Bahamut yawned and opened his eyes. he could swear that Celestia’s goddamn sun always managed to find his eyes when he was trying to sleep. He yawned once more and opened his eyes slowly, smiling when he saw Twilight curled up next to him.
He had to admit, she was utterly adorable. Hell, most of the ponies he knew were. Even Celestia and Luna had their moments.
A glance around the room showed a few scattered piles of bedding, but nopony in them. Even the ceiling-bound human was missing.
Oooh, that couldn’t be good. Celestia would flip her freaking lid if she saw him running around. And he came across as the type that would rile her up for fun. He stretched his limbs and scooped up a sleeping Twilight as he got to his feet.
This time of morning, the other fillies would be in the breakfast hall.
Well, time to go and have the most interesting breakfast ever.
Celestia liked to think she was an adaptable mare. While the whole Bahamut being released had thrown her for a loop, she had actually started to get used to having the dragon around. And to his credit, he’d managed to tame Cadenza somewhat.
The pink pegasus still scowled at Celestia and Luna whenever they were in the same room together though.
Still, all that aside, it was hard to faze the celestial alicorn.
So when she entered the dining hall, ready to fill her belly for the coming day. The strangest sight awaited her.
Soma manner of biped, wearing a simply marvelous outfit. He was looking rather uncomfortable at the moment, mostly due to Cadenza licking syrup from her spoon in rather… uncouth manner. The alicorn entered the room and cleared her throat, garnering some attention.
“Well, I don’t believe we’ve met,” she said calmly as she took a seat.
“Ah,” the biped said with a nod. “My name is Auric Fulcrum. Also known as the Knight of the Eclipse.”
“A knight you say?” Celestia raised her teacup and sipped at it. “Well met then. I am Princess Celestia, diarch of Equestria. Might I ask… the reasons behind your visit? Though I can only assume a certain black dragon is behind this.”
“He called me,” the biped shrugged. “I make it a duty to answer those that call that are worth my time. He seemed to need answers, so I provided them. Perhaps with information, he can make informed decisions.”
“That would be a miracle in and of itself,” Celestia replied. Wow she was snarky in the morning. A maid brought her some breakfast and the mornings news. “So what kind of answers could he have possibly have needed?”
“For example, what he used to be before Discord pulled him into this reality,” Auric said. “Did you know he’s forgotten everything about his old world, his old life?”
Celestia paused. “Explain,” she said. “Bahamut is a dragon Discord summoned on us. One that claimed to be the King of all dragons from some ancient texts we discovered.”
“And I used to be a headless suit of armor, wielding a blade that drove others mad when they touched it,” Auric sniped back. “But before that, I was just an ordinary human in my world. Attending a costume party as my favorite villain. How was I to know the innocent blade I’d purchased had any measure of real power?”
Other worlds? She and Starswirl used to toy with a mirror portal that could look into other dimensions, even travel to them. And this being… this, Auric claimed that both he and Bahamut were from other worlds?
“Well, I’m not presumptuous enough to mark you a liar,” Celestia said as her gaze drifted over the news for a moment.
‘Rainbow Filly makes miraculous recovery. Read more on page 3’
“It seems I have done too much of that lately,” she murmured and sipped her tea again.
“I don’t even know how old he was before he was torn from his world,” Auric said. “The psychic abilities of the Jupiter school only allow me to read surface thoughts. He would have to know, and I would have to be using it on him while he was thinking it, in order for me to know. Imagine if he was only a child…”
“A child?” Celestia’s eyes widened slowly. That… that would explain the way he’d play with Twilight and the others. They way he got so defensive and vocal in an argument. Why he acted so proud and mighty.
“Oh… oh no…”
“I’ve seen that look before,” Auric said as he sat back, his own eyes downcast. “On my Celestia, when I defended her during one of her weakest moments. That perhaps, just perhaps, I wasn’t as bad as she thought I was.”
“But… I…” This couldn’t be so, he had no proof on what he was saying was true. But as the former Bearer of Honesty, Celestia knew he wasn’t lying.
The doors opened and Bahamut walked in, cradling Twilight in one arm as he looked around. “Ah, finally found you—”
Whhyyyy was Celestia hugging him!?
He looked at the crestfallen alicorn, then to Auric. “What the hell? You broke Celestia!”
