Nathaniel remembered the first few moments he had on Equus, seeing a real dragon for the first time had made him cry from the sight. While he did not cry now it didn't take away from the fact that he was in awe from the dragons home land and all it held within itself.

"The Golden Stallion" had set shore just by the dragons border and a smaller dragonness had met up with them, leading them trough the rocky and warm landscape filled with cracks in the ground and caves everywhere. The only true building the human could see as they walked through the homeland of dragons was a temple like structure in a cave guarded by a large red dragon, the being glaring at them as they passed him, heading towards the throne.

The throne of the dragon lord was more of a large rock than anything, the seat for a creature that big too large to be made out of gold. Yet it was what was on the throne that made Nathaniel's heart almost stop, the being's large brown eyes starring down at them from high up in the sky. The dragon lord welcomed them with a triumphant roar, followed by his fellow dragons doing the same.

"Welcome princess Luna of Equestria! We have awaited your arrival" The dragon lord said, his deep voice rumbling as he bent down to look at the ponies and the humans.

The size difference between the large dragon and the ponies were enormous, Luna not even being the same size as his eye. The human felt both awe and fear for this creature, the power the dragon had to hold was probably enough to crush the sisters castle without any issues.

The dragon lord of the land were a brown being, his scales and wings being of that colour. The only way he truly stood out among the other brown dragons was his size and the golden crown upon his head, the thing large enough encircle ten ponies standing on a line. The dragon lord's height could only be around fifty to one-hundred meters, making him stick out even more in the red and grey background of the dragon land.

The red soil on the ground moved in the wind as Nathaniel and the ponies were lead to a cave by the Dragon Lord, the alicorn not having responded yet to the dragon's greeting. Once they were in a chamber with smaller openings in the walls she spoke, her voice echoing in the cavern.

"We thank you for thou greeting us great lord Shadow Claw" Luna said with a smile and the dragon scoffed.

"There is no need for that speech here friend! This is not Guto's or Darkest Dream's court!" Shadow Claw said with a laugh and the princess grinned slightly.

"The griffon King and demon Empress would really not find that funny, but I do" She said and Shadow Claw lied down. '

"You came to speak of our borders correct? If that is so then you should know things are getting, complicated" The dragon huffed and Luna frowned, sitting down.

The man found it funny how the dragon lord did not care to offer them chairs or anything really, nor did Luna ask for any. The dragons seemed to care little for their diplomatic guests, they showed respect by bowing sure, but no signs of aything of comfort was nearby. The lunar princess seemed to care little of this fact however, happily sitting down by the dragon lord to discuss.

"The dragons are a tough species, they don't exactly sleep on beds or drink expensive wine. So they offer no other species that treatment, here all are equal but the royalty, and even then does Luna need to bring her own stuff if she's gonna use luxury objects" Rose said and Osiris nodded.

"They don't give a damn about your wealth here. Either you are a honorable warrior or a nation's leader to get any special treatment from these reptiles" The earth pony said and pulled out a deck of cards.

"Is this really the time? We're surrounded by giant creatures of fire and destruction.." Nathaniel deadpanned and his two fellow guardians rolled their eyes.

"They are as likely to attack you as they are to attack Shadow Claw, meaning they are harmless" Osiris huffed.

"The dragons won't harm guests to their leader, so you can be calm Nathan" Luna called back to them, her ears flicking and the dragon lord chuckled.

"Maybe we should play cards somewhere where we won't offend two world powers?" Rose asked the stallion with a sheepish grin and he nodded walking off towards one of the openings in the large chamber.

The human followed the two ponies and looked back at Luna and Shadow Claw, the two leaders starting to speak again. He knew that these dragons were not likely to hurt a guardian of an alicorn princess, but even if they left him in awe he could not trust them so easily, thinking back to Guto promising to free him if he left Luna.

The man followed Rose and Osiris into a smaller chamber, around the size of the royal dining room back at Luna and Celestia's castle. There was a flat rock table carved out in the middle of the room, perfect to play cards on or drink some liquor. Was it a bad sign he felt thirsty for some more liquid courage?

