Author's Note

Hey guys sorry for the delay. I know in my blog post i said a day or two, but shortly after i got sick and wasn't feeling it. And even when finishing this chapter I wasn't sure if I gave it my all. I tried and I hope that's enough for you guys.

Special thanks to my editor Codex92 for all his hard work.

And as always leave a like and a comment to help with feedback.

Reunion

(Outside the throne room 3rd POV)

After gathering their belongings and giving them to a group of guards, who generously offered to take them to the station for them, Fluttershy and the rest of her friends waited patiently outside the throne room for their dragon friend to come out to join them. Fluttershy paced back and forth from one side of the hallway to the next.

“Fluttershy, you must relax, darling. I’m sure that your friend will be out eventually. There’s no need to fret.” Rarity spoke softly, trying to sooth Fluttershy’s worries. “Besides, he’s in the care of the princesses. He couldn’t be in more capable hooves than their own.”

Fluttershy took a few deep breaths to calm her nerves. “You’re right, Rarity. I’m just worried for Johann’s health. He barely woke up after being asleep for so long after that fight with the colossal dragon. I just hope they aren’t doing anything too strenuous.” She looked to the double doors, hoping she wouldn’t have to wait long.

“Ah think yer friend is gonna be alright, Fluttershy.” Everypony looked to Applejack as she walked over to Fluttershy and gently patted her withers. “That feller seems to be tough enough to handle anything any creature can dish out. Like when he kept on fightin’ that dragon, even after takin’ so many hits. If Ah didn’t know he was a dragon, Ah’d mistake him for an earth pony.”

“Pft! As if, AJ.” Rainbow Dash scoffed as she flew down to the other side of Fluttershy. “Didn’t you see the way he flew circles around that overgrown iguana? He’s more like a Pegasus! Plus, he did that trick with a lightning bolt that made him twenty percent cooler than most Pegasi!” She flapped her wings, lifting her body into the air while puffing out her chest with pride. “But he’s nowhere near as cool as me. Hay, I could fly circles around that drake with one wing tied behind my back.”

“I see that modesty will never be in short demand with her around.” That comment got most of the mares to snicker as the rainbow-maned Pegasus looked to whoever it was that tried to knock the wind out of her sails. When everypony looked behind them, they saw that the dragon of the hour had stepped out from the throne room. “Hope I didn’t keep your girls waiting long. The princesses and I had to iron out a few more details, but now we should be good to go.”

Fluttershy looked at Johann for a few moments before realizing something about the dragon was off. “Did you get smaller?” The rest of her friends looked over the dragon and saw that their friend was right. Before, he stood almost on equal height with Princess Celestia, but now he was around the same height as the rest of the ponies.

“Heh, so you noticed.” Johann spun around in place, showing the mares that their observations were correct. “The princesses believed that having me around this height would make living with ponies a little easier. Thankfully, I can return to my normal height at will if I needed to.” Johann walked past the group and looked back when he saw they weren’t moving. “You girls coming? We’re gonna miss our train if we don’t get a move on.” That had snapped the mares out of their daze and quickly followed behind the dragon.

Soon, the group had made their way out of the castle and down the streets of Canterlot, where Johann could see that a good number of ponies wearing hard hats and reflective vests were cleaning away rubble. He saw that some buildings had been burned down or were crumbling down, and to his dismay, he saw a family weeping as they stood at the remains of their broken homes. This brought his chipper mood down and felt some semblance of guilt. He wasn’t sure if he had caused any of the damage to this home or any other homes that got destroyed during the fight. He walked over to the family and tried to speak with them. They seemed hesitant at first, but after a moment, they began to talk to the dragon. The family consisted of earth ponies, two parents and three fillies. Fluttershy and her friends watched as he spoke with the ponies, who seemed saddened as they looked to the crumbling building. Johann looked around until he spotted a pegasus guard flying overhead. He flagged down the armored pony, who immediately flew down to the dragon. Word of his promotion to Duke must have quickly spread as the pegasus guard bowed for a moment, then spoke to the dragon. For a good minute, the dragon spoke with the guard and gestured to the destroyed building. This conversation ended when Johann said something that made the family of earth ponies’ eyes go wide. The stallion pulled out a piece of paper and quill from his saddlebag and wrote something down on it. He gave the dragon one more bow, to which Johann returned, before flying off to the castle. The parents looked to the dragon with shocked expressions while the fillies jumped onto him, nuzzling and hugging him with looks of joy on their faces.

