Heart of the Cards

by AspirantWriter

Episode 7 [Part 1] - No Courage without Fear

It been a week since Twilight stopped the ursa minor and Dusk defeated Number 72. After that, everything was relatively peaceful in Ponyville.

Inside the library, Twilight and Spike were preparing for an simple experiment. However, it was rather special since Dusk personally proposed it and stated he would be the test subject.

“You are sure about this?” Twilight had a skeptical look as she was levitating a broom with her magic.

“As long you don’t hit me too hard, then I’ll be fine.” Dusk said, who was holding Utopia’s card in his hoof.

“Okay then.” With that, the experiment begun as Twilight moved the broom towards Dusk, who closed his eyes as he imagined the golden aura that protected him before.

The unicorn first lightly hit the stallion with the brush end of the broom, but nothing happened as Dusk kept focusing the image of the aura in his head.

Reluctantly, Twilight entered the second phase of the experiment as she then begun to use the handle to hit Dusk. As he felt the impacts, his thoughts quickly shift to Utopia’s true form as he furrowed his forehead.

Seeing that nothing was happening, Twilight stopped hitting him with the broom and thus stopping the experiment.

“No aura? No shield? Nothing?” Dusk asked her and Spike as he was rubbing his head.

“Nope”

“Afraid not.”

Spike and Twilight gave their respective reply while shaking their heads.

“I’m guessing Utopia would only protect me if my life was in danger after all.” Dusk sighed as he walked to the two. “Well, there goes the theory of the possibility of channeling the power of a Number at will.”

“Sorry Dusk.” The unicorn said with a comforting smile.

“It’s a shame. Imagine what you could do if...” Spike couldn’t finish talking as he suddenly burped green fire.

Dusk and Twilight knew what it means as a scroll then appeared from the flames.

“Wonder what Celestia has for us now?” He said as Twilight merely pouts upon hearing him say the alicorn’s name in a casual manner.

While she knows that Dusk told her that royalty on Earth is more of a ceremonious role than that in Equestria, Twilight wish that he would be more respectful when referring to the princess.

Dusk grabbed the scroll from the air before Spike could get his claws on it. After he opened it and scanning through the contents, his expression turned into one of shock.

“What...?”

Much to Twilight’s and Spike’s surprise, Dusk then quickly pass the letter to Spike before rushing out of the library and quickly looked towards the sky in front of him.

“Dusk! Is everything alright?” Twilight worriedly asked as she and Spike went outside and turned her head to the direction that the stallion was looking. They soon gasped upon seeing that there was a cloud of smoke circling on the top of a mountain; some distance away from Ponyville.

The smoke has ready reached the outskirts of town and begun to spread further inwards, blocking out the sunlight in the process.

“Uh Spike, what did say Princess Celestia in the letter?” The unicorn asked as she had a very good feeling it involves what they are seeing now.

“Well...” Spike quickly read through the letter and spoke out everything word-by-word.

Apparently, they learn that an adult dragon is currently taking a nap on top of that mountain and makes smoke whenever he snores. However, the dragon’s nap would last for about a hundred years and combined with his snoring, all of Equestria would be covered in smoke.

Twilight was surprised that she and her friends were entrusted by Celestia to convince the dragon to find another place to take a nap. The princess also requested Dusk to join the others on their task in case a Number tries to take advantage of the situation and get in their way.

“Oh my...” Twilight muttered.

“This is a daunting task...” Dusk was concerned why Celestia would entrust such a task to Twilight, himself and the others.

While he knows the princess has a lot of faith in her student, the stallion felt this is too much. However, his thoughts turned to the other ponies in Ponyville and realized they may panic if they see the ever-growing smoke in the sky.

“Twilight, we need to warn everypony in town.” Dusk said to her.

“Don’t worry Dusk, we will. Come on Spike.” She replied as the baby dragon quickly climbed on her back.

They soon made their way to the park at the outskirts of town, which most of the ponies would go to spend their day under the sun.

After stepping onto the small bridge leading to the park, they saw that everypony there were enjoying themselves. However, they were rather oblivious to the smoke in the sky.

Clearing his throat, Dusk then call out to all the ponies in the area.

“Everypony, we need your full attention!”

