"I got a good feeling about this!"
It's been a little over a week since Trixie came to town and many ponies were having fun outside. All except for Xavier as he was at his work desk fiddling with something. He managed to buy some tools and found random scrap from around town in his free time and was finally working on his hobby.
"Just a few more tweaks and... There." Xavier said as he got up and held it. "Hah, feels good to do this again. Now I just need a test run somewhere and I can start modding it." Xavier said with excitement and pride. He left his house and decided to go to the park, though as he was walking, he noticed something in the sky over the park. Coming closer, he saw that it was a massive amount of smoke overhead. He began to worry for the townsfolk and ran to the park to warn them. When he got there, he saw Fluttershy trying to get other's attention to no avail. "Hey Fluttershy, what's wrong." Xavier said as he went over to her, startling her.
"Oh, Xavier, something terrible is happening." Fluttershy said meekly.
"Does it involve the giant plume of smoke above us?" Fluttershy nodded. "Don't worry, I'll get everypony to notice." Turning to the ponies, he began to shout. "Hey everypony, listen up!" The crowd looked towards the two, causing Fluttershy to cower a bit. "It's come to both me and Fluttershy's attention that there is a large amount of smoke is spreading." The ponies looked up and realized that there was, and began to worry as Xavier continued. "Now, we all know that Smoke comes from fires, and that size cloud may mean that there is a huge fire nearby, we need to-"
"It's not a fire." Everyone looked over to see that Twilight and Spike arrived. "I was just informed by Celestia about the cloud of smoke and it is not a fire."
"Well, what could cause this size of smoke then?" Xavier asked for the crowd.
"It's coming from a dragon."
"What in the name of all things cinnamon swirled is a full-grown dragon doing here in Equestria?"
After the surprise that Twilight said to the entirety of the town, her, alongside her friends, went back to the Golden Oaks Library to discuss the situation.
"Sleeping." Twilight answered.
"Huh?"
"According to Princess Celestia, he's taking a nap. His snoring is what's causing all this smoke." Twilight explained.
"He should really see a doctor. That doesn't sound healthy at all." Pinkie said.
"Well, at least he's not snoring fire." Rarity added, spooking everyone a slight bit. "What are we meant to do about it?"
"I'll tell you what we're meant to do. Give him the boot." Rainbow said as she began to fly around. "Take that." Rainbow kicked a wooden horse head as Twilight kept it steady. "And that!" She tried to ram the head, but Twilight levitated it out of the way, causing her to slam into the wall, causing books to fall onto her.
"Um, Rainbow, I don't think that's wise." Xavier said as he went over to Rainbow's impact zone. "From what I can guess, this dragon will probably not be like a manticore, so fighting is probably not an option."
"Says you! You've drawn your sword multiple times." Rainbow said as she struggled around in hopes to get up.
"That's because it was either self defense or to protect you girls. Attacking something without warning usually makes things worse."
"Xavier's right Rainbow." Twilight said. "We need to encourage him to take a nap somewhere else. Princess Celestia has given us this mission, and we must not fail. If we do, Equestria will be covered in smoke for the next 100 years!" This got a small gasp from Fluttershy and a shocked expression from Xavier.
"W-Wait, 100 years?!"
"Talk about getting your beauty sleep." Rarity added.
"Alright everypony, I need you to gather supplies quickly. We've got a long journey ahead of us. Let's meet back here in less than an hour." Twilight said as she put a saddle bag on her.
"Okay, girls, you heard her. The fate of Equestria is in our hooves. Do we have what it takes?" Rainbow asked to get the group psyched. Three of the girls voiced their agreements as they left the library, but Fluttershy seemed scared. Xavier noticed this and went over to her.
"Hey, Fluttershy?" Fluttershy shrieked as she turned to him, calming down when she realized it was Xavier. "Are you okay? You seem more... scared then usual."
"I-I'm o-okay Xavier." Fluttershy said. "I-I need to g-go." Fluttershy skittered off, getting a worried expression from Xavier as he went to get ready, mostly to see if his new invention was truly ready.
In a little bit, the group returned with supplies to climb the mountain and a little more. Twilight then came to the front and began to speak.
"Alright everypony..." Twilight said, gained the group's attention. "I'm mapping out the quickest route, but we've all gotta keep a good pace if we expect to make it up the mountain by nightfall."
"M-m-mountain?" Fluttershy asked fearfully.
"Yes, the dragon is in that cave at the very top." The group looked to where Twilight pointed, to which Xavier pulled out a metallic handheld telescope he bought earlier in the week and aimed it over to to the mountain.
"I think I see the cave that she's talking about." Xavier said as he looked. "Hmm, by my calculations, I would say it's at least a mile up the mountain"
"Looks and sounds pretty cold up there." Applejack said after Xavier observed.
"You bet it is. The higher you go, the chillier it gets." Rainbow replied.
"She's right. Up there there's less air too, so breath may be a bit short." Xavier said as he put his telescope away.
"Well then, it's a good thing I brought my scarf." Rarity said as she pulled a two toned scarf out and put it on her, posing with it, getting mixed reactions. While everyone was looking at Rarity's scarf, Fluttershy looked at the mountain with fear. She then began to walk to Twilight, to which Xavier noticed and listened in.
"Um, Twilight? I realize you're busy but-"
"Uh-huh, well we could go this way." Twilight said, only half listening to Fluttershy.
"But if I could just have a second..."
"Uh-huh. No, we want to avoid that." Twilight said, still only somewhat listening to Fluttershy
"So, um, I was thinking that, um..." Fluttershy hesitate for a second until she spoke again. "Maybe...I should just stay here in Ponyville."
"Uh-huh." Twilight muttered until she realized on what she'd just heard. "Wait!" She ran over to Fluttershy, who had just been in the process of leaving. "You have to come! Your way with wild animals will surely come in handy!" Twilight said.
"B-but I don't think I-"
"Oh and don't worry about your little friends in the meadow. Spike's got it all covered while you're gone." Twilight said cutting Fluttershy off again. looking at Spike, he was seen holding some of Fluttershy's animals.
"You can count on me!" Spike said confidently, though Angel pounded his head, causing him to drop the animals. "Oooh! Hey! Hey! Wait!"
As Spike left to get the animals back, Fluttershy began to feel afraid again. "I-I'm not really sure he's quite up to the task. Maybe-" Unfortunately, Twilight wasn't listening as she walked away, ignoring her pleads. Seeing her fear, Xavier went over to her.
"Hey Fluttershy." This got another shriek from her as she turned to him. "Don't worry about this too much. Remember, you have all of us accompanying you up this mountain, so don't be afraid to ask for help."
"O-okay..." Fluttershy said as she looked down. She then saw her shadow and jumped into Xavier's arms, getting a exasperated look out of him.
"This may be harder then I thought." Xavier thought to himself as he brought Fluttershy back to the group.
A little while after Fluttershy's ordeal, the group moved onto the mountain. As they got closer, they soon heard a loud noise, confirmed by Twilight to be the dragon snoring. When the group arrived, a few were intimidated by the mountain, mostly Fluttershy.
"I-it's so...high!" Fluttershy spoke in fear.
"Well, it is a mountain. I'm going to fly up there and check it out!" Rainbow said as she tried to go ahead until Applejack grabbed her tail.
"Hold on, now. I think we should all go up together. Safety in numbers and all." Applejack said.
"Oh alright..." Rainbow groaned. She then looked at Xavier who looked to be sizing up the mountain. "Hey engie! You worried that you can't climb?" She said cheekily
"Don't call me that Rainbow." Xavier said as he turned to her. "And no, not really, cause I just built myself something that will be useful." He said as he looked into the backpack he brought. This got the entire group curious.
"You did?!" Pinkie said excitedly. "Oh, what is it?! Metal wings, spring shoes, ROCKETS?!?!"
Xavier then found what he was looking for. As he pulled it out, the girls looked at it in confusion. What he pulled out looked like a flintlock pistol, though there were differences. There a bunch of screws and rivets across the patchwork of metal and wood that it was made of. The trigger was made out of a cut rod of metal and the ring around it was the same. The grip was covered in a fabric that, while looking soft, was pretty ugly. On the left of the thing was what appeared to be a gear with another metal rod welded onto the side looking like a crank. The entire thing looked crude and messy, and the girls had no idea what to think of it.
"Oh dear, what is that?" Twilight asked.
"Just watch." Xavier said as he turned to the cliff. Pointing the thing up, he aimed it at a branch outcropping from the cliff near a flat area, and pulled the trigger. When he did, a odd shaped metal rod came out, followed by a rope. A moment after the metal rod came out, three prongs extended from the bottom to the top. The metal rod then wrapped around the branch Xavier was aiming at, giving Xavier a rope to climb the cliff with. Seeing it, the girls were impressed at the display. "Heh, thanks girls. Glad this bad boy worked for me."
"Yes, but did you have to make it so... ugly?" Rarity said.
"Hey, I make my gear with functionality in mind, not fashion in mind." Xavier said as he began to climb his rope, with the others following along.
Climbing up the mountain, the group was in good time to reach the top.
"I hear the only thing that sparkles more than a dragon's scales are the jewels they use to build their nests." Rarity said, breaking the silence.
"Huh, they do that here too?" Xavier asked, keeping focus on his rope.
"Why yes, they do. Ooo, if I play my cards right, I might be able to convince him to part with a few!" Rarity said in excitement.
"Welcome to my cave, Rarity. Care for a diamond?" Pinkie "Roared", imitating the dragon, getting the group to laugh.
"Girls! This is no laughing matter!" Twilight exclaimed.
"Hey Twilight," Xavier started. "I know that this is no laughing matter, but keeping our spirits up is an important thing to do."
"Guh, alright, I'll let it slide for now." Twilight sighed. "Fluttershy, you're the expert on wild creatures. What do you think the dragon will be like?" It took a few moments to realize that Fluttershy was not only answering, she wasn't even there. "Fluttershy?" Looking down, the group saw her in a bush, cowering.
"Hey! What're you waiting for, an invitation?!" Rainbow asked, impatient and annoyed about not being at the top already.
"Ooo, I think I have one in my bag!" Pinkie said as she reached into her bag, causing confetti and balloons to come out, getting an annoyed look from Rainbow and a confused look from Xavier.
"It's-It's so...steep." Fluttershy said in fear.
"It is a cliff!" Rainbow said, clearly already done with Fluttershy's fears. "You could just, I dunno... fly up here already?"
"Yeah Flutters, You can do it." Xavier said calmly, confident in her.
"O-okay..." Fluttershy said softly as she began to flap her wings. She managed to get close to the group's level until the dragon's snoring rang out, scaring Fluttershy. This scare caused her wings to fold in and stop, causing her to fall back into the bush, earning a groan from Rainbow.
"Ugh, we don't have time for this." Twilight said, clearly tired of the setbacks as well. That's when Applejack took Twilight's map and looked it over. "What are you doing?"
"I'll need this if I'm going to take her around the mountain another way." Applejack replied, getting an even louder groan from Rainbow.
"Around the mountain? That's going to take forever!" Rainbow groaned as Applejack went down to Fluttershy when another loud snore roared out, causing Fluttershy to fall over in fear like a dog playing dead.
"Don't worry, Twi. We'll be there lickety-split." Applejack said as the others looked at the mountain, hoping that they would.
They weren't.
It took them at least an hour to get there, not helped by the fact that Applejack was forced to drag a still paralyzed Fluttershy. The time it took them to get up the mountain Pinkie and Rarity played 35 games of tic-tac-toe and Xavier was able to give a rundown of his new grappling hook to Twilight, showing that the gear was to reel back in the rope and the grappling hook. With Applejack and Fluttershy rejoining the group, they continued up the mountain, stopping at a gap in the path. Without hesitation, Rainbow ran and jumped the gap, getting the others to follow along. The only ones that weren't across was Xavier and Fluttershy, the former about to jump and the latter behind him a good few feet.
"Come on Fluttershy, you can do it, watch." Xavier said as he jumped, landing on the other side. "See, if I can do it, you can too."
"B-b-but it's...so wide..." Fluttershy whimpered, getting a worried look from Xavier.
"Come on, Fluttershy, we should be much farther along by now." Twilight said trying to reason with her to no avail.
"You could just leap on over." Applejack encouraged.
Fluttershy looked at the group. "I-"
Suddenly, the snoring of the dragon rang out again, shaking Fluttershy's will again as she fell into a fettle position. "I don't know."
