~12 years prior to Von's departure~

BGM 1

"Why do you wish to see my son?" Asked a concerned Silva. The alicorn in front of her merely chuckled and smiled.

"Because I heard from his father that he is just like him. He wishes to know what dreams he has for his future." Celestia replied. Silva raised a brow and looked outside at Von, who was climbing a tree in an attempt to catch a butterfly.

"About my husband--"

"He is fairing well. His prowess and leadership in my forces knows no limits. He has even been teaching a young stallion how to be a leader to his troops."

"Really?" Silva asked. "What is this stallion's name?"

"I do not know as of late. But I do know that his little sister is currently my student." Celestia replied. Silva sighed and looked to Von.

"Von?" The moment she called his name, the butterfly that was within his reach flew away, causing him to frown but his expression lit up when he saw his mom.

"Yes mom?" He replied. He climbed down from the tree and ran back to her, but not before he stopped and saw the princess in front of him. "Hey. I know you. You're that big pony that talked with dad. Celestia, right?" Celestia smiled and nodded.

"That is correct."

"Celestia here came to see you. I think she wants to play with you." Silva told him. Von's ears perked up and he looked towards the princess with the most innocent smile.

"Really?!"

"Of course. Come along, little one. Let's go play." Celestia said. She took Von, literally speaking, under her wing and the two of them went off to play. Silva stared at them, watching them play one of Von's little games. Celestia seemed to be quite the motherly figure. She was happy to see somepony else, royalty especially, to be treating her child with such care and consideration.

But this also worried her.......

As of late, Silva hadn't been acting much like a mother anymore. It was not that she didn't care. It was because she didn't have the strength to. But she loved Von with all her heart, so she did her best to keep up appearances. But at what cost? She was his mother, but she couldn't BE a mother to him anymore. Why was this? It was because they weren't a whole family. Before Ignus departed, Silva was full of life. Always so high in spirits and confidence. But once he left, her energy died out. It was like she lost a part of herself. He was there, but he was not THERE.

But there was another reason, too. The main reason she was worried. She had a vision. Not just her, but Eldrich as well. A vision of things to come. Many things happening at once. Things that seemed to make no sense. Image after image flooded her eyesight. From her attacking Von, which confused her greatly, to Von standing over her and crying. And then things went black. Eldrich's visions were quite peculiar. From his eyes he saw Von as a full-grown kirin, leaving home. Going to the place where ponies lived. He saw Von struggle, but he never gave up. He was happy and smiling, full of joy.

In Dragon culture, many dragons have different abilities and strengths. Others can have abilities that no other except those of the same species can learn. But one thing that dragons of many types had was the ability of foresight. This ability came to some, but never to all. Sometimes it came at a young age and other times at an older age. But the visions were never incorrect. Everything that was seen was real....and bound to happen. They cannot control when the visions come. But when they did, they were to be wary. Anything could be shown in their visions. Some dragons use this ability to aid them in combat, to see the attack that was going to come next and dodge it easily or protect themselves from it. Others used it as a means to change their lives for the better or to see where their life was headed.

Each vision was different, depending on the situation the bearer was in. Some were happy visions, others were useful and some were life-changing.

And then.....there were those visions. Visions of death. Visions of battle and bloodshed. And whenever these visions came.....there was no escaping it. Once a dragon foresaw his or her own death, they couldn't get around it. All they could do was prolong the day they would perish and make the most of their time. But that is in most cases. If you are able to see what is going to cause your death, then you can change that future and prevent it. But if what causes your death is unexplainable or unseen, then there is no getting around it.

Silva confronted Eldrich and asked what her vision meant. He hung his head low, sad to say what was going to happen.

She was going to die. The vision that she saw portrayed her death. But how she was going to die could not be explained. It was not seen. She left Eldrich and returned home....unable to even think clearly. That is, until Celestia arrived....

Silva didn't know what to do. How could she prevent her death? Could she? Her vision had involved her fighting Von. Did that mean Von was going to kill her? But why? Why would he do that? Why was she fighting him? All of this was too much for her. All she could do was watch over Von, try her best to be a mother and watch her little colt grow up.