Seeing that all the ponies were now focusing their attention on him, Dusk slightly tapped Twilight’s side to signal that it was her turn to talk.

“Listen up! Smoke is spreading over all of Equestria.”

Upon hearing that, the crowd became worried as they looked at the sky and muttered amongst themselves.

Dusk notice that Fluttershy was jumping high in the air and was moving her mouth. He could tell she was saying something, but her voice was too soft and quiet for anypony to hear.

“But don't worry, I've just received a letter from Princess Celestia informing me that it is not coming from a fire.” Twilight assured all the ponies who all sighed in relief.

She then revealed the true cause of the smoke. “It's coming from a dragon.”

The crowd’s relief quickly turned into complete shock as they gasped loudly.

---

After telling the news to everypony in town, Twilight and Dusk got their friends together and brought them to library.

“What in the name of all things cinnamon swirled is a full-grown dragon doing here in Equestria?” Applejack asked.

“Believe it not, the dragon is sleeping.” Dusk stated, which everypony except for Twilight showed their disbelief.

“According to Princess Celestia, he's taking a nap.” Twilight followed up as she was packing her stuff in her bags. “His snoring is what's causing all this smoke.”

“He should really see a doctor. That doesn't sound healthy at all.” Pinkie said.

‘I think it’s a dragon thing Pinkie.’ Dusk thought.

“Well, at least he's not snoring fire. What are we meant to do about it?” Rarity was concerned what they were supposed to do.

“I'll tell you what we're meant to do.” Dash showed a confident face as she hovered in the air. “Give him the boot. Take that!”

She then turned around and delivered a kick to a wooden bust, which would have fallen if not for Twilight using her magic.

“And that!”

The pegasus made headlong charge against the bust, but the unicorn quickly moved it out of the way. Dash soon found herself crashing into a shelf and was now lying on her back.

“Rainbow, the last thing we need is to pick a fight with a full-grown dragon.” Dusk warned her.

“Dusk is right. We need to encourage him to take a nap somewhere else.” Twilight agreed with him.

“Princess Celestia has given us this mission, and we must not fail.” The unicorn declared while Dash got back up and gave a salute. “If we do, Equestria will be covered in smoke for the next one hundred years.”

While Fluttershy gasped in shock of a future in a smoke-filled Equestria, the other mares were surprisingly calm.

“Hmph. Talk about getting your beauty sleep.” Rarity said.

“All right everypony, I need you to gather supplies quickly.” Twilight stated as she finished packing her bags. “We've got a long journey ahead of us. Let's meet back here in less than an hour.”

“Okay, girls, you heard her. The fate of Equestria is in our hooves.” Dash said as she wrapped her hooves around Pinkie and Rarity. “Do we have what it takes?”

The mares made a confident cheer as they leave the library to pack up their stuff. Fluttershy however appeared reluctant before she too left the library.

“You should get your decks ready.” Twilight said to Dusk. “As much I don’t wish to come across a Number on the way, we can’t take any chances.”

“Don’t worry Twilight. I’ll be prepared.” He replied as the stallion quickly went upstairs to get what he need for the long trek ahead.

Dusk would bring his decks with him as usual, but he decided to bring his old duel disk and with her permission, hold onto the Twilight’s deck.

While the unicorn found it unnecessary since Dusk is the best in Duel Monsters, the stallion reminded her that she was the one that told him that they cannot take any chances. No matter how slim it is, there was the possibility that he wouldn’t able to duel and Twilight may have to take his place.

Nevertheless, Twilight hope it didn’t have to come to that.

---

Outside the library, everypony were standing at attention as Twilight explained what her expectations for the trip up the mountain.

While Dusk was wearing his backpack when he first came to Equestria, the mares except for the pegasuses having the same bag design, but each having a different colour and a picture that is similar to their respective cutie marks.

“All right everypony, listen up. I'm mapping out the fastest route, but we've all got to keep a good pace if we expect to make it up the mountain by nightfall.”

“M-m-mountain?” Fluttershy asked nervously.

“Yes. The dragon is napping in a cave at the very top.” Dusk walked forward and pointed to the top of the mountain where it was circled by a large cloud of smoke.

