Ch. 2
"Princess…not to be disrespectful, but…are you sure having a dragon live here in Ponyville is such a good idea?" Twilight asked. Princess Celestia had returned to Ponyville the next day, with Yol Toor, to inform Twilight and her friends about Yol Toor's decision to live in Ponyville.
"I understand you're skeptical, but I have faith that you will come to see Yol Toor as a friend, like Luna and I have." Celestia explained, and Twilight gave a sigh.
"Okay Princess, we'll try our best." Twilight conceded, and Celestia smiled.
"He has more in common with you all than you might think." Celestia informed, and with that, she teleported out of Twilight's library, leaving the six ponies alone with their newest guest.
"So….what do dragons like to do for fun?" Twilight asked.
"Hunt for our next meal." Yol Toor answered, making everypony's ears drop back.
"Well, that's out." Twilight said.
"You have to remember that I said that the Empire is militaristic; that means we follow a very strict regimen every day, not leaving a lot of time to have 'fun'." Yol Toor explained.
"You've never had time for FUN!? That's…so sad!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, but Yol Toor shrugged.
"Sometimes you have to make sacrifices to be the best, and each dragon is expected to perform at one-hundred percent; anything less, and you're not contributing to society, and are considered worthless." Yol Toor said sharply.
"That's a bit extreme, wouldn't you say?" Rarity asked.
"Perhaps, but a lot is expected out of the dragons, and not just in the Empire itself, but to other nations as well. You have to realize that the Empire was one of the first nations to ever rise out of the barbaric ways of prehistoric times, over twenty-thousand years ago. The other nations of the world expect us to always be at our best, lest we show weakness, and an opportunity to be invaded." Yol Toor explained.
"You make your Empire sound like its run on paranoia." Twilight pointed out.
"Do you have any ideas how many nations would leap at the opportunity to try and invade a weakened Empire, and be forever known as the nation that conquered the unconquerable?" Yol Toor said.
"Then I'm surprised you haven't tried to conquer the whole world at this point." Rainbow Dash said sharply.
"We're not war mongers; I said we are always prepared for war, not looking for it. There's a difference." Yol Toor argued.
"Please forgive Rainbow's brashness; she has a tendency to act without thinking." Twilight explained.
"No need. Given your past experiences with dragons, her precaution is understandable." Yol Toor said.
"Speaking of which, I have another question; the dragon my friends and I encountered was huge, as big as some of the buildings in Canterlot; why are you so…smaller? If you don't mind my asking." Twilight inquired, and Yol Toor just rubbed his chin.
"That question is actually very simple to answer; you know how you have different types of ponies; Earth Ponies, Unicorns, and Pegasi? Well, we dragons have a similar trait; you have your more tradition dragons, they're about my size when fully grown, and then you have what are known as Titans; the more colossal dragons like the one you encountered. And then…there are our more…peculiar dragons, known as Dovah's, a word in our ancient tongue that means 'power'; these are special dragons that are capable of being a Traditional dragon, and transforming into a Titan." Yol Toor said.
"How are they able to do that?" Twilight asked?
"To be perfectly honest…we're not entirely sure; twenty-thousand years of recorded history, and we don't know what makes our most powerful citizens so special. Though some speculate that this ability to transform is the only connection to magic we dragons have." Yol Toor explained.
"That's right, I read that somewhere; dragons have absolutely no magical prowess whatsoever." Twilight remembered, and Yol Toor nodded.
"That's correct; that is why we are so reliant on our physical strength. We are one of the only few sentient beings in this world that can't use magic, the others being Equestria's Buffalo, and the cousins to the dragons, wyverns. This is why we dragons focus so much on the might of our armies; if we become a weak nation, then other magic based lands may try to conquer us, which they might be able to easily do, if we are not united." Yol Toor explained.
"You also mentioned wyverns; I've never heard of them before." Twilight inquired.
"If you don't mind, I'd rather not talk about wyverns; I'll explain them if they ever become relevant, but right now…I'd rather they be as far away from my thoughts as possible." Yol Toor requested sternly, and the ponies just dropped it.
"Well, Yol Toor, you've answered all our questions, it's only fair that you get to know about us now." Twilight said.
"Well, I already know some things about most you; Twilight, you're a magical savant, and based on the fact that you live in a library, you enjoy reading, and you get help with organizing your studies from your assistant, Spike. Applejack; you run Sweet Apple Acres with your grandmother, older brother, and younger sister. Rarity, you enjoy making dresses at your store, the Carousal Boutique, and have a real passion for making everypony look their greatest. Pinkie Pie…I'm going to take a shot in the dark, and say that you enjoy throwing parties." Yol Toor said.
"Wow! How'd you guess that!?" Pinkie asked excitedly.
"I'd say it was a 'lucky guess', but that's too cliché. Rainbow Dash, aside from shooting your mouth off, you're a daredevil that's always trying new tricks, hoping to get the attention of your childhood heroes, the Wonderbolts. And finally, Fluttershy; you watch over all the animals in Ponyville, and have a very obvious fear of dragons…" Yol Toor said, that last part showing hints of annoyance in his voice.
"Wow. How'd you know all that? You hardly even talked to anyone other than the Princess' or myself." Twilight wondered.
"Well, to be honest, Celestia gave me brief details of what you six were like, but like I said; they were very brief. She wanted me to find out the rest on my own." Yol Toor explained.
"I see…" Twilight exclaimed, not knowing what else to say.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I would like to go flying around for a while. It's been a long time since I've been in Equestria, and I'd like to see what's changed." Yol Toor said, and he quickly left the library, and took the skies.
