My Little Pony Friendship is Magic What If?: Volume 13

by SuperPinkBrony12


S1 E7: Dragonshy (What If?)

As far as anypony in Ponyville was concerned, today was just another typical day in the quiet little town. A day of no particular importance or significance.

Perhaps if anypony had bothered to look up they might have realized that this perception was wrong. But nopony was, and so everypony went about their daily lives as usual.

Only Fluttershy knew better, only Fluttershy knew that something was wrong! The pegasus mare was frightened with quite a rightful fright. She now was trying desperately to bring attention to what she'd seen, a task made difficult by her timid nature. "Help!" She desperately called in her best speaking tone (which unfortunately was barely more audible than a whisper). "Please, somepony! There's... there's a really horrible cloud of smoke. It's headed this way and-" But she was soon cut off by the sight of Rainbow Dash bouncing a big red ball with white polka dots.

Rainbow hadn't heard a word her friend had said, so she assumed Fluttershy was just reacting to the sudden appearance of the brash mare. "Aw, come on, Fluttershy. No need to be a scaredy pony," She insisted while balancing the ball on her nose. "It's just me, Rainbow Dash, the soon to be all new Equestria ball-bouncing record holder." And she went about counting the number of bounces she was performing.

And Pinkie Pie (who was watching the ball bouncing) was excitedly declaring! "Ooh! A new record like this calls for a celebration!"

Fluttershy tried to speak up in protest, only slightly raising her voice's overall tone as she whimpered. "Pinkie Pie, this isn't a time for celebrating. This is a time for panicing! If we don't do something about that cloud of smoke soon we'll..."

But Pinkie had already set her mind fully on celebrating and so she didn't hear Fluttershy's comments. "I'm gonna need a lot of balloons!" She declared aloud! "One for everypony in Ponyville!" Then she started counting aloud while pointing hooves to various ponies that caught her wandering eyes. "Let's see: That's gonna be one, two, three, four, five, six, seven..."

Unfortunately for Rainbow Dash, hearing Pinkie list off the numbers in such close proximity caused her to lose track of her own count of how many times she'd bounced the ball. "Three hundred fifty five... wait, no, that's not right," She suddenly realized and groaned. "Pinkie Pie, you messed me up! Now I'm gonna have to start all over again."

"Oops, sorry." The pink party pony apologized.

The shy pegasus mare whimpered as she tried to speak up in protest. "At this rate we're all going to have start over. Start over in a new village or something, because our village is gonna be..."

But Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were too busy with their own objectives to pay any attention to their friend (who they could barely even hear).

For Fluttershy, it was a very frustrating experience that made her want to scream! But all she could do was let out a small sigh and a groan. "Oh, this is an emergency! Why won't anypony listen to me?" She complained, mostly to herself. "I just need everypony to..."

Yet at that moment, who should interrupt the peace and quiet but Mayor Mare herself? She seemed to look a bit concerned. Well, more concerned than she usually was since she always seemed to be concerned about something. But even so, all of Ponyville knew that when the mayor was showing up in public that usually meant there was an important announcement soon to follow. And this would be no exception. "Citizens of Ponyville, may I have your attention please?"

Everypony stopped what they had been doing to look at the mayor.

"Thank you for your cooperation," Mayor Mare smiled as she adjusted her glasses and cleared her throat. "By now I'm sure you've all noticed the thick black smoke that's been pouring in from above," Yet it was her very announcement that served to finally get ponies to look up to the sky and notice what previously only Fluttershy had known. Smoke was indeed coming from above, and ponies quickly became alarmed. Fortunately, Mayor Mare moved to calm them down. "I just want to assure you all that there is no reason to panic. The smoke isn't coming from a fire."

"Oh thank goodness." A random pony in the crowd declared as everypony breathed a sigh of relief.

Mayor Mare nodded as she then gestured a hoof to a unicorn standing behind her. "Twilight Sparkle has been in contact with Princess Celestia, who has received word of the true cause of the smoke. I'll let her explain everything."

Twilight promptly stepped forward. "Thank you, Mayor Mare," And she proceeded to speak. "You heard right, everypony. The smoke is not coming from a fire. It's coming from a slumbering dragon. Rest assured, this matter will quickly be dealt with. Ponyville will not be covered with smoke for much longer."

Some ponies cheered at the news but others gasped, and Fluttershy was among the ones who did so. "A... d-dragon?" She stuttered, briefly wondering if Twilight had misspoke. But deep down she knew that was impossible. A dragon was responsible for the smoke, and that was not a good sign at all.

Fluttershy already had reason to be worried when she had seen the smoke and thought it was coming from a fire. But this was worse, a living, breathing dragon was the cause of the problem. And for the shy pegasus, that was going to force her to come to terms with something that she had gone to great lengths to ignore.

Several ponies blinked in confusion. They now knew what the source of this newly discovered problem was, but why it was happening was still a mystery to them. One even asked quite bluntly. "Why would a dragon be doing this? We haven't done anything to it."

Twilight simply answered in a matter of fact tone. "Princess Celestia has told me that it's sleeping. And when a dragon sleeps it sometimes snores. And when it snores it can send out smoke, which is what's happening now." She then turned to Mayor Mare.

Mayor Mare was all too happy to take over explaining everything. "As I said earlier, this will not be a problem for very long. Princess Celestia has already got some very capable ponies working on the issue, and several pegasi have been dispatched to try and disperse the smoke so that it won't cover the entire town. Still, for everypony's safety I advise you all to stay indoors until further notice. This inconvenience shall soon pass."

Twilight then declared. "Indeed it will, Mayor Mare. There are five very special ponies I want to see at the Golden Oak Library very soon. I will explain everything to them there." And with that she departed.

It didn't take a genius for even the likes of Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie to figure out who Twilight had been referring to when she mentioned "Five very special ponies". "Come on, everypony!" Rainbow Dash spoke up! "Twilight need us, and we're not gonna let her or the princess down!"

"I just hope she can explain why in the name of all things cinnamon swirled she needs us," Applejack pondered. "Takin' on a full scale dragon doesn't sound like somethin' we're suited for."

Rarity, however, merely retorted. "It must be a direct order from Princess Celestia herself. The princess clearly thinks quite highly of us after our little adventure in the Everfree Forest. I just can't believe we didn't notice that huge cloud of smoke before."