“Looks pretty cold up there.” Applejack noted as she looked up.

“You bet it is. The higher you go, the chillier it gets.” Dash stated.

“Good thing I brought my scarf.” Rarity took out a pink stripped scarf out her bag with her mouth.

“Ooo! Pretty!” Pinkie complimented as she watched the fashion unicorn wrapped the scarf around her neck and did a simple pose.

“Heh, oh yeah. That'll keep you nice and cozy.” Dash chuckled while Fluttershy made a nervous gulp as she looked at the mountain.

“Are you okay Fluttershy?” Dusk approached the shy pegasus.

“Oh Dusk. Well... Uh...” She couldn’t find the right words say to the stallion before she suddenly walked away.

‘Fluttershy...’ Dusk knew the pegasus get scared easily, but he had a feeling that something else was bothering her.

He watched as Fluttershy approached and tried to talk to Twilight, who was looking through the map. The unicorn was so focused on the map that she was unaware that she just agreed to let the pegasus remain in Ponyville.

Unlucky for Fluttershy, Twilight quickly realized her mistake.

“Wait! You have to come!” Twilight called out to Fluttershy. “Your way with wild animals will surely come in handy.”

“I don't think I...”

“Oh, and don't worry about your little friends in the meadow. Spike's got it covered while you're gone.”

Spike then walked up to Fluttershy with a few critters and birds; both around him and on his claws.

“You can count on me!” The baby dragon said before Angel, Fluttershy’s pet rabbit quickly stomped on his head. “Oooh!”

As Spike waved his arms to get Angel to stop, the rabbit and the other animals quickly ran off. “Hey! Hey! Wait!”

“I don't really think he's up to the task. Maybe...” Fluttershy tried to speak to Twilight, but her voice was too quiet for the unicorn to hear. “But... But...”

“I know you are nervous Fluttershy, but we have a job to do.” Dusk told her after he walked to her side.

“But Dusk... I...” She muttered as she lowered her head in unease and saw her own shadow. “Wah!”

The stallion watched as Fluttershy squeal in fear and was moving her front hooves anxiously. She then jumped into a nearby bush and begun to scan her surroundings.

‘Really Fluttershy...’ Dusk sighed as he shook his head at the shy pegasus’s behaviour. ‘Never met anyone who get scared of a shadow.’

He had a nagging feeling that bringing her along to confront the dragon up the mountain was going to be a challenge.

Just as he gently pulled her out the bush, Twilight called out to everypony that it was time to go.

“All right everypony, move out!”

Seeing that the mares were now moving quickly towards his and Fluttershy’s direction, Dusk reflexes kicked in and he got out of the way. The pegasus however was dragged by her friends’ gallop and softly screamed on the way to the mountain.

“Sorry Fluttershy.” The stallion muttered as he ran as quickly as he could to regroup with the others.

---

Upon reaching the base of the mountain, everypony heard a loud noise coming from the top. While Fluttershy gasped and went behind Dusk in fear, the others were not scared and merely curious.

“Whoa. What was that?” Dash asked.

“That is what it sounds like when a dragon snores.” Twilight replied.

‘More like a growl.’ Dusk thought as he turned his head to see the shaking pegasus behind him.

“It... It's so...” She muttered as she gazes upon the mountain. “High!

“It’s a mountain Fluttershy. Obliviously it is going to be high.” The stallion stated to Fluttershy as he resisted the urge to sigh.

“Well, I'm going to fly up there and check it out!” Before Dusk could tell Dash to stop, Applejack quickly bit down on the pegasus’s tail and pulled her down.

“Hold on, now. I think we should all go up together. Safety in numbers and all.” She suggested which the others were in full agreement on.

“Oh alright.” Dash reluctantly gave in as the rest of the group begin to climb up one of the cliffs.

Dusk saw that while the cliff was steep by human standards, it didn’t pose any trouble for the mares. He was impressed that they were able to essentially move up the cliffs without any special equipment.

The stallion was about to make his climb when he notice that Fluttershy standing near a bush and didn’t move an inch.

Dusk approached her and gave a light nudge; telling her it was time to move.

“Come on Fluttershy. We gotta move with the others.”

“But...”