The entire group had mixed reactions, ranging from worry to annoyance. The one that wasn't a bad reaction was Pinkie. "There's nothing to be afraid of!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she jumped back over to Fluttershy. "It's just a hop, skip and a jump. See?" With that, Pinkie began to sing to her. "It's not very far. Just move your little rump. You can make it if you try with a hop, skip and jump!"
"We don't have time for-" Twilight was about to tell Pinkie that this was a bad idea, but Xavier stopped her.
"No, I think this is a good idea, look." As Pinkie was singing and hopping over the gap over and over again, Fluttershy looked a bit more confident as she got up from her fettle position.
"O-okay. Here I go. A hop." Fluttershy said as she started to hop..
Applejack, Twilight, and Xavier began to encourage her.
"That's it."
"You've got it."
"Almost there."
"You got this Fluttershy!"
"A skip." Fluttershy skipped, beginning to come closer.
"Just don't look down." Twilight added, causing Xavier to widen his eyes at her.
"Twilight! Don't!" Xavier said as Twilight looked at hem confused. That's when she heard a yelp and looked back over, seeing Fluttershy on the gap, with her hooves on each side, getting yet another groan from Rainbow Dash as she reluctantly went over to get her. "Because if you tell someone to do something, they will do it..." Xavier said with minimal enthusiasm. That's when the two pegasi came back over and Fluttershy spoke.
"I guess I forgot to jump."
After the jumping ordeal, the seven continued up the mountain. They soon managed to get to a wider area that resonated a bad feeling to some. That bad feeling only grew bigger when Twilight didn't talk, but whispered a warning.
"Let's keep it down. According to the map, we're in an avalanche zone. The slightest peep could set off a rockslide!"
Hearing her, Fluttershy began to shutter. "An ava- ava-" She stopped when a pair of fingers clamped over her mouth as Xavier looked at her with a calm yet worried look. Getting the message, she quitted down and followed the group. The walk was practically mute, with the only sound that could be heard was the very quiet tapping of hooves. It wasn't until Rainbow flew under an outcropping branch and caused a few leaves to fall out. And as luck would have it, one of those leaves happen to fall onto Fluttershy's back.
"AVALA-"
Fluttershy scream was quieted by Applejack stuffing her hoof into Fluttershy's mouth. The entire group held their breaths, worried that Fluttershy's outburst caused enough of a reaction. After a few moments of silence, they relaxed and sighed, happy that nothing happened... only for a rumbling to be heard above them. They soon realized that an avalanche was happening and they scrambled, running everywhere in hopes of not being squished. As Xavier was running, he saw that Twilight was being cut off by a multitude of boulders, all leading her to a massive one. Instinctively, Xavier grabbed his grappling hook and aimed it at Twilight's saddlebag and shot. The hook managed to lock onto the strap and Xavier pulled with all his might, causing Twilight to fly backwards, seconds before the massive one landed. After a short while, the only thing still in the air was clouds of dust stirred up by the boulders' impacts. Seeing that things finally calmed down, the team regrouped.
"Is everypony okay?" Applejack asked.
"I think so..." Xavier said, slightly out of breath.
"Ugh!" Rarity said as she shook herself of dust that stuck to her.
"Yay! Let's do it again!" Pinkie exclaimed as she bounced around happily.
"Pinkie!" Xavier exclaimed. "How was that fun?!"
"Can we ask questions later?" Rainbow said rather angerly. "We have a problem." Looking at what she was referencing, they saw that the avalanche caused a large pile of debris to form in their path.
"I'm sorry." Fluttershy whimpering in sadness.
"It's alright Sugarcube, we'll just have to climb it over." Applejack said, trying comforting Fluttershy. The group began the laborious task of climbing the mound of debris. During the climb, Fluttershy was getting stink eyes from Rainbow and curious worry from Xavier. On the way down the mound, Fluttershy slipped on a loose rock, causing her to slide into Rarity and Pinkie, with Xavier running down to help them up.
"Not your fault." Rainbow said, glaring at Fluttershy who shied away as the group continued. Rainbow flew up closer to Twilight as she began to speak to her. "Still think bringing her was a good idea?"
"We're about to find out. We're here." Rainbow was confused for the first part until she looked up and saw that they arrived at the cave, seeing smoke coming out of the large opening. As the group caught up, Twilight began to set the plan up. "Rainbow, you'll use your wings to clear the smoke."
