Dusk Shine in pursuit of Happiness

by bigsnusnu

Chapter 28 - A Wild Beast Awakens

A Wild Beast Awakens

"Finally, we did it!" Dusk Shine said with a great sigh of exhaustion, separating his legs and falling abruptly to the ground to finally rest after climbing the steepest part of the road.

While Dusk's friends, who were only a few steps behind him, came to his side and did the same as him, falling to the ground to rest and catch their breath on that small platform that had just arrived, where the road stopped rising and opened horizontally. It was on this platform that the road finally ended, the highest point to which that mountain could be climbed, and where the beast that they had to face rested.

Out of the six ponies that were on that trip, five of them were on the ground, tired, dirty, and slowly recovering their breath. The only exception was Rainbow Dash, although she was as dirty as the rest of her friends due to the recent events that occurred, she was in better condition than any of them, as she had avoided the exhaustion of having to climb the steep on their journey.

While still on the ground, Dusk Shine looked towards the side of the sky, where the sun was close to the horizon, which meant that there was little daylight left.

"We definitely took more time than expected..." Dusk said as he looked at the sun, thinking out loud.

"Well, at least it's not your fault." Rainbow Dash said annoyed, glancing at one of her friends, towards her shy pegasus companion.

Rainbow Dash couldn't help but show her displeasure at the latest events, because if there was a guilt party that everyone had been so late for and that everyone was dirty, tired and in pain, it was Fluttershy. In Rainbow Dash's opinion, the yellow pegasus had been a huge headache for the entire trip, starting by refusing to climb the foot of the mountain, causing everyone else to wait for her arrival; it was also her fault when Dusk almost fell into the abyss halfway, just because she was afraid to take a little leap; and finally what had irritated Rainbow Dash the most was what had happened recently, before climbing that last part of the road...

Previously, while everyone was walking along the last stretch before reaching the top, Dusk made them stop when he saw that many rocks had fallen in the middle of the road from the side of the mountain, probably due to the roars and snores of the dragon, which indicated that that area was a potential zone of landslides. Dusk made a sign of silence to his friends, and slowly walked on that dangerous part of the road, however, without warning, while Fluttershy was walking, listening to the dragon's snoring, she looked to one side and saw a huge shadow, which was actually her own shadow that had been enlarged by the effect of the afternoon sun, however, she immediately thought that it was the shadow of the huge dragon that came to devour her. So, she gave a huge and sharp cry that frightened everyone and made the loose rocks of the slope begin to fall on them.

At the time of the collapse, all the others began to run, being led by Pinkie Pie, with her always, her mysterious Pinkie-sense, she managed to elude the rocks by jumping and instinctively helped her friends to do the same until they reached a safer area. The only one who didn't move was Fluttershy, who was paralyzed by fear, only managing to save herself thanks to Applejack running towards her and pushing her to wake her from her daze and guide her to safety. Finally, they all had managed to avoid that terrible collapse without any damage, with the only consequence of becoming dirty by the dust that had come after the collapse, something that they could tolerate, well except, perhaps Rarity.

Once the collapse had passed and the beats of their hearts returned to a normal speed, Dusk immediately pointed to the road and began to walk hastily up the steep and final road for his friends to follow, not stopping to talk or comment about what happened, since with only a glance, Dusk could see how all his friends glared at Fluttershy for what just happened, and if there was something he didn't want at that precise moment, it was to have more arguments, even though Dusk understood them and at that moment he shared the same thought that everyone else was thinking: 'Bringing Fluttershy here was a mistake.'

"I know that we said that she was even afraid of her own shadow, but I never thought it was actually true!" Rainbow Dash said annoyed at Dusk’s side while everyone rested on the top, finally venting and saying what she had been repressing since the collapse.

At that moment Rainbow Dash looked annoyed at Fluttershy, expecting to see her reaction to the comment that she intentionally said out loud to get her frustration out, however Fluttershy's mane hid her face and prevented Rainbow Dash from knowing if she had heard what she said.

Meanwhile, Dusk was still on the ground, seeing the road that was in front of him, focusing more on what was there rather than listening to Rainbow Dash’s acrid comments. There the road opened and the land formed a platform where from one end he could see down the plains of Ponyville and its surroundings; while on the other side of the platform the terrain rose steeply, forming the tip of the mountain, and right there, between the platform and the continuation of the mountain, it was a huge cave, from which came a huge cloud of smoke came out and the snores of the dragon were heard.

"There it is..." Dusk said, finally getting up.

Seeing that Dusk was standing up and his face was serious, the mares also stood up and looked where Dusk was looking, realizing instantly why Dusk's face had become more serious. There, right in front of them, was the cave that housed the fearsome, sleeping beast that they must somehow expel from there.

The six ponies began to walk slowly until they stopped in front of the entrance of the cave. The upper half of the cave was hidden by a constant cloud of smoke that came from inside, while from the rest of the interior the cave could hardly be distinguished, since the light couldn't penetrate the interior of the cave, the only thing that can be seen was the back of the cave where they could see a certain reddish glow, which went out and ignited like a half-dead fire. That brightness of the interior was the nose and snout of the dragon, that when snoring, it snorted small flames of fire that generated the smoke of the place.

While the six ponies investigated the cave, listening to the dragon's loud snores, none of them moved a muscle, all were paralyzed while their minds faced the imminent danger that was before them.

"We're finally here, but... Now what do I do?!" Dusk Shine thought nervously, swallowing loudly.

When Dusk and the others left Ponyville, he realized that they climbed the mountain without even having a plan to face the dragon, not knowing if the right thing and more prudent would be to dialogue to persuade, negotiate, or even threaten. Going out without a plan was something that Dusk Shine didn't normally do, as meticulous as he was, he always liked to go out and know exactly what he would do, even having back-up plans if possible, however, due to the short time they had, Dusk didn’t think about it when starting that dangerous excursion, thinking that at least he would’ve had enough time while climbing the mountain to think of a suitable plan, but what he hadn't calculated were all the interruptions that there were along the way and how he finally was thinking about how to deal with the problems with Fluttershy and the bad mood of the group instead of thinking about a course of action once they reached the critical point, where they were right now.

"If only I hadn't been so concerned about all the problems that Fluttershy caused..." Dusk thought dejectedly, beginning to think, like his friends, that bringing Fluttershy had been a big mistake. However, he suddenly realized something that made him jump. "Wait! That's it! I can kill two birds with one stone!"

"Fluttershy, I think you should go in and talk to the dragon." Dusk said with a tender smile, looking at a totally surprised Fluttershy.

"WHAT!?" All the mares, including Fluttershy, were all surprised, while Fluttershy's eyes filled with terror.

Dusk decided to ignore the surprise reactions of the other mares and focused on Fluttershy, so he turned around and faced her.

"You understand more than anypony the hearts of those around you, more than any of us, that's why I think you're the best pony for this." Dusk said looking at Fluttershy, with a smile to enthuse her.

"Dusk... I don't-" Fluttershy stuttered, crouching her head while her eyes showed deep terror.

"We need to understand the dragon in order to communicate with it properly, and I also believe that you can see the goodness in it, while we'll only see the terrifying side of it, just like what happened with that sea serpent!" Dusk said excitedly, interrupting Fluttershy.

"No... I can't..." Fluttershy said as her legs began to tremble.

"Of course you can! You just need more confidence in yourself!" Dusk said smiling.

"No..." Fluttershy said hiding her face behind her mane.

"With this you can prove that you really are a key player in this team, you are our secret weapon!" Dusk said encouraging her, indirectly saying the other reason why he wanted Fluttershy to be the one to convince the dragon, so that others could see how valuable she was for the mission, repairing with it all the problems she had caused.

"I-I don't..." Fluttershy said stutteringly.

"I'll be by your side, come on, trust me and trust yourself..." Dusk said softly, touching with his hoof Fluttershy's hoof so that she would follow him.

"I CAN'T DO IT!!" Fluttershy yelled loudly, brusquely moving her hoof away from Dusk’s, shouting so loudly that everyone around her was stunned. None of them had ever heard Fluttershy shout so loudly or so desperately.

While everyone remained paralyzed by the surprise, especially Dusk, who had been the one his shy friend had shouted at, Fluttershy lowered her head even more, without being able to see her friends in the eyes after having shouted so.

"I... I'm sorry... but I can't go in..." Fluttershy said, speaking again with her classic timid voice.

After a moment of silence that seemed eternal, someone finally spoke.

"Why can't you go in? Because you’re afraid? Because you’re so selfish that you think you're the only one who is afraid?" Rainbow Dash said, looking angry at Fluttershy, approaching her while everyone else looked at her in surprise. "What about Rarity or Pinkie Pie? Have they no right to be afraid?"

Fluttershy, who had kept her eyes closed after speaking, squeezed them tighter, the same she did with her mouth, but she didn't turn to face Rainbow Dash or say anything in response.

"You're just a coward, whenever there are others that can do the job for you, you hide behind them and let them take the risks. Do you really want others to think that about you?" Rainbow Dash said even more annoyed, getting closer to her friend.

"Rainbow Dash!" Rarity said scared, worried about the hurtful words that the cyan pegasus was saying.

"During the whole trip you didn't do anything, you just let others do things for you, and now that there is something you can finally do, you’re going to refuse because you're scared?" Rainbow Dash said looking totally angry at Fluttershy, while the yellow pegasus remained motionless without answering, just squeezing her mouth and her eyes tightly.

"Rainbow Dash! Enough!" Applejack said also worried, seeing that the situation was getting out of control.

"Dusk came back for you and almost fell into the void, because he was trying to help you jump, Pinkie Pie also tried to help you and was able to save us from the collapse you caused, Rarity ran to save Dusk, Applejack saved you from the collapse, they all fixed the mistakes you did! And now, you can't even return the favor!?" Rainbow Dash yelled angrily, facing Fluttershy.

"Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie Pie said pleadingly, looking at both pegasus friends.

"Even Rarity's scarf has been more useful than you on this trip!! Show me the opposite! Show us that you really have value in this team!" Rainbow Dash yelled furiously.

"I CAN’T!!!" Fluttershy said in a choked cry, turning around to run away while crying.

While Fluttershy was running, Dusk watched her run as his heart broke. He had been frozen by hesitancy while Rainbow Dash was facing Fluttershy, because while it was true that Rainbow Dash had been too hard in her words, he also understood that she needed to vent all the frustrations she had along the trip, but Dusk never imagined that she would go so far as to make Fluttershy cry, and when he saw his shy friend cried like that, Dusk knew that it was a mistake not to act before, because Fluttershy could be many things, but she wasn’t a coward, Dusk knew it from experience because of what he had experienced with the sea serpent, something that, unfortunately, Rainbow Dash had not seen.

"Rainbow Dash, that was too much!" Dusk said annoyed, turning to face the cyan pegasus, but could not see her face, as she hid it looking at the ground. "You think Fluttershy is a coward, but she isn't, she's braver than you think!"

"I already know that!" Rainbow Dash said raising her head and looking Dusk in the eyes, leaving the colt astonished for the second time in minutes. Rainbow Dash no longer had a look of anger, she had a look of grief and anguish as a few tears peeked from the edge of her eyes. "She is braver than everypony thinks..."

After looking at Dusk, Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and quietly dried the small tears that were about to sprout, then she raised her head and looked at the sky as she remembered.

"A few years ago, I practiced maneuvers above the Everfree forest, there the clouds couldn’t move by themselves and the wind didn't follow a pattern, it was a risky place to practice, but at that time it didn't bother me. I had recently arrived at Ponyville, and the only pony I knew was Fluttershy, so I asked her to come with me. She was always afraid to go to that place, but she did it for me... While I was plummeting to try an old trick, the wind suddenly changed, and I was sidetracked, causing me to crash in the middle of the forest, I hit a tree and twisted a wing. I was so dizzy that I couldn't even walk, much less fly, so I just stood there waiting for the dizziness to pass, however while I waited, I heard some loud roars that came closer and closer, until among the trees a huge Manticore emerged. As soon as the beast appeared I began to tremble from tail to head, I didn't know what to do, I couldn't move myself, I had never been so scared... Then suddenly Fluttershy appeared and without hesitation she got between the Manticore and me, I begged her to run away and leave me, but she, trembling with fear even more than me, refused to leave me and approached the manticore. She did something incredible, she approached the manticore and spoke to it sweetly despite the terrible roars of the beast, and so they continued for a long time until she finally managed to calm it down. That's how she overcame her fears and managed to save me. "

"She doesn't realize it, but whenever her friends are involved in something dangerous, no matter what, she can be as brave or even braver than anypony..." Rainbow Dash added, ceasing to look at the sky and looking back at her friends. "I know you always want to protect her, but I want you to see the real Fluttershy, I want you to see her as I see her, a strong mare that is capable of doing anything for her friends, I don't want you to see her like everypony else does, the shy and helpless Fluttershy... That's why I get angry that she acts like that, I know she's afraid and maybe I overreacted a bit, but I also know that she is capable of more... so much more."