“Hey!” They were interrupted by Dash’s shout, who was looking down along with the other mares. “What are you two waiting for? An invitation?”

“Ooo, I think I have one in my bag!” Pinkie then showed an invination slip just as confetti suddenly appeared, startling both Dash and Rarity.

“It’s Fluttershy.” Dusk called out to the others. “It seems she doesn’t want to climb.”

“It's so... so... steep.” Fluttershy said nervously.

“Well, it is a cliff. You could just, oh, I don't know, fly up here?” Dash stated to the pegasus in an annoyed tone.

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

“Oh... okay.”

Taking a deep breath, Fluttershy begun to fly upwards and just when she was about a few feet in the air, the dragon made another snore.

Fluttershy whined in utter fear as both her wings suddenly closed shut and caused her to fall to the ground. Reacting quickly, Dusk quickly got under her and ending up being her cushion.

“That hurt less than I expected...” The downed stallion groaned while Dash covered both her eyes as she sighed.

“Oh my... Sorry...” Fluttershy apologized as she got off of Dusk. She tried to spread her wings again, but they wouldn’t budge and was like they were glued in place.

“Uh, we don't have time for this.” Twilight stated just as Applejack took the map from her bag. “What are you doing?”

“I'll need this if me and Dusk are going to take her around the mountain another way.”

Dash soon voiced her annoyance at the earth pony’s intentions. “Around the mountain? That's going to take them forever.”

After Applejack skidded back the base of the mountain towards Dusk and Fluttershy, the dragon snored again.

‘Oh, come on...’ Dusk fought his urge to face-hoof after he watched Fluttershy froze in place and laid on her back; playing possum. He also swore he heard goat bleating nearby.

“Don't worry, Twi. We'll be there lickety-split.” Applejack assured the unicorn before she turned back to the map.

---

After finding a way around the mountain, she and Dusk had to drag Fluttershy with them by pulling on her tail.

Applejack believed it could take about an hour to regroup with the others through the alternative route while dragging Fluttershy. That was if she was doing the ordeal alone.

Since Dusk was with her sharing the labour, she now believed they would able to reach their friends in half the time.

However, they begun to feel the strain of dragging the pegasus and were out of breath just as they finally met up with the others.

“We... Made... It...” Applejack said tiredly as she and Dusk fell to the ground; both catching their breath.

Twilight and Dash were the first to walk up to them.

“Told you it was going to take them forever.” The annoyed pegasus muttered to the unicorn.

“I heard... That...” Dusk said as he struggled to get up. “Even with... Applejack... It is not easy... Dragging a pony... Around a mountain...”

It was then the ponies then heard a crack above them. They looked up to see about three pieces of rock that were rolling down the cliff. It wouldn’t much concern if not for the fact they were the size of a pony’s hoof.

The ponies were horrified when they saw that the rocks were barreling towards Fluttershy, who was still out.

Like he did for Twilight when Number 72 appeared, Dusk quickly jumped onto the pegasus with the intent of using his fatigued body as a shield.

“Dusk!” Twilight cried out just as the hoof-sized rocks were about to hit the stallion; one was at the verge of striking his head.

While closing his eyes tightly, Dusk soon felt the same warm feeling that he experienced when he shielded Twilight. At the same time, the mares saw a golden aura appearing around him and begun to manifest a pair of wings which they recognized were those belonging to Utopia’s.

They watched as the wings fold up to form the Light Wing Shield and it absorbed the impact of the falling rocks. When the danger was finally over, the golden aura around Dusk soon vanished.

“Ugh.” Dusk opened his eye as he looked up to see the other’s relieved faces. “Sorry for being a shield again, but Fluttershy was in danger.”

“I know, but try to not scare us next time.” Twilight said.

“Wow, are you able to do that at anytime?” Dash asked.

“Unfortunately not.” Dusk replied. “From what I know, it only appears if I’m in danger.”

At the same time, Fluttershy conveniently stopped playing possum and was now looking around her surroundings while on her back.

“Oh my... What happened?”

“Well...”

---

After explaining what happened when Fluttershy after she played possum, the group continue their trek up the mountain.

While the shy pegasus was very grateful for Dusk for protecting her from the falling rocