Dawn Before Twilight

by Dawn Darkness


Chapter 8: Dragonshy, Pt. 2

The sound of the dragon’s snore was loud. I blinked as I heard it. Dragons snore THAT loudly? Even I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I were to sleep beside one—not that I’d like to, of course. It was just a thought.

Fluttershy gasped, hiding behind Crimson, who comforted her.

“Whoa,” Rainbow breathed. “What was that?”

“A snore,” I said.

Twilight confirmed with a better explanation. “That is what it sounds like when a dragon snores.”

“It—it’s so…high!” Fluttershy said, looking up the mountain while we were at the bottom.

Rainbow stated the obvious to her, “Well, it is a mountain. I’m going to fly up and check it out!” However, Applejack held her back by holding her tail. “Wah!”

“Hold on, now,” said Applejack. “I think we should all go up together. Safety in numbers and all.”

“I agree with Applejack,” I nodded.

“Oh, all right,” said Rainbow with a pout, folding her hooves while she flapped in the air.

And thus, we began the journey up the mountain. I was trotting alongside Twilight and Crimson, while Rarity was speaking. “I hear the only thing that sparkles more than a dragon’s scales are the jewels they use to build their nests,” she stated.

“Well, dragons are gold-keepers, after all,” I added. I recall the dragon Smaug from The Hobbit and how he was kept upon a pile of golden coins and even slept in the gold, and how he would protect his wealth from intruders, such as Thorin Oakenshield and the Company.

“Ooo,” Rarity continued, daydreaming. “If I play my cards right, I might be able to convince him to part with a few!”

Pinkie Pie imitated the voice of a dragon, although I thought it didn’t go as well. “Welcome to my cave, Rarity. Care for a diamond?” She gave a friendly roar, then laughed.

Even Rarity wasn’t as impressed as I was.

“Girls!” Twilight reminded them. “This is no laughing matter!” She turned to the frightened pony, continuing, “Fluttershy, you’re the expert on wild creatures. What do you think the dragon will be like?”

“Fluttershy?” I called down to her.

Crimson sighed.

“Hey! What are you waiting for?” Rainbow called down, noticing the pegasus hiding. “An invitation?”

“Ooo, I think I have one in my bag,” Pinkie said, oblivious to what Rainbow said.

“I—it’s so…so…steep,” Fluttershy said in a nervous voice.

“Well, it is a cliff,” Rainbow stated. “You could just, oh, I don’t know, fly up here?”

“Come on, Fluttershy,” Pinkie encouraged. “You can do it. Flap those wings!”

And she flapped her wings and raised herself into the air. I smiled, thinking it was ‘bout time we got going…

I thought too soon.

At my inner hope, the dragon snoring bellowed from above us. Fluttershy gave a soft cry, when she folded her wings and fell down into a bush and whimpered.

Rainbow couldn’t believe her eyes. “Ugh.”

Soft grunting came from Fluttershy, who struggled to unfold her wings.

“Uh, we don’t have time for this,” Twilight pointed out. “What are you doing?” she asked Applejack, who took her map.

“I’ll need this if I’m going to take her around the mountain another way,” Applejack said.

Rainbow groaned.

I rolled my eyes. “Can’t we just go easy on her? I mean, Fluttershy do need to…”

“I will talk with Fluttershy,” Crimson announced.

We blinked and looked at her.

“You, Crimson?” Twilight asked.

Crim nodded. “Sure. If there’s anypony who can calm down a frightened pony, that would be me. I’ve got experience with this. And Fluttershy would be no different.”

“If you are certain…” I started, as I was looking at her.

“All right, Crimson,” Applejack nodded. “You make sure Fluttershy is in good hooves. Here, take this. You’ll need to take a path around.”

She handed Crimson the map, while Crim smiled.

Crim looked at us. “Don’t worry, we’ll be there in no time at all.”

Twilight nodded in thanks to Crim. She looked at us and said, “Let’s go.”

(Crimson’s POV)

I landed down at the bottom of the mountain cliffside as Fluttershy was standing, as if frozen. When she noticed me, she was sighing softly. “They are moving ahead,” I told her.