At Rainbow Dash’s words, another great silence reigned among the ponies. Dusk realized that Rainbow Dash thought exactly like him, she does see what Fluttershy was capable of, but as a friend, it bothered her that Fluttershy was so weak in front of others. Rainbow Dash wasn’t upset with Fluttershy because she really thought she was useless, she was frustrated because she knew that Fluttershy does have the capability, but she doesn't think so.

Dusk Shine gave a strong sigh after the whole whirlwind of emotions that had happened in those few minutes in which they had been at the top of the mountain. There was still a task to be done, there were also many things that they would all need to discuss together later, but the first thing was to reunite them all.

"Wait here, I'll go get Fluttershy." Dusk said to his friends as he walked in the direction where Fluttershy had run.

Fortunately, the platform they were on was not very big, and the path they had climbed was the only one, besides the cave, so Fluttershy had nowhere else to run and she remained hidden behind rocks. As soon as Dusk saw Fluttershy, he walked slowly until he reached her side, there she was sitting, with her head down, looking sadly towards the ground.

"Fluttershy, are you okay? Is it okay if I approach?" Dusk asked stopping a few steps from her, since he didn't know if his friend was still fragile because of what happened.

"I'm fine..." Fluttershy replied looking at him tenderly as she dried her tears.

"I... I’m sorry for what Rainbow Dash said to you..." Dusk said timidly, approaching slowly as he searched for the right words to comfort his friend. "She had other intentions, but I guess what she said was harsh, it's normal to feel hurt..."

"I didn't cry because of what Rainbow Dash said..." Fluttershy replied with a look of sadness. "I cried because everything she said was true, I know that, but still... I really wanted to try and act differently, I... I wish dragons didn't affect me that much, but... even if I try to act tough, I just can't..."

Dusk stared at his friend for a moment as he analyzed word for word what Fluttershy had said. She seemed to fear everything, but with the evidence on the way to the mountain and what she had said now, it seemed like there was something more to it than that, something he still couldn't see at all.

"Fluttershy... Is there a particular reason why you’re afraid of dragons?" Dusk asked looking tenderly but worried at Fluttershy. "I know that while we climbed the foot of the mountain, you told me that you were afraid of their teeth and claws, but I can't stop thinking... Is it really because of their fearsome appearance?"

Fluttershy looked into Dusk's eyes, those eyes that always looked at her with such compassion. Then an image of terrible red-golded eyes appeared in the pegasus's mind, demanding that she turn her gaze away from Dusk's and sink back into the fear of her past, but this time Fluttershy closed her eyes and breathed several times to calm down before her panic took control of her.

"Yes... There's a reason..." Fluttershy finally replied as she forced herself to endure and relive one of her most terrifying memories.

---

'Fluttershy's flashback.'

A young Fluttershy had stopped motionless for several minutes in front of the road that went into the dangerous Everfree forest. This was a place that she had always avoided and only went to if it was very necessary, unfortunately for her, this was one of those occasions.

"I must do it... For Harry." Fluttershy said talking to herself as she sighed and gave herself the courage to finally move forward into the terrifying forest.

Back then Harry was a little bear cub that the young Fluttershy had found a couple of weeks ago. It seemed that the little bear had been abandoned by his parents in the vicinity of the Everfree forest, probably because his parents' instincts told them that the bear was weak or maybe he was sick, unfortunately nature was like that, but the kind heart of Fluttershy was unable to leave him abandoned to his fate when she found him, so despite knowing that a bear was a fierce creature, Fluttershy took him under her care.

That is how Fluttershy took care of the little bear until he recovered much of his health, she bathed him, fed and pampered him, making him one more of the herd of small forest animals that she cared for, even giving him a name, something that she did just with those little animals with whom she became more attached to. However, not everything was happy for the young pegasus, as there came a time when little Harry fell ill, and nothing that Fluttershy did to help him heal seemed to work. There was no one in the town who knew about bear care, and no matter how much she looked in the library, she couldn't find any books to help her. Finally, when she didn't know what to do, a friend who knew botany told her that in the middle of the Everfree forest there grew some rare medicinal herbs that animals sometimes ate when they were sick, and that it could possibly help Harry to recover his health. Having no alternative, Fluttershy went to the forest to save her beloved bear cub.

In the forest, Fluttershy walked as fast and silent as she could, always following the path, as it was known that getting out of the path and going into the forest could be deadly. Fortunately, at that time it was almost winter, so a few trees had dropped their leaves, which made several sections of the forest exposed to the sun which reached through the dense foliage and illuminated the forest clearly, making it at least less intimidating in the day.

The young Pegasus had never gone so far into the Everfree forest, she had even left behind the main road that led to the old castle and now she continued to enter the forest on one of the many side roads, following step by step the instructions that her friend had given her. So Fluttershy continued until she saw a huge cave that was under a large hill composed of rocks. Thanks to her friend, Fluttershy knew that this place meant only two things: the first being that she was close to reaching those special herbs, since she only had to go around the hill and should be able to find them; but the hill also meant that she had reached the most dangerous part of her trip, because in that place lived a tribe of dangerous 'diamond dogs', ambitious and very territorial creatures, who would surely not like to have a pony near their land. Fortunately, diamond dogs normally spend most of their time in the underground tunnels and mines they built, something that Fluttershy counted on, otherwise it would be very risky to pass by.

As soon as Fluttershy saw the hill, she stared at it in the distance, waiting in silence to see if any diamond dogs appeared, however, none came into view, which gave confidence to the pegasus to approach, to go around the hill and quickly follow her path.

That was how Fluttershy finally got to where she wanted to go, a huge tree with crimson red leaves, with roots that grew some herbs of the same color. Those were the herbs she needed, the so-called 'kingsfoil', the medicinal plant that her botanist friend Tree Hugger, who also belonged to the ' Equestrian Society for the Preservation of Rare Creatures', had told her that it could perhaps save little Harry.

Fluttershy took several of the medicinal herbs she needed, filling both saddlebags she was carrying, as she wasn't sure how much medicine the poor bear cub would need. Finally, satisfied with the amount she was carrying, Fluttershy began her way back, heading for the dangerous hill inhabited by the diamond dogs, to move around it and return to the main road.

While Fluttershy was walking along the edge of the hill, close to it so she will not enter between the lush trees of the forest, she wondered if it really would be a good sign that she hadn't even heard a bark from the supposed dogs that lived there. Maybe the place was so silent because they had discovered her and now they were ambushing her! That made the pegasus look up and around scared, thinking that at any moment those dangerous diamond dogs could jump over her. It was then that, while Fluttershy looked up, the ground under her hooves suddenly gave way and she fell down a big and long hole, hitting the ground hard after the long fall.

After the heavy blow, Fluttershy got up slowly, taking her aching head, and as she did it, she began to quickly review what had just happened, which caused her to wake up quickly and look around when she realized that she had apparently fallen into a trap, however, nobody came to attack her.

While Fluttershy waited expectantly for her possible attackers, she looked around to see where she was. She had fallen into what appeared to be a huge tunnel, and she could only see a very small part of what a few steps in front of her was, thanks to the sunlight reaching faintly through the hole through which she had fallen, although the rest of the tunnel ahead was kept in total darkness.

After a few seconds in full vigilance, which seemed like an eternity to her, Fluttershy finally relaxed a bit when she saw that after several minutes nobody attacked her and that she had apparently just fallen into a regular hole by accident. Then the pegasus looked towards the ceiling.

"I think I can fly up there..." Fluttershy thought, finally getting up, ready to leave that dark tunnel as soon as possible.

Only when Fluttershy opened her wings, she realized that something important was missing. She had lost her saddlebags! And that immediately terrified her, even more than the fact that she had fallen into a dark tunnel, since it meant that she had lost the medicine to cure the bear cub Harry, and without the saddlebag she wouldn't have any way to bring more herbs to her house.

Fluttershy immediately began to search around, trying to find her lost saddlebag, until she finally saw, what was near at the point where the light stopped illuminating the tunnel and lost in the darkness, it was her saddlebag on the ground, with one of the bags open, revealing its valuable content.

"Hmm... medicinal herb... Are you sick...?" A thick and deep voice suddenly said in the darkness, causing Fluttershy to freeze in fear just as she was about to approach to retrieve her saddlebag.

Hearing that deep voice, Fluttershy froze completely, without even blinking or breathing, while a cold sweat ran down her back and her trembling eyes looked forward, deep in the tunnel, where darkness prevented her from seeing the owner of that mysterious voice.

"What's wrong, aren't you going to pick up what you've dropped?" The deep voice spoke again, putting a tone of kindness that seemed out of place for that thick voice.

At that moment Fluttershy couldn't take it anymore and breathed again, agitatedly and trying at the same time to do it as silently as possible, due to the fear of what she was facing.

"W-Who... who are you...?" Fluttershy finally asked, doing her best to calm her nerves, because although her instincts were screaming at her to run and flee scared, she needed to recover the medicine that was in front of her.

At the question, the creature snorted as he let out a choked laugh, like the laughter of an old pony who had trouble breathing.

"Hugh... Hah... Hagh... Hah... You could never pronounce my name correctly..." The creature responded in the dark with a slight mocking tone.

While the creature in the dark spoke, Fluttershy fixed her eyes deep in the tunnel, trying to see beyond where the light allowed it to see the creature she was talking to. Finally, Fluttershy's eyes became more accustomed to the darkness, so she could see something else in the dark shadows of the tunnel, what looked like huge red golden eyes that stared in her direction, which caused the pegasus to tremble with fear.

"A-Are you... a monster?" Fluttershy asked, still mired in fear, as she still didn't know with whom she was talking to.

"A monster? Can't you see me?" The voice answered, somewhat confused.

"It's... It's very dark..." Fluttershy answered timidly, still not knowing if it was the right thing to be talking to an unknown creature in the dark.

Then suddenly the mysterious creature began to cough, as if it had something stuck in his throat, however no matter how hard he tried, it seemed that the creature couldn't spit it out. Then the creature stopped forcing his throat for a few seconds, until finally he coughs again harder, straining his throat to the maximum, until to Fluttershy's total surprise, a light caused by a weak fire from apparently out of nowhere illuminated the place briefly where that creature's voice was heard, disappearing as quickly as it had appeared, as the creature began to cough again as a small smoke came out from where the fire had appeared. That flare had been small and fleeting, however, it was enough for Fluttershy to see part of the creature she was talking to. She could see more clearly the golden eyes with crimson edge of the creature; she also caught a glimpse of a huge snout, of which only then Fluttershy understood that it had been there where that fleeting flare had appeared; finally, she caught a glimpse of the creature's eyes, and what appeared to be a shining and scaly skin that was lost in huge horns. That was a head, a huge head that occupied the whole height and width of the tunnel.

"I'm sorry... my fire is not what it used to be..." The creature said in the darkness, in a somewhat embarrassed voice, which quickly changed to a more solemn tone when he spoke again. "I AM A 'DRACO'..."

Fluttershy didn't know what a 'draco' was, but she knew what she had seen, surely a 'draco' was the way those creatures described themselves. That was a dragon! And not just any dragon, because although Fluttershy had never seen one in person, she knew perfectly well how they should look, but she had never heard of dragons being that big.

The next thing that followed was a long silence, in which the dragon didn't speak, waiting for Fluttershy to respond; and Fluttershy couldn't speak due to her fear and hesitancy to know what to do, since she knew that dragons are very dangerous creatures.

"So? Will you pick up the herbs you dropped or not?" The dragon finally asked, with a slight tone of impatience in his voice.

"I-I... I-I don't need it, I r-remembered that I have more at home..." Fluttershy replied nervously, since she knew she needed that medicine, but getting close to that huge and frightening dragon, was something that her fear prevented her from doing.