But she didn't want Von to end up all alone. She knew he could find a lover, but he couldn't find a new mother or father. Everyone, no matter who they are, deserves a family. A loving mother and a caring father. Deep down, even the most vilest of scum would turn to their parents for love and support when they needed it.

"Celestia?" She called out. Celestia stopped playing and looked in Silva's direction. She was signalling for her to come to her. She looked quite serious.

'Von, please wait here." Celestia said. Von nodded and did as he was told. Celestia looked back at his mother and walked over to her, eager to know what was troubling her. "Is something the matter?"

"Yes. I have something I wish to say......it's urgent." Thus Silva told Celestia of her visions, causing the alicorn to be taken aback by this.

"Oh my. Is there no way to prevent it?" She asked desperately. Silva shook her head. "But he can't grow up without both parents!"

"I know. ....And that's what brings me to what I want to ask next......"

Von kicked a rock against the ground as he waited for Celestia to come back over, bored out of his mind. Thankfully, he didn't have to wait long as Celestia made her way back towards him.

"Sorry. Did I make you wait?" Von pouted at her but he quickly started laughing.

"Sorta. But it's ok. So can we keep playing?" He asked. Celestia nodded, but it looked like something was on her mind.

"Before we start playing again, I want to ask you a question." Von looked up at her in confusion. "What do you think of ponies and dragons being together?"

"I think that they are allowed to love whoever they want." Von answered, making Celestia smile.

"Even if some don't agree with it?"

"Well...." This made Von think for a moment. There were already plenty of ponies that didn't like his mother and father being together and they certainly didn't approve of him being born. And yet, he still lives and his parents still loved each other. "Yeah. Love.....isn't limited to a single race or species. Love is for everyone. Not just ponies, but dragons too."

"What about the other races? Like griffons and zebras?" Celestia inquired.

"I think so, too." Von replied with a smile.

"But griffons don't get along with ponies and the ponies don't exactly trust the zebras. They won't change their minds without proof that they can actually get along."

"Then I'll give them proof." Von retorted. Celestia raised a brow and giggled.

"And how will you do that?" Von looked down and looked back up at her as he answered.

"I don't know how just yet, but I know I can do it. Dragons, ponies, griffons and zebras. We are all different, but we are the same. Not in looks, but how we feel. How we love, how we laugh, how we cry, how we get mad. It isn't how we look that matters, but it's what's in our hearts. And I'm going to prove it, too. When i get older, I'm going bring coexistence to all races." He declared. Celestia was shocked. Ignus had said that he would try and bring ponies and dragons together, but this was totally out of the blue.

Here was his son: his 8 year old son that was born from his union with Silva, which was proof that dragons and ponies can love each other. The fruit of their labor just declared that he would strive for coexistence. Not just for dragons and ponies. Or ponies and griffons. Or anything. He was striving for coexistence for ALL races. Never before had Celestia met somepony that made such a ludicrous statement. As impossible as it sounded, Celestia had always believed that it could happen one day. And here was a young half-breed...no....a young kirin that believed the same thing.

"Do you think you can do it?" She asked one last time. Von smiled up at her.

"Yeah. I mean....I know it'll take time, but I know I can do it. One day, it'll happen and I'll keep trying until it happens. It's like daddy told me: No matter how bleak things look, even if all seems lost--"

"--Never surrender."

"What was that?" Cynder asked, standing over him. Von struggled back onto his feet and glared at her.

"I...I said.....I'll never surrender. You may be strong now because of this weird.....power you have, but you're not unbeatable." He told her between breaths. "I'm not going to lose. I put too much effort into getting here and trying to make something of myself. And i'm not going to let it all come crashing down just because Konan wants to send his BITCH after me!"

Arcius and Axel chuckled to themselves at Von uttering the word and Cynder's reaction. Her eye was twitching and her hands were balled into fists so tightly that she was drawing blood. She was angry beyond all recognition.

