Author's Note

Hey there everybody, been awhile. Sorry it took me so long to update. But with work and my other stories it will tend go happen you know?

So fair warning you will see something similar that happened in the chapter nightmare, but keep in mind that some stories do the same thing twice from different perspectives.

As always a big thanks to my editor Codex92 for looking over my work. You guys should really check out his stories when you have the time.

I'd appreciate it if you guys would like my story and leave comments down bellow as the fuel my passion to keep writing and make you guys happy.

Bonds Beyond Time

(Canterlot Throne Room 3rd Pov)

Within the massive throne room, Princess Celestia was hard at work going over legal forms, papers that required her seal of approval, as well as the usual letters from the nobles who would try to brownnose their way into the royal treasury. She let out an annoyed sigh as she looked up at a nearby clock. It had been four hours since Twilight and her friends escorted Johann to Ponyville. Deep down, she had wanted to converse with the human-turned-dragon for a little longer than they had before. Of course, she was thankful that he didn’t, less she feared that he would make more innuendos that could cause her even greater embarrassment. It was funny how everypony in the room had managed to keep a straight face when he did, but given her years of experience, she could easily see the tells that each of Twilight and her friends had. The tell that gave them away most were the blushes on their muzzles, those being Applejack, who hid her face behind her hat, or Rarity, whose blush was easily seen on her white fur. Then there was Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. Their tell was slightly more subtle, but easy to spot if you know what to look for. She had seen each of their wings slightly twitch for a few seconds while averting their eyes. And then there was Pinkie Pie…well, she actually gave no response whatsoever. She either had an incredible poker face or she was actually that innocent. But as for the others. “Seems my little ponies aren’t as innocent as I had once thought.” The solar princess joked as she continued with her work.

But worst of all was her sister. Faust above, her sister made it impossible for her not to blush like a tomato, and to add insult to injury, she knew exactly what he was doing. The moment that Johann had left the throne room, her sister placed a soundproof barrier around them as she proceeded to laugh her horn off. She had confessed she knew exactly what the dragon had meant and the lewd jokes he was making. She found even greater amusement by putting her on the spot while acting all innocent. “I’m gonna get you back for that later, Lulu.” Celestia mumbled under breath with a playful scowl.

But even she knew it was all in good fun, and even now, Celestia found herself cracking a smile at it all. She let out another sigh, only this one was not of stress or sadness, but her doing so as she remembered the past. Her thoughts wandered back to the days in the old castle where the two of them would play pranks on each other and occasionally on the castle staff. “Those were much simpler times.” She spoke in a dreamier tone as more memories played through her mind, some of which would get her to giggle aloud.

Of course, this would eventually bring her to the part of her memories where she banished her sister to the moon, leaving her with an overwhelming sense of regret and sadness. Many nights, she would walk into her sister’s old bedroom and lay on the bed, hugging the pillows that still had her scent, whimpering and crying into them as she begged for forgiveness. From there, nothing was the same. With her sister gone, she had to bear the burden of raising both the sun and the moon, as well as the wellbeing of her citizens. It wasn’t long after her sister’s banishment that Celestia had decided to move the capital out of the Everfree Forest to someplace safer. Though on some occasions, she wonders if that was the real reason she did it, or was it her excuse to move away from her past. To this day, she isn’t entirely sure herself.

Cut to a few hundred years later as she was now sitting atop her throne in the capital that was now named Canterlot. Due to the fact that alicorns aged differently than most creatures, it meant that she had to watch as some of her closest and dearest friends passed away from old age, a pain she would have to bear all her life. And yet, this wasn’t the worst of it all, for as time continued onward, her once proud nobles slowly began to change as well. At one point, they were proud and caring individuals who would perform many kind and generous acts for their fellow ponies, but some generations later, things had changed. They were no longer the kind and generous ponies who would humble themselves amongst others. Instead, all they do now is flaunt their wealth in those less fortunate in their faces or try to one up another. Some did so to prove their worth to her, going on about how they were most suited to be with her, when in reality, all they wanted was the power and wealth that came with being a royal. For them, it was about having more power and prestige then the other. Celestia would wonder where she had gone wrong. Could it be that she was too motherly with them and occasionally gave them what they wanted so they could be happy? No matter how much she asked herself this question, she knew that nothing would change. Another thing she found most troublesome is how most ponies acted around her outside of the nobles, all of which either treated in such high regard that she was placed on a pedestal of perfection that made it impossible for her to be herself, and looked to her with fear that her wrath would be brought upon them. The most common fear they had of her was that if they so much as breathed incorrectly in her direction, she would banish them to the moon; a fear that continued on ever since her sister’s banishment, which is where this fear stemmed from.