"Hah... Hugh... Hah... Hagh..." The dragon laughed again, with his choked laugh. "So you're afraid of an old, blind draco... Hugh... Hah..."

Fluttershy was surprised by the dragon's last comment. The voice and the way the dragon coughed indicated that the dragon was very very old, in addition to his enormous size, since she knew that dragons could live for thousands of years, and to be this enormous, that dragon was extremely old. But there was a second thing that strongly called the shy Pegasus attention.

"You... Are you blind?" Fluttershy asked timidly, with a small note of concern and curiosity in her voice. "But then... How do you know that there are herbs in front of you?"

"I can smell them..." The dragon replied as he let out a little smoke from his nostrils. "My nose is not what it used to be, but those herbs are close enough to smell them."

After the words of the dragon, an uncomfortable silence was left in the air, where Fluttershy was still trembling, feeling very tiny in front of such a huge and monstrous creature, not knowing what to say or do, just wanting to flee quickly from there, but her body refused to react.

"I think... I think I should go now-" Fluttershy said shakily, taking a step back.

"Why are you in such a hurry? Aren't you even going to pick up the herbs that you dropped near me?" The dragon said kindly. "Are you afraid of me?"

Fluttershy just fell silent, swallowing hard, not being able to admit that she really was afraid to approach him.

"I guess it's normal to be scared by my size... and my appearance." The dragon said, sighing heavily. "It's normal for other creatures to fear my race."

At those words, Fluttershy immediately remembered the little bear Harry. The poor cub bear was very tender, but his claws and fangs scared all the other little creatures in the forest, even some ponies in the town who had found out that she was taking care of a baby wild bear, warning her to stay away from such a ferocious and dangerous creature, however, Fluttershy saw beyond the claws and fangs, and had discovered the tender and kind heart that Harry actually had. Therefore, the words that the dragon said fell right into her heart, making her think about whether she was acting well or not.

"Am I acting like all those ponies who feared Harry just for being a bear? Am I judging this old dragon just because of his appearance?" These were the questions that began to pass through her mind, questions that made her kind heart gain ground in the face of the great fear that she felt at that moment.

"I... I'm not afraid..." Fluttershy finally answered, swallowing hard and taking courage to take a step forward. "No one should be judged by their appearance... it’s only their hearts that matters..." Fluttershy added timidly.

"Oh... that's good..." The dragon answered, as for a slight second his blind eyes shone. "Maybe we can be friends..."

"Friends?" Fluttershy said somewhat surprised, while, without realizing it, she was slightly moved by the thought that maybe she could become friends with a huge dragon like that, after all perhaps that dragon was just like Harry, a creature with a kind heart.

"Yes, of course, the last friends I had don't visit me anymore, and it's always good to have friends to help you." The dragon said kindly.

"You have friends?" Fluttershy asked, who slowly began to move a little closer to the dragon, already having a little more confidence to see that both were talking about friendship.

"That's right... They lived here and came to visit me from time to time, they were my only company since I woke up, because I can't get out of here." The ancient dragon said, in a voice that was increasingly calm and friendly.

"You can't go out?" Fluttershy asked with a little concern for her new friend.

"That's right, I decided to sleep here many years ago, but when I woke up the rocks had imprisoned me..." The dragon replied, as if what had happened was something normal.

Upon hearing those words, about that terrible beast was actually trapped and helpless, Fluttershy’s heart finally welcomed the huge dragon completely, because she realized that despite how imposing the dragon was, he could have difficulties like any other living creature, just like the helpless Harry had.

"How long have you been stuck in here?" Fluttershy asked, already speaking normally.

"Hundreds of years... maybe thousand. But I only woke up a few years ago." The dragon answered calmly.

Fluttershy was surprised again by the dragon's words. She had heard that dragons were able to hibernate for years, but hundreds of years!? How long can a dragon live? How long could a dragon sleep?! It seemed that that giant dragon was truly unique.

"How have you survived?" Fluttershy asked as her kind instinct made her slowly worry about the dragon's health.

"While we hibernate, we don't need food, as long as our internal fire is strong enough." The dragon answered in a calm voice. "When I woke up my body demanded food, and for my fortune some dogs had made tunnels near here, they collected gems for me, and that way I could survive all these years."

Upon hearing about 'dogs', Fluttershy immediately knew that the dragon must have been referring to the diamond dogs that lived there, and if they visited the dragon, it meant it was dangerous to stay there for a long time, since the diamond dogs didn't liked ponies.

"W-Will the diamond dogs that live here come back soon?" Fluttershy asked taking a step back, again getting nervous.

The dragon remained silent for a second until he finally spoke.

"No, it's been a long time since any dogs have roamed these tunnels..." The dragon replied in a monotonous voice that then returned to feeling. "They were the friends I spoke to... It's a shame, I suppose I miss talking with them a bit, they were very talkative... They informed me of all the changes that happened to the world, in all these years that I remained asleep... It seems that now everything has changed... And in the absence of the shepherds, the flock dominates the land..."

The dragon said those last words with a clear tone of resentment, but Fluttershy didn't notice, as she focused on feeling compassion for that lonely and helpless creature, because hear the dragon saying he missed talking to his friends gave her a lot of pity.

"He must have been alone for a long time... He made friends with the diamond dogs, but they abandoned him..." The kind Fluttershy thought, feeling more and more empathy for the dragon, however there was something that didn't quite fit.

"If the diamond dogs that lived here brought you gems to feed you, why didn't they try to free you? They're very good at digging..." Fluttershy asked, trying to solve the puzzle of why that dragon was alone.

"They feared me..." The dragon replied, speaking again with a tone without emotion. "That fear inspired them to bring me food, to talk to me and respect me, but that fear also prevented them from wanting to free me from here."

At the words of the dragon, Fluttershy couldn't help but think the little bear Harry again, who like the dragon, was feared only by his appearance. Then the young pegasus remained pensive for a few seconds until she made a decision.

"I... I could try to help you out..." Fluttershy said, putting aside her natural fear, after all, if there was anything she could do to help someone in need, she would.

"You… would you do that for me?" The dragon said with some surprise, although his sharp eyes again seemed to shine for a moment.

"Yes, although I don't know how I can help you." Fluttershy answered with a small and tender smile.

"Come… closer..." The dragon said with a slight tone of anxiety.

The pegasus began to walk slowly towards where the dragon was, passing the side where her saddlebag had fallen with the medicinal herb and entered the darker part of the tunnel, where Fluttershy could see a little more clearly the huge silhouette of the dragon's head. As she walked, her sixth sense told her that maybe it wasn't a good idea to approach such a huge and ferocious creature in the dark, but the thought that she might be leaving someone who needs her help kept her moving forward.

Approaching only a few steps from the dragon's huge snout, Fluttershy heard a small crunch, coming from where she was stepping. The young pegasus looked down but with the limited light of the cave she only reached to see what appeared to be some tree branches that were there, so she took another step to keep moving, however this time she stopped to feel that her hooves were entangled in something. She bent down to take what had stuck in her hooves.

"What’s this?" Fluttershy wondered innocently, thinking aloud, taking what appeared to be a torn piece of cloth.

Fluttershy stared at the cloth she had picked up, lifting it over her head so that the light of the place could illuminate it better. It was so she could see that the cloth was dark green, but for some reason it had large red spots all over it...

Like a lightning, Fluttershy realized what those red spots were and quickly dropped the cloth, taking a step back while a chill ran down her back.

"It's... it's someone's clothes... and it's all..." Fluttershy said in fright, talking to herself without realizing it, paralyzed by what she had just seen and held between her hooves. Then another revelation came to her, one more terrible, one that almost made her vomit as her body trembled from tail to head.

"T-They aren’t tree branches..." Fluttershy whispered thinking aloud, covering her mouth with a face of total horror when she realized what she had stepped on and broken.

"No. They are bones." The dragon said in a dry, deep voice, who opened his eyes wider and looked penetratingly towards where Fluttershy was.

Like a sudden flash, that stare made Fluttershy lose all will to act, she had never seen a stare so penetrating, so deep, a stare so strong that it made her want never to have been born or lived, a stare that made everything that surrounded her disappeared, in that moment there were only Fluttershy and the owner of that absolute stare, the stare of who would end her life...

The dragon's huge snout moved slowly towards where Fluttershy was, opening slowly and thus showing the giant fangs it contained. The dragon did everything slowly, since he knew that with his stare, his prey had lost all will to live and would never move until it was devoured.

As the dragon's snout approached, all Fluttershy could do was let out a few tears as she said her last words, the only thing she didn't understand.

"They... were your friends..." Fluttershy said in a weak and emotionless voice while her eyes seemed to have lost all signs of life, totally resigned to her cruel destiny.

The dragon laughed softly and sinisterly, stopping the advance of his snout towards his prey.

"The dogs fed me and took care of me, but there are times when I need to eat something alive..." The dragon said softly before laughing again bringing his snout towards Fluttershy. "Just for fun…"

Hearing that the dragon had eaten those who cared for him, affected her greatly, as if she had received a great blow in her heart, realizing the cruelty of that monster. But the last sentence the dragon said, showing that he had only killed for fun, just for fun!? That was devastating for the kindly pegasus. She had left the beautiful and peaceful world in which she lived and now she knew what pure evil was, and she had seen it in his eyes. There was nothing left for her, after knowing that world she could no longer live...

Fluttershy's eyes faded completely, as did her will to live. The dragon's snout opened as much as he could as the space in the cave allowed and began to close to eat his prey.

In the last breath of life that was left in the young pegasus, her whole life passed before her eyes, but since she had already lost the will to live, it didn’t seem like there was anything that can affect her. That was until her life came back, when she was taking care of her little pet, the bear cub Harry, who was still waiting, sick and in need for the medicine that would never come... that would never come... that never...

"NO!!!" Fluttershy shouted in the last second of life she had left, screaming with all her strength to get out of the dragon's haunting stare, jumping backwards while the beast's jaws closed in front of her, recovering her will to live, because she couldn't lose it, not yet! Because it was not only her own life that depended on it, but it was someone else’s as well, someone who needed her to come back with the medicine.

"Hah... Hugh... Hah... Hagh..." The dragon began to laugh after realizing what had just happened. "No prey had ever escaped me... I guess my stare is not what it was before. Hah... Hugh... Hah..."

That dragon began to laugh sincerely, and to Fluttershy that laugh sounded like the most chilling thing she had ever heard. That dragon had lost his prey and he wasn't angry at all, for him it was all a game, life and death were just a game for him! Fluttershy could hardly stand, for every second that passed in that cave, her notions of evil were changing and expanding to new levels, her world would never be the same again.

Suddenly the dragon stopped laughing and began to sniff, again and again.

"What is this? This smell... is not from a dog... What are you?" The old, blind dragon said as he continued to sniff, finally being able to smell Fluttershy now that she was close. "This... This smell... This smell is from-!"

RRROOOAAAAAARR!!!

The dragon growled heavily, not only making the little pegasus tremble more than she already was, but also that causing the whole cave trembled, causing several rocks to fall from the ceiling.

"You're a filthy pony!" The dragon screamed, who, being blind, all this time had thought that he had been talking to another silly diamond dog. "I curse your queen and your race! You who stole the eternal flame and condemned it to move at your will around the sky! You who dared to kill the greatest of my race! You who turned what was left of my race in a few weak lizards that are not able to assert their ancestral rights! You are the flock! You are scum!"

The more the dragon shouted, the furrier he became, and the cave shook even more. At that moment the dragon inhaled deeply and tried to throw a flare, but all he got was a heavy cough and only threw smoke, because the truth was that the dragon's internal fire was almost out, as were his days in this world.

Seeing that his flare didn't work, the dragon began to move his snout more furiously from one side to another, trying in vain to free himself, while all it did was caused the cave to collapse on him.

Meanwhile Fluttershy was still paralyzed with fear, watching the beast move wildly trying to approach her to devour her. Then a huge stone fell from the ceiling right next to Fluttershy, causing a great rumble and finally making the shy pegasus react when she saw that the cave was beginning to collapse around them.

The pegasus quickly took the saddlebags that was beside her, turned and flew towards the light, towards the hole where she had fallen. While fleeing, the only thing the pegasus could feel was absolute terror, making her shed tears of fear while all she thought was to get out of that cave quickly.