This continued for only a few more minutes until the parents helped get their children off and bowed to the drake with warm smiles, then waved goodbye as they, too, made their way to the castle. Johann came back with a pleased smile as he cocked his head to the side. “Sorry for the delay. We’ll continue on our way to the train station now.” He smiled as he started walking ahead of the confused mares, who had to run alongside him to catch up.

“What was all that about there, partner?” Applejack asked as she moved up along the dragon’s left side.

“Well, I went over to ask what had happened. At first, they didn’t seem to want to talk to anyone, but when I pressed further, they told me that their home that they had just bought was destroyed during the attack. They then told me that due to not having any relatives in Equestria, they had no place to go. I asked if they had any bits saved up that they could use to rebuild or even rent a hotel, but they had spent almost all their bits on that house, and any they had left was to help feed them.”

“The poor dears.” Rarity said as her ears folded down a bit.

“My thoughts exactly. So that’s when I called out to a passing guard. He came down and bowed, telling me that he already knew who I was. I guess Celestia and Luna had already informed their guards about the new Duke even before I had accepted. Anyway, I asked him if he knew anything about the destroyed home possibly getting repaired anytime soon. Unfortunately, most of the homes that had been destroyed belonged to nobles who could afford to have their homes rebuilt. All other fundings was being spent on reconstruction of more important buildings like schools and large businesses. So I decided to step up in my role as a Duke and had the guard write a letter to the princesses to give four thousands of bits from my stipend to the family to rebuild their home.”

The mares all let out a gasp of surprise. “Are you sure about that, Johann?” Twilight asked, stepping forward. “That is a lot of bits to just give away. You’ll only be left with a thousand bits to get you through the month now.”

Johann’s cheeks puffed out as he tried not to laugh. “Well, when you put it that way, maybe I should have given them four thousand five hundred.” He chuckled a bit at the mares stunned expressions. “Look, I’m sure that I can survive on a thousand bits until next month, but that family lost their home with nowhere else to go, and I couldn't just walk by knowing I had the chance to do something about it. That’s just not the kind of guy that I am.” He continued on ahead toward the station.

Rainbow Dash hovered down to Rarity and whispered in her ear. “Better watch out there, Rares. Looks like he’s aiming to replace you as the Element of Generosity.” The cyan pegasus teased.

“Pft. Darling, he can have it. Anyone who would give away that many bits without so much as batting an eyelash deserves it.” She, as well as the rest of the mares, smiled as they watched the dragon walk in front of them.

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The mares and dragon were now riding on the train back to Ponyville. Johann had taken the seat closest to the window so he could stare out at the scenery as the train moved along the tracks. The rest of the mares sat around him, with Fluttershy and Rarity sitting next to him while the rest of the girls sat opposite from him. For a while, the ride was quiet as the mares watched the dragon stare off stare off into the horizon. Nopony wanted to ruin the peace. Even Pinkie Pie was being rather quiet, but Twilight could see that she was drawing up some blueprints for something special.

“Sooo…where have you been all this time?” Dash asked, breaking the silence and receiving a slap to the back of her head courtesy of Applejack, who was glaring daggers at her. “What? Everypony was thinking it too.”

“That don’t matter, Dash. It’s rude to ask somethin’ like that out of the blue.” Applejack said while still glaring at the blue mare, who was rubbing the back of her head. She looked at Johann sympathetically. “Ah’m mighty sorry for that. She can be pretty dense.” Dash had shot the earth pony a glare before folding her front hooves over her barrel and looked away.

Johann chuckled a bit and waved it off. “It’s fine. I had seen that question coming a mile away, and I can tell you, but there are parts of this story that must remain a secret due to promises being made to certain individuals that shall remain nameless. If you girls are okay with those terms, I can tell you what I’ve been up to these past nine months.” The mares looked to one another for a few moments, then nodded in agreement to his terms. “Okay. Now, I should warn you that most of my time away was filled with terror and cruel events, so don’t say I didn’t warn you girls.”

