A Bad Day to Fish

by FlashKenshin77

23 - Vaahala

Mike's sobs echoed through the area as the girls tried to comfort him; Martin stood behind them and watched. Nothing seemed to get through to Michael, his eyes tightly shut.
All he could do was re-watch Fluttershy's eyes, filled with fear, as she disappeared again. I… I'm useless… He leaned against Twilight, as he buried his face into her chest. She wrapped hooves around him, running a reassuring hoof through his mane.
Martin sighed, a tear running down his cheek as he walked up to the group, picking up the scroll. He looked at his broken friend. "I will find her and they will pay. Nothing will stop me, you have my word." He whispered into Mike's ear. "Where's the house where you stumbled upon their meeting?"
Mike ignored him, hugging Twilight tightly.
Martin frowned. "Girls, look after him, make sure he doesn't do anything crazy." He turned around and started walking away.
"This is our fault…" Mike muttered, causing Martin to stop.
"Don’t worry Michael, I'll find her." He said before continuing to walk away.
There was silence as the girls were speechless, not sure what to do. Finally, Mike sighed. "Twilight?" He whispered.
"Yes?" She asked, looking at him.
"Can you… can you teleport me to Canterlot?"
She paused, looking at him confused. "Now?" He nodded. She looked at the others. "You guys stay here and make sure Martin doesn’t do anything bad. We'll be right back." She closed her eyes and her horn began to glow brightly before there was a bright flash and a pop.
They appeared near the castle and Mike sighed before looking at her. "Thanks Twi but you don’t have to follow me anymore; I've put you through enough." He said, staggering away.
She quickly shook her head and followed him. "Don't worry; I'll stay by your side."
"Since that seems to work so well." He muttered. They were silent as they made their way to the castle. "Twi, you seem to be a smart mare. What do you think happens to ponies that yell at Celestia?"
Her eyes widened. "Um… I don’t know, it's never happened before. Well, not seriously anyway."
"Ah, then I'm about to make history." He chuckled.
Her jaw dropped. "What are you going to do?"
"Twi, Luna blackmailed me into watching Martin and had me swear an oath that if he did anything drastic, I'd take care of it… by any means necessary. She knew what would happen when he was knighted. And I'm sure Celestia knew as well."
She was silent, her brain trying to process everything. "I-I don’t understand, what are you planning to do?"
He sighed. "I'm going to ask how much she knew, I guess you could say." He faintly smiled at her as they stood outside the castle gates. "Last chance Twi, I don’t mind doing this alone."
She shook her head and smiled. "No, I won't leave you… somepony has to get you back in one piece for Fluttershy."
He nodded and opened the doors. Guards quickly swarmed them but Twilight somehow managed to not only keep him from being thrown into the brig for breaking into the castle, but an audience with Celestia. The guards led them into the throne room. Celestia was sitting on her throne, lost in thought with a troubled look on her face. She didn’t seem to notice them enter.
He bowed briefly. "Princess Celestia." He said, his tone a tad rude.
She shook her head, blinking before looking at them. "Michael? Wh- how can I help you?" She asked, slightly confused. She tilted her head as Twilight stood behind him, fidgeting nervously.
"I came to ask a question."
"Um, of course, go ahead."
"How much did you know?"
She looked at him dumbfounded. "What do you mean?"
He stomped up to her, the guards watching intently. "Don’t bullshit me Princess, I've had a feeling you knew Discord brought us here for a reason and I hadn't asked because I didn’t think it was that important. Not anymore; how much did you know?! Did you know when he brought us here this would happen?!"
She looked at him, a bit of sadness leaking through her mask. "I'm afraid I don't understand, did something happen?"
"They got Fluttershy, that's what happened!" He pointed a hoof at her. "And you knew that we were the tipping point, didn’t you?!" The guards moved in front of him, spears at the ready.
The mask seemed to break as sorrow filled her expression and she sighed. "I knew something would happen, yes, but not this… at least not everything."
Fury ignited in his eyes. "You, you knew one of us would be this bull shit knight didn't you! And he would cause everything to go to hell! Did you know what your sister did too? Or was that just because I was forced into a pony!?"
A tear dropped to a floor as Twilight went to hit him. "When the first knight returns, a war will begin. An innocent life will be in peril and he'll be put to the test. Those close to him will be left in sorrow, and his blade shall be covered in blood. But if the one closest to him chooses to forgive, he will return." A sad sigh escaped Celestia's lips as she stared at the two ponies. "Those were his last words, he knew all of this would happen but he chose to remain silent."