"I’m not finish! With you and with your whole entire race!" The dragon shouted from below while Fluttershy flew, hitting the cave with his huge snout while without realizing it, he made the whole cave collapse on himself. "I'll get out of here and devour you all! I swear by the father of dragons! We'll rise from the Withered Heath and reclaim the throne of this kingdom! We are the eternal! We are the ruthless! The children of the Sun and the fire! Our word is law!!"

Those words, spoken with such force and hatred, would be burned into the terrified memory of the pegasus, the oath of a beast that promised to destroy her and everyone she knew, the oath of a monster...

'End of flashback.'

---

"After I got out of there, I thought I heard everything collapsing behind me, the cave, the huge hill that was above it... I even thought I heard a last and pitiful final roar, but I didn't care, I never looked back, I just flew away, faster than I had ever flown..." Fluttershy said sadly after telling Dusk the story of her past. "When I arrived at my house I had no strength at all... Tree Hugger had to give Harry the medicine I brought, I just locked myself in my room for days, under my bed... Finally, Harry recovered, and I thought I could leave the memory of that terrible meeting behind, but it wasn't like that, I... I spent months being unable to sleep well, I woke up in the middle of the night, crying, terrified to remember what I saw in that cave, even, to this day, every time I hear someone say 'dragon', I feel my blood freeze, and... I can't stop hearing that evil laugh..."

Finally, Fluttershy fell silent, looking back at the ground and trembling again.

"Please... Don't make me go in there..." Fluttershy added with a weak pleading voice, unable to raise her eyes to look at Dusk. "I... I want to help, but... I-I'm too scared..."

Dusk looked at his timid friend with concern, now he can finally understand Fluttershy better and her reaction to his request about her being the one to convince the dragon to leave. What Fluttershy told him was horrible, to have fallen into a dragon's cave, to be deceived by him, to know since childhood how cruel and bloodthirsty certain beasts can be, almost to be devoured, to have seen corpses! Not even Dusk could imagine how terrifying it must’ve been to see that, since neither he nor most of the ponies had ever seen such a bloody scene, since the lands of Equestria were known to be peaceful almost entirely, with crimes of low character, but never to the point that crimes such as murder happened, much less for fun... And to think that a young, shy and fearful Fluttershy lived with all of that, it made Dusk realize that what his pegasus friend had was not fear, what she rather had was a serious and deep trauma, something that went beyond his abilities to solve.

"Now I understand why she sometimes wanted to fly or move, but her own body would not let her... It's more than incredible that she forced herself to come here despite the trauma she endured..." Dusk thought with a look of compassion.

"You... you’re stronger than you think..." Dusk said tenderly, stroking the mane of the trembling Fluttershy. "Calm down, I'll take care of everything, you wait here for me."

Only the touch of Dusk Shine was necessary for Fluttershy to stop shaking. Then she raised her head to see the face of the colt that calmed her, but he had already turned around and was heading back to his friends to face that great beast that was hiding in the cave.

The only thing Fluttershy could do was close her eyes and pray to heaven that her beloved Dusk would return so that she could feel his gentle caress again.

"You've finally came back! So, what happened?" Rainbow Dash said annoyed after having waited so long for Dusk to talk to Fluttershy again.

It was then that Dusk quickly told his friends what he talked with Fluttershy, the story of the pegasus and how her friend seemed to have a youthful trauma about the dragons. When he finished speaking, all of his friends looked worried and hurt knowing now what her friend had gone through and how she had carried that terrible secret for so many years without even telling them. And of all the mares, the one that seemed most hurt was Rainbow Dash, who had a look of fear mixed with anger, which hid in a bad way the fact that it seemed that she was going to cry at any moment.

Rainbow Dash was angry with herself, she had shouted at Fluttershy for not daring to go and deal with the dragon, without even knowing what she had suffered in the past, and what hurt herself the most was the fact of never having heard about that, even though she was Fluttershy's oldest friend. That made her wonder if she really was a good friend, which hurt Rainbow Dash’s soul.

"Should we go talk to her?" Rarity asked, looking up at the rocks behind which Fluttershy was hiding.

"No, I think the best thing for now is to let her calm herself, at least for now." Dusk answered, looking towards the sky and seeing how the sun began to slowly hide behind the horizon. "But right now, we still have a task to do, and we don't have much time, the sunlight is almost gone, we need to do this now."

"But, what can we do?" Applejack asked.

"I think I'll go in alone and try to talk to the dragon." Dusk said, saying what he had been meditating for a few moments. "I don't want all of us going in together, it may cause the dragon to feel threatened in some way, I think it's best to enter one at a time."

"Are you sure?" Rarity asked.

"Nope." Dusk answered sincerely, without ceasing to be nervous. Turning around and starting to walk towards the dark cave where the dragon was hiding. "But right now, I can't think of any other alternatives."

It was so the lavender unicorn began to enter the cave, clenching his teeth tightly as he forced himself to enter a dangerous and uncertain place, all while his four friends looked from behind, just as fearful, wishing that nothing bad will happen to their beloved Dusk Shine.

In the cave, Dusk slowly advanced blindly, because besides the cave itself was dark, the smoke coming from the bottom of it almost prevented him from seeing the path that was in front of him. Thus, Dusk advanced, listening closer and closer to the strong snores of the slumbering beast, slowly putting himself on guard, since he felt that the source of the snoring was only a few steps in front of him.

Suddenly Dusk stumbled over something and fell face first into the ground, causing the unicorn to give a little cry of pain when he hit the ground.

"Ouch!" Dusk screamed when he hit, but he immediately put his hooves over his mouth, because he realized that the noise could awaken the dragon.

"Dusk! Are you okay?!" Rainbow Dash shouted from the entrance, worried as her friends were listening to Dusk's scream.

"Shhh! Yeah! I'm fine!" Dusk shouted in a whisper, totally nervous, immediately telling his friends not to make noise.

Dusk immediately realized how absurd he was acting, after all, he should wake the dragon anyway, so it didn't matter if the dragon had woken up or not. Then Dusk turned around and looked again towards the back of the cave, it was there that thanks to his eyes becoming more accustomed to the darkness and that the dragon seemed to have stopped throwing smoke for a moment, that finally Dusk could see the dragon, a huge beast with red scales, a huge snout with fangs, sharp claws and a huge tail, which stretched over much of the cave. Only then did Dusk realize that what he had stumbled into was not a rock, but part of the dragon's tail, which scared Dusk even more, since he knew that dragons were great, but seeing it with his own eyes was very different. Another thing that Dusk got to see was that the dragon slept under a huge pile of gold coins, jewels and gems, using them practically as a mattress, lying on it so firmly that it seemed that not even a coin could be taken out of that treasure without the dragon realized it.

The huge beast, who was several dozen times the size of Dusk, slept peacefully and noisily without even noticing the presence of the lavender unicorn. Realizing this, Dusk closed his eyes, mentally reviewed his plan to follow, then he took a deep breath a couple of times and finally became ready to act.

"Ahem!" Dusk coughed, clearing his throat loudly to awaken the dragon, however, seeing that the dragon didn't flinch, Dusk cleared his throat more and more loudly. "AHEM! AHEM!"

Finally, both dragon eyes opened suddenly, revealing their cold golden color, causing Dusk to jump backwards because of how sudden everything had been.

The dragon stared at Dusk, not moving a muscle, which was even more terrifying for the unicorn, since he didn't know what that beast was thinking about him right then.

"Calm down... breathe and don't get nervous." Dusk thought breathing slowly before speaking, unable to avoid remembering what Fluttershy had just told him about her encounter with a dragon.

"G-Good afternoon, Mr. Dragon." Dusk said tremulously at first, but calming immediately, since he didn't want to show fear in front of the creature he was about to expel from here. "My name is Dusk Shine, I am representing the kingdom of Equestria and its allied nations. I-It's my duty to inform you that your recent arrival in this part of the kingdom is negatively affecting the residents of the nearby villages of the mountain, as are the town of Ponyville and the great capital city of Canterlot."

Dusk paused for a moment to see the dragon's reaction, who finally narrowed his eyes a little, as if he was thinking about something, which Dusk took as a good sign, since the dragon should be realizing the seriousness of the situation he was in, so Dusk decided to continue with his speech.

At that moment Dusk used his magic to make glasses appear in front of him, a scroll and a quill. Dusk illuminated the place with his magic a bit as he put on his reading glasses and began to write on the scroll using the levitated quill.

"Mr. Dragon, I inform you that you are currently breaking the laws n° 37, 98 and 122 of the civil code of Equestria." Dusk said seriously while touching his glasses, getting excited when playing the role of lawyer and remembering some of the law books that he had memorized many years ago. "In addition to breaking the codes of ethics and conduct, articles 3 to 8, not to mention the pollution law outdoors and-Cough!! Cough!!"

Dusk had to stop his speech since the dragon had let out a small but dense column of smoke from his snout, right in front of Dusk, making the unicorn unable to continue talking.

After the cloud of smoke dissipated, Dusk half opened his eyes and prepared to continue talking, however stopped when he realized that the dragon had closed his eyes and seemed to have fallen asleep again.

"He... He's ignoring me!" Dusk thought surprised and annoyed, who didn't like it when someone interrupted him or ignored him when he recited some memory from a book.

Dusk quickly forgot that he had a potentially deadly beast front him, and he hit the dragon's snout a couple of times, as if it were a door, until the dragon opened his eyes again.

"Hey! Don't ignore me!" Dusk said annoyed, as if he were talking to a foal that ignored him. "You must understand that you are breaking the peace of-Cough!! Cough!!"

The dragon again spat smoke to interrupt Dusk's speech, however this time the dragon didn't pretend to fall asleep, this time the dragon continued to look Dusk and smiled mockingly after interrupting him.

"So... That's the way it is going to be..." Dusk said angrily, being able to speak again, deciding that if the negotiation failed, the next thing would be a threat. "Listen to me well, dragon, if you don't leave right now, all the power of Equestria will fall on you! And I don't mean only the strongest ponies of Equestria, the fastest pegasus, and the most powerful unicorns of the kingdom, but the same alicorn princesses that will come for you and take your scaly butt out of this mountain if you don't listen to me!"

Everything Dusk said was a simple bluff, since the truth was that Dusk couldn't ensure all that, however he hoped that that was enough to scare the dragon from this place.

At the beginning of Dusk's speech, the dragon seemed immutable, but Dusk could swear that he saw the dragon briefly narrow his eyes when he mentioned the princesses, Dusk knew that he shouldn't play with the power of the royal princesses, and it seemed that the dragon knew it too. However, when Dusk thought that his false threat had worked, the dragon inhaled strongly and blew with all his might on Dusk, causing the unicorn to roll quickly until he was launched out of the cave and back to where the other mares were.

"Dusk! What happened?!" Applejack asked worried, like her friends, seeing that Dusk had been rolled out of the cave.

"He... got rid of me like I was a fly..." Dusk answered holding his head, still somewhat stunned by all the turns he had given.

"That dragon is just a wild beast that will not understand reasons!" Rarity said, annoyed with the dragon for having mistreated her dear Dusk in such a way.

"I don't think he's a wild beast... It's true that he didn't listen to me, but I don't think we're unable to reason with him or reach an agreement." Dusk said, meditating a moment, trying to think logically even though he was still somewhat upset by the dragon's attitude and being pushed out of the cave. "He is massive, and he had the opportunity to devour me easily, he could have breathed fire at me, and instead he just pushed me with his breath... I may be wrong, but the impression I get is that this dragon is not as dangerous as the one Fluttershy faced."

"We should throw him out by force." Rainbow Dash said suddenly, who for some reason seemed nervous and upset. "If those beasts are as dangerous as Fluttershy told you, I think it would be best to attack before he attacks us."

"No, that's precisely why we should avoid using force!" Dusk answered. "If that dragon really is so dangerous, the worst thing we can do is provoke him, we need to continue this diplomatically."

"And what do you propose?" Rainbow Dash asked, still nervous. "I don't think you can talk to him, he must also be very moody after you woke him up."

Dusk Shine didn't answer, he just fell silent thinking about other dialogue alternatives.

"I have an idea! If he's in a bad mood, it's best to cheer him up before we can talk to him." Applejack said suddenly.

"What do you mean by ‘cheer him up’?" Dusk asked confused.

"I know, let's have a part-!" Pinkie Pie said cheerfully, before being silenced by Applejack, who put a hoof in her mouth to silence her.

"I don't mean a party, that would be absurd." Applejack said looking sideways at Pinkie Pie.