“I did nothing of the sort,” Auric defended himself. “Let’s just say, she has had her opinion of you balanced with facts.”
“You… I can’t…” Bahamut sighed and pushed the alicorn away. “I seriously can’t deal with this. Would you yell at me or something?”
Celestia just stared at him with watery eyes and Bahamut groaned. “Oh!” he snapped his fingers. “What did you mean last night? About not getting in the way of my efforts? When we were talking to Luna?”
“You do realize you were hitting on her, right?” Auric said with a raised eyebrow. “I don’t know why you’re flirting with the immortal moon goddess that apparently could care less if you existed, but if that’s the game you play, dream big little buddy.”
“I… WHAT!?” Bahamut’s yell woke up Twilight, who yawned and stretched adorably.
“Hunh?” she blinked slowly and looked around. “Mornin’ everypony…”
“Well, this is interesting,” Sunset said as she snacked on a pancake.
“Is Bahamut really in love with Princess Luna?” Moondancer asked Auric. “A forbidden romance out of a fairy tale, so beautiful~”
“I am not in love with Princess Emo,” Bahamut yelled.
“Could have fooled me,” the human said as he resumed eating his breakfast. At that point, the doors flew open again as a guard came running in.
“WHAT!?” Celestia and Bahamut both turned to him.
“I… ah…” the poor guy shook in his armour. “O-Outside, Your Highness. Another monster has appeared inside the Barrier…”
Celestia’s eyes narrowed. “Form the vanguard, and our priority is to evacuate the citizens from the area.” She looked down at the guard. “Well, move!”
“Ma’am,” he saluted and bolted from the room.
“You know…” Bahamut said, but Celestia shook her head.
“No, we will have a long talk later, but right now you must keep those three fillies safe alright?” Celestia rubbed Twilight’s head and went to walk from the room.
“I have a better idea,” Auric said as he summoned his staff into his right hand. “I distract the beastie, and when you decide to let your little guard dog off his leash, perhaps we’ll be able to save more lives.” Before anyone could refute his statement or the bite he’d put into it, or even so much as tell him ‘no,’ the human had vanished in a cloud of golden fire.
Bahamut looked at Celestia and shrugged. “Don’t look at me. I have nothing to do with this.”
“Just…” Celestia sighed. “Can you promise they’ll be safe. Whatever happens after… we can cross that bridge as it comes I suppose.”
“With luck, my power won’t be needed,” Bahamut nodded as he grabbed something for Twilight to eat on the way out. “Let’s go girls! Consider this your first exam. I expect full marks from all of you.”
“Yes sir,” the three fillies cheered as Cadence just shrugged and went to fetch her gear.
Outside, one might have expected a monster, something big, ugly and hungry for ponies.
What Auric was greeted with was a rather voluptuous blonde woman wearing… well not much of anything really.
If it wasn’t for the fact that she was currently tearing apart a building with a tornado…
She saw Auric’s appearance and smiled, taking a small bow. “Ah, well now isn’t this interesting. I didn’t think two Fiends would be needed.”
“Oh, you gauged the power I posses quite well,” the human said with a smirk. “However, you’ve failed to place one simple thing.” His staff flashed green as he began conjuring up a technique from Venus.
“I, Barbariccia failed to do what exactly?” she said, holding a condensed ball of Aero magic in her hand.
“You failed to place what team I’m batting for!” Auric screamed as a ghostly sword roughly as large as one of them appeared over his head. “Ragnarok. Eat it!” And then the sword slammed into her.
She whipped her long, golden hair around as a wall of powerful winds surrounded her. While powerful, she managed to deflect some of the damage as she stumbled.
“You… little…” She raised her hands. “Rapid Thunder!”
The clouds darkened as bolts of lightning rained down towards Auric. He raised his staff as a violet energy surrounded him, dispersing the attacks before they could connect.
“Ward, bitch. Think twice if you want to hit me. In the meantime,” the staff turned red. “Dragon Fume!” A ribbon of red flames leaped up from him before diving at her.
Barbariccia rolled her eyes as she summoned her Tornado, the powerful winds scattering the flames. “Really? That’s all you’ve got? What a cute little puppy, all that bark and no bite.”
“Thundara!”
The wind Fiend screamed as the lightning bolt ripped through her, causing her to stumble back as Sunset’s form crackled with residual energy.
“Good form Sunny,” Bahamut nodded. “Nice aim as well.”
