acted so casually, like you meant to lose so badly," Rainbow said. She was right though, he had done absolutely terrible in that race, no matter how good he told himself he did. Vakarious felt like there was another reason, though.

"And?" Vakarious prodded.
"And what?"
"Rainbow Dash, I'm a 2,600 year old dragon. Do you REALLY think I can't tell when you're hiding something?" he responded, hoping she'd fall for a very, very old trick he knew of.
"Ugh, fine. There is another reason, but first. How did you know?" she asked.
"I didn't, actually. I just assumed there was more, so I used my age against your judgement, making you think I knew more than I did. Basically, you fell for the little trap I set hook, line, and sinker," Vakarious said, smirking. "So now, that other reason?"
"Ugh, I'll tell you, but you can't tell anypony else, okay?"
"Your secret will follow me to the grave," Vakarious said, hoping his morbid joke/promise would invoke some sort of reaction from the rainbow maned Pegasus, but he had no such luck.

"Alright. About a month ago, the Princess asked us all to release somepony we turned to stone about two years prior so we could help reform him. The reason we turned him into stone in the first place is a whole other story. Anyway, reluctantly, we released Discord, that's what his name is, and out of all six of us, Fluttershy was the only one who actually gave Discord that chance to reform himself," Vakarious was intrigued. He had heard a mention of this 'Discord' once, and briefly, when Twilight Sparkle had given him a lecture on the history of Equestria. He forgot who or what he was though, as at the time, notable beings were not really relevant to his interests.

"After Fluttershy invited us all to a dinner party with Discord, to show that he was actually reforming himself, nothing but disaster struck. Discord, being the spirit of chaos and disharmony, absolutely ruined the dinner party before it even started, and was showing signs that he was just using Fluttershy's kindness for his own gain. But, when Fluttershy said that he was her friend, it looked like that actually affected him greatly, since he said he had never had a friend before," Rainbow Dash continued.

"So, question."
"Yeah?"
"This 'spirit of chaos and disharmony', Discord, he did things that warranted him being turned to stone, was released and given a second chance, and did the same things as before. Tell me, how was he not just destroyed?" Vakarious asked, though he already knew Discord was reformed and apparently 'good'.
"I'm getting to that. Anyway, all of us except Fluttershy just stared at him in shock for a bit until Fluttershy's rabbit came into the room and told us, or rather, 'showed' us, that Applejack's home, Sweet Apple Acres, was flooded, due to none other than Discord's chaos. Anyway, long story short, Discord face two options, either live in his world of chaos, forever losing his only friend he had ever made, or fix everything he bucked up, and keep Fluttershy as a friend. He chose to keep Fluttershy as a friend, surprisingly," Rainbow Dash continued, starting to run out of breath.

"Anyway, it turned out that the key to reforming Discord was showing him the magic of friendship, and becoming his friend. So like I said, out of all of us, Fluttershy was the only one out of all of us to actually give Discord a chance. The reason I stuck up for you Vakarious, was because I didn't want to make the same mistakes I made when we 'helped', if we even did that at all, with Discord's reforming," Rainbow Dash finished, almost passing out due to her being out of breath now.

"So, I'm assuming you were rightfully distrustful of Discord?" Vakarious asked.
"That's putting it lightly. I wanted to turn him back into stone the moment we released him. I didn't give him a chance, at all. I didn't want that to happen again to you," Rainbow replied. Vakarious was astonished, really. Rainbow Dash not only learned from her mistakes, but, she actually put forth great effort in preventing herself from making the same mistakes in the future. He had to admit, he respected her for that. It was something humanity sorely lacked.

"Thank you, Rainbow Dash. I definitely take back what I said when we first met, about me not ever wanting to see you again. If it weren't for you, I'd probably be banished right now, I really am in your debt," Vakarious said.
"Don't worry about it, I figured you were just jealous of my awesomeness. Oh, and don't go doing me any favors either, it was no prob at all," Rainbow replied.

"I insist. Besides, being in your debt is a nice change of pace from being in Twilight's debt more than once," Vakarious joked.
"Fine, but I'm definitely gonna make sure I use this 'debt' of yours for the most pain in the rear thing I can think of," Rainbow joked back. Before Vakarious could reply, he had noticed that Rainbow Dash and himself had fallen back from the rest of the group quite a bit. Not enough for his flame to stop lighting the way for them, but enough for there to be a considerable gap. Rainbow Dash seemed to notice the same thing.

"We should probably catch up to the rest of the group. I mean, you're pretty cool and all, but I don't want my friends thinking anythings up with you and me. That would NOT be good for my rep," Rainbow teased, mocking a gagging gesture.

"A few steps ahead of you," he replied, shortly before disappearing into the ground, and reappearing right behind Rarity, the latter completely oblivious to what he did. Rainbow Dash simply flew over, landing quietly behind Applejack, who was walking besides Rarity. The group continued walking, occasionally yelping or stopping every time they heard a rustle or a branch break in the woods. Vakarious smirked at their reactions, finding it amusing how easily started the six were, considering the fact that they were going to apparently fight him earlier or something. Vakarious soon found himself looking up and staring at the night sky, losing himself in his thoughts, bringing back memories of him and his sister...


~~~


In a forest covered by the pitch blackness of the moonless night, a young pair, consisting of a child, and a teenager, walked. The youngest of the pair, a little girl, held the hand of the older teenager while they walked, never even letting the thought of letting go of his hand...Her brothers hand.

"Vaka, can we please leave...This forest is much scarier than the one at home..." the little girl said, the fear in her voice being indistinguishable. The teenager however, just rolled his eyes at the nickname her sister had given him.
"Sister, you have nothing to be afraid of. Besides, I thought you wanted to go out on an adventure like the stories Guardian Praetorian always told us?" Vakarious responded, trying to calm his sister down.
"You're...right Vaka...It's just, we're so far away from home, and I'm not sure we can ever get back..." the little girl said, her  voice a bit more calm now.

"What has Guardian always told you?" the teenager simply asked.
"That no matter where we are, whether we are in a distant land, or a familiar land, whether we on our world, or another world, that where ever there is life, we are at home..." the little girl said, a bit more relieved now.
"That's right sister. Even this dark forest, which admittedly, is quite creepy," Vakarious joked, trying to ease his sister a bit more.
"Besides, even though you're just a little whelp, you're still a dragon," he added, teasingly.
"I'm not a whelp! I'm 1,002 years old now!" the little girl snapped, seemingly forgetting her fears, which is exactly what the teenager wanted.

"I dunno little sis, only a whelp would be afraid of the forest," he teased. The litte girl thought for a moment.
"Fine..." she grumbled, her fear finally being vanquished by her older brother.
"There's the annoying little Alestra that aggravates Guardian Praetorian in the mornings that I know!" Vakarious teased. The little girl, Alestra, just rolled her eyes.
"Well, we're here now sister," Vakarious said, as they entered a clearing. 

From where the two were, they could see the night sky perfectly, even more so, since it was a new moon that night. It was the reason he came out to this area every new moon, just to get away from the people and dragons he was always around, dictating and always telling him what to do. And, while he understood his role in the world, and ultimately his destiny, he still needed to separate himself from it all. While Vakarious understood why he had to be what he was, he felt that he could be more if left to his own devices. Vakarious had always been intrigued by the stars, and other worlds that may lie beyond. One of his dreams was to someday leave his world, to find what other life may lay out there in the vast reaches of the unknown. Unlike all the other dragons he knew, he loved the fact that, as 'all knowing' as they were, there was much more in the universe that he, and other dragons, did not know about. Nor would they possibly ever find out, either.

"This is boring," a little girls voice said, interrupting his thoughts. He expected as much of a reaction from his sister, but he would show her what he loved to see anyway.
"Indeed it is Alestra. Indeed it is," Vakarious responded simply, before gazing upon the stars again.


~~~


As the group continued, Vakarious continued to let himself be lost in his thoughts.
Here I find myself on another world, and what is the first thing I try to do? I try to leave. I can't even get mad at myself, because while I have always longed to find another world, my true place is on my own. On Earth, with the dragons. The people.
As he continued in his thoughts, he was interrupted by the excited cheers of a pink pony.

"Look everypony! We're almost out of the forest! Oh oh oh! And when we get out of the forest, we can totally throw a 'We saved our from friend from a dragon, but he turned out to be the dragon, then he escorted us out of the forest' part!" Pinkie exclaimed, earning a collective groan of annoyance from her friends.

"Look, I'll definitely go to this party of yours, but I think a couple of things should happen first. The first being, all of your friends look tired as hell. The second, I don't think it'd be wise if you told everyone I was a dragon. I mean, look at how well you guys took it," Vakarious said. Pinkie stopped bouncing for a moment before replying.
"Okay! We can still have a 'Our friend escorted us out of the forest' party!"
"That would be fine, and tomorrow would definitely be the best time for it," Vakarious responded. This made the pink pony squeal in excitement.I was already an ass to everyone, I might as well go to another one of her as an apology of sorts.

"Ugh, the sooner we get out of this DREADFUL forest, the better. It will take quite a long bath tomorrow to get my mane back to its luxurious state," Rarity said.
"Um, beg 'pardon Rarity, but considerin' all that happened tanight, how is your mane your only concern?" Applejack asked, frustrated at her friend.

"Why darling, you speak as if you don't know me. You know how much my appearance means to me. Unlike some ponies here, I like to remain clean and proper," Rarity said.
"Ya could do with a proper attitude cleanin, that's fer sure," Applejack mumbled to herself. "
"Look girls, and boy, we made it!" Twilight said, before Rarity could respond to Applejack's comment. The group had finally made it out of the forest, finding themselves in a field they all knew.

"You can turn your fire light out now, Vakarious," Twilight added.
"Wow, I know I'm a dragon, but I didn't think I looked THAT bad," Vakarious joked. 
"I don't get it," Twilight responded, the joke being completely lost on her.
"Never mind. Hold up for a second, I kinda need to change my appearance," Vakarious said.
"Okay then...Well, let's go," Twilight said, continuing towards Ponyville. Vakarious soon followed again, this time appearing as a Pegasus with his reptilian wings and glossy dark purple coat.
Today was definitely quite eventful. Kinda curious as to how tomorrow will turn out now. Vakarious thought to himself. He would worry about the next day, or rather, the next few hours later though. He was rather exhausted, after staying up for two days in a row.
> Chapter 7
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Exhausted as he was, Vakarious didn't intend on resting. It was night, and he never rested during the night, due to him essentially being nocturnal. After some convincing that he didn't require rest for the night, as well as some final apologizes for the events of that day, the six ponies finally went home. When the ponies had left, Vakarious went to doing what he always enjoyed doing: Staring up towards the night sky.

As usual, Vakarious allowed himself to drift into his thoughts. However, instead of thoughts of wonder and curiosity about other worlds, he thought of his world. He thought of those he considered family, and he thought of the events that had transpired. He continued thinking about the demon responsible for his presence on this world, and how he hated him. Composed as he was, he still wasn't over the fact that he was ripped away from his world due to the Dark Lord. As he continued these thoughts, another thought came to mind: The final battle between him and the Dark Lord.

I heard stories from the Pantheon of how powerful their fallen brother was, and his terrible evil and destructive ways. Yet, during that fight, he barely did anything, at all. Sure, I attacked him with surprise, and tried not to give him a chance to counter attack, yet, he had multiple opportunities to attack. It wasn't until after I actually started affected him, that he finally struck out at me, and when he did, he only landed two relatively light strikes. Yet, it was those two strikes that instantly injured me greatly...He had the power, that whole time, to kill me, yet he didn't... Vakarious contiued with his thoughts, doing nothing but pondering that entire battle. He eventually decided that it was a stroke of luck that he 'won', and continued to stare up into the night sky.


~~~


As morning came, Twilight Sparkle found herself awake after hearing an all too familiar sound: Her number 1 assistant belching, with a scroll following after. While she was always excited to receive a letter from the Princess, she was slightly surprised as to how early she had gotten one.

"Twilight, letter from the Princess!" Spike said.
"I know, you aren't the most subtle when you get a letter from the Princess, you know," Twilight said, grinning.
"Subtle?" Spike asked.
"Quiet."
"Ah. Well, go on and read it!" Spike said anxiously.
"Calm down spike, I'm getting to it," Twilight replied, giggling at her dragon friend.

My most faithful Student

As you may be aware, the Grand Galloping Gala is only two weeks away. Today however, I have received news that King Darius Swiftwing of the Griffin Kingdom, as well as his son Prince Darius II along with many of their guests, will be attending the Grand Galloping Gala this year. While Equestria has always maintained a steady relationship with the Griffon Kingdom, they have never sent more than a few ambassadors to Canterlot for even important meetings, let alone such an event as the Grand Galloping Gala in almost a thousand years. As my faithful student, I fully believe that you understand the importance of the attendance of the king of the griffons, as well as his son.

Also, I have sent you another invitation to the Grand Galloping Gala for you to give to our newest arrival, Vakarious. While he doesn't have to attend, it would be highly appreciated if he did, even more so if he could attend the Gala in his bi-pedal form that he is able to use. He may use the bipedal form he knows, however, only if the populace has accepted his use of said form, though it is his choice in the end.

I hope Vakarious' stay in Ponyville has been a pleasant one, and I look forward to seeing you and your friends at the Gala this year.

Sincerely,

Princess Celestia.

Twilight Sparkle was caught by surprise after what she had read. The Griffin Kingdom was a very large and powerful one. The fact that their leader, as well as his son was attending the Grand Galloping Gala this year signified something very important in both Equestrian and Griffin history: A much closer unity between the two nations, if not the unification of the two nations. A truly monumental event indeed.

"Spike, I'll be in my room doing some personal research today. Please, as usual, let me know if anypony comes over," Twilight said to her assistant, who simply nodded in return.


~~~


Vakarious headed into the town as soon as the sun rose. Being on the different world he was, there were no threats of a M.A.D war, an alien invasion of demons, or even raging elemental lords to calm. And whatever problems with the country, or world for that matter existed, they were all solved by the two Princess rulers. In other words, Vakarious had a lot of time on his hands (or claws) with nothing to do. Suppose I could just visit everyone today, get to know them better and whatnot. Considering my stay on this world is going to be a lot longer than I had anticipated, it'd probably be the best course of action. Guess I'll visit Twilight first and ask her for some directions. Didn't exactly get a tour of this town yet. Vakarious thought to himself, before heading for the library. On the way towards the library, Vakarious happened to see Fluttershy when he remembered something. Crap, I borrowed that book from the library, which is probably still at Fluttershy's house. Ugh, these names...

"Hey Fluttershy," Vakarous said, interrupting his own thoughts. Fluttershy looked around for a bit, until she saw the one calling her name.
"Oh, hello Vakarious. How are you this morning?" Fluttershy asked.
"Eh, all things considered, I'm doing alright I suppose," Vakarious replied.
"Well, that's good. Are you doing anything today?"
"Yeah, I was actually heading to the library to ask Twilight something, until I remembered I borrowed a book from her, which is probably at your house still," Vakarious said.
"Oh, I actually um, returned that book yesterday while you were in Canterlot...I'm sorry if you weren't done with it..." Fluttershy said, hanging her head down.
"Nah, it's fine. I was actually gonna ask if I could come by later and get it so I could return it, so thanks for that," he said.
"Okay. Well, I'm going to head back home now. Poor Angel Bunny hasn't eaten yet," she said before trotting off to her cottage. Vakarious had only stayed at Fluttershy's cottage for a couple of days, but that was long enough for him not to like her pet rabbit. Should just let him starve and get his own food. Vakarious shook the thought and continued towards the library.

Vakarious had arrived at the library shortly after his encounter with Fluttershy, knocking on the door. You know, considering it's a library, I feel like I don't really need to knock at all. Whatever, doesn't really matter I suppose. Vakarious thought to himself before Spike answered the door.

"Hey Vakarious, what's up?" Spike asked after opening the door.
"Not much, just need to ask Twilight something," Vakarious answered. Gonna be honest with myself, I'm beginning to see why Alestra calls me 'Vaka' now. Much easier to say... Vakarious thought to himself while entering the library.
"Twilight! Vakarious needs to ask you something," Spike called out. A few moments later, Twilight responded.
"Just a bit, I'm coming down," Twilight called back. Vakarious walked into the main room before Twilight had finally come down.
"Hello Vakarious, what brings you here today?" Twilight asked.
"You know, as much as it annoys me when she says it, I think I'm gonna go ahead and let you just call me 'Vaka' if it's easier for you," Vakarious said sighing, "anyway, since I really have nothing to do today at all, I was wondering if you could tell me where the rest of your friends could be found. You know, so I can make better amends and what not."
"Oh sure, no problem, I have a map around here somewhere. If I wasn't busy today, I'd show you around myself," Twilight said, as she began searching around her desk for the mentioned map, as well as the envelope she had recieved that morning. It took her some time to find, but she finally found what she was looking for.

"Don't worry about it. I always preferred figuring things out on my own anyway,' Vakarious replied. Twilight didn't seem to be paying any attention though, focused on finding the map Vakarious still wanted.

"Ah ha! Found it. Here you go, Vaka, it's probably a bit outdated, but it should have everypony's location that you want to see. Oh, and the Princess sent this to me this morning too. Don't worry, it wasn't sealed," Twilight said, holding a folded map along with a golden piece of paper with her magic. Vakarious rolled his eyes at his nickname being called while taking the map as well as the gold piece of paper. He was truly annoyed at the nickname his sister had given him, yet he was so used to it as well.

"Thanks for the map, but what did your Princess send?," he asked, not reading the big letters which would have answered his question.
"It's an invitation to the Grand Galloping Gala", Twilight said. "It grants admission for one pony and a guest of their choosing."
"Ah, I see. And when is this um, 'gala'?" Vakarious asked. He didn't need, or really want to know what this 'Grand Galloping Gala' was, as it was easy for him to assume exactly what it was: A royal Ball held by the Princesses.

"It's in two weeks. This years Grand Galloping Gala is especially important because delegates and royalty from the Griffin Kingdom will be attending, something which hasn't happened in almost 1,000 years," Twilight answered.
"In other words, you want me to go, in Pegasus form?"
"Of course. And who knows, by then, you may even be able to use that 'human' form of yours," she added.
"I see. So it's a safe assumption that formal attire is required then?" he asked.
"Well, it's not really required, more so just expected. You won't have to worry about that, though. Rarity is already working on all of our dresses, so I'm sure she wouldn't mind getting something together for you as well," Twilight said.
"Hmm, alright then. Considering I probably won't be doing anything then, I guess it wouldn't hurt going to this 'gala'," Vakarious said. He wasn't really excited, in fact, quite the opposite. On Earth, he used to be required to attend many social gatherings, including the one he loathed the most: The President's Ball. There were only a handful of Presidents whose company I actually enjoyed. Other than that, the only people I was forced to be around were pretentious snobs that contributed absolutely nothing to the world. Which, from the sounds of it, this gala is no different at all.