For the next hour, Johann regaled the mares with the first of many days he spent in the arena fighting against all manners of horrifying creatures that he was pitted against, from day one against a pack of Timberwolves, to his fight against the ice-breathing yeti. Each story had their own effect on the mares. For Fluttershy and Rarity, they were shocked and appalled that any creature would run such a horrible business, and felt sad for Johann having to go through such trials for the amusement of others. Twilight wrote every word down to chronicle the dragon’s journey, stating that it would be a good idea for him to keep a record of such things for future reference should a similar place ever surface. Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack hung on every word as he told them each of the fierce battles he took part in, like the battle with the deadly hydra. For the parts about his griffin friend, he would always refer to her as “she” or “her” to keep her identity a secret till the day he can reveal her by name. He had to skim over the part where he was healed by a civilization of Gem Canines, since that was also a promise he intended to keep. To keep the identity of the griffon kingdom a secret, he would refer to it as “her hometown” to easily keep the location a secret. From there, he would tell the mares how the hometown of his friend needed help bringing it back to a better state of living. Then he told the mares how one of the townsfolk spotted the colossal dragon heading for Canterlot, then having to say goodbye to his friend to come to their rescue, leaving out the part where he received a kiss for reasons he wished not to talk about. “And that pretty much sums up all that has happened to me over the last nine months.”

The car had been silent for a good while until the sound of sniffling could be heard coming from Johann’s side, and he felt a pair of hooves hugging him. Fluttershy had tears streaming down her cheeks as she held the dragon in her hug. “I’m s-so sorry.” She wept as she nuzzled him carefully as to not get him wet from her tears. “If I had just stopped those horrible stallions from stealing you away like they did, then maybe you wouldn’t have gone through any of that.” Everypony lowered their heads, believing they, too, were at fault for stopping Fluttershy from pursuing the criminals that stole the dragon away.

Johann saw that the ponies were taking this out of proportion and tried to defuse the situation before it could get any worse. He moved one wing out to gently wrap around Fluttershy and bring her in for a hug while resting his head on her own. “Shhh, it’s okay, Fluttershy. There’s nothing for you to be sorry about. Not one second did I ever blame you or your friends for what had happened.” He gently stroked her back with his wing to comfort her as her weeping began to slow down. “It’s all in the past, and I’m here now with all of you. So let’s just be happy that it’s all over.” Fluttershy, as well as the other mares, began to slowly cheer up from the dragon’s quick forgiveness. Johann smiled back at them and looked around the cart. “Hey, now that I think about it, what happened to the CMC? I’m pretty sure they were with you girls when I came to Canterlot, right?”

“Oh, they were here while you were unconscious. They were sent back home since they still had school to attend, though they were reluctant to do so.” Twilight said. “Honestly, they were just as happy as Fluttershy and the princesses to know you were alive.”

“Hmmm…” The dragon hummed as he moved one of his paws to his chin to show he was thinking. “So, what you’re saying is that they don’t know I’ve woken up just yet, right?” This slightly confused most of the mares, who looked to each other and shrugged before looking to the dragon and nodding. “One last question. If class is out by the time we get to town, where would I be able to find them?”

“Ah would reckon they’d be over at their clubhouse. It’s in the middle of mah family’s orchard. Why do ya ask?” Applejack asked, only to receive a small grin from the dragon.

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(CMC’s clubhouse 3rd POV)

“It just ain’t fair.” Apple Boom whined as she paced back and forth from one end of the clubhouse to the other. She and the rest of the Crusaders had just gotten back from school and were now holding one of their usual Crusader meetings. “They could have let us stay for one more day. What’s one day of missing school gonna do?”

“Yeah. And he is just as much our friend as Fluttershy is.” Scootaloo added, getting the other two fillies to nod in agreement. “I mean, I know he’s a tough dragon and all, but you girls saw all those bruises and cuts he had, right?”

The other two Crusaders lowered their heads at the memory of their long-lost friend being so badly hurt when they watched him being carried into the medical ward. They could remember seeing more than twelve unicorn doctors working hard to help heal the dragon’s wounds. It had even gotten to the point where the princesses had to step in with their own magic. It was only after three hours did they receive the good news that he was going to be alright, and all he needed was a few days rest. That was around the time the Crusaders were taken home so they wouldn’t miss any school as this was more of a top priority for the fillies.

“I’m just happy that Toothless is going to be okay.” Sweetie Belle sighed with relief, knowing that all was going to be well. “Hey, I know something to get our minds off worrying about him.” The little unicorn filly was about to reach for a basket that she had left in the corner of the room when a knock came from the door. “Huh?”

“Package delivery for the rambunctious Cutie Mark Crusaders.” An unfamiliar voice called out, followed by another set of knocks.

“Apple Bloom, were you expecting a delivery today or something?” Scootaloo asked while she and Sweetie Belle made their way toward the door of the clubhouse.

“No. Were any of you gals expectin’ somethin’?” The other two fillies shook their heads as Scootaloo opened the door to reveal a large wooden crate. “Whoa! It’s huge!” The girls moved out of the clubhouse to walk behind the box to push it in. “Wow, it sure is heavy.”