Mike sat there, his mouth moving but no noise came out. Finally, he looked at her. "You knew something like this would happen and yet, you didn’t even give anypony a clue. Wait, Martin knew?"
She shook her head. "He doesn’t, but he'll find out soon. Apollo will guide him and he'll lead you to Fluttershy. He is the only one that knows."
He stared at her, thinking as he closed his eyes. What… what does it matter anyway? I couldn't protect her once; it'll just happen again… Something snapped inside of him as the color slowly drained from his coat, becoming gray. Both Twilight's and Celestia's eyes grew wide. "It doesn't even matter." He turned around and walked towards the door.
"I'm sorry Michael…" She paused. "Michael, you mustn't give up!" She said, as he reached the door, Twilight rushing after him.
He looked at Celestia one more time. "Giving up requires having faith in the first place and I lost that a long time ago." He shut the door behind him and walked away, head lowered in defeat.
"You're just going to let Fluttershy die!?" Twilight asked after she caught up to him.
"You mean cause her to die just for being around us? And you heard Celestia; I can't do anything even if I wanted to. Martin's the hero; I'm just his crazy friend." He said, refusing to look at her.
She frowned. "He'll die if you won't be by his side!"
"He doesn’t need me; he's stronger without having to watch out for his broken, bipolar friend… who was tasked with killing him!" He yelled. “He doesn't need a traitor.”
"He would never see you as a traitor!" She yelled.
"I was sworn by the Princess of the Night to kill him if he did something 'drastic' and you've seen how he acts! I'm a traitor and a failure as a friend…" Tears sparkled in his eyes. "I can't even save the pony that I love…"
"But you can still save her."
"By staying as far away from everyone…" He walked away, leaving her staring at him. "I-I need some time alone… I… I'm no good to anyone."
She stared at him, watching him disappear as drops of rain started to splat against the ground. He wandered around the town, not paying attention as rain came down harder. He looked up at the sky and laughed. "Even the weather agrees with me…" He saw a pond and walked up to the edge, looking as the water rippled with the rain drops. His reflection was distorted and gray. "I… I don’t know what to do anymore…" He covered his eyes with his hooves.
A faint light appeared in front of him, slowly getting brighter as it traveled closer.
He moved a hoof away from his eye and laughed. "And there's the light… irony."
The light grew so bright he was forced to cover his eye once more. Suddenly it disappeared. "Michael?" A voice echoed. It sounded relaxed and calm but yet held authority.
"What now Mr. Disembodied voice?"
It paused. "My name is Apollo… Apollo Arkanes. I'm the Grandmaster, well was, the last Grandmaster of the Agathor Order." He said calmly.
Mike rolled his eyes. "I think you got the wrong human, the other ones in Ponyville couple thousand miles south from here."
He chuckled. "Why do you think Martin is more important than you?"
"He's the knight; I'm just his bipolar, traitorous friend."
"And yet, I chose to talk to you."
Mike laughed. "After everything that's happened, I'm just assuming I've gone insane and you're just a voice in my head."
He walked towards the depressed pegasus, the water splashing under his feet. "Michael, Martin needs you, Fluttershy needs you, and this entire kingdom requires you to be strong."
"As you can see, I'm sort of lacking in the strength department, both mentally and physically."
"You think Martin is strong enough on his own?"
"I know so, he doesn't need me."
"A knight is only as strong as those who support him. You are the only one who gives Martin strength to save Fluttershy. With your spirit broken, he has no one to rely on."
"He has the others and they want Fluttershy back as much as I do."
"If he really did have the others he could truly rely on, why did he stay here? He needs you. The only reason he became a knight was because he knew you'd be there to support him. To him, your life is worth almost anything in the world."
Mike looked away, watching the water ripple on the pond. "Why would he need a traitorous, blind pony. He doesn’t need me." He chuckled. "He's saved me too many times to count and I'm sure the others will give him the strength he needs. I'm not much use to him now, I'm broken." He looked at his gray coat. "I don't even have color."
Apollo pulled out his sword and pointed it at the pony. "But you can regain your true colors; all you have to do is accept that without you, this land will be lost. Martin will die and Fluttershy would follow him."
"Without us or me, this land wouldn't be as bad as it is."
"Only great peril can lead to true glory."
"True glory can only be chosen by the survivors."