"Great! Can't wait you see you there, I think you'll like it," Twilight said before trotting back up to her room upstairs. "We can talk more about it if you'd like later today when I'm not as busy."
"Sure. I'll be heading out then. Thanks for the map and the invitation," Vakarious said as he left the library.



~~~


As he walked, a sudden realization hit Vakarious. I have wings. Why am I not using my wings? Whatever, I'm here now it looks like. Vakarious went up to the white building and knocked on the door. After a bit, he heard the sounds of hoof steps trotting quickly towards the door. 

"I got it Rarity!" a squeaky voice said. As Vakarious waited, a white little filly opened the door. Other than the mane color and mane style, she was essentially a mini version of Rarity.

"Who are you?" the filly asked, while staring at him, "and what happened to your wings and tail?"
"My name is Vakarious, I'm new in town. If you want, you can just call me 'Vaka'. As for my wings and tail, well, lets just say I was born different. What about you?," he said, hoping the answer would satisfy the filly.
"I'm Sweetie Belle! Oh, and Rarity is my sister," the filly exclaimed, "come inside, my sister will be down shortly."
"Alright," Vakarious simply replied before heading inside the home, which was more of a workshop than anything. Upon entering the boutique, Vakarious noticed an abundance of pink. A lot of pink. Definitely obvious to who this place belongs to. Vakarious thought to himself.

"Rarity, someponys here to see you, come down already!" Sweetie Belle called out.
"Just a moment, I'm almost finished then I'll be down," Rarity called back.
"Sounds like she's doing something important," Vakarious commented.
"Oh, it's probably just some dress. She's just in her 'zone'," Sweetie Belle replied.
"Her 'zone'?" Vakarious asked.
"You don't want to know."
"Fair enough."

After some time, Rarity had finally made it down stairs, with Sweetie Belle running up to her room. Her normally refined mane and coat were frizzy and quite messy, Vakarious had noted, trying to prevent a smirk from forming.

"Busy day?" he asked. Rarity simply sighed before replying.
"You don't know the half of it. Now, what can I do for you darling?" she asked.
"Well, I was just in the area, and figured I'd stop by and see what's up," Vakarious replied sarcastically. Rarity was, like he guessed, not in the mood.

"Really funny," Rarity snarked back.
"In all seriousness, I just came from Twilight's, and she gave me an invitation to some party thing in Canterlot, and said I should come by here for an appropriate outfit," he said, earning a look of frustration from the white Unicorn. Vakarious had to admit, it was kinda fun annoying her so much with very little effort on his part.

"It's the Grand Galloping Gala dear. It's only the biggest event in all of Canterlot, even larger than the Canterlot Garden party. It's held by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna themselves, as well has catering to the most important ponies in all of Canterlot, if not all of Equestria," Rarity informed. She didn't like that Vakarious held such little regard for the huge event.

"Ah, that's right. Twilight told me that, it just must have slipped my mind. But again, in all seriousness, she really seems to want me to go for whatever reason. And, after asking who the best pony to see to attain the formal attire required for such an event, she suggested I see you," Vakarious said. "Although, I already assumed you'd be the one to see, since you seem talented in such a department, if your expertly maintained mane and coat is anything to go by," he added, attempting to flatter the white Unicorn after frustrating her.

"Oh why thank you most sincerely," Rarity replied, seemingly affected by his flattery. "And I would love to work on a Gala outfit for you Vakarious. I just have one question, if you wouldn't mind."
"What's that?" he replied.
"Now, I will need to take your measurements for your outfit, and as I understand it, you can take the form of anything you wish. Now, while it may seem obvious, I must ask anyway. What form do you wish to have sized up for the Gala?" Rarity asked. Vakarious had to think for a moment, taking into consideration what Twilight had told him. After some time, he decided.

"I'd prefer an outfit for a Pegasus at the moment I suppose. Though, if it turns out that my humanoid form is accepted in society by the time the Gala comes around, I would prefer an outfit for that instead. So, I guess I'll wait a bit before I come up with an answer, if that's alright," Vakarious replied. He figured he would need to stop hiding at least his human form eventually, so he didn't want an outfit made for a form he didn't like using.

"Very well then. As it took me about a week to finish all six of the girls dresses, I would ask that you come to a decision at least three days before the Gala comes around," Rarity informed.
"Alrighty then. And how much will it cost, whatever currency you guys, er, ponies rather, use?" Vakarious asked. He had not considered what he would do for funds, though after a quick thought, he figured he would just create some gold or gems. Whatever held the most value.

"Oh, don't worry about it at all darling. As you are considered a friend of my friends, I consider you a friend as well. As such, I refuse to make my friends pay for their outfits for such an important event," Rarity stated. Judging from her attitude, Vakarious figured it pointless to argue with her.

"Alright. Well, I'll be off then. I've got a couple more visits to make, as well as probably preparing something for Pinkie's party she said she was going to have today," Vakarious said.
"Okay dear, do take care," Rarity replied. Vakarious simply nodded before heading out of her boutique.


~~~


Vakarious had made it to Applejack's farm, known as Sweet Apple Acres. Though when he arrived, Applejack's little sister, Apple Bloom, had informed him that she was extra busy that day with something she called 'apple bucking'. After asking Apple Bloom to let her sister know that he had shown up. After he had flown for a bit, he decided he'd drop his invitation off at his home, until a realization struck him: He doesn't have a home. This wasn't much of a concern to him, though. While he could just make his own home somewhere he chose, he decided it'd be easier to just rent Ponyville's equivalent of an apartment. Well, time to conjure up some rare metals to sell. Vakarious chuckled to himself: This was a similar thing he had done on Earth. 

He conjured up the most rare metals and resources that the human's had put extreme value in, and spread it all throughout the world, effectively devaluing everything dramatically. Two hundred and fifty thousand US dollars worth of diamonds, for example, were worth only about twenty dollars. Many businesses and corporations were in an uproar, due to the ease of access to what used to be rare metals and resources. Eventually, those business went bankrupt, and their complaints ceased to matter to the rest of the world.

It was something that never ceased to amuse him. how much value humans, and apparently ponies, put into such irrelevant, inanimate objects, was both pity and hilarious to him. He wouldn't cause that sort of chaos on this world though: This world, while containing its own flaws, did not really have such need for such chaos.

After finding a relatively secluded area in a field, he began a simple creation spell of some gold and sapphire. As he did this, he was surprised and, embarrassingly startled by a raspy voice he knew all too well.

"Hey Vakarious, what's up?" the rainbow maned Pegasus asked.
"Nothing really. Decided I needed to rent a room, so I'm creating some gold and sapphire to sell so I can do that," he replied casually. Rainbow Dash just stared at him, letting what he said to her set it.

"Creating gold and sapphire? You're kidding, right?" she asked.
"Nope. It's quite simple really. Well, for me at least," Vakarious replied, boasting a little bit.
"That's...kinda cool. I mean, do you realize what you could do with that kind of ability, if it's true?" Rainbow asked in a jokingly menacing voice.
"Yes, I've done it before. It was pretty hilarious, actually. I'm not gonna do it here, though. This world just doesn't deserve such a cruel fate," he said with a grin. After he had a couple pounds of each element, he split a little bit with Rainbow Dash before asking her a question.

"You by any chance wouldn't know where I could turn this in, and where I'd go about getting some room or something?" he asked.
"Yeah, follow me and I'll take you to this currency exchange place that deals with this sort of stuff. You might be able to check the town hall for available places that are pretty cheap, though they're pretty ugly," Rainbow replied.
"Thanks," he said. "Oh, and for future reference, if you want, you can just call me 'Vaka', as much as I loathe it," Vakarious added.
"Cool deal Vaka," Rainbow replied, putting a lot of emphasize on his nickname, to his annoyance. She just chucked at his 'misery', though.

After a bit of flying, the duo had finally reached the Ponyville Currency Exchange Office, or P.C.E.O. They had gotten some odd looks, the employee responsible for accepting metals and stones apparently skeptical that they had real gold and sapphire, especially in the quantity they had it in, but after some testing, they were compensated in bits. In total, Vakarious had apparently made 4,000 bits worth of gold and sapphire, for only a couple of minutes of effort.

After Rainbow and Vakarious left the office, she took him to the town hall to browse for some available rooms or even small houses for sale. Vakarious was surprised at how cheap everything was, relatively of course. The most expensive home for sale, which was essentially a luxury home, had a down payment of 2,000 bits with a two year contract of 1,500 bits a month. He settled with a small home near the library though, costing him only 900 bits total.

"You know that's cheating right Vaka?" Rainbow joked.
"I don't consider it cheating if it's within my ability. And hey, at least I'm not really abusing the power. I didn't think what I made would be worth so much, and everything costing so little," Vakarious replied.
"Hehe, I know. Besides, you shared, so it's definitely cool."
"Yeah, I figured you'd have that outlook after I did that," he joked.
"Well, whatcha gonna do now?"
"Dunno. I was considering going into the forest to 'stretch my wings', if you catch my drift, after I checked out this house I got," Vakarious replied.
"Cool cool. Mind if I tag along? I've got all day," Rainbow asked. Vakarious was surprised, but didn't mind. He figured that, despite her just being a Pegasus, it'd be a similar flying session he and Alestra would do.

"Sure, just keep in mind though: Being the huge dragon I am, you'll probably have trouble keeping up with me in my true form," Vakarious jokingly warned. He knew Rainbow was fast enough to keep up with him, if not faster still.
"You kidding? Unless you can do a sonic rainboom, you're still not faster than me," Rainbow bragged.
"You do realize I'm not going to take that seriously until I actually see it, right?" he said, more so than asked.
"Of course I realize that. Assuming you're going to the Grand Galloping Gala, you realize you'll be seeing me perform a sonic rainboom there right?" she asked, bragging still. Vakarious had to admit, Rainbow never ceased to amaze him: From her loyalty to her friends, to her passion and complete confidence on her abilities. She definitely had the heart of a dragon.

"Cool. Till then, I still don't believe you," he said.
"Whatever, lets go. I wanna see you actually fly, so hurry up," Rainbow said. The duo had finally landed at the home Vakarious had purchased. It fit him perfectly, he felt. It wasn't too flashy, fancy or even that large, but it wasn't beat down or falling apart either. He liked it. After he checked the inside of it for a bit, he finally decided officially that it would suffice, then departed.

Vakarious and Rainbow Dash then headed towards the Everfree Forest. He had to admit, he felt a lot better having someone, or 'somepony' go with him that didn't seem to mind his large draconic form.

Meanwhile, in a different plane of existence...


~~~


Beyond the realm of reality, exists a plane of existence that is chaos and disorder incarnate. Within this realm, there are no such things as 'laws of physics', or any semblance of normal reality at all. This realm has been called many names by many different worlds, civilizations, and numerous beings, from being known as Hell itself, to the Void. However, the most common name this alternate dimension is most known as is simply the Twisting Nether.

The Twisting Nether houses nothing but beings and creatures of chaos, created and shaped by the chaos of the realm that surrounds them, or rather, they live in. The most notorious inhabitants of the Twisting Nether, however, are the demons of the Burning Legion. While there are demons who are not within the Legion ranks, and only exist for themselves, the demons of the Burning Legion undoubtedly, make up the majority of the demons within the Twisting Nether.

However, even within the realm of chaos, there is one being that invokes fear within the beings of Chaos. That being is none other than the Dark Lord, Sargeras the Destroyer: Leader of the Burning Legion.

One would think, that after returning from a world after being defeated, Sargeras would be infuriated beyond belief. Quite the opposite was the case, though. Sargeras merely watched the world that had escaped the might of his army for so long: Azeroth.

"Master, the Ley Line portal  was successfully activated upon your departure, as was planned," one of Sargeras' Nathrezim minions said to the Dark Lord.
"Good. Perhaps I may just yet allow Kil'jaeden to exist, despite his earlier failures," Sargeras said, talking to himself more than the Nathrezim. "How long until the portal to Azeroth stabilizes?"
"Only but a few more moments, master," the Nathrezim responded. Sargeras was pleased with the turn of events. Granted, though, he had not expected the dragon he fought with to actually hurt him to the extent that he did, let alone hurt him at all. The world, Earth, had put up a resistance he could have never expected from such an Arcane lacking world.

"Master...a thousand pardons..." the Nathrezim minion said, his voice trembling.
"Speak," the Dark Lord responded, his gaze upon Azeroth never leaving.
"I'm afraid...Kil'jaeden's scheme may not have succeeded, as you thought..." the Nathrezim minion informed, fearing his master would at any point destroy him.
"Define 'may not have succeeded'," Sargeras said, still watching Azeroth.
"For one...The dragon you fought with, may not have been destroyed, as you earlier suspected...And the Ley Line may not have been connected to Azeroth, master..." the Nathrezim minion said.
"I care not about the fate of the little lizard, its existence is irrelevant. Where, however, is the Ley Line located?" Sargeras asked, his fury clear through his 'calm' voice.
"It is an unknown world, master. Untouched by the Old Gods, and even the Titans themselves," the Nathrezim minion answered. Sargeras' demeanor however, changed from fury and anger towards his failed second in command, to curiosity and interest now.
"Show me this world," the Dark Lord merely stated.
"Yes, master," the Nathrezim minion responded, immediately bringing forth another world to his master's vision.

"The power of this world...I can feel it. It holds within it even more Arcane energy than Azeroth itself...Go now, and summon Kil'jaeden. I have an important task for him," Sargeras said, looking upon the new world before him now.
"But master...Kil'jaeden is still severely weakened from his 'death', and requires more time to recouperate," the Nathrezim minion responded.
"I do not care of Kil'jaeden's current state! So long as he exists, he is mine to command. If he is weakened due to his own failure, then so be it. Let it serve as his punishment. Now, go and summon Kil'jaeden!" Sargeras shouted.
"Yes, master." the Nathrezim minion said. 

After a few moments of summoning, Sargeras' minion had finally summoned Kil'jaeden, who was indeed weakened still.
"Who dares distrub me? I was to recieve no interruptions!" Kil'jaeden shouted at the demon that had summoned him.
"Silence! You will respect your superior!" Sargeras said to the startled Eredar.
"My apologies, Lord Sargeras. How can I be of service?" Kil'jaeden asked.
"You have failed me more than once in the destruction of Azeroth, and you have failed me on Earth. Consider this your last chance to prove your worth to me. You will go to this world, and just as you've done in the past, you will corrupt, recruit, or destroy any who would dare oppose my Legion. However, your main objective is simple. As I can feel the high amount of passive Arcane energy of this world, you will find a way to stabilize a portal," Sargeras said to the Deceiver.

"At once, Lord Sargeras. I just have but a few questions. What form of life inhabits this world, in what way will I land upon this world, and what of Azeroth?" Kil'jaeden asked.
"I do not know what inhabits this world, nor is it relevant to my interests. You will land upon the world via the portal that was opened due to your discovery of the Ley Line on Earth," Sargeras responded.
"But Lord Sargeras, the portal is still unstable. It could collapse upon my attempt to enter it, which would destroy me!" Kil'jaeden said, voicing his concern.
"Then so be it. You have failed me enough as it is," Sargeras said, to the annoyance of the Deceiver. "As for Azeroth, it will wait. Worry not, Kil'jaeden. You will have your vengeance on your treacherous brother," Sargeras added. Kil'jaeden nodded and proceeded to the portal that lay before him, and, in an instant, Kil'jaeden the Deceiver no longer remained within the Twisting Nether. Kil'jaeden found himself upon the newly discovered Arcane saturated world, ripe for the taking.
> Chapter 8
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	He had wandered around for awhile, assessing his surroundings and pondering how to go about the task given to him. While he was unsure of what inhabited the alien world he was on, he could feel the power emanating from it. More importantly, he could sense particular alterations within the magical spectrum that led to only one conclusion: a power, sentient race with an affinity for Arcane manipulation.

The power he could sense was all too familiar to Kil'jaeden. In fact, he was quite caught up in the nostalgic memories of his world when Sargeras imparted his gift of great power among himself, his brother, and his people. However, another memory made itself known as well, a memory which always drove the demon lord into rage: the betrayal of the one he once called his brother, Velen.

It was all irrelevant memories of the past, though. Kil'jaeden was as cunning as he was cruel, and knew better than to let his emotion and lust for vengeance get the better of him. His current task was set before him: The destruction of this world, or the enslavement of this worlds inhabitants. Simple as it seemed, precautions would be made to prevent the repeat of history nonetheless, and it was an easy solution as well.

While the concept of Kil'jaeden's undead Scourge was somewhat successful, he would need to find a way to directly control an army, or whatever inhabited this world directly. He would figure that out later, though. First, he needed to find which sentient race was the dominant one, and go about his ways of deception and corruption.

And as fortune would have it, he wouldn't have to look far, or for long. Upon hearing what he could single out as laughter, he made his way to a cave, and began looking for the source of the noise. It didn't take him long to find what he was looking for, the source being what he made out to be two winged steeds.

While not native to his home world, there were steeds of many types he knew of. The Nathrezim world, Xoroth, was the home of the well known Dreadsteed even, while the world of Azeroth had a few known winged steeds. The ones that flew before him intrigued him, though. The fact that they were talking wasn't what interested the Deceiver, rather, the expressions and emotions they showed. One was a cyan colored steed, with a mane and tail containing an assortment of different colors and a strange mark, while the other one was a pure dark purple. The purple one differed greatly from the cyan one though, he noticed. For one, unlike the feathered wings of the other, this one had reptilian like wings, as well as a reptilian tail.

After he observed the two winged steeds for some time, he singled out which one was which, though he did not know their names. The cyan one seemed to be female, while the dark purple one was male. Whether they were companions or not was irrelevant. As he observed, the dark purple steed stopped in mid air for some time, causing Kil'jaeden to grow slightly curious. The Deceiver's curiosity, however, would soon grow into concern and sudden realization as to what he saw: the dark purple steed was none other than the dragon that Kil'jaeden's master had fooled, Vakarious.

He had not seen the apparent 'Dragonlord' personally, let alone witness his abilities first hand. Everything he did know of the dragon were all merely reports from either subordinates or his master. A key thing that was known, however, was the dragon's arrogance, blind ambition and being prone to letting his emotions take over. While Kil'jaeden knew the dragon's power was great enough to see through any shape shifting spell he could use, Kil'jaeden would nonetheless be able to manipulate the dragon in other ways, and the cyan steed he flew with was the key.

After seeing the dragon land, Kil'jaeden realized exactly why he landed all too late: Vakarious saw the portal Kil'jaeden had use. While it was the same kind of portal even lesser warlocks could conjure up, such evidence could possibly compromise his position nonetheless. None of it mattered now, though. The Deceiver had work to do, and it required the manipulation of the cyan winged steed companion, and more importantly, more knowledge into this race.

After the duo left the mountains into the forest, the Deceiver began to emerge from the cave he had hid in. However, as he was exiting the cave, the ground beneath him began to shake. Before he could act, standing behind Kil'jaeden was a large, full grown green dragon. The Deceiver stared down the dragon, curious as to how many dragons actually inhabited this world, while the dragon stared down the Deceiver, curious as to what strange creature was invading his cave.

"You will leave my domain puny red creature, before I grow bored of being merciful," the green dragon threatened. Kil'jaeden merely laughed, however. While he could destroy this dragon with just a thought, he decided he'd find a use for this dragon instead. After all, making allies was more beneficial than making enemies, even if said allies serve you against their will.

"An amusing gesture from one such as yourself. You may do as you wish to me, however, it will be all for naught," Kil'jaeden replied, his voice filled with sinister intent. The dragon, however, was affected by the Deceiver's words, instead responding with a large breath of flame. Just as the Deceiver said, however, it was pointless. Kil'jaeden just laughed at the gesture, showing no signs of damage at all.

"What sorcery is this?" the dragon shouted, shorted before finding thi entire body shackled in some sort of spiky chain, searing the scales from his hide.

"To put it simply, I currently have use for you, pathetic as you may be. Consider this an 'act of mercy'," Kil'jaeden said, shortly before bathing the dragon in a green flame, with his screams of agony silenced by the mouth of the cave collapsing. "You serve the will of the Burning Legion now, dragon. More importantly, you serve me. You will stay put for now, until I have further need of you," and with that, Kil'jaeden disappeared from the cave.

The dragon, which become nothing more than a skeleton with a green cloud around 'him', mere stood there in compliance. The dragon then went deeper into the cave, so as not to be found by anyone foolish enough to search the cave. He cared not for himself, his well being, or even his hoard of gems and jewels. He had only one instinct: To serve his new master to the death.


~~~


Rainbow Dash and Vakarious had flown over the Everfree Forest for some time until they had finally reached the edge of a mountain range Rainbow called 'Rambling Rock Ridge'. After scanning around for a bit to make sure nobody besides Rainbow and Vakarious were around, the latter changed his form: changing from a fairly small Pegasus to a dragon of gargantuan size. Rainbow, despite being the first one to see his true size originally, was still in awe at the shear size of her new draconic friend.

"You know, if you take it a picture, it would last a lot longer," Vakarious joked, snapping Rainbow out of her trance. Rainbow Dash also noticed another thing about her draconic friend: Whenever he spoke, he spoke with a metallic, resonating, yet almost soft spoken voice. It was hard for her to describe.