"Ok as Osiris has a bad habit of winning I suggest we beat him this time" Rose exclaimed and the scout grinned as he gave out the cards, Blaze sitting down next to them.

"Is the wolf in?" The stallion asked and Blaze nodded eagerly.

Was it creepy or amazing that this wolf was smart enough to understand the concept of playing cards? The man decided it was a little bit of both.

"Oh! If I win I'm forcing you to down four glasses of big red!" The sanguine grinned and Nathaniel was ready to run.

"Two glasses of that was enough to knock me to the floor, do you wish death upon me?" He asked and she only grinned in response, puling up a bottle of liquid courage and placing it on the table.

"If I win I'm gonna find a dragon brothel" Osiris said with a smirk and Rose groaned in annoyance.

"How would a dragon and a pony even.. I mean they are so big.." Nate said and Rose face hoofed.

"You don't want to know, just move on Nate" The bat pony said as Osiris finished giving out the cards.

"You see there are teenage dragons.." The golden furred stallion began.

"I DON'T WANT TO KNOW!" Rose shirked and the wolf and human laughed.

Luna's POV

I smiled as I heard laughter coming from the room behind me, knowing my guardians were having a good time. Yet my smile couldn't remain on my face as I looked into the disproving eyes of Shadow Claw, those brown round orbs looking into my very soul.

"Yes we have increased our military presence on our borders, but you do not need to worry my Lord, we do not wish for war" I said and swallowed, the anger of a dragon was not one I wanted to face today.

"Then you should tell Celestia to lessen her grip on the border, the tension between my scouts and your soldiers grow as more newly trained ponies arrive. I understand why she fears for your nation, but the Solar Princess looks like a paranoid fool with the amount of soldiers she has spread out" He said and I could only nod.

"After Discord took the throne during those two months we lost half our nation to bandits and self proclaimed states like the crystal empire. We needed to secure all our land, which meant spreading out our army to keep the order" I told him and he scoffed.

"I've known you since you were a filly Luna, you can handle all types of bandits and scum. This amount of soldiers is used during wars or in times of civil unrest. So tell me, is your country heading to civil war or is your sister just so overprotective she's willing to destroy the trust the nations hold of Equestria?" The brown dragon asked me.

"Once the country is safe once again she'll calm down and let up the heavy military presence on all borders" I said confidently, my sister was not a fool.

"I want to trust those words Princess of the Moon, but so far have your nation's near collapse only made you look weak in the eyes of the Equus. You need to show a feat of power soon or more places like the crystal empire will appear" He huffed.

"We sent our Lord Protector there to observe, once he returns will we know more and decide if this empire poses a threat or not" I said firmly.

"You sent him there without one of your guardians? You don't strike me as the stupid kind Luna, so why send him there without another good fighter?" The dragon asked me with a huff.

"We sent Lord Silver with capable soldiers and storm spike. With those ponies and that weapon he'll be safe" I said firmly once again, this questioning of my leadership skills starting to annoy me.

"If you think that is enough to keep him safe than so be it. But take my warning when I say this, that empire will only bring pain as long as it's allowed to rule itself princess of the moon" Shadow Claw said and I nodded slowly, pondering on the truth behind his statement.

Nathaniel's POV

He looked at the three other players, the wolf, stallion and mare all holding onto their cards tightly. Or Blaze were holding them in his mouth, but he still held them tight. The human had four princess Luna cards and one princess Celestia card, meaning he held the a combination Osiris had named "Lunar gangbang", a name Rose had thrown a mango after him for (where she got the mango no one knew).

With his amazing cards (or what he though he was amazing cards) Nathaniel was certain of victory. Osiris had talked big about winning in the beginning, telling them which dragoness he'd court first, a topic that delved into more about how spikes on a dragons back indicated good blood than anything really about how many dragons he would bed with the money.