With narrowed eyes, Fluttershy protested. "I noticed."

"You did?" Pinkie Pie blinked in what seemed like sincere surprise of the announcement. "Well why didn't you just say something?"

Fluttershy sighed as she explained. "I tried to but nopony would listen."

Rainbow Dash only growled. "Well speak up next time if it's important!" And then she inquired. "But just how in the hay did you find out about something before any of us?"

The animal loving pegasus began to explain. "Well, it all started a little while ago when I was feeding my animal friends." And she began to think back to that time, the memory still fresh in her mind.


It was lunch time at the cottage Fluttershy called home, and that meant it was time for her to feed all of the animals that she was responsible for taking care of. A task that was accomplished without much fuss as she flew all around her cottage, delivering meals to animals from all walks of life.

Only once she was finished with the other animals did the animal loving pegasus opt to check in on her pet bunny, Angel. She had given him a carrot to eat and was now checking in to see how much progress he was making. She quickly became concerned when she how fast her pet was trying to scarf down the carrot. "Not too fast now, Angel Bunny. You don't wanna get a tummy ache, now do you?" She asked him.

Angel seemed to pay his master's plea little attention as he just went on eating the carrot super fast for a couple of seconds. But then suddenly he stopped for what seemed to be no good reason.

"Oh Angel, you really should eat more than that." Fluttershy tried to encourage, trying not to sound annoyed or upset at how picky an eater he was being.

Angel didn't care, he just set the carrot down and tried to run away. Or at least, that's what it seemed like he was doing as far as Fluttershy was concerned. "It's not play time yet," She told him and tried to gently coax him into finishing his carrot. "I know you probably wanna run off right now, but... just three more bites, please?" Her pet only shook his head in reply. "Two more bites?" She tried to bargain only to receive another shake of the head. "One more bite? Pretty please?" Still, she got nothing for her efforts and so she sighed in defeat.

But then all of a sudden, the little bunny began to cough. It was a faint cough but it was a cough none the less. And the cough made his master very worried. "Oh my goodness, are you okay?!" She frantically inquired of him.

Angel didn't give an answer, he just kept on coughing and this time it was a tad bit more audible. That prompted Fluttershy to try her best to figure out what was wrong with him. "Are you coughing because you have a piece of carrot stuck in your throat?" She asked, only to get another cough in reply. "Because you need some water?" She tried to guess.

Seemingly growing impatient with his pegasus master, Angel proceeded to cough loudly and direct her attention up to the sky.

That did the trick, Fluttershy looked up and very nearly dropped dead at what she saw! An ominous cloud of thick, black smoke that seemed to be spreading over the surrounding blue sky with alarming speed! Realization slowly settled in for the mare. "Because of that giant cloud of scary black smoke?" And her suspicions were proven correct but a second later when she was struck in the side of her face by the same carrot Angel had just been eating. "I'll take that as a yes."

And that had been what had led Fluttershy to come rushing into town to try to warn ponies about the smoke.


The flashback ended as Fluttershy found herself more or less being led along by her friends to the Golden Oak Library, where they knew Twilight would be waiting for them.

The studious unicorn seemed more than prepared when her five friends gathered at the library a short time later. "Good, you all came. I knew you would."

Rainbow Dash couldn't resist boasting! "Of course, Twilight! A chance to prove to the princess how awesome we really are? How could we say no?"

"This isn't about your ego, Rainbow Dash," Twilight quickly corrected the brash speedster. "I specifically asked Princess Celestia to let us handle this. She's very concerned about the dragon and about the smoke it's bringing. It hasn't just affected Ponyville, lots of cities all over Equestria have begun reporting problems due to the smoke. And it's only going to get worse if we don't do something about it."

Applejack immediately saw fit to question the nature of the summons and the task for which it had been given. "Not for nothin', sugarcube, but why us? Why not send in the royal guard to deal with it if we're talkin' about a dragon?"

Twilight immediately explained. "You must understand, the dragon isn't doing this on purpose. The dragon simply chose to take a nap, and its snoring is what's causing the smoke according to Princess Celestia."

"But Spike doesn't do that and he takes naps all the time." Fluttershy pondered.

"My snoring is nowhere near as loud or as powerful as that dragon's," Spike explained. "Full grown dragons can snore pretty loudly when they want to. The smoke is their way of keeping any would be enemies away while they sleep."

Pinkie Pie couldn't help but comment. "Then maybe that dragon should see a doctor, that doesn't sound healthy at all."

"Well since it's not being done on purpose, I convinced Princess Celestia to let us try and peacefully settle this problem," Twilight told the others. "Sending in the royal guard would be seen as an act of aggression. I mean, none of you would like it if the royal guards showed up and told you had to go somewhere else to nap, would you?"

"When you put it like that, I guess I can see why we'd be chosen," Applejack reluctantly agreed. "But just what exactly are we supposed to do about it? I mean, can't we just wait until that dragon's done with his nap?"

Twilight shook her head from side to side. "I'm afraid we can't do that. According to Princess Celestia, the dragon is taking a nap that will last a very long time. And even with the best efforts of the pegasi to disperse it, smoke will cover Equestria for a hundred years unless we can convince that dragon to go and nap somewhere else."

Fluttershy let out a gasp as Rarity could only roll her eyes and remark. "Talk about getting your beauty sleep."

"That's dragons for you," Spike pointed out. "And let me tell you, we don't take kindly to having our naps disturbed. So if I were you girls, I'd be careful about how you decide to wake that dragon up."

The studious unicorn then told her friends. "Princess Celestia was able to pinpoint the dragon's location due to all the reports of the smoke. It's resting in a cave at the top of a mountain just outside of Ponyville. We need to encourage that dragon politely to leave," She proceeded to give out an instruction. "You girls better get going and gather supplies quickly. We've got a long journey ahead of us and little time to spare. I want you all to meet me back here in less than an hour, and then I'll fill you all in on what we're going to do."

Rainbow Dash needed no incentive to spring into action! "We won't let you or Princess Celestia down, Twilight! Not with the fate of all of Equestria at stake!" And she quickly hovered over the rest of her friends. "So, do we have what it takes to save the day?" Three of her friends gave confirming nods of approval, but Fluttershy remained hesitant.

