“So let me get this straight,” the rainbow maned, cyan pegasus muttered. “You two looked in some dusty old book and found out about a long gone dragon who supposedly didn't have wings. Now you think that a long gone pegasus might have investigated it. So you need me to help you get to the archives in Cloudsdale so you can if it has anything on this pegasus?”
Twilight and Spike looked up at their friend Rainbow Dash, the pegasus hovering above them as she repeated what was just explained to her. The daunting skepticism in her voice was evident.
“That's about right,” the unicorn nodded, realizing herself just how strange their story was. Rainbow Dash simply looked between the librarian and dragon as they waited for her answer, a denying no appearing to be dancing silently on her lips.
“Okay,” she replied, landing in front of them both.
“Really?”
“Of course, I can't leave my friends hanging when they need the help of the greatest flier around. Besides, I know how much you want to know about dragons, Spike.”
“Oh thank you, thank you, thank you,” Spike yelped excitedly, jumping up and wrapping his arms around the pegasus' neck. “You're the best!”
A prideful smirk grew on Rainbow Dash's lips as she took in the brief admiration. “Okay, easy now, you can save the praise for after we get to Cloudsdale.” As Spike released his grip on his friend, the pegasus took off into the air, flying several feet as she gazed down on them. “You guys coming or what?”
“Now hold on, Rainbow,” Twilight called up, sighing slightly. “We need to get the balloon.” The pegasus released an annoyed groan as she hovered over her friends.
Finding a nearby cloud, Rainbow Dash lounged on the fluffy platform as her two grounded friends walked off to procure their means of air travel. Several minutes passed and she quickly found herself suffering from an unbearable boredom.
“Come on you guys,” she called, thinking they would somehow hear her quick impatience. “I'm waiting.” As soon as the words left her mouth, a shudder was felt by the pegasus as a cold chill ran up her spine. “Ugh, why did that make me feel so... unclean?”
Shortly after, a large cloud fell over her and her cloud seat. Turning around, she saw the large hot air balloon that had been used so often in their adventures. Twilight and Spike stood within the basket, eying the mare with a prepared gaze..
“Ok,” Rainbow Dash said, jumping off of her cloud, “let's head to Cloudsdale!” The quick flying pegasus then flew into the basket and pushed with all of her strength. With her great speed, Rainbow easily sped the balloon through the air at a much faster pace it could have normally gone.
Cloudsdale was off in the distance, the impressively large cloud city of pegasi hanging high in sky. The long distance between the three friends and the city was cleared quickly, the magnificent sight growing larger and larger by the second. In no time at all, the balloon was being pushed up through the blanket of clouds that served as the foundation, stopping as it came to the surface.
“We're here,” Rainbow said proudly, silently giving herself a pat on the back for the quick trip.
While Twilight searched through the saddlebags she had brought with her, the young dragon next to her gaped at the sights he saw. Spike had never been to Cloudsdale before, only ever seeing it from a distance. It looked as though a normal city had been turned into a marshmallow utopia, white fluffy goodness surrounding him from all sides.
One thing he noticed was how the clouds seemed different from the typical ones used in weather, almost appearing whiter and more pure. Spike felt as though he could just reach out and grab one.
“Hold on, Spike!” Twilight yelped, catching the dragon's tail in her mouth and pulling him back into the safety of the balloon. The mesmerized assistant had nearly jumped from the basket, only being caught by his caretaker at the last minute.
“Oh, sorry, Twilight,” Spike muttered, shaking his head free from the pull the amazing city had on him.
“It's ok,” replied the scholar, “you just need to wait a moment so I can find the cloud walking spell.” With a nod, Spike stood still while Twilight continued searching through her bag. “Ah, here it is.” She pulled free a scroll from her bag and unfurled it, after several moments she nodded and placed it back in its original spot. “Hold still, Spike.”
The unicorn's horn began to glow brightly, pulsing with the magical aura of an impending spell. Spike felt a strange tingling sensation on his feet, feeling as though many tiny insects where crawling underneath his scales. Within the next moment however, the sensation vanished along with the glow of Twilight's horn.