The man saw Rose chewing on her cheek, eyeing her cards before looking at him. Either she had good cards and was trying to play him or she just had no poker face, either one could be true in this situation. Blaze was just sitting there and drooling over the cards in his mouth, eyeing the bottle of liquid courage in the middle of the table. Nathaniel really didn't want to drink like half of that thing.

With the goal of survival in mind the teen tossed out his cards to show, the cards making Rose mutter and reveal her's, three unicorns, one earth pony and one snake looking pony. The sanguine had lost and so all did not seem lost, the man already feeling like he had victory in his grasp.

Those dreams were dashed as Osiris tossed out five Celestia cards, making the human groan. Now he would have to drink the thing with Rose, who was unfazed by the damn thing! Or at least he though so before suddenly the wolf to his left spit out his card on top of the others, the five cards being that of a weird looking spear.

The human had no idea what it meant but seeing the slack-jawed scout made him realize that the wolf had defeated them all, with no effort or care what so ever. It was kind of funny seeing how Blaze had kept the same cards during the entire game without even looking at them.

"How in Celestia's name could the damn dog win!?" The golden stallion said and Blaze stuck out his tongue, Rose laughing her ass off.

"Well, it seems I won't be the only one to drink from the bottle of death" Nathaniel grinned and Osiris groaned in frustration at his loss.

"How do you even know the hound wants to us to drink liquid courag.." The scout started only for a glass filled with the stuff to be slid across the table from Blaze's direction.

The wolf had the liquor bottle in his mouth, holding it by the neck as he poured up its content in two more glasses that Blaze pushed over to Rose and Nathan. It seemed like they would all be drinking four glasses of this stuff, so they might as well enjoy it.

"The one who finishes last have to take a fifth glass" The human said with a small grin, grabbing his glass and swallowing its content in one go.

Yeah he was gonna feel this in the morning, the burning and coughing making him desire water or anything that wasn't that damn substance in the glass. Osiris seemed to have the same thought as he raised his glass slowly and began to drink, his pace not even close to Rose's, the sanguine having downed two glasses without a problem. Was her liver made out adamatium or something?

The rest of the drinking contest (something Nathaniel already regretted having agreed to and added to) was between the human and earth pony, Rose finishing up her fourth glass when the man was on his second. The mare was drunk however, like, she had fallen off her chair giggling at the air. The sight had been amusing but soon replaced with the intense headache and burning caused by the liquor, yet there was still a desire for more. That succubus label wasn't there for no reason.

Once Nathaniel could actually put the fourth glass to his lips he was dizzy and Osiris had passed out on the table, having passed out from his fourth glass. So now the teen had to drink five glasses? He had hoped to walk away alive today, there was dragons around dammit and he wanted to learn about them.

He wondered if dragons laid eggs, maybe it hatched into a lizard that then grew wings. Or maybe he shouldn't be thinking about confusing concepts while his brain was on the verge of collapsing on itself. Rose was currently giggling at the sight of the earth pony scout using Blaze's head as a pillow, the wolf that had been dragged onto the table didn't take kindly to the treatment but was stuck in the stallions iron hard grip.

The green eyed man would lie if he said he didn't enjoy spending time with these creatures all day long. Star Swirl was also an added comfort beyond them and Luna, the old stallion (who he now really wanted to call Gandalf just to see his reaction) having continued their lessons on the way to the dragon lands. The new spell the human had been taught was that each new battle mage was taught as they joined the ranks, how to cast a simple fire ball.

The human laughed at the fuzzy memory of fire everywhere and a furious Star Swirl as he had messed up the spell a fifth time, the old stallion having almost ripped him apart because Nathan scorched his hat a tiny bit. Thinking back at the complete change in the old wizard's character made him laugh more and he took that opportunity to pour up his last glass (this being the fourth bottle they had opened that evening, Blaze really wanted them all drunk today) and swallow it all down.

The same second the liquor hit his systems the human passed out on the table, dreaming about a golden idol and the eyes of a certain Lunar princess. While Nathaniel passed out Rose stumbled over to release Blaze from Osiris grip, allowing the wolf to grab the bottle of liquid courage and walk away. Apparently wolves wanted to get hammered too.