"Alright then, y'all!" Applejack declared to the others. "Let's go get our stuff. Bring anythin' you'll need to scale a mountain."

Rainbow eagerly agreed. "Now we're talking! This is gonna be fun!"

But Fluttershy nervously tried to protest. "Um, actually..." However, she couldn't get a word in edge wise before all of her friends were leaving to get suited up for the mission. "Oh, I was hoping it wouldn't come to this." She thought to herself as she stood in the library by the wooden carving of a horse.

Twilight blinked in surprise. "Fluttershy? What are you still doing here?"

"Um... well... I was just..." The shy pegasus stuttered as she tried to think of how to frame what she would say next as nicely as possible.

"If you're worried about Spike and your animal friends, you needn't be," The studious unicorn answered, suspecting that such was the problem. "Spike can look after the animals until we get back. Just leave him some instructions so he'll know what to do. And we shouldn't be gone for more than a few hours, maybe a day tops."

Fluttershy still stuttered. "Well... that's not what I... I mean..."

Twilight did her best not to sound annoyed by her friend's timid nature. "Come on, Fluttershy, out with it. We haven't got all day."

The pegasus mare let out a sigh, mentally cursing herself for her shyness and how it was making this ten times more difficult than it needed to be. "I was just wondering if..." She briefly paused before deciding to come right out and say what she wanted to say. "Would it be possible if I maybe... didn't go with you and the others?"

Spike immediately folded his arms across his chest as he snorted. "If you think I can't manage your animal friends for a while, you're mistaken. They can't be that hard to deal with. Well, aside from maybe Angel but I'm sure I'll find a way to keep him from acting up."

"Oh no, it's not that," Fluttershy immediately protested. "It's just... do all of us really have to go up that mountain and confront that dragon? I don't think there's much I could do."

But the studious unicorn only laughed. "Don't be silly, Fluttershy. You're a very big part of this mission. In fact, you're probably the most vital to its success. You're part of the reason why I convinced Princess Celestia to let us handle this instead of the royal guard."

At that the animal loving pegasus felt a knot suddenly form in her stomach. She very nearly flinched upon hearing those words. "I am? Really?"

A sincere nod came from the unicorn. "Yes, really, Fluttershy," But she then proceeded to ask. "Or, is something wrong?"

Fluttershy was quick to back away while she not so subtly stammered. "Oh... n-n-no, nothing's wrong. It's... nothing. Forget I said anything," And before Twilight or Spike could say or do anything else, she quickly turned around as she declared. "I'd... better get going now! Got to get busy gearing up like you told me to! Uh... toodles!" Then she took off, slamming the library door quite audibly as she did so.

"Just what was up with that?" Spike pondered. "Fluttershy wasn't this anxious on your last adventure, was she?"

Twilight shook her head in reply. "She most certainly wasn't, and that was when we had to worry about eternal nighttime. Something must be up, I just wish I knew what. I'm not a mind reader."

The little dragon questioned. "You sure you couldn't just look up a spell to make you one?"

"I'd rather not," Twilight protested. "Besides, there's no time for that. I'm sure that if it were something really important, Fluttershy would've told me. She's probably just a little nervous about being away from her animal friends for so long is all. Now come on, you're gonna help me get ready."

Meanwhile, Fluttershy was thinking to herself. "That was too close! I can't let fear overtake me, not with everypony counting on me!" And so she reluctantly made her way back to her cottage to get ready, even though she knew that going along on this adventure would mean having to come face to face with a big, scary dragon.


So it was that five of the six mares who were about to embark on only their second adventure together (and their first since officially becoming friends) eagerly set to work on getting properly dressed and loaded up for the journey ahead of them. Twilight already seeing fit to have Spike "assist" her by bringing her whatever books and other supplies she asked for, stuffing them into her saddlebags until it looked as if they could hold nothing more.

Rainbow Dash knew she didn't need to pack much, she was already prepared as it was. But she still took some time to make a quick detour to Cloudsdale and dip her front hooves into a rainbow colored puddle. She promptly splashed some of the puddle's liquid contents across her face, giving her a bit of a makeover as she let out a cry.

Applejack had her whole family pitch in to pack not just apples but also her lasso and some other rodeo based "necessities". All that weighed her saddlebags down heavily, to the point where even Big Macintosh found them hard to lift. But lift them he did, placing them squarely on Applejack's back. And once she'd adjusted to the extra weight, she let out a mighty "Yeehaw!" and kicked her back legs.

Pinkie Pie zoomed all about her room at Sugarcube Corner, not even bothering to say a word to the Cakes as she grabbed some spare party supplies and threw them into her saddlebags without a second thought. Upon leaving the bakery though, some of the supplies spilled out and caused a mess. Pinkie briefly giggled at this sight before realizing that the situation probably called for a bit more seriousness, and so she corrected herself. "Oh, I mean 'grrr!'"

Rarity needed surprisingly little time to get ready, soon she had everything she was sure she would need. But when she strolled past a mirror in her boutique, she noticed the rather tacky green colored helmet she was wearing. It clashed horribly with her mane and tail, not to mention her pristine white coat. So she discarded it and went to fetch a much more suitable (and more important not clashing) pink hat. "Much better," She said to herself. "Onward!"

Fluttershy, for her part, decided to get all dressed up in protective sporting equipment that included a helmet, an umpire's chest covering and shoulder pads. She knew they probably wouldn't be of much help against a dragon, but any protection was better than no protection at all. At least, that's what she told herself in her head.

Just like that, everypony was ready for action whether they wanted to be or not. And soon, all had gathered outside of the library as Twilight pulled out a map, holding it aloft in the light purple glow of her magic. "Okay, girls. Listen up," She instructed before gesturing to the map. "I already went and mapped out the fastest root possible up the mountain, but we're gonna have to keep a good pace if we don't wanna have to spend a night camping out."

"I thought you said it wouldn't take more than a few hours." Applejack questioned as she arched an eyebrow upward in suspicion.

"It really shouldn't, but there's a possibility we could run into danger or our route unexpectedly changes," Twilight explained to Applejack. "And it'll be too dangerous for us to try and make our way up the mountain at night. So if nightfall comes and we're not at the top, we'll have to set up camp and start again in the morning. But it shouldn't have to come to that. If we all do our part, this will be over with soon."