“Huh,” the dragon murmured, examining himself thoroughly, “I think you're losing your touch, Twilight, I don't feel any different.” With a smirk, Twilight's horn glowed once again and Spike found himself floating in the air, being lifted over the basket and suddenly dropped to fall through the sky. “Ah!” The dragon held his eyes shut as he the white cloud rushed forward into his vision. Several seconds passed before he realized he was no longer falling, instead feeling a soft surface pressing against his underbelly.
Opening his eyes, the dragon felt a rush of excitement as he found himself lying on a cloud. Standing up, he stumbled over his own feet for a moment like a foal learning to walk. Quickly figuring out how to stand properly, Spike took in the new experience slowly. Taking several steps, he could feel his feet sinking slightly with each press. It felt uneven as well, not flat at all like he expected it would be for a pegasus. All in all, it felt as though he were walking across a floor filled with the softest of pillows.
“Enjoying yourself?” Twilight asked playfully, hoping out of the balloon basket herself as she watched the dragon dig his clawed toes into the cloudy surface.
“He's taking to it like a real pegasus,” Rainbow Dash said, snickering at the dragon's expressions. “Okay then. Never been to the archives before, sounds like a total bore-fest to me, but I think it'll be near the pegasi council building.”
Twilight nodded to her flying friend. Looking around the area, Twilight's brow furrowed as she had trouble discerning one cloud structure from another. “Care to lead the way?”
“This way,” Dash pointed, flying eastward while Twilight and Spike followed. Though they both were now able to walk on clouds, the layout of Cloudsdale presented a problem. With sections of the city standalone, it proved difficult to find places they could cross without falling to certain doom.
Luckily for them, the path they had to take only had small gaps between unconnected clouds. Only every once in a while did they need to clear the gap with a hop, skimp, or jump. However, Spike's vertically challenged body prevented him from making some of the more distanced ones. Rainbow Dash was quick to provide help for the dragon though, swooping down to lift him over to the next cloud.
Along the way to the council building, Rainbow Dash played tour guide for the newcomer dragon. The cyan pegasus pointed out the many structures that were unique to the city, adding much enthusiasm as her pride began showing. While she even offered to give a quick tour of the sprawling weather factory, Spike declined it with an aloof demeanor. Weather was never something the little dragon cared that much about. It also didn't help that the young assistant had heard strange stories about the building, all of which sent shivers through his scales whenever he thought about them.
In no time at all the trio found themselves before the Cloudsdale council building. It was a rather enourmous structure. Tall pillars spanned the entirety of the walls making up the exterior, holding up the roof to help create a sheltering ledge before actually entering the building. A large set of steps led up to the front doors, making any trek up it on hoof an exercise in its own right, thankfully pegasi could fly.
“I think it's over here,” Rainbow Dash said, pointing a hoof toward another, much smaller structure that was a ways away. A good sized structure, it had an ornamental design that seemed out of place with the rest of the pegasus architecture. Two rows of columns stood decoratively just before the entrance, creating a walkway between them that led to the front door.
“Halt,” a stallion standing guard commanded. “What is your business here?” The guard's eyes narrowed upon seeing the two ponies and single dragon approaching. Curiosity took away from his stiff demeanor, not accustomed to seeing non-pegasus in such a segregated city. The focus of his gaze quickly shifted however as he eyed the multicolored pegasus. “Rainbow Dash, is that you?”
The mare let out an annoyed huff as she crossed her forelegs, thinking how anyone wouldn't be able to recognize a cyan pegasus with such a colorful mane.
“Yeah, it's me, Flakefall,” Rainbow answered the alabaster coated stallion.
Twilight noted the significant differences that a local Cloudsdale guard had in terms of uniform when compared to that of the royal guard in Canterlot. The face of the helm was longer and more slanted near the eyes and mouth, with a longer plume at the top colored in brick red. The chest piece only covered the front half of the body while the other half was draped in a thick cloth skirt, being segmented into several rectangular stripes with triangular ends. Traditional horseshoes were gone as well, replaced with metal bracers on the forelegs with strapped sandals on the back.
