My Little Pony - The Legend of Friendship

by Danieru

7. Dragonphobia

Author's Note:

Time for Fluttershy to show what she is made of.
And time for Star Twinkle to be his usual self °_°.

Fluttershy is best Mane six btw ^^.

Every kind of feedback no matter if good or bad about this chapter or fic, in general, is appreciated ^^.

Star Twinkle was right on his way back home after he finished working at the Iron Hammer. On his way, he noticed a black smoke cloud above Ponyville. He wondered what this was all about but then decided to proceed to go home.

“Whatever that is, I'm sure somepony will take care of that. It's none of my business,” he said while entering his house and closing the door behind him.

But as soon as he closed the door, somepony knocked on it so Star Twinkle opened it again with a bad feeling in his mind as if he knew what was going to happen next.

“We need your help,” said Twilight after Star Twinkle opened the door with a concerned tone in her voice.

“Of course, you do,” he replied annoyed while looking at Twilight bothered.

Star Twinkle followed Twilight to the Golden Oak Library where the rest of his friends waited. Apparently, a dragon was sleeping in a nearby mountain of Ponyville and his snoring caused this giant smoke cloud that Star Twinkle saw before. Princess Celestia ordered Twilight and her friends to take care of this dragon or else all of Equestria will be covered in smoke for the next one hundred years.

Star Twinkle couldn't even believe what he was asked to do. Is he supposed to face off against a dragon? That was just ridiculous. But he also couldn't say anything because it was Princess Celestia who asked them to do it. So it was either going up against a dragon or the ruler of all Equestria. They defeated Nightmare Moon somehow so a dragon is also possible, he thought while still having a bad feeling about that. It's once again, one of those moments where he wished to return to his quiet and boring life.

He returned home and prepared a saddlebag that he filled with some random stuff. After all, he didn't know what to bring against a dragon...

"A dragon..." he thought.

"A dragon!" He exclaimed angrily. "I am supposed to go up against a dragon?" He asked himself, still believing that this was some kind of sick joke.

If he never met his new friends, then he would never be asked to accompany them to face off against a dragon. He was pretty sure that fighting dragons didn't have the slightest to do with friendship. But what could he do about it now? Should he stay in Ponyville? How does that look like? He wasn't thinking like some kind of macho stallion but just the thought about six mares going up against a dragon while the only stallion bails out was hurting Star Twinkle's manliness a little.

After getting ready like everypony else, Star Twinkle met his friends again in front of the Golden Oak Library where they discussed the situation. The dragon was sleeping in a cave on top of a mountain so the first thing they have to do is climb up. So they all went towards the mountain.

When everypony arrived at the mountain, they all heard a very loud ground shaking noise. Twilight explained that this is what a dragon snore sounds like. It already sounded very dangerous for Star Twinkle, making him startle a little but he calmed down after he saw how Fluttershy was literally shaking with fear. It was at this moment where he was wondering why she even accompanied them. Star Twinkle was definitely not the bravest pony but Fluttershy seemed to be on a whole different level. But nopony said anything about her behavior so Star Twinkle kept his mouth shut too.

Rainbow Dash, who was rash as always tried to fly to the top but Applejack stopped her and advised that the group should stay together. A plan that Star Twinkle happily agreed to.

Everypony climbed the mountain except Star Twinkle and Fluttershy. Star Twinkle was not really looking forward to meeting this dragon so he wanted to go last and let the girls go forward. It was maybe not the most gentlecolt-like behavior but they didn't seem to be scared at all so they might as well go first then. But Fluttershy hesitated and Star Twinkle knew exactly why. Her face and her body language were pretty obvious to him. And it didn't help that Rainbow Dash was putting more pressure on her. Fluttershy was even too scared to fly up the mountain after hearing another dragon snore.

“Hey, listen! This may take a while so how about we go around the mountain and met you up there?” Said Star Twinkle to the rest of the ponies.