Applejack and the other mares then eyed the mountain off in the distance, taking notice of what seemed to be a small cave at the very peak. "Boy, looks pretty tall to me. Might even be a tad nippy."

Rainbow Dash was quick to confirm. "You bet it is. The higher up you go, the colder it gets."

In response, Rarity declared. "Well it's a good thing I brought my scarf, then." And she promptly pulled out a lovely pink scarf that she tied around her neck.

"Ooh! Pretty. Pink is my absolute favorite color, you know." Pinkie Pie replied as her blue eyes were fascinated by the scarf.

But the rainbow maned pegasus only sarcastically quipped. "Oh yeah, that'll keep you nice and cozy, Rarity."

The fashionista simply swished her tail as she replied in an unconcerned tone of voice. "Please, you think I would pack a mere scarf for a mountain climbing adventure? Of course I came prepared with a full ensemble to match. And despite your rather rude remark, I'd be more than happy to let you 'borrow' it."

Rainbow instantly protested. "No thanks, I'm good. I'm used to working at high altitudes. A little cold won't stop me! Besides, I don't think the mountain's nearly that big."

"It's still gonna be quite a hike," Twilight commented, breaking up a potential fight before it could start. "So I suggest we stop talking and start moving. The longer we stand around here, the longer this is gonna take."

However, just as the group was getting ready to head out, Rainbow Dash took notice of something. Or rather someone. "Fluttershy?" She questioned, as though shocked that her fellow pegasus would be coming along on such an adventure. "Why are you here again? We both know sometimes you can even be afraid of your own shadow."

"I am not!" Fluttershy protested even though she was visibly shaking.

Rainbow sighed, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. "Come on, we both know what's going on here. You don't have to do this. We'll be just fine without you."

Fluttershy shook her head. "Twilight says I'm especially important to this mission. And if she believes that I'm going to trust her."

"As opposed to trusting yourself?!" The brash speedster complained. "Please, just back out already. Twilight will understand. If you tag along, you're just gonna slow us down and everypony's gonna wonder why. It's none of their business knowing about the things you'd rather keep to yourself."

The shy pegasus firmly insisted. "I'm not gonna slow anypony down!" Though under her breath she added. "I hope, maybe."

Twilight couldn't help but overhear the conversation between the two pegasi and immediately sought to inquire. "Is there something I should know about? I don't want any arguments or distractions, we're wasting time already."

"Go on, Fluttershy!" Rainbow firmly encouraged! "Tell Twilight, she'll understand."

But Fluttershy replied. "There's nothing to tell, Rainbow Dash. If Twilight wants me to come along on this mission, then that's that. She's counting on me and by extension so is Princess Celestia. I'm not going to let either of them down!"

"Well, if it's nothing then I suggest you both drop it," Twilight remarked, coming across as a tad bit ruder than she probably intended. "So stop talking and let's get going already."

Reluctantly, the brash speedster said nothing more. But in the back of her mind she was thinking. "Why are you doing this, Fluttershy?! You don't have anything to prove!"


With any potential "arguments" settled for the time being, the six mares set off and began to make their way up the mountain. For "safety" reasons they traveled as a group rather than allow Rainbow Dash to fly up ahead of them.

As they were walking, Rarity couldn't help but comment. "I hear the only thing that sparkles more than a dragon's scales are the jewels they use to build their nests," And an idea soon came to her. "Ooh! Maybe if I'm lucky, I'll be able to convince that dragon to part with some of his less valuable ones. It would save me a lot of hassle having to go out and hunt for gems all the time."

Pinkie Pie then teased in a gruff tone of voice. "Hey, Rarity. Welcome to my cave. Care for a diamond? Well too bad, you can't have one!" And she proceeded to give off her best impression of a dragon roar, giggling in the process.

"Well it's not like that dragon will have a use for gems wherever it's going," The fashionista protested. "I just thought I could do it a favor and lighten its load. I for one would hate having to carry such valuables with me all the time. Far too easy for some no good ruffian to steal them all. At least with me they'd be put to good use."

Twilight was quick to scold her fashion friend for her seemingly short sighted and selfish ways. "Rarity, we're not doing this to get rich, and we're not doing this to be rude. This is a strictly diplomatic mission. It's no laughing matter either. This is serious, and we need to treat it as such," She then questioned. "Fluttershy, you're the animal expert here. I know dragons aren't quite the same as wild animals, but even so you must have some idea of how best to approach this situation. Any ideas?"

But when Twilight didn't get a reply, she turned around to see that Fluttershy had only just barely started up the mountain. And she was noticeably refusing to fly even though Rainbow Dash was doing so without trouble. "Fluttershy?" The studious unicorn inquired while looking back. "Everything okay?"

"Oh, s-sorry," Fluttershy blushed and apologized. "It's just... the mountain is so... tall."

"Well it is a mountain, you know," Rainbow Dash pointed out. "Last chance to change your mind. You sure you wanna do this?"

Fluttershy nodded her head. "I have to, Rainbow. I have to. I just... need a moment to prepare myself, that's all."

The brash speedster groaned. "Then what are you waiting for, an invitation?!"

"Ooh, I think I have one of those in my bag!" Pinkie Pie declared as she dug into her saddlebag. Sure enough, she managed to pull out an invitation as party blowers went off and a shower of confetti flew out from her bag, startling an unsuspecting Rainbow Dash!

"You can just fly up here, you know," Rainbow remarked. "Or should we just go on without you?"

Rarity couldn't help but question. "Just why are you being so hard on Fluttershy today, Rainbow Dash? So she's a bit slower than the rest of us, so what? This is a team effort."

"Yeah, and part of being a team means you gotta pull your weight!" The brash speedster insisted! "A chain's only as strong as its weakest link. And I don't want Fluttershy to be our weak link. If she's not gonna back out, the least she can do is summon up some of that courage she's trying to show," Then she called out. "So come on, Fluttershy! Let's see you flap those wings! Unless you're afraid."

Fluttershy immediately protested. "I'm not afraid! I'm not!" And she shut her eyes, straining herself as she furiously flapped her wings and slowly rose into the air.

Pinkie Pie was happy to encourage her pegasus friend. "That's it, Fluttershy! Keep 'em flapping! You're doing great!"