“So they moved you to watching the archives?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking about the bleak nothingness that surrounded them. “Seems pretty... exciting.”
Flakefall simply shrugged. “It's not like it's any worse than the few other posts they have. Only good positions are for when the princesses come by, and those snobby Canterlot guards always get the jobs.” A rather forced cough escaped Twilight as she nearly glared at the stallion. “Anyway... what are you doing here? Don't think I've ever seen you come anywhere near this part of Cloudsdale.”
The pegasus stood beside twilight while she nodded toward her friends. “Twilight and Spike want to go in the archives to learn about some pegasus.” Flakefall eyed the unicorn and dragon quizzically for a moment.
“Did the council allow it?”
“Um...” Rainbow paused, “no.” The guard shifted uneasily, looking around nervously as if expecting to see someone.
“You want me to just let unauthorized guests into the archives? Do you know what the council would do to me if they found out?” At that, Rainbow Dash zoomed forward sharply, stopping as she met the guard face to face while the rest of her stayed afloat higher up.
“Hey,” she sneered, “remember when I made that dual arc rainbow for your nephew's birthday party? Yeah, he loved it. And do you even realize how much paperwork I had to do after that for misused resources? I had a jaw cramp for days! You owe me.”
The disgruntled guard held a look of strict conflict within himself, his eyes shifting between the unicorn looking at him expectantly, and the pegasus glaring at him venomously.
“Alright fine,” he sighed, “but we're even.” He opened the door to allow the trio through.
The Cloudsdale archives was a single large room, built three stories high. Nearly every inch of every wall was covered with shelves upon shelves of books and scrolls, all written works on pegasi history, weather charts, and flying techniques. Clearly things were meant for fliers as no other way to reach the higher shelves existed.
“So,” Flakefall said as they walked between the towering shelves that were rowed in the center of the floor, “what pegasus are you researching? Nearly every noteworthy pegasus has their own section.”
“So where's my section?” Rainbow Dash chided, looking about the room with a clear sense of disinterest.
The guard smirked. “You'll get it when you finally join the Wonderbolts.”
Rainbow grumbled to herself while directing another glare to the stallion. “Whatever. I can't remember the guy's name anyway. What was it again, Twilight?” Hearing her name, the unicorn diverted her captured focus from the books to her friend.
“Dragon Knight Typhoon was his name,” she answered. The reply had a clear effect on the guard, his eyes widening while a beaming smile crossed him.
“Typhoon? Goodness, Rainbow, how do you not know him? He's one of the most famous pegasus of the old history. We learned all about him back in flight camp history class... then again,” the guard shot an amused smirk toward the mare, “you did always sleep during the lectures.”
“Hmph,” Rainbow Dash huffed, rolling her eyes as she shook her head. “I didn't always sleep in that class. Besides, who goes to flight camp to hear about boring old history?”
“Okay fine,” Flakefall agreed, “you only slept half the time. The other half you spat cloud wads at the professor with that gryphon friend of yours, but I digress. If you had payed any attention, you'd know that Typhoon was as good a researcher as he was a flier. He earned his title well with his research on dragons, it was actually because of him that we know how to clear out the thick smoke dragons make.”
“Wow,” Twilight chirped, always elated to hear about a famous scholar, “he sounds quite interesting.”
“Oh yeah,” the guard nodded with an excited smile. “There's even a tale that says he once defeated three dragons single-hoofedly when they tried to attack Cloudsdale.”
“Pfft, I could do that,” the technicolor pegasus exclaimed, quickly becoming tired of hearing about the feats of some other pony. But all eyes were soon riveted on her, each glance filled with skepticism. “I just... never had the chance... is all.”
“Let's hope you don't,” Flakefall responded, continuing onward until they stopped at a corner of the room. “What we have on Typhoon, his history, his own personal notes, is all right here.”
