BAHAMUT
WHO WAS THIS CLOUD? HOW DID HE KNOW WHO HE WAS?
This question had been plaguing Sephiroth for the past two days. He was clearly human, and he talked as though he wasn't a native of this world. That came as no surprise; as far as Sephiroth could tell, the only beings inhabiting this world were those sentient ponies, those horses.
He was expecting this to be an easy world to terminate, but this new development had made the task slightly more difficult. Not too terribly difficult, but still challenging enough for him to enjoy. He liked a good challenge, loved it when the world had a champion to fight against him. It made the death of the world more enjoyable.
But this was more annoying than enjoyable. Since this Cloud character knew who Sephiroth was, it meant that he knew what Sephiroth could do. Perhaps there was a Sephiroth from his world.
That wouldn't surprise him; every world had a different version of every person. So far, though, this world was turning out to be the exception.
He looked at his clenched fist. Those three fillies wouldn't have made much of a dent in the population of this world, but they still would have gotten him warmed up in the destruction of this place. A warm up he was denied.
Unless that purple horse died when I used my Thundaga magic on her.
Somehow, he doubted it. He doubted that the pony was dead, and he doubted that he would never run into Cloud again. He needed a new method of ending this world's miserable existence, but what should he do?
That's it. A summon. But which one? Sheeva could turn this place into a frozen wasteland. And then there's Ifrit, who could burn this world to the ground.
He sat on the ground, placing his sword over his legs, and closed his eyes in deep thought.
Even though Twilight had been let out of the hospital earlier today, she was still feeling a little sore. It wasn't because she was still in pain-her wounds had almost completely healed, save for a few small burns and bruises here and there-but rather because this was the first time she'd been on her hooves in two days.
Spike had been getting anxious over the past two days, despite having the humans and the other ponies to keep him company. He had been coming constantly to check up on Twilight. It was actually starting to annoy her.
But now she was home, and after having Spike nearly tackle her to the ground when he hugged her, she was ready to get back to her daily routine; continuing her studies and sending weekly reports to Princess Celestia.
She was about to read up on alternate dimensions when the sky began to darken.
"Hey! What's going on?" Spike asked.
"I don't know," Twilight replied. "I don't think the Pegasus Ponies are calling for a storm today." She stepped outside. "No, those don't look like storm clouds."
Rainbow Dash flew past her. "Hey! Rainbow Dash! What's going on?"
"I don't know," Rainbow Dash replied. "Cloudsdale said we were supposed to have clear skies for the rest of the week."
Twilight looked back up at the clouds. Whatever was happening, she knew it couldn't be good.
Sephiroth opened his eyes; an idea had come to him.
"Bahamut."
He stood up and walked over to the edge of the cliff he was standing on. The sun was shining down on the countryside, but that would soon change.
He raised his hand to the sky. A large circle appeared, a series of smaller circles, stars, and triangles appearing inside of it. A ray of light shot out of the symbol. The sky began to darken as clouds rolled in.
Sephiroth smiled as the clouds continued to roll in, blocking out the sun. He could see the outline of the bahamut beginning to form, knowing that the end was near for this world.
Let the massacre begin.
"The indulgence of their lives An apocalyptic plight It's just another way to die There can be no other reason why Glaciers melt as you pollute the sky The time bomb is ticking Still, you ravage the world that you love It's just another way to die
Has cast a shadow on the world
Their devotion to their appetite
Betrayed them all
More destruction will unfold
Mother Earth will show her darker side
And take her toll
You know you should have seen it coming
Consequences, you cannot deny
Will be revealed in time
A sign of devastation coming
You don't need another way to die
And you can't repent in time
And no one listening
Your future is fading
And there is no hope you'll survive
And the millions cry out to be saved
Your endless maniacal appetite
Left you with another way to die
And you can't repent in time"
The rest of the bahamut came into view. Sephiroth watched as it flew towards the first thing it saw-the tiny village of Ponyville.
Twilight had no idea what she was looking at; all she knew was that it was big-it was easily as big as the Royal Palace at Canterlot. It resembled a full grown dragon, with its massive limbs and powerful wings; the only thing missing was the telltale snout. This particular "dragon's" snout was shaped like a bird's beak, with a square mouth underneath. Each of its legs ended with massive and insanely sharp claws.