The rest of the group was probably not too fond of this idea, especially Rainbow Dash but Star Twinkle didn't know any other solution. However, the group agreed and continued their climb while Star Twinkle and Fluttershy went around the mountain in really slow pace

The others were probably there already but Star Twinkle wasn't bothered by that. Fluttershy, on the other hoof, was following him really quietly while looking at the ground most of the time. Star Twinkle took this opportunity and asked her the obvious question.

“You're scared, right?” He calmly asked.

Fluttershy was shocked to hear this question, probably because she thought she was good at hiding it and didn't think that somepony would notice. She didn't answer him but the answer was obvious to him.

“Glad that I'm not the only one,” he said, making Fluttershy wonder.

“You are scared too?” She curiously asked, while slowly catching up to Star Twinkle's walking speed.

“Of course, I am. I don't think going up against a dragon is a good idea at all,” he almost nervously said.

Fluttershy seemed surprised to hear that and said that she didn't expect him to be afraid at all. But then she said something that made Star Twinkle almost angry.

“Back then, against Nightmare Moon, you didn't seem to be scared at all,” she proudly said.

Hearing that made Star Twinkle lower his eyebrows in annoyance.

"There it is again. I was judged once again by one moment. My "friends" all behave like they know me, even though they don't. Things like: “You're normally not like this” or “Back then you were...” It's always like I have to exceed their expectations. And that is something I just can't do...I can't be somepony they want me to be...I can just be myself..." He monologued in his head.

Now Star Twinkle was the one who looked at the ground most of the time. Fluttershy noticed that he was in thoughts and decided to not bother him. She was not sure if she said something wrong or if he just didn't want to talk so she followed him slowly like she did before.

After a while, they finally caught up with the rest, who didn't seem to be bothered at all considering that they had to wait for a fair amount of time for Star Twinkle and Fluttershy to catch up. They continued to climb up the mountain and came across a cliff, where they had to jump over to proceed. As usual, Star Twinkle waited for everypony to go first and once again it was him and Fluttershy who was left.

Fluttershy was too afraid to jump and stayed on the other side, making Star Twinkle sigh in frustration.

“What now?” Star Twinkle said, to the rest of the ponies, while shrugging his shoulders.

Pinkie Pie decided to jump over to motivate Fluttershy with a little song. It actually worked and Fluttershy was gaining some courage, through the song. She closed her eyes and leaped forward but after Twilight advised her to not look down, out of reflex, she did look down. But considering that the cliff was only like two hoof steps long nothing happened and Fluttershy stood between the two ledges. Rainbow Dash also let out a sigh of frustration and pushed Fluttershy to the other side, followed by Star Twinkle who casually jumped over the ledge.

The needlessly complicated journey continued and Star Twinkle became more and more annoyed by the fact that the dragon was no longer his main concern for the day. Twilight advised that the group should stay quiet since they were entering an avalanche zone. Hearing that calmed Star Twinkle down a little. Fluttershy may be scared by a lot of things but at least she was quiet while doing it. So there should be no problem, he thought. But as soon as he thought that, Fluttershy attempted to scream in fear, caused by unknown reasons. Luckily Applejack stopped her before an avalanche could start. There was a loud echo of Fluttershy's scream but it didn't seem to cause an avalanche so everypony sighed in relief. But it was too early to relax because those exact sighs caused an avalanche, making rocks almost fall from the sky.
Everypony tried to do their best to avoid the rocks while running forward and they all managed to get out with no injuries. The avalanche only lasted roughly one minute but it felt a lot longer for them, considering the danger there were in.

After regrouping, they realized that the path was blocked by rubble caused by the avalanche. So the only thing they could do now is climb over it, which again would take more time than necessary. Fluttershy, who felt responsible for this apologized but everypony was very understanding about all this. Except for Star Twinkle and Rainbow Dash who was really annoyed by all this. While climbing up the rubble Star Twinkle slowly lost his calm and began mumbling to himself.