But at that very moment there came a mighty roar from further up the mountain. The noise echoed everywhere. And it was so loud and unexpected that it startled poor Fluttershy half to death! As if her body had a mind of its own, her wings suddenly locked up as she opened her eyes and fell to the ground with a thud despite her best efforts to gain altitude.

Applejack groaned as she impatiently rushed over to Twilight and snatched the map away from the unicorn!

"Hey, what are you doing?!" Twilight protested in shock and surprise!

The farm mare quickly explained while looking over the map. "We ain't got time for this stuff, Twilight. So I'm gonna need to borrow this in order to figure out another way to take Fluttershy 'round the mountain. You and the other girls go ahead, we'll meet up with you as soon as we can."

"But... the plan, this wasn't part of the plan!" Twilight remarked with concern!

Applejack only snorted in reply. "Well, plans change, Twilight. Now go on, get goin'! Don't you or anypony else worry 'bout Fluttershy or I." And without bothering to say another word, she made her way over to Fluttershy's location and grabbed the shaking pegasus by the tail.

Rainbow Dash could only frown in disapproval as she observed the whole scene. "You're not fooling anypony with that performance, Fluttershy," She thought to herself.


The group reluctantly split up after that, Twilight taking herself, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie a ways up the mountain before reaching what she felt was a suitable place to wait up for Applejack and Fluttershy. But the unicorn mare still impatiently paced the floor as the minutes seemed to tick by agonizingly slow.

Pinkie Pie and Rarity saw fit to pass the time by playing tic tic toe, drawing up new game boards from the dirt using a rock (or her nose in Pinkie's case). And Rainbow Dash, well she just hovered overheard. She kept one eye on the horizon to try and spot Applejack and Fluttershy, and another eye on the smoke that was still spreading fast over Ponyville. It was easy to see that the local pegasi were being quickly overwhelmed despite their best efforts.

The only thing that broke up the silence was Pinkie's excited declaration of victory! "Yes! I win again!" She happily shouted as she drew a line across her three circles.

Rarity could only groan. "I can't believe it. That's thirty five games in a row."

"I can't help it if I'm that good!" The pink party pony innocently insisted.

The fashionista reluctantly agreed. "So you say," And she quickly offered. "Best of seventy one, perhaps?"

But before Pinkie had a chance to take Rarity up on the offer, an exhausted Applejack finally came into view as she lugged a still mostly motionless Fluttershy behind her. "Well..." She panted. "We made it."

Twilight forced her not to frown. "So I can see. We'd better get moving then, we should've been much further along by now."

"You're the one who told Fluttershy she was so important to this mission," Rainbow thought to herself but didn't dare to say it out loud to Twilight. "If you knew Fluttershy like I did, Twilight, I wonder if you'd be so confident in her for this mission. This isn't like the manticore."

Despite the delay, the six mares set off again as if nothing was wrong. Twilight even said aloud. "I'm confident we can still make it up the mountain before nightfall if we hurry. But we're gonna have to adjust the route a bit and take some... shortcuts."

Fluttershy gulped anew. "I don't like the sound of that."

Twilight did her best to reassure her frightened friend (and perhaps also reassure the others). "They're not anything too dangerous. Just follow my lead and we'll be fine. In fact, we should be coming up on the first of these shortcuts right about... now!"

A small but noticeable gap between the edge of two cliff faces presented itself to the six ponies, five of which soon leapt across it with no trouble. But Fluttershy paused, she was not so easily convinced of the "shortcut". "It's so... wide." She nervously proclaimed.

Applejack tried to reassure her uncertain friend. "It ain't that wide, you can just leap on over like we did."

"I..." Fluttershy began only for another loud roar from further up the mountain to fill her with dread and uncertainty. "I don't know."

Quickly springing into action, Pinkie Pie jumped back across and reassured her frightened friend. "There's nothing to be afraid of, silly. It's just a hop, skip and a jump. Just do what I do and you'll be fine. Watch," She promptly demonstrated the three steps, jumping across the gap with the greatest of ease. "See? It's easy. I even made a song about it. So if I can do that, you can totally make it across. Try it!"

The shy pegasus reluctantly made her attempt. "O-okay, here goes." She repeated the steps aloud as she tried to mimic what she'd seen Pinkie Pie do. But she messed up a little on the "jump" and ended up getting stuck between the two ledges.


Despite the "setbacks" the group had endured up to this point, they were still making relatively decent progress (according to Twilight) as they continued to slowly make their way up the mountain. It was impossible to tell for sure how much time had passed, but it had to have been at least more than two hours given the position of the sun. But sunset still seemed to be a ways away.

However, time itself soon take a backseat to a more urgent development as the six ponies neared their next "shortcut". "We need to be very careful and very quiet," Twilight instructed to the others. "According to my map, we're passing through an avalanche zone. Even the smallest peep could set off a huge rock slide."

Applejack immediately questioned in a whisper. "Then why go through this zone at all? Why not just go around it?"

"I was going to originally, but then... well, you know what happened," Twilight answered as she looked briefly to Fluttershy, then back to Applejack. "I know it's dangerous but it's going to save us a lot of time. Let's just stay quiet and keep moving, okay?"

Reluctantly, Applejack and everypony else agreed. They walked slowly and quietly through the area, taking notice of the rocks up above that seemed to only just barely be held in place and looked ready to come tumbling down at any second.

Suddenly, Fluttershy felt something touching her backside (it was only a leaf but she didn't realize this fact). Frightened and fearing the worst, she forgot all about being quiet as she began to shout! "AVALA-!"

A horrified Applejack quickly rushed to stick her hoof in Fluttershy's mouth and for a brief moment nothing seemed to happen. The other mares breathed a sigh of relief, convinced they'd avoided the worst case scenario. But their relief turned out to be premature when they heard the telltale rumbling of rocks! "Avalanche!" They all screamed and took off running as fast as they could!

Fortunately for the frightened ponies, the whole ordeal was over with very quickly. All just barely managed to escape unharmed (though not without coughing up a storm due to the amount of dust that was stirred up). "Whoo-hoo! Let's do that again!" Pinkie Pie cheered!

But Rarity rolled her eyes. "Oh, let's not. That was far more excitement than I had in mind when I agreed to this."

"Sorry, everypony." Fluttershy apologized as she saw that their path forward was now blocked off by huge rocks.