Scanning the area thoroughly, Twilight noticed a shelf with old books about the pegasus. Some were biographies on the pegasus' life, others seemed to be compilations on his work. At the end of the shelf, laying beside it, was statue, perfectly to scale of a pegasus stallion.
“Impressive, isn't he,” the guard said, looking at the statue with swelling pride. It was clear that it was of the so called Dragon Knight Typhoon, both because of the section of books that were clearly placed beside it and of what the stallion was donned in.
It was a suit of armor, but it was unlike anything they were used to seeing The helm itself was the most noticeable thing in the peculiar outfit. It covered the stallion's head entirely, save for the lower jaw where it was able to move freely. The ears were covered and around them the metal was shaped into a form of web-like appendages. The face was elongated and bulbous near the tip of the mouth. Small spikes were formed into the edges near the mouth as well, almost like fangs.
The longer they looked at it, the more Spike and the two ponies realized it was shaped like a dragon's head, fitting perfectly over the pegasus' own. The rest of the armor was made in a similar fashion, the chest piece looking as though it were scaled while the horseshoes held several small claws formed into the edges. Even small spines trailed down the neck and back until it they reached the tail.
“He looks really weird,” Rainbow Dash muttered, breaking the silence that was cast between them while they stared at the statue. An exacerbated huff escaped Flakefall as his narrowing gaze darted toward the mare.
“It was a unique, custom made suit of armor that was given to him by the current commander of the pegasi during that time!”
“He still looks weird,” the cyan pegasus retorted, her arguing skills at her best. With another huff the guard turned away from them while he waited for them to finish. Spike turned away as well, his eyes catching the shelf they were previously looking at, staring at a section that was different then the rest.
It was sealed shut by a plate of glass, allowing for those to only see what was inside. Several stands were there that held more books resting on them. They weren't typical books one would see however, being much smaller with very thin covers. An unmistakable sign of age was worn into the tattered booklets.
“What's in there?” Spike asked, pressing his face against the glass in a futile attempt to see things better.
“Well,” their guard guide said, nudging the dragon away with his hoof, “it's Typhoon's actual notes. Very old, centuries actually. Since he preformed all of his studies in the field, he always carried small notebooks to write down his findings.”
“Can we examine them?” Twilight asked, thinking that the information they wanted would be within one of those notebooks.
Flakefall quickly began to shift uneasily in place. “Uh... I don't really know... Only a few specially trained pegasi are ever allowed to handle such documents...”
“You can trust me,” Twilight said reassuringly. “I'll take the utmost care.” Her word did little to ease the tension the guard was feeling.
“Well...” he strained, “I guess... unicorn magic would be much safer to handle something so delicate than a pegasus... And you are the princess' student after all... Fine, I suppose it wouldn't hurt. Just give me a moment.”
Taking off, Flakefall flew across the room and disappeared.. Rainbow Dash continued looking around the room aimlessly in her unamused expression. Spike's gaze was wide with excitement as he swayed back and forth on his feet, unable to sit still. Twilight simply waited patiently, eying each small notebook with curiosity.
Moments later, the stallion returned, a key held in his mouth. Without a word, he stood at the side of the shelf and inserted it into a small hole. Turning it with his hooves, there was faint clicking sound and the glass wall swung aside.
“Just be careful with them, ok?” the guard begged, still showing signs of his concern.
Twilight nodded. “You have my word.” As she eyed the notebooks, she realized how much time would be spent simply examining them all for the first shred of evidence on their subject. Quickly thinking of a solution, Twilight stood before the shelf and kept her eyes locked.
The others silently watched as Twilight's horn became alight with magic, her gaze never leaving the notebooks. Within seconds, they too were glowing, a soft hum of flowing magic emanating around them and the unicorn.