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Nathaniel awoke with a groan and held his head, the sensation being a familiar one. How much had he had to drink last night? The man felt like he was on fire and like he was in a freezing winter month (he was, but the dragon lands were warm and rocky). The teen needed something to drink, something that wasn't liquor.

"I see you four enjoyed yourselves while I sat and discussed matters of the land" Luna's voice called out and the human turned to his right, seeing her sitting on a bed reading through a book.

"How long have I've been sleeping?" He groaned and stood up, the alicorn's magic catching him as he stumbled.

"Oh, only a few hours. Your body seems to work through that liquor quite quickly" She said and turned a page in her book.

Before he could even request it a cup of tea was levitated to him by the princess, the mare taking a cup for herself from a table near a wooden door. Tea with Luna, was there any more relaxing ritual he had on this planet then this? No, no he hadn't.

"Thank you princess" Nate said with a smile and she nodded back with a smile of her own before sipping at her tea.

The room the two found themselves in were a former small cave turned into royal quarters, having two beds and one bookshelf to give some comfort and a table used to store valuables in. There was a dark blue carpet on the ground made from a thick fur like material bearing Luna's crest. The man's bare feet sunk into the carpet and it was a comforting feeling of feeling something so fluffy against his body. The round walls were decorated with small paintings of dragons and the night sky, finishing of the final touches by having the roof be lit up by a magical enchantment that made it mimic the night sky.

"I see you like my personal room here in the dragon nation. Every object here was brought from Equestria as the dragons won't provide anything for you. I was allowed to have this place because of my royal blood, my mother's kindness to the dragons still rewarding us to this day" She said with a small smile and Nathaniel looked at the title of the book she was reading, "The last Scorn".

"It's a tale about one of the old races and its downfall" Luna said as she spotted him eyeing the book.

"Am I allowed to borrow or buy books Luna? I have a small bookshelf back in the guardian room in your castle and I would like to fill it up" He said and she nodded with a large smile.

"Of course, your servitude says nothing about owning things nor does your position as my bodyguard" The princess of the moon exclaimed.

"Ok that's good, I just like to read. When you read it's liberating, you can enter another world through the pages and become part of it" The dark haired teen said with a smile and Luna could only smile in return.

"I agree with that fiction is liberating, it's easy to forget the world for a few moments and just be" The princess of the night said with a relaxed sigh.

The two did nothing for a few moments, the relaxing silence was worth gold for each second that passed with it for the human. With all the stuff that had happened was a moment where Nathaniel had tea and a friend to talk to all alone sent from the gods.

"You should join Lord Shadow Claw later, he wanted to speak with you since you're a new creature in our lands" Luna suddenly said and the man nodded, the silence broken.

"I'll do that, seems like all you important people wants to talk to me all the time" He said with a small smirk and she just shook herself in amusement.

"Your arrival has marked something special Nathaniel, and we just want to know what that is" The mare said and the dark haired teen nodded before heading out the door, leaving his now finished tea cup behind.

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The great cave that housed the ponies and ambassadors (so far said ambassadors had not showed themselves to him) were where Dragon Lord Shadow Claw waited for him. The room he and his fellow guardians had used during their card game were currently being cleaned by a group of ponies, meaning they most likely had poured liquor everywhere during the night before. How had he gone from a relatively normal kid with rich parents to a drinking bodyguard of a princess? Oh yeah, magic.

"I wanted to talk to you in private guardian. You bear a mark on your hand which does not belong there" The large dragon said, his voice booming through the cave.

"What do you mean?.." The man slowly asked, already wondering why the dragon had called him here.

"That rune is a special one, one that Faust herself made. It was meant for someone would could defend the realm yet you bear it. How did you obtain it?" The dragon lord asked him and looked deep into the teen's eyes.

"I did not steal it if that is what you're asking.. It just appeared and brought me here" Nate muttered to the dragon.