"Bitch?! BITCH?!?!?! YOU LITTLE--" She said, screaming in anger. Cynder lunged out at Von, ready to finish the job so she wouldn't have to hear him insult her or Konan again. Von closed his eyes and readied himself, though he knew he might not be able to withstand her attack. But he tried his best and stood there, ready to endure her.

But the attack didn't come. In fact, nothing around Von was occurring. He opened his eyes and looked up to see Cynder, mid-attack, frozen before his eyes. He touched her arm to see if he would get a reaction. But nothing happened. He looked around and saw his friends. Neither Daring, Arcius nor Axel were moving a muscle. They were all stuck in a singular pose.......but not just them. Everything else was, too. The birds, the ponies. Everything.

"What the? What the hay is going on?!" Von cried out, hoping for somepony to answer him.

"What? Who said--" Before he could finish, Von started to feel light-headed. His vision blurred as he fell onto his stomach in a daze. He tried to utter something, but no words came out as he fell unconscious.

BGM 2

Von awoke from his daze and rubbed his head, trying to come to his senses. But when he looked up, he saw something he never expected to see. He was in a void of some sort, but all around him were memories that he made. Some from his past, others more recent. They were all floating around the area and vanishing into thin air.

"Is this....my mind?" He said outloud.

"That voice....Voyager?!" Von called out. His voice echoed and he received no reply. He thought for a moment. He knew this place? But how? He'd never been somewhere like this before. That's when it hit him.

This place.....

"My heart...." Von whispered. This area....the atmosphere of it was warm and soothing, yet wracked with pain and doubt. Fear, love, sorrow, anger, happiness and above all, hope. These were the feelings that he could sense all around him. This was definitely his heart. Only he knew his own feelings. But now was not the time to be dwelling deeper on this thought. Voyager was here. He summoned him for a reason. But how or why was unclear to him.

Surrounding him was naught but a void of darkness and memories. He knew not where to go or even how to start. But the moment he took a step forward, a bright light shone from under his feet. It was nearly blinding, but not enough to prevent Von from seeing what was revealed. Several tiles leading into the abyss appeared before him, Voyager's voice ringing out as they did.

Von hesitated for a moment. He'd never been here before, so he didn't know what waited ahead. But whatever it was, he had to face it. If he didn't, his future would be lost. And his dream would never come to light.

"I'm willing to go all the way." He answered as he started to gallop along the tiles. As he continued forward, more tiles kept appearing before him so he could go onward. But with each tile he stepped on, more disappeared behind him. Which meant once he reached the end, wherever it may be, he wouldn't be able to turn back at all.

Von closed his eyes again, still running before opening them to answer.

"Friendship. My friendship with those I have come across in my journey. Their kindness, their laughter and their smiles. I want to see them happy all the time." A bright light began to shine in the far distance of Von's path. But that was all there was: a pillar of light. As Von kept running, he noticed the path was leading in the direction of the pillar. He tried to think about it more until Voyager's voice rang out again.

This was quite an odd question. Von sought many things: to have friends, to be accepted, to be loved, to be strong and much more. Many individuals seek similar things. In Von's case, he sought after Storm. To love her, to live with her, to laugh and cry with her.

Von blushed upon Voyager answering it for himself. It was true. Though they had not met too long ago, Von did indeed seek to forge a future with Storm. He wanted them to share a home, a bed, memories and a life.

"Yes. I do. I love her and I want to share what I have to offer with her. As little as it may be.....what I feel in my heart and how much I care for her makes up for it all." Von spoke. With his declaration, the pillar of light began to shine brighter as he got closer.

Pfft. That answer was all too easy. Everypony so far knew what Von was working towards. "For coexistence between the four races." He answered.

That made Von stop immediately in his tracks. This was something he never thought about before. Why WAS he doing this? His father believed in coexistence and tried to make it reality. His mother thought so, too but she only supported Ignus. And then there was Von: living proof of their ability to live with one another. The mere thought of his reason behind seeking his father's dream made his head spin. He had multiple answers, but only one came to mind.