"Hey, it's not every day I get to look at a huge dragon that isn't either covering the entire town in smoke, or on a rampage around town," Rainbow replied, snapping back into reality.
"At least not yet..." Vakarious joked, though Rainbow just rolled her eyes.
"Whatever, just go lizard boy."
"'boy'? I'm 2,600 years old...I mean, give or take a couple numbers, but you get the idea. I'm a few times your age," Vakarious shot at Rainbow.
"Yeah, well, if you're apparently this immortal dragon, that's really not that old is it?" Rainbow shot back. Vakarious sighed upon realizing what he had set himself up for. He was going to respond with something clever, but he found that he actually did not having anything clever to respond with. So he just rolled his eyes and started flying off.



~~~



After Rainbow and Vakarious had spent some time flying over the mountain range, they had decided to head back to Ponyville, before they were late to Pinkie's party. As they both started heading back to Ponyville, Vakarious had noticed something strange on the ground below him.

"Hold on a sec, I wanna check something out," Vakarious called out to Rainbow, before turning himself into his Pegasus form and landing on the ground.
"What are you doing?" Rainbow asked, following after him. Vakarious didn't say anything though, focused on the strange marking before him. After a bit of examining, he realized what it was he was staring at: The mark of a transportation spell. More specifically, a circular demonic rune.

"What is it?" Rainbow asked, confused as to what her friend was doing.
"I saw something peculiar. I have a very good idea as to what it is, but I'd like to take a sample and examine it some more before I can confirm anything," he replied, scooping up some of the black and green dirt and placing it in a hastily made stone case.
"Well, is that stuff bad?"
"Like I said, dunno for sure yet. It could be nothing, or it could be very bad. But why cause a panic if it turns out to be nothing, yaknow? While on the flipside, if I examine it, and it turns out to be very bad, then I'll know exactly what I'm dealing with," Vakarious replied. He debated with himself whether or not he wanted to send the Princess a letter or not at the moment, but he decided he'd do so after he knew for sure if the sample he had was Legion related, or just an independent event.

"Well, I'm ready to get out of here when you are," Vakarious said.
"Alright, let's go I guess," Rainbow replied. Vakarious could tell she was bothered by what he found, and how he wasn't telling her anything. "Look, I'll tell you what. On the condition that you don't tell anyone else that I found this thing, then I'll tell you first thing what it is, whether it's really bad or not, okay?" Vakarious offered. He figured it was only fair since he kind of dragged her along anyway.

"Fine, I'll pinkie promise not to tell anypony if you pinkie promise to tell me as soon as you find out," Rainbow Dash said. Vakarious rolled his eyes at the ridiculous promise he had to make, but proceed to give her his pinky finger. However, he was met with an odd look followed by a sudden realization: Her version of a pinky promise was different than humanity's.

"Ugh, just copy me. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," Rainbow said, while making motions that reminded him of an old school yard oath.
"Tell you what. I'll give you a promise from my world that's just as strong as your 'pinkie promise', alright? Since it'll be a promise I know by heart, it'll have that much more meaning," he offered. To his surprised, Rainbow accepted. "Alright, I promise that you will be the first to know what I found, before even the Princess. Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye," Vakarious said. Rainbow's reaction to the relatively morbid promise was quite priceless to him though, no matter how strong of a promise it was.

"Anyway, shall we head out then?" Vakarious asked, grinning.
"Yeah...let's go. Your world is pretty brutal, you know that right?" Rainbow stated, more than asked. Vakarious just shrugged.
"Yeah, that's what you get when you're raised by a war mongering race. Well, let's go then."

Vakarious flew off in his Pegasus form before Rainbow could say anything, though she caught up to him in no time. He didn't like how slow he was compared to her, though he figured it was just her being the apparent fastest flyer in Equestria.


~~~


Rainbow Dash and Vakarious finally arrived at Sugarcube Corner, apparently on time as well, considering they made it at the same time as Twilight Sparkle and Rarity did, two ponies who were never late for anything. Vakarious would have allowed Twilight and Rarity to enter before him, but Rainbow silently challenged him to a game of 'the first one inside wins', and he would not allow her such an easy victory, especially how often she seemed to humiliate him. Suffice to say, Vakarious had more burst speed than her on the ground, earning him this little, yet only victory. Rainbow just gave off a 'humph' of annoyance at her minor, yet big loss before heading inside.

Upon entering, Vakarious, Rainbow, Twilight, and Rarity were showered with confetti from a pink pony that seemingly appeared out of no where. Everyone, save for Vakarious, laughed at their pink friend, while Vakarious merely rolled his eyes. Not out of annoyance, more so at the apparent lack  of laws of physics.I swear, she's gotta possess some sort of magical ability.Vakarious mused, before heading further inside. As he neared a table, Applejack saw him and started to nervously head his way.

"Well howdy there Vakarious," Applejack greeted.
"Hey there, what's up?" Vakarious greeted back.
"Aw, nothin' much. Ah heard ya'll came over earlier today," she said.
"Ah, yeah. I just came by mainly to, yaknow, fix any damage I caused yesterday, if you know what I mean," he replied. Applejack just looked down and chuckled nervously before she responded.Well, that's not a good sign...Vakarious thought to himself.

"Dontcha worry yerself 'bout it, nopony got hurt, so that's all that matters, 'yeknow?" Applejack finally replied. He could tell she was still nervous, though.
" Meh, still. Twilight was right, I should have mentioned what I was far earlier," he said.
"Ah said dontcha worry yerself 'bout it, 'ah completely understand why ya'll woulda wanted somethin' like kept private," she reassured, still nervous. Vakarious, seeing that Applejack was this nervous around him decided to save her the trouble of awkwardly finding a reason to leave.

"Thanks. Well, I'm gonna go ahead and check the rest of the party, nice talking to you," Vakarious said, Applejack apparently seeming relieved.
"Any time pardner," Applejack said, before walking towards Rainbow Dash.Wonderful. She's either afraid of me, or she doesn't trust me. I'd understand the latter, and I suppose the former, but still, kinda aggravating.

Vakarious decided he'd talk a little bit with Pinkie Pie, seeing as how she was really the only pony he'd essentially insulted. He had to admit, when he wasn't depressed, her party was actually pretty entertaining.

"Hey Pinkie," Vakarious said as he approached the pink pony in question. She had apparently just finished talking with Fluttershy.
"Hello Vaka. How are you enjoying the party so far? Is it fun? I was going to throw a surprise party, but then I remembered how you said you didn't like surprise parties, so then I decided to throw this party instead!" the eccentric pink party pony exclaimed.
"I like it, you definitely threw a pretty crazy party, that's for sure. I dare say I'm having fun," Vakarious replied. "More importantly though, I wanted to apologize again for the way I treated you the other day, and yesterday for my rather unique appearance," he added.
"Oh, I knew you didn't mean it. I could just tell something was bothering you when you said you didn't like parties! I mean, who doesn't like parties? I can understand surprise parties, since Fluttershy doesn't like surprise parties, but everypony likes a party of some kind," Pinkie continued, not even stopping to take a breath. Definitely not short on energy, that's for sure.Vakarious just stood there, making a futile attempt at trying to catch everything the pink pony was saying to no avail. Finally, after a few minutes, Pinkie said something about having to get her pet alligator out of the punch, much to Vakarious' relief. While he wasn't annoyed by her so much now, she was still too much for him to handle, which said a lot. 


~~~



The party went on for another five more hours before ponies started to leave. While Vakarious didn't do much in the way of 'partying', he enjoyed conversing with the ponies he knew. He told various stories to the six ponies as well, such as a group of humans very similar to the Wonderbolts Rainbow Dash idolized called the 'Blue Angels', and the maneuvers they executed in their planes (which he would explain to her later), the cities that were very much like Canterlot in terms of sophistication, and talked about a lot of entertainment technology humans created.

The topic he enjoyed talking about the most, however, was the music of his world. He may not have been fond or trusting of humans, but to him, music was the most beautiful art humans have ever created. Twilight and surprisingly, Rainbow Dash, seemed to be the most interested in what he had to say.

"So, did humans and dragons ever work together to create music?" Twilight asked. Vakarious and Rainbow were surprised she wasn't taking notes.
"In older times, yes. While collaboration between humans and dragons didn't necessarily end abruptly, by the time of my worlds drastic change, such groups were pretty rare," Vakarious replied.
"Seeing as how you said there were a lot of different musical groups and bands, what were some of your personal favorite?"  Twilight asked with an almost childlike expression.
"Well, there were a lot of different groups and types I liked. Though honestly, what I liked really can't be put into words. Sorry," Vakarious said. Twilight just nodded, she seemed to understand what he was talking about. Rainbow, however, just seemed annoyed and flew off to the other side of the room, stopping in front of Pinkie Pie.

After talking some time with Twilight, both her and Vakarious had noticed how late it had gotten, and both decided to leave and call it a night. Vakarious had left the building, and heading for his home. On his way, Rainbow Dash decided to pick up some small talk with him for a little bit, just talking about the party they were just at, and after some time, Rainbow had flown off towards her cloud home, while Vakarious neared his. While he disliked the concept of sleeping at night, it would be that night he would rest. He hadn't gotten any real rest in over a week, ever since...He interrupted those thoughts. While not particularly running away from the problems his world faced, worrying about them while stranded on a different world did him no good. 

Once Vakarious had at last reached his home, he intended to lay down and rest. However, upon heading towards his room to do so, a certain stone case caught his attention. After some internal debating, he finally decided to investigate the contents of what was in the case the following morning. Rest at this point, was a priority. After toying with the case for a bit, he finally set it down and fell onto a makeshift bed that had come with the house.  After only a few minutes, sleep overcame him.




	
> Chapter 9
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	It was a barren world, jagged tall mountains all lined up in the distance. The sky was blood red, with a small hint of green lining in the clouds. It was a scene that was all too familiar to the figure that stood on this world: signs of the Burning Legion. This world had been ravaged, all life either corrupted or destroyed, all elements crying out in agony and anger. It was a fate this his world very narrowly avoided.

Vakarious looked up at the sky for a moment, then he looked in front of him. Standing about a mile away from him, was the army responsible for the fate of the world he was on: the Burning Legion. However, he felt a presence behind him as well, a presence he felt in a similar dream, or vision very long ago. He turned around, and behind him stood another large army of assorted beings. 

Everyone, Vakarious included, seemed to all be led by what appeared to be a human in armor engulfed by a glowing gold aura. He recognized most of them, dragons, some his own and some not, humans of both his world and another he knew of, blue creatures that seemed demonic in appearance, but were the exact opposite, and...Rainbow Dash? There were many other races behind him, but the cyan Pegasus is what caught his attention the most. The fact that she, along with her friends and an entire army of ponies behind them were here confused him greatly. He wondered if they were perhaps a part of this 'Army of the Light' as well. I don't recall seeing Rainbow here, let alone the entire Equestrian guard or whatever they have. Were they here the last time I saw them?

"Indeed they were, Dragonlord Vakarious, just not as you now know them," a familiar voice called to the dragon, answering his thoughts. Vakarious recognized the voice all too well, the voice belonging to the one who warned him of the Burning Legion's terrible evil and might.

"A'dal, I'm assuming?" Vakarious asked, knowing full well who it was.
"Indeed, young Dragonlord," the being replied and soon after, A'dal revealed itself to Vakarious. A'dal was not a living being but rather, an embodiment of a sort of energy, appearing as nothing more than a mere floating crystal, with a concentration of a glowing white energy in its center. When the being, A'dal, spoke, his voice resonated within Vakarious' mind rather than an audible external voice.

"Why are they here? The Equestrian world is untouched by the Titans, the Burning Legion, or even the Old Gods. Why would they be apart of this conflict at all?" Vakarious demanded.

"The war against the evils of the Burning Legion does not end at your world, young Dragonlord. The fate of this world will be no different than your world, the world of Azeroth, or any other world that may defy the Burning Legion. Just as you defended your world, you must defend this world now," A'dal replied.

"Bullshit. I spent well over 200 hundred years fighting the Legion on Earth. I saw my city, and many others fall. I watched good dragons and humans alike die for their world, while I was powerless to save them, and now you're telling me I have to go through it all again, for a world that's not my own?" Vakarious' anger was evident, though A'dal was unphased.

"Your anger is understandable, young Dragonlord. However, your fate has been set before you, Vakarious. You were wise enough to heed our warning in the past, will you do so again?" A'dal questioned.

"No, I will not. I have fought my war, I have done my part. This is not my world, nor is it my responsibility. If you really want this world to help you, then do something to defend it yourself," Vakarious replied.

"We have. Over a thousand years ago, we  imparted  very powerful crystal artifacts upon this world, seven to be exact. The 'Crystal of Joy', the 'Crystal of Duty', the 'Crystal of Benevolence', the 'Crystal of Charity', the 'Crystal of Righteousness', the 'Crystal of Concord', and the 'Crystal of Light'," A'dal explained.

"Okay? Sounds like you Naaru either need to get off your asses and actually do something to stop the Legion, or it sounds like this world is perfectly equipped to stop the Legion on their own," Vakarious said.

"You know more than anyone else young Dragonlord, no one is 'perfectly equiped' to defeat the Burning Legion. This world needs you Vakarious. You are---"
"No, fuck you!" Vakarious interrupted, "I've done my fucking part, I've fought my war. You're apparently this omnipotent being of pure light! You fight your own damn war, just as I, and many other races have fought ours," Vakarious finished.

"Then this world is already lost. Neither I, nor my brethren will contact you anymore, young Dragonlord. We will leave you to your own devices, hoping you see reason and change your mind. The Naaru will always be here though, Vakarious, if you do change your mind. May the Light never abandon you, young Dragonlord," A'dal said, before he disappeared.

Vakarious mere stood where he was, watching as the two armies clashed with each other. However, he noticed that the ponies were not present anymore, and soon the Army of the Light was being overrun and obliterated by the Burning Legion. He just stood there, not caring at all about the chaos and carnage going on around him. After a bit, Vakarious found the world fading into darkness, and soon he was engulfed in nothing but pitch dark...


~~~


Vakarious awoke at around noon. He always did hate sleeping in, mainly due to the fact of him feeling vulnerable during unconsciousness. He promptly got out of his makeshift bed, and headed for a small bedside table. on top of the table was a plain, grey stone box. He grabbed the box, and as he began to open it to study the contents within, a knock was heard on his door. He rolled his eyes, set the box on the table, and headed for the door before another knock was heard.

"I'm coming, calm down," he yelled. He hated being rushed, but he was curious as to who it was now. When he opened the door, he was greeted by Twilight, who was holding a previously opened scroll in an aura of purple magic. He let her in, and after shutting the door, he decided to greet her first.

"Oh, hey Twilight. 'Sup?" Vakarious said.
"You've got a letter from Princess Celestia. She has a really special request for you!" Twilight exclaimed. Vakarious took the scroll and began to read it to himself. 

He skimmed most of it, not really caring about the contents of the letter, considering it was just Celestia telling him about the Grand Galloping Gala and how it was in less than two weeks. However, as he came to the end of the letter, a passage caught his attention:

Twilight Sparkle has also informed me that you would be willing to share some of the music of your world. It would be such a great honor for you to do such a thing, and I am personally very grateful for you volunteering in sharing such art.

Vakarious stopped reading the letter, and looked at Twilight, who was apparently excited, then back at the letter. He repeated looking at Twilight and the letter a few times before he finally broke the silence.

"Um, question," Vakarious said.
"Of course, what is it?" Twilight replied.
"Forgive my little outburst, but WHY THE HELL DID YOU TELL CELESTIA THAT I WOULD 'SHARE THE MUSIC' OF MY WORLD AT HER GALA?" Vakarious shouted. Twilight's ear dropped down as she was taken by surprise, and remained silent for a bit before she answered him.

"Well, considering how much you spoke of your favorite music, I just figured, you know, that you wouldn't mind sharing some of it..." Twilight said.
"Oh, well then never mind. I mean, since I happen to have some favorite songs, that means I can totally share it," Vakarious shot at her.
"Well, can't you?"
"NO! I don't know crap about music, other than it makes noise. Musical notes? Learning Russian was easier than that music crap! You need to tell your princess that you made a mistake by saying I could give her little party some music," Vakarious said. Twilight once again got quiet before answering.

"Um, there's just a little problem....Princess Celestia already informed the orchestra that you'd um, be giving them sheets and possible performing..." Twilight said, hanging her head now. Vakarious face palmed, and was about to shout at Twilight again before a sudden realization hit him.

"Do you think you could open up a portal to my world again?" Vakarious asked, his demeanor changing to a sudden calmness, which worried Twilight.

"Um, I can, yes. Why?" Twilight asked.
"Cause I have an idea. If this works, then this problem will be solved, and your land of Equestria will be able to listen to some of the greatest musical artists that have ever existed," Vakarious replied. Twilight was confused, but decided to go along with whatever Vakarious had planned.


~~~


Vakarious and Twilight were near the Everfree Forest, where the former had last time made contact with his world after Twilight helped him. Twilight was still confused as to why they were here, considering Vakarious remained quiet the whole time. In fact, she was growing increasingly worried, seeing as how just a few minutes ago, Vakarious was angry and shouting at her. After some walking, they had finally made it to the area they needed to be.

"Okay, it'll just take a second now that I know what to do," Twilight said, Vakarious merely nodding. After a bit, another portal was opened, this time the scenery being what appeared to be ruins of a city, following the same being Vakarious was talking to last time.

"Alestra!" Vakarious shouted. The person in question, Alestra, turned around and soon spoke.
"Vaka? Whats up?"
"I've got a question. Is the connection between Earth and this place steady enough for you to send little things through?" Vakarious asked.
"Um, it depends on what you define as 'little' things. I wouldn't count on hamsters surviving, if that's what you're asking," Alestra replied.
"That'll work. I need you to find an Mp3 player that still works, and put the following songs on a list I'm gonna send you. And if you can, send a sound system too," Vakarious said.
"I can do better than that. Your Ipod survived the war, since you actually listened to ol' Pratty and left it in the sanctuary. I'm curious though--"
"I got volunteered to do the musical arrangement for a ball here," Vakarious interrupted. "Speaking of which, do you think you could send that black Draconian outfit along with Browning's gift?" Vakarious added.

"Um, yeah, sure. When do you need all this crap by, now or what?" Alestra asked.
"If you can send it all now, then yeah," he answered.
"Um, okay. Just wait a bit."

After that, the portal turned dark black with nothing happening. Twilight, watching the whole thing, was confused at everything Vakarious asked Alestra for, and so decided to ask him what he was doing.

"So, what exactly is all of that stuff you asked for, and how will it solve our problem?" Twilight asked.
"Well, humans like I told you had a little knack for technology. One of their inventions, which I consider one of their greatest, is the 'Mp3' player. Or 'Mp4' player, but let's not get technical. Anyway, what this neat little device does is it stores and plays music. The most advanced ones being able to hold like 5,000 songs I think? Something like that," Vakarious answered. Twilight found herself intrigued at what she had been told. An apparently simple device being able to store thousands songs, and play them all, was amazing. She was still curious though as to what the other things he requested.

"So, I know what a sound system is, and I could see why you want your outfit from your own world, but, what's that 'gift' you wanted?" Twilight asked. Vakarious had completely forgotten that she heard him ask for that, but decided to answer her honestly.

"Well, it involves a pretty long history lesson. We seem to have time, but, do you want to hear it all" Vakarious asked.
"Um, yes?" Twilight sarcastically said.

"Alright I'll give a pretty quick explanation. The 'gift' I asked for is a human weapon. While I never really had any use for human weapons, this one in particular is really special to me. The weapon in question is known as a Colt M1911---"

"Wait, 'Colt'? Are you serious?" Twilight teased.
"Yes, Colt. Is that a problem or something?" Vakarious asked.
"No, it's just funny is all. I mean, you do know what a Colt is right?" Twilight asked, teasing still.
"You know, I didn't make fun of your Elements of Harmony when you told me the history of Equestria," Vakarious retorted.
"The Elements of Harmony are also not named after a word that describes a young male pony either," Twilight teased back.
"Anyway, do you want me to continue?" Vakarious asked.
"Yes, I'm sorry. That's just a funny name," Twilight replied, snickering.

"Yeah, funny name. Anyway, Colt M1911. It was designed by a man named John Moses Browning, probably, in my opinion, the greatest inventor of small arms to have ever lived. Anyway, this particular weapon, also called a 'gun'---"
"I know what a gun is Vaka. The Minotaurs have them," Twilight teasingly interrupted.
"Are you going to let me finish, or keep interrupting me?" Vakarious said.
"Yes, sorry. Continue please," Twilight said, still snickering.

"Anyway....This particular gun is special to me because it was John Browning's first personal model he had, and he gave it to me shortly before he died," Vakarious finished. Instead of the teasing and snickering she was doing though, Twilight was instead sympathetic. In fact, Twilight started feeling bad because she had teased Vakarious like she was, instead of being understanding of his feeling towards the matter.

"I'm sorry I was so insensitive Vaka..." Twilight apologized.
"Don't worry about it. Don't get pissed off if you tell me a heart wrenching story and I laugh about it though," Vakarious replied. Twilight teasing him didn't actually affect him at all, annoying him a little bit at the most. Before Twilight could respond though, the darkened portal changed back to Alestra inside of what appeared to be her room, from the last time Twilight saw her.

"Alright, so I've got your Ipod, your black tuxedo thing, and your Colt. Oh, and the best I could do were these two speakers. Not much survived in terms of entertainment equipment unfortunately," Alestra said, surrounded by all of the items in question.

"They'll work, thanks a crap ton," Vakarious said.
"One question. How the hell are you going to keep the Ipod charged? From what I can tell, I doubt you have access to any electrical outlets," Alestra asked.
"Um, do you forget who you're talking to? If I can control the elements, don't you think I can generate the right amount of juice to charge an Ipod?" Vakarious sarcastically asked.
"Well, yeah. What if you blow it up though? As I remember, you're kind of an idiot with delicate things," Alesta said.
"Well, considering I've done it befo---Wait, why am I even explaining this to you? Just send the crap over," Vakarious snapped back.

"Dick. Here it all comes, watch out. You're lucky I don't 'accidentally' mess up and torch all this crap," Alestra shot. Shortly after, all of the items appeared in Equestria, seemingly unharmed.

"Yeah, thanks. Just do me a favor and don't give Praetorian an aneurysm. But seriously, thanks, you really saved my ass here," Vakarious said.
"Don't mention it. Believe it or not, you are missed here, and we are trying to figure out a way to get you back," Alestra replied.
"I know you guys are. Only a couple days gone, and I miss Earth and you guys already too," Vakarious said.
"I still hate you though."
"As do I. Well, until next time. I might talk to you some time later Alestra. Again, thanks."
"See ya."

With that, the portal disappeared, with a lavender Unicorn and a dark purple Pegasus with small wooden box and strange equipment being the only things that remained. Twilight was still amazed at the fact that everything before her was from a completely different world.

"Well, I can't use this thing for crap with hooves, so lets go ahead and go back to my place, and I'll show you how it works kinda," Vakarious said, snapping Twilight out of her trance.
"Sounds good to me. I just hope it works," Twilight said. She had to admit, she was pretty skeptical about the device Vakarious had.
"It'll work."