"On it!" Rainbow said as she flew up closer to the smoke.
"Rarity. You, Xavier and Pinkie Pie, you'll create a diversion to distract the dragon if things get a little hairy in there." Rarity,
Xavier, and Pinkie nodded. Pinkie then ran of and started shaking around a rubber chicken, getting Rarity, Twilight, and Xavier to look at her in confusion. Twilight shook off her confusion and looked towards Applejack. "Applejack, you're ready with the apples in case he decides to attack." Applejack then took out two apples and threw them up, kicking them on the way down, shooting them into a tree. "Now, it shouldn't come to that, because Fluttershy will do what she needs to do to wake him up, and between the two of us, we should be able to get him to understand why he needs to go. Is everypony ready?" The group nodded as Twilight went to the cave. A few seconds later, she came back out, clearly irritated. "Okay, where is Fluttershy now?" She looked around and saw that she was standing a bit away with her head in the ground. Twilight then went over to her and began to push her. "Come on! - We have to do this! - Now! Every - second longer that dragon - sleeps is another - acre of Equestria that is covered in - smoke." As Twilight was pushing her, the other girls began to join in, with Xavier on the sidelines putting things together.
"I-I-I can't go in the cave." Fluttershy finally admitted, getting exasperated groans from the others.
"Great, now she's afraid of caves." Rainbow said annoyed.
"I don't think so." Xavier said as he approached. "I think something else is scaring her more then the cave, or even the mountain we're on right now." The group looked at him confused until Fluttershy spoke up.
"H-he's right." The girls looked at her even more confused. "I-I-I'm a-afraid of..." Fluttershy tried to speak, but her fears got the best of her again. The girls looked at her expectantly until Xavier came up.
"I think I know what she's afraid of. And I think I can say it, id Fluttershy is okay with it." Fluttershy nodded, allowing him to speak. "I believe that she's afraid of the dragon we are about to face." At that moment, the dragon snored, sending a large plume of smoke out, enveloping the group. When the smoke cleared, they saw Fluttershy hiding behind Xavier.
"But Fluttershy, you have a wonderful talent dealing with all kinds of animals!" Twilight reminded her.
"Yes, because they're not dragons." Fluttershy replied.
"Oh come on! What about the time you walked right up to that manticore? It didn't seem like you were scared at all!" Rainbow "encouraged".
"Yes, because he wasn't a dragon." Fluttershy said.
"Spike's a dragon. You're not scared of him." Pinkie said.
"I think that you girls are forgetting that this dragon is probably a great deal bigger then spike and the manticore, and is most likely not a 'wild' animal. Most likely a more sentient being." Xavier said on Fluttershy's behalf.
"But if you're so afraid of dragons, why didn't you say something before we came all the way up here?" Twilight asked, clearly confused to the reason why she climbed the journey up to learn about this now.
"Because she was afraid to tell you girls." Xavier said sternly. "I believe that she never told you in fear of disappointing you girls and me, and you all doubting her and yelling at her." He glared at Rainbow, who didn't look phased, but the other's looked guilty as Applejack approached.
"Fluttershy, I can understand if you're scared, I mean we're all scared of that dragon too!"
"I'm not!" Rainbow said, receiving a rock to the head from Xavier.
"Almost all of us are scared of that dragon, but we've got a job to do. So, get in there with Twilight and show her what you're made of." The entire group (Except Dash) looked at her encouragingly. Fluttershy looked at all of them, but her feelings weren't there.
""I-I-.....I'm sorry, I just can't...." Fluttershy stammered as she began to leave, sheading some tears.
"Fluttershy" Xavier said with worry as he began to follow her.
"Xavier?" He turned to see Twilight and the others looking at him. "Where are you going? We need you."
"Well, Fluttershy need me too, so I'm going to help her." Xavier responded as he went off to find her. After a bit of searching, he found her behind a rock nearby. "Fluttershy?" She raised her head slightly, not looking Xavier in the eyes. "What's wrong, Fluttershy?" Raising her head, she spoke.
"I'm sorry. I caused so many interruptions without helping you in the end, I'm sorry. I just wish I was as brave as you or the others..." Fluttershy began to cry, as Xavier looked at her with a sympathetic look.