"I.....I was doing it for my father's sake. I knew how much he wanted for dragons and ponies to come together in harmony and it made me sad that he......that he died without his dream ever coming to be. So I wanted to do better than him and try to bring all races together. But I was mostly doing it because it was what he wanted to do. What I knew he wanted me to try to do."

Voyager's words hit Von on the head like a giant hammer. Why didn't he see it before? Everything that he's done so far was by his own choice. He chose to leave the mountain to go to Equestria. He chose to become friends with the residents of Ponyville. He chose to fight Nova and disobey Konan. He chose to protect his friends and he even chose to keep fighting Cynder, knowing he could possibly die. And deep in his heart, he still desires to bring about coexistence....

"...because that's what I want to do..." He mumbled. He smiled to himself, now realizing the truth. This journey of his started because he wanted it to. And he was going to see it through to the end.

"You really need to ask? I'm doing this for myself. Because I made this choice and I'm never going back on it! My future is my own. I don't need anyone to decide it for me!" He shouted to the heavens. The pillar of light suddenly shone brighter than ever, lighting the entire area and nearly blinding the young kirin. Once the light died down, Von uncovered his face to see a portal in front of him. Where it led, he did not know. But he had a feeling a conflict was coming on. He looked behind him to see no more tiles. There was no path back to the starting point, so all that was left was to keep going forward. Von took a step in front of the portal when Voyager asked him one last question.

Von nodded his head. There was no need for words this time. He was independent and he was going to prove it. With no more words exchanged between Voyager and himself, Von stepped through the gateway, it closing behind him as he entered.

The portal reopened on the other side as Von stepped out of it and it closed behind him again. This time Von had a clear sight of where he was. It was a tower, or at least that's what it appeared to be when he peered over the side. Down on the floor was the most peculiar thing. There were symbols, insignias which looked like they represented knighthood. But Von was no knight. Since he was the son of a knight, he guessed that made him a squire.....now he was just rambling in his head. He had something important to do, to test his mettle. He stepped forward until he reached the center of the tower when a whooshing sound passed his ear.

"Who's there?!" He asked, turning around. No one was there, but he was sure that he heard something. "It's probably just my imagination." He told himself. But the moment he turned around, he saw a familiar form in front of him. It was the very cloaked stallion that had summoned him. "Voyager! Oh wow. Am I glad to see you." Von said.

He started to approach the stallion, a big smile on his face.

"I almost thought that I wasn't gonna--" Suddenly, a shiver went up his spine. It was a big chill this time and this only happened to him when he sensed one thing: danger.

"W-wha--" Was all he got out before he jumped back in time to avoid Voyager's attack. He looked to the stallion to see that he was brandishing a sword. A rather rusty sword at that. "Hey! What did you do that for?!"

BGM 3

"....." Voyager ignored him and swung his sword at him again, this time managing to nick Von's tail when he tried to dodge.

"Agh....what is wrong with you?!" Von asked. Voyager ignored him again and began to raise his sword, prepared for another attack. Von didn't want to fight, but it looked like Voyager wasn't going to give him a choice. "Fine. If that's how it's going to be...then let's dance."

Voyager made the first strike again and slashed the air, a blade of energy sent towards the half-breed at a blinding pace. But Von wasn't going to fall for it this time. He leaped into the air, narrowly avoiding the attack and landed on the stallion's side, countering with a buck of his legs.

The strike connected, sending Voyager sliding backwards but he wasn't out of the picture just yet. It was going to take a whole lot more to beat him. There was not much known about Voyager, but he seemed really strong. The two of them lunged at each other and started to clash. Claw to blade, hand to hand, the two of them didn't let up in their attacks. Von felt like he was about to lose his edge in battle so he moved backwards and whipped his tail, Voyager blocking the attack and being sent further away from him.

"You're quite the fighter. Not as strong as Nova, but you're way more skilled." Von complimented. "But why are we fighting? Is this part of my test?" Voyager said nothing and simply shrugged off his words. He twirled his sword around and brought it to his side in a bushido fashion. A style which Von had only seen be done by his father's subordinates. "That stance..."