~~~


After some coercing from Twilight, Vakarious reluctantly agreed to go to the library with her after he had dropped off the rest of his things, so Twilight could study his 'strange music' player a little bit. As the two were walking, Vakarious found himself going over his 'dream' he had that night. What bothered him the most about it all, was the artifacts the Naaru had apparently left on this world. While, to his knowledge, this world was completely untouched by the Titans, the Old Gods, and the Burning Legion, the Naaru's presence bothered him. Maybe the reason the Burning Legion apparently has their sights on this world is because of those idiot talking crystals  Vakarious thought to himself.  'The Crystal of Light', 'The Crystal of Joy', 'The Crystal of Duty', 'The Crystal of Benevolence', 'The Crystal of Righteousness', 'The Crystal of Charity', 'The Crystal of Concord', and 'The Crystal of Light'. What the hell was he talking about? Vakarious' thoughts were interrupted though once he and Twilight had reached the library.

"Just go ahead and make yourself at home, I'm gonna get some notes and books ready real quick," Twilight said.
"Will do," Vakarious replied. After, Twilight headed upstairs while Vakarious headed for Twilight's study where the two went last time. As he was making his way though, he noticed a glass display with what appeared to be jewelery in it. Odd, how did I not notice this before? Meh, must be stuff to go with their dresses for the Gala Vakarious thought to himself. He continued to inspect the assorted jewelery until Twilight came back.

"Hey, you ready?" Twilight asked, noticing what he was looking at.
"Yeah, but real quick. What's with all the fancy jewelry? Stuff for the Gala I'm assuming?" Vakarious asked.
"Um, no. Those are the Elements of Harmony. Didn't I tell you about them?" Twilight said, confused.
"You told me a little bit about how they shoot rainbows of doom and turn things to stone, but you didn't actually show them to me," Vakarious responded sarcastically. He was curious about what he was looking at, though. Twilight merely rolled her eyes at his comment about the Elements, however.

"Right. Anyway, yes. These are the Elements of Harmony. Normally they stay locked away in Princess Celestia's castle, but she decided it'd be best if I held onto them ever since Discord was reformed. In case we needed to get to them quickly," Twilight informed.
"Huh. Interesting way of being cautious I guess. Still don't see how you're able to trust a spirit of chaos so easily though," Vakarious said. He still couldn't get over the fact that instead of destroying Discord, they merely put him on probation. Though, his personal bias against the spirit he didn't even personally know was also due to his experience with his own world's being of chaos.

"Fluttershy is really the only one who trusts him as a friend. As for the rest of us, we trust him just as much as we trust you. We all have nothing to gain from him being stone, so we put up with each other," Twilight said.
"I guess. I personally would have destroyed him first chance I got, but that's just me and my 'brutish' ways," Vakarious replied.
"Uh huh. Anyway, let's go. I still haven't heard that music player of yours actually work yet," Twilight said, changing the subject. She didn't want to go into how she did want Discord destroyed during their first encounter.


~~~


Twilight and Vakarious had spent about an hour doing nothing but listening to the latter's music player. Twilight had heard a variety of different types of music, ranging from people Vakarious called 'Jimi Hendrix' to 'Frank Sinatra', to artists that played music that sounded very much like Vinyl Scratch's type of music. Twilight was actually surprised that, while completely different songs, the sounds were very similar to genres in Equestria.

"So. Do you think it'll work?" Vakarious asked.
"Well, yes. I was wrong about your music player, or 'Ipod' as you called, not working," Twilight replied, admitting defeat.
"Well, that's kinda cool that you can admit when you're wrong. But I was asking if you think anything on here will go over well at the Gala," Vakarious said.
"Oh. Well um...Considering that everything on there is very similar to genres here in Equestria, I think there's maybe a couple artists on there that would qualify for the Gala," Twilight said, hoping not to insult Vakarious. He had seen this coming though, and already had an idea of what he would show at the Gala.

"I had a feeling. Never went wrong with some Frank Sinatra in the past though, which was someone who performed at very similar events. Think he'll work?" Vakarious asked. Twilight thought about it before nodding.
"Oh, and I'm sorry for volunteering you like I did..." Twilight sheepishly said.
"Don't worry about it. Just consider yourself lucky the portal thing was stable enough to send all my crap through," Vakarous replied. Twilight was still a little angry at herself that she had done that to him, though she believed that he really wasn't bothered by it now. While she was thinking though, a thought had crossed her mind.

"Um, Vaka, can I ask you something?" Twilight said.
"Sure," he replied.
"Well, you said you had that weapon of yours, which I understand was a gift and is important to you. It's just, what need do you have to bring a weapon to the Gala?" Twilight asked. Vakarious had a feeling that question would have come up sooner or later, and had already prepared an answer.

"On my world, it was quite common for human officers of military's to attend large social gatherings, especially foreign ones. As a custom and a show of force for the military's said officers represented, they were always armed in some way. As such, they would typically bring their favorite, or most pretty small arms," Vakarious said, pausing. After a bit, he continued. "Being who I was, I was pretty much required to attend the very large gatherings that were held by the most important people of the world. And as such, the hand gun that was made personally and owned by the person who revolutionized pretty much all good weapons was my personal choice," Vakarious finished. 

"That makes sense. I guess I should have known that, really. If my brother wasn't a Unicorn, he would be expected to have some ceremonial royal weapon when attending the Gala, or even his own wedding," Twilight said.
"Captain of the Royal Guard right?" Vakarious asked.
"That, and Prince of the Crystal Empire," Twilight added.
"Wouldn't he actually be the king, with his wife being the queen?"
"No, that sort of leadership isn't customary in pony society, as it implies dictatorship and tyranny. Especially after King Sombra's rule," Twilight said. Vakarious was actually intrigued by what she told him. Both because it made too much sense, considering the ponies attitudes, and the fact that even the leaders tried not to allow themselves to be corrupt with power. 

With nothing else to do, or talk about though, Vakarious decided to head back home. While talking with Twilight usually was quite interesting and enlightening, he still needed to study the samples he had collect the day before. After some small talk, Vakarious told Twilight that he was going to go home so he could relax a little bit. Twilight said goodbye, and soon, Vakarious was on his way home.


~~~


Deep beneath the frozen wastelands of Northern Equestria, stood the former ruler of the Crystal Empire, ever waiting. A thousand years ago, the dark Unicorn, known as King Sombra, was turned to shadow and cast away, destined to be imprisoned for all eternity beneath the frozen wastes by the two royal sisters. However, in his last act of power, the king had cursed the empire so that, should he ever fall, so too would the city. In doing so, Princess Celestia and her sister, Princess Luna were forced to weaken the banishment spell, so that the city would return some day and in doing so, allowed King Sombra to return with it as well.

A thousand years later, just as the evil Unicorn had planned, the city resurfaced, along with him. And while he was repelled from the city by the very crystal heart he used to instill fear in his subjects, he had not been destroyed as everyone thought. Indeed, he waited, just as he had done in the past, for the perfect opportunity to take his rightful place as ruler of the Crystal Empire, and the new demonic arrival he sense was just what he needed.
> chapter 10
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Vakarious had finally made it home after his visit with Twilight at her library. Upon entering his home, he immediately took to his human form and went up to his room, intending to finally begin studying the samples. It was something he really needed to do, the outcome of which possibly being nothing to worry about, or everything to worry about.

"Now let's see what made you." Vakarious said to himself as he poured the contents of the stone box on his table, with a combination of green, black, and white dirt being what spilled out. He sorted the samples by color, with the green dirt on the left, the white in the middle, and the black on the right. He then began to cast an assortment of elemental spells, finding out exactly what he was looking at.

"Just as I thought. The black dirt is black due to it just being burnt, nothing abnormal there, with the green being Fel taint. The white, as to be expected of a demonic portal, is the remnants of the runes used for the connection. Ugh, I won't be able to tell if it's related to the Burning Legion at all though."

After spending an hour of doing what, Vakarious felt like, nothing but staring at dirt, he finally gave up. While he knew for a fact what it was, he just didn't know where it came from, or if it was even related to his own arrival or not. Nonetheless, he would send a letter to the Princess anyway, just to be safe. If she felt it was enough to worry about, then good on her and if not, then so be it.


Princess Celestia,

While I'm sure you will find yourself curious as to how you received a letter in such a manner without the services of Twilight Sparkle's assistant Spike, I will gladly explain how I sent this to you at some other time. At the moment, however, there are more important matters to attend to.

Yesterday, I decided to fly over the Everfree Forest, along with the one called Rainbow Dash. While we were making our return, I took notice of an odd marking on the ground below me. Upon further inspection, it was a marking that was all too familiar to me, a demonic rune of teleportation. This is an ability I know of that only two types of beings make extensive use of: Warlocks, a type of Arcane caster that delves into demonic power, and agents of the Burning Legion. Unfortunately, I could not gather any other information from my findings.

As I have not been able to find out whether this is cause for alarm or not, I have decided that I would leave that decision to you. As this is not my world, it is not my place to make such decisions over something that could just be trivial

If you have any questions or concerns, you can reply directly to me by simply focusing on my essence, much like when you send scrolls to Spike.

With regards,

Vakarious.

After he was satisfied with what he had wrote, Vakarious rolled the letter into a scroll.  He then held it within the palm of his hand, and the letter disappeared moments later, leaving a similar, albeit purple trail of flame as it does when Spike sends scrolls to the Princess. With nothing else to do, Vakarious decided tour the rest of the town, seeing as he had nothing else planned for two weeks.  Might see what I could get for the house seeing how plain it looks. Vakarious thought to himself shortly before taking his Pegasus form.



~~~


After a couple of minutes and many failed attempts later, Vakarious gave up trying to get his Ipod to work comfortably in his Pegasus form, and started heading towards the market. As he was making his way in the streets of Ponyville, Vakarious noticed Rainbow Dash in the sky clearing a single cloud. With nothing else to do, and not minding a guide, he decided to get her attention and see what she was up to.

"Hey Rainbow, what's up?" Vakarious called out.
"Oh, hey Vaka, just finishing up my shift in weather clearing duty. What are you doing?" she replied.
"Heading to the market to look at stuff. Figured I'd get some house stuff, yaknow," he said.
"Sounds cool. Your house is pretty ugly though, sure you can find enough things for it?" Rainbow teased.
"Well, as you know, bits really aren't an issue for me at all," Vakarious joked. Rainbow just snickered before landing next to him.
"So, question. Seeing as  you have wings, why don't you actually, yaknow, use them? Are you just scared of flying?" Rainbow asked.
"Yup, definitely. Figured me out," Vakarious answered sarcastically. "In all seriousness, I honestly just forget. And generally, by the time I remember, I end up arriving where I needed to be anyway."
"That's a pretty dumb reason, not gonna lie. I mean, how do you forget, that you can fly?" Rainbow said.
"Simple, really. Seeing as the only other form I've ever used for thousands of years was one that couldn't fly, I got into the habit of not flying while in any other form," Vakarious replied.
"Well, that's still dumb. I've gotta jet though, gotta make sure the skies stay clear for another hour before I'm off. See ya later Vaka," Rainbow said before flying off. Vakarious just sighed and continued down the road.

When Vakarious finally made it to the market, he was quite surprised. He found the market much more lively and full of activity than he expected from such a small town. He just shrugged and moved on, looking over the various merchants and items on display. The whole place reminded him greatly of human Swap Meets, minus the vans, trucks, and music of course. As he was about to make his way to a merchant who had quite a bit of furniture, Vakarious could see the ponies running in a direction, with some screaming. Curious, he decided to go see what all of the excitement was about.

After following the group of excited and screaming ponies, he shortly came to a stop in front of what appeared to be a tall clock tower. Wading through the crowed, he saw what all the ponies seemed to be in a fit about: a young filly was some how hanging from the edge of the tower. After noticing that the only help were a couple of apparent fire fighter ponies with a short ladder, Vakarious came to the realization that there were no other Pegasi around besides himself. Rolling his eyes, he decided to fly up to help the distressed young pony, assuming it would be an easy task. 

However, he found that due to his lack of experience in his Pegasus form, he could not grab filly at all, not even being able to fly underneath to catch the young pony. I'm going to regret this... Vakarious thought to himself before landing on the perch the filly was holding on to. After one last attempt to try and grab the filly in his Pegasus form, he created a large area of mist around himself an the filly, before changing into his human form and after doing so, he grabbed for the filly. However, he wasn't quick enough, and the filly slipped, screaming as she fell. Rolling his eyes again, he dove after her, grabbed her, and elevated the earth below him shortening their fall greatly. After they were safe on his pillar he had swiftly created, Vakarious started to leave to hide, but it was too late. He was in the open, in his human form, holding a filly, whom he promptly set down. After a long silence, the filly screamed and ran away towards the center of the town, with the rest of the ponies following suite.  Wonderful... Vakarious thought to himself before heading towards Twilight's library to explain why a riot in Ponyville was likely.


~~~


"Instead of reading the same books you've read hundreds of time on dragons, why don't you just ask Vakarious everything he knows about dragons?" Spike asked Twilight, who indeed had a book with limited knowledge on dragons.

"Because Spike, I've asked him a lot already. Besides, I think he'll be impressed with how much I already know about dragons," Twilight replied, not taking her gaze off of her book. Before Spike could respond, they both heard a pounding on their door. "Ugh, can you get that Spike?" Twilight asked, before tidying her desk up a bit for her unannounced visiter. Spike nodded and headed for the door, while Twilight continued cleaning her area up. She was about to head into the main room, until Vakarious barged into her study.

"We've got a slight problem," Vakarious said. As he said that, Twilight noticed that he was in his human form, and could safely assume what the 'problem' he was referring to was.

"Let me guess. Somepony saw you in your human form, got scared to death, and alerted the town to the monster amongst everypony?" Twilight asked, clearly annoyed at the situation she would probably have to deal with.

"Well, not exactly along those lines..." Vakarious began.
"This should be interesting," Twilight muttered. Vakarious just rolled his eyes before he continued.

"I might write a novel about it later. Anyway, here's the situation..."


~~~


"So, let me get this straight. Because you didn't take the time to learn how to be a Pegasus, you had to resort to using your other form to same somepony, regardless if anypony else saw you?" Twilight asked, after Vakarious explained the situation. He merely nodded, before Twilight walked around.

"Well, you were going to end up coming out with at least your human form at some point in time anyway. So, the good news is, at least you did so saving somepony. As for the whole town 'rioting' over this? Just give them time, and they'll get used to you. I mean, at least your first impression wasn't turning Ponyville into the chaos capital of the world," Twilight finished.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Vakarious asked, confused at the reference.
"That's what Discord did, remember? Even so, after he did that, ponies are starting to accept him a month since he was released and reformed. Your first impression was saving somepony you didn't even know, so you'll have a MUCH easier time," Twilight informed.
"Whatever. So, I might as well just go about town looking like whatever I want now? Short of the whole 'giant dragon' thing of course," Vakarious said.
"Your Pegasus form won't really hide you anymore, so I think it'll be safe. Besides, Princess Celestia did want you in your true form at the Gala anyway, so this is pretty convenient," Twilight replied. Vakarious rolled his eyes once again, annoyed at the turn of events. Sure, he didn't have use a form he hated anymore, but now he was going to be the center of attention: something he hated even more than his Pegasus form.

"Guess I'll go then. Kind of annoying how the town is reacting to me, but whatever," Vakarious said before heading to the door.
"Wait," Twilight said, before he could leave.
"What?"
"If you're not busy...I was wondering if you could tell me everything you can about dragons?" Twilight asked.
"Yeah, I could tell you everything I know about my kind, "Vakarious answered. Before Twilight could squeel in excitement, however, Vakarious added one last thing. "And perhaps some day, I might tell you a little of what I know. Thank you for your help with todays situation, Twilight Sparkle."
"Okay, no problem Vakarious," Twilight said begrudgingly. Vakarious saw her frustation at his reply, and couldn't help but snicker as he left the library.

"Well? What'd he say?" Spike asked Twilight, who was heading back to her study.
"Oh, nothing. He just did something that caused the entire town to see his human form, that's all," Twilight replied.
"No, what did he say about him telling you everything he knew about dragons?" Spike asked again.
"Oh, he just sa--How do you know I asked him?" Twilight asked.
"Twilight...C'mon. What did he say?" Spike replied.
"He said 'perhaps someday, I might tell you a little of what I know.' Ugh, I knew that was going to happen," Twilight said, going into her study and shutting the door before Spike could say anything else.


~~~


Vakarious headed towards the edge of the forest he become used to. He had decided not to go into the town for the rest of the day, and possibly the next, just to give the town time to calm down. All things considering, it could have been worse...I mean, at least I didn't get threatened with nukes and a lot of guns pointed at me... Vakarious mused to himself. Indeed, the initial revelation of the Obsidian Dragons on Earth were very hostile, and almost resulted in a world war. Luckily, however, the human's will to live was just enough to prefer giving the dragons a chance rather than obliterating themselves with their own nuclear weapons.

When Vakarious reached the edge of the forest, he knelt down with his right hand in the dirt and his left arm behind his back. He was making a very simple attempt, yet important nonetheless at connecting with the elements of the world. While he knew very well he wouldn't have as deep as a connection to this world as he did his own, he could still get an idea of the state of the elements anyway. Besides, he had nothing else to do.

As he did so, however, he wasn't met with the chaotic visions he usually had when associating with the elements, but rather, he ended finding himself and his surroundings growing darker and darker. Vakarious soon found himself in an empty darkness, a void he was strangely familiar with. After a bit, he realized exactly what powers could have brought him to this empty void: the dark magics of the Old Gods. However, it was very different, both from the dark magic he used, as well as the Old God magic he was shown from a different world. Indeed it was dark magic, but it was very original. While not powerful enough to entrap him within the void, allowing him full ability to escape, he was curious to find out who or what was responsible for the darkness. Soon, his curiosity would be answered.

"You are quite intriguing indeed," a dark, ominous voice said. Vakarious, once again, rolled his eyes as a dark purple mist began manifesting before him. After the mist dissipated, what stood before him was a dark grey unicorn, clad in silver armor, a red cloak with a white fur lining, a silver crown with a red crescent jewel, and a red horn.

