It was a fine day and Fluttershy was busy at home, caring lovingly for the animals around her. She fed fish to the otters, worms to the birds, all around happy with her work, as she alighted down to a small house she had for a little white rabbit, munching on a carrot.
“Not too fast, Angel Bunny, or you’ll get a tummyache.”
In response to her words, Angel gave her a look and simply dropped the carrot before hopping off, Fluttershy giggling at his act as she said, “You really should eat more than that I think. It’s not playtime yet.”
Grabbing the carrot, she flew ahead of Angel, dropping it in front of him, saying, “I know you want to run but… just three more bites.”
Angel pouted and shook his head no.
“Two more bites?”
He shook no.
Fluttershy edged the carrot closer to him, kindly asking, “Pretty please?”
Angel responded by kicking the carrot away, like that spoiled brat he was, and hopping off as Fluttershy sighed. She loved her little Angel Bunny but honestly wished he could be a little better behaved.
*Cough-cough*
“Oh my!” Fluttershy went over to him, asking, “Are you okay? Are you coughing from carrot stuck in your throat? Do you need some water?”
Angel gave a heaving hacking cough while pointing towards the sky ahead before finally pointing Fluttershy’s gaze in that direction, and she gasped! Wafting from a distant mountaintop was a thick trail of smoke.
“Because of that giant cloud of scary-black smoke?!”
She was answered by the carrot being thrown at her head and noticed the stink-eye Angel was giving her. She sheepishly smiled, “I’ll take that as a ‘yes’.”
As the smoke descended towards Ponyville, Fluttershy ran into the park, calling out (in her soft voice), “Help! Help! There’s a horrible cloud of smoke!”
Everypony went about their business, not hearing her.
“It’s headed this way,” she tried again, gasping as she dodged a ball, a rainbow streak intercepting it.
“Don’t be such a scaredy-pony, it’s just me!” Rainbow Dash was bouncing the ball on her head and rump.
“Future Equestria ball-bouncing record holder. Three forty six, three forty seven...”
“This calls for a celebration!” declared a voice Fluttershy knew too well.
“Oh no, Pinkie Pie, this is no time for a celebration,” Fluttershy corrected (in her perpetually soft voice) as the smoke continued to cloud in.
“This is a time for panic, for-”
“Ooh!” Pinkie popped up in front of her, saying, “I’m gonna need balloons, one for everypony in Ponyville!”
“There’s- There’s smoke,” Fluttershy ran, trying to keep up with the bouncy pink pony, “and where there’s smoke there’s fire-”
She crashed into Pinkie (who for some reason had become as solid as a wall in her sudden stop) as Pinkie began counting everypony, “One, two, three…”
At that moment, nearby was Midnight, enjoying the sunshine when he noticed something was blocking it. Looking up, he gasped! He ran over to a nearby bridge, shouting, “ATTENTION, EVERYPONY!”
All the ponies in the park looked to him as he said, “We appear to have an emergency! Look up!”
Everypony looked up and gasped to see the smoke steadily creeping over Ponyville.
“But don’t worry!”
Midnight looked back and saw Twilight and Spike coming, “I’ve just received a letter from Princess Celestia informing it is not coming from a fire.”
For a blessed moment, everypony, particularly Fluttershy, sighed in relief, only for that relief to be stolen a moment later by Twilight stating, “It’s coming from a dragon!”
Everypony gasped, Fluttershy fearfully uttering, “A- a dragon?!”
“Midnight, gather all our friends, meeting at the Golden Oak Library,” Twilight instructed her student.
“At once, Twilight,” Midnight saluted before hurrying off.
Not too long later, the Elements of Harmony, along with Big McIntosh and Thunderlane, had gathered for Twilight’s meeting at the library.
“Wha’ in th’ name o’ all things cinnamon-swirled is a full-grown dragon doing here in Equestria?” Applejack asked.
“Sleeping,” was Twilight’s simple answer, much to the collective “Huh” from everypony present.
“According to Princess Celestia, he’s taking a nap. His snoring is the cause of all this smoke.”
“He really needs a doctor,” Pinkie suggested, “that doesn’t sound healthy at all.”