"I must admit; for a dragon, he's much more…civilized, than what I was expecting." Rarity admitted, and her friends just shot her this confused look. "Well, yes, he is rough around the edges, but he seems very intelligent and confident. There's certainly more to him than what we've seen." Rarity pointed out, but Rainbow Dash just scoffed.
"Whatever! I still say we shouldn't turn our backs on him! Dragons can't be trusted! No offense, Spike." Rainbow Dash said, and she rushed out of Twilight's house.
"Fluttershy, I'd just like to say 'thank you' for overcoming your fear of dragons, and helping us make Yol Toor feel welcome in Ponyville." Twilight said as she walked over to Fluttershy. But Fluttershy didn't respond, in fact, she wasn't even moving, causing Twilight to worry. She waved her hoof in front of Fluttershy's face, and still didn't get a response. Twilight then poked Fluttershy, causing her to rock back and forth on her hooves, revealing that Fluttershy, was in fact, frozen with fear. "Fluttershy, Yol Toor's left; you don't need to be afraid anymore." Twilight said, but Fluttershy still didn't respond, making Twilight sigh in annoyance.
"Don't worry, Twi; I'll take care her." Applejack said, and she began to push Fluttershy out of the library, and take her back to her cottage.
"I must get moving as well; when I saw Yol Toor arrive yesterday, and realized that he was our special guest, I realized that I must make changes to the gift I made so that it would fit him." Rarity said, and she quickly left as well.
"And I need to help the Cakes get rid of all those delicious leftovers from the party yesterday! Can't let all that yummyful food go to waste!" Pinkie Pie said happily, as she trotted out of the house, humming a Pinkie tune, leaving Twilight with her thoughts.
"What do you think of him Spike? You've been surprisingly quiet about this whole thing; I figured you'd be excited to meet another dragon." Twilight said.
"I don't know what to think; he's not like how I imagined other dragons to be. I was expecting him to be…" Spike went on, but he couldn't find the words.
"Like you?" Twilight finished, and Spike nodded.
"Yeah! But he's not…it's weird." Spike said, sounding disappointed.
"Well, it does make a lot of sense that you two are so different; you were hatched and raised in Equestria, while Yol Toor probably spent his whole life in the Empire. To say 'both lands are different from each other' is about as obvious as saying 'a pony has four legs'." Twilight explained. "But there is something that's bothering me; how did he come to know the Princess'? And how did he befriend them? Yol Toor and Princess Celestia have absolutely nothing in common." Twilight went on, the questions in her mind puzzling her endlessly.
As Rainbow Dash soared through the air, working on her Buckaneer Blaze, she stopped in the air for a minute, running the trick through her mind over and over again until she was certain she could perform it all at once. After making sure that there was nopony nearby that might get hurt by being too close, Rainbow Dash readied her wings. Suddenly though, a grey streak flew right past her, making Rainbow Dash spin wildly for a few seconds before regaining her composure. The grey streak then began to perform several spins and flips at high speeds, and it didn't take Rainbow Dash long to realize that the streak was actually Yol Toor, showing off in front of her, obviously goading Rainbow Dash into a contest of skill. Rainbow Dash took the bait, and quickly began flying as fast as she could to catch up with Yol Toor, which didn't her very long.
The two started flying all over the place, around Cloudsdale, over Ponyville, and eventually heading through the Ghastly Gorge. Yol Toor wasn't having any problems keeping up with Rainbow Dash, even as they reached the wind tunnel; while Rainbow Dash had to flap extra hard to get through without being flung around, Yol Toor just gave a large flap of his wings before entering giving him some extra speed as he folded his wings, and used his more sleek design, when compared to Rainbow Dash, to allow the wind to fly past him, rather than against him, and also allowing him to rush past Rainbow Dash.
When they reached the overgrowth of thorny vines and cacti, Rainbow Dash's small size gave her the ability to be more agile, despite her moving at high speeds. Yol Toor, on the other hand, had to slow down, because his larger size made it easier for him to accidentally hit a vine or cactus. Although his scales would protect him from any harm, he still felt it to be only fair that he avoid making contact with the plants as well.
When they finally reached the nests of eels that lived in the Gorge, Rainbow Dash used her remaining energy to quickly fly past the eels. Yol Toor, however, used some of his saved energy to quickly catch up to Rainbow Dash after so much distance as gained in the last part. They were neck and neck as they flew through the nests, both trying to stay in the lead, while also avoiding being eaten by the eels. One particular eel decided to try and take a bite out of Yol Toor, but before it even had the chance, Yol Toor threw a punch at it, landing on its nose, and sending the eel in the cliff wall next to its nest. Despite Rainbow Dash's surprise at the sudden feat of strength Yol Toor just showed up, she didn't allow it to distract her, and instead, noticed that Yol Toor had to slow down to be able to fight off the eel, and took that as her chance to win their contest. Rainbow Dash flew at max speed through the Gorge, though Yol Toor was, once again, right behind her. Unfortunately for Yol Toor, though, he wasn't able to pass Rainbow Dash in time, as she reached the end of the Gorge.
"Not bad, for a Pegasus." Yol Toor remarked, and Rainbow Dash smirked.
"You're pretty good yourself." Rainbow Dash said, and Yol Toor just shrugged.
"That's what I've been trying to tell you." Yol Toor said confidently.
"It's been a while since someone has been able to keep up with me like that." Rainbow Dash admitted.
"I want a rematch!" Yol Toor challenged.
"You're on!" Rainbow Dash shouted, and they two got ready to go through the Gorge again.