"King Sombra?" Vakarious asked, unenthusiastically. He knew exactly what was going to happen now: the Unicorn would either try to corrupt him in some way, or try to get him on the Unicorn's side.

"You are quite perceptive as well," the dark Unicorn replied.
"I'll play along. What is this place and why am I here?" Vakarious asked sarcastically.
"Oh, don't be so insulting. You know very well what all of this is. After all, you are quite powerful and skilled in the dark arts, yes?" King Sombra said.
"Fine, you got me. But still, obviously you're alive and well somewhere, with some intricate plan or scheme to take over the world or something. So either you want my help, or you want to prevent me from getting in your way or something," Vakarious snarked.

"While I am indeed alive and well, as you so delicately put it, right now my current plans of retaking my empire has been....delayed," King Sombra replied.
"I see. Well, I guess being shattered into thousands of pieces by the silly emotion known as 'love' is an understandable delay," Vakarious said. He wasn't really impressed with the 'king' that stood before him. King Sombra didn't seem affect by his comment, though.

"Exactly, though that is not the delay I am quite referring too," King Sombra said.
"Pray tell, what else could possibly be delaying you? Surely not the Element Bearers, seeing how the Elements of no effect on you. In theory, of course," Vakarious replied.
"That is the purpose of this little, 'meeting'. What delays me, I believe, interests you as well,"
"And you telling me what that is has a catch," Vakarious said.
"I wouldn't call it a 'catch', but I would call it fair that you need to earn my bit of information," King Sombra said.
"Alright, what's this 'fair bit' you want me to do?" Vakarious asked.
"It's simple, really. There are only two beings on this world who are powerful enough to completely resist my ability to peer into their thoughts and dreams. Those two beings are you, and the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony, Discord. As you pointed out, the Elements are of no concern to me. Discord, however, is a threat to me due to his chaotic abilities alone. What I ask of you is simple. Destroy Discord, and I will tell you what you want to know, with an added bonus," King Sombra offered.

"Added bonus, huh? If that added bonus is power, I can guarantee you it's useless to me," Vakarious said.
"Oh no, it's much more rewarding. Simply put, it's a way for you to get back to your world," King Sombra said. 
"Well now, that definitely is quite interesting. Perhaps this little 'catch' of yours fair after all," Vakarious said. King Sombra grinned, having the young dragon exactly where he wanted.

Vakarious, for his part, was not stupid. While the offer of a way home really was intriguing, and tempting, he knew better than to trust anyone who wielded the power he had access too. He allowed himself to indulge the offer nonetheless: perhaps he could learn something he had missed. 

"I won't destroy Discord. Frankly, I prefer not to destroy things I don't know. As such, here is what will happen. I am fully capable of incapacitating Discord in such a way that I can hand him right over to you to do whatever you please with him. Do keep in mind, however: should treachery even be hinted, I will not hesitate to make you suffer. I am just as capable of making you wish for death," Vakarious said coldly to King Sombra. The latter however, merely grinned before commenting.

"Very well. You capture Discord, and I will share what I know with you," King Sombra replied.
"Oh, one more thing. It's not really worth mentioning, but I haven't actually decided on what I'll do yet. So next time we 'meet', I might either have Discord with me, or, I'll still have Discord with me, but he'll be with me voluntarily," Vakarious said. Before King Sombra could say anything, Vakarious disappeared, returning to reality.

King Sombra grinned, though. While he indeed could not see into the thoughts of Vakarious, he could see into the thoughts of the other recent arrival: Kil'jaeden. And from Kil'jaeden's thoughts and past, he knew Vakarious' exact weakness: Arrogance. While normally he could defeat anyone by using their own fears against them, Vakarious was too powerful for that. Instead, his arrogance would be his downfall. Either Vakarious would accept King Sombra's agreement, thus allowing him to simply send him back to his world and prevent him from returning to Equestria, or he could use him to draw the Burning Legion to Equestria.

"We will met again, Dragonlord."


~~~


Vakarious got up from his kneeling position. After stretching, he decided to head back to town, despite his earlier intentions of waiting. He really had nothing to do at all, even though he was 2,600 years old. As he was nearing the town, a familiar blue blur caught his attention.

"Hey Vaka! I heard you pretty much caused a riot in Ponyville today!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she flew towards Vakarious, who was in his human form.
"Yeah, bit of an incident. How is the town anyway? Are they looking for me with pitchforks and torches?" Vakarious asked.
"Naw, they pretty much just went back to doing what ever they were doing. Seems you had less of an effect on them all than Zecora, or even Discord," Rainbow said.
"Well, that's good. At least it means I can go to the royal party thing in the way Celestia wants me to. Plus, now Rarity doesn't have to make me anything either," Vakarious said.
"I'm curious. How come you always refer to the Princess by just her name? Like, you don't call her, yaknow, Princess Celestia?" Rainbow asked. Vakarious was surprised by her question, but he answered her anyway.

"Frankly put, she's not my princess or ruler, that's why. It's how I addressed human leaders on Earth as well. I never referred to them using their titles, ever. It's just habit, really. Not really out of disrespect at all," Vakarious informed. Rainbow Dash just shrugged.
"You're pretty weird," Rainbow said.
"Yeah, says the Pegasus with all the colors of the rainbow," Vakarious replied.
"Hey, what's wrong with rainbows?" she asked, pretending to be offended.
"Oh, nothing. Just, on my world, rainbows were usually associated with, well, never mind," Vakarious said.
"What, you scared to finish what you were saying?" Rainbow said, still feigning offense.
"Yup. You might sonic rainboom me or something, and we can't have that now," Vakarious replied, mocking worry.
"You know, that's not even remotely close to what a sonic rainboom does," Rainbow informed.
"That's with the assumption that it's real. But enough fairy tales, I need to get home. The Gala is in like what, ten days?" Vakarious asked, taking on a semi serious tone.
"Something like that, yeah. Why?" Rainbow asked.
"Just curious. Need to make sure I have all the tunes the Gala wants," Vakarious said. Rainbow was confused by his answer though.

"Um, why do you need to make sure you have all the tunes for the Gala?" Rainbow asked.
"Ha, Twilight didn't tell you how she pretty much volunteered me to organize some music, did she?" Vakarious said.
"Nope. Sounds like something she'd do if she was excited enough though," Rainbow replied.
"Excited is an understatement..." Vakarious muttered. Rainbow just giggled, though.

"Well, I'm gonna head home. It was a pretty busy day today, plus I still need to check on Tank," Rainbow said, taking off shortly before Vakarious asked who or what 'Tank' was.

Vakarious shrugged and continued home. He had to admit, even with the awkward stares and occasional panic attacks, the walk home was far more boring without Rainbow Dash walking with him. He just shrugged that thought, and continued until he had actually made it home. Another thought had crossed his mind, though. While he wasn't really going to go through the 'agreement' he had made with King Sombra, he had piqued his curiosity with a return trip home, especially with the mention of Discord. Perhaps this Discord fellow knows some way to connect this world with mine... Vakarious thought to himself, before entering his home.
> Chapter 11
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Spike!" Twilight called out from her study. After Vakarious left her, Twilight had decided to go over all of her notes that she had so far on dragons. While she didn't really learn much, she still knew more about dragons than she could have ever imagined from her new "friend".

"What is it Twi?--Aww, I just cleaned this entire place this morning!" Spike said as he entered the study.

"I need you to go by Rarity's and see if she has any spare gems she doesn't need" Twilight said, completely ignoring Spike's complaint. At this, Spike's demeanor changed from annoyed at having to clean up after Twilight, to excited at having a chance to spend some time, albeit very little, with the mare of his dreams.

"Sure thing Twilight! Just one question; why do you need gems from Rarity? I already had breakfast," Spike said.
"They're not for you Spike. I'm just wondering whether or not our new friend has a special 'use' for them is all. For science, of course," Twilight replied.
"You mean, seeing as how he's a dragon, you want to know if he eats gems too?" Spike asked.
"What? No no, that's---Wait...When did you find out he was a dragon?" Twilight asked, eying Spike now.
"The first time I met him. I thought you would have figured out I knew earlier when I told you to just ask him," Spike answered.
"You're telling me you knew he was a dragon this whole time, and you didn't say ANYTHING?!" Twilight yelled.
"Hey, it wasn't my fault! I made a Dragon's oath not to mention anything, and you know how serious that is!" Spike defended. Before Twilight could argue anymore, memories of Spike and his 'oath' to serve Applejack came rushing, reminding her of the futility in arguing further.

"Fine. I'm sorry for yelling, Spike. I do know how serious your Dragon Oath is," Twilight said, comforting Spike.
"It's okay. Besides, it's not something I would have made lightly. I just kinda had a feeling about him, yaknow?" Spike said. "Anyway, I'm off to Rarity's! I'll be back later with those gems!" Spike finished, before running out of the library.

"Oh Spike," Twilight said, smiling to herself.



~~~


Vakarious sat in his home, doing nothing and bored, for the first time in almost two hundred years. While he wouldn't exactly call the very recent war with the Burning Legion "fun", it was definitely more exciting than just sitting and doing nothing at all. He shook the thought, being a guardian of life, he didn't really want to find enjoyment in war at all. Even if it was against an endless army of demons bent on chaos and undoing the Titan's work. Guess I could use a bite. Haven't eaten anything since, well, awhile. Doubt any stores or markets here would have any sort of gems though. 

"This is definitely cheating," Vakarious said out loud to himself as he made a handful of sapphires. He then began pacing around in his house, while thinking of everything on his mind. After a few minutes of mindless pacing, he decided he'd get used to his Pegasus form more. While Princess Celestia preferred him in his 'true' form for the Gala, he preferred to just perfect this new form instead. Besides, he had nothing else to do.



~~~


"What do you think, my sister? Is his warning to be heeded, or is it too soon to act?" Princess Celestia asked her sister, Princess Luna.
"I am unsure, sister. If there is nothing to worry about, the possibility of a very large panic could happen for nothing," Princess Luna replied.
"But we both know what could happen if we don't act at all. I saw for myself the devastation his world suffered because he didn't prepare in time," Princess Celestia said.
"I understand. Perhaps our reclamation of the Crystal Empire, and Discord's reformation was of perfect timing then," Princess Luna commented.
"Indeed. But, I may have something you can do," Princess Celestia went further.
"What's that, my sister?" Princess Luna asked.
"Perhaps if you investigated this issue with Vakarious himself directly, you could find out for both of us how big of an issue this truly is, and what course of action we should take," Princess Celestia answered.
"Are...you sure that's best? I've only seen a glimpse of him in one of his dreams, and even then, his most recent moment of rest he was able to block me out of his dreams entirely," Princess Luna stated. Princess Celestia looked her sister in the eyes, placing a hoof on her shoulder.

"Exactly, Luna. I also believe that you'd be able to connect with him the best," Princess Celestia said.
"Because of my decent into madness and turning into Nightmare Moon..."Princess Luna said, hanging her head.
"Not quite, sister. Rather, your will to have broken free from the grasp of Nightmare Moon," Princess Celestia said.
"My will? It was the Elements of Harmony that freed me," Princess Luna corrected.
"They served only as a means, sister. It was your will that ultimately allowed you to free yourself, and it is the kind of pony you became after such an event, that I believe would connect best with Vakarious," Princess Celestia said. She looked at her sister again, before embracing her in a hug. After the two sisters were done, Luna thought for a bit before answering.

"I will do it. I just hope he doesn't mind my attempts at trying to enter his dreams," Princess Luna said.
"I don't think that will be an issue," Princess Celestia assured. Princess Luna giggled before turning to leave the conference room they were in. Princess Luna gave one more look at her sister, receiving one more reassuring nod before leaving for her room.

After some walking, Princess Luna finally reached her room. However, when she entered, her room was lit up in a pink aura by an apparently yellow light hanging upside down on the ceiling, as well as her walls, floor, and ceiling being checkered in pink, green, blue, and orange. How that was possible was beyond her. She sighed, knowing exactly who would do such a thing.

"Discord...What have I said about your chaos spreading to my room?" Princess Luna called out.
"Oh, you're so boring Lulu. I think your sister is rubbing off on you," the being in question responded, from out of no where.
"Uh huh. I can live with the occasional cotton candy cloud in the garden. I even get a little laugh out of Blueblood slipping in pink mud. But when it spreads to my room, that's when it becomes a problem," Princess Luna said. She made sure to make a point that she wasn't mad in the least.

"Hmph, fine. At least you enjoy SOME of my little ideas of fun, even if they aren't what they could be," Discord said, changing Luna's room back to it's darkened state. "Besides, it was so dark and dull, I figured you could use the mood lightener."
"Well, thank you for the gesture then," Princess Luna said, smiling as she made her way into her room. Unlike her sister, and the rest of the castle staff for that matter, Princess Luna rather enjoyed Discord's presence and his little random pranks here and there.

"So, what did 'Tia make you do this time? Status quo in one of the small towns not up? Or did Princess Twilight Sparkle mind control another town?" Discord asked, suddenly appearing in a chair across from Luna.
"Neither. Besides, Twilight Sparkle becoming a Princess isn't exactly supposed to be world news yet, so I think it'd be best if you waited until AFTER that event to joke about it," Luna said, finding a seat for herself.
"Fine," Discord pouted.
"Anyway. I'm sure you've 'heard' of the recent arrival of Ponyville's new guest, right?" Princess Luna asked.
"You mean scaley? Of course," Discord replied.
"Right. Well, all 'Tia asked me to do was investigate with him whether what he sent her is truly a threat or not. Considering my past, my sister believes that I'm the most qualified, and most likely pony to relate to him to ensure the most cooperation," Luna answered.
"Hmm, what exactly did he send dear old Celestia anyway?" Discord asked.
"Oh? I figured you would have 'accidentally' gotten a hold of it, before 'politely' forwarding it to 'Tia," Luna inquired.
"I did. But, unfortunately, the letter that was sent to her had a special seal allowing only her to open it. Even my amazing gifts couldn't pry that thing open," Discord said, sighing.
"That's...interesting...That he could prevent even you from tampering with it," Luna commented.
"Eh, give me time and I'll figure out what old scaley there did," Discord said.
"I have no doubt about that. Now if you wouldn't mind, it is midday," Luna said, heading towards her bedroom.
"Of course, O Princess of the Night," Discord said, suddenly wearing formal attire and bowing.
"Right. Perhaps we can talk more tonight," Luna said, smiling.
"I look forward," Discord said.
"Oh, and Discord, do me a favor?" Luna asked, before entering her bedroom.
"Hmm?"
"Try not to grief the dragon TOO much. I'd like him to keep his positive impression of Equestria." And with that, she entered her room to rest for the remaining day.
> 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."
> Chapter 13
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Princess Luna and Vakarious sat in the night for an hour, sharing various stories of their past with each other, though nothing personal with each other. Vakarious found himself more intrigued with the history of Equestria than he had initially been, though. While Twilight Sparkle was quite knowledgeable with Equestrian history, he had learned a lot more from Princess Luna and her personal experiences. While on the flip side, Princess Luna learned that her world and Earth shared quite a bit of similarities, relatively. Vakarious however, had one question that had bothered him since Twilight first told him about the princesses, though.

"So, is it true then that you and Celestia raise the moon and sun?" Vakarious asked.
"But of course. Is that not how it is on your world? Princess Luna asked, surprised.
"Nope. Earth just orbits our sun on its own," Vakarious answered.
"I see. I find it quite odd that the day and night is not controlled by your kind, given what you told me if their powerful influence," Princess Luna commented, Vakarious just shrugged.
"Maybe it's the lack of Arcane Energy, or 'magic' on our world," Vakarious said.
"I still find it fascinating that a race, these 'humans', could have achieved so much in such little time, without the benefits of magic," Princess Luna said.
"I suppose. I never really saw humanity from an 'outside looking in' perspective, seeing as how I kind of considered myself one of them," Vakarious said.
"Your dragons are fascinating as well, Vakarious," Princess Luna added.
"I don't see how. If anything, I would have figured the dragons here would have caused you to not like dragons at all," Vakarious said.
"If that were true, then Twilight Sparkle's assistant, Spike, wouldn't be a highly trusted royal messenger," Princess Luna answered.
"Fair enough," he replied back.

When he thought back on it, he did find it kind of odd that no one seemed to worried or scared about a baby dragon in their town. He wasn't going to stay young forever, and he would eventually reach full size. While he knew that dragons had the potential to become the wisest beings in the world, if raised right, he figured the ponies wouldn't have known that. Even if they did share a lot of similarities with his own kind, their sense of acceptance, and apparent forgiveness was very alien to him. Which brought another thought to mind.

"If you wouldn't mind, what's the story with you and the whole 'Nightmare Moon' thing?" Vakarious asked, taking Princess Luna by surprise.
"You said Twilight Sparkle told you about me already. Surely she would have told you of Nightmare Moon?" Princess Luna said, hoping to avoid subject.
"Yeah, but I have a feeling there's more to it than 'you got jealous of your sister'," Vakarious said, confirming that he was not going to relent on the topic. 

Although she wasn't exactly hiding anything, Princess Luna's decent into madness and ultimate transformation was still an open wound for her, so to speak. However, she remembered that there was a topic that was just as personal to Vakarious as well, and came to the realization that she may be able to get him to open up more by holding off on telling him at the moment.

"You are right, Vakarious. There is more to it than just 'jealousy'. And perhaps someday, I may tell you," Princess Luna said.
"I understand, Princess," Vakarious answered, which was true. Feeling the need to change the subject, the Princess remembered her comment when she first met him.

"So what is it that interests you the most about the night?" Princess Luna asked.
"Dunno, honestly. The night just seems much more calm. Less going on, more time to myself. That, and sleep isn't really a requirement," Vakarious replied. Luna knew full well what he meant. While she had quite a deep appreciation for her sister's day, she just felt more at peace with herself in her night, more alive. Even if she did still have to sleep.

"You know, it's amazing how the stars don't change. If I didn't know any better, I'd think I was home right now," Vakarious commented.
"I would sometimes wonder if the sky looked different from somewhere else," Princess Luna add.
"The thing that gets me the most is the fact that the constellations are visible from here. Some little differences, but they're there," Vakarious said.
"Oh? Like what? Luna asked, curious now.
"Well, let's see....You've got Ursa Major, you've got Leo, and you've got Canis Major. Probably more if I looked hard enough," Vakarious answered. 
"I'm, amazed," Princess Luna said.
"Amazed at what?" Vakarious asked.
"The constellations you've named. That is what we call them as well," Princess Luna answered. "What do they mean to you?"
"To me? Nothing. To humans, just a result of their mythology, really. What are they to you?" Vakarious asked.
"Well, Canis Major represents a great and proud warrior of the ancient Diamond Dog Empire, Ursa Major represents the first of the Ursa Major's born in the world, and Leo represents the great manticore that fought and defeated the warrior Canis," Princess Luna answered.
"Huh...From the way it sounds, it seems these are actually true stories, rather than just myths," Vakarious noted.
"They are. The Ursa was before my time, as well as my sisters, but we were both around to hear of The Warrior Canis, and his defeat after battling the manticore Leo," Luna said.

The two talked for another thirty minutes, Vakarious explaining how he and his kind have a deep connection with the elements, and Princess Luna going deeper into her ability to raise the moon, as well as her ability to visit the dreams of those experiencing a nightmare. Vakarious also learned from her that it was her voice he had heard on the first night, and inadvertently figured out how Princess Celestia knew who and what he was during their first meeting.So in other words, Celestia basically has the same powers as Luna, only on a more powerful scale. Makes sense, I suppose. 

"And you're sure they weren't banished?" Princess Luna asked Vakarious.
"Yup. They literally flew to the moon, just to say 'we landed on the moon first!'. Don't say that to any conspiracy theorists, though," Vakarious answered, trying not to laugh. Princess Luna was just amazed, though. Amazed at the fact that a race that lacked any sort of magic could achieve landing on their own moon, and the fact that they did so willingly. However, before she could press the matter further, she realized she still had to attend the night court, and she'd been gone for over an hour already.

"I enjoyed conversing with you tonight, Vakarious. But, unfortunately, I do have royal duties to attend to still," she said with a sigh. "You wouldn't think ponies had so many 'important' issues at this time. But no, there's always some banker complaining about a farmer who won't sell them their land, or a farmer complaining about a banker trying to buy their farm."
"Sounds like a lot of fun," Vakarious teased.
"Oh yes. I would definitely suggest you volunteering to take my place in such matters. You might even feel at home, having a leadership role once again," Princess Luna teased back.
"Nah, I'll pass. Never was one for politics, just telling people what to do. Besides, that's what advisers and second in commands are for," Vakarious said.
"Fair point. Still, there are ponies who may be restless because of their dreams, something none of my advisers can remedy," she answered. Vakarious just nodded before looking back up at the sky.

"Give them time, Vakarious. They'll soon trust you as I do. Faster even, if you open up to them," Princess Luna said, referring to the Element Bearers.
"There are things I know, that I've seen, that would put unnecessary burden on them if I told them," Vakarious replied.
"You under estimate them too much. They're not as delicate as you seem to think, and they are definitely not weak," Princess Luna responded. He hated to admit it, but she was right. He did under estimate them, something he had been taught never to do.

"I must go now. Consider what I said, Vakarious," Princess Luna added.
"I understand. Best of luck with what you have to do," Vakarious said. Luna began turning to cast her teleportation spell, before he continued. "Oh, and Princess?"
"Yes?" she asked, turning her head.
"Thanks. I enjoyed conversing as well," he said, giving a short bow to the Princess, something which caught her off guard. While to anyone else, the gesture wouldn't have seemed odd or out of place, but given what her sister had told her, she was definitely not expecting it. Not that she ever expected it from anyone else. She decided not to press the matter though, merely returning the gesture and casting her spell, leaving the park she had been in.

Vakarious was left alone with his thoughts once again. Instead of staring blankly into the night sky like he had though, he had new thoughts, one of them being about the Princess he had spent over an hour talking to. There was something different about Princess Luna, something that separated her from the rest of the ponies he had met so far. He wasn't exactly sure why, but he found that he had quite a bit of respect for the Princess.