“That was… fun~” Sunset smiled, relishing her power.
“Are you alright? Do you need healing?” Moondancer asked Auric as she approached him.
“I’m good for now, though I might need some in a minute...that is, if my totally unfair idea doesn’t work.” The staff flashed violet again as Auric grinned. “Hey Bahamut, pop quiz. Would you say this long-haired harlot is using magic?”
“Of course she is,” Bahamut nodded as the Fiend righted herself and powered up another Tornado.
“Then she can suck on my Bind!” Auric said as an ornate symbol flashed into existence over her head, the energies of the spell making themselves known. The Fiend blinked as her winds vanished.
“W-What did you do to me!?” she screeched.
“Hmm, so a Silence spell?” Bahamut really needed to teach these girls some Status magic. “That’ll do it.” He suddenly blinked and sniffed the air. “I can feel you…” He looked at Twilight and grinned. “She has an Eidolon inside her. Now’s a good time to teach you how to Extract!”
“R-Right now?” Twilight asked and Moondancer cast a spell that would allow Auric to recover lost magic power.
“Yup!” Bahamut nodded. “Now, close your eyes. Feel for its essence. You have myself and you have Ifrit. You’re looking for something similar. Feel it?”
“Um…” Twilight frowned and then gasped. “I-I can!”
“Good,” the dragon nodded. “Now, focus on that. Call to it. You can do it Twilight.”
Twilight nodded as she concentrated. Auric noticed a green aura surrounded her, and a similar one around the Elemental Fiend. Then there was something, a flash of movement as something was pulled from the monster and absorbed into Twilight. The filly gasped and clutched her chest.
“Calm down,” Bahamut said, stroking her mane. “It’s inside you now. Just focus on it, seal it into a Magicite.”
Twilight nodded slowly, panting as her horn glowed. Then in front of her, an Emerald took form and the aura shifted to that, before disappearing entirely. The filly fell to the ground as Bahamut smiled.
“Well done,” he praised her.
The Fiend twitched, now that the sealed Eidolon fueling her magic was gone, she screamed with rage. “What. Have you. DONE!?!?” She glared at Auric and smiled. “If I can’t have that… then I’ll take yours~” She extended her hands as Auric started to feel his Jupiter Psynergy being syphoned off, flowing into her.
“And Sleep,” the human commanded her, a vague mist appearing over her head as he issued that magical order.
She gasped suddenly, pitching over and collapsing to the ground. It had looked like the Sleep took hold.
So why could he feel the Psynergy inside her start to rage out of control?
“Bahamut,” Auric said, gripping his staff tightly. “Something’s coming…”
“Yeah, I feel it,” he growled as the wind stopped and the silence was deafening.
The body of the Fiend started to warp and twist, the Psynergy roaring from release from the creature that had no right to command it. But her own innate magic had poisoned it, twisted it into something… more.
An ungodly roar came from her throat as a Pysnergy Fusion occurred, the human-shaped Fiend was torn apart from the inside as the power took shape…
And the massive golden dragon, Eclipse, stared down at them with rage-filled eyes.
“Uhh, can… we beat that?” Sunset managed to squeak out.
“It’s a summon from my universe,” the man growled out. “How in the hells did it get here?” He shook his head by way of reply. “The only thing that could best a summon is another, stronger summon. And I didn’t bring my Djinn with me.”
“Twilight, you’re up,” Bahamut said. “Give him everything you’ve got.”
“But… I can’t,” she said in fear, taking a step back. “I can’t even summon Ifrit properly. I can’t beat a dragon!”
Another Thundara spell shot from Sunset, bouncing harmlessly off of Eclipse’s scales. “Come on you ugly git!” she screamed. “We’ll kick your scaley ass!”
“That’s my girl,” Cadenza laughed as she flew over them, ready to drive her spear into the dragon’s chest. The beast looked up and opened its mouth, plasma starting to build up…
“Twilight Sparkle,” Auric said quietly. “If you are in fact a summoner, then you are the only thing that can stop this beast. I can’t. For all my fantastic powers, I doubt I’ll live through the blast its charging. It will kill us all. It will kill me, over and over again, until it sticks. But that won’t happen. Do you know why?”
Twilight shook her head, her entire body shook as Cadenza struck the dragon again and again. It had no effect and the beast wasn’t even paying her any attention.
“I have faith in you,” the human said simply. “If you put your heart and soul into stopping this creature, then I know you can.”
“You stole my line,” Bahamut chuckled and looked up. “Look Twi, he’s right. You have every right to be scared. And it’s my fault you’re in this position to begin with. But you can do this.”
Twilight stopped, words echoing in her head. “Alright…” she nodded and took a breath.
“I call upon your might. I release your power. BAHAMUT!”
Eclipse turned his gaze down, ready to annihilate everything with a strike of pure plasma. he never got that chance as Bahamut’s roar shook the city, tackling the golden dragon as the blast veered off course, firing harmlessly into the sky. Eclipse roared and bit down on Bahamut’s shoulder. Twilight screaming as she clutched her own shoulder as the pain shot through her.
Moondancer’s horn shone with a green glow as she starting healing Twilight, Sunset and Cadenza frowning, annoyed that they couldn’t do anything.
“Hey, chin up,” Auric said as he sat back to watch. “I couldn’t have done anything, and it resembles something from my universe. And even if I had come prepared to throw down with a literal summoned monster incarnate, the only thing I could have done would be destroy more things in the crossfire.”
“But… can Bahamut even beat that thing?” Sunset asked as the dragons traded blows, Bahamut’s Impulse attack slamming into it, while Eclipse cast Shine Plasma.
“Normally, I would say it’s just a construct made from the energies of three Jupiter Djinn and two Mercury ones. This one seems far more real. So I don’t know. It looks like it can use things from both schools that it's formed from. As long as it doesn’t get smart and try to heal with Ply…”
The dragon’s fin on the side of its head flicked as its wounds started to close with a soft glow.
“Oh that’s just fuckin’ great!” Bahamut roared. “Thanks Auric!!”
The human snapped his fingers a few times as he thought of what he was looking for. “Come on, what’s the phrase...aha! Twilight, you have to ask it for a Pact! That’s literally the only thing I can think of to get it to stop!”
“A...a Pact?” she asked. “Wait, is that thing an Eidolon as well?”
“Summoned monster from my world made real by yours. The point is, if it still obeys the same rules, it will listen to you! Call its name. It’s Eclipse, the one whose wings blot out the sun. Call for it!”
Twilight nodded. “Eclipse. I call upon you! Form a Pact with me- AH!” she tumbled back as Eclipse’s wings kicked up a Gale spell. Sunset and Moondancer rushed to her to help her up as Bahamut unleashed a Blizzaga spell on him, trying to freeze the dragon.
“It isn't working,” Twilight gasped. “There’s… so much hate… anger…”
Auric growled before bellowing to the skies. “ECLIPSE! LORD OF THE SKIES! CEASE THIS AT ONCE, LEST I GO FETCH JUDGEMENT UPON THEE!”
The dragon roared and Twilight clasped her head. “The… hate… consumes…” she uttered in a voice not quite her own. “Stop… the… anger...defeat…” Twilight’s eyes flew open and she gasped. “Bahamut. Defeat him! We have to beat him to save him!”
“That…” Bahamut uttered. “That I can do.” He gave another earth trembling roar as he opened his maw.
Auric could see the immense amount of power that was building up. Sunset gulped and Celestia, whom had just arrived shook her head.
“What… is he doing?” Cadenza asked, even she looked worried.
“You might want to cover your eyes,” Auric said. “This looks like it’s going to get bright. At the very least, look away until it's all over.”
“I give this to you. This gift of ultimate destruction!” Bahamut roared as Eclipse started his own attack.
“MEGA FLARE!!”
The massive blast of energy ripped through the sky, tearing through Eclipse’s attack and engulfing the golden dragon utterly. Everyone shielded their eyes away from the blast, the area darkening for a second as light rushed in to fill the darkness.
And when everything fell quiet. All that was left was Bahamut standing there, a small stone tablet clutched in his right claw. He leaned down and stroked the side of Twilight’s face with a single claw, before looking at the others.
“Good job,” he said softly before holding out the tablet for Auric. The human took it and looked at it, nodding once.
“The tablet for Eclipse,” he said. “I don’t know how this happened. Heck, this even looks like my engraving. I’m worried by these implications, Bahamut.”
“Well, you crossed the Void. It’d be no surprise if someone else could as well,” Bahamut said and closed his eyes. He sent a good portion of his power back into his Garnet, shrinking back down to his usual size.
“Huh? You returned your power?” Twilight blinked in surprise.
“Being that size is inconvenient,” Bahamut said with a wave of his hand. “Besides, I don’t need it all the time. Hang on to it for me okay?”
“Sure,” Twilight giggled.
“That. Was freaking. AWESOME!!” Sunset bounced. “Aww, I wanna learn Mega Flare. Can I?”
The thought of Sunset Shimmer casting Mega Flare unsettled the dragon greatly.
“Bahamut, I’m getting the disturbing sensation that if I went home, there might be another tablet for Eclipse there,” Auric said. “Or that it might be missing. I’m not sure which is worse, to be honest.”
“Nor do I,” Bahamut said and folded his arms. “Please tell me you don't have anything worse.”
The silence answered that question for him.
“Fuck…” Bahamut groaned. “Well, guess we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”
“Bahamut,” Celestia said and stepped forward. “I think you and I should have a little talk. The rest of you as well. There are… things that I need to discuss with you.”
“Well, that sounds ominous,” Bahamut mused. He turned to his new friend. “What about you Auric? What will you do?”
He hummed, before floating the tablet over to Celestia. “I know that if I tell you this is a dangerous relic that I’m not sure I should take back with me just yet, you’ll lock it away until I have a definite answer. And you should definitely not let Twilight try to summon the creature it details until she thinks she actually can. It’s not like her summons at all.”
“I will see to it that this tablet is sealed away properly,” Celestia nodded.
“Yup, Tia’s paranoia will see to it just fine,” Bahamut chuckled.
“Oh shut it,” Celestia said. “Or I’ll have Twilight take your power away.”
“Ahh, that’s better,” Bahamut sighed wistfully. He looked back to Auric and shrugged. “So, just use that Coin if I need you again then?”
“I’ll probably check in myself once I check my cave of summons,” the human said. “You can call me and I’ll answer if I can, but that won’t stop me from popping back in on my own.”
Bahamut nodded and shook Auric’s hand. And that was when he had a lavender filly tug his cape.
“You have… a cave of summons?”
“I engraved the tablets myself, when I was not myself,” Auric replied cryptically. “They have far more than just Eclipse detailed on them. And I can count among their number one who is not destructive.”
“Fun,” Bahamut sighed. “Well, as long as we don’t get any more surprises like that. We have our own issues to deal with.”
“So… they beat it,” a young male sighed and looked at his partner. “All that effort to procure those copies wasted. All because of that little interloper.”
“And you are too weak and stupid to crush him yourself… Alex,” The armoured titan uttered.
“Like you’re any better, stupid tree,” The blue-haired Adept sighed. “Well, it was a fine experiment anyway. We lost Barbariccia, but we can always revive her later. We’ll let her stew in her failure for a while.”
“This world will be consumed by the Void. Tis only a matter of time…”
Their talk had to wait however, as Celestia had to work on calming the citizens over two dragons duelling inside the Barrier. She also had to check if Bahamut’s Mega Flare had damaged it in any way.
Twilight was getting acquainted with her newest partner, an Eidolon by the name of Valefor, a winged creature capable of generating sonic blasts from his wings and a devastating laser blast as her signature attack.
Bahamut was currently teaching her a Soul Tether. A kind of temporary link like the one he and the filly shared. It would allow her to call out a summon and keep it around for as long as she was able to.
He was also going to start the process of teaching Sunset and Moondancer second tier magic, as well as look for one that would make a suitable Red Mage. They needed somepony that could use buffing and debuffing spells.
Well, just another thing to add to his to-do list.
Auric would be off soon, but the dragon had one last question for him.
“So, when I got your Coin, my Garnet multiplied and flew off into the Rift that your coin came from. What the hell does that mean exactly?”
“Ah, usually it happens the other way around, but it means that you’ve crafted a Token and sent it into the Multiverse at large,” the human said. “Those that find it can call on you, and you can choose to answer the call. Welcome to the community, I’ll see about handing out badges when I have the time.”
“If I collect eight, can I fight the boss?” Bahamut asked and put a hand to his head. “That’s a reference to something… I know it is.”
“Perhaps your memory is not as gone as I thought it was,” Auric mused. “Making references implies some form of knowledge about things from earth, even if it is just a scrap.”