It seemed that all the royals had some plans for him or thought less of him in these lands. So far had only Luna earned his respect while the others had either creeped him or made him feel like the world was sitting on his shoulders. This Dragon Lord was being added to the list with the second category. The dark haired man did not why he had been chosen, but towards the end of the day that was the fact, he had been chosen.

"A mark like that chooses a warrior, some creature that can defend this realm against darkness and corruption. So why did it pick you human? Why pick a young creature without combat experience and with a mind not wise enough to understand the power granted to him?" The massive dragon's voice rumbled and he gave the man a suspicious glare.

"I do not know ok? I have no idea why this damn thing suddenly burnt it's way onto my hand and took me here but it did, deal with that fact" Nathaniel said with a growl and headed for the exit, finally having had enough of all these royals.

Yet as he tried to leave a large brown tail smashed down in front of the cave entrance and the dark growl from Shadow Claw made the teen realize that venting his collected anger at a creature that could squash him with its claw wasn't a smart move. He needed to find a hobby or something, like punching Celestia-looking training dummies, or punching the actual Celestia. Maybe then he'd loose some of that stress and irritation.

"I will see if you are worthy of that mark Guardian Sol. Meet me in the guarded cave four hours from now, I must prepare what Faust built such long time ago" The dragon lord said before exiting the cavern, leaving Nate behind to be confused again.

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"So why did you join the army?" The man asked his two fellow guardians who was sitting by a fireplace, made for the ponies to cook their meals.

"My father was scout commander over the first Equestrian army. I decided to follow in the old stallion's hoof-steps and joined around your age. I had reached the rank of scout captain when Celestia assigned me to be one of Luna's guardians" Osiris said and took a chug from a bottle with liquor, this one much weaker than liquid courage.

"I joined as part of the sanguine guard squadron assigned to become a part of Luna's personal assassins and spies. They called us the "Children of the Night" back at the castle as we were never officially given a name" Rose responded and almost to quickly for the human to notice took the bottle from the earth pony stallion, swallowing down what was left in the bottle.

"Hey! You better pay for another one!" The scout growled and Rose stuck out her tongue.

"So what exactly was your tasks?" Nathan asked them both, snapping them out of their battle ready stances.

"I draw a map of the land I scout, mark down information on enemy strongholds, steal Intel that could help the rest of the army, find out how many hostile camps there are in one region and I figure out the patrol and shift patterns of our enemy to crush them" The golden furred stallion said proudly and Rose nodded.

"Me and my fellow assassins are the first to strike once the scouts has enough information about our enemy. We often hit tactical things first, like supplies or weapons, before moving on to killing high commanders of our enemies, spreading chaos" The bat-pony said and looked into the fire place, the flames reflected in her eyes.

"And in that chaos the normal soldiers rush in and cut down the enemy, making sure to not give them any time to breathe before a battle starts" Osiris said with a little glee in his voice, seemingly remembering battles from the past.

"What enemies do you have that require an army? As far as I've seen so far have only one kingdom been remotely hostile, and all I know about it is that it was created during some chaotic period?" The man asked and the stallion scoffed at him.

"Equestria has many enemies kid, may it be the damn mutants in the far south or the independent city states up north. We need to look strong enough to deal with either of these current threats or one of our "allies" might take advantage of our unprotected western borders" The scout said with a huff and Rose rolled her eyes.

"They wouldn't attack us, it would cause such grief with so many different races that the aggressors would be burnt to the ground" The sanguine said, her tone turning cold by her final words.

"So I take it you don't trust your allied nations?" Nathaniel asked the stallion who nodded.

"Trust is earned, not given Guardian Sol. You better remember that" He responded and the human nodded back.

"The griffins have always been our strongest ally, as without them we would have fallen into full chaos when Discord tore our country apart. They sent in troops to ward off bandits and they helped us rebuild most of our destroyed buildings. Apparently when you remove the magic that makes a building flout it comes crashing to the ground.." Rose muttered.

"The griffins have a military presence in our country, it's heavily decreased from what it once was but they are still there. I do not trust a king who is unwilling to pull out his troops due to "future aid" nor do I trust a princess who allows them to stay because of her own fears over a new Discord indecent" Osiris growled out and tossed a rock at the fireplace.