Scootaloo looked around the box, trying to find something. “Hey, there’s no letter or sticker that says who it’s from.” She moved back alongside the other two crusaders. “Any of you girls got any idea what it could be?”

The fillies hummed in thought while tapping their front hooves onto their chins. “OH! Maybe somepony sent us something that could help us figure out how to get our cutie marks.” Sweetie Belle squeaked out with joy, causing her tail to swish back and forth.

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “It’s gonna take a miracle to help get our cutie marks.”

Suddenly, the lid to the box burst open as dark smoke spilled out of the box and filled up the room. “Did I hear someone asked for a miracle!?” A blue light shines from within the black smoke, revealing the shadow of some large creature with massive wings. “Let me hear you say AAAH!!!” The three fillies let out a high-pitched squeal. “That’s close enough.” The shadow figures.

“It’s a ghost!!” The Crusaders screamed in unison as more smoke filled the room and the blue light shined brighter.

“Get ready, Cutie Mark Crusaders, for your draconic salvation is at hoof! For I have been sent here to bring you news!” The shadowy figure spoke while moving closer to the scared fillies.

“W-Who are you?” Sweetie Belle asked while shaking like a leaf.

“Who am I? Who am I?!” The figure asked while pressing its arms to its chest. “I am the Guardian of lost souls. I am the powerful, the mighty,-” From the smoke, the shadowy figure made it’s identity known. “-the indestructible Johann!” The Night Fury announced as the smoke cleared and his arms were held out, leaving the Crusaders slack-jawed. “Oh ha ha, I’m pretty hot, huh?”

Before the dragon had a chance to bask in the joy of the fillies shocked expressions, he was immediately tackled to the ground by said fillies as they all laid on top of him, hugging the dragon’s chest and nuzzling him. “You’re here! You’re really here!” Scootaloo sobbed as she held onto the dragon’s cheek.

“I’m so happy yer alive and safe!” Apple Bloom cried with joy as she hugged one of his front arms, nuzzling the black dragon.

Sweetie Belle, who was currently hugging the dragon’s chest, soon noticed something that the others didn’t. “Toothless, did you just talk?”

The other Crusaders quickly stopped what they were doing to look to the dragon with shocked expressions. The dragon gave a sheepish smile and rubbed the back of his head. “Guess the cat’s out of the bag.” He slowly sat up, getting the girls to hop off and stare up at him. “So, as you girls can both see and hear, I am both okay and indeed talking. To make a long story short, the princesses used a spell that allows me to speak, and my true name is actually Johann.”

For the next few minutes, the dragon told the same story he told Fluttershy and her friends. However, he made sure to tone down the gorier details as to not to frighten the little fillies. Each word that escaped his mouth had the fillies on the edge of their metaphorical seats. This was more so for Scootaloo, whose little wings buzzed with excitement. His story ends with him waking up earlier that day and having his meeting with the princesses. With his retelling of his story for the second time today, the little ponies started to cheer for joy at both the happy ending to his story and the return of their friend.

“This is so awesome!” Scootaloo cheered as she spun around in place. “You are probably the second coolest creature in Ponyville!” Johann cocked his head back, rather surprised to be considered second on this list. “Sorry, buddy, you may kick flank, but the number one coolest creature in both Ponyville and Equestria is none other than Rainbow Dash!!” The little pegasus filly cheered while bouncing up and down around the room. One look from the other Crusaders, who had rolled their eyes, told Johann that this wasn’t the first time she boasted about Rainbow Dash.

“Anyway...” Apple Bloom said, trying to change the subject before Scootaloo could start going on about her idol. “We are really happy to have you back. And your timing couldn’t have been better!”

“Oh? And why is that?” Johann asked, his curiosity a little peaked by what the little apple farmer meant.

“Well, tomorrow, our class is gonna be havin’ a show and tell. And, well..” The cream-colored filly shuffled her hooves as she and the other two Crusaders looked to the dragon with pleading eyes that nearly melted the poor dragon’s heart. “Would you pwease be our show and tell project?” The three fillies, in unison started, to make their bottom lips quiver while somehow making their already large, adorable eyes even bigger.