For centuries, she had to put up this facade that she was perfect in every sense of the word, and would have to walk around knowing she could never truly be herself, or at least without gaining the attention of the press, who would blow it out of proportion. “Ugh. The one time I decided to eat a cake in public, and it ended up in the newspaper in Ponyville!” She groaned aloud, grateful that no pony could hear her.

But things started to change for the better within the last couple of years: she found an incredible and loyal student, her sister was brought back to her, and said student became a wonderful princess. Then there was something most recent; that being the return of a hero who risked his life to save Luna and herself. She smiled as she thought back to the days she would visit the human world. There, for the first time in centuries, she could let her mane down and be herself. Well, sort of, given the expectations she had to take on taking the appearance of a human female. While it did take her some time to adjust to walking on two legs, she found it to be all the more fun in such a challenge. At first, there was a slight snag when she realized that she didn’t have the proper currency needed for that world, but thankfully, after visiting a nearby pawn shop, her problem was solved. She could still remember the look of surprise on the shopkeeper’s face when she emptied a small bag of bits onto the counter. She watched as he shakily emptied the register and gave her everything inside. She found out that gold was much more valuable in that world then her own. From there, she went to town, enjoying everything the world had to offer. She visited the local bakery and bought herself an array of baked goods, all of which she ate with no sense of guilt or having to worry about the paparazzi taking pictures of her. She did get the occasional onlooker, but they didn’t bother her.

Next, she would look up their world’s version of entertainment. She saw things from night clubs and sports bars, to amusement parks and arcades. The human world was filled with such technological advancements that Equestria could only dream of. But what she enjoyed most of all were the movie theaters, despite the incident with the adult theater. Celestia's cheeks quickly flushed red as she remembered the look on the usher’s face when she entered the theater. “Looking back on it now, I can understand why he looked that way.”

At first, the movie seemed decent with normal human actors and a plain story. She was also unimpressed with the humans’ acting, like they weren’t really into it. That however changed the moment she watched as two of the humans entered a bedroom, where things quickly changed. If she had her wings at that moment, she would be willing to bet that they would have flared out. She was so deep in shock that she could only sit there in that empty theater as she watched the man mount the women and heard her moans of lust. “I had no idea that humans could bend that way.” She muttered under her breath. She didn’t stay long enough for the first sex scene to end as she bolted out of the building, made her way back to her home, and took an ice-cold shower.

With that embarrassing moment pushed away into the furthest part of her mind, Celestia skipped to a more recent memory that took place today. The first being how Johann had passed her test on being greedy enough to take the title of prince. Granted, he deserved it if he should have asked for it, but she could tell that he wasn’t that kind of…Her thoughts came to a halt as a new one popped up. “Should I refer to him as a man or dragon now?” She asked no pony in particular. She shrugged and decided on calling him a dragon. He wasn’t that kind of dragon. Which is why, after the battle with the colossal dragon, she announced his title as duke to her subjects.

The second memory happened before Luna had departed to her chambers. One of her guards came in, saying that Johann gave nearly all of his stipend to help a family down on their luck. “Barely a duke for an afternoon, and already he’s doing good deeds for those less fortunate.” She smiled as she and Luna were touched with how easily he parted with that money to help the poor family. It was so touching that she and Luna agreed to add an additional three thousand bits to help with the family’s efforts of the reconstruction of their home. Celestia let out a small sigh as she shook her head lightly. “Now if the other nobles could be the same way.”

Before she could continue her trip down memory lane, the sound of the throne room doors opening caught her attention. It was one of her guards, and he had the same stoic look that almost all her guard had. He was a unicorn stallion with silver fur and a charcoal black mane. He gave a bow of his head before looking up at the solar princess. “Your Highness, he’s on approach and will arrive at the base of the mountain soon.” He answered with a sense of fear in his voice.

Taking a look at the position of the sun from one of the windows, Celestia saw that it was indeed that time and rose from her throne. “Thank you, my loyal guard. I shall be off to greet him.” As she walked past her guard, she could see a look of concern on his face. “Something the matter?” She asked calmly, watching as he shuffled his hoof across the carpet. “If you have something to say, then you shouldn’t worry about speaking your mind, Silver Spear.”