"Yet you are loyal to Celestia?" The teen asked, Rose sneakingly handing him a bottle of liquor.

"Yes I am. I am loyal to the Equestrian throne and whoever sits upon it. That doesn't mean I won't share my approval of being assigned to princess Luna rather than princess Celestia however" The golden furred stallion grinned and Rose noddded her head in agreement.

"Luna has always been respectful to the "dark races" as some call us. She is the one that makes sure that any interactions with the dark kingdom goes smoothly" The mare said and grinned as the human downed some of the liquor.

"So we all agree Luna is best princess then?" Nate asked the two and they both raised a bottle of liqour, the bag that had been filled with bottles slowly running out.

"Hear! hear!" The two guardians said to the human before they continued to drink up all their liquor.

Why did Nathaniel feel like he was the youngest alcoholic in the group already?

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"So you surf, on lava?.." He asked the teenage dragon next to him, said dragon holding onto a piece of flat rock.

"Yeah! It's the best way to show who's the strongest! If you can handle the lava torrent you can handle anything!" The green scaled dragon answered.

The human had ran into someone his own age, which was refreshing as Osiris seemed to be in his late thirties and Rose seemed to be in her late twenties (then again she might be one-hundred and just lying about it). Meeting a creature that was more at his level (or so at least he had first thought) had been a blast. The dragon that was called Charcoal, the name had drawn a laugh out of him until the remembered he named a wolf Blaze, and he'd showed Nathan around the place.

The area where Luna and the Dragon Lord had discussed business was apparently off-limits for any of the teenage dragons and the fact that the man had gotten piss drunk with his fellow guardians in that cave had earned him respect. The fact that he was still a bit woozy after drinking with Rose and Osiris again probably helped with the decision he took about following Charcoal to the lava pools.

The heat that came from the pools were enough to make Nathaniel feel like he was on fire, yet with a protective bubble of magic around him his lungs would not turn to ash from the warm air. The pools where located on top of one of the many cliffs with one of the cliff edges leading to a twenty meter fall right into a big pool of lava. The rocky landscape laid barren at all directions as Nathaniel looked around, the horizon a bright blue from the sun's life giving light.

"Ok, show me how you do this" Nate said to the dragon who grinned and tossed himself down the river of lava that flowed from pool to pool, his scaly body twisting and turning to keep him steady in the powerful torrent of molten rock.

Charcoal went down the river high speed, zipping past other dragons who were in and around the lava pools. Nathaniel were still wondering how the dragon surfed on molten rock like it was water but he soon just accepted that this world was one weird place. What was even weirder was how easily his new dragon friend cleared the sudden sharp turns in the river, his body twisting with the stone board.

After a few minutes he was at the bottom, flying back to Nathaniel with a huge grin on his face. The sheer happiness and
excitement in Charcoal's eyes were enough to get the teen smile brightly, having not seen such genuine happiness in a long time.

"I'm not gonna lie, that was pretty cool" Her said and the dragon nodded eagerly.

"Yeah! Now you need to try it dude!" Charcoal said and pushed the stone board into the hands of the human, Nate looking at him in surprise.

"What!? I can't do that! I'll fucking burn to death!" He said and looked at the lava pools and river with fear.

"You'll be fine!" The green dragon said and dunked his hand into the human's back, sending him flying into the lava river.

For a second the man had some time to think about all the decisions he'd made to get to this moment, cradling a piece of rock as he fell towards a river of molten rock. Nate wondered if it was the fact he had started drinking or maybe it was because he'd started to get used to the life in Equestria, but Nathaniel knew he was being punished for something.

With a less than masculine scream the young human went down the river, Nate doing best to keep his hands and feet away from the lava as he channeled all his mana into the heat protective shield around his body. If the teen walked away with all his limbs he'd turn Charcoal into a fucking hamburger.

The spell Starswirl had taught him just for this part of the trip kept him safe from burning alive, but the sharp turns he saw further along the stream of lava made him remember something the older unicorn had told him when they were traveling to the dragon lands.