"You recognize this?" Voyager asked in a cocky tone.

"I do. Only the knights of the Sacred Guard know the bushido sword style. Are you one of the knights?"

".....I was. But not anymore. I am naught but a wanderer."

"That fighting style is sacred! You have no right to use it, you traitor!" Voyager's breath became ragged as he started to growl.

"Traitor?! You dare to call me a traitor?! The real traitor is the reason why I am who I am today!!!" He yelled. Before Von could respond, Voyager slashed the air and sent another blade of energy towards him and this time it connected. It cut his leg, causing him to fall to his knees as it severely injured him.

"What do you mean traitor? Who's the traitor?" Von asked. Now he was really curious. He had no idea that there was ever any rebellion among the order. Their job was maintain peace and harmony. So for there to be a traitor among them....it was unthinkable.

Von remained silent and tried to get back onto his feet, willing to fight this stallion even though he worked alongside his father. However he fell back onto his knees, still hurt from his previous injury. Seeing this, Voyager grimaced a little.

"You fought hard in order to try and make your dream a reality. But it seems you can't fight back." He told Von. "And if you can't fight back in the face of adversity, then your dream will never come to light. Are you truly content with allowing your goal to become halted by such an injury? Are you giving up?!" Voyager raised his sword above his head, ready to deal the final blow.

But Von wasn't about to give in now. If this was the test, he needed to pass it now. If not...

"Then everything I've worked for will be for nothing!" He yelled. Still in pain, he forced himself up and readied himself as Voyager was about to attack.

"Give up! Your dream is worthless! It will never come to be!!"

"I'll never know unless I try and I'll be damned if anyone gets in my way! I'm independent! My future is my own!!" With that declaration, Von swiped his claw as Voyager sliced at him.

All fell silent.......

The two of them stood in front of each other, exhausted as can be after unleashing their last attacks. Von stood to the left, his leg injured and weakened from fighting for so long. Voyager to the right, though whether his injuries were serious or not was yet to be determined. They stared at each other, breathing heavily due to their bout....

The air was still......

All was silent.......

Neither of them had moved from their position.....

BGM 4

A single sound echoed throughout the area as the top half of Voyager's blade fell to the floor. Broken and unusable from Von's attack. Voyager was dumbfounded. In only a matter of seconds his sword, rusty though it may have been, was cut flawlessly in half by the young kirin. But that wasn't all. A single trickle of blood dropped to the floor in front of them. Von's attack had connected to not only the sword, but also to Voyager himself.

"...." Voyager said not a single word, nor did Von. Instead he just walked slowly past Von: injured, stunned, bleeding but more importantly....happy. Voyager was happy. Happy to see how strong Von had become, how strongly he held onto his dream and how powerful his will to achieve that dream was. Never in all his years had he seen someone...no, somepony who was so determined.

"Hehe...." He chuckled. Von looked over at him, both confused and worried.

"V-Voyager? Are you--" Von stopped speaking for a moment and stared as something odd unfolded: Voyager's hood came off, his face revealed. But what caught Von's attention more....was his identity. "N....no way....."

Voyager smiled and looked over at Von and spoke to him once more.

"Daddy....you're not going to be gone forever, are you?"

"Of course not. I'd never leave you or your mother behind."

"Really? You promise?"

"Oh come now, Von."

"No. I want you to promise me right now. I want you to promise that you'll come home. If not for mom, then for me. I want you to promise that you'll come home and teach me how to be strong like you. Promise me."

"Hehe.....alright. It's a promise. I'll make sure to turn you into one of the most independent kirins in the world. Because you won't be able to rely on your mother and me for long. But you have to promise that you'll never give up on your dreams."

"Alright. I promise!"

Author's Notes:

Finally! I've been working and thinking on this chapter so hard. Well, there you have it folks. Von and Ignus have finally reunited. But why not reveal himself before? And who was this traitor he mentioned? The answers will come eventually. Until then, stay tuned for Chapter 10: Ascent