"Parties aren’t absurd." Pinkie Pie said, looking pouty after being interrupted.

"I mean, if he just woke up, it's likely that the dragon is hungry." Applejack continued, ignoring Pinkie Pie and turning her attention to others.

"So, what do you propose? Give him a banquet of six ponies on a pan?" Rarity said sarcastically.

"I'll give him something better!" Applejack replied, turning her head to put her snout in the saddlebag she carried, until with her mouth she took out one of the many apples she had brought with her. "I'll give that dragon a taste of the best apples of Sweet Apple Acres, he'll have a feast with my apples! And, he'll be so satisfied and grateful, allowing us then to talk to him more calmly. "

Dusk stared at Applejack with his mouth open, as if he was about to say something, but he couldn’t say anything. He knew that plan was crazy, but he couldn't think of any kinder way to tell his friend that it probably wouldn't work, nor did he come up with a better plan to replace that plan.

"Do you really think that could work?" Dusk asked finally, with a look of insecurity.

"Of course, no one has ever rejected the delicious Sweet Apple Acres apples before!" Applejack said confidently, walking with confidence into the cave.

For safety, none of the other ponies accompanied Applejack, since they didn't want to intimidate the dragon, so they only approached the entrance to the cave and watched expectantly as their country friend was lost in the darkness of the interior of the cave, everypony raising their ears to sharpen their hearing and listen to what was happening inside the cave.

"If I get that dragon to eat the apples from my farm, it'll be a great publicity!" It was the last thing the four ponies got to hear before losing sight of Applejack, who had been thinking out loud and due to the echo of the cave, it was a comment that everyone was able to hear.

After Applejack got lost in the dark, Dusk Shine, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Rainbow Dash stood like statues with their ears on alert, waiting to hear if their friend's plan worked.

"Wow, you're bigger than I expected... Ahem, howdy, Mr. Dragon, my name is Applejack." Applejack's voice finally said from inside the cave. "I came here to offer you some delicious apples from my farm! I know you must be hungry after such a long nap."

There was no response to Applejack's words, just a loud growl.

"Then, what do you think of an apple pie?" Applejack's voice was heard again. "I also brought apple fritters, candied apple, apple-"

A sudden and loud noise was heard from inside the cave, like a whirlwind that echoed throughout the cave. At that moment a strong wind blew from inside the cave, accompanied by Applejack and a dozen apples, who went flying by the strong blow of the dragon, just as Dusk was a few moments ago.

"Applejack! Are you okay?" The friends of Applejack asked, approaching their friend, who had flown right up to where the others were, with her head covered by apple pie.

"He... He's dirty and rude!" Applejack said annoyed, getting up and angrily wiping the apple pie from her face. Then the country mare put on a serious look and started to walk back inside the cave. "That crooked beast will see! Nopony rejects my family's apples!"

"Applejack, wait!" Dusk said quickly, putting his hooves in front of Applejack to stop her, but he only managed to slow her down, since the mare had great physical strength.

"Wait! Don't you realize? It’s better this way!" Dusk added with a nervous smile, quickly thinking of an excuse to convince his stubborn friend, since he knew from experience that it would be very difficult to convince Applejack to not re-enter the cave. "If he had tried your apples, he probably would have left this cave and transformed Sweet Apple Acres into his new nest, do you want that?"

Dusk's comment finally made Applejack reconsider her plan and stopped. Then she looked angrily at the inside of the cave, and she turned to go back out.

"Hmpf! I guess you're right... I'll let it go this time" Applejack said with a little snort.

"Well... I guess Applejack's plan failed." Dusk said with a sigh of relief after convincing his friend not to go crazy, walking towards the rest of her friends. "Now... Does anyone else have a plan?"

"Me!" Pinkie Pie said surprisingly. "It's time for plan C!"

When everyone turned to see Pinkie Pie, they were surprised to see that their pink friend unexpectedly had disguised herself in a ridiculous outfit. Wearing fins on her four hooves, wearing on her body a box that pretended to be a birthday gift, with balloons tied to her tail and mane, completing the ridiculous suit with some extravagant and gigantic sunglasses.

"Darling, you look ridiculous." Rarity said with a hint of disgust at seeing her friend insulting fashion that way.

"What is plan C?" Dusk asked a little curious, without being able to avoid smiling a little, since he still didn't stop being surprised by the wild and unpredictable behavior of his friend.

"Plan C is for: Come to my party!" Pinkie Pie said smiling. "Sharing a laugh is a sure-fire way to get somepony on your side! I'll invite him to join a party and so some ponies will see that parties are not absurd at all." Pinkie Pie finished, looking sideways at Applejack.

"Pinkie Pie, you know I didn't mean that when I said that about parties." Applejack said with a sad smile. "What I was referring to was- Hey! Wait!"

Applejack couldn't quite finish apologizing since Pinkie Pie had ignored her and had begun to walk into the cave.

"We have to stop her!" Applejack said trying to move towards where Pinkie Pie was going, however Dusk put a hoof infront her to stop her.

"Easy... If I learned anything from Pinkie Pie, you never know what she can do, maybe it would be good to give her a try." Dusk Shine said, leaving his worry aside to trust the instincts of his eccentric pink friend.

Applejack stopped, and after the words of Dusk, she was relieved a little, thinking that perhaps the colt was right, however the one that couldn't keep quiet was Rainbow Dash, who was getting more nervous by the minute, first when Dusk went in, then when Applejack went in, and now with Pinkie Pie going in.

While the pink pony walked awkwardly until she was lost in the darkness, the other four ponies returned to the same previous position, extending their ears towards the cave and remaining completely still and silent while they waited to hear what was happening inside the cave.

"Hi Mr. Dragon!" The strong voice of Pinkie Pie was heard in the darkness.

Again, there was no response, just a loud growl.

"How about we throw a party!" Pinkie Pie's voice was heard again, shouting louder and louder.

Again, the strong snort of the dragon was heard, followed by Pinkie Pie, who rolled out strongly by the wind to where her friends were, with her disguise all destroyed.

"Well... It seems he doesn't like parties, but that doesn't mean parties are absurd!" Pinkie Pie said from the ground, staring at Applejack.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry." Applejack said, who couldn't help but smile when she saw that her friend was still offended by her little comment.

"Well, any other plan?" Dusk asked, who still had no other idea on how to try and talk with that cranky dragon.

"I'll go!" Rainbow Dash said immediately, with a serious look.

"And, what’s your plan?" Dusk asked.

"Huh... I... I don't know." Rainbow Dash answered nervously. "But I don't want anypony else to enter..."

Rainbow Dash was getting more and more nervous, mainly for two reasons. The first was that even if her friends didn't feel it, she could feel it, the dragon was getting angry! Or at least that was what she believed, since her sensitive wings could feel the variation in the wind, and when the dragon pushed Applejack, he did it slightly stronger, the same with Dusk, but was a little stronger when he pushed Pinkie Pie out, and because the dragon began to blow strongly, it could mean that the dragon was being bothered; however, that was not something that Rainbow Dash could take for granted, it was only her assumption and instinct that told her that, for that reason she didn't want to share that with her friends so as to not make them unnecessarily nervous. That was enough for Rainbow Dash to make the decision to not want any more of her friends to risk themselves, besides there was also a second reason as to why Rainbow Dash was nervous... She kept thinking about Fluttershy, and her terrible encounter with the dragon, and how she had never been told about it until today, which still made her feel guilty.

"If you don't have a plan, then I think I'll go in." Rarity said, passing elegantly between Dusk and Rainbow Dash, moving into the cave.

"But what’s your plan?" Dusk asked when he saw that Rarity was beginning to walk towards the cave.

"Hehehe!" Rarity chuckled coquettishly, turning to look at Dusk and winked lovingly at him. "I'll try some pony charm."

Then Rarity kept walking until she was lost in the darkness of the cave, while again the other four ponies were put in position to listen to what was happening.

"I'm so sorry to interrupt you, Sir Dragon." The melodious voice of Rarity was heard from inside the cave. "I was about to leave, but I realized that I couldn't possibly head back home without mentioning what handsome scales you have."

"Is she trying to flatter him!?" Dusk thought scared, reconciling himself and getting in position to catch Rarity when the dragon blows her out of there.

Again, the dragon didn't respond, but to the surprise of the four ponies that were in the entrance, this time there was no growl.

"I mean, look how majestic and outstanding those scales are! Surely you take good care of them, worthy of a dragon of your magnificence!" The voice of Rarity was heard again, who continued speaking sweetly. "I can't help but think of the tragedy that it is that such beautiful armor is worn away and hidden in a cave as ugly and dark as this."

This time the dragon made a noise, which instead of a growl, it seemed to be a kind of purr.

"It’s working!?" Dusk thought surprised, seeing that the dragon was finally listening to someone and that he seemed to be in a good mood. Then Dusk thought about his brother. "Maybe Rarity has the power to charm dragons, hehe."

"Personally, I think you should skip the snoozing and get out there, to show them off!" The lovingly Rarity's voice continued speaking. "Obviously I would be more than happy to keep an eye on your jewels while you're gone."

GRROOOAARRR!!!

There was a loud roar that shook the whole cave.

Rarity was perfect with her plan, she almost achieved it, but unfortunately, she missed something very important, never touch a dragon’s treasure!

"Waaahhh...!" Rarity shouted from inside the cave.

"NO!!" Rainbow Dash shouted at once, who had been so nervous and tense that she was the first to react.

As soon as she heard Rarity's scream, Rainbow Dash flew into the cave to save her friend.

"I'm not going to let what happened to Fluttershy happen again! I was her friend! Why wasn't I there for her?! I'LL NOT LET THIS HAPPEN AGAIN!!" Rainbow Dash thought frantically as she flew by.

At the speed with which Rainbow Dash flew, it didn't take her long to get to where the dragon was, who was staring fiercely at Rarity, while the white unicorn was still trembling at the dragon's furious gaze.

Without stopping at all and taking advantage of the impulse that she had taken, Rainbow Dash stretched one of her hind legs and kicked the snout of the huge dragon as hard as she could.

"Suck on that!!" Rainbow Dash screamed after giving the strongest kick of her life, landing right next to Rarity, with a fierce look facing her enemy. "Get away! Get away from my fri… friend..."

Rainbow Dash’s courage quickly dissipated when she saw that the great kick she had unleased on the dragon apparently hadn't caused any effect, since the dragon didn't even move his snout after that blow, he still had the same fierce stare, only this time he not only looked at Rarity, but also at the pegasus.

"Run!!" Rarity and Rainbow Dash shouted at the same time, turning and starting to run at full speed towards the exit, because although Rainbow Dash could fly, she couldn't leave Rarity to her fate, so she ran with her.

GRROOOAARRR!!!

Again, a fierce roar was heard which shook the whole cave.

Rarity and Rainbow Dash continued to run at such speed in the dark, becoming blinded by the light that came from the exit, causing to not see or react to anything that would be in front of them, for this case, they were running towards Dusk, Pinkie Pie and Applejack, who were running inside to find them. The five ponies collided strongly, leaving all of them lying on the ground in pain.

In that moment another small tremor rumbled in the cave, then a small silence, which was followed by another small tremor.

Rainbow Dash and Rarity immediately jumped to their feet, understanding what that meant.

"Hurry! Get up! Run!" Rainbow Dash and Rarity shouted as they helped the other three ponies to stand up.

It was then that Dusk felt that the tremors were stronger, and he realized what was happening. Those weren't tremors, they were footsteps! The dragon had risen furiously and was after them!

The five ponies began to run swiftly, guided blindly by the only light that was visible, the light of the exit, the light of salvation... Thus they ran until they finally managed to get out of the dark cave, arriving just before the last ray of sun, which finally hid behind the mountains.

"Hurry up! Let's find Fluttershy and get out of-" Dusk said before being interrupted.

GRROOOAARRR!!!

The huge dragon hadn't taken more than ten steps to cover what the ponies had run. The huge beast had finally come out of hiding, but this wasn’t the only situation that they were facing... The beast was now furious.

Dusk quickly turned and pushed his friends to follow him to the road they had followed to reach the mountain, but Dusk and the mares only took five steps until they were stopped by the huge tail of the dragon, which a single blow fell in front of the ponies, blocking their only exit.