“Great, so not only will ponies not get them, neither will the one making them…” Bahamut groaned as his Garnet around Twilight’s neck flashed and Auric felt a sudden weight in one of his pockets.
“It did it again, didn’t it?” Bahamut asked.
“Most likely,” the human agreed. “Fortunately, I have an easy way to sort through them all already made up. It’s not like it’d be a hassle to me.”
“I imagine not, oh Great and Powerful Auric,” Bahamut chuckled and scratched his head. This Multiverse thing was going to be a hassle wasn’t it?
“Take care,” the human said, before looking over at Twilight. “And take care of her as well.”
“Of course,” Bahamut nodded and smiled at the filly, who was waving at them as she was nuzzled by Valefor. “I’ll never let anyone hurt her.”
“Good attitude to have,” the human agreed before vanishing in a column of golden fire. When it cleared away, he was gone.
“Well, he certainly knows how to make an exit,” Bahamut said to himself. He saw Luna out of the corner of his eyes and Auric’s teasing came to the forefront of his mind. “Dammit, now I can’t unhear that. Bloody smarmy git...”
He could have sworn that Auric was laughing at him from across the Rift.
“Well, Celestia’s still busy and… Twilight! Get down from there!” he yelled as the filly decided to go for a ride on Valefor. Sunset and Moondancer joined her and the magical trio were now soaring up into the clouds.
“That filly…” he muttered.
Celestia was exhausted. Trying to calm everypony down had been a trial and a half. And the scientists running the Central Generator had pitched a fit over the fluctuations caused by Bahamut’s fight.
She’d also checked on Discord’s seal, but luckily, nothing had seemed out of the ordinary there. Small miracles she guessed.
But the fact that not only had that monster appeared inside the Barrier again, it was also from another world?
That unsettled her greatly.
True to her word, she had placed the Tablet inside the chamber that Bahamut was onced housed in. Nopony should be able to get to it there.
News around Equestria hadn’t been so good however. Monster attacks had gone up, and more ponies were trying to play hero, going outside the barriers to hunt them down, only to wind up as a snack.
Strangely, the Everfree Forest had calmed down as of late. While smaller monsters prowled, the word was that a larger one had been killed, thus throwing out the ecosystem a bit.
“So that’s what Cadenza did,” Celestia murmured. These abilities that Bahamut was bestowing to them. They truly were effective. But as it stood, Twilight and the others were far too young to be sent outside. If it wasn’t for Bahamut and Auric’s words, she feared she would have lost a lot of her little ponies today.
“So what do I do?” she asked the empty room. “This problem is growing worse… and the cure still isn’t ready for what lies ahead.”
Empty rooms didn’t talk back. They gave lousy advice in that sense.
“Crow!” Celestia called, as the dark-coated unicorn appeared out of thin air next to her.
“Yes, Your Highness?” he bowed his head.
“Can you summon Bahamut and the others?” she asked. “I think it’s time we had our little talk.”
“As you wish,’ he nodded and his horn started to glow.
“Oh, and how’s your daughter doing?” Celestia asked, catching him by surprise for just a second.
“Little Raven is doing fine, thank you for asking,” Crow nodded and teleported from the room. A few minutes later, the main doors opened as the small group wandered in. Bahamut had Twilight and Moondancer under each arm, and Sunset coiled up in his tail.
“Dare I ask?” Celestia raised an eyebrow.
“So they don’t go flying off on Valefor again,” Bahamut sighed as he put them down. “Honestly, she doesn’t even have seatbelts.”
“What?” Twilight tilted her head.
“I honestly have no idea myself,” Bahamut sighed as Luna teleported in, the dragon quickly averting his gaze from hers.
“Alright,” Celestia clapped her hooves and some maids brought in a tray of cakes and drinks. “Let’s talk shall we.”
“So… Discord is the reason you don’t want me at my full power? Because you believe that it might break his seal?”
“Yes,” Celestia said. She’d decided to admit everything to them, from her concerns around Bahamut, and what Auric had suggested about the dragon.
“So, Bahamut’s only about as old as us?” Twilight asked and looked at the dragon. He just offered a clueless look and shrugged.
“Beats me, I don’t remember much of anything beyond a few random flashes every now and then,” Bahamut replied. “But, I was also awake for a thousand years and saw everything that happened in this castle. That does wonders for one's mental maturity I suppose.”