“This is probably my fault,” Midnight stated, sounding guilty, “After that dragon fiasco Snips and Snails caused, I only sent the dragons that they disturbed into the Everfree Forest.”
“You’re not to blame,” Twilight assured him. “We don’t even know if this dragon is one of the two you took care of.”
“Well at least he’s not snoring fire, bro,” Thunderlane agreed. “But that still begs the question, what do we do about this?”
“I’ll tell you what, we give him the boost!” Rainbow piped up, bucking the wooden horse head bust in the middle of the room, Twilight re-setting it with her aura. But Rainbow was getting into it as she launched herself at the bust, yelling, “Take that!”
But Twilight had moved the bust out of the way, leaving Rainbow to crash into the wall in a slump.
“We need to encourage him to take a nap somewhere else,” Twilight corrected her.” Princess Celestia has given us this mission and we must not fail.”
“Failure will mean Equestria overcast with smoke for the next hundred years!” Midnight added urgently.
Fluttershy gasped while Rarity commented, “Talk about getting your beauty sleep!”
“Alright everypony, I’ll need you to gather supplies quickly,” Twilight instructed as she put on her saddlebags.
“We have a long journey ahead of us. Let’s meet back here in one hour.”
“Fillies and gentlecolts, we’ve got a job to do!” Rainbow Dash declared. “Do we have what it takes?!”
Applejack, Pinkie, Big Mac, Rarity, and Thunderlane all reared up and cheered affirmatively as they headed out, with Fluttershy bringing up the rear, looking nervous. This did not escape Midnight’s notice. He went over and gave an encouraging nudge to her shoulder, saying, “Everything will be alright, Flutters. We all have something to contribute.”
As she watched Midnight follow AJ and Mac back home, Fluttershy couldn’t help but smile a little at his encouragement despite the lingering doubt she felt.
Not long later, Twilight walked in front of eight ponies assembled, saying, “Alright, everypony, I’m mapping out the quickest route, but we’ve all gotta keep a good pace if we’re to make it by nightfall.”
Midnight stepped forward, adding, “And it won’t be easy, as we gotta climb that mountain!”
He pointed to where the smoke was coming from, informing them, “The dragon resides in a cave at the top.”
“Looks pretty cold up there,” Applejack observed, Big Mac adding, “Eeyup.”
“It sure is,” Thunderlane replied, “the higher you go, the chillier it gets.
“Well then it’s a good thing I brought my scarf,” Rarity commented as she pulled it from her saddlebag, a scarf striped into two shades of pink, Pinkie complimenting, “Ooh, pretty!”
Rarity posed with it, Rainbow giggling, “Yeah, that’ll keep you nice and cozy!”
Fluttershy looked to the smoky mountaintop, gulping, and approached Twilight, who was busy looking over a map.
“Um, Twilight? I realize you’re busy but-”
“Uh-huh, well we could go this way,” Twilight wasn’t really listening.
“If I could just have a second-”
“Well, we’ll want to avoid that!” Twilight poked at the map, still not listening.
“So, um, I was thinking that, um,” Fluttershy haltingly spoke, “maybe… I should just stay here in Ponyville.”
“Uh-huh,” Twilight muttered until a few seconds later she realized what she’d just heard. “Wait!”
She hurried over to Fluttershy, who had just been in the process of leaving,
“You have to come! Your way with wild animals will surely come in handy! Oh, and don’t worry about your little friends in the meadow.”
Fluttershy noticed Spike, accompanied by some of Fluttershy’s animals.
“Spike’s got it covered while you’re gone.”
“You can count on me,” Spike said confidently, which was ruined by Angel, who tapped rather hard on his head, scaring the animals off. “Wha- Wait, wait!”
As Spike left to corral the critters up, Fluttershy said, “I’m not really sure he’s quite up to the task. Maybe-”
But Twilight wasn’t listening. Midnight had noticed however and went over to Fluttershy, saying, “I know, she really needs to work on her listening-to-others skills. Fluttershy, I understand if you’re scared. But just remember, Twilight has faith in your skills with animals, and that surely tells you how much faith she has in you! Draw courage from that faith, and you’ll surely be up to the task.”