Without exits, weapons, or any other options, the only thing that the mares instinctively did was to hug Dusk while they trembled without knowing how they would get out of it, without knowing that the colt they were hugging was shaking as much or more than they were, because although Dusk was skillful in the magic, he couldn't figure out how to get out of that situation with all his friends safe, besides, dragons were the most resistant creatures to magic that existed, not even Dusk knew if any of his spells would have any effect on such a huge creature or if he would just make the situation worse. The only thing that Dusk could think about was that he wanted to live and that he wanted to save his friends, but he couldn't think of any way to do it, especially when confronting the fierce gaze of that huge dragon, who was bringing his huge head closer and closer while he seemed to want to kill them with his eyes. It was so that the only thing Dusk did was to also hug his friends tightly while he trembled with fear.

All that scene was witnessed by a silent spectator, the timid Fluttershy, who upon hearing her friends screaming, she couldn't help but peek out from her hiding place and look horrified at what was happening.

Sweat ran like ice on Fluttershy's face. Just seeing the great dragon that had come out of that cave made her paralyze and tremble from head to tail, although this one didn't look as big or terrifying as the one she remembered when she was a grown filly, but in the same way this was a huge and fearsome creature, with the same terrible features, like the skin made up of hard scales, ferocious fangs, sharp claws and terrifying eyes.

Fluttershy just stared, paralyzed, without any physical strength or will, as the dragon cornered her friends and brought his snout towards them.

The dragon brought his face close to those little insignificant creatures who had dared to disturb his slumber, those five little ponies that now were trembling completely in fear at his imposing presence. The dragon couldn't help but smile and laugh slightly at seeing how weak and terrified these creatures were.

As soon as the dragon laughed, it was as if something broke in Fluttershy, it was as if everything around her had vanished and she had again found herself in that cave, seeing that bloodthirsty creature while laughing at life and death as if it were a game. Then the images of the bones and skulls she had seen, passed through her eyes and were interspersed with the memories of her friends smiling at her and the sight of her friends trembling with absolute terror, knowing that the fate of her friends was about to be the same as the remains of the dogs...

"No..." Fluttershy yelled in a whisper, using all her willpower to overcome her trauma, knowing that if she didn't, she would regret forever. Struggling with herself to overcome her limits, her fears, and try to save the most important thing she had, her friends.

"NOOO!" Fluttershy screamed with all her breath, finally breaking the chains that bounded her and her greatest trauma. Finally leaving her hiding place to confront that terrible beast.

Fluttershy flew quickly, without thinking about anything, only acting with pure instinct, the instinct that was shouted to save her friends. Meanwhile, the dragon stopped laughing when he heard the scream of the pegasus and seeing from the corner of his eye that another insignificant pony appeared, a yellow pegasus, flying straight at him. The dragon turned his head and stared at her as she approached, with the same dark stare with which he had frightened the other five ponies with.

Arriving in front of the dragon, Fluttershy stopped, kept flying in front of him, with her face hidden under her long mane, with her hooves trembling as she remained motionless in the air.

"Heh! She isn't even able to look at me in the eyes..." The dragon thought laughing when he saw the weak pegasus trembling in front of him, thinking that out of all the ponies that had faced him there, this one seemed to be the most pathetic one of them.

Meanwhile, the only thing Fluttershy could think about was that she had to save her friends, however she can, however she couldn't get the image of that terrible stare of that bloodthirsty beast that she had known out of her mind, so she couldn't stop trembling. And although this was not the same dragon she had known years ago, for her it was the same situation, and all she could think about was that if she didn't act there and now, the great beast of her nightmares would devour her friends.

"You..." Fluttershy finally said, without even raising her head, with a voice so weak that the dragon even came a little closer to hear her better. "You... GET AWAY FROM MY FRIENDS!" Suddenly Fluttershy raised her head and shouted with all her strength, facing the huge dragon.

That shout from the little pegasus was so much that even the dragon opened his eyes in shock, even slightly retracting his head. That had been surprising, however there was something else that shocked even more, it was the fierce stare with which Fluttershy was giving him, it was as if that little pony had the most determined and intense stare that he had seen, a fierce look that fit more with a fierce dragon than with a weak pony.

Fluttershy hadn't noticed it, but at that precise moment she had the same stare that the old and terrible dragon had once used on her, the fiercest and most threatening stare she had ever seen, a fatal stare that was stored in her subconscious and that now, just when she was determined to save her friends and failing to get that terrible stare out of her head, she was able to unconsciously use it to overcome her trauma.

The dragon didn't say anything, without realizing it he was absorbed, seeing the stare of Fluttershy, a threatening stare that he hasn't seen for hundreds of years, since he was a baby dragon and when the old dragons controlled the skies of the world.

"Listen to me!" Fluttershy said without blinking, keeping her fierce stare on the dragon, full of more determination than she has ever been in her life. "You're going to leave my friends in peace right now, or I swear I'll make you pay, I don't know how but I will do it! I swear by the father of dragons, that I'll even look for you in the Withered Heath, because I don't care if you are eternal, ruthless, or the son of the Sun and the fire, I swear to you that if you touch my friends, you'll pay for it, and my word is also law!"

While Fluttershy spoke, in her mind the image of the current dragon with the memory of the old dragon that threatened her in her youth overlapped at times, Fluttershy felt so much adrenaline that she wasn't even sure if she was remembering her past or was reliving it. It was so she unknowingly almost repeated word to word the oath that the old dragon screamed as she fled, which had been burned into her mind.

That was also a new impact for the already surprised dragon. It could be that the fierce stare of the pony took him by surprise, a stare so threatening that no pony should have, but the dragon thought there could be a tiny possibility that someone could have it, however the threatening speech the pegasus gave him was more than the dragon could tolerate as a chance. Why did that pony name the father of dragons? And did she also know the name of the dragon's ancestral cradle? And how did she know the old oaths dictated by the ancient dragons? A dragon never said that oath unless he went to fulfill it, what that pony said was true, the word of a dragon was law! So... The threat she was making was true? How could a weak little pony threaten him in such a way? It was totally absurd! But that stare... There was no doubt, literally there was no doubt in the stare of that pony, it only showed fierceness and determination.

The dragon stared at the pony that was flying in front of him, both staring into each other's eyes, as if they had a duel of stares, and for the first time in decades, the dragon felt threatened. The dragon still thought it was ridiculous to retreat in front of a weak and insignificant pony, but his dragon instincts told him that that stare was something he shouldn't play with, as he vaguely remembered some of the ancestral dragons like his father or his grandfather, a millennium ago, before the power of his race was precisely diminished by a simple pony.

In that instant, the dragon finally lowered his head, diverting his gaze from Fluttershy's. Then the dragon put his tail in the cave, and with it, he skillfully took all the treasure he had and brought it out, he didn't drop a single gold coin. The dragon embraced his treasure in his claws and looked at Fluttershy for the last time, who was still flying where she was, with her eyes fixed on him; then the dragon opened his huge wings and finally took off and flew away from the mountain.

All of that happened in seconds, but to everyone present, it seemed like an eternity, including the five ponies who had only remained, trembling and dumbfounded to see how the most innocent, fearful and shyest of them all confronted and threatened an enormous dragon.

When the dragon was finally out of sight, Fluttershy finally and slowly descended from where she was and landed on the ground, breathing heavily as her hooves couldn't stop trembling, both because she still felt afraid and because she realized what she had just done.

"I... I... I did it." Fluttershy said shakily, lifting one of her hooves to see how it was still shaking. "I did it... I did it, I did it! I faced a dragon!!"

"I did it! I did it! I did it! I was brave!" Fluttershy added in euphoric shouts, beginning to jump on two legs in a circle, releasing all the excess adrenaline that still ran through her body.

"You did do it! That was amazing!! More than amazing!" Dusk finally said, awakening from the daze in which the situation had left him in and approached Fluttershy, who had landed right in front of him and the others.

Upon hearing Dusk's voice, Fluttershy became aware that Dusk was there, because with the euphoria of the moment she almost forgot it. With all the excitement the pegasus felt at that moment, and in a fit of joy at her great achievement, she took Dusk by her shoulders and began to spin in the air with him as she flew in circles.

"I did it! Dusk! Did you see me!? Did you see what I did!? I faced a dragon! I was brave!!" Fluttershy shouted, grinning happily as she spun Dusk in the air next to her.

"Of course, you were magnificent, the bravest mare I know! I knew you could do it!" Dusk responded affectionately while being span around in the air, happy to see Fluttershy so happy.

It was at that moment that Fluttershy noticed something else, Dusk was staring at her! And not as he always saw her, when sometimes he even looked away after looking at her, now he was looking at her with admiration, just as he looked at Rainbow Dash when talking to her!

"At last you’re looking at me! You’re looking at me in the eyes like when you look at Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy said ecstatically, smiling happily.

"Huh, yeah, I guess it's because this time YOU were the bravest of us all..." Dusk replied, not understanding much of what Fluttershy was referring to.

To hear that Dusk told her that she was very brave, it was more joy than she could ever bear at that moment, she hadn't been so full of joy since she had gotten her cutie mark.

"I'm not a princess in distress, I'm 'Rusty Sword'!" Fluttershy thought as she remembered the book she had read about the hero, the dragon and the princess. Still spinning in the air while smiling and holding Dusk, who looked at her lovingly. "I'm finally a hero!"

Then, full of euphoria and adrenaline, Fluttershy pushed Dusk slightly, only to give herself more momentum and draw him strongly towards her, drawing the lavender lips of the colt to her soft yellow lips, where she finally kissed, intensely and passionately, the colt of her dreams, to the surprised Dusk Shine. This was a brief but very intense kiss, in which the adrenaline that Fluttershy still felt made her feel like she was the queen of the world, an adrenaline that gave her the courage to achieve two important things that she had always wanted to do, to show that she was brave, and get a kiss from her beloved. However, everything that goes up must go down, and adrenaline is no exception.

After the kiss, Fluttershy separated her lips from him, and she remained blushing looking with a smile at the surprised Dusk, who was even more blushed. Then Fluttershy's smile began to slowly diminish as her mind began to calm down and little by little the situation around her became clearer and she realized what she was doing, which caused Fluttershy to slowly move towards an expression of surprise when she realized that she had been screaming and flying with Dusk. Then Fluttershy finally blushed even more when she realized how daring she had been to kiss Dusk on her own.

Returning all her emotions to the starting point, tied with how exhausted her body felt after that adrenaline rush, made Fluttershy faint, smoke shooting out from her ears from the red shame that she was feeling.

"I got you!" Dusk said quickly, using his magic to prevent him and Fluttershy from falling to the ground after the pegasus fainted while flying.

---

After a hectic afternoon, in which their emotions had risen and fallen like riding on a roller coaster, the six ponies began to make their way off the mountain, returning to the same path they had come from, all of them totally exhausted, both physically and emotionally. And although the six ponies walked down the road, only five of them did so consciously, since the one who had saved them, the timidest and introverted of the group, remained unconscious while being carried on the back of Dusk Shine.

Night had finally fallen, and for that reason the five conscious ponies descended all together walking at a prudent pace, since they depended on Rarity and Dusk, who illuminated with their horns the steep descent path. Meanwhile, while everyone was walking, and after a long silence in which everyone needed to reorder their thoughts and emotions, the silence finally broke.

"I still can't believe that Fluttershy had faced that dragon." Applejack commented without being able to stop thinking about what they had just experienced and seen. "I really could have expected it from anypony else, anypony but her! If I hadn't seen it with my own two eyes, I wouldn't have believed it."

"And probably nopony in town would believe you if you tell them." Dusk added with a smile. "I guess we'll be the only ones who know how incredible and courageous our friend really can be."

"I guess you're right." Applejack said thoughtfully, then glancing at Dusk with intrigue, since there was something that no one had yet dared to ask and that she knew that there was something that was eating away at everyone, as much or more than seeing Fluttershy confronting a dragon. "By the way... What was that kiss?"

As soon as Applejack asked that question, the ears of the other three mares awakened and stood up on alert.

"W-What do you mean?" Dusk replied blushing, getting nervous.

"I mean, Fluttershy kissed you, that... Doesn’t that mean something?" Applejack asked, still glancing at Dusk, pretending not to care about what she herself was asking.

Dusk stared at Applejack, fully blushed, then he looked up at his back, where Fluttershy was still sleeping peacefully, then instinctively he touched his lips briefly at the memory of that intense kiss, and finally he looked back at Applejack with a nervous smile.

"I-I think that was her emotions taking over... I mean, she was very exalted, I’ve never seen her like that before... I-I think she just got carried away for the moment, hehe..." Dusk finally answered, smiling foolishly as he didn't stop to blushing at the memory of the kiss, as always trying to justify the actions of the mares while his low self-esteem shouted that it was impossible that Fluttershy could feel something for him.

At the colts response, Applejack just moved her lip dissatisfied and turned her gaze to the road, not sure if Dusk Shine's response was good or bad, as she thought it was good that he still didn't notice Fluttershy’s true feelings, but that also meant that even with such a direct kiss, he still didn't understand the feelings of a mare, then how direct would she and others have to be to make him understand their feelings for him? How scatterbrained could Dusk be? Was he just naive or was there something else? All it did just left a bad taste in her mouth.

For her part, Pinkie Pie kept walking normally, as if nothing altered her, but now she had a flatter smile, because even though it didn't seem like it, her mind was already thinking and planning on what to do to regain the advantage in the race to win Dusk's heart, since it was obvious who had taken the lead after that day. Meanwhile, Rarity, who was at the front, illuminating the road with her horn, was only muttering annoyed, talking to herself.

"This can't be happening..." Rarity muttered annoyed. "First Applejack, then Pinkie Pie and now Fluttershy... I'm falling behind!"

At the question of Applejack, not only the mares were thinking about Dusk and Fluttershy, but also the same Dusk Shine, who couldn't get out of his head the passionate kiss that Fluttershy had given him, nor what had happened, however there was something in particular that had been said and that Dusk, after meditating on it, still didn't understand at all. It was what Fluttershy had said as she flew happily next to him, about how he had finally looked at her in the way that he looked at Rainbow Dash, did he look differently at Rainbow Dash than at Fluttershy?

At that moment Dusk turned his head a little to see Rainbow Dash directly in the eyes, who just flew close to him. Rainbow Dash felt Dusk's intense gaze on her, and she instantly blushed a little.

"W-What are you looking at?!" Rainbow Dash asked nervously.

"I have no problem looking at Rainbow Dash in the eyes, in fact, now that I think about it, maybe there is some truth in what Fluttershy said..." Dusk thought looking back to the front without answering Rainbow Dash, keeping a pensive look. "I’m more comfortable when I talk to Rainbow Dash because she doesn't care about all the feminine stuff, it's almost like talking to Spike. Maybe that's why I can look at her in eyes more easily than the others."

Then Dusk imagined the face and the tender eyes of Fluttershy in front of him, looking at him, and instinctively Dusk turned his head and blushed slightly, not understanding why he reacted like that. Not understanding his own reaction and because Fluttershy is very shy to even ask directly, neither of them would ever know that sometimes Dusk wasn't able to see Fluttershy directly in the eyes, not because he disliked her timid attitude, as the pegasus thought, but because sometimes that colt couldn't help but blush at her tender eyes.

Meanwhile, after Dusk stared at her and then back to face the front as if nothing had ever happened, Rainbow Dash looked annoyed at Dusk for a few seconds for making her blush without any provocation, however she quickly left those thoughts and returned to pay attention to what she really owed at that moment. Although right at that moment she was flying near Dusk, this time it wasn't to be near her crush, but to be alert when Fluttershy woke up, because after all that happened, she still hadn't had the time to talk to her shy friend, not only to apologize for having spoken to her so rudely and for mistreating her as a coward, but also to thank her for having saved them, and mainly, to apologize for having been a bad friend for not having realized before her great trauma, although Rainbow Dash could already see how her friend would forgive her, saying that it wasn't important, after all it was Fluttershy, the pony who would never be angry or would hold a grudge with her friends, that was her way of being, however Rainbow Dash felt that she should still let Fluttershy know her feelings and the guilt she felt.

Suddenly, while Rainbow Dash was still in her thoughts, the rainbow-maned pegasus saw Fluttershy move slowly, apparently, she was waking up.

Fluttershy woke up slowly, feeling her body shaking for some reason. She slowly opened her eyes and saw that she was moving, even though she wasn't walking. Then she moved her head slightly to the side and saw that in front of her was Dusk's back, even more! She was being carried on Dusk's back! Fluttershy immediately blushed and turned her head to the front before Dusk realized that she was looking at him. After a couple of seconds, Fluttershy smiled tenderly looking at the ground, thinking how lucky she was to be being carried by Dusk while her other friends had to walk, however a sound of flutter took her out of her thoughts, then she raised her head and saw that Rainbow Dash was flying beside her, and she just looked in her direction. Immediately Fluttershy closed her eyes and lowered her head quickly to stay just as she had been before waking up.

"What a cheater! So you're going to pretend that you're asleep just to enjoy being carried by Dusk for a while longer?" Rainbow Dash thought with a scolding look, which she then dropped to put on a tender smile. "Well, I guess I'll be quiet just for this time, after all, you earned it."

In the distance, the ponies could finally see some lights, coming from their beloved town that finally was seen from that part of the mountain, the town that didn't even know how close it was to be forever covered under the smoke and ashes if it hadn't been for those six ponies who again risked their lives to save the place they loved, especially not knowing the effort of a shy pegasus, who had overcome more obstacles than anyone and who now returned, happy and triumphant after having gotten her reward.

---

"Finally, we arrived!" One of the guards said, a veteran pegasus with white fur, landing in front of the balcony of Canterlot Castle with his four companions. "It was a long day..."

"What are you complaining about?" Another one of the guards answered, who had a gray fur. This was another of the oldest pegasus of the elite body of the royal guard. "All we had to do was lie in a cloud and spy from a distance."

"Yeah, but it was annoying to have to be tense all the time, not knowing if we would have to take action or not." The third guard of the group answered, another pegasus with white fur, who began to remove his armor. "Every time that dragon roared, I thought we'd have to go on stage and attack."

"I don't know about y'all, but at least I enjoyed it." The fourth pegasus said, one of orange fur, who took off his helmet and showed his blue mane. "Especially for being able to see those five mares, gosh, I really don't know who out of all them was the prettiest, I'm really envious of that Dusk Shine though. If I were him, I wouldn't have just kissed that cute yellow pegasus, but I would have kissed them all!"

"More respect, newbie!" The captain of the squadron said sharply, another pegasus with white fur, causing the other four pegasus to stand straight and in line. "You can retire now, I'll give the report to the princess.

At that moment the other four pegasus saluted, turned around, and began to retreat. While they were doing so, the captain could hear in the distance as the squad's novice was still talking about how beautiful the friends of Princess Celestia's student were.

"Huff... That Flash... has a great future ahead, but only if he learns to behave." The captain sighed as he made his way to the castle's main hall, which was where Princess Celestia waited patiently.

"Captain, everything in order? Is my dear student and his friends safe?" Princess Celestia asked once the captain arrived where she was, sitting on her throne next to a pile of scrolls that she had to check for some decrees.

"Yes your majesty." The captain responded immediately. "Although we were almost ready to attack the dragon when he woke up and left the cave, fortunately one of the friends of Dusk Shine solved everything without us having the need to act or reveal ourselves to Dusk Shine or his friends."

Then the captain gave a complete report to the princess about everything that happened, from the moment they made Dusk Shine believe that they were returning to Canterlot, until they followed him, hidden behind the clouds and observed everything that happened while they watched the whole situation.

"I see... so he never knew about your presence or that he was being watched. I'm glad." The princess said with a smile. "Otherwise the joke wouldn't have worked..." She added in a whisper to herself, with a more mischievous smile.

"That's all captain, thank you very much for your valuable service." Princess Celestia finished saying, while the captain greeted her, turned around and retreated.

When the captain had left, two maids of the castle entered the great hall, both mares of cream-colored fur, one with red mane and another with blue mane, both wearing maid attire. Both ponies began to prepare the central table, bringing several trays of cakes and bowls with different types of tea.

The two ponies were totally reliable to the princess, so she could finally relax and put aside all the work she had pending to go to the table to savor their delicious nightly cakes before going to sleep.

"I'm glad that the joke went well, but it bothers me a little that Dusk really believed that I'm so cruel as to send him to face a dragon without a group of guards guarding his back." The princess said, thinking aloud as she savored one of her favorite cakes.

Suddenly, noisy metallic footsteps were heard approaching the great hall, while the main door of the room was opened.

"Where’s my spear?" Princess Luna said, opening the door to the room, wearing an armor that was obviously too big for her.

Celestia almost spits out the cake she was eating when she saw her little sister looking so ridiculous.

"Luna, what are you doing?" Celestia finally asked, holding back her laughter.

"One of the guards told me that while I slept, a huge dragon arrived near Ponyville, and that you ordered Dusk to expel it." Luna responded totally worried. "Sister, a dragon is too dangerous, even for Dusk Shine, so it doesn't matter what you say, I'm going to save him!"

"Luna, dear, calm down, dragons are not as dangerous as they were a thousand years ago." Celestia said approaching her sister to reassure her. "Besides, everything's over, Dusk and his friends managed to make the dragon leave these lands."

"Huh?! Oh...! That... Huff... That... that's fine." Luna responded, taking a deep breath as she slowly calmed down after being so scared. "I really couldn't imagine my dear Dusk suffering..."

Immediately Luna realized what she had just said, she blushed visibly and immediately retracted what she said.

"Dear ponies!! M-My dear ponies! I-I couldn't bear the thought of seeing my dear ponies suffer!" Luna said nervously, repeating ponies many times to make her sister believe that what she had just said about Dusk had been just a mistake.

In that instant, noticing that her face was red with embarrassment, Luna quickly turned around and began to return loudly with her armor to her room.

While Luna retreated, her sister noticed that her mane seemed to float slightly in the air.

"Oh! It seems that her powers are returning little by little, and if so, Luna will finally be able to take her true form and be able to take care the dreams of our dear ponies." Celestia thought, smiling. "Our dear ponies..."

"Is it me or did she repeat the words 'dear ponies' a lot?" Celestia said suddenly looking at the two maids, only realizing then how nervous her sister had been. However, she decided not to give much importance to it and turned her attention back to her cakes and biscuits.

Meanwhile, the two maids looked at each other with a face that said the princess's question had an obvious answer, but neither of them answered. Both ponies had realized that for long ago, not from the fact that Princess Luna apparently got very nervous every time Princess Celestia mentioned Dusk Shine, in fact it seemed that everyone who worked at the castle knew about that, however, what had astonished the maids was that they had discovered that their divine majesty, the magnanimous Princess Celestia, who seemed to know everything about everyone in the kingdom just by looking at the ponies in the eyes, was totally clueless about her sister's feelings. It seemed that Princess Luna was the only pony to who Princess Celestia couldn't guess what was going through her mind or realize what everyone else knew, that Princess Luna apparently felt something for Dusk Shine. That left the maids with only one question: How would Princess Celestia react when she realized what her sister was apparently feeling for her faithful student?

# End of chapter 28

Author's Note:

Thank you so much to Firestorm808 and Ze207ro for their help in translation, review and correction :)
So if you liked, thank them too =D

Comments

[Greenhorn]

That left the maids with only one question: How would Princess Celestia react when she realized what her sister was apparently feeling for her faithful student?

More pranking materials~

[PuzzleMaster98]

Oh GOD!!!! I cant believe his luck!!! Hey!!! WIlll CHrysalis fall in love with him? ANd is Discord r63ed? Please let these things happen? ANd will Celly fall in love with him as well?

[bigsnusnu]

9140946
xD haha, probably lol
thanks for comment :)

[bigsnusnu]

9141068
It's still a long time before Discord and Chrysalis appear, in fact I haven't even decided how they will do it, I only have a couple of ideas about it.
And about the relationship of Celestia and Dusk, this is more a mother-child relationship than something romantic xD
thanks for comment ;D

[Not so New Brony]

Now I'm imagining the palace staff making a betting pool on how long Celestia stays clueless with Luna's feelings for Dusk.

[Garuda IV]

"I AM 'DRACO'..."

Seeing that name again, I can't help but think of the Sean Connery movie Dragonheart.

On a different note, I'm really eager to see what happens next chapter since the episode has the sleepover with Rarity, Applejack, and Twilight/Dusk.

Five bits say Rarity and Applejack are going to claim that they're "afraid of the thunder and lightning", and use that as an excuse to cuddle with Dusk.