Silver Spear let out a sigh, feeling a bit more at ease with the princess’s consent. “Are you sure you wish to be alone with him? He is dangerous, and our city has already dealt with one of his kind this week.” He turned to face the solar monarch. “We would feel better if we were there with you. I know we wouldn’t be able to put up much of a fight, but we would rather die protecting you then to stand idly by as yo-“

His sentence was cut short as the princess placed her hoof gently to his lips. Sliver blushed as he looked to his princess, who had a motherly look on her face. “I’m grateful for your concern, Sliver, but I can assure you that it isn’t needed at this moment.” She pulled her hoof away from his muzzle and watched as he visibly seemed more at ease. Celestia smirked as she made her way toward the doors. “Besides, should he get out of hoof, I can just drop the sun on top of him.” She had a merry skip in her trot as she made her way to the door.

Silver Spear had his own smirk as he quickly picked up his pace to catch up with the solar princess. “Or you could drop the royal plot on him instead. It would prove to be just as devastating.”

His comment hadn’t gone unheard as Celestia had stopped dead in her tracks with a deep blush on her cheeks. “Excuse you.” She growled at the guard, who turned to face the princess with a smug smirk on his muzzle. “And just what do you mean by my plot being just as devastating?” She asked with a fake smile as her left brow twitched a bit, waiting for his response.

Sliver raised his right hoof to his face, inspecting it as though it was more important than the current conversation he was having. “Oh, nothing really.” He spoke in a calm tone. “It’s just if you keep eating all the cake that you do, well, we all know where that goes.” He gave Celestia a playful smirk. “Let’s just say, at the rate you’re going, Princess Luna is going to have two moons she will need to orbit around Equestria.” He admitted with the same smug smile.

A small vein could be easily seen on the solar monarch’s forehead as she glared daggers at the guard. “Funny, you didn’t seem to care about my plot size the other night.” She growled as her horn began to glow.

Silver Spear waved his hoof at the princess’s retaliation without a care in the world. “Oh, don’t get me wrong. I would never complain about its size. I’m just worried that, should it get any bigger, it will have its own gravitational pull,” he joked, noticing the princess was sporting a very bright blush as her horn glowed even brighter. “I should probably start running right about now, huh?” he asked with a nervous smile.

She lowered her head, aiming her horn at the solar guard captain with a wicked smile. “I’m giving you a one minute headstart.”

The stallion gulped as he began to sweat bullets. “Thank you. I’m going to need it. You’re very fast.” With those words, the stallion quickly scrambled toward the double doors, stumbling over his own hooves as he ran.

When the doors closed, Celestia stood alone in the throne room for a few seconds, staring at them silently. She gave her backside a quick glance, summoning a measuring tape and carefully wrapping it around her flank. She checked her measurements and frowned as she had actually gained a size. She sent the measuring tape away as she looked back to the doors and fired up her horn. “Five…four…three…two…one.” Her horn glowed brightly as she disappeared from the throne room, leaving it completely empty. Within a few seconds, the sound of a stallion letting out a high-pitch squeal could be heard within the castle halls.

After teaching her cheeky guard a playful, yet also painful lesson, Celestia made her way to the bottom of the mountain where the final battle between Johann and the colossal dragon took place. At the base of the mountain, the body of the colossal dragon had been preserved with magic while covered with a tarp so the citizens didn’t have to see it’s mangled body. “It still baffles me how his scales could repel our magic.” She said aloud as she waited for her guest to appear.

She didn’t wait long as a large shadow blocked out the sun for a few moments and a massive gust of wind blew from above. Using her wings to block out the sun’s light, she looked up to the massive dragon hovering down till his massive body touched down to the earth below. He stood as tall as the colossal dragon that had attacked the city not too long ago. His scales were a grayish arctic blue, his wing’s membrane and the tip of his tail being a sunset orange. Two large curved horns extended from his head to below his jaws, almost like elephant tusks. However, unlike the previous dragon, he wore a black chest plate, around one of his horns was a golden ring, and atop of his head was a crown that looked to be made of the highest quality rubies. The massive dragon glared down at the pony princess, letting a snort of smoke escape his nostrils as he slowly lowered his massive skull down so it was only but a few feet away from Celestia. “Princess Celestia,” he spoke in a low voice.

The solar princess showed no fear as she took three steps closer toward the towering behemoth. “Dragon Lord Torch.” She said in a calm tone as she stared back at the dragon, making eye contact with him. “I see that you are doing well, though you look like you could cut down on the gems with how big your stomach has gotten,” she said in a smug tone.

The dragon lord let out a scoff as he looked down at the solar monarch. “As if you’re one to talk, especially with how large you plot has gotten since I last saw you.” The dragon lord smirked as he saw the princess glare up at him. “For a moment as I was flying down, I had thought that the lunar princess had misplaced her moon here.” He could see her face getting red with rage as she scowled up at him. “I guess you still haven’t gotten over your cake addiction.” Silence fell between the two as they both glared at one another. The tension in the air was incredibly thick, as if a war would break out between the two races.