"It's no big deal," Twilight tried to insist as she let out a sigh. "We'll just have to, climb over it I guess."

Applejack protested. "Told you we should've just gone another way. Would've been a whole lot safer."

"I'm trying to get us up to the top as quickly as possible!" Twilight complained. "I can't help it if there's unexpected snags. Planning this mission has proven to be harder than I expected. But I wanted us to be prepared instead of just winging it like we did with Nightmare Moon."

Rainbow Dash then declared in a blunt tone of voice. "That's not the problem, Twilight! The problem is Fluttershy! If not for her and her fear we'd probably already be at the top, dealing with that dragon by now."

The studious unicorn shook her head. "I already told Fluttershy that she's important to this mission. In fact, she's vital to its success. We can't do this without her. She had a chance to back out and she didn't take it. So instead of blaming her for being afraid, let's instead focus on getting over those rocks and up to the top of the mountain so can we do what we came all this way to do. So unless you wanna take your chances taking on that dragon all alone, I suggest you stop your grumbling and help those who can't fly climb over the rocks. We'll save a lot of time that way."

Rainbow reluctantly relented for the time being. "Fine. But I'm still gonna say this, you don't know Fluttershy like you think you do. If you did, you'd reconsider your entire plan."

"If you two are quite done with your bickering, can we please get a move on?" Rarity grumbled. "Haven't we wasted enough time already without these fruitless arguments?"

And with that, nopony bothered to say anything further on the subject of who was to blame for the delays in ascending the mountain. The focus instead went into climbing over the new obstruction as quickly (and safely) as possible.


When at last everypony had made it over the huge pile of rocks and down the other side, all that remained was to round a corner and reach the mountain's summit.

Rainbow Dash couldn't stop herself from looking at Twilight and skeptically inquiring of the unicorn. "Still think it was a good idea to bring Fluttershy along, Twilight?"

Twilight somewhat nervously answered. "We're about to find out, because we're here now. A bit later than I wanted but we should still have enough time to put my plan into action."

"And what is your plan, exactly?" Applejack saw fit to question. "No offense, sugarcube, but if we're dealin' with a dragon here and we're doin' it in place of the royal guard, your plan better be a darn good one!"

The studios unicorn did her best to ignore the extremely stern glare the farm mare was shooting her as she just explained to the best of her ability. "Well, see what you think of this: Rainbow Dash, you'll keep busy using your wings to help clear the smoke."

"Can do." Rainbow gave a salute as she flew up into the sky.

Twilight went on explaining her plan. "Rarity and Pinkie Pie, I don't anticipate charm being necessary. So you two will be in charge of a distraction in case we need to retreat or buy time."

Rarity couldn't help but question. "Us, a distraction? You're sure that's a good idea?"

But Pinkie Pie just happily pulled out a rubber chicken and swung it around, making it squeak as she declared. "We'll be the best distraction you've ever seen, Twilight. But if you do need us, you just have to ask. Let's just say I have a hunch we might need party supplies, so I came prepared."

"Right," Twilight blinked, deciding it best not to question the party pony for the time being. She instead turned to Applejack as she told the farm mare. "Applejack, you've got a lot of apples and some impressive rodeo equipment from what I hear. So you'll stand by in case we're attacked and need to defend ourselves."

Applejack nodded. "Say no more, Twilight. If that dragon tries anythin' at all, I'll make it regret even thinkin' of messin' with us!" And she emphasized her point by pulling out two apples (one red and one green) and using her back legs to kick them hard against a nearby rock, making them splat ominously.

Satisfied that everypony knew their role, Twilight nodded and then declared with enthusiasm. "But I'm quite confident that it won't come to that. We can settle this peacefully, and Fluttershy is the key. She'll know how to get through to that dragon and convince it to go nap somewhere else. Plus, I'll be going in with her."

"Don't you already know about dragons from living with Spike?" Rainbow Dash questioned. "I mean, you had to have at least somewhat raised him if he's been around you for so long, right?"

"He's still a baby in dragon years, and dragons can live for a very long time," The studious unicorn answered in reply. "Plus, there's still much about them that we don't know. And besides all of that, a lot of the 'raising' for Spike was done by Princess Celestia and my mom. I was just a filly when Spike hatched, you couldn't possibly expect me to raise a child all by myself when I was a child as well."

The rainbow maned pegasus blinked slowly. "Huh, never thought about it like that."

The unicorn mare nodded back. "Which is why I'm bringing in the closest thing we have to an expert on the subject," Then she turned to Fluttershy and asked the pegasus. "So, Fluttershy, any ideas? I have a little experience waking Spike up from naps and it never goes well. Working with a full grown dragon is going to be a lot tougher." However, she then noticed that said pegasus was nowhere close to her current location. In fact, the pegasus was standing right outside the cave and seemed to be unable to move an inch from where she was.

"I... I can't go in that cave! I just can't!" Fluttershy declared as she seemed to be on the verge of tears.

"What? Now you're afraid of caves or somethin'?!" Applejack groaned. "It's a bit late to be tellin' us that now!"

However, Rainbow Dash seemed to realize what the problem actually was as she let out a long sigh. "I was afraid of this."

All eyes immediately fell upon the brash speedster as Twilight nervously and reluctantly asked. "What do you mean? It sounds like you know something I don't know."

"Yeah, of course I do! I told you you don't know Fluttershy like I do! The two of us, we've been friends since we were fillies in Cloudsdale," Rainbow explained. "We met at flight camp and got our cutie marks at around the same time. And growing up in Cloudsdale meant we got to know each other really well: What we were good at, what we struggled with, even what we were afraid of. And Fluttershy, well she's kind of afraid of almost everything. But if there's one thing she's afraid of more than anything, it's dragons."

Pinkie Pie protested. "What are you talking about, Dashie? That's ridiculous. Fluttershy can't possibly be afraid of dragons. She hangs around Spike like it's no big deal."

Rainbow could only groan. "Fluttershy can explain it better than I can," And she glared down at her fellow pegasus. "Go on, tell them already! You should've told them a long time ago! I can't believe it's had to come to this!"

With a reluctant sigh, the animal loving pegasus confessed to her friends. "It's true, I'm scared of dragons. Not dragons like Spike, they're okay. But that's because he's not a huge, gigantic, terrifying, enormous, teeth-gnashing, sharp-scale having, horn-wearing, smoke-snoring, could eat a pony in one bite, totally all grown-up dragon!"