"But the survivors are those who chose to continue, those who didn’t give up. They assure a future worth living for."
Mike nodded. "I just don’t see how the future is worth fighting for. The more we fight, the more ponies die. If we don't fight, our friends and loved ones die. No matter what we do."
"There will always be death." He lowered his head. "Can you imagine what it feels like to be alone?"
"I have been before and it's getting more and more familiar."
"Have you ever been the last of your kind? Have you ever lost your last friend?"
Mike faintly smiled. "I lost him when I agreed with Luna. Just he doesn't know, unless Twilight told him."
You know how it feels to be alone. My friend left me to die as the last human. I was left alone forever, I still feel the sorrow, and I still feel the pain. But you don’t have to do the same, you can still save him.
"Maybe but I doubt once he finds out he'll want to be friends with me." Mike sighed. "Look Apollo, I understand you're trying to get me to have faith and everything, but I just want to be alone for awhile. Organize my thoughts and stuff like that. Why don’t you go visit your vassal instead? I'm sure he wants to chat with you."
He shook his head. "I can never go back; I used whatever was left of my energy to speak with you. He already knows what he has to do, but you don’t seem to realize."
"I don’t and I'm getting pretty sick and tired of meeting omnipotent beings who think of us as nothing but god damn toys!" Mike yelled. "Celestia knew all this and still went through knowing what'd happen. Luna forced me to betray my best friend. They're using Fluttershy for Christ's sake!" He pounded a hoof into the pond, the water splashing in the rain. "And there's nothing I can do to save her."
Apollo bent down and put a hand on his shoulder. "Believe my friend."
"That boat sailed a long time ago."
"No boat sails forever."
"I guess not but I have no idea when it's going to pull back into the harbor."
"I can show you what'll happen if you give up." He held out his hand.
Mike stared at it for a moment. "Fuck it, I'm already talking to a ghost." He said, grabbing his hand.
Everything around them began to glow as they were suddenly traveling through a tunnel. It reminded him of the Falcon traveling through hyperspace in 'Star Wars'. As they moved, pictures of war flew in front of him. Ponyville burning and bodies littered through the town. Canterlot burning down, ponies screaming in panic as explosions rocked through the town. The land itself filling with blood as Fluttershy laid half submerged, Martin vainly reaching for her.
Mike looked around, staring in horror, his mouth open. "So you're saying if I don’t 'believe', everything will fall apart? That’s a bit extreme isn't it?"
"It already happened once before and I had to watch it until I realized it was me who had to stop it." He looked at the chaos. "I gave up like you did, I thought my boat had left years ago, but it came back for me…"
Mike was silent, staring at Fluttershy. "You said there's still hope to save her?" He asked in a quiet voice.
He nodded, his eyes were puffy and his face wet. "I don’t wish to see it happen again, Michael… I beg you." He sunk to his knees. "Michael, don’t let them die. I had the chance to help my friends but I missed it. Please… don’t make the same mistake I did." His forehead touched the ground as he bowed to Mike.
Mike stared at him as he tried to wrap his head around everything. "Please get up, you don’t need to bow. I'm not worth it." He said, grabbing Apollo and pulling him up. "I guess there's time for mental breakdowns later?" He said with a sad smile.
He smiled back. "Michael, I left my friends for dead don’t let yours die in vain. Fight, so they may live another day."
Mike sighed. "Well, I guess I don’t have much of a choice. I need to save Fluttershy."
He bowed down again. "Thank you Michael."
He bowed to Apollo. "No, thank you Apollo. I needed to get my head back on. I'll deal with the mental breakdown later, after we save Equestria."
He got up and smiled. "Vaahala shall assist you."
Mike nodded. "Thanks." He looked around. "I guess I should be getting back to Ponyville right?"
"He'll fly you there." As he said this, a huge dragon ripped through the sky, landing next to Apollo. With a flap of a wing, wind almost Mike flying. The huge dragon was completely covered in black scales. He was as big as ten carriages stacked end to end, a saddle nestled between his neck spikes and wings. Two claws sprouted from his wings, which was as big as a carriage. He lowered his head, his black eyes staring at Mike. The dragon had four legs, covered with four claws apiece, each sharp enough to slice through the strongest metal.
Mike looked at the dragon and gulped. "That'd probably make life easier. Now how do I get on his back? Oh yeah, wings…" He said, flapping his wings and hovered onto the dragon's back. "Now how do I make him go-"
The dragon flapped his wings and they shot through the air, the wind nearly knocking Mike off.