"Uh, Twilight? What is that?" Spike asked.
"I don't know, Spike," Twilight replied. "I've never seen anything like it before."
The dragon swooped down, flying just over top of the roofs, its slipstream causing a huge wind that nearly knocked the town over. It landed on the ground and let out a loud roar.
A blue orb appeared in the dragon's open mouth as it started to fly up into the air again.
Twilight watched, fixated on the creature as it flew higher and higher. She didn't even notice the other ponies arriving.
"What in Equestria is that?" Rarity asked.
"It's one big dragon, that's what it is," Rainbow Dash replied.
The blue orb in the creature's mouth grew bigger and bigger, until finally, it threw it to the ground.
"What's it doing now?" Fluttershy yelled.
"Whoa Nelly," Applejack said. "I don't like the looks of this."
"Everypony get behind me!" Twilight yelled. She tapped into her unicorn magic and created a force field around the six of them, just as the orb hit the ground.
There was a loud boom, a giant explosion, and a wave of dust. The ponies dug their hooves into the ground, trying to keep their balance. After a moment, the dust faded away, revealing a horrific sight.
Several houses had been leveled, many others were burning. The dragon was still still in the air, descending until it hit the ground again.
Twilight lowered the force field as she and her friends looked around at the carnage. Their hearts began to sink. They'd never seen anything so terrible.
Rainbow Dash turned her attention back to the dragon. She huffed as she pawed the ground with a hoof.
"Alright, dragon," she said. "It. Is. On." She charged at the dragon. "You're going down, buster!"
"Let's go, girls," Twilight said. She and the other ponies followed Rainbow Dash, charging at the dragon.
RATATATATATATATATATATATATATA TA!
They stopped running towards the dragon at that sound. They looked in the direction where the sound had come from. Standing there was Barrett, his right hand now a gatling gun.
"You horses hang back, we'll handle this," he said. "Go keep Marlene safe!" He charged at the dragon.
"Uh, yeah, I think we'd better let them handle this," Twilight said. "At least until we know his daughter's safe. Come on."
"But, Twilight, that thing-" Applejack started to say.
"Don't worry," Twilight said. "I have an idea."
"Spike!" Twilight yelled when she and the others returned to her house. "Where's Marlene?"
"I'm right here," Marlene said as she peeked out from over the balcony.
"What's was that big boom, Twilight?" Spike asked.
"A really big, really angry dragon, that's what," Pinkie Pie said.
"Spike, stay here and keep an eye on Marlene," Twilight said. She turned to the other ponies. "Applejack, go get some rope so we can lasso this thing."
"Can do, Twi," Applejack said.
Twilight turned to Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. "Dash, Fluttershy, go up to Cloudsdale and rally the other Pegasi. We're gonna need all the help we can get."
"You got it, Twilight," Rainbow Dash said. "Come on, Fluttershy."
"Okay," Fluttershy squeaked. "We'll be back soon, Twilight."
"Don't take too long!" Twilight called after the two Pegasi as they flew up into the clouds.
Applejack gallopped as fast as she could back to Sweet Apple Acres. She knew she didn't have enough time, not if she wanted to help Twilight save Ponyville from that dragon. She picked up the pace, dirt kicking up from her hooves as she ran.
The farm finally came into view. She sped up even more as she passed the front gate, speeding past her brother Big Macintosh. She skidded to a stop as she reached the barn, throwing the door open and hurrying inside.
"Rope, rope, where the hay is that darn rope?!" She threw everything around, trying to find the rope she used to corral the cattle and sheep. Nothing. "Where is it? Where'd it go?" She looked back to the door as Big Macintosh entered the barn. "Big Mac, you know where the lasso rope is?"
"Eeyup," Big Macintosh said. He reached his neck up to a high shelf and pulled down a line of thick rope.
"Thanks, big brother," Applejack said. "There's a problem in Ponyville. Stay here and keep an eye on Granny Smith and Apple Bloom, okay?" She gallopped away before hearing his answer.
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy flew to Cloudsdale as fast as they could. Cloudsdale was high in the sky, the town where the weather was created and controlled by the Pegasus Ponies. It was also home to Equestria's best flying team, the Wonderbolts, whom Rainbow Dash had been trying desperately to impress and even join.
But she had more important things to worry about right now. She didn't know how much damage that dragon was doing to Ponyville, but she didn't want to dilly-dally around anymore than she had to.
She and Fluttershy finally reached Cloudsdale. They flew to the top of a pillar overlooking all of Cloudsdale.
"Let me do the talking," Rainbow Dash said. She took a deep breath and began to speak loud enough for all of Cloudsdale to hear. "Attention, Cloudsdale! There is an emergency in Ponyville. A large dragon has appeared and is attacking the town. Several buildings have already been destroyed and the dragon is continuing its rampage, despite the efforts of our human friends to stop it. We need your help to defeat this thing. Will you help us?"
It wasn't long before they had rallied several Pegasi, some of whom Rainbow Dash recognized-Derpy Hooves, Cloudchaser, Lightning Dust, even the Wonderbolts-Flitterfoot, Soarin', and Spitfire.
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy took to the air again. "Okay, team. Let's go kick some dragon derrier!"
Barrett fired his gatling gun at the bahamut, but the bullets didn't seem to be doing any damage. Bahamut took to the air and roared at him before lunging down at him, its mouth open.
Barrett dodged out of the way, just as Yuffie's giant shuriken zipped across the bahamut's face. It roared in annoyance as the shuriken flew back to its owner.
"Hey Barrett!"
"Come on, kid," Barrett said as he aimed his gatling gun at the bahamut again. "Let's dust this bitch!" He fired at the bahamut again.
They hurried out of the way as the bahamut came down, trying to stomp them into the ground. The monster roared in anger.
Cid ran up to Barrett, his spear in his hand. "So, what'd I miss, big fella?"
"One really pissed off bahamut, that's what," Barrett replied.
Several bullets pelted the bahamut's face. Barrett and Cid turned in the direction the bullets had come from. Vincent was standing in the middle of the street, his three-barrelled pistol in his hand, aimed at the bahamut.
"This bahamut is a creature of chaos," he said as he calmly walked down the street towards the bahamut, his pistol still on the monster. "Summoned by our enemy, for the purpose of death and destruction. We must stop it here before it causes even more damage to this world."
"Tell us something we don't know, Vinny!" Barrett called over to him. He got ready to shoot the bahamut again when a series of shadows flew overhead. He looked up, saw a bunch of Pegasus ponies making a bee-line towards the bahamut.
"Hey!" he yelled up to them. "If you don't want to get shot, stay back a bit!" He fired at the bahamut, as did Vincent, while Yuffie threw her shuriken and Cid threw his spear. The spear bounced off of the bahamut's thick skin and landed harmlessly on the ground.
"Oh for the love of-" Cid hissed. He hurried over and picked up his spear, but this put him in the bahamut's path. It opened its mouth and leaned down towards him, intending to swallow him whole. "Oh shit."
A rope tied itself around one of the bahamut's horns, knocking it off balance. Cid followed the rope to where Applejack was standing, holding the rope in her mouth, her hooves digging into the ground as she fought against the bahamut's brute strenght.
"I'm losing her!" she yelled through her teeth.
She dug her hooves deeper into the ground, but the bahamut won out, yanking her up into the air as it took to the sky.
"WHOA NELLY!"
The bahamut shook its head furiously, causing Applejack to lose her grip on the rope. Fluttershy caught her in midair as she fell.
"Oh, Applejack, are you alright?" she asked.
"Just dandy," Applejack replied. She winked at Rainbow Dash. "All yours, partner."
"You got it," Rainbow Dash said as she saluted. She turned to the other Pegasi. "Okay, Team One! Storm clouds, go!" One half of the group of Pegasi flew off in all directions, coming back several seconds pushing dark storm clouds. They covered the bahamut with these clouds, then started bucking them, striking the bahamut with several bolts of lightning all at once. Through the lightning strikes and thunder claps, the bahamut could be heard roaring in annoyance and pain.