Fluttershy just squealed nervously.
Meanwhile, Rainbow was having a word with Twilight.
“Are you sure you wanna bring her along? Fluttershy’s scared of her own shadow, she’s just gonna slow us down!”
“Oh she’s just a little nervous,” Twilight scoffed, “Once we get going I’m sure she’ll be fine.”
However, they heard a squeak and Twilight felt her confidence in Fluttershy drop when she literally hid at the sight of her own shadow, Rainbow giving her a look.
Before long, the nine ponies were making their way towards the mountain, and the closer they got, the louder the snores coming from atop became. The snores were so loud, they made the earth around them tremble.
“Whoa, and Ah thought Big Mac’s snorin’ was a waker-upper!” Applejack commented, her brother rolling his eyes. But he noticed somepony hiding behind him, Fluttershy saying, “I-it’s so… high!”
“Well it is a mountain,” Rainbow said with a tone meant for the phrase ‘duh’. “I’m gonna fly up and check it out.”
But Thunderlane barred her way, saying, “Not so fast, Dash! I think we should stick together.”
“Thunder’s right,” Applejack agreed, the others nodding, “safety in numbers an’ all.”
“Oh alright,” Rainbow pouted.
Before long, everypony was making their way up, Rainbow flapping aloft with the same bored pouty look as Rarity said, “I heard the only thing that sparkles more than a dragon’s scales are the jewels they use to build their nests. Ooh, if I play my cards right, I might convince him to part with a few!”
“Oh! You mean like, ‘Welcome to my cave, Rarity’!” Pinkie said in a growly voice. “‘Care for a diamond?’ Rargh!”
Everypony laughed at her little joke except Twilight who said, “Everypony! This is no laughing matter!”
“Unclench, Twi,” Midnight chuckled, Twilight giving him a look. “Better to be in high spirits than uptight like you.”
Twilight growled at his words but let it go as she said, “Fluttershy, you’re the expert on wild creatures. What do you think the dragon will be like? Fluttershy?”
They all looked back and saw Fluttershy was quivering behind a bush.
“Hey! What’re you waiting for, an invitation?” snapped Rainbow.
“Ooh! I think I have one in my bag,” Pinkie said, an explosion of confetti bursting out of her bag.
“It’s- It’s so…. Steep,” Fluttershy shivered.
“It is a cliff!” Rainbow sighed wearily. “You could just, I dunno… fly up here?”
“Come on, Fluttershy!” Midnight called out encouragingly. “We’re waiting for ya!”
Hearing Midnight, Fluttershy stepped out, saying, “O-okay…”
She flapped her wings, rising several feet into the air, when a loud snore made her squeal. Her heart all but gave out as she instinctively closed up her wings and fell back into the bush.
“Urgh!” Rainbow growled, Twilight in agreement as she said, “We don’t have time for this!”
But at that moment, Big Mac took the map from her bag.
“What’re you doing?”
“Lookin’ for another way t’ take Fluttershy,” Big Mac answered. He found a route and slid down to Fluttershy, Midnight coming as well.
“Not necessary,” the blue unicorn assured.
His horn flared and Fluttershy was levitated by his magic, as he said, “I’ll carry her.”
Everypony couldn’t help but laugh a little as Midnight levitated Fluttershy in front of him as they approached, followed by Big Mac. As they carried on, however, Twilight couldn’t help but notice how easily her student was carrying Fluttershy and keeping up with them, all the while apparently under no magical strain. She knew Midnight had a lot of magic in him, especially after learning how he dealt with the double dragon attack on Ponyville. At the time, she remembered Midnight saying it would’ve been easier at night, when the moon was glowing.
“Is something wrong, dear?”
She looked to see Rarity, giving her a concerned look.
“It’s just Midnight,” she said, “He has been a constant surprise to me, not just as a friend but as a student! He’s bypassing everything I’m teaching him so far.”
“Well, that stallion certainly seems to be quite gifted,” Rarity gave Midnight a look-over, And his chores at the farm are certainly doing him a favor…
“Tell me darling, remember Midnight’s story, how he’s from another world and was a different being entirely?”
“What about it?”
