Sour Sweet picked another kiwi off the branches of the bush in her garden and put it in her basket, humming contentedly as she worked. Ever since the Summer Sun Celebration, her life had become better than ever. She had friends - real, true friends - for the first time in Faust-knew how long.
She inhaled - and caught a faint wisp of smoke on the wind.
Smoke?
Sour frowned and glanced up at the sky, puzzled. There, she saw a huge cloud of black smoke winding its way across the clear blue sky. Her eyes widened and she rushed into the house, putting her kiwis in the pantry and calling out, "Lockdown!"
The command activated rune protections surrounding her home that instantly sealed all the doors and windows and carried her most valuable possessions down to the basement, because Sour Sweet had read up on all kinds of creatures that could harm her garden, and with a friend in Flare, she'd studied dragons - and the smoke rapidly covering the sky was the sure sign of a dragon.
Running out of her house, for only she and a select few others could go in and out, she weaved her way across the streets to the palace. Suddenly, Emperor Sombra - with Celestia and Luna flanking him - appeared on the balcony of one of the towers. Sombra seemed to cast a spell on himself and when he spoke, there wasn't a resident in Crystallia that hadn't heard.
"CITIZENS OF CRYSTALLIA! I IMPLORE YOU TO TAKE REFUGE INSIDE YOUR HOMES AND PUT THEM ON LOCKDOWN MODE, FOR A GREAT AND TERRIBLE DRAGON IS BEGINNING TO WAKE UP FROM HIS MILENNIA-OLD SLUMBER IN THE CRYSTAL MOUNTAINS. WE ARE ASSEMBLING A TEAM TO DEAL WITH HIM AND I HOLD THE HIGHEST CONFIDENCE THAT THEY WILL SUCCEED IN THEIR MISSION, BUT UNTIL THEN YOU MUST TAKE THE UTMOST PRECAUTION."
A few screams later, the streets of the capital were virtually deserted. Sour Sweet, undeterred by the declaration, kept on running to the castle. Guards were protecting the entrance.
"Bearer of Kindness here, now let me in."
After casting confirmation spells on her, they let her through and she ran to the throne room, where Sunset and the Bearers were assembled.
"Girls?" Sour panted.
Sunset turned to her, her face grave. "Sour. You're here." Sour fell in line and Sunset addressed them. "This dragon was thought to be going to the Crystal Mountains to die - at least, that was what he told the Dragon Lord and Emperor Sombra. Sombra has his doubts, but the Dragon Lord insisted and eventually he allowed it." She cleared her throat and continued. "He actually went into hibernation, but now he's waking up, and we need to convince him not to take action against Equestria. The Dragonlands and Equestria were enemies back then, and he no doubt thinks so now."
Gulping, Sour nodded, along with the rest of the Bearers. Sunset finished. "Emperor Sombra has assigned us and Flare to go speak to him. Go pack and meet back here in an hour."
Once everyone was back, Sunset levitated a map out of her saddlebag and scanned it. "Okay. Come with me."
Sour, however, fidgeted. She didn't really want to go on this trip . . . "Sunset?"
"Yeah?"
"Why do we need to go on this trip? Won't Flare be enough?"
Sunset sighed. "We're the last line of defense. I have an emergency flare, and I'll fire it if the situation gets out of control. Military personnel will show up, and if that doesn't work, we'll need to use the Elements. I just hope it won't anger Dragon Lord Ember."
Sour sighed and nodded.
They started on their way up the mountain, and Indigo was whispering to Sunset.
"Are you sure it's a good idea to take Sour, too?" she asked. "She's always had this irrational fear of dragons, and look at her!"
Sunset glanced back. Sour was lagging behind, and her steps got progressively slower, until she wasn't moving at all. "Hurry up, Sour!" Sunset called.
Sour eeped and sped up. Her nerves seemed to be on hyper-alert.
"I'm saying it for her own good," Indigo said.
"I know," Sunset sighed.
"Hey guys?" Sour called. "I-I'm going to take another way around, okay?"
Sunset turned to look at her, suspicion in her eyes. "Why? We're going the fastest way up the mountain."
"If someone would hurry up, that it," Indigo muttered to herself. The pegasus didn't exactly have the best patience.
Sour blushed. "Please? I'll meet you guys on the other side!"
Sour's puppy eyes won out. Sunset heaved a long-suffering sigh. "Sure."
Sour beamed and immediately trotted away.
Sunset groaned and put her hoof on her forehead. They'd been at the agreed rendevous point for hours, and Sour hadn't shown up! Sunset's constant tracking spells showed her alive, healthy, and moving, but she was obviously taking her time. "Where is that pony?"
Lemon and Sugarcoat where on their 3,294th game of tic-tac-toe.
"Here I am!" Sour sang cheerfully, ambling into the grove. She looked well-rested and well-fed, while the rest of them where quite hungry and tired. Sunset was at the end of her rope.
"What'd you do, take a nap?" she snapped. "The rest of us are super tired, because, if you haven't noticed, you took the whole fucking day to get here, and we didn't eat because we were waiting for you!"
Sour blushed, mollified. "For your information, Sunset, I did take a nap, and I think waiting for me to eat was kinda dumb. Anyway, we should set up camp now and set off in the morning, right?"
Sunset groaned again. "You're right."
She didn't notice Sour's sigh of relief.
Flare was silent, but she cast Sour a suspicious glance.
The next morning, the six Element Bearers set off to finally get to the dragon's cave. Sour was getting increasingly nervous. It seemed her ploy to buy more time hadn't worked; Sunset was determined to make up lost ground, and the others seemed to share her sentiment. Everyone was annoyed with her, especially Indigo. She'd had a Wonderbolts show today, and they were supposed to get back yesterday. Now, Indigo would have to clean the locker rooms for a month.
Sour sighed. She wanted to tell them, but then they would just laugh at her.
They continued.
Soon, the past was split by a huge chasm. Sour saw another oppurtunity to slow them down. "I-I'm afraid of heights," she stammered.
Indigo groaned and put her head in her hooves. Everyone jumped across. Flare smiled. "I could carry you," she offered.
Curses.
The gang finally made it to the dragon's cave at the very top of the mountain. Sour squeaked and hid behind a boulder.
"Sour? Come on!" Sugarcoat said.
"D-don't wanna," Sour squeaked from behind the overgrown pebble.
Indigo put her hoof down. "Sour, we need to know what's wrong," she said firmly. "You've been dragging us down this entire hike, and I need to know why."
Sour winced. "It's a stupid reason."
"So what?"
Sour sighed. "When I was young, I was sent to live with my grandmother for a few years. We lived near the border back then, and tensions with the Dragonlands were at an all-time high. My grandmother kept on spouting nonsense about how dragons were the most dangerous beasts in the world. Especially after meeting Flare, I know that it was just the mad ramblings of a xenophobe - but it really left an impact on me. I-I-"
"Hey," Indigo cut off. "It's okay. We can face this together, and I know we'll be fine. We're friends, Sour. No matter how stupid you think you or your likes, dislikes, and reasons are, we stick together because that's what friends do. Got that?"
Sour took a deep breath. "I got it."
Flare, Sour, Sugarcoat, Indigo, Lemon, Sunset, and Sunny walked into the cave together.
Dear Emperor Sombra,
Today I learned that no matter what you think about your feelings, you should always talk to someone if you feel like they're going to hurt yourself and others. It's never a good idea to have your emotions bottled up; that just leads to outbursts and bad things all around.
Sour Sweet, our Element of Kindness, had a fear of dragons instilled into her by her late grandmother. She knew that it was wrong, but she was young when it happened. Indigo helped her reveal her secret, and now she's seeing a therapist and seems much happier with herself.
Your faithful student,
Sunset Shimmer