“Wait, you saw everything?” Celestia asked, really hoping that didn’t mean…
“Gleaming Shield and a few piping bags of cake frosting,” Bahamut said as flatly as he could muster. Celestia turned several shades of crimson and looked away.
“That sounds like a story you’re gonna tell me later,” Cadenza smiled at her adoptive mother.
“D-Disregarding that!” Celestia stammered, her regal composure in ruins. “I want, to apologise for how I’ve treated you Bahamut.”
“It’s fine,” he shrugged. “Well, no, it’s not fine. I’m still a little ticked at you. I understand why I was sealed in the first place. But you never tried to help me. You just sealed me away and forgot about me. Twilight here gave me a chance without even knowing me. So she’s already one-upped you there. The past cannot be changed…”
He stepped closer to Celestia and held out a claw. “So let’s start over then. Hello Princess Celestia. I am Bahamut.”
Celestia smiled and placed her hoof in his claw. “Well met Bahamut. I am Celestia. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Aww,” Twilight cooed and smiled happily. She was so glad her two teachers could get along.
“Bleh!” Sunset pretended to gag. “Sappy bunch of-”
“Group hug!” Twilight said as she piled on Moondancer and Sunset.
“Dammit,” the orange filly muttered as she was snuggled.
“Well, I’m still plenty pissed at you,” Cadenza said to the solar alicorn. “So don’t expect some touchy-feely crap from me.”
“I love you too Cadence,” Celestia smiled back sweetly, much to the pegasi’s annoyance.
The moment was soon interrupted as the doors flew open, an orange-coated pegasus flew in. She wore gleaming cobalt armour and had a faint scar across her right eye.
“Your Highness,” she saluted. “I bring news from Manehattan. The breach was only minor, so the Guard were able to repel the monsters. However, two were killed and several citizens also suffered some injuries and one fatality.”
“And this was such a nice day,” Celestia sighed. “Very well, thank you for the update Captain Spitfire. I’ll read the full report later.”
The mare saluted and left the room as Bahamut tilted his head. “Was that Spitfire from the Wonderbolts?”
The long ‘squee’ coming from Twilight was a good indicator.
“Right, be back in a moment,” Bahamut nodded and followed her out of the room. “Hey, Captain Spitfire. Hold up a moment.”
The mare paused and turned her head. That was… the Princess’s pet dragon? “What is it?” she asked.
The dragon stepped closer and looked the mare over. She was rather intimidating wasn’t she, quite opposite to the subject he was about to bring up.
“It’s regarding your daughter, Fluttershy.”
“What about her?” Spitfire said coldly. “Choose your next words very carefully monster.”
“Now now,” Bahamut held up his hands. “No need for that, I did no harm to her. If anything, that cuteness of hers is more dangerous than I could ever be. But… here’s the thing.” He let out a sigh and looked at her. “I got to speak with her a little, along with little Rainbow Dash. And, I found out about you and your, ex-husband?”
Spitfire’s eye twitched slightly, but she relaxed somewhat. “Yes… he became my ex when he decided to sleep wiith that whorse of his.” He couldn’t handle looking after the filly on his own, so he abandoned them both. “What does this have to do with Fluttershy?”
“She misses her mother,” he said softly. “I know that your ex still goes by to check on her, but I think she really misses you.”
Spitfire looked at him, “Yes… I know she does,” she said and took a deep breath. “But I have an important job here, one that doesn’t offer a lot of time off.”
“I understand that,” Bahamut nodded. “But if you ask Celestia, I’m sure she could give you a week or two. Equestria won’t fall apart without you.”
“Some days it feel like it might,” Spitfire chuckled dryly. “Still… I’ll take that under advice.” She turned and was about to walk away, before pausing.
“Is my little Flutters doing alright. Aside from that, is she happy?”
“Seems to be,” Bahamut nodded. “Rainbow’s a real hoof full, so I think Fluttershy keeps her from doing anything too foolish.”
“That’s my girl,” Spitfire nodded. “Thanks for the update dragon.” She turned and gave him a salute with her wing before walking off.
“And that’s my limit of good deeds for the week,” Bahamut said to himself. “I wonder if I should go and prank Luna…”
That talk again. Bahamut blushed and growled, throwing his hands up as he screamed at the heavens.
“Goddammit Auric!!”