“Serilex.” She stated the name firmly, coming off as a command to the inanimate objects. Not a moment was able to pass before the glow left the notebooks, each one looking as though they were never touched, all except for one. It was the final notebook in the selection, continuing to hold onto its magical aura. Twilight immediately levitated it toward her, looking through the pages with tentative motions. The librarian couldn't shake a feeling of joy from the spell she had used, unable to remember how she ever did research without it.
The writing was faded and the pages were yellowed. Twilight felt as though the past was within her magical grasp.
Typhoon's writings seemed like a jumbled, messy mixture of journal entries and actual notes. Some pages were covered with simple words written down with no clear order, quick jotted notes on observations no doubt. Others had dates followed by fully articulated writings of the pegasus' plans and an account of his current thoughts.
Searching through each page carefully however, Twilight's expression slowly shifted to one of confusion as no mention to the ancient dragon was present. Soon, she found herself at the end of the notebook, only a few pages remaining, all blank.
“I don't get it,” the unicorn murmured, the expectant gazes of the others on her. “My spell found the name Serilex in this book. But... there's nothing. No mention to him. Not even anything on a dragon ancient.”
Rainbow Dash and Flakefall could only shrug, realizing they couldn't offer any real help to the problem the scholar was facing. Spike however stepped toward the notebook, reaching to take it from it's magical hold.
“What does it say?” the dragon asked, pointless as he didn't bother waiting for an answer or offer before grabbing for the writings.
But everyone in the room suddenly jumped back several feet as the notebook spontaneously burst into flames.
The notebook fell to the floor, casting a glow as an inky black flame danced across the papery surface. Rianbow Dash had nearly smashed into the ceiling with the speed she had taken off in. Spike clung to Twilight's side like a frightened feline, causing the unicorn to wince as the pointed tips of his claws dug into her. Flakefall could only sit and stare at the sight in horror, his pupils dilated while his jaw unhinged, the rest of his body subtly twitching.
Just as quickly as it started, the fire died. Twilight's eyes widened in shock as she saw the notebook lying in front of them, untouched by the flames that had engulfed it. “H-how is that... possible...”
Approaching it with hesitant steps, the unicorn peered down at the notebook, every muscle in her body clenching with each passing moment in preparation for it to set fire again. But nothing happened.
Levitating the notebook once again, Twilight brought it up to her, keeping it a good distance away from her face just in case. She turned every page, making sure nothing was damaged in the fire. Coming to the last page she had read before the ordeal, the scholar gasped as she realized the writing didn't end there.
The last few pages she had noticed before, empty of any form of writing or mark, were now covered in more faded entries.
Her breathing having stopped, Twilight's eyes dashed across every sentence now before her, consuming each word in the insatiable appetite that was her curiosity. In the beginning, there was a simple note. Perhaps lazily written down as a reference, perhaps a marker to section off what else was written, Twilight didn't know. But she did know that it was exactly what they were looking for. Serilex the Flightless.
Spike could see the name as well, standing just underneath the mare's chin as he followed along with her, his expression matching her own perfectly.
The entries were mostly a day to day account on Typhoon's research into the enigma that was Serilex. Twilight realized that her own steps were not unlike his own, the pegasus having exhausted the resources the records of his own people had before asking the other tribes for assistance. He went on the record his journeys to the different settlements that dotted the young Equestria at the time, learning that the ancient dragon was only mentioned through spoken stories rather than written record.
The final page caught Twilight's attention specifically. As she read it, she realized it had what they needed and began reading it aloud.
9x17x823
Making last preparations now. Have my supplies ready and my affairs in order for the trip. Perhaps it's the weight of my helm crushing the last of my sanity, but my hopes are high for this. I know what I seek lies ahead, that the answers on this elusive beast are there, I can feel it in my feathers.
I've visited near every settlement that has sprouted up since our people came here from the snowy wastes. Thankfully, animosity is a rare occurrence between the tribes, the unicorns and earthers have been most accommodating with my questions.