"Oh sweet Jesus!" He yelled, almost falling off. He grabbed the rope attached to the saddle with his teeth and held on for dear life as the dragon went faster and faster, making the trip to Ponyville.
The wind soared through Mike's mane and fur and all he could hear was the whistle of the wind, blasting him in the face as Vaahala flapped his wings and sped up.
The trip was fast, the distance covered in what seemed like a blink of an eye. Finally, Vaahala slowed down as the remaining guards in Ponyville stared in awe and fear. They aimed their spears at it till Mike staggered and fell to the ground, dizzy.
The dragon looked around, not a single bit of fear on his face. He calmly crouched next to him and looked around with his black eyes.
Mike shook his head, trying to clear his mind. "Thanks." He said to the four copies.
The dragon roared loudly as he presented his chest proudly. Everypony town stared at the black winged creature, he flapped his wings and with a strong gust of wind, he ascended and left a scared Ponyville behind.
One of the guards walked over to Mike, as he tried to stop the world from spinning. "Wh-what was that dragon doing here?" He asked, scared.
"Giving me a ride? Isn't that normal?" Mike asked sarcastically.
The guard went to say something and looked up, Vaahala circling the town. "Wh-what? Why is it still here?!"
Mike watched the dragon. "I'm into sure." He flew up to it. "Hey?"
He flapped his wings a few times and slowed down; he hovered in front of Mike. He stared vacantly at the pegasus, his body as big as the dragon's head.
"Um… you want me to follow you?" He hesitantly asked.
The dragon continued to stare at him before he looked back at the town. A crowd of ponies had gathered watching the dragon. The dragon's eyes widened and closed his wings. Like a spear, he charged towards the crowd. They all screamed and ran away. He flapped his wings and landed, the earth shook violently as he lowered his head. Martin watched him, confused at the dragon.
Mike followed him to the ground. "What do you want? I'm not good at charades."
The dragon slowly crawled towards the human in armor as Martin watched him wearingly. Something about was familiar, he wasn’t scared as he walked towards the dragon.
Mike watched the two of them. "I think he wants you to pet him."
Martin looked at Mike for a moment; the dragon's head was merely inches away. He closed his eyes for a second before he wrapped his neck around him.
Mike chuckled. "I think he likes ya."
Martin patted his forehead. "I-I don’t know why but it's like I've known him, like a close friend." He looked at his pegasus friend. "Michael." He untangled from Vaahala's neck and walked towards him. "A-are you alright?"
The humor vanished from Mike's face. "In a way. Listen, Martin, can we talk away from everypony? We need to settle a few things."
Martin nodded. "Of course, what about the dragon?"
"He'll follow you around, I think." Mike walked towards the library. "Is the library good for you?"
Martin looked behind him, the dragon crawling after them. "That might be a problem, um… library sounds good."
Mike nodded and they went to the library and Spike opened the door. "Hey guys, how are-is that a dragon?" He asked, his jaw dropping as he walked up to it.
Vaahala looked down at him, bending his neck and sniffed the small dragon. They stared at each other, lost in their own world.
Martin placed a hand on Vaahala's snout. "I… could you wait outside of town?"
Spike hopped up. "I'll take him if you need someone to watch him?" He pleadingly looked at Martin.
Martin shrugged. "Um… sure."
Spike smiled and both dragons disappeared, walking out of town as Spike spoke constantly.
Martin looked at Mike. "So, what did you want to talk about?"
Mike sighed. "Martin, Luna told me to watch you and make sure you didn’t abuse your powers."
"Um… ok." He replied, slightly surprised.
He looked at his friend. "She forced me to swear that if you got out of hand, I'd take care of it. He pointed a hoof at his blue eye. When you saw it bleeding earlier, that was Luna's spell forcing me into action." He sighed. "If you get out of hand, I'm supposed to make sure you don’t… again."
Martin was silent for a few moments. "Makes sense I guess."
Mike sighed and sank to his flank." I met Apollo apparently."
Martin looked at him, startled. "Y-you met Apollo?"
"Yeah, and I may have Celestia upset a little."
"Wh-what did you do in Canterlot?"
Mike scratched the floor. "I may have yelled at her and asked how much she knew, Martin, she knew everything from the beginning. She just didn't figure how bad it'd get." He sighed again. "So I've met Apollo, upsetted Celestia, and I may have pissed off Luna."