~

"Now I need you to note that while the spell protects you from the heat of the lava it will not keep you safe from the lava itself. So if you fall in.. you're dead"

~

That's right, he's dead if he get's the liquid stone close to him. How wonderful that he was fucking surfing on the damn thing then. It was not like Nate could suddenly flip in the high speed he was traveling past pools filled with dragons who gave him curious expressions.

The first sharp turn made him almost topple over, the spiked rocks along the river made the sudden change of directions even more dangerous for the human. The lava that landed right next to his hand on the stone board made him hastily pull the appendage away, only for the sudden action to send him far to the right, hitting the river's stone edge. Nathaniel was sent flying on top his stone surfboard, the edge having worked as ramp to propel him up into the air.

The other teenage dragons would tell of their grandchildren of the day a human flew over the Dragon lands, squealing like a five year old as he flew over pools of lava and solid rock. It would be the day the question of "how does a human scared shitless sound?" became answered answered.

Nathaniel had excepted to land on the rocky ground the same second he was sent up into the air, but that was not the case as the mountain held a great slope just where he had flown. Plummeting down towards the lava pools below the human could only scream in absolute fear. Why hadn't Star Swirl taught him teleportation or something!?

Just when it looked like death was certain as Nate fell down towards a pool of lava he was surrounded by a great blue light, stopping in his tracks. He panted and looked around as his body was transported towards the shore of the lava pool, Luna standing there with her horn ablaze and a scowl on her lips.

'Yeah fuck that I'm taking my chances with the lava' The green eyed teen thought as he struggled to get away, seeing the anger in the alicorn's eyes.

All his struggling was to no avail however, the princess soon setting him down next to her. Nathan tried to start the conversation but was beaten to it by Luna who got right into his face. That fear he had originally felt became slightly worse as she glared at him.-

"What in Tartarus do you think you're doing!?" She yelled and he responded with a wince.

"Sorry I just followed Charcoal up there and.." The man started and she growled.

"Are you telling me that dragon-ling got you onto the lava?" Luna asked, looking up towards the group of dragons that had gathered around the edge Nathaniel had fallen off.

"I don't think he wanted to hurt m.." Nate tried once again to be cut off by the pony.

"Did. He. Push. You. Into. The. Lava." The mare said once again.

"..Yes he did.." The teen muttered.

The princess gave a cold glare up towards the dragons on the edge, unfolding her wings to get up there. Seeing the pony's intent most flew away as quickly as possible, leaving Charcoal there to deal with the angry princess. The same second Luna got up to the edge she started to yell and scare living shit out of the green drake.

The human watched it all with a frown. Sure having been tossed onto the lava by Charcoal did make him wanna tear the dragon a new one, but Nathan didn't want him to get imprisoned for it. Considering Luna's look and tone at seeing him almost die however did hint to more of an execution than imprisonment however, which made him shudder.

After a few minutes of yelling and growling at the dragon Luna finally calmed down. What she was saying to the drake couldn't be heard, but considering Charcoal's relived expression he was not about to be killed or chained to a wall. Nate still wanted to smack him right in the jaw though.

Luna flew back down to him with the drake following her, the mare landing gracefully while Charcoal landed with a stumble. Whatever the princess had told him must have made him afraid, considering his twitchy wings. But as he wasn't dead it also meant the alicorn had worked some sort of deal with the dragon, or at least so it seemed.

"Uhh, I'm really sorry about that Guardian Sol. It'll never happen again, I swear upon my ruler and wings. So, are we cool?" The drake asked the human and held out his claw only for Nathan to hit him right in the face, sending Charcoal onto his back.

"Now we're cool" He responded and helped the dragon get back up, Luna watching them both.

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The Dragon Lord's dark chuckle echoed across the cave, the teen looking at him with a glare. Nathaniel hadn't been late for his meeting with the ruler of all dragons. Yet of course Shadow Claw had heard about the incident involving the human and a surfboard of rock.