“Are…are you sure, Crimson…?” she asked in her ever soft voice.

“Sure,” I nodded. “I’m going to take you around the mountain, if that will make you feel better instead of going up the cliff like the others do. In any case, I’ll be here with you.”

“Oh, thank you, um, Crimson,” Fluttershy spoke.

I smiled gently at her. Ever since we were fillies in Cloudsdale I have always been by her side, as well as Rainbow, and defended her from bullies who mocked her for her shyness. “No worries, Flutters. Let’s go.”

She nodded and together, we took a path around the mountain.

(Dawn’s POV)

We were waiting on Crimson and Fluttershy, as Pinkie drew something in a cross and bun. I was smiling as Pinkie cheered and hopped up and down, exclaiming, “Woo-hoo! I win again!”

“Ugh,” Rarity groaned. “That’s thirty-five games in a row. Best of seventy-one?”

I must say that these two surely can compete against one another, although Pinkie wins each time they try to play cross and bun in the dirt. However, I feel like Crim is taking her time with Fluttershy. I wonder where these two could be?

Lo and behold, as soon as I thought that, they showed up!

Crim was panting as she tugged a frozen Fluttershy along the ground. “We made it!” she exclaimed as she removed Fluttershy’s tail from her mouth.

I was happy that they made it. So was Twilight and Rainbow, who were practically impatient when they took their time in coming from that other path.

Rainbow looked at Twilight, stating, “Told you it was going to take them forever.”

“Now, Rainbow,” Applejack said. “Ya shouldn’t rush them.”

“I agree, let Fluttershy take her time in this,” I added.

“Whatever,” Rainbow grunted.

“So…let’s continue onward?” I asked, turning to Twilight, who nodded.

“Onward,” she agreed.

Thus, we continued our journey up the mountain cliffside. Crimson was by Fluttershy’s side, along with Applejack. I was trotting behind Twilight, who led the way to our destination.

As we made it to a path with a deep bottom, Rainbow leapt and flew over to the other side. I smirked as she grinned at me. I took a few steps back and began running, spreading my wings, and flew over to her and landed perfectly safe on the other side of the path.

“Woo, way to go, Dawn!” Rainbow cheered.

We looked over to the others, who jumped over while Fluttershy gulped nervously and stood still by Crim’s side while she was smiling comfortably to her.

“Your turn, Fluttershy,” Twilight spoke.

“But…it’s so…wide,” she replied.

“Come on, Fluttershy,” Twilight said. “We should be much further along by now.”

“You could just leap over,” Applejack added.

“I—” Fluttershy started, before we heard the snoring of the dragon again. “I don’t know.”

“There’s nothing to be afraid of,” Crimson reassured her.

“Crim’s right,” I nodded.

“Yeah, it’s just hop, skip and jump,” Pinkie demonstrated to Fluttershy. “See?”

Is she starting to sing? Yup, she is.

It’s not very far,

Just move your little rump,

You can make it if you try hop, skip and jump

“We don’t have time for this,” Twilight recalled, but Pinkie continued her singing.

A hop, skip and jump,

Just move your little rump,

A hop, skip and jump,

A hop, skip and jump,

A hop, skip and jump,

A hop skip and jump,

A hop skip and jump!

“O-okay,” Fluttershy decided, coming from the rock she hid at. “Here I go. A hop.”

“That’s it!” Applejack encouraged.

“You’ve got it,” Twilight added.

“Almost there,” Rarity said.

“Skip,” Fluttershy continued, preparing the jump.

“Just don’t look down,” Twilight reminded her.

And…Fluttershy opened her eyes and looked down. I sighed, shaking my head to Twilight, who sheepishly smiled apologetically back.

However, Fluttershy noticed something. It wasn’t as wide as she thought it would be.

I hoofpalmed. “You see? It’s just a short jump.”

“Oh,” Fluttershy chuckled nervously.

 “Ugh,” Rainbow groaned.

“I guess I forgot to jump,” Fluttershy remembered.