"But what about all those other animals? And what about the raging manticore?" Twilight questioned. "They're pretty terrifying if you ask me, but you've handled them like they're no problem."

Fluttershy could only reply. "Because they're not dragons."

Applejack then inquired. "And you didn't think to tell us this before we hiked all the way up here?"

The shy pegasus whimpered and looked down at the ground in shame. "Nopony else seemed to have a problem with the dragon, and when Twilight told me how important I was to all of this, I just couldn't say no. I had to be brave. Or at least, that's what I told myself."

Rarity saw fit to point out. "Darling, forcing yourself to do something you don't want to do isn't necessarily brave. It would've been much braver for you to come right out and tell us you were scared. We would've understood."

"It would've saved me a lot of trouble," Twilight added with a groan. "But it's too late to change my plan. We're up here now and we have a job to do. Every minute we waste standing around here is another minute that dragon's smoke has to spread all over Equestria. So please, I know you haven't been doing a very good job up until now, but for the sake of all of us and all of Equestria, can you at least try to be brave and help me out? Please?"

"If it helps sweeten the deal, I'll throw you the biggest hero party Equestria's ever seen when it's all over." Pinkie Pie added in hopeful encouragement.

But alas, Fluttershy could only hang her head in shame. "I'm sorry, but I just can't. I see now that I was just being stupid. I don't know why I came up here. Just forget about me, you'll all figure out some way to solve the problem without me. Maybe someday I'll overcome my fear of dragons, but that someday isn't today." And she whimpered as she slowly turned away from the cave entrance, unable to look at any of her friends as she did so.

"Oh Fluttershy," Twilight unhappily sighed. But she sensed that were was little she could do right now to change her friend's mind. So reluctantly, she decided to carry on alone. "Well, I guess I'll just do what I can on my own. Maybe I'll be lucky and the dragon will be in a good mood. I mean, it probably doesn't realize what it's doing right now, right?"

"Uh, yeah. Maybe." Pinkie appeared to nod in agreement.

"It's a possibility. Never hurts to look on the bright side." Rarity seemed to second the agreement.

Rainbow shrugged her hooves. "Yeah, or maybe it was just too lazy to check before it laid down. Happens to me all the time."

And even Applejack commented. "Well, at least we can try to be optimistic," Though she was quick to add. "Best of luck in there, sugarcube. Not that you'll need it, hopefully."

And with that, Twilight trotted into the cave to confront the sleeping dragon. And she would do so alone.


Twilight soon came face to face with the slumbering dragon. It was indeed quite large with red scales and reddish-pink spines. It was snoozing presumably quite happily atop a huge pile of treasure, pausing only occasionally to scratch its belly with a huge claw.

Plucking up courage, Twilight cleared her throat and tried to get the dragon's attention. "Excuse me, Mr. Dragon."

The dragon was slow to respond, taking a good minute or two to stop blowing smoke and open a sleepy orange eye. It seemed to glare at Twilight as if her very presence offended it.

"Oh, good, you're awake," Twilight breathed a small sigh of relief and then tried to explain herself. "Sorry to wake you up, Mr. Dragon. My name is Twilight Sparkle, I'm from Ponyville. And it's just... well... you seem to be doing an awful lot of snoring. And when you do you send out huge clouds of terrible smoke," As she spoke the dragon gave off just such a cloud, making the unicorn cough and sputter. "Like that. So my friends and I have come here to ask you politely to find somewhere else to take your nap. Somewhere far away where you won't bother anypony. Equestria simply can't survive a hundred years in a dark haze. You understand, don't you?"

The red scaled dragon didn't give a verbal reply. It just rose up slowly, which Twilight took as a hopeful sign. But her hopes were quickly dashed when the dragon just yawned and laid back down, blowing more smoke her way and forcing Twilight to retreat due to how thick it was.

In fact, the smoke was so thick that the ponies gathered outside the cave began to cough as well. And it was only thanks to Rainbow Dash's frantic flapping that the smoke was dispersed at all. "Well, so much for asking nicely." Rainbow bitterly remarked.

"Now what?" Applejack pondered.

Rarity was quick to volunteer. "Simple, this calls for a little bit of pony charm, is all. I'm sure I can 'convince' that big old brute to see things my way," And with a wink she trotted into the cave, soon coming face to face with the dragon in all his glory (and his huge pile of treasure, which didn't go unnoticed by the fashionista). "I'm so sorry to interrupt your nap, Mr. Dragon," She spoke in the most elegant and refined tone of voice possible. "But I couldn't possibly head back home without mentioning what handsome scales you have. And for those scales to have to be hidden away in some silly cave for a hundred years? Well, it seems like a waste don't you think?"

It seemed like the dragon was listening as he opened his eyes again and focused them on Rarity.

The fashionista continued to lay on the charm as best she could. "Personally, I think you should skip the snoozing and be out there, showing those scales off to everyone. That's what I'd do if I were you."

The dragon rose up and let out a huge yawn, appearing to take Rarity's suggestion quite seriously.

But that was when the unicorn with a pristine white coat made a mistake. "Splendid, I knew we could work things out. Now, I don't suppose I could interest you in parting with some of that treasure. It doesn't seem like you need all of it where you're going. And it would be going to a good cause with me instead of staying here in this cave, ready for some no good ruffian to steal it all."

In response to the mere "suggestion" of parting with some of its treasure, the dragon roared loudly and scooped up the whole pile. Then he swung at Rarity with his free claw, forcing the fashionista to retreat.

"Rarity, what happened in there?!" Applejack groaned in frustration! "What the hay were you thinkin'?!"

Rarity let out an unhappy sigh as she looked at the ground in shame. "Not my finest moment back there. But in my defense, I was only really interested in a small sum. I very well couldn't take even half of it back with me, it wouldn't fit into my saddlebags."

Twilight glared at her fellow unicorn. "You were supposed to get him to leave, not try to swipe his treasure for yourself. Now we're back to square one."

"Not if I have anything to say about it, and I do!" Pinkie Pie declared before blowing on a party blower. Everypony turned to look, and saw that the pink party pony was dressed up not unlike a present at a party. She even had a bright blue bow tied around her, and she also had silly red glasses and blue and green balloons in the shape of animals.