Sadly, those magic users were of no help. Seems as though the only thing dragon related they care for is stealing their gem hoards. Don't understand it myself, maybe they just like shiny objects. The earth ponies have at least shown their culture to me without hesitation. Almost a little too eager. Though they do just seem overly talkative to anything with a pair of ears to listen, whether voluntarily or not.
Much of what they told me is rather interesting though, many of their old fables speak of dragons highly. Tales of the dragon ancients, specifically on Serilex himself, tell of the northern lands and what is hidden within the outlaying mountains. A dragon temple.
It's taken months of research, sifting through the old tales that I've heard from the earth ponies, as well as surveying the lands between here and our old ancestral home. Now I'm certain I have found this supposed temple. Could it be that dragons were once civilized? Could this Serilex be more than just a wingless dragon? Perhaps they were worshiped by our most ancient of ancestors? Even now, my heart races with anticipation to find the truth, my wings twitch with eagerness to take off.
With the end of this entry, I end my time in Cloudsdale for now. I hope to return home, carrying the tales of what I have learned for all to hear. But I know faith isn't what will guide me to what I seek.
The entry ended there. Twilight turned to the back of the page to find an illustration waiting for her. It was a map, crudely drawn yes, but it clearly showed where Typhoon was planning to go.
Cloudsdale was marked at the bottom, with a dark line stretching between it toward a several jagged lines that the unicorn could only assume were meant for mountains. The line ended with a circle and the word 'temple'.
“A dragon... temple?” Spike muttered, looking down at his hands in an aimless gaze.
“Such a thing is unheard of,” Flakefall said, rubbing his chin in thought while processing the old words of a passed age. “And what of the notebook? What was that flame, what did it do?”
Looking back to them, Twilight shook her head with uncertainty. “I don't know... It must have been hidden by some kind of magic. But I know such a thing would be impossible for a pegasus, and it's not a spell that I recognize. As for why it was done or what triggered it, I can't even guess.”
“Well we did learn something,” Rainbow Dash said, dismissing the mysterious event quickly. “This temple place sounds pretty neat. I bet it'll be just like Daring Do's Quest for the Silver Monkey, book fourteen. That had this one awesome temple in it.” The pegasus' eyes widened as the thought of following in the footsteps of her favorite fictional character occurred to her. “We should go there!”
“Oh yeah!” Spike shouted in agreement, jumping onto the mare's back and striking a heroic pose with her. “I bet there will be traps, treasure, answers about dragons that nopony has ever seen!”
“Now hold on, hold on,” Twilight urged, watching her friends' excitement reach critical levels. Looking over the simple map again, the unicorn submerged herself in her thoughts. “This map points toward a mountain range north of Cloudsdale. The closest one is Scale Peak and that's right on Equestria's northern border. That's a really long ways away.” Spike could hear the uncertainty laced within the mare's voice.
“Twilight...” he whimpered, his pupils enlarging as they shimmered with water, staring directly at the unicorn. Twilight had to look away from the gut wrenching sight, unable to handle it when the young dragon got those eyes.
“Spike, I never said we weren't going,” she said, her tone strained as she found herself drawn to the dragon's gaze. “But the right preparations need to be set up, we can't just go off to a possibly dangerous place without the right supplies. It will take some work for such an expedition with only two.”
“Don't forget about me,” the rainbow maned pegasus declared. “There's no way I'm letting you guys have all the fun. Besides, when following the trail of an old pegasus, who better to have with you than another pegasus?” She flew high into the air and flexed her forelegs. “With the best flier in Equestria by your side, how can you go wrong?!”
Twilight smirked at her friend's tenacity, always eager to participate in any adventure. “Alright then, we will need to go back to Ponyville and make prepare ourselves for the trip.” The lavender mare turned to the guard still with them. “And thank you, Flakefall, for allowing us to look into this.”
“It was my pleasure,” the stallion said with a bow. "I certainly hope you find something in your journey. Who knows, maybe you'll make an addition to these old archives.”