~~~


Back in the Ponyville Library, Twilight Sparkle had just finished putting the last of her books away when Spike barged through the door, carrying a medium sized box as well. She felt the timing was perfect, as she thought she was going to have to go to Rarity's to pick him up.

"Um, why are you back so late Spike?" Twilight Sparkle asked. Spike put the box down before answering.
"Well, I went to Rarity's today like you said, and I asked her for those gems. Only, she didn't have she could spare at the time, but she said she would go out and find more. So, I helped her out until she was ready to go," Spike said, catching his breath before continuing. "Anyway, we left for the place she usually goes to, but on the way Applejack stopped us because she needed to talk to Rarity about something."
"Okay...so how does that explain why you're back so late?" Twilight Sparkle asked again.
"What? Oh, because gem hunting went longer than expected because she didn't find any satisfactory gems. Oh, and this came for you too," Spike answered, while pulling out a scroll and handing it to Twilight. She grabbed it in her magical aura and began reading it, her expression suddenly changing to worry.

Twilight Sparkle,

I write this hastily because, it is of the utmost importance that you and your friends come to my castle tomorrow at the earliest time possible. I don't have the time to go into much detail right now, but an hour ago, a Changeling was caught by Discord impersonating a royal guard. You understand the sincerity of the situation, my faithful student.

Princess Celestia

"Um, Twilight, are you okay? You've been staring at the letter for a couple of minutes now," Spike said, shaking Twilight from her shock.
"Get to bed Spike. We have a lot to do tomorrow," was all that Twilight said.




~~~



In Canterlot Castle, Princess Luna was in her room, following her teleportation spell. After a quick inspection of her room, she began making her way to the throne room. While it was obvious she exaggerated a little bit about the issues normally brought to her, she still had a duty to enter the dreams of ponies who were having nightmares. The Princess of the Night had barely taken a few steps though, before one of her night guards approached her, having important news.

"Apologies, your highness," the night guard said, bowing.
"What is it?" Luna asked.
"Your sister requests your presence within her chambers immediately," the night guard said.
"What? Is she okay?!" Luna shouted before beginning in the direction of her sister's room. She would have teleported, but she had already exhausted herself from the trip moments ago.
"Princess Celestia is fine. However, we caught a Changeling an hour ago impersonating a guard. Your sister has it bound within her quarters, stating that it was the most secure area in the castle. I believe Discord is with her as well," the guard said, following Luna in her quick pace.

Her mind somewhat eased, Princess Luna slowed down a bit and allowed herself to think. While she had been away on a diplomatic mission during the attempted invasion by the Changelings, she knew full well the damage they caused, both physically and mentally. More so, however, she knew how the Changeling queen overpowered her sister and came close to taking over Equestria. Princess Luna knew it was only dumb luck that she didn't restrain Shining Armor and Princess Cadence when she had the chance, leading to her being vanquished from the city.

Princess Luna and the night guard following her had finally reached Princess Celestia's room, finding it guarded by a single night guard and day guard. The two guards let Luna in, while the guard following her headed back to his post. Luna entered Celestia's room, and found both her sister and Discord holding a Changeling down in an aura of golden magic and chains. The Changeling in question appeared to have been sleeping

"What's the situation my sister?" Princess Luna asked, nodding to Discord as well.
"All Discord or myself could get was her name, her age and some numbers that we do not know of," Princess Celestia replied.
"Her?" Luna asked.
"Yes. Her name is Zora," Celestia said.
"How was she caught?" Luna asked, now looking closer at the Changeling.
"Oh oh oh! Pick me! pick me!" Discord said, causing Luna to look at him questioningly before nodding.
"She was disguised as a Royal Guard, patrolling the gardens. Pretty clever if I do say so myself, except for one eensy little problem. It's night time, and guards never patrol areas alone!" Discord exclaimed, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Did you find her then?" Luna asked.
"Oh heavens no. I tend to stay away from the gardens, for obvious reasons. No, I was just strolling through the garden when I noticed her. I 'may' or 'may not' have assumed, by the way," Discord said innocently.
"Wait, if you stay away from the gardens and you said you didn't find her...Never mind. I suppose you made a good assumption then," Princess Luna said, returning her gaze on the Changeling. "You didn't hurt her, did you Discord?"
"No, I used a sleeping spell on her after she had tried to end herself," Celestia interjected.
"What? Why would she do such a thing?" Luna asked, shocked.
"I do not know sister. Perhaps she holds very valuable information, or perhaps she thinks us crueler than we really are. I cannot say for sure," Celestia answered.
"So how did you get her name then?" Luna asked, looking back at the Changeling again.
"This," Discord said, holding a small amulet.
"I see...and what is 'this', exactly?" Luna said, pointing at the amulet.
"We don't know its exact purpose, all we know is it has information about her on it," Celestia answered. Luna looked at the small amulet more, before figuring out what it was.
"It's a tag given to warriors so they can be identified should they be lost in battle," Luna said, surprising Celestia and even Discord. "I know, because the Diamond Dogs, Griffons, and Minotaurs use them. Though, why somepony being sent to infiltrate a castle would have such a tag is beyond me."

The two Princesses and Draconequus further looked at their prisoner, unsure as to what they were planning exactly that required them to send one of their own into Canterlot. What troubled Princess Celestia the most, however, was the fact that they knew next to nothing about the Changelings. Everything that was known about them, was based on their attack on Canterlot a year ago, and even that information was questionable. She decided not to let the unknown worry her for now, though, instead focusing on the issue that lay in front of her.

"We should get some rest, sister. We will need the energy tomorrow. Discord can watch over the Changeling in the meantime," Princess Celestia said, nodding to Discord, who promptly teleported himself and the Changeling to his quarters.
"What will we do sister?" Princess Luna asked.
"Right now, I do not know. I have asked Twilight Sparkle to bring her friends tomorrow though, as well as Cadence and Shining Armor. I am confident that they will know what to do," Princess Celestia said. Princess Luna nodded, and left for her own room. Even though she knew she needed the rest, Celestia couldn't find it within herself to sleep now, given the circumstances. There was a lot that needed to be done now, from increased patrols, to possibly scanning every single guard and staff member in the castle. More importantly, she needed to find out what the Changelings up to now.
> Chapter 14
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


"We're taking this trip because the Princess herself requested our presence in Canterlot," Twilight Sparkle said, facing her friends as they waited at the train station. 
"Ughh, do we really need to be up this early?" complained Rainbow Dash. Twilight Sparkle shot her a look before continuing.
"Yes. Last night a Changeling was found in the castle," Twilight answered. The rest of the group gasped, Rarity seeming to almost faint. "While she didn't go into much detail, it is my firm belief that Princess Celestia wants us present because of everything we've learned on friendship," she finished.

Before anything else could be said, the train that awaited them was ready to go. Twilight was the last to board, looking back toward the town before stepping onto the train. As she boarded, she couldn't help but worry both about Spike, whom she left at the library, and about the future and the Changelings. She shook the thought for now though, deciding to worry about it later. After the girls found their seats, Twilight stood in the isle, clearing her throat to get her friend's attention. After she saw them paying attention to her, she began talking.

"Remember girls, we're going to Canterlot to meet somepony very important," she said, opting not to use the term 'Changeling' on a train with other ponies. "Keeping in mind 'who' we're visiting, that means keeping our cool and understanding that the Princesses have everything under control."
"Relax Twi, you know I'm already cool," Rainbow Dash said.
"While I don't exactly share Rainbow Dash's 'modesty'..." Rarity said, rolling her eyes, with Rainbow Dash to stick her tongue at her in response. "I believe I speak for all of us when I say you can count on us to behave in a sophisticated, professional manner," she finished, earning nods of approval from everyone else, including Rainbow Dash.

After the reassuring words from Rarity, Twilight Sparkle took her seat. Instead of sitting with her friends like she normally would have however, she decided she needed some time to herself to go over everything and took a seat by herself. As she looked out the window towards the disappearing town of Ponyville, she thought about the 'guest' they would be seeing in Canterlot. She wondered if the Changelings were planning another attack, and if they would be prepared and able to defeat them again. She then thought about the other 'guest', or newest resident rather.

He was strange, that much she knew. Though if what he told her and her friends was true, she had no choice but to expect the leader of a group of dragons to be nothing but strange, by her standards at least. She was a little worried about how he would fare in the town without her or her friends though. Granted, she didn't think he'd do anything bad, she just didn't want him getting lonely or something. Besides, thinking about how Vakarious would fare was better than thinking about a possible Changeling invasion. Just as well, her worries about his 'premature exposure' to the town were put to rest that morning when she had a glimpse at that mornings front page paper. She leaned back to relax as much as she could though, deciding that everything was okay. After all, if he did get 'lonely', Spike was still there.


~~~


Vakarious had stayed in the park the entire night, going over everything that had transpired over the past few days. His situation was unique; not even a week ago, he was involved in essentially World War III, defending it from what were basically space demons, to fighting the demon's leader, to suddenly awakening on an entirely different world. He knew how he ended up where he was, and though the odds of him getting back seemed against him, he knew the possibility was there. What he thought of the most though were the world's inhabitants; specifically, the ponies of Equestria. The fact that they existed isn't what he thought about. To his knowledge, there were a couple more alien worlds that were home to beings who were quite proficient in other energies. He was even aware of one such world driving the Burning Legion back not once, but four times, three of which, he was sure, was during his very own war with the Legion.

The ponies intrigued him, though. Though they seemed weak and timid at first glance, he could tell they were powerful. And that was what intrigued him the most; they had power, yet no urge, or history really, to abuse it as Humans surely would have. Not only that, but their extreme passiveness seemed to be their strength rather than weakness. In what way however, he wasn't sure. Having decided that thinking about history and nations was boring, Vakarious decided to head back into the town. He had to admit, he was rather curious as to how the town would react to him now. He prepared to expect everything from sheer horror and panic, to angry mobs and lynching parties, though he more expected the former.

He had made it to the town's center and went to look for anything that resembled a news bulletin. However, as he rounded the corner of a building, he noticed a blue Unicorn mare walking fairly quick with a newspaper held in front of her, not paying attention to where she was going. He also noticed a fairly large puddle of mud in front of her, and saw that she was heading right towards it. Instead of warning her though, he decided to have some fun at her expense and just watch her walk into it. Moments later, just as he knew, she stepped in and slipped in the puddle and fell face first, earning some laughter from Vakarious.

"Ha! Should probably watch where you're going next time," Vakarious said to the blue mare, calming himself to chuckling while still trying to prevent himself from breaking out in all out laughter.
"Ugh, great. This is just what Trixie needs to start of this already terrible day..." the blue mare muttered.
"Why the rush anyway? " Vakarious asked, helping the blue mare up.
"Just need to catch the train before it leaves, which is in just a few minutes," she answered.
"You mean that pink train that's leaving now?" Vakarious asked, pointing towards the train station he had just noticed with said train departing.
"Wonderful..." she said under her breath.

"Tell ya what. Since I now kinda feel a little bad about you missing your train, lemme make it up to you. Probably kind of my fault anyway," Vakarious offered. The blue mare looked at him as if he were crazy before responding.
"How is your fault? And more importantly, why would you do anything for me?" she asked.
"I don't know, I could have told you to watch out or something,. And why not? Isn't that like, the norm around here?" he asked.
"Sure, just not for this mare," she answered. Vakarious shrugged and was about to leave her until she continued. "What did you have in mind?"
"Well," he began, now realizing he had no idea where anything of relevance was. "I actually have no idea. I'm kinda new in town, so yeah."
"Ha! That explains it then," the blue mare suddenly said, earning a questioning look from Vakarious. Before he could ask, she answered for him. "I am The Gre---Trixie. The one who tried to use a powerful artifact to get revenge on a pony just because she showed me up, and ended up enslaving the entire town."
"Oh," was Vakarious' response. The blue mare, Trixie as he knew her now, began to head towards the train station before he stopped her. "So, yes or no?"
"I...Trixie does not understand. You have just been told that Trixie enslaved an entire town," she said.
"So? Wasn't here for that, so me watching you face plant a puddle of mud was your first impression on me. That being said, I've also been told that I should 'make friends', and you seem pretty decent so far," he replied.
"That's the--Ahem. Yes, since Trixie no longer has to worry about missing her train..." she shook her head, deciding not to dwell on that bit of misfortune. "There is a cafe very near here, and Trixie is quite hungry, if you are serious about 'making it up' to Trixie. And what might Trixie know you as?"
"That works. Kinda curious as to what passes for food here anyway. And the name is Vakarious," he answered.
"Well, Vakarious, Trixie thanks you for this kindness you've shown her," she said, as they both made their way to the cafe she had mentioned.



~~~



The train to Canterlot had finally arrived, much to the relief of everyone aboard. When Twilight and her friends departed the train, they saw that a Unicorn royal guard was waiting for them. Twilight knew this guard as one of her brother's top lieutenants. The guard, Lightning Clash, saluted Twilight and her friends as they approached him, before turning towards the castle proper.

"You made it faster than was expect, Ms. Sparkle," Lightning Clash said as he walked with the six friends.
"We just wanted to be here as soon as possible, seeing how urgent things are," Twilight Sparkle replied. 

The six friends and the guard were nearing the inner walls of Canterlot Castle. After a bit of walking, Twilight noticed that they weren't heading to the main castle building, but rather a smaller, more rough building instead, one which she recognized very well. Curious, she went ahead of her friends and walked by Lightning Clash's side, eager to know more about the situation.


"Is the um...'Visitor', really that dangerous that they need to be put in the magical dungeons?" Twilight asked, already knowing the answer.
"We don't know. The Princess didn't want to take any chances. As it was, 'it' stayed in Discord's chamber's last night while Princess Luna prepared a special cell for it," Lightning Clash answered. "And once they got word, your brother arrived earlier this morning. Princess Cadence was to be present as well, but she had duties to attend to in the Crystal Empire."
"I see. So if the Princesses basically have everything under control, as well as having my brother here, what are we needed for?" she asked. Lighting Clash shrugged before answering.
"I'm not sure. Seeing as you six are the Elements of Harmony, I'd assume she'd want you to blast it with magical harmony magic in case she somehow escapes or something," he answered nonchalantly. Twilight didn't like his answer, but it made the most sense. At least it did make sense, until she realized that they didn't bring the Elements.

"Well, here we are," Lightning Clash said, snapping Twilight out of her thinking. She noticed that they stood in front of a black solid metal door. Lightning Clash saluted the six friends again before presumably returning to his post. The girls hesitated for a bit, standing in front of the relatively imposing door, before Pinkie Pie broke the silence.

"Oh! Maybe the Princesses wanted us to throw the Changeling a 'Welcome to Canterlot' party!" Pinkie Pie shouted, bouncing up and down.
"No offense sugar cube, but ah don't think that's what the Princesses want us to do. Especially considering, ya know, how the Changelings kinda attacked us during Twi's brother's weddin," Applejack said. Pinkie stopped her bouncing, but didn't change her mind.
"Let's head inside. There's nothing to worry about, and if anything does happen, my brother is here," Twilight said, earning the attention of all of her friends. She held the door open for her friends to enter, before following. After all, it's only one Changeling. That can't be too bad, right?







	
> Chapter 15
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Twilight Sparkle and her friends continued through the dark, empty dungeon. With the exception of the days recent events, the Canterlot Dungeons had not seen any use in little over a thousand years. From what little Twilight read about the place, she knew it was used in the past has a temporary holding dungeon for the creatures that were to be sent to Tartarus. The dungeons stopped seeing use a thousand years ago however, because those types of creatures seemed to have simply vanished. Whether it was because they all went into hiding to avoid capture, or because they were all put away, Twilight didn't know.

As the group continued, they began to hear the voices from various guards around a corner, though there was one voice that stood out from the rest. Twilight picked up her pace, forcing her friends to do so as well to keep up."Twily!" the recognizable voice called out.
"Shining Armor!" Twilight Sparkle called back, breaking off from the group and rushing toward the Unicorn everyone knew as Twilight's brother. She embraced her brother in a tight hug before straitening herself up and asking about the very reason they were there in the first place.
"So what exactly is going on? We've barely been told anything, other than that a Changeling was captured."
"Unfortunately, that's all we know. We've tried questioning her, but she's proven...difficult to say the least. Not to mention her very colorful vocabulary." Shining Armor answered, muttering the last part to himself. Twilight looked through the small slit in the metal door that separated themselves from their prisoner. She couldn't see much, as the inside of the cell itself was fairly dark, as well as the Changeling itself being a dark color as well.

"You said she was difficult. How so?" Twilight asked, looking up at her brother
"She just avoids answering simple questions, or insults everypony in the room with her," Shining Armor answered, his irritation made obvious. Twilight looked at Pinkie Pie, then back into the slit of the metal door, grinning as a devious, yet genius idea formed in her head.
"Well, I have to go talk to Princess Celestia, and I'm sure the girls don't want to spend their entire time in Canterlot in a dark grimy cell," Twilight said, looking back at Pinkie Pie. Shining Armor was going to protest the idea until she continued. "Pinkie, while we take care of all of that, would you mind getting to know this Changeling a bit?" Pinkie Pie merely stood there for a second, a second that seemed like hours, until her eye twitched and answered.

"Ohmygoshohmygosh! I would absolutely, positively LOVE to Twilight! I could throw her a 'Welcome to Equestria without trying to take over Canterlot' party! And I could tell her all abo---"
"Thank you, Pinkie," Twilight said, sticking her hoof into Pinkie's mouth to quiet her down. Shining Armor looked towards the cell door, and for a split second had a look of pity for the prisoner. "We'll be back in about an hour, B.B.B.F.F. Just let us know if you need anything, we won't be far," Twilight finished, hugging her brother again.
"Will do Twily. See you in an hour," Shining Armor said, letting his sister go.