"I think you have bravery mixed up." Fluttershy's crying lessened as she looked at Xavier as he began to come to her level. "Bravery isn't being fearless, it's being able to continue forward despite your fears. Just because you're afraid, doesn't mean you are a detriment to us. Everyone has a fear, and everyone can face them differently. Just try to stay calm and believe in yourself, and you can be as brave as the rest of the girls, maybe even braver." Xavier smiled at Fluttershy, who looked at him a bit down, but not as down as before.
"Alright, that's it!" Xavier's face went from comforting to surprised as he looked from behind the rock to see rainbow looking ready to fight. "We tried persuasion, charm...whatever it is Pinkie does – It’s time to stop wasting time, I’m going in!" Rainbow then flew into the cave ready to fight.
"Rainbow, what are you doing?!?!" Xavier said as he came out from behind the rock. As he was coming out, he heard a very loud crack from within the cave, prompting a very worrying silence. After a tense second, a very load roar came out of the cave, followed by a out of control Rainbow Dash as she flew into the girls as Xavier looked from the sidelines. Shaking off their daze, the group heard very loud footsteps approaching, causing the girls to scatter. When the footsteps were revealed to be the dragon's, Xavier was incredibly intimidated by what he saw. He was expecting a big beast, but not anything bigger then the Ursa Minor before. The beast was a great deal bigger then the Minor, covered in red scales and very angry, The dragon looked over at the girls, who were huddled up in fear, and took a deep breath and breathed a powerful stream of smoke at them, blowing them into the rock that Fluttershy was hiding behind with so much force, it caused the rock to break. The dragon then noticed Xavier, and decided to go for him next. When Fluttershy looked up, she saw that not only were her pony friends hurt by her, but she saw that the dragon was slowly crawling to Xavier, who was backing away in fear of injury. At that moment, something snapped in her as she spoke.
"How dare you." The dragon turned to her, looking less then impressed or intimidated by her. "How DARE you!" Fluttershy then darted strait up to the dragon's snout and stood on it as she looked it directly in the eye. "Listen here, mister. Just because you're big doesn't mean you get to be a bully! You may have huge teeth, and sharp scales, and snore smoke, and breathe fire. But you do not—I repeat—you do not! Hurt! My! Friends!" As she spoke, the rest of the group was in awe at Fluttershy's actions, especially since the dragon cowered a bit once she was finished. "You got that?" The dragon's head shrank in farther. "Well?"
"But that rainbow one kicked me..." The dragon said, truing to reason with her. The group of course looked at the mare in question who had a sheepish look on her face.
"And I'm very sorry about that." Fluttershy replied, showing a bit of her softer side, but not letting up. "But you're bigger than her, and you should know better! You should also know better than to take a nap where your snoring can become a health hazard to other creatures."
"But I-"
"Don't you 'but I' me, mister." Fluttershy said, cutting off the dragon. "Now what do you have to say for yourself?" The dragon had no idea what to do, obviously scared and confused at being scolded by something smaller then it by a large margin. "I said...what do you have to say for yourself?!" The dragon finally broke, beginning to cry so much that it was like rain to the group. "There, there, no need to cry." Fluttershy said soothingly, rubbing his snout. "You're not a bad dragon, you just made a bad decision. Now go pack your things, you just need to find a different place to sleep, that's all." Fluttershy then descended back down to the ground, immediately getting surrounded by her friends.
"Fluttershy!" Fluttershy turned to see Xavier running up to her. "That was incredible! I knew you could be just as brave as the rest of us." Fluttershy then blushed at the compliment and smiled at the group. The group then heard a loud wingbeat as they looked to see the dragon flying away with a large sack. Seeing that their mission was over, the team headed home.
When the group got back to Ponyville, Xavier broke off from the rest, saying that he was exhausted from the day and decided to hang it up for the day. Once he got back home, he sat at his desk and took out his grappling hook and smiled.
"Heh, I'd say that today was a successful experiment." Xavier said with pride. "I really outdone myself today. If only-" Xavier then paused and his expression became more pained and hopeless. "If only you were here to see it." Reaching for his neck, he gripped tightly to the bandana around his neck and let a tear fall. "If only you ere here in general, you would have loved it here..." He then reached into his pocket and pulled out what appeared to be a picture. "If only..."