Before returning the notebook back to its rightful place, a wise idea struck the scholar. Opening her saddlebags, Twilight found a blank scroll. Unfurling it and placing it against the open notebook, a sudden magical flash occurred and the unicorn looked at her work with satisfaction. An exact copy of the crude map having been transferred onto the scroll.
Placing the notebook back in its place, the glass shielding was shut and locked. Flakefall took several moments checking to make sure not a thing was out of place before escorting the three guests out of the archives.
The two mares and single dragon said their goodbyes to the guard before returning to the balloon and placing Ponyville in their sights.
Thanks to a certain speedy pegasus, it didn't take long for the word to spread on Twilight and Spike's plan. Hardly a half hour since their return from Cloudsdale, the library received five guests.
Twilight stood before Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. Spike watched the scene with PeeWee resting on his arm. The friends all listened with patient expressions as they were told what they had learned and what they hoped to find out.
“Aw,” the white unicorn, Rarity, moaned with sadness, “I never knew my little Spikey-Wikey was feeling so depressed about something as simple as wings. Trust me dear, they are simply overrated.”
“There's a lot more going on than just wings,” Twilight said. “There's so little that we truly know about dragons. This temple might be able to unlock many secrets about what they were like centuries ago. As a scholar, I can't sit idle and let such opportunity go unheeded.”
Despite the unicorn's determined words, the farm pony, Applejack, simply shook her head. “Now hang on one second. This Typhoon feller had all this planned out a long time ago right? Well, if there isn't anything about this place now, doesn't that mean somethin' must of happened to him?”
Twilight paused, the thought hadn't even occurred to her. The journal was the last known piece of his notes that the archives had. Meaning there was no followup to it afterward, or at least it simply wasn't in Cloudsdale.
“It's a possibility,” the unicorn muttered. “We will just have to be careful now, won't we?”
Not accepting such a weak answer, the cowpony stepped forward, her face as serious as it could be. “Well, ah can't let my friends go off on their own without any sort of assistance. So ahm goin' with ya.”
Twilight looked at her friend with shock. “Applejack, you know you don't have-”
“Ahve made up my mind, Twi, ya can't stop me.” The unicorn knew better than to argue with Applejack once she was dedicated to something.
“Ooo ooo, I wana go I wana go!” Pinkie Pie shouted, jumping up and down excitedly. “I bet I could find all kinds of cool stuff on dragons too. Maybe on what their parties were like!” Twilight tried saying something but was stopped as Rarity stepped forward.
“I'm going as well,” the designer added. “I remember what happened on our last dragon themed adventure, and I just couldn't forgive myself if I stayed behind and something bad were to happen.”
Spike stared at the ponies with an expression of pure joy, his mouth turned into a large smile. “You guys really want to help us?” The four decided mares nodded, all determined to be there for their friends. But one friend remained silent. Fluttershy felt all eyes on her as an answer became expected of her.
The timid mare whined meekly as she backed away.“I-I'm sorry but... I can't go and find d-dragons I... just...” The shaking mare hid behind her mane as she shrunk down into a flattened position on the ground.
The others all frowned as they realized they wouldn't have their animal expert friend to join them. Spike however approached the pegasus, PeeWee sitting on his palm as he extended it toward her.
“Actually, Fluttershy,” the dragon replied, making the mare look up at him. “I was wondering if you wouldn't mind looking after PeeWee while we were gone. Since you're so good with animals and stuff.”
Fluttershy's eyes widened as she gasped, the entire world seemed to disappear around her as the adorable phoenix hatchling in front of her became the only thing her animal crazed mind took in. Without warning, she flew into the air, scooping the small bird up in her hooves and holding him close to her in an affectionate hug.
“Oh yes yes yes,” she cooed happily. “I would love to look after him. After Philomena, I did so much research on phoenixes, just in case. Oh now I can try them out. Thank you, thank you thank you, Spike!” The overly excited mare grabbed the dragon into a hug as well, nearly crushing his spine in her unbridled happiness.
“Y-yeah, no problem,” he choked, only being saved when Twilight levitated the dragon out of the pegasus' deadly hold.