Rainbow Dash turned to the remaining Pegasi. "Okay, Team Two! Tornado time, go!" She led the Pegasi into flying in a circle formation around the bahamut, forming a cyclone. The tornado sent the bahamut spinning, the debris picked up by the wind of the twister hitting the monster, only to harmlessly bounce off of its thick skin.
The bahamut dug its claws into the ground, stopping its spin. It straightened its tail, severing the tornado and sending the Pegasi flying off in all direction thanks to their inertia.
Rainbow Dash flared her wings, stopping herself, and turned back to the bahamut.
"Man, this thing's tough." She looked down to the ground, saw the other ponies hurry over to where the fight was taking place, along with Cloud and Tifa. She fluttered down to them. Fluttershy joined a few seconds later. "We're getting our butts kicked by that thing!"
"Yeah, we've dealt with a bahamut before," Tifa said.
Cloud stepped forward, taking out his sword and splitting it in two. "Leave it to me," he said.
"Where the hell you been?" Barrett snapped as he fired his gatling gun at the bahamut.
"Spare me," Cloud spat back. "Everyone get back."
He ran towards the bahamut, leaping into the air when he was close enough. The bahamut swiped at him, but he batted its hand away with one of his swords, before swiping at the bahamut. Bahamut caught the sword in its mouth.
"Damn you," Cloud hissed. He hit the bahamut with his free sword, knocking the bahamut off balance. "You're dead!" He put his swords together and swung, the impact of the blade hitting knocking the bahamut out of the sky and sending it slamming into the ground.
Cloud landed on the roof of a nearby house. He pointed his sword at the bahamut, knowing it wasn't finished just yet.
The bahamut started to fly into the sky again, a blue orb appearing in its mouth.
"It's about to use Megaflare!" Yuffie yelled.
"Damn," Cloud hissed. "I need a boost!"
"I've got you," Twilight said. "Rarity, help me out here."
The two unicorns' horns began to glow. Cloud felt like he was being lifted into the air by a crane, and a second later, he was flying towards the bahamut. He put his two swords together, never taking his eyes off of the bahamut.
The bahamut fired its Megaflare directly at Cloud. Cloud passed through the Megaflare, the extreme heat causing him to start sweating, but he didn't care.
It took him a few seconds to make it to the other side of the Megaflare and fly straight at the bahamut. He turned his sword as he reached the bahamut, its blade digging into its spine as he ran up the dragon's back. He slashed, severing the skin, muscle, and the bahamut's spine.
The bahamut let out one final roar before plummeting to the ground, dead.
Rainbow Dash watched as Cloud descended from the sky. She turned to the other Pegasi. "Get some clouds, quick!"
The Pegasi gathered as many clouds as they could, putting them together into one big cloud and put it directly underneath Cloud as he fell. He landed harmlessly on the cloud, and the Pegasi lowered it to the ground.
"Awesome job, Cloud!" Rainbow Dash cheered as Cloud planted his feet on the ground.
"But what about Ponyville?" Fluttershy asked, surveying the damage. Several buildings had been destroyed, several more were on fire. The ground had been charred, and the blood of the bahamut was soaking into the dirt.
"Sorry about all this," Cloud said. He clenched his fist. "Sephiroth. He did this. He summoned the bahamut, he destroyed your home." He stormed off.
"Cloud! Where are you going?" Tifa asked.
"Where do you think, Tifa?" Cloud shot back. "I'm going to find Sephiroth. I'm going to finish this. Sephiroth is going to die."
Cloud felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked back, saw Tifa and the others standing behind him.
"We're going with you," Tifa said.
"You think we're gonna let you do this one alone?" Barrett asked. "You got another thing coming, blondie."
"They're right," Yuffie said. "We're your friends. We're always gonna be there for you when you need us."
"And these injustices must be punished," Vincent put in.
Cid took a puff of a cigar and stomped it out. "Ah, shit. What the hell."
The ponies stepped forward. "You can count us in, too," Twilight said.
Cid chuckled. "You horses lost your god damned minds or something? Besides, remember what happened last time one of you went up against him? It wasn't pretty."
"We weren't prepared then," Rainbow Dash said. "But we will be."
"Yeah? How?" Barrett asked.
"Well, first, we have to get to Canterlot," Twilight replied. "We'll explain on the way."