[bigsnusnu]

9141595
it would be a risky bet xD since Celestia could realize it, remember that thanks to years of wisdom she can almost guess what everyone thinks, about everypony except Luna haha xD
thanks for comment :)

[bigsnusnu]

9141741
haha, that would be fun, but the next chapter will not focus on them two or on that rainy night. The next chapter will focus on another character and episode :)
thanks for comment =D

[MagicLover2128]

9141741
Suckers bet.

[DavisSentoV5]

By God! This was your longest & the most darkest (while mostly, the first part) chapter yet! Although Dash felt horrible for everything, she said to Fluttershy, she needs to be punished! Make her the last one to kiss Duck!

Also...

How would Princess Celestia react when she realized what her sister was apparently feeling for her faithful student?

5 bucks says, she may accidently push Luna away, by forbidding her to be with Dusk.... But we shall see...

[TriforceAndroid]

That kiss was so cute and funny!

[bigsnusnu]

9141916
Yes, this was a long chapter, with some darker parts, but I still hope you like it :)
and about what Celestia would say about Luna-Dusk, as well you said, we shall see... xD
thanks for comment :)

[bigsnusnu]

9142159
yeah =D it's a kiss from Flutteshy, so it's impossible that it's not adorable :3
thanks for comment :)

[DavisSentoV5]

9142557
Indeed, we shall & glorious job on this one!

[Tharen1]

okay so I have an answer to the question that pinky asked when she meet dusk yes this can be a herm fic.

[TriforceAndroid]

9142558
Yup!

[Mix-up]

Sorry to say this pal but I think you would need to start condensing your chapter more as I feel most of the last two chapter could have had over haft of it cut out and most of your story would have stayed intact. It was similar with the CMC as you got Dusk follow Apple Bloom when you could have just have her explain what happen to her as confiding her feeling; I think you could have done the same for Fluttershy for explaining her pass to Dusk. I did at least like the part about Flutershy's foalhood and the elder dragon and the part where we see the guards in hiding in a cloud, interesting to see Flash sentry but I would have liked to have names for all of them. I feel that the issue you have is that you linger too much on explaining each of the character point of view as well as feeling for each single action, it become really tedious and redundant over time. and you could have condense most of it if you had just stick to Dush or Flutershy's point of view and just have them see their impression they have from them. I think you could skip most of narrating of the feeling part if you could be be more cryptic in adding what the other missed. I really do like your story, and I usually like lots of detail, but this is way too much for adding little to the story itself.

[bigsnusnu]

9143735
I suppose so, at least for now xD haha
thanks for comment ;D

[bigsnusnu]

9144640
don't worry, it's your opinion, there's no problem in expressing it ;D
I totally agree that the chapters are very extensive, but I can't condense the story anymore. Everything would be easier if as I did with the episodes of the confrontation with Nightmare Moon, each episode had 4 or 5 chapters instead of just two, but then the readers would also claim that there are too many chapters xD

If you notice it, I condensed the story enough, in fact I would say that more than 80% of the story is developed with dialogues instead of describing, I don't describe much. I also summarize many parts when I find it necessary, as in this chapter, in which in a few lines I described the avalanche before reaching the dragon cave, or the story of Rainbow Dash and the manticore, otherwise the chapter would have been much more extensive. It's right here that I think you contradict yourself a little, because I also could have summarized the story of young Fluttershy and that as you say, she would only quickly tell what happened, but that would have removed emotion to the chapter, and actually you say it is a part that you liked, and I'm glad :)

I think the development is important. What you say about Dusk and Applebloom I don't think would have worked, that is, would Applebloom have fully trusted Dusk just for kicks? I don't think so, that's why the relationship needs to develop.
Finally, as I said at the beginning, it's your opinion and I really value it, in fact I'm doing everything possible so that in the future I hope the chapters are shorter, but for better or worse, I have many ideas that I want to write into a same chapter, and this makes them very long :( as much as this answer xD hahaha

Anyway, I hope that you still liked my story and I hope you follow it in the future :)
thank you very much for commenting and for advising me ;D

[K-O-D-E-X]

Methinks the flashback and the threat towards the dragon part when she gain her bearings was overboard but other than that liked it a lot

[bigsnusnu]

9154215
I'm glad you liked it =D
thanks for comment ;)

[TheArchive]

That comic strip was just adorable. I also enjoy the bit included at the end with Celestia having sent those guards in secret, because at the beginning I was thinking it was rather cruel of her to "jokingly" send him on a potentially deadly mission. Also the bit with Luna was great. I guess Dusk actually gets some of his obliviousness from Celestia.

[bigsnusnu]

9596671
whenever Fluttershy appears, we know that it will be adorably xD
thanks for comment :)

[LucarioFan2066]

How scatterbrained could Dusk be? Was he just naive or was there something else? All it did just left a bad taste in her mouth.

Foalhood trauma caused by a filly he thought was a friend caused his social and romance skills to remain immature; he likely won't be able to even realise what romantic love (as opposed to parent/child love, or sibling love) is until he's able to completely cast off that iron yoke weighing him down.

[bigsnusnu]

9842331
precisely, we will see how all this develops.
thanks for comment ;)

[Super Ponyman]

"Huh?! Oh...! That... Huff... That... that's fine." Luna responded, taking a deep breath as she slowly calmed down after being so scared. "I really couldn't imagine my dear Dusk suffering..."

Ooop, that’s a heck of a tongue slip.

[F14m3rz]

"I CAN'T DO IT!!" Fluttershy yelled loudly, brusquely moving her hoof away from Dusk’s, shouting so loudly that everyone around her was stunned. None of them had ever heard Fluttershy shout so loudly or so desperately.

I’ll give that a rating of GGG.

"She doesn't realize it, but whenever her friends are involved in something dangerous, no matter what, she can be as brave or even braver than anypony..." Rainbow Dash added, ceasing to look at the sky and looking back at her friends. "I know you always want to protect her, but I want you to see the real Fluttershy, I want you to see her as I see her, a strong mare that is capable of doing anything for her friends, I don't want you to see her like everypony else does, the shy and helpless Fluttershy... That's why I get angry that she acts like that, I know she's afraid and maybe I overreacted a bit, but I also know that she is capable of more... so much more."

Yeah, but you can do all that without giving your childhood friends mental breakdowns, Vriska Serket- I mean, Rainbow Dash.

The dragon's huge snout moved slowly towards where Fluttershy was, opening slowly and thus showing the giant fangs it contained. The dragon did everything slowly, since he knew that with his stare, his prey had lost all will to live and would never move until it was devoured.

Oh hey, it’s The Stare. Anyhow, this is a solid backstory for Fluttershy’s fears. Her friends can’t talk crap now!
{Pinkie Pie: Well that’s nothing new, Fluttershy’s afraid of her ow-
Fluttershy: I stood atop the dessicated remains of long dead travelers, rent assunder by a long-forgotten beast. I stared into its eyes as a vision of profound terror washed over my being and permeated the very depths of my soul. I was brought to the fore of futility, of incomparable odds bent on waylaying everything in this world that is good and pure… and yet I stand. Not out of false bravado, nor of a nihilistic plodding towards my inevitable demise, but because you are my friends. If I am to be a coward for regressing, for coming back to that moment of my most vulnerable, then so be it. Better to be a foal that cringes at the sight of my own shadow, than to not be there when my allies need me the most…
Rainbow Dash:… Fluttershy, what was that?
Fluttershy: Oh, sorry, sometimes I read so much of Rarity’s books, it’s like I’ve become one of the characters.
Pinkie: Wow, I didn’t take you for a method mare, you should totally keep that up when we deal woth the dragon!
Fluttershy: Oh, thank you, I-… oh, right.}

"You're a filthy pony!" The dragon screamed, who, being blind, all this time had thought that he had been talking to another silly diamond dog. "I curse your queen and your race! You who stole the eternal flame and condemned it to move at your will around the sky! You who dared to kill the greatest of my race! You who turned what was left of my race in a few weak lizards that are not able to assert their ancestral rights! You are the flock! You are scum!"

Nice to see I’m not the only one that likes dramatic dialogue.

" I'm not going to let what happened to Fluttershy happen again! I was her friend! Why wasn't I there for her?! I'LL NOT LET THIS HAPPEN AGAIN!! " Rainbow Dash thought frantically as she flew by.

All right, that’s what I like to see…

Fluttershy hadn't noticed it, but at that precise moment she had the same stare that the old and terrible dragon had once used on her, the fiercest and most threatening stare she had ever seen, a fatal stare that was stored in her subconscious and that now, just when she was determined to save her friends and failing to get that terrible stare out of her head, she was able to unconsciously use it to overcome her trauma.

Oh, I see. Using the thing that traumatized her as a shield as she faces her fears against others. Like Batman.

In that instant, the dragon finally lowered his head, diverting his gaze from Fluttershy's. Then the dragon put his tail in the cave, and with it, he skillfully took all the treasure he had and brought it out, he didn't drop a single gold coin. The dragon embraced his treasure in his claws and looked at Fluttershy for the last time, who was still flying where she was, with her eyes fixed on him; then the dragon opened his huge wings and finally took off and flew away from the mountain.

{Razer: But the rainbow one kicked me…}
Sorry, sorry, it was too iconic of a line.

"What are you complaining about?" Another one of the guards answered, who had a gray fur. This was another of the oldest pegasus of the elite body of the royal guard. "All we had to do was lie in a cloud and spy from a distance."

Personally, I’ve had this headcanon since Lesson Zero that Celestia can see everything that Twilight and her friends are doing through the sun (similar to that telescope idea you have). Why Lesson Zero?

The sun moved super suddenly, like the minute-hand on a clock. Obviously, this could be chalked up to a visual gag, but I like to think that this was Celestia trolling Twilight by moving the sun suddenly and psyching her out.
derpicdn.net/img/2013/10/17/450709/medium.png
But if something did come up and they had no way to solve a problem, Celestia would solve it for them in an instant. That’s my headcanon, anyhow.

"I don't know about y'all, but at least I enjoyed it." The fourth pegasus said, one of orange fur, who took off his helmet and showed his blue mane. "Especially for being able to see those five mares, gosh, I really don't know who out of all them was the prettiest, I'm really envious of that Dusk Shine though. If I were him, I wouldn't have just kissed that cute yellow pegasus, but I would have kissed them all!"

"More respect, newbie!" The captain of the squadron said sharply, another pegasus with white fur, causing the other four pegasus to stand straight and in line. "You can retire now, I'll give the report to the princess.

At that moment the other four pegasus saluted, turned around, and began to retreat. While they were doing so, the captain could hear in the distance as the squad's novice was still talking about how beautiful the friends of Princess Celestia's student were.

"Huff... That Flash... has a great future ahead, but only if he learns to behave." The captain sighed as he made his way to the castle's main hall, which was where Princess Celestia waited patiently.

Hopefully that’s the case, I wouldn’t want my “Dusk and Flash are bros” headcanon crashing and burning.

Meanwhile, the two maids looked at each other with a face that said the princess's question had an obvious answer, but neither of them answered. Both ponies had realized that for long ago, not from the fact that Princess Luna apparently got very nervous every time Princess Celestia mentioned Dusk Shine, in fact it seemed that everyone who worked at the castle knew about that, however, what had astonished the maids was that they had discovered that their divine majesty, the magnanimous Princess Celestia, who seemed to know everything about everyone in the kingdom just by looking at the ponies in the eyes, was totally clueless about her sister's feelings. It seemed that Princess Luna was the only pony to who Princess Celestia couldn't guess what was going through her mind or realize what everyone else knew, that Princess Luna apparently felt something for Dusk Shine. That left the maids with only one question: How would Princess Celestia react when she realized what her sister was apparently feeling for her faithful student?

Makes sense, considering the lore.
Also, I dunno a thing about Re:Zero, but neat Rem/Ram reference.

[bigsnusnu]

11539911
I'm glad you liked my backstory about 'the stare'

about the dramatic dialogues, of course, they always add impact if the occasion is right

About Celestia's observation. Yes, I also believe that she is always aware of all the dangers that threaten her kingdom. However, she prefers to act only as a last resort.

and about re: zero, honestly I haven't seen the series either haha but I liked the design of Ram and Rem

[f0st3r21]

Dear Princess Celestia,

All the Element Bearers almost died today. What. The. Buck.

-Dusk Shine
***
Celestia: I told you never to mess with my day off. I meant it.

[bigsnusnu]

11624172
Celestia is very vengeful hahaha