"Oh… um… but that’s not possible, Apollo's been dead for at least a few thousand years."
"Trust me; I just assumed I went crazy. But no, that's how I met Vaahala."
"You mean the dragon?"
He nodded. "Apparently it's supposed to help you fight the UEA or something." He got up and sat on the couch, his head in his forehooves.
Martin walked up to him, laying a hand on Mike's shoulder. "Is everything alright mate?"
Mike looked up. "I just got a chill down my spine." He paused. "Martin, if something happens, promise me you'll take care of Fluttershy."
Martin sighed and sat down on the other side of the couch. "It won't come that far but if, I'll make sure she's safe."
Mike sighed, nodding. "Good, I just got that bad feeling, you know?"
Martin chuckled. "We'll see. The Prince'll will be here tomorrow, let's hope nothing happens, aye?"
Mike looked around. "Yeah, knowing our luck, it's going to get much worse." He got up and started walking out of the library.
Martin followed him. "What will you be doing now?"
"I… I don’t know. I just don’t know anymore." He said, sniffling.
Martin sighed. "You should probably look after the cottage and the animals."
Mike shook his head. "I don’t think I can."
"You have to be strong; I'll do anything I can to find her."
"I am, I'm doing the best I can. The animals are gone; they left when I ran out."
Martin looked at the ground. "If you want, you could stay at the farm."
Mike shook his head again. "It's not worth it. I'll sleep in the park or something."
Martin grabbed Mike's shoulder. "I can't let you do that, come on mate."
Mike grumbled. "Fine, but I'll sleep in the barn with the rest of the animals."
Martin nodded. "If it makes you feel better." He led the way through the night, he halted on the way. "Wait, I have to try this." He took a deep breath. "Vaahala!" He yelled, using his hands to amplify the yell. There was a loud roar and the dragon flew towards them, Spike holding on for dear life.
Martin patted Vaahala on the head. "I could get used to this." He up to his side and climbed onto his back, grabbing the rope attached to the saddle and stood up. "You walking to the farm?" He asked.
Mike nodded. "Yeah, I'll say ask AJ first." He chuckled.
Martin laughed. "We'll see." He grabbed the rope tightly. "Let's go." Vaahala flapped his wings and flew high into the sky, leaving you behind on the ground. The trip to Sweet Apple Acres was even shorter, the dragon closing the distance in less than a minute. He landed, making the ground shake and some apples fall off the trees. Martin climbed off his back and opened the barn door.
The animals stared at him as Martin looked back at Vaahala. "Don’t eat any of those, ok?"
He faintly nodded his head, smelling a few of the animals and the animals screamed in fear. He crammed himself into the barn, barely enough room for him. Martin patted him on the head and closed the door.
"So now I just have to go tell AJ that there's a dragon in the barn." He walked towards the Apple house. AJ poked her head out of her window.
"The hay's goin' on in there?" She said loudly, the light in her room flickered. She galloped outside, her mane unbraided, her hat nowhere to be seen. "Martin, the hay are you doing with the barn?" She asked, walking up to him.
"Yeah, I hope it's not a problem but I parked my dragon in the barn."
"Well that ain't that- wait, dragon?" She paused, squinting at you.
Martin nodded. "Yeah you know, the one's with the scales, sharp teeth and big wings?"
She stared at him. "Ya need to get out of the barn! It'll eat mah animals!"
Martin raised his hands reassuringly. "No need to worry, I told him not to eat any of them."
She stared at him before sighing. "If it eats mah animals." She stomped away, slamming the front door shut.
Martin looked at the closed door. "Um… AJ?"
"Ya?" She asked, yawning.
"I assure you Vaahala won't eat your animals, don’t worry."
"It's yer head if he does." She said calmly. "Now if there's nothing else, Ah'm goin' back ta bed so Ah can finish my chores."
Martin nodded. "Ok… um… goodnight I guess."
The light from her room went out as Mike finally made his way to the farm, Martin turning around. Martin sighed and walked up to him. "It might be a little cramped in the barn." He said.
"No worries, I'm not as tall as I used to be, I can curl into a ball if need be."
Martin coughed. "Let's hope Vaahala won't eat you."
Mike chuckled. "Me and him have an understanding." He walked into the barn. "I guess it's goodnight?"
Martin nodded. "Sleep tight." He walked up to the Apple house and disappeared inside.
Mike sighed and walked to a corner not occupied by Vaahala and curled into a little ball, falling into a fitful sleep.