“Has he ever… expressed an interest in going back?”
“I asked him that before the tickets for the gala arrived,” Twilight said, “Midnight has no intention of going back to his old world, he even said his life there is over, that his life is now here. He even said he considers us his family now.”
“How darling,” Rarity couldn’t help but feel warmed by that. “But didn’t he mention a sister?”
“He misses her, but don’t you remember his story?” Twilight added. “He said in his world, he died, and Princess Celestia brought his soul here, where he became a pony.”
“Well, dying in his old world? That would certainly be part of the reason he doesn’t want to go back,” Rarity mused. “Can’t just go home and say ‘hello everyone, I died but actually went to a different world and now I’m back’. Imagine the reaction!”
“That makes sense,” Twilight agreed. “But I can’t help but feel despite everything we’ve been through with him, there continues to be more to him than meets the eye.”
“Well, that’s life, darling.”
Before long, they were walking along a ledge, Twilight whispering, “Let’s keep it down, according to the map we’re in an avalanche zone. The slightest peep could set off a rockslide!”
“An ava- ava-” Fluttershy tried to say, Midnight saying, “Shh!”
He set her down and said, “Tip-toe!”
Everypony tiptoed along, not saying a word. But as Rainbow passed under the branch of a tree, a leaf flittered down, and as luck would’ve had it, it alighted onto Fluttershy’s back.
“AVALA-”
Big Mac covered her mouth, everypony going tense with anticipation.
…
…
When nothing happened, they sighed in relief, only to hear a distant rumble and the suspense built up as they looked up and saw…
“AVALANCHE!!!!”
Screaming, everypony scrambled for cover, dodging huge boulders, zig-zagging through a stony storm, narrowly avoiding a close-call here or there. Finally, it all calmed down, Applejack calling out, “Everypony okay?”
“Thanks to you I am,” Twilight answered, “thanks for the save back there.”
“Ugh!” Rarity shook herself of the dust she’d been covered with, Thunderlane going over to flap it away while Pinkie bounced, “Let’s do it again!”
“PINKIE!” everypony growled with a warning rise of their tones.
“Uh, we might have a problem,” Big Mac brought up and they saw a great pile of dirt and rocks covering the path.
“I’m sorry,” Fluttershy whimpered.
“It’s alright, sugarcube,” Applejack assured her, Midnight saying, “We’ll just… go over.”
Everypony sighed tiresomely but trekked on. Going up, Rainbow was giving Fluttershy the stink-eye as she brought up the rear. But as they made their way down the other side, Fluttershy was trying to be careful on her way down, when she slipped. She crashed into Rarity and Big Mac, and they slid all the way down.
“Oh, my apologies,” Rarity said as Rainbow helped her up.
“Not your fault,” Rainbow told her in a tone that let Fluttershy know she was to blame.
Fluttershy’s ears drooped but Midnight went over and gave her shoulders a reassuring squeeze. They ran up to catch up with the others as they went around bend, Midnight saying, “Don’t let Rain bow get’cha down. She’s just…”
“I know…” Fluttershy responded with a tone that said she was down. “I wish I could be brave like her…”
“You can be, Flutters,” Midnight assured, “But look, being brave doesn’t mean being fearless. It means facing the challenge even if you’re afraid but you don’t let your fears stop you.”
“Really?” Fluttershy was genuinely piqued by that. “I always thought…”
“Everypony has something to be scare of, Fluttershy,” Midnight went on. “That’s just the way we are. But being brave doesn't mean you're not afraid. It means you do what you gotta do even when you are!. And I know, when the time is right, you’ll find your own bravery."
Fluttershy smiled at him gratefully when Twilight whispered loudly, “We’re here!”
They all stood before a massive cave, and the smoke was slowly trailing out from the top in a thin ominous flume. Twilight looked to their two weather-ponies, saying, “Rainbow Dash, Thunderlane, you two have to use your wings to clear the smoke.”
“We’re on it,” Thunderlane said with a salute and the co-captains zoomed skyward.
“Rarity and Pinkie Pie, you’ll create a distraction for the dragon in case the situation goes south in there.”
Pinkie Pie responded by waving a rubber chicken around, Rarity and Twilight sharing a look.
“Applejack, Big McIntosh, you're ready with the apples in case he decides to attack.”
The Apple siblings confirmed so by bucking some apples into a tree, where they turned to apple-sauce upon impact, Big Mac whispering, “Eeyup!”
“But it shouldn't come to that, because Fluttershy will do what she needs to do to wake him up,” Twilight assured, Fluttershy feeling her heart pound, Midnight putting a comforting hoof on her back. He sighed at how clueless his teacher was, how could she not notice how scared poor Fluttershy was?
“And between her, me, and Midnight, we should be able to get him to understand why he needs to go. Is everypony ready?”
They all nodded, Twilight saying, “Okay then, we’re going in!”
But as she made her way in, Twilight had not noticed she was alone, “So, what is the best way to wake a sleeping dragon without upsetting him? Fluttershy?”
She looked and saw she was alone.
“Midnight?! Oh come on!”
She came out and saw Midnight was shrugging as he pointed to Fluttershy whose face was buried in the dirt.
“Come on, we have to do this!” Twilight said as she started pushing against Fluttershy.
“Unbelievable,” muttered Midnight.
“I know!” Twilight agreed as Rainbow started helping her push. “Come on!” – She grunted as Rainbow pushed – “Every second that dragon” – She grunted as Rarity started helping – “sleeps is another” – She grunted as Applejack started helping – “acre of Equestria that is covered in” – she grunted as Pinkie started helping – “smoke!”
Big Mac and Thunderlane almost stepped in but Midnight shook his head no while saying, “Fluttershy, do you want me to tell them?”
“I-” Fluttershy stuttered, “I- I can’t go in that cave…”
The girls all keeled over in frustration, Rainbow saying, “Oh great, now she’s scared of caves?!”
“It’s not the cave, Rainbow,” Midnight corrected irritably, Fluttershy saying, “Midnight’s right. I’m not scared of caves, I’m scared of…”
“Whassat, sugarcube?” Applejack asked.
“I’m scared of…”
“What?” Twilight snapped.
“I’m scared of dragons!” Fluttershy finally blurted out, covering her head with her wings with a fearful shiver.
“But Fluttershy, you have a wonderful talent dealing with all kinds of animals!” Twilight reminded her.
“Yes, because they’re not dragons,” Fluttershy replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“Come on Flutters!” Thunderlane said encouragingly, “What about the time you walked right up to a manticore? It didn’t seem like such a big deal to you!”
“Yes, because he wasn’t a dragon,” Fluttershy maintained.
“Spike’s a dragon and you’re not scared of him,” Pinkie reminded her with a smile.
“Yes, because he 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 if you’re so afraid of dragons,” Twilight brought up, “why didn’t you say something before we came all the way up here?!”
“Because she was afraid to,” Midnight clarified. “I can’t believe you didn’t notice!”
Twilight felt a little bad by that statement, as Midnight went on, saying to Fluttershy, “Fluttershy, all of us are scared of that dragon too!”
“I’m not!”
Midnight gave Rainbow a flat look but repeated, “All of us are scared of that dragon too!”
“Ah-hem!” *Zip!* "Mmph!"
Midnight had used the zip-it spell on the egotistical pegasus mare, Thunderlane chuckling at the disgruntled look on her face.
“But we’ve gotta job t’ do,” Applejack reminded the timid butter-yellow Pegasus. “So get in there with Twilight and Midnight, and show `em what yer made of!”
Despite the encouraging looks she got from everypony (not including Rainbow), Fluttershy stuttered, “I- I- …I’m sorry, I just can’t…”
“Oh Fluttershy,” Midnight whispered as he watched their friend sulk away.
So Twilight and Midnight went in themselves.
“Don’t think badly of Fluttershy, Twilight. Everypony has something they just aren’t ready to face!”
“I know, but I thought we could encourage her to do her part,” Twilight replied, feeling guilty to be disappointed at their friend.
“But I suppose I should’ve been more sensitive to her feelings earlier. Even so, we have a job to do. Between the two of us, I’m sure we can… convince the dragon to move on… right?”
“Uh sure,” Midnight was finally feeling the weight on their shoulders, and it came with its own anxiety as they went further in. They kept their ears alert and their horns just lightly glowing with shield spells at the ready, just in case.
But to both unicorns' bewilderment, they heard nothing other than that wind breathing past the cavernous walls of the cave. Not only that, they realized, the air i nthe cave, chill and musty, didn't reek of the smoke they'd smelled before. In fact, the whole cave seemed rather spacious, large enough to serve as a grand hall in a castle, with a few small passages extending deeper within into smaller caves.
"Uh... Twi? Shouldn't we have come across the dragon by now?" Midnight asked a tad dumbly even though there was a hint of caution in his voice.
"He has to be here! But... you're right!" Twilight couldn't understand what was going on. "I don't hear any snoring, i hardly smell any smoke..."
Then Twilight lit up her horn and cast a spell, a faint pulse of light expanding from her position, spreading out like a ripple throughout the cave walls. Midnight waited a long moment, not wanting to interrupt Twilight's concentration, when the lavender mare's eyes opened and she gasped, "Midnight... there's no dragon here!"
"Are you sure?" Midnight tilted his head, confused.
"That was a dowsing spell," Twilight explained, still sounding incredulous, "It allows the caster to use their magic to sense their surroundings, detecting virtually anything within the area of effect. It spread throughout the main chamber of the cave, but... other than a few bugs and such, there's nothing here! I can detect signs that a dragon most certainly was living here until recently, but... this dragon is gone!"
"Gone, like... he left?" Midnight inquired.
"Gone as in vanished!" Twilight was starting to get nervous, "It's as though the dragon literally just disappeared into thin air!"
"Let's... have a look around, just to be sure," Midnight suggested, "but keep your guard up."
The two unicorns ventured deeper, finding a deep impression in the middle of the cave floor, with faint sparkles that turned out to be minuscule gems and a few gold coins. There were large claw marks in one wall, and another looked like it'd been blasted with fire. But then, at the way back of the cave, something caught Midnight's eye, "Twilight! I got something!"
He hurried to the wall, hearing Twilight coming behind him, and he levitated up what appeared to be a message in a bottle that had been set upon a rock in obvious display. He showed it to Twilight, asking, "What do you suppose this is?"
"Well, only one way to find out," Twilight took the bottle in her magic, uncorked it, and carefully drew the rolled up parchment within to see, "It's a message. Hold on...
"'To those it may concern, the dragon on this mountain no longer poses a problem to the Equestrian skies. With the dragon's snoring no longer producing so much smoke, the air will soon clear on its own though some weather pegasi should help it along, just in case. The dragon is no more and the hoard has been claimed, for services rendered. Thank you and have a nice day-' Whoa!"
No sooner had Twilight finished reading the message aloud, the parchment instantly ignited with blue flames and was reduced to ashes faster than either unicorns could blink. The bottle the message had been in likewise vanished when it popped like a bubble into nothing, leaving the two unicorns perplexed by what had just happened. For a long moment, neither of them said anything, until Midnight took a deep breath, "Well... looks like we came all this way for nothing."
"But- I don't understand! Princess Celestia gave us this task," Twilight flabbergasted, "Why send us up here if somepony else already... resolved the situation?"
"Maybe she doesn't know someone else did," suggested Midnight, "the message said that the dragon's hoard was claimed for... services rendered. Sounds to me that someone beat us here, somehow got rid of the dragon, and took his hoard like it was a payment."
"But who?! Who could make a whole dragon just disappear make off with all his gold and gems like it was nothing?!" Twilight wondered a tad frantically.
"Your guess would be as good as mine, Twi," Midnight shrugged, "There's no point sticking around here. Let's head out, tell the others the dragon is gone, and just go home."
"...I guess that's all we can do," Twilight nodded, still a little disturbed by this unexpected development, and followed Midnight out of the cave.
She lingered a moment to peer back, almost expecting to see some kind of sign that might clue as to what may or may not have happened, but she saw only a gloomy cave, and ventured on. When Twilight stepped back into the sunshine, a pair of glowing eyes watched from the darkest corner in the cave before they blinked out, the few remaining gems and coins vanishing with it.