In all his time in Equestria, Johann has faced all manners of dangerous creatures, some that he dared never see again for as long as he lived. But he would rather face them all ten times over than to disappoint the little fillies before him now. “Aggh! Okay, okay, enough with the eyes, please!!” He cried out while clenching his chest. “I’ll be there! Just please stop with the cuteness! You’re going to give me type two diabetes at this rate!” The little fillies cheered, easily defeating the dragon with their most powerful weapon. Johann groaned as he flopped on the ground, looking rather displeased with the sudden turn of events. “I should probably talk to Celestia and Luna about weaponizing these fillies’ cuteness.” He chuckled at the idea as an image of the princesses staring down a charging army, only for them to stopp dead in their tracks when the Crusaders are summoned, giving those puppy dog eyes. He can just see the army collapsing to the ground, clenching their hearts as they scream, “The cuteness! It burns!”

“Johann?” The dragon was snapped out of his daydream when he felt his arm getting tapped. Looking down, he saw the Crusaders were looking up to him. “You okay? We had been talking to you, but you weren’t responding.”

He chuckled nervously. “Yeah, I’m good. I was just thinking about a new set of weapons that the princesses may want to consider to help defend Equestria.” The dragon joked, leaving the fillies confused by his vague answer. Before they could ask what he meant, there was a low rumbling sound, which startled the fillies. Johann’s cheeks flushed a bit as he held his stomach. “Sorry about that. I haven’t eaten breakfast yet.”

“Oh! I can take care of that!” Sweetie Belle squeaked as she ran to the corner of the room, where there was a wicker basket with a checkered cloth over it. “I made some lunch for us to eat after class!” She smiled, gripping the handle in her mouth, and trotted over to the others, her tail swishing side to side happily.

“Aww, well that is sweet of you, right, girls?” Johann asked. The other two Crusaders, however, did not seem to share his enthusiasm. In fact, they almost had a look of dread on their faces, and they looked paler than a moment ago. “You two okay?”

The two fillies snapped back to reality and were beginning to sweat bullets. “Uh…er..um?” Scootaloo stammered, her eyes nervously darting side to side.

Apple Bloom moved a hoof to cover her friend’s mouth. “It’s just, me and Scoots ate some apples on the way here from school, so we ain’t hungry. Eheh.” She looked over to the pegasus filly with a serious look. “Right?” Scootaloo quickly nodded.

Johann looked at the two fillies rather curiously before a thought occurred. ‘Wait a second. This isn’t that overused trope where the adorable character turns out to be a bad cook? Right?’

“Here you go!” Johann was snapped out of his thoughts as Sweetie Belle placed a bowl in front of him. “It’s my specialty: toast and waffle soup.” She said with a happy smile.

Johann leaned down to take a look of the contents of the bowl, only to see a bubbling greyish-brown liquid inside. ‘WHY, TROPE, WHY?!’ The dragon screamed in his mind as he stared down at the bubbling goop. Then he heard a small gurgling noise coming from his left. Looking down, he saw that it was coming from Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, who had their heads facing the other way. ‘Not hungry, my ass! They knew she was a bad cook and left me to die!’ Johann looked back to Sweetie Belle, who was smiling up at him, waiting for him to eat. He glanced over at the other two, still not daring to face him. ‘You traitors! Look at me! Look me in the eyes before I die!!’ Knowing full well that if he didn’t eat the meal, it would most certainly hurt Sweetie Belle’s feeling. So, with a heavy heart, he gripped both sides of the bowl in his claws and lifted it up to mouth. In one swift motion, Johann opened his mouth wide, and poured the bubbling concoction down his throat. Once the last drop had been completely drained from the bowl, Johann set the bowl down and looked to Sweetie Belle with a warm smile. “T-thanks for the meal.”

Sweetie Belle was incredibly happy as her tail sped up as it wagged happily. “You like it!? Really!?” She asked with a hopeful smile on her cheeks, to which the dragon nodded hesitantly, causing the little filly to jump for joy. “No pony has ever liked my cooking, but I guess maybe since you’re a dragon, it’s different.” She rubbed her chin as her face brightened up. “Oh! I have some more food I made back home! I’ll go get them so you can try them!” And with that, the unicorn filly rushed out of the clubhouse to retrieve more of her cooking from her home.

Inside the clubhouse, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo looked at the dragon, feeling rather concerned as he just stood there, not moving an inch. “J-Johann, are ya alright?” The farm filly asked as she tapped his side. But the moment she tapped him, he fell to his side, stiff as a board with his eyes rolled back and foaming at the mouth.

Scootaloo grabbed a white handkerchief and draped it over the dragon’s face. Placing her hooves together, she and Apple Bloom bowed their heads. “Rest in peace, mighty dragon. Your sacrifice won’t be in vain.”