~~~



"Um, Twi, do you really think it was a good idea letting Pinkie stay in a small, dark cell with a Changeling, alone?" Rainbow Dash asked as the group made their way to the main castle.
"Of course. Why do you ask?" Twilight replied.
"Well, it's just, isn't there a thing against horribly torturing prisoners?" Rainbow asked, rubbing the back of her head.
"Now wait just a darn sec. Ya'll had no problem setting Pinkie loose on me just 'cause I didn't return to Ponyville or answer your questions, but suddenly when it's a Changeling prisoner, it's 'horrible torture'? 'Tis ain't fair!" Applejack said, looking at Rainbow Dash accusingly.
"Well, this is different AJ. You like, bailed on us, which wasn't cool. This is like, prisoner of war kind of stuff," Rainbow Dash answered.
"'Prisoner of war kind of stuff'? Where'd ya get that word from?" Applejack asked.
"Hey, part of joining the Wonderbolts meant having to learn A LOT about the history of the pony tribes for some reason! War being a main thing I guess," Rainbow dash said defensively.
"Enough! I am absolutely sure Pinkie Pie is fine. She would never do anything to hurt anypony, and maybe, just maybe, she might spark something in the Changeling to at least tell us her name," Twilight said. In truth, she did realize that she had used a trait from one of her best friends as a sort of interrogation technique, but she had a feeling Pinkie knew that as well.



~~~


"So, 'Trixie', where were taking a train to?" Vakarious asked. The two had remained silent for the majority of the time; Trixie because didn't want to offend the first pony to have done anything nice for her since her stay in Ponyville, and Vakarious because he had no idea what to say, breaking the silence only shortly after the waiter took their order.

"The Crystal Empire. After a couple of months searching for show work, Trixie had finally managed to get an offer in the Crystal Empire, probably because nopony there had heard of Trixie yet," Trixie sighed disappointingly, before continuing. "It was a one time offer, first come first serve. Since Trixie missed the train, Trixie has missed the opportunity as well."
"Ouch, that sucks. What makes 'not hearing about you' easier about getting a job in show business, or work, or whatever?" Vakarious asked.
"Like Trixie told you. She enslaved an entire town, all for petty 'revenge' that wasn't even justified," Trixie answered.
"Seems kinda odd that they'd let you go free. Unless this was like, many years ago or something," Vakarious said.
"No, it was only about three months ago," Trixie replied.
"Damn. Guess this place is pretty big of forgiveness then," Vakarious commented.
"Well, it wasn't that simple. Trixie was almost imprisoned and exiled once the Princess had heard what Trixie did. Ironically enough, it was the pony Trixie tried seeking revenge against that talked the Princess out of it, saying 'Trixie had already learned her lesson'," she answered solemnly. "Trixie guess's that using an artifact that corrupts the user helped though, too."
"I see. So, what kind of shows do you do? Or did?" Vakarious asked.
"Magic shows and story telling, mainly. Trixie was quite talented with gathering an audience until, you know, that whole 'incident'," she answered. Explains why she talks in third person like she does. "So what about you? Where are you from that you haven't heard of 'The Great and Powerful Trixie'?" Vakarious struggled for a bit, having to refrain himself from face palming, or facing hoofing rather, for having not come up with a cover story of where he's from.

"Just traveled a lot, really. As for where I was born? That's kind of personal, no offense," Vakarious said, hoping she'd buy his excuse. Luckily, she did, but instead asked something worse.
"Trixie understands. Trixie doesn't mean to offend either, but do you mind telling why your wings look like a Night Guard's wings?" Trixie asked. Vakarious was a bit confused at first as to why she only mentioned his wings, until he looked at his tail and noticed it was in fact, a normal pony tail. Guess I'm just getting used to this form. He thought to himself before answering.

"Ah, that. When I came from the forest, they were just kind of there. It was odd, but apparently it's only temporary, according to the librarian here," Vakarious said, hoping she'd buy the excuse.
"Oh. It sounds to Trixie like you ran into Poison Joke," Vakarious found himself very relieved that not only did she buy his excuse, but that apparently things transforming ponies was a common thing. "Trixie is surprised Twilight Sparkle didn't mention a cure, though."
"She probably did, I was just too relived and ecstatic at the time about all of this being temporary to have paid attention," Vakarious said, noting that Trixie knew Twilight. Before the two could think of anything more to say, the waiter had arrived with their order. Trixie ordered a daffodil sandwich, while Vakarious ordered a simple vanilla shake, confusing Trixie with his odd choice early in the morning. It only took the two about five minutes to finish everything they had, with Vakarious stating his final decision to pay. As the two waited for the bill, Vakarious decided to break the silence yet again.

"You said you were seeking revenge on someone. Seeing as this 'someone' was able to convince the Princess not to punish you, and seeing as you immediately knew who the librarian was that I referred to, it's obvious it was Twilight Sparkle. What exactly did she do that made you seek revenge on her?" Vakarious asked. Trixie sat in silence for a bit, seeming to contemplate on whether she wanted to tell him, before she decided she did.
"It was stupid, really. I came to Ponyville a couple of years ago as a showmare. You know, amazing magic tricks and glamorous stories. I did a very good job with both the stories and magic show, because the same night I had arrived, two young colts took the stories serious," Trixie said, sighing. Vakarious took note of the fact that she was referring to herself in first person, before she continued. "They woke up an Ursa Minor and brought it to Ponyville, just so they could see me perform my 'amazing Ursa Major stopping abilities'," Trixie laughed to herself, at what Vakarious wasn't sure of. "Well, obviously I couldn't do anything against it, so it began to destroy the entire town. That was when everyone saw that I everything I said was all lies, and that's when I was ruined. It was Twilight Sparkle who saved the entire town, as well as myself, and instead of being grateful, I took it as a challenge. When I was ruined everywhere, I began blaming Twilight Sparkle for everything, and started looking for ways to outdo her and out perform her. That's when I came across the Alicorn Amulate, and well, you know the rest," Trixie finished, looking down "It's weird."
"What is?" Vakarious asked, though he felt he probably didn't need to.
"I've never told anypony that before," Trixie said.
"Oh. Well, way I see it, you learned a pretty valuable lesson, and got pretty lucky learning the way you did," Vakarious said, before a thought occurred to him. "I'm assuming you've never actually had anyone ask before, huh?" Trixie just nodded. Well, white rainbow Princess said to make friends, so why not start with this one right? Vakarious thought to himself. "Well, if you ever need a friend, then well, why not?"
"Really?" Trixie asked.
"Sure. You'd be the first friend I had that wasn't related to me, and it looks like I'd be the first friend you had. Besides, like I said, you seem pretty decent, and having a friend who's good at actual magic tricks would be kinda cool," Vakarious said. remembering the terrible phony human 'magicians" he had seen. Trixie, for her part, looked like she had to refrain from jumping in excitement at the simple gesture before coming up with a response.
"Trixie would like that," she said, trying to seem as if she could care less. "You have been kind to Trixie, even go so far as to buy her breakfast. Trixie sees no reason why not to consider you a friend." Before Vakarious could answer, the waiter arrived with the bill. After paying the waiter and leaving a fairly low tip for the slow service, the two left the cafe.

"Well, with all of that settled then, I've gotta head to the forest," Vakarious said.
"The Everfree forest? Trixie is curious, but why do you need to go there?" she asked.
"Simple. On my way here, I lost something important. I would ask others for help, but it's also rather personal," he answered, cutting off any notion of Trixie helping him before she asked. It wasn't that he didn't trust her, merely that he just needed to check in on his home world alone.
"Fair enough. Trixie supposes she will see you later, then. Once again, Trixie thanks you for everything," she said. Vakarious nodded, before an idea struck him.
"Wait a sec. Later today, at about sundown, come by this house. I've got something I wanna give you," he said, pointing at his house in question that was conveniently in sight. Trixie was confused, but didn't voice it, and instead nodded her goodbye before heading off. Vakarious then headed to the forest edge, intending to send a quick 'call' home.



~~~


An hour later, Twilight Sparkle was walking through the dark dungeons. She couldn't find her friends earlier, but she figured they were either there before her, or were off doing whatever they needed/wanted to do in Canterlot. She made her way through the corridors, finally finding her destination, as well as finding her first assumptions about her friends to be correct. As she neared the door, her friends, brother and guards, she could hear the distinct voice of Pinkie Pie talking, though about what she couldn't hear.

"There you twily. Are you ready?" Shining Armor asked, preparing to open the door.
"As ready as I can be. Open it," Twilight said, gulping. Shining Armor then opened the door, revealing Pinkie Pie happily bouncing back to her friends, and a female Changeling quivering on the floor, as if she had been through the most traumatizing experience in her life.

"Please, I'll do anything! I'll tell you anything! Just please, PLEASE keep the pink one quiet and away from me!" the Changeling said, causing Twilight, her friends and brother to look at each other questioningly.



 







> Chapter 16
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------



"Pinkie, what exactly did you two do?" Twilight asked, looking between her friend and the Changeling cowering on the floor, while also ignoring the 'I told you so' look Rainbow Dash was giving her.
"We talked about neat shape shifting thingies, and parties, sang songs and talked about parties! Oh, ESPECIALLY the party I want to throw her!" Pinkie Pie shouted, causing the Changeling to step back against the wall behind her. "Well, I actually did most of the talking and singing. Now that I think about it, she didn't really talk much at all..."
"That's okay Pinkie," Twilight said, looking over the Changeling who had composed herself a bit now. "I think she's willing to talk now, right miss...?"
"My name is not important to you," the Changeling said in defiance.
"We already know your name is Zora," Shining Armor stated, pausing briefly to let what he said sink in for the Changeling. "Along with an assortment of other details about you," he finished.
"I am not her. Zora was another sent with me, a companion if you will. The Battle Tag you 'acquired' from me belonged to her," the Changeling answered, earning a confused and equally worrisome look from the group before continuing. "She is dead. Ended her own life to avoid capture, just as I would have were it not for your pet chaos spirit."
Twilight and her friends recoiled at what the Changeling told them, while her brother looked at the Changeling with disgust. Before anyone could say anything, Shining Armor continued questioning the Changeling, as much as he could.

"And why should any of us believe you? Hiding things and lying is in your nature, your special talent you could say," Shining Armor said.
"You are correct. You should not trust me. For all you know now, an assassination attempt on the Princesses may be going on as we speak, or the Changeling Armies could be attacking your 'fortifications'. Maybe I'm just a distraction, intended to keep you and the Elements preoccupied while we summon ancient evils from Tartarus. Or maybe not," the Changeling said, grinning at the enraged look Shining Armor now wore at the very notion of an assassination attempt on the Princesses, let alone the rest of anything she said. "After all, I did say I'll tell you anything."



~~~


Vakarious made his way to the edge of the forest he had made himself accustomed to by now. Accepting his fate of being stuck on the world he was currently on, at least for the moment, he needed to know the current state of his world. For that, he needed to talk to his guardian, Praetorian. It didn't take him long to make it to his destination, and prepared himself for the spell he'd need to cast. After a moment, he was greeted with the satisfying sight of the visual portal that showed him his world. Another moment later, his 'sister' came into view, seemingly already expecting him.

"There you are," Alestra stated, sounding as if he interrupted her.
"You knew I was coming?" he asked, confused that she expected him.
"Well, sort of. I kinda figured out a way to predict ahead of time when you'd be contacting me. Yaknow, to save time and all that. Anyway, what do you want?" she asked, sounding rather annoyed.
"I'd ask what your problem is, but that would imply that I cared. Anyway, I need to talk to Praetorian," he stated, hiding his amusement at annoying his sister for once, rather than the opposite. Alestra rolled her eyes before beckoning his guardian over to her. His guardian, Praetorian, wore the same usual emotionless expression he always wore, seeming as if everything was a bore to him.

"You live. This is good. And your new form is, 'interesting' to say the least," he stated matter of factually. Vakarious, expecting this response from him, smiled before answering.
"I missed you too. Glad to see you care," Vakarious replied, ignoring his comment about his form, though still smiling as he saw a very brief glimmer of a grin on his guardian before continuing. "I think you know why I'm contacting you, though."
"You are stranded on the Equine world for a year, possibly longer. Or you wish to know that there are still many Burning Legion demon holdouts after their retreat, essentially granting us victory. Or perhaps you'd like to know that those who follow you are beginning to question your word due to your sudden absence," Praetorian answered. Vakarious let a heavy sigh loose after hearing the last part, even if he did expect his dragons to question his leadership now that he was no longer on Earth. Still, he was relieved, somewhat at least, at the news of the Burning Legion's retreat from his world.
"How long until they opt to remove my leadership completely?" he asked solemnly.
"Never. You know firsthand that they respect the role of the Dragonlord too much to ever consider thinking about rebelling against you, let alone your vast number of human supporters still. That being said, respect alone does not ensure morale. Find solace in the fact that Alestra's earlier assumption of bringing you back to be impossible is false, however. Merely delayed, at worse," Praetorian answered, surprising Vakarious with his attempts of reassurance. Vakarious was relieved to hear that he would eventually be returned back to his world, though he decided not to ask how long he would have to potentially wait.

"So, how bad are the Legion hold outs?" Vakarious asked, changing the subject.
"They still hold some of the minor cities. Europe and Asia have been fully liberated. And any Legion remnants in the ruins of the African continent have either perished, or in the process of doing so. Nuclear radiation from the Human weapons have proven surprisingly effective against the demons," Praetorian stated. Vakarious shuddered at the memory of what happened to Africa. What made him shudder the most though, however, wasn't that he had allowed the Humans to completely obliterate the continent with nuclear weapons, but that it was the Human's idea in the first place. For him to say they were zealous in the defense of Earth was an understatement.
"When can the rebuilding process begin, do you think?" Vakarious asked.
"It will take eight months to fully eradicate the demons. Once that has been accomplished, rebuilding of the world's major cities will take ten to eleven years. With constant rituals and spells, the radiation in Africa will be fully cleansed and livable in one hundred years, give or take," Praetorian answered.
"That's...actually impressive..." Vakarious commented.
"Indeed. However, we must consider the fact that Humanity has the aid of the dragons now as well. On their own, they can still recover from near extinction events. The 'Black Death' is proof of this," Praetorian stated, appearing to remember a past he wanted to forget.
"Well," Vakarious said, opting to avoid talking about events more than a thousand years in the past, "I should probably get going. Gotta get used to my new look and all that."
"Very well. That your wings are not a dead give away as to what you are is nothing short of amazing, unless the other...'Equines' look as you do," Praetorian said, refusing to refer to the Ponies by their real name.
"They don't. I just happened to learn today though that there's some kind of plant that can change the appearance of someone though, at least temporarily. I'll be going with that until I fit in fully, so to speak," Vakarious answered.
"Understood. We will speak at some again at a later time then when I have more updates for you. In the mean time, do try not to get yourself killed, or make new enemies," Praetorian stated flatly. "I have work to attend to. Your sister will send you off," and with that, Praetorian turned away, allowing Alestra to enter Vakarious' view.

"Well, that sounded fun," Alestra said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, hows your new life in Horsy Land?"
"Boring. No conflicts or major wars, at least that I know. Then again, it's kinda nice not having to play 'Parent' and stop stupid wars over different beliefs that are essentially the same thing..." Vakarious said, still annoyed at every Human war he could recall.
"I guess. Make any friends?" Alestra asked.
"Why is that important?" Vakarious answered, wary as to why she was curious.
"Ooh, you did! Let me guess, that hyperactive pink one? She's kinda my favorite, not gonna lie," Alestra said, all but shouting.
"Oh definitely not. None of those six, really," Vakarious answered, much to Alestra's dissatisfaction. "They're too...how do I say this...'naïve'?"
"Soo...Who is it then?" Alesta asked, pestering him more. Vakarious sighed before answering.
"Blue mare named Trixie," Vakarious said.
"That...is a terrible horsy name," Alestra said, rolling her eyes. "So, what's different about this one than the rest? I figured a race of sentient Ponies that had no war at all would all be, as you put it, 'naïve'?"
"They are, for the most part. Even she is, for the most part. What makes her different from the rest though is that she's been corrupted by an outside force, and overcame it, like our race. Sort of," Vakarious answered.
"And by 'overcame', she was beat by someone else and saw the error of her ways?" Alestra assumed, earning a nod from Vakarious. "Uh huh. And in what way is that even remotely similar to us?"
"Just, kinda is. Besides, I said sort of," Vakarious defended.
"Oh, right. Forgot that you saying 'sort of' negates any mistakes for false claims you make," Alestra retorted. Vakarious rolled his eyes in annoyance, before a thought occurred to him.
"Oh! Before I forget, tell Praetorian that some entity made contact with me in my mind when I tried connecting with the elements here. Kind of had an 'Old God' vibe to it," Vakarious said, recalling his conversation with the one that called himself 'King Sombra'.
"Um, why didn't you tell him when you were talking to him?" Alestra asked in a condescending tone.
"Because I forgot. Just tell him, okay?" Vakarious said, ignoring her tone.
"Whatever, I'll tell him if I remember," Alestra answered." Anyway, I've gotta go. You know, I've got a Ley Line to stabilize for some idiot that got transported to another world." Before Vakarious could respond, she closed the portal they they used to communicate with each other, effectively 'hanging up' on him. Instead of being angered though, Vakarious shook his head at his sister's antics. He would figure out a way to 'get her back' later anyway. For now though, he wanted to practice his abilities more in his Pegasus form outdoors, and so headed into the forest he was near.



~~~



Twilight Sparkle and her friends decided to wait outside the Changeling's cell, deciding to let her brother question her alone. While she didn't exactly buy her stories, or distractions rather, she did fully believe that there was another with her that had ended her own life. To Twilight, the very notion of doing such a thing, just to avoid capture, appalled her and her friends greatly.

"You don't really think she meant anything she said, do you?" Rarity asked, breaking the silence that had befallen the group.
"Ah don't know. Ah'd like ta think that the Royal Guards could protect the Princesses, and that we'd know by now if'n any towns were under attack by Changelings..." Applejack said. Before anyone else could comment, Shining Armor exited the cell with a very strange 'request' by the prisoner. 

"She hasn't really said much, but she has agreed to tell us some of the things we want to know. The only catch, is that she wants to talk to you Twily. Alone," Shining Armor said, clearly not liking the idea of sending his sister into the cell alone with a Changeling.
"Did she say why she wants to talk to just me?" Twilight asked, more confused if anything.
"Other than you being the only one who 'deserves her respect' as the Element of Magic, no," Shining Armor answered. Twilight closed her eyes and merely nodded, opening them at the sound of the cell door opening.

"Ah, Twilight Sparkle. It's been quite some time since I've seen you, discounting our earlier meeting, of course," the Changeling said suddenly, as Twilight fully entered the cell.
"We've met before?" Twilight asked, dumbfounded.
"In a way, we have, though in no personal way. We merely exchanged magic with each other during our little, 'incursion'," the Changeling answered.
"That doesn't make sense. You're very distinguishable as a female, no offense. I would have recognized you if I saw you," Twilight said, fully remember her and her friend's futile battle with the Changelings in an attempt to reach the Elements of Harmony.
"Much like your Royal Guard's armor, our armor is enchanted in such a way to change our appearance to make us look identical. I suppose that's quite irrelevant, though. As I said, we only exchanged magic fire, not words," the Changeling said.
"So why does me being the Element of Magic earn enough respect for you to talk to me alone?" Twilight asked, getting back on topic.
"Simple. It was you who stopped Nightmare Moon and Discord--"
"I didn't stop them alone! I never would have been able to stop them without the help of my friends!" Twilight interrupted, though the Changeling merely grinned before continuing.
"Sure, your friends had some little role to play. But ultimately, it was because of you, and you alone that they were stopped in the first place. That being said, it is because of your actions, even if by chance, that you've endeared yourself to me enough for me to answer some non vital questions," the Changeling finished. Twilight Sparkle recomposed herself, not wanting to let the Changeling get to her emotionally.

"Fine. Let's start by you telling me your name, if it isn't 'Zora'," Twilight asked, earning a quick glare from the Changeling before she answered.
"Very well. I am known to my own, and now you as well, as Izh'mai," the Changeling, 'Izh'mai' answered. "As I said, Zora was another sent with me to ensure success of our mission. Seeing as she was forced to end her own life, and I was shamefully captured, it stands to reason that we failed."
"I see. And what exactly was your 'mission'?" Twilight asked.
"Simple; determine the state of Canterlot after our incursion, the Royal Guard as a whole, and if possible, return with sustenance for the Hive," Izh'mai answered. "Seeing as the damage in Canterlot was repaired in only a week, and the Royal Guard suffered no losses at all, our findings on those two objectives were...less than satisfactory. At least for the former."
"And what about your 'third objective'?" Twilight asked, confused. "What exactly do you consider 'sustenance"' for your 'Hive'?"
"My Queen gave a brief explanation as to what that was, which is 'love', though it's not as simple as that. I won't go into much detail, what I will say is that there are methods other than impersonating a loved one to acquire said love," Izh'mai stated. Twilight decided not to waste time on trying to press the issue, and decided to ask about the thing that bothered her the most.
"You said your companion...ended her own life... and that you would have as well just to avoid capture...Why go to such lengths as that?" Twilight asked uneasily. For a split second, Izh'mai seemed somewhat saddened before resuming her neutral expression.
"Being captured because our disguises failed is shameful, for one. The main reason though, is to avoid the risk of giving crucial information to the enemy. While it is doubtful that Equestrian's methods of interrogations is enough to break even the youngest of Changelings, we do have enemies that are...less than reluctant. As such, it is a custom...or rather, a requirement to do so," Izh'mai answered. "And it's as I said. That I am a captive now while my companion ended her own life to avoid capture is a disgrace to myself and very shameful."