But at the drop of a pin, the tension disappeared as the alicorn and dragon’s cheeks puffed out as they burst into laughter. The dragon lord sat down on the ground, leaning down to rest on his arms to get closer to the princess. “It’s been a while, Celly. I hope the years have been kind to you.”

She smiled up at the dragon as she moved closer to sit next to him. “They have been, and especially so over these past few years. I got my sister back, the reformation of Discord, my niece getting married, and my faithful student becoming a princess.” She smiled as she remembered how proud she was on that day and looked forward to what she will become in the future. “But enough about me. How have the years been treating you, Torchy?”

The dragon lord let out a small chuckle as he shook his head lightly. “Haven’t been called that in a millennia. Not since the days I was your number one assistant.” The dragon lord looked to the sky as his expression became stoic. “Those were much simpler times. I almost miss those days.” He let out a sigh as he turned his attention back to his old friend. “These days, I must do my best to keep my kind in line and from attacking you ponies and any other races. That isn’t enough to keep the older dragons from thinking of me as a weak king. Couple that with me being a father and having to raise a child all on my own.”

Celestia could see the somber look on Torch’s face as his head lowered slightly. She stood up and walked closer to the colossal dragon, placing her hoof against his arm to comfort him “I heard about that. I’m so sorry for your loss. I would have been there for you, but...”

“I know. The image I have to keep wouldn’t allow you to attend.” Torch leaned down to lightly nuzzle the pony princess with his nose. “It’s difficult to raise my daughter, especially since she was still an egg when her mother died. She would rarely ask me about what she was like when she was alive.” The dragon lord allowed his mind to wonder before a thought came to him. “Speaking of eggs, did the one I gave you ever hatch?”

Celestia smiled as she nodded her head. “Actually, it did, it was because of my student that the egg hatched. His name is Spike, and funny enough, he reminds me a lot of you when you were his age.” Celestia smiled as she remembered how she would see Twilight and Spike acting like she and Torch would when they were both young. “Although, Spike is a bit more grown up than one would give him credit for. I believe a possible reason is due to him having to spend so much time with Twilight, he is a bit of a scholar.”

Torch chuckled a bit as he could imagine the dragon now. “It’s amusing how things could turn out. I spent almost half a year trying to hatch that egg. At one point I feared that it would never hatch.”

“Speaking of which, where did you get Spike’s egg? I never did ask you how you came into possession of it.” Celestia could see that her dragon companion had become depressed once more. Quickly seeing her mistake, she tried to apologize. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”

Torch shook his head. “It’s alright, I’ve come to terms with it already. The egg belonged to a friend of my wife; she was there for me when I had lost her. A day came when after giving birth, she fell ill, and there was no chance of her recovering, unfortunately. She had asked me to save her egg and for me to do all I could to make sure it would hatch, grow up strong, and be loved.” Torch sighed as he thought back to the look in her eyes as she thanked him before taking her last breath. “I hope she is satisfied with my decision.”

Celestia flapped her wings to help her rise up to the dragon lord’s face as she leaned in and hugged his snout. “I’m sure she is smiling down from up above as her son lives a life where he is both well taken care of and loved. You kept your promise and then some.”

The dragon let out a sigh as her words were reassuring and put him at ease. “You always know what to say to make me feel better, Celly.” He pulled back, watching as she touched back down onto the ground. His smile shifted back to a stoic look as he cleared his throat. “Now, as much as I would love to keep reminiscing on the past, we must tend to the present. What was it that you needed of me to leave my kingdom and come to the capital?”

Seeing that it was time to get to business, Celestia stood up. “Well, my friend, the reason I had called you out here is due to recent events. Not too long ago, a dragon as large as yourself had attacked Canterlot unprovoked.” Celestia could see the look of shock and confusion on the dragon lord’s face, raising a hoof as he was about to speak. “I’m well aware that he wasn’t sent on your orders. I had summoned you here in hopes that you could identify him. As well as answer a few questions.” The solar princess looked to the large tarp that covered the carcass of the dead dragon. “He was incredibly powerful, and what’s more, his body seemed to be immune to mine and Luna’s magic.” Celestia had expected to get some form of a response from Torch, but she could see that he was preoccupied examining the dragon corpse. “Is something the matter? Do you know this dragon?”