“As if dealing with a dragon wasn't bad enough,” he mumbled to himself while continuing his way downhill over the rubble.
“This day has been nothing but a drag. Can't believe that I'm saying that but I hope we reach this dragon soon,” he mumbled to himself while turning around to see if Fluttershy is still behind him.

She was slowly climbing down the rubble as expected from him. But she suddenly slipped and fell down the hill crashing in Star Twinkle, Rarity, and Applejack on the way downhill. Star Twinkle never thought that the day would come where he was too annoyed to complain but there it was. Rainbow Dash flew over to them and tried to help them up. Out of courtesy, Rarity apologized but Rainbow Dash was hinting who's fault it really was.

This trip was annoying Star Twinkle more and more and he wished that it would end soon and it looked like his wish was about to come true, cause they finally arrived at the top and in front of the cave where this dragon was sleeping.

All of the sudden Star Twinkle realized again why he thought that this was a bad idea. Now there is no turning back and his fear showed up again. But that didn't stop Twilight to give some orders to deal with the situation.

Rainbow Dash was ordered to clear the smokes with her wings. Star Twinkle, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity should start a diversion to distract the dragon if things would get too hairy. Applejack was preparing some apples to attack him if he starts to attack. And Fluttershy's and Twilight's job was to convince the dragon to leave the mountain.

“So if things get “hairy” I basically have to draw the attention from the dragon to me? Great...” he said not feeling good at all about this plan.

He would gladly switch places with Rainbow Dash if he was a Pegasus. That way he would at least stay far away from this dragon. Twilight was going in, expecting Fluttershy to be right behind her but Fluttershy was still outside hiding from the dragon. Everypony tried to shove her in the cave but she wasn't moving one inch but they stopped after she said that she couldn't go in. Much to the shock and frustration of everypony.

“Oh, yeah I forgot. She is scared of dragons,” Star Twinkle bluntly said.

“Scared of dragons?” Said Twilight in surprise. “Don't be ridiculous,” she said amusingly.

“No, it's true,” Fluttershy confirmed.

Everypony was confused to hear that, except for Star Twinkle, who was wondering why they even thought that she could speak to a dragon.

“But Fluttershy. You have a wonderful talent dealing with all kinds of animals,“ said Twilight.

“Yes, because they're not dragons,” Fluttershy replied.

“Oh come on! We've seen you walk right up to a horrible manticore like it was nothing,“ said Rainbow Dash.

“Yes, because he wasn't a dragon,” Fluttershy replied.

“Spike is a dragon. You're not scared of him,” said Pinkie Pie.

“Yes, 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! ”

Followed by one more snore coming out of the cave, covering everypony in smoke.

“Well she does have a point there,” Star Twinkle said while still coughing up from the smoke.

Twilight asked why Fluttershy didn't say anything about her fear of dragons to which she replied that she was too scared to tell them. They all tried to convince Fluttershy to do her part of the plan but she was just too afraid to. So it was up to the six remaining ponies to come up with another plan.

Twilight decided to go in and tried to persuade the dragon to leave on his own.

“You think it will work?” Applejack asked the remaining ponies who waited outside.

“Not really but it's not like we have another choice right?” Star Twinkle desperately said.

A few minutes later, Twilight walked out of the cave followed by another smoke cloud which probably meant that the dragon isn't going anywhere.

Now it was back to square zero and somepony had to come up with a new plan. Despite the situation, Rarity was relatively calm and insisted that they should try some “charm” to get the dragon out of the cave. So she confidently went inside while the rest waited outside again. And once again, after a few minutes, Rarity came back and the dragon was still inside the cave.

This situation was just as Star Twinkle imagined it. There is no way that they could do something against a dragon. If he was smaller then maybe they could forcefully get him out somehow. It wouldn't be the most polite way but the future of Equestria was at stake, Star Twinkle thought. Even Pinkie Pie came up with a plan to take care of the dragon. But Star Twinkle had some problems understanding her “Plan”. She was dressed up as a birthday present, had balloons strapped around her and wore some other random stuff. Her plan was to make the dragon laugh but Star Twinkle was not sure how that would get the dragon out of the cave. Needless to say, her plan failed and she came back out of the cave after a few seconds. Judging from her torn “clothes”, the dragon didn't seem to be amused by Pinkie Pie. Star Twinkle was not surprised by this outcome and just kept his mouth shut before he would say something unnecessary.

Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, had enough of wasting any more time and decided to smack some sense into this dragon. So she Dashed inside of the cave as fast as possible.

“Now I know that THIS is a really bad idea!” Said Star Twinkle, knowing the results of Rainbow Dash's plan before it even happened.

After only a few seconds, everypony heard a loud roar from inside the cave and Rainbow Dash came back spinning, crashing into everypony in the process followed by the dragon, who didn't look too happy now. It was a giant red dragon with sharp claws and scales, he was almost as big as the cave entrance itself. The only thing everypony could do at this moment was shaking in fear, just by the sight of this thing. The dragon was breathing out some smoke outside of his mouth, which was enough to push the six ponies against a boulder on the other side of the cliff, breaking it in the process and revealing Fluttershy who was hiding behind it.

Star Twinkle was not sure what he should now, they were no match for this dragon at all and it certainly didn't look as if it want's to talk anymore. But suddenly after losing all hope, he heard Fluttershy's voice.

“How dare you,” is what he could hear in a mean and almost angry voice as he looked up to see if he wasn't hearing things but it was indeed Fluttershy.

“HOW DARE YOU!” She said again but this time, it was louder and clearer that she was angry.

She flew up to the head of the dragon and literally talked him down, much to the surprise of everypony else.

“Listen here, mister. Just because you're big doesn't mean you get to be a bully! You may have huge teeth and sharp scales and snore smoke and breathe fire. But you do not-- I repeat-- You do not! Hurt! My! Friends! You got that?“

Star Twinkle couldn't believe what was happening right now. This shy little pony, that was scared by practically everything on the way up to this mountain, not to mention that she said a few minutes ago that she was afraid of dragons just made the dragon cower in fear instead.

After a little more lecturing from Fluttershy's side, the dragon was bursting out in tears but Fluttershy was not angry anymore and advised that the dragon should go and look for another place to sleep. A place where no other place is in danger to be engulfed in a giant black smoke cloud.

Everypony was impressed how Fluttershy handled that dragon all on her own and cheered for her, making her blush. The dragon flew away and the job was finally done so everypony decided to go back.

“Alright everypony let's go back to Ponyville and inform Princess Celestia about our success,” said Twilight as she was leading the way.

Star Twinkle followed them at a slow pace while thinking about what happened.

It still didn't make any sense for Star Twinkle how Fluttershy was suddenly able to overcome her fear like that. He had no idea that Fluttershy can be like that. It actually reminded him to back then, when he was trying to stop Nightmare Moon, where he also acted out of his usual self. So does that mean that Fluttershy was always this brave and that she was only holding herself back? Everypony expected her to go up against the dragon even though, she thought she couldn't do it.

"Do they think about me the same way? Is that why they still spend time with me? Because they think I'm..."

“Let's go, Star Twinkle,” said Fluttershy, interrupting Star Twinkles thoughts.

“Oh, yes,” he said while walking at a more normal speed.

“By the way,” he said while turning around for a moment to talk with Fluttershy.

“You did great there. That was really impressive,” he proudly said.

Fluttershy was embarrassed to hear those words, making her blush but also smile in happiness.

“Thank you...” she shyly said, lowering her head in embarrassment.

On the way back he spent his time to think about what he realized though Fluttershy.

"Some things are not always how they seem to be. You can be kind and shy but also strong and fearless. But what can I be?" He wondered as he walked away with his friends back to Ponyville.

Comments

[Danieru]

7258343
Yes, I know XP.
I am trying to add more conversations in every chapter but Star Twinkle rather likes to monologue in his head and avoids to talk with everypony as much as possible, so it's a little hard...
I am actually taking my sweet time to write every chapter considering that I plan to rewrite almost every episode ^^.