"Darling, you look absolutely ridiculous in that get up." Rarity remarked.

Pinkie nodded and grinned. "Duh, that's the whole point. Sharing a laugh is the fastest way to get someone to be your friend. And once that dragon's my friend, it'll be a piece of cake to get him to leave. Just watch!" She proceeded to stroll right into the cave before anypony could even think of stopping her. But all she managed to say to the dragon was "Hi." before there came a series of loud roars and crashes.

Pinkie Pie stumbled back with her outfit in shambles, but otherwise she was unharmed. "Apparently he doesn't like laughing," She declared with a nervous laugh. "Or sharing. Who knew?"

Seeing this display was enough to cause Rainbow Dash to lose her patience (not that she'd had much to begin with). "All right, that does it!" She roared at the top of her lungs! "We've tried asking nicely, turning on the charm and... whatever it is Pinkie Pie was doing."

The party pony promptly replied by blowing on her battered party blower.

Ignoring the "feedback" from one of her friends, Rainbow Dash just went on to say. "We've wasted enough time here! If that dragon doesn't wanna leave willingly, we'll just have to make him leave the hard way! Get out of my way!" And before anypony could even think of stopping her, she zoomed right into the cave and came face to face with the dragon in all his scale covered glory. "Hey, Mr. Tall and Ugly!" She bellowed! "I got a message for you: It's time for you to leave! So get out!" And then she turned around and delivered a swift kick to the dragon's nostrils!

That certainly got a reaction out of the red scaled dragon, but not the one the rainbow maned pegasus had been expecting. After practically shrugging off the blow he'd received, the dragon blew more smoke and then roared at the top of his lungs as he narrowed his eyes!

The brash speedster quickly realized her mistake. "Uh," She nervously chuckled. "Is it too late for us to be friends?" But before she could say or do anything else, the dragon roared loudly once again. And the force of the roar blew the pegasus backward out of the cave, knocking her into her unsuspecting friends!

But the dragon didn't stop there. It proceeded to emerge from the cave and angrily confront the ponies who had been so rude as to disturb his nap. Suffice it to say he was not in a negotiating mood.

"Uh-oh." Was all Twilight and the others could say before the dragon roared, swiping at them with his tail and sending them reeling backwards into a rock! They were more dazed than hurt, but the impact was enough to shatter the rock into tiny bits of gravel.


Fluttershy had seen the whole thing, having been cowering behind the safety of the now destroyed rock. And upon seeing the horrible sight before her, something inside of her snapped! She narrowed her eyes and grit her teeth. "How dare you," She declared. When her response went unacknowledged she just raised her tone of voice and said again! "How dare you!"

Fully fueled by her righteous anger, the pegasus mare flew up and locked eyes with the dragon as she told him in no uncertain terms. "Now you listen here, mister, and you listen good. Just because you're big doesn't mean you get to be a bully!" Without waiting for a reply she then added. "You may have huge teeth, and sharp scales, and snore smoke and even breathe fire. But you do not. I repeat: You do not! Hurt! My! Friends! You got that?"

Now it was the dragon's turn to flinch. No one had ever spoken to him in such a strict tone before. In a way it was not unlike a child being scolded by its mother for acting up.

"Well? What do you have to say for yourself?" Fluttershy asked the dragon. "Are you sorry for what you did?"

In response, the dragon whimpered and began to cry quite audibly. Tears fell from his eyes like rain drops. And all who witnessed the scene could hardly believe their eyes and ears. A full grown dragon had been reduced to crying like a baby by Fluttershy of all ponies. It was something that defied all logical explanation, and yet it was there for all to see.

The animal loving pegasus was quick to soothe the upset dragon. "Oh, there there," She gently told him as her earlier anger seemed to leave her all of a sudden. "You're not a bad dragon, you just made a bad decision is all."

"Yes..." The red scaled dragon confessed. "But that rainbow one kicked me. And it hurt."

Fluttershy nodded. "I'm sure it did, and I'm very sorry about that. But that's no excuse for being mean. You should know that two wrongs don't make a right. Besides, you were not exactly nice to my other friends and they most certainly didn't attack you. They were trying to be nice and get you to leave," And she gently coaxed him. "You need to understand that your snoring is causing a problem even if you didn't intend it to."

The dragon reluctantly agreed. "Yeah, I guess maybe it has. But it was so comfortable and quiet in that cave, I didn't want to leave."

"Well I'm sure you can find a nice, quiet place to nap somewhere else. Somewhere where your snoring won't be a bother to anyone else," Fluttershy reassured him. "Now kindly go pack up your things, it's time for you to go." And just like that, the dragon obeyed.

All of Fluttershy's friends were amazed by the sight that they had just seen. But none were more surprised than Rainbow Dash. "Who are you and what have you done with Fluttershy?" She demanded as the red scaled dragon departed the mountain top.

Fluttershy just giggled and grinned as she told her fellow pegasus and childhood friend. "It's still the same old me, Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow was anything but convinced. "No way! Are you really Fluttershy? Because the Fluttershy I know could never have been as brave as you were just then."

The animal loving pegasus simply replied. "Well I had to be. I just couldn't let that dragon get away with hurting you or any of my friends. As scared as I might have been, I knew I couldn't run away and live with myself. I guess sometimes you can surprise even yourself with how brave you can be."

Twilight nodded. "I just knew you could do it, Fluttershy. Looks like I was right all along, just not in the way I expected," And then she added. "You know, I get the feeling all of this would make a pretty good friendship letter to Princess Celestia. After all, I'm gonna have to send her a progress report letting her know everything is a-okay."

"And I should probably check on Spike," Fluttershy commented. "Oh, I hope Angel hasn't given him too much of a hard time."

Twilight stood up, brushing off the dust as she declared. "Then we've no time to lose, let's get back down this mountain before we have to spend the night up here." And everypony agreed without hesitation. Yet as they began their trek back to Ponyville, all of them had come away with a newfound appreciation for their shy friend. Never would they have expected her to be the bravest and strongest of them all.

Even Fluttershy herself couldn't help but think. "Maybe I don't have to let my fears get the best of me all the time." And she made a little note in the back of her head to try to remember this the next time she needed to be brave in a dangerous situation.