Nodding his head, Torch examined the body more thoroughly. “I do, and at the same time, I don’t.” He walked around the body, taking in every little detail he could before he looked back to the princess. “This dragon’s name was Mantle. He along with another dragon had challenged me for my title as Dragon Lord. They felt that we as dragons should take over the kingdoms of any creature weaker than ourselves, which they claim was everyone. They called me weak for not leading our kind to greatness and took me on in combat. The battle between us shook the very earth under our claws, however, I had no intention of losing, and fought with all my might and claimed victory. I had banished both dragons from the dragon lands to never return less they wish for me to end their lives.” Torch continued to inspect the body with a look of concern. “But something is very wrong here. He looks different, and is larger than he was when we had fought each other. And that was nearly a year ago. But even in that time, his body shouldn’t have grown this much, and even though he is dead, I could tell his physical strength was vastly stronger than before.” Torch looked over to Celestia. “And you mentioned him being magic proof?”

The solar monarch nodded. “Despite both mine and Luna’s best efforts, our magic had no effect on him. Physical objects that were enveloped our magic could hurt him, but as far as using our magic to will him away, we didn’t fare well.” Celestia’s horn glowed as she summoned a scroll. “What’s more, we had a similar incident with another creature; a manticore that attacked a small town. At the time, no magic had been used against it, but once it had been slain, my student had taken the body down below into her lab for further investigation until I could come to take it. When we brought it to the castle, we noticed its characteristics were vastly different from any other manticore we had ever seen before.” She continued to read over the reports as she opened the scroll. “Upon further testing and dissection, we saw that this change in its physical appearance was forced, and that some parts of its body were immune to magic.” She looked back to her draconic friend, who almost seemed mortified by this information. “Before you arrived, I had my best scientists run some tests on this dragon, and the results were the same. The only difference was the level of immunity to magic was vastly greater.”

Torch had already come to the same conclusion as his old friend. “Are you saying that these two were mutated?” When the sun princess nodded her head, Torch felt almost sick as some foul creature could commit such an atrocity against nature. “Have you any ideas on who would do such a thing?” He grimaced when she shook her head.

For a while, neither the dragon lord nor the solar princess said a word as they let what they discussed sink in. Torch let out a heavy sigh as he only had more fuel to feed to the string of news. “I wasn’t sure when to tell you, but this seems as good a time as any.” Celestia looked up to her friend. “My reign as dragon lord for me is soon coming to an end. After my battle with Mantle and the other dragon, I became very aware that I was losing my edge. The Ruby Scepter requires a young and strong dragon to wield, something I may no longer be able to do much longer.” Celestia could see the look of shame on her dragon companion’s face. “I will be summoning the younger generation of dragons to compete for the scepter. I know my daughter will compete with every intention to win, but I will act as though she has no right, to which I hope will drive her to win even more so. That dragon your student has as an assistant may also end up being summoned, but fear not. I have no intention of making him compete.”

Celestia looked visibly more relaxed by this news. “Thank you, Torch. I feel a bit more at ease if he didn’t. I know Spike is old enough to make his own decisions, but I’m afraid he most likely wouldn’t fare well against the older dragons.”

Torch nodded his head and looked to the sky to see that a good amount of time had passed. “I wish I could stay longer, but my absence from the dragon lands shouldn’t be long, less the younglings do something reckless, like stealing the lava from the hatching grounds. Although I doubt any dragon would be that stupid.” As he unfurled his wings, Torch looked back to his friend. “Two things before I go. Please, the next time you decide to send me a letter, use your own magic instead of how we used to send messages. I was nearly caught by a teenage dragon when I burped up your letter. I had to convince him that it was actually a form of greeting.”

Celestia couldn’t help but giggle at the expense of her old assistant. “I make no promises, my dear friend. And what was the other thing you wanted to know?”

Torch looked to the corpse of the dragon. “If what you said about him was true, about him being immune to magic, how is it he came to be so mangled? I don’t doubt you have your moments, but this kind of carnage doesn’t seem like yours or Luna’s style.”

Celestia smiled as she turned her view in the direction of a certain town, where a certain dragon was now calling home. “A noble warrior who has shown his valor on more than one occasion. He fought with such intensity and resilience that I doubt anything this world has to throw at him could best him.”

With his claws gripping the side of a porcelain toilet, Johann violently vomited. He groaned as he had been like this ever since he woke up from being knocked unconscious after eating Sweetie Belle’s cooking. “Rrahhhhhh! Ahhhh! Give me another hydra to fight, or seven colossal dragons at once!” He let out another groan as he spilled his guts into the bowl, Fluttershy gently rubbing his back with some water at hoof. “I’d rather take those on than this!!!”