//------------------------------//
// Chapter 10 - Heights Anyone? (Episode 7) 
// Story: An Editorial Tale 
// by Awkward Elipsis 
//------------------------------//

	"Twilight!? Twilight!?" Noctus called from the top of the stairs, "Where did Twilight go?" He had just woken up and could not find the purple unicorn anywhere. "Spike no where either. where could they have gone?" He walked down the stairs and entered the kitchen. Once in the kitchen he noticed a plate of muffins and a glass of milk on the table next to a note. He picked up the note and read it out loud to himself. "To Noctus, I've just received a message from the Princess that there is a dragon sleeping at the nearby mountain. Spike has prepared your breakfast before we headed out to tell everypony. Please quickly eat your breakfast then pack anything you might need. Spike and I are going to gather the girls then head up to see what we can do to stop the smoke. We also asked Rarity to make you your own saddlebag." Noctus looked at the breakfast and then the bag. He picked up the bag. I was a dark brown cloth and had his writing quill cutie mark on the sides. "Hmm, that's really kind of her." Noctus floated a muffin up and took a bite. He levitated the glass of milk with him as he put on his new saddlebag and walk up to his room to see what he could bring.




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"What in the name of all things cinnamon swirl, is a full grown dragon doing here in Equestria?" Applejack questioned.
"Sleeping." Twilight plainly stated.
"Huh?" All the girls responded.
"According to Princess Celestia, he's taking a nap." Twilight packed her saddlebags. "His snoring is what's causing all this smoke."
"He should really see a doctor." Pinkie stated. "That doesn't sound healthy at all."
"Well, at least he's not snoring fire!" Rarity looked on the bright side. "What are we meant to do about it?"
"I'll tell you what we're meant to do!" Rainbow Dash said. "Give him the boot!" She showed this by kicking the library's center piece with her hind-legs. Before it could fall, Twilight used her magic to keep it steady. Then before Rainbow Dash could tackle the statue she lifted it out of the way, causing Rainbow Dash to crash into a shelf.
"We need to encourage him to take his nap somewhere else." Twilight corrected. "Princess Celestia has given us this mission, and we must not fail. If we do, Equestria will be covered in smoke for the next one hundred years."
"Talk about getting your beauty sleep." Rarity said to Pinkie.
"Alright everypony, I need you to gather supplies quickly. We've got a long journey ahead of us. Let's meet back up here in less than an hour."
"OK girls, you heard her. The fate of Equestria is in our hooves. Do we have what it takes?!"
"I betcha!"
"Obviously!"
"We can do it!" They all agreed as they headed out the door to prepare for the journey. Just as they left the library, Noctus appeared out of his room and was standing at the top of the stairs.
"Hey Twilight, come here for a sec. I want to talk to you." He motioned her to follow him to his room. Twilight went up the stairs and met Noctus in his room.
Since the first time he was actually given the room, Noctus never really changed much in the guest room. He didn't have anything to put up, the only thing he really possessed was his black hoodie. That and a few things that he had inside his hoodie, but  he can't really access those right now. So the room didn't look all that different than when it was the guest room.
"What do you need Noctus?" Twilight asked as she entered the room.
"Why am I going with you girls on this trip?"
"Well, Celestia was the one who said to bring you. She said that bringing you would help with negotiations with the dragon."
Noctus sat down on the floor with his front legs propping him up. "Of course it's Celestia. Freaking take advantage of me being powerless." He murmured.
"What?"
"Nothing. Anyways, another question. What would I bring on this trip?"
"The normal things you would." Twilight plainly stated.
"That's exactly it, I don't know what you'd normally bring." Noctus answered back. "I've never really had to pack anything before. Before I lost my powers, I never needed anything else but the clothes on my back, and anything I had in my hoodie."
". . . In your hoodie?" Twilight raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, I didn't tell you? I used to have a PPD in my hoodie."
"PPD?"
"Personal Pocket Dimension. They're small pocket dimensions containing nothing at all. Some people are able to use them as an endless storage."
"You have one of those at your disposal?"
"Had, I had one. Using my powers I could open a portal to my own PPD and take anything I had put in there, back out."
"Wow, imagine if you could innovate that! We could-" Twilight began to think of all the possibilities.
"Hang on. . ." Noctus stopped Twilight. "I think we've gotten off topic."
"Oh, right. Ehm, anyways, so you don't know what to bring along?"
"Yeah."
"Ok. . . I can help you since I already finished packing."
"Thanks Twilight."
"No problem. Now, let's see what you need."