For the briefest of moments, Twilight Sparkle felt somewhat bad for Izh'mai, if for no other reason, than because she lost a friend of hers. However, Twilight also kept in mind that she was still an enemy, and that her intentions for all of Equestria were potentially very harmful. As such, she made sure that any such sympathy she did have was kept hidden from the prisoner. However, despite the pride Izh'mai held for her fellow Changelings, and how much she had boasted so far about the 'Changeling Army', Twilight had a feeling that the situation for the Changelings wasn't as upbeat as they seemed to be. With that thought, Twilight had a new array of questions for Izh'mai.

"So, as big and powerful as the Changeling Armor is, why is it they didn't attack Canterlot in full force when they had the chance?" Twilight asked, hoping to invoke some emotional response from Izh'mai.
"It wasn't needed. Had it not been for my Queen's arrogance and lack of steps to prevent the now Crystal Princess and Royal Captain, we would have taken Canterlot," Izh'mai answered, completely unaffected by Twilight's question. "You know this to be true; We had Celestia bound, the Elements of Harmony bound, and Luna was far away."

Despite what she wanted to believe, Izh'mai was right. That Canterlot had not been fully taken over was due to nothing but luck that the Changeling queen didn't bind Shining Armor and Cadence as well. However, Twilight wasn't disheartened by the prisoner's answer in the slightest.

"Maybe you're right," Twilight said, choosing not to let her own doubts known. "But still. How desperate must the Changelings be, to attack the capital of Equestria with such a weak incursion force?" This question had the desired effect on the Changeling that Twilight wanted; anger.
"Desperate? Weak? You think us any of these? At any moment in within the past thousand years, the entire might of the Changeling Army could have descended upon Equestria, and your lands would have been helpless! And you know nothing of being desperate! Until your lands are raided every day by the fiercest Diamond Dog raiders, killing and abducting hundreds of your soldiers and civilians alike every week, you will never know the true definition of 'desperation'!" Izh'mai shouted, causing Twilight to reel back and Shining Armor to storm into the cell. It only took a few moments, however, for the Changeling to realized what had happened; how she had been played at her own game. Choosing not to give the Element of Magic the satisfaction of victory, however, Izh'mai calmed herself down.

"I think I've said everything that is to be said. You may go now, Twilight Sparkle," Izh'mai said in a disconcertingly calm tone. Twilight looked over at Izh'mai, who had now turned away from her and stared blankly at the wall in front of her. As she went to follow her brother out of the cell, Twilight turned around again, feeling terrible for doing what she did to Izh'mai in the first place.
"If it's of any consolation, Izh'mai...I'm sorry for what you go through..." Twilight said, leaving the cell before Izh'mai could answer, assuming she would. While she didn't show it, Izh'mai was surprised at Twilight Sparkle's uncalled apology, though she paid it no heed; deciding it was merely for self reassurance rather than any genuine sympathy for her Hive.



~~~



Twilight Sparkle joined her friends and brother outside the cell. Though she wanted nothing more than to get back to Ponyville as soon as possible, she decided to stay as long as needed to go over everything Izh'mai had told her. The guards, especially Shining Armor, while grateful, was surprised at how much Twilight had managed to get from the Changeling. Though Shining Armor was very speculative of the information Twilight had gotten, he trusted his sister's judgement enough to trust the info.

After having gone over every detail she could think of, Twilight Sparkle finally let her friends know that it was time to go back to Ponyville. The group had spent the past few hours in the dungeons, and as such were indeed quite eager to leave the dark bleak dungeons.. While her friends, especially Rarity, wanted to stay in Canterlot for awhile longer, in truth, Twilight wanted to get back to her home in Ponyville. As such, she made her way to the exit of the dungeons as fast as possible.


"Hey Twi, are you okay"? Rainbow Dash asked, catching up to Twilight and noticing her friend's downtrodden mood.
"I'm fine, I just...There are some things the Changeling said..." Twilight said, recalling her conversation with Izh'mai.
"Shoot Twi, whatever she said, ah'm sure it was just nasty things ta make ya feel bad. Whatever she said, just ignore it," Applejack said, trying to reassure her friend.
"That's just it Applejack. Everything she said, was about her, or her home. And the way I got her to talk about her home...I don't think I can ever forgive myself for it..." Twilight stated, hanging her head down. Fluttershy trotted up next to Twilight and embraced her in a hug, with the rest of her friends joining soon after. While she didn't forget her interactions with Izh'mai by a long shot, the sudden gesture from her friends certainly helped ease her mood.


By the time the six friends had made it out of the dungeons, the sun had begun its descent, with the moon beginning its own ascent. It only took them a few minutes to reach the train station, arriving just in time to make the train for Ponyville. As the girls took their seats, Twilight sat alone again briefly, though Rarity took her place next to her this time. 

Though Twilight's thoughts were empty at first, she suddenly remembered their other worldly guess. While not worried about him still, she wondered what she'd tell him, if she'd tell him anything at all. While she knew telling the ponies of Equestria about a capture Changeling would be a bad idea, Vakarious wasn't technically a pony from Equestria. On the other hoof, he was a dragon from another world, and while she didn't distrust him in the slightest, let alone as much as Applejack did, she still wasn't sure if telling someone else from another world that she had only known for a little less than a week was really a good idea. In the end, she'd write a letter to Princess Celestia on the matter, easing her thoughts.

"Are you sure you're fine, darling?" Rarity asked, breaking the silence between the two.
"I am. There's just a lot going on. From, you know, our visit in Canterlot, to our friend in Ponyville. I mean, we should all be in shock and awe at the fact that a dragon from another world is living in Ponyville, yet it's as if that's normal. Now there's a Changeling locked up in Canterlot, which after hearing what she had to say, makes me wonder if the Changelings are truly evil, or just need help," Twilight answered, sighing in defeat as she leaned her head against the train window. While Rarity  could certainly understand her friend's stress, she nonetheless felt that Twilight was pressuring herself unnecessarily.

"Twilight, if I may," Rarity began, gaining Twilight's attention. "Our...ahem, 'guest' in Ponyville being from a different erm, 'world' doesn't really seem that strange to us because he is still a being that is native to our world. That being said, while I am still quite wary of him myself, though not as much as Applejack, it is my firm belief that he is really no different than you or I, at least metaphorically," Rarity said, giving her opinion on Vakarious to Twilight. "As for the um, Changeling...Well, it stands to reason that our interaction with them was quite inevitable. That it happened in our favor this time should be seen as a good omen, rather than a misfortune. After all, what you learned from the few minutes you talked with her is quite a lot more than the many books that have been written on them over many years."

Twilight, after hearing Rarity's words, allowed herself to relax a little bit. After all, everything she said about Vakarious was true, at least what she learned from him. As for Izh'mai, she was right about that situation as well. She truly did learn a lot more from her few minutes she spent with Izh'mai, than the hundreds, of not thousands of books on the Changelings that were all pure speculation. With this consideration, Twilight decided that she didn't need to burden herself so much.

"Thank you Rarity for your help," Twilight said, smiling at her friend.
"Oh, think nothing of it darling. I wouldn't be much of a friend if I let you trouble yourself with things that shan't be worried about, now would I?" Rarity stated, more than asked. Twilight nodded, then gazed back out the window. Surprisingly, they were only a couple of minutes away from Ponyville now, the small town in question getting bigger by the second. Twilight was grateful for this, as all she wanted by now was nothing more than to sleep in her comfy bed at home.



~~~



Vakarious had spent the entire day, until the beginning of sundown practicing various abilities in his Pegasus form. And this time, he was able to accomplish much more outside in the forest than inside of his home. He would have stayed well into the night, however he still remembered his invitation for his new friend. I honestly have no idea why she interests me enough for me to call her a 'friend', other than what I told Alestra. Chalk it up to this place, or at least Celestia getting to me, I guess. 

Vakarious continued to his home, which for some reason, he suddenly decided he disliked. It wasn't because it was too big or small, he just preferred either living underground, or in a mountain. Mainly a place where if he wanted, he could be his true form and not destroy his home, or send a small town into a panic. In that aspect of his preferred home, he was essentially a stereotypical dragon. He soon dropped those thoughts once he came into view of his house. And to his expectation, Trixie was standing in front of his door, apparently waiting for him to answer.

"Not quite home yet," he answered, startling the blue mare.
"Trixie sees that now," Trixie said, recomposing herself. "Trixie assumes your suicidal foray into the Everfree Forest was a success and that you found what you were looking for?"
"Not really, but I'll manage. How long have you been waiting here?" Vakarious asked, changing the subject as to why he was near the forest.
"Only just now," Trixie answered.
"Well, that's good. Come on in, make yourself at home, all that. I've gotta find what I have for you first," Vakarious said as he opened his door, allowing Trixie to enter first.

After Vakarious gave a cover story as to how he could afford his house, one which wasn't a complete lie, he went up to his room and looked for his Gala invitation. While he was sure he would know what Trixie's reaction would be like after giving it to her, in truth, it wouldn't be the first time he gave acquaintances, let alone 'friends' exclusive invitations to parties and events as such. He mostly did as such to either anger other people, or to gain their trust. His thoughts were interrupted once he found what he was looking for, however, and headed downstairs to his guest.

"Well, I'm not sure if there's some custom for giving you one of these, but here ya go," he said as he handed her the guest invitation. Trixie stood in silence, staring at the ticket in question before completely surprising Vakarious with her response.
"While Trixie is not ungrateful for the offer, quite the opposite in fact, Trixie thinks it would be best if Trixie did not attend the Grand Galloping Gala. Ever," she stated matter of factually.
"Why...?" Vakraious asked, confused.
"Trixie would prefer not to be made a fool at the biggest social gathering in all of Equestria due to the reasons I told you earlier. Just as well, Trixie does not have the bits for a dress required for the Grand Galloping Gala anyway," Trixie answered, sighing sadly. Vakarious was going to shrug and head back upstairs, until an idea struck him.

"You said you were a traveling show mare, right?" Vakarious asked, earning a confused nod from Trixie. "You also said that you can't do that anymore because the ponies think you're a fraud, right?"
"Yes, why?" Trixie asked, still surprised at his sudden change of topic.
"What if...and bear with me for a moment, but what if your very recent act, was taming a very large dragon?" 
"Trixie thinks...No, Trixie knows that such an act would go about as well as Trixie telling how he she defeated an Ursa Major," Trixie replied, almost dumbfounded.
"Like I said, bear with me. The problem with that one, is that it's not true. What if though, you taming a very large dragon, was true?" Vakarious asked.
"You're...You're serious aren't you? What, do you know some spell that would allow Trixie to perform such a feat?" Trixie asked, confused.
"Something like that, yeah. See, Celestia wants me to do something 'special' for the Gala this year, something you'll find out if you go. That being said, that 'something' may, or may not, have a lot to do with a very large dragon that would be willing to give the illusion of you taming it, as a gesture of friendship for you," Vakarious stated.
"That's...What you're saying is crazy!" Trixie said.
"I have a personal royal invitation to the Gala that gets me past the line, and a few letters from Celestia to prove what I'm saying is true. And if that's not enough, I can very well show you that what I'm saying is not crazy," Vakarious defended. Trixie just stared at him, as if he was the craziest pony she had ever ran into. For a very, very brief moment, Trixie considered leaving then and there. However, she felt that she should at least give him the benefit of the doubt, if nothing else than for the fact that he did so for her.

"Fine. But first, who are you, really?" Trixie asked.
"I told you who I am already. I just left some key things out, is all. That being said, I'm kind of a dragon that leads other dragons on another world to protect said world from outside bad guys," Vakarious stated matter of factually. He expected Trixie to completely doubt him, if not run off completely, but her actual response surprised.
"Okay, I'll buy it. Why not tell Trixie earlier, though?" she asked.
"We were in public, and both me and Celestia kind of don't want to cause a panic, at least right now. For some reason though, her genius self thinks it'd be a good idea to show the people, or ponies rather, attending the Gala one of my other forms," Vakarious said, promptly switching to said form, shocking Trixie in the process.
"That's...I knew dragons were powerful, but I didn't know they could do that!" Trixie exclaimed.
"I'm pretty sure dragons here can't do that. The reason I, and dragons like myself can, is because we're one with our world, connected basically. There's a lot more boring stuff to it than that, but that's the basic gist," Vakarious answered, sorting back to his Pegasus form.

"Okay, but I have another question now. Why tell me? What about me, makes you trust me enough to tell me something like this without fear of me either being afraid of you, or telling anypony, or both?" Trixie asked.
"That's easy. What you told me of your past and what you learned from it is something I respect. I don't think there exists a person from my world who could possess such an artifact, and be remorseful for what they did with it rather than attempt to get it back. I trust you with this because I truly would like to consider you my 'friend', something I've honestly not had in my entire existence, "Vakarious answered, reassuring Trixie. "Plus, even if you did end up screwing me over and telling everyone, it wouldn't do much since no one would believe you."
"True," Trixie agreed, though she couldn't really see herself betraying someone's trust like that, even before she 'learned her lesson'.

"That being said...Are you sure you don't wanna reconsider the invitation?" Vakarious asked.
"I think...I think I would like that," Trixie said, smiling.
"Cool deal. We've got about a week, and I think I can coax someone into getting you a dress," Vakarious said, noting one of Trixie's other reasons.

Vakarious found himself liking the concept of 'friendship' with a random person, or pony that he had just met. That he never really explored friendship in such a way on Earth surprised him at first, though he decided Humans were just too different. While friendship wasn't exactly foreign to him, as he considered Alestra to be a friend, somewhat, the friendship on this new world was very different. Perhaps it was the 'kindness' factor, something he usually was not, or perhaps it was a strange sort of sympathy for Trixie, seeing as how Praetorian was in a somewhat similar situation, though he didn't know. What he did know, however, was that he might not mind so much a delayed wait to get back to his war torn world.

> Chapter 17
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Ugh, it makes no sense at all! What is so important about that world, that they occupied ours for over two hundred years.”

Ever since Earth’s triumphant defense against the Burning Legion, and even prior to their defeat, Alestra worked non stop trying to learn everything she could about the demonic army. While she did have access to the Titan archives, she found very little in terms of information on the Burning Legion. What she did find however, was a commonality between the Legion and the Titans; a world they both seemed to have a vested interest in, the world known as Azeroth. While the Archives didn’t give a direct answer, Alestra deducted that the Titans interest in Azeroth was simply their goal of bringing order to the possibly chaotic world. Seeing as the Titan’s visitation of the world was over a hundred thousand years ago, it was her most logical assumption.

The Archives however, gave no indication or reason as to why the Burning Legion apparently wanted Azeroth as bad as they did. Granted, Alestra knew essentially nothing about the world other than its name, so for all she knew it could have been the most arcane rich planet in the universe. Because she had very little information to go on, Alestra all but forgot about Azeroth. As far as she was concerned, nothing about the world explained the Burning Legion’s 250 year occupation of Earth.

Alestra found herself staying in her quarters more and more ever since Vakarious contacted her. While she did curse the fact that it was because of him disappearing that her research into Azeroth was hindered, she was still glad to know that he was at least alive, albeit stranded on an entirely different world. Alestra was still upset though somewhat, having to focus on opening a gateway between Earth and the world Vakarious was on, rather than continue looking into Azeroth.

“Thats it! The world V is on is the answer! How could I have been so stupid? It makes sooo much sense now,” Alestra shouted to herself, coming to a realization during her skulking around. “Prat, I need you to get down here, like, soon. Soon as in kinda now.”


~~~


‘This had better be good’  Praetorian thought to himself as he headed down towards Alestra’s quarters. Under normal circumstances, anyone else who had the gall to speak to him in such a way would have been lucky to earn a quick death. Alestra, however, was a different case. Praetorian eventually decided it was because she was the most powerful dragon in the world, short of a Titan empowered aspect though.

“Why do you call me Alestra,” Praetorian asked into the intercom outside of Alestra’s room. There was silence at first, then the sound of shuffling before Alestra responded.

“Sorry, come in. Needed to put some things away,” she replied. Praetorian sighed before entering her quarters.

“Alright, before I begin, I need to ask you to do me a kind of a big favor,” Alestra said after Praetorian entered the room.

“No. Tell me what it is that’s so important as to warrant dragging me down here in the middle of troop organization,” Praetorian said.

“Fine. I think I may have figured out two important things. One, why the Burning Legion invaded us and what they wanted with our world and two, why V was transported to the world he’s on now,” Alestra said, earning a look of interest from Praetorian.

“Go on,” he said.

“Alright, first things first, Pony Land. This world indirectly answers the Burning Legion’s purpose in their invasion. As you know, gateways and portals need a point A and point B to be functional, otherwise they’re nothing, right?” Alestra asked, receiving Praetorian’s questioning look in response. “Anyway...Vakarious being transported was somewhat of an accident that was done on purpose. You see, I think when Sargeras came down here, he was in a weakened form, probably intentional. Most likely, his full form was just too much for Earth’s atmosphere to handle with severely disrupting any Ley Lines,” Alestra paused, both to recompose herself and to allow Praetorian to ask any questions he may have had. When he didn’t say anything, Alestra began a seemingly different rant.

“Anyway, after finding that anything concerning the world V is on right is restricted, I turned my attention to another world that I had been curious about for a long while now. This world I managed to at least get the name of; Azeroth. Now, what does this have to do with the Legion invading us, or the world V is stuck on? Simple. Earth is a nexus, or basically right in between Azeroth, and Pony Land,” Alestra finished her entire explanation, or lecture rather, with an excited grin. It was short lived, however, with Praetorian’s reaction, or lack thereof.

“Look, this all leads me to that favor I have of you. As it stands, Vakarious is stuck until either the gateway on our end fully stabilizes, which could take a long time, or he manages to somehow find a reliable source of power where he is. In the amount of time he’ll be gone though, we’ll be very vulnerable to a lot of things, which is wh---”

“Get on with it,” Praetorian interrupted. Alestra sighed, then continued.

“I...need you to capture a demon. Alive, for questioning,” Alestra said. Praetorian stared at her, his silence  being Alestra’s only indication to explain herself. “I need a demon to question about Azeroth. If I can find out why the Burning Legion spent 250 years on our world just to have access to Azeroth, then I may be able to find out how to get Vakarious back sooner. If nothing else, I can at least send a warning to one of the dragons I’m sure exists on Azeroth about the impending Burning Legion invasion they’ll face.”

Praetorian stood in silence, his expression unreadable by Alestra. While she wasn’t exactly afraid of anything he would do, she was still concerned with what his answer would be, hoping it wouldn’t be a flat out ‘no’.

“Tell me, before I decide. In what way is the fate of another world relevant to us, when rebuilding our own will be harder to do than defending it?” Praetorian asked.

“Easy. Something so simple as a warning to the right person who will heed it, will in itself be a defeat for the Burning Legion. And any Burning Legion defeat, no matter how small, or where, is a victory for us, wouldn’t you agree?” Alestra responded. Praetorian pondered her request, and words for a few moments before heavily sighing.

“Fine, you will have your demon soon,” Praetorian answered, leaving Alestra’s quarters immediately afterwards.



~~~


Shorty after Praetorian left, Alestra began opening a small portal to Azeroth to send fourth the warning. Surprisingly, she found that doing so was fairly easy to do, unlike the effort it took to open and maintain the same portal to the world Vakarious was on. Though it still would have taken time to open and stabilize a gateway large enough for anyone to go through safely, Alestra figured that doing so would take a far less amount of time and energy. She mused over the thoughts of herself going to another world while she looked for the best candidate to receive her warning. Despite the fact that the world she was scrying was relatively new in terms of Titan visitation, finding an actual dragon or even a keeper of the Titans was rather difficult.

As she began to give up due to exhaustion, that was when she found her potential recipient . While she couldn't exactly make out who it was, she did make out two major details; he was a dragon, and he was at least close with the worlds version of their Dragonlord, if the residual Titan power and lack of Old God corruption were of any indication to her. With no other candidates to receive her message for the time being, Alestra decided that this dragon would have to do. All she could do is hope they he heeded her warning.