"That is a story for my daughter once she returns from the Dark Kingdom" Shadow Claw chuckled and the man huffed.

"Can we please just do what you wanted me to do?" Nathaniel asked and the Dragon Lord nodded, his gaze turning serious again.

"The carvern you happen to find yourself in was made by Faust herself. It was meant to be given as sanctuary for whoever bore the mark that rest upon your hand. As it was placed in the heart of Dragon territory it must have meant Faust choose one of us to hold that mark of great magical power. Yet it rest upon your hand human, so I must know if you are truly worthy" The mighty brown dragon said.

The cave itself was dome shaped with no uneven surface anywhere. The grey rock all around them where engraved with branch like patterns that all led to the middle of the room, forming a circle in the rock. The light coming from the large opening behind them were helping the dark haired man see, the great dragon casting a shadow upon the wall.

"Stand in the circle" The drake ordered the man who rolled his eyes and walked over towards the big circle in the middle of the room.

Suddenly Osiris, Rose and Blaze walked into the room, interrupting the dragon lord who looked down upon them. The three headed to the teen quickly, standing by his side like bodyguards. It seemed Luna didn't want him to wander off drunk and alone again, smart move.

"As of now we are to not let Guardian Sol wander off on his own. Where the kid goes we follow" Osiris said, Rose nodding.

"Very well.. This is a test for the human, but I will not disrespect Luna and force you out of here" The large dragon's voice rumbled, loading up fire into his chest before suddenly leaning his head down to spew it into the patterns across the floor. This fire quickly took on a green colour that lit up the cave even more than the sun outside.

The four jumped first at the warm fire the dragon lord produced, the heat rising even more in the room. Yet soon the fire would be the least of their worries as it's green glow warmed the ground under their feat, the ring around them starting to glow brightly.

"Faust said the chosen bearer would find their way like this" Shadow Claw told them before a large crack sounded out in the cave.

Before they had time to react was the floor under them suddenly gone, a hole within the green circle now standing. Nathan barely had time to react before realizing that he was falling for the second time that day, this time however he had no idea where he was going.

Sombra's POV

I walked out of my study room with a grin upon my face, a jar in my magical grasp. I had finally the chance I was looking for, a way to ensure that my plans would not be stopped by some simple guard or soldier. I quickly headed through the hallways of the crystal palace, going towards the guard barracks. This would be first time in since I arrived that I would be outside. I had made sure my disguise would not fail me, once again bearing a red coat and a normal horn.

The ponies that I walked past didn't seem to notice my presence, which meant my spell was working. To anypony without the magical knowledge to see it I was invisible, and I wanted to keep it that way. Moving like a shadow in the night I made it to the guards barracks, looking upon the blue crystal sword on their door, the mark of the empire's protectors.

Soon they would be my protectors, like how all of the north and then south would belong to me in little less than a year if everything went according to plan. With that in mind I opened the jar I had been carrying with me, the black and red dust inside glowing affectionately. This would be perfect.

I opened the door without making a sound and I slowly got inside. The stallions and mares were sleeping on their bunk-beds, oblivious to my presence in the room. I got to their kitchen and saw the large cauldron used to make food for the entire garrison. With a grin I poured the dust into the cauldron and with a quick spell I heated it up, the dust melting into the thing and becoming part of it.

I left the guard barracks with an even larger grin upon my face, knowing that the next target would have to be the crystal ponies themselves. I just hoped they had enough fear left for me with Equestria to the south and the Griffons to the east, because I was feeling hungry.

Author's Notes:

And we're a third way through the story and we hit 70k words! Two very good milestones for this half decent or half horrible writer (depends on who you ask). I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and I love all the support and criticism given to my story, it means people like it or want it to improve, something I gladly do for you guys

Next week we'll continue Nathaniel's adventure in the dragon lands (which is not the same thing as the badlands I'm sorry for being a bit dumb about that one) and some more lore building from me ^^

PS: I wrote this while having gotten no sleep, so If you see a grammar error point it out please 😅 And I'm also sorry for this having taken so long, school and stuff got in the way.