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Quite soon after Twilight had finished helping Noctus pack, there was a knock at the front door. Twilight went to answer it while Noctus double checked that he had everything he could need. Once he was finished he put on his packed saddlebag and headed downstairs. As he walked down the stairs he noticed that Twilight wasn't anywhere. "Twilight!?" He called.
"We're outside!" Twilight replied. Noctus walked over to the door and opened it. Outside, lined up were all of the girls except for Twilight. He quickly walked over and stood next to Pinkie Pie. Fluttershy immediately arrived right next to him.
"Alright listen up!" Twilight walked in front of the line like a military officer. "I'm mapping the fastest route, but we've all got to keep a good pace if we all expect to make it up the mountain by nightfall."
"M- m- mountain." Fluttershy stuttered.
"The dragon is in that cave at the top of the mountain." Twilight pointed to the mountain with a trail of smoke coming from it.
"Looks pretty cold up there." Applejack commented.
"You bet it is, the higher you go, the chillier it gets." Rainbow Dash stated.
"Good thing I brought my scarf!" Rarity reached into the saddlebag and pulled out a pink scarf.
"Ooo pretty." Pinkie complimented.
"Haha, oh yeah, that'll keep you cozy." Rainbow Dash said sarcastically. Fluttershy looked up at the mountain with dread.
"Maybe, I could, just stay here in Ponyville." Fluttershy suggested.
"What?! Why Fluttershy?" Noctus asked.
"What happened?" Twilight looked away from her map to see the commotion.
"Fluttershy said that it might be better for her to stay behind in Ponyville." Noctus explained.
"What! You can't Fluttershy! You have to come! Your way with wild animals will surely come in handy." Twilight stated.
"I, don't think-" Fluttershy tried to say.
"Oh and don't worry about your little friends in the meadow. Spikes got it covered while you're gone."
"You can count on me." Spike said. The bunny on his head then proceeded to rapidly smack it's foot on Spike's head. While Spike let his guard down, all the animals around him ran off in separate direction. "Whoa, hey. Hey, wait!" He ran after the animals.
"I don't think he's really up to the task." Fluttershy argued, but Twilight began to walk away. "Maybe, but-, but-."(could not replicate cutest sound ever here, truly sorry).
"Don't worry Fluttershy, everything with be just fine." Noctus comforted the distressed pegasus. Fluttershy looked down and happened to see her shadow, she immediately got scared and jumped into a nearby bush. Noctus, seeing Twilight and Rainbow Dash staring, just looked at them and shrugged his shoulders.
"Alright everyone! Let's move out!" Twilight announced. All the girls instantly charged straight towards Fluttershy, picking her up, and continued down the road out of Ponyville.
"Hey! Girls! Wait up!" Noctus chased after the six girls.




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Soon enough the group of mares slowed to a steady pace as Noctus caught up. "Geeze, warn me next time you dash off like that! I'm not used to running around that fast." Noctus panted.
"Oh stop yer complainin'". After all this is all over, I'm having you come and work on the farm to build up yer muscles." Applejack stated.
"What! Uh, I mean. I have, uh, too much chores to do at the library, right Twilight?"
"I don't see what's wrong with some exercise." Twilight said. Noctus's mouth hanged open as Twilight left him out to dry.
"Hrm," Noctus huffed, "says the bookworm."
"You say something?"
"Nothing!" Noctus quickly responded.
"Thought so. Now let's keep moving, we've got to get there before the sun goes down." They all turned and continued down the path to the mountain.
After walking for some time, Noctus approached Rarity and decided to strike up a conversation. "Hey Rarity." Noctus walked beside her.
"Hello, Noctus." Rarity politely greeted back.
"Thanks for the bag."
"Its was no problem. Twilight asked me to make it. Though I am quite satisfied as to how it turned out."
"Yeah, I noticed that. How did you replicate my cutie mark so well?" Noctus inquired.
"That was actually the hardest part. You cuties mark is much more detailed than normal ones. It's almost as if you actually have the stars in your cutie mark!" Rarity exclaimed.
"Really?" Noctus tried to look at his cutie mark. "Since it's on me butt, I haven't really gotten a closer look at it."
"Do you know what it stands for?"
"Honestly, I don't know. I'm guessing cause my name stands for 'Night'."
"Noctus means night?"
"No, noctis means night in ancient equestrian language. I just changed a letter for some reason.
"You can't remember?"
"Yeah, I can't recall why I changed it. But I do remember the reason I changed my name to Noctus."
"What was the reason?"
"It's simply because I admire the night."
"Hmm, I have never really take in the sights of the night. I suppose it is because I'm to busy during the day and need to sleep early for my work." Rarity thought about it.
"Oh right, you own the Carousel Boutique right?"
"Why yes."
"You run it with your family right?"
"No."
"No?"
"I run it by myself."
"What? What about your parents?"
"They decided to go on an Equestria-wide vacation."
"That's kinda irresponsible. Isn't it lonely?"
"It's not all bad though. I still have my younger sister and I am able to start my own store, doing what I love to do." Rarity explained.
"I guess that's ok." Noctus pondered. Suddenly they were interrupted by a large snore. "Whoa! Was that the dragon?" Noctus looked up only to freeze in fear.
"Yup, that was the dragon we're here for." Twilight stated. "Up there." She pointed to the top of the mountain.
"It- it's so high." Fluttershy said from behind Applejack.
"Well it is a mountain. I'm going to fly up there and check it out!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
"Whoa there!" Applejack grabbed Rainbow Dash before she flew off. "We have to stick to together. That way we can watch each other's backs."
"Ugh, all right." Rainbow pouted. The girls began to climb up the side of the mountain. A few seconds of climbing and they all noticed Fluttershy wasn't with them. "Hey! Fluttershy come on."
"It's, just so steep." Fluttershy poked her head out from behind a bush.
"Well, it is a cliff. Can't you just fly up here?"
"Um, ok." Fluttershy proceeded to try to fly up to her friends. Then a the dragon let out another snore, causing Fluttershy's wings to snap tightly to her sides, and land back in the bush.
"*sigh* I'll go an' take her around another path." Applejack volunteered.
"But that's going to take forever!" Rainbow complained.
"Don't you worry, we'll be there in time." Applejack reassured them. Applejack began to drag the scared Fluttershy around the mountain.
"Wait!" Twilight called. "Where's Noctus?" The girls realized that the stallion was missing as well.
"Ugh," Rainbow Dash facehoofed. "Where is he?!"
"Girls." Rarity answered pointing to a frozen Noctus just standing there. Twilight slid down the slope and approached him. "What happened to him?" Twilight walked around Noctus to see if anything was wrong with him.
"I don't know, he seems physically fine." Twilight stated, waving a hoof in front of his face. "Noctus? what's wrong?" Noctus stood still for a few more seconds before he started to mutter something.
"Acrophobia."
"What?" Twilight asked.
"Acrophobia." Noctus said a bit louder.
"Acrophobia?"
"What is that?" Rainbow asked.
"Acrophobia is an extreme or irrational fear of heights." Twilight explained.
"Oh you're kidding me!" Rainbow exclaimed!
"Noctus, can you still walk?" Twilight asked, Noctus nodded. "OK, you just go with Applejack and Fluttershy, and don't look up. . . or down." Noctus seemed to regain some of his color back and walked silently over to Applejack and Fluttershy. Twilight nodded to the three ponies as they turned to walk around the mountain.




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"So yer scared of heights?" Applejack struck up a conversation. They had been walking in silence for the past fifth-teen minutes, and it seems that Applejack wanted to talk. Noctus, with his head facing straight down at the ground, answered the curious pony.
"Yeah."
"But I thought you were an immortal being that has lived for almost forever. How could you have a fear of heights?"
"Well, before I was immortal I was actually a pretty normal person, or pony, I was pretty much afraid of everything. The dark, heights, death.." Noctus explained with his eyes still focused on the ground. "After I became, well Noctus, all of those fears pretty much left me. I gained control over the dark, was immortal, eating wasn't a necessity anymore, and . . . well the last one might still be there."
"But weren't you flyin' around as a bird before? Why weren't you scared then?" Applejack brought up.
"Even then I was still afraid. I never flew too high, I always stayed close to tree level. Plus I am- or was. . . immortal."
"Then why are ya still afraid of heights!?" Applejack yelled irritably.
"Cause being immortal, doesn't get rid of that gut feeling when you're falling in the air!" Noctus yelled back, lifting his head up to look Applejack in the eye, tearing at the pain of remembering. "And being immortal doesn't mean I don't feel all the pain." His face quickly calmed, looking back at the ground. He then felt a pair of hooves wrap around him. He looked back to see Fluttershy hugging him.
"It's okay." She comforted him.
"Heh, thanks Fluttershy." Noctus returned with a grateful smile. Applejack spoke up with her hoof rubbing the back of her neck.
"Ah- I'm sorry. Fer pushing the subject too much."
"No, it's fine." Noctus replied. "I'm sorry for raising my voice. It is good to talk about things though." The group stood in a pregnant silence. "Um, Fluttershy?"
"Yes?" Fluttershy replied.
"You, can um- let go of me now." He said with a blush growing on his face. Fluttershy realized that she was still hugging the stallion and quickly let go.
"OH! Um, s- sorry."
"It's fine. But I think we should get going. The others might be waiting." Applejack cam,e to the sudden realization that they had been standing in the same place for the past few minutes.
"Let's get a move on!" She hefted Fluttershy onto her back and raced to down the path.
"Whoa wait Applejack!" Noctus ran to keep up. "I'm not as fit as you!"




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"Ugh, where are they!" Rainbow complained. "I knew that this was going to take longer."
"We're here! We're here!" Applejack raced towards the others with Fluttershy hanging on.
"Where's Noctus?" Twilight asked.
"Right, here." Noctus rounded the corner, trying to catch his breathe.
"Are you feeling better now?"
"Besides trying to keep up with one of the most fit ponies in Ponyville? Yeah, kinda." Noctus replied hugging the wall while walking closer to the girls.
"Alright then, we have no more time for anymore detours. Let's go." Twilight announced. Rarity and Pinkie got up from their game of Tic Tac Toe, and continued up the narrowing path. Applejack looked back at Fluttershy.
"Don't you worry Fluttershy, I'll carry you up."
"Oh Sweet Celestia! It gets narrower!" Noctus exclaimed.
"Be a stallion! Just stick to the wall, and don't look down." Applejack yelled back. Noctus pushed against the wall and kept his eyes straight forward as he followed the others.
Soon the group came across a gap in the path. All of the girls jumped over easily. Applejack, with Fluttershy still holding on, told her to hang on as she jumped over the gap. After Applejack landed, Fluttershy decided to get off and try to walk the rest of the way. Then, it was Noctus's turn.
"Come on Noctus! We have to hurry." Twilight called. Noctus looked at the other side of the gap, then looked down. Immediately he backed up into the mountainside.
"Oh jeez. WHY would I look down!" He exclaimed.
"Just jump!" Rainbow yelled. "It's not even that big of a gap!" Noctus looked to see that the gap was indeed barely 5 feet across. He took a large gulp, readied himself, and ran towards the gap. Before reaching it he pushed off the ground with his back legs and leaped.
"Just don't look down!" Twilight said. Halfway across, Noctus looked down. His face contorted in fear, and his eyes shut closed. His momentum landed him onto the other side, but since his eyes were closed, he didn't land correctly. He tumbled as he landed and hit the ground. Getting up from his crash, he shook the dizziness off.
"WHY would you say that while I was jumping! You NEVER say that as someone is jumping over a high gap!" Noctus complained.
"Sorry, bad choice of words." Twilight sheepishly apologized.
"Well at least that's over." Rainbow stated. "Come on! let's get a move on."
"Don't I get to rest?" Noctus asked.
"NO!" Four of the mares exclaimed. Noctus got up and followed behind them.
After some uneventful walking Twilight stopped the group to explain the last area before they reached the top. "OK, we're almost there. But be very careful and very quiet. According to my map this next area is an avalanche zone."
"An ava- ava-" Fluttershy began to stutter.
"Avalanche?" Noctus finished, but was immediately shushed by all.
"Quiet!" Twilight whispered. The group then moved on as silent as possible. As to not accidentally cause an avalanche. Noctus, being at the back of the group, noticed Rainbow Dash brushing up against a branch. Said branch then dropped a few leaves that were headed towards an unsuspecting yellow pegasus. Noctus quickly took action but wasn't fast enough to stop the leaves from touching Fluttershy. But he managed to cover Fluttershy's mouth before she could scream anything but an A. The other five mares were looking back in fright of a rock slide, but sighed in relieve when one didn't occur.
"Well that's a relief." Noctus sighed in a normal volume-voice. The side of the cliff began to shake as pebbles dislodged themselves from the wall. "Oh you're freaking kidding me." As he said that large rocks began to fall from the cliff. Everyone ran around dodging the rocks as everybody ran back the way they came. Soon the rock slide stopped and the dust cleared as the ponies regrouped.
"Is everyone alright?" Applejack called.
"I'm fine." Rainbow answered.
"Me too." Twilight added.
"Where's Fluttershy and Noctus?" Applejack asked.
"We're over here." Noctus answered back as he and Fluttershy popped out of a pile of dirt. "We're both OK. But what do we do now?" Noctus asked looking at the giant obstacle in front of them.
"I guess we'll just have to climb over." Twilight stated as she began to climb the mound of dirt and rock. Getting up the mound very relatively easy. But while going down the other side Fluttershy nearly slipped. Noctus, using his magic, caught her and floated her the rest of the way down.
"Thank you Noctus." Fluttershy thanked him.
"No problem Fluttershy." Noctus replied.
"Com on! We're here!" Twilight called from up ahead.
"Let's go Fluttershy." Noctus walked up the slope and reached a flat open area in front of a very large cave opening. The cave was also spewing out tons of smoke into the air around the peak. Noctus, being a very stupid pony, decided to see how high they were. He looked off the side of a cliff and instantly zoomed away grabbing on the the closest thing.
"Excuse me. But you're holding on to my leg Noctus." Rainbow mentioned.
"Oops!" He released her leg. "Sorry." He then fell to the ground since Rainbow was currently flying in the air.
"Ok, Rainbow Dash, you go clear out the smoke." Twilight said in a low voice. "Rarity and Pinkie Pie, you two get ready to create a diversion if things in there get a little hairy." Pinkie dashed off and prepared her "tools". "Applejack, you get ready with some apples in case he decides to attack." Applejack nodded.
"Wait," Noctus whispered, walking over to Twilight. "How is AJ going to defend us with apples?"
"She has a strong kick." Twilight answered back. "I'll need you to also get ready with some magic with Applejack too." Noctus just stared at Twilight blankly, shook his head and walked off next to Applejack.
"Ok," Twilight continued. "Hopefully none of these precautions should be needed. As long as Fluttershy and I are able to convince the dragon why he needs to go. Does everybody understand the plan?" Everypony nodded. "Alright, let's go!" Twilight turned and headed into the cave. Everypony watched until they noticed that Fluttershy hadn't followed Twilight inside.
"Uh, Fluttershy? Shouldn't you be going inside to talk to the dragon with Twilight?" Rainbow asked.
"Yeah, you need to convince him to go or Equestria will be covered in smoke for 100 years!" Noctus added. But Fluttershy just stuck her face into the ground and covered her ears. Soon enough, Twilight came back out of the cave and walk over to Fluttershy.
"Come on Fluttershy! We have to do this!" Twilight grabbed her tail causing her head to pop out of the ground. "Every second that that dragon sleeps, another acre of Equestria will be covered in smoke!" Twilight tried to push Fluttershy in the cave. All the others tried helping by pushing on each other.
"I- I can't." Fluttershy said.
"Why?!" Rainbow Dash asked.
"I'm scared of dragons." All of a sudden the dragon snored again and a giant cloud of smoke rushed out of the cave, causing everypony to cough.
"But Fluttershy, your talent is handling all kinds of animals." Twilight argued.
"Yes, because they're not dragons."
"Oh come on! We've seen you walk up to a manticore like it was nothing!" Rainbow tried to convince her.
"That was only because Noctus told me about the splinter in its paw." Fluttershy stated. Rainbow Dash angrily stared at Noctus.
"What?" Noctus backed up a little.
"Spike is a dragon and you're not scared of him." Pinkie mentioned.
"Yes, cause Spike is only a baby dragon." Fluttershy fought back.
"Fluttershy, we're all afraid of that dragon." Applejack said.
"I'm not." Rainbow stated.
"Almost all of us. But Twilight needs you and so do we. So can you go in there and talk to the dragon?" Applejack corrected herself.
"I- I- I just, can't. I'm sorry." Fluttershy turned and walked off to another part of the peak. Noctus walked up to Twilight.
"How about I go with you?" Noctus offered.
"Thanks." Twilight accepted. "Let's go then. I'm not sure how this will go without Fluttershy's help." Twilight turned and headed into the cave once again, but this time, Noctus walked with her. Once inside Noctus sped up to walk beside Twilight. "Maybe this won't be as hard as I thought it would be."
"Hmm, how so?" Noctus asked.
"Maybe he just doesn't realize that he's snoring out smoke. And when we wake him and explain, he'll just be embarrassed and move himself."
"I don't know why, but I highly doubt that Twilight." Noctus looked off at a wall in thought. ". . Snoring smoke." He muttered to himself. "Why does that sound so familiar?"
"How deep d o you think this cave is?" Twilight asked, looking around.
"Not sure, but its probably not too-" Noctus cut himself off and quickly gabbed Twilight, stopping her. 
"What are you-"
"SHHH!" Noctus covered her mouth and pointed in front of her. While they were talking, Twilight had not been paying attention as she almost ran into the dragon.They both stared at the red sleeping dragon until Noctus realized that he was holding Twilight quite close to him. He released his hoof from Twilight's mouth. "Sorry about the suddenness. It's just that you were about to run into him." Noctus blushed.
"Um, yeah thanks." Twilight avoided his face. "So, here he is. The dragon. Should we wake him up?"
"Uh. . . you do it?" Noctus smiled hopefully. Twilight just stared at him. "Do I have to wake him up?" She nodded. "Ugh." Noctus gulped. He walked over to the head of the dragon and poked it. "Excuse me? Can you wake up?" The dragon rolled over and scratched its nose in response. Without warning it opened its eyes to reveal gold yellow eyes. "Holy!" Noctus jumped back in surprise. "OK. You're awake. Uh. . ."
"We are sorry to interrupt your nap, but we have a -" Twilight began but was cut off as the dragon let out a tired yawn. "Oh! *cough cough* I am Twilight Sparkle, and we were just wondering if you could just move to another place to sleep. You seem to be doing a whole lot of snoring, and when you do you let out a bunch off smoke." The dragon just laid on his treasure as Twilight explained the situation to the dragon. "Equestria can't survive 100 years of darkness, you understand right?" The dragon got up and stretched.
"Is that a yes?" Noctus inquisitively raised an eyebrow. The dragon just looked at the two ponies before him and laid back down.
"No." The dragon stated plainly, just before blowing a wave of smoke at Noctus and Twilight.
"He can talk!?" Noctus exclaimed with shock before the smoke enshrouded them. Coughing, Noctus and Twilight headed for the entrance to the cave.
"Well, so much for trying to persuade him nicely!" Rainbow blatantly stated.
"Now what?" Applejack asked.
"Why don't I try to persuade him?" Rarity suggested.
"Nothing personal Rarity. But what can you do?" Noctus asked.
"Why! Work a little of my feminine charm on to him of course!" Rarity walked past Noctus and Twilight into the cave. Noctus turned to face the cave and watched to see what would happen.
"Feminine charm?" He asked looking at Applejack. Applejack just shrugged her shoulders. "Is she going to flirt him?"
"I don't think so," Twilight said. "I think she's going to try and get on his good side, then ask him to leave. I just hope she remembers that dragons are extremely protective of their treasure hoard." Just like a coincidence, the dragon inside roared and Rarity came zooming out of the cave.
"I guess not." Noctus said with half-closed eyes. Rarity poked her head out from behind the rock she was hiding behind.
"Hurm," Rarity grumbled. "I was so close to getting that beautiful white jewel."
"White jewel?" Noctus heard Rarity mumbling. "You saw a white jewel?"
"Yes, it was amazing! I have never seen a jewel that pure white!" Rarity's eyes started to sparkle from the memory of the gem.. "It was almost as if someone had taken the moonlight and made a stone out of it!"
"Moonlight." Noctus quoted. "Ugh. Why does that sound so familiar?!" Noctus rubbed his head.
"Are you ok darling?"
"Yeah, just a headache."
"OK!" Rainbow Dash yelled. Noctus turned his attention to Rainbow Dash. "We've tried persuasion, charm, and. . . What ever Pinkie Pie did! It's time to 'persuade' him with my hoof! Let's Do This!" Rainbow Dash flew into the cave.
". . . Oh my Celestia she just flew in." Noctus said.
"We gotta go save her! Not even Rainbow Dash can take on a dragon!" Twilight exclaim.
"Stick to the plan!" Pinkie Pie threw her hooves into the air.
"What plan?!" Applejack replied, pointing at the cave. "She just when and flew in there!" Just as she pointed at the entrance, a blue ball came flying out. Knocking all of them out of the way.
"What the?" Noctus got up and look at the projectile. "Rainbow?" A large stomp from behind him made him slowly turn around. "Oh my." The dragon appeared at the entrance of the cave. It immediately blew a stream of smoke at the five girls and blew them back into a rock. Surprisingly, the rock cracked and crumbed to reveal Fluttershy cowering behind it. "Fluttershy! Hide!" Noctus yelled. Fluttershy opened her eyes and saw her friends being attacked by the dragon.
"How dare you!"Her face changed as she flew up to the dragon.
"Flutter. . .shy?" Fluttershy landed on the dragon's snout and walked up to his eyes. "Just because you're big, doesn't mean you get to be a bully you meany!" All of the others stared with jaws dropped as Fluttershy scolded the dragon that was more than ten times her size. "You may have sharp teeth and claws, but I repeat. YOU DO NOT HURT MY FRIENDS!"
The dragon stood frozen as the timid little pony yelled at him. He hadn't been yelled at like this ever since he was a baby! He back off as the pony finished her rant. "Well!?" Fluttershy asked.
"But that rainbow one kicked me." the dragon mentioned as Rainbow Dash nodded in achievement. Applejack glared at Rainbow.
"And she's probably sorry about that. But you're much older than her and you should be the more mature when taking actions." Fluttershy continued. "You should also know better than to sleep where your snoring can harm others."
"But, I was-"
"No buts! Now, what do you have to say for yourself?" The dragon scrunched up his face as tears began to form in his eyes.
"Is he going to start, crying?" Rainbow Dash asked. The dragon indeed began to cry.
"I- I- just wanted to see him again." The dragon cried.
"There, there, no need to cry." Fluttershy comforted the sad dragon. "If you wanted to find somepony, you just could have asked. Like a nice adult dragon." By now the other girls had gotten back up and were just standing there looking at the dragon.
"But as far as I know, there aren't any other fully grown dragons near this area." Twilight stated. "Would you happen to be looking for a baby dragon?"
"No," replied the dragon. "the one I am looking for isn't a dragon." The dragon added. " I have never seen another person just like him ever since I last saw him. The closest thing that looks like him would be the Diamond Dogs. He also always wore a black coat."
"Wait," Twilight stopped him. "so you're say that the one you're looking for is a tall, bi-pedaled, black coat-wearing being."
"Yes." The girls all looked at Noctus in his black hoodie. Noctus just stood still as all eyes watched him.
"Uhh. . . When exactly was the last time you saw him?" Noctus asked the dragon.
"Uh. . . about. . . one thousand years ago?" The dragon scratched his head. Noctus continued to stand still as he tried to remember anything from his past.
"Do you happen to have anything from him?"
"I do have something. . . Just a sec." The dragon turned and went back inside his cave. As soon as the dragon disappeared Noctus was crowded upon by the others.
"You know a full grown dragon!" Twilight tackled Noctus to the ground. Noctus, wide-eyed by Twilight's aggressiveness, replied.
"I don't know! I might have. Like I said, I don't really remember every single thing that happened to me in the 100,000 years that I was last in this dimension."
"You don't?!" Twilight got off of him, although still quite irritated.
"Well. . . I think I'm starting to remember something." Noctus picked himself up from the ground, dusting off his hoodie. "If what Rarity said before was true, and that there is a pure white jewel in there. Then what I'm starting to remember will be right." By then the dragon could be heard walking back. He exited the cave and placed a smooth, while, oval stone in the middle of the group.
"Before leaving me at the Dragon Isles, he gave this to me." The dragon said. Rarity was immediately bedazzled by the stone, seeing nothing like it before. Rainbow, Applejack, and Pinkie just stared at the stone.
"I've never seen a gem like this! In any of the books I've seen. I remarkably looks like an opal, but is as clear as a diamond. Is that a mist inside?" Twilight leaned closer and saw that inside the stone was indeed a white mist, with bright star-like sparkles that shined no matter which angle you looked at it. Noctus just stood expressionless as he stared at the gem. His face lit up like a light bulb as he finally remembered what had happened all those years ago.
"That's because it isn't native to Equestria. Or at least this Equestria." Noctus walked up to the oval stone and picked it up in his magic. "I finally remember. While travelling to my destination 1,000 years ago, I heard a cry from in the Everfree Forest. I went down and found that it was a baby dragon, even younger than Spike. I wondered why a dragon would be in Equestria, a land of ponies. So I picked it up and decided to care for it for a bit. I took it to a cave in a mountain side and raised it there. After a few years,"
"Years!?" Rainbow Dash interrupted with shock.
"Yes years, few few years is not a lot to an immortal being and a dragon." Noctus cleared his throat. "As I was saying. After a few years the baby dragon could walk and talk. I tried to teach it to be a kinder dragon, so I told it to never use your fire against anything that isn't fire resistant. Now that I fully remember it, the dragon had an odd habit of snoring. Soon enough the dragon had grown big enough to live on its own. So I took it to the the Dragon Isles, home of the dragons. To start off its collection to become a full-fledged dragon I gave it a Moonstone. Afterwards I left him to grown normally." Noctus looked up at the now adult dragon. "I didn't expect that tiny orange dragon to grown so big! How did your scales change color Mavxatuirojir?" The dragon tilted his head until his eyes shot open once he realized who the dark violet unicorn pony was before him.
"Uncle Noctus! Is that really you?!" Mavxatuirojir exclaimed. Noctus nodded in response.
"Yup, although I may look different right now, its still me." Mavxatuirojir happily reached for Noctus and grabbed him. Noctus, unprepared, panicked. The girls all prepared to attack the dragon. But everypony halted as the dragon pulled Noctus in for a giant-sized hug.
"Uncle! It's been too long! Once I had sensed your presence again I returned to our home here. In hope of meeting you once again!" Mavxatuirojir shouted in glee.
"That's, *grunt* fine Mavxatuirojir *grunt* but can you stop the hugging? I think you're crushing me!" Noctus said desperately.
"Oh!" Mavxatuirojir released his bear hug and placed Noctus down. "Sorry Uncle, I had forgotten that I am much bigger than last time."
"Its fine, I'll heal fast," Noctus said as he popped his neck. "I hope."
"Uh, I hope I'm not intruding, but we still have a situation here." Rainbow whispered to Noctus, pointing upwards.
"Right, right. Hey Mavx!" Mavxatuirojir leaned down his head.
"Yes Uncle?"
"I have to ask you to find another place to sleep, your snoring is releasing smoke into the air. It's going to cover the entire country." Noctus explained.
"What! I didn't mean to! Ugh I had thought I got my snoring under control." Mavx smacked his forehead. "I didn't know, I am truly sorry."
"We told you multiple time though." Twilight added.
"You did? I'm sorry I must have been still half asleep! My apologies." Mavx bowed his head. "But, I still do not want to leave this place."
"What?! Why?!"
"I want to live near my Uncle. It has been so long." Twilight nervously looked to her friends. Fluttershy seemed to feel sorry for Mavx, but Rainbow Dash and Applejack seemed to still want him to leave. Twilight didn't know what to do! She began to hyperventilate and a strand of hair popped out of place.
"Whoa there." Noctus put a hoof on her shoulder. "Don't be freaking out. Calm down and think about it, is there any spells you can think of that can help us out here? Usually there's a spell for everything." Twilight stared into Noctus's eyes and calmed down. She smoothed her hair back down and cleared her throat.
"Ok." Twilight thought about any spells that could solve the problem. There were not known spells to clear the sky of smoke. Plus it would take a lot of magic and repetitive use. Then, she remembered a simple spell in a medical book. "Wait, that just might work! But I'll need lots of magic if we're going to use it on Mavx. Rarity, Noctus, can you help?"
"Of course." Rarity replied.
"Anything I can help with." Noctus agreed.
"Great. Ok now this is the spell we're going to use. Twilight quickly wrote the spell onto a scroll and handed it over to the two other unicorns.
"Hmm, this could work." Noctus stated. He looked up at Twilight. "We'll get to learning it as fast as we can."
"Perfect! I'll get the preparations started.




~~~~~~~~###~~~~~~~~




"Ugh, I hope I'll never have to fly again in my entire life again." Noctus stated as he launched himself onto his bed.
Twilight laughed at the tired stallion. "Considering that you're probably going to live for a while, I highly doubt that, that will be that last time you fly." She said from the door to Noctus's room. "Although, it was nice of Mavx to fly all of us back to Ponyville. But boy did it cause a lot of screaming."
"Well of course it would. How would you have reacted if a giant dragon landed in your town?"
"Anyways, I'm really glad that the spell worked on Mavx. Now he can continue to stay at the mountain, and he won't snore smoke anymore!"
"Yeah, so you remembered an anti-snoring spell?" Noctus asked.
"No, it just opens his nose more so that the air doesn't get obstructed. Since there's no snoring, there isn't any smoke!"
"Interesting thinking there Twilight." Noctus scooted in his bed and made himself more comfortable. "Mavx sure has grown since last time I saw him. He even remembers all the lessons I taught him."
"Of course." Twilight said. "You're the one who took care of him."
"Yeah, I'm just glad he met his real parents." Twilight nodded in agreement. He said he even became one of the strongest dragons there. I'd like to go and study the Dragon Isles."
"Right now?" Noctus raised an eyebrow.
"NO! I mean. . .That's way too dangerous for me." Noctus chuckled at Twilight, then let out a yawn.
"Well *yawn* it's getting really late. Night Twilight." Noctus pulled his covers up and used his magic to turn off the light on his table.
"Night Noctus." Twilight replied as she closed the door and continued up the stairs to go to sleep as well. She entered her room to see Spike sprawled out sleeping in his bed. Twilight smiled and readjusted Spike into a more comfortable position. She made for the bathroom, but stopped as she pasted her desk. She looked and saw a scroll and quill. Thinking, Twilight decided to send Princess Celestia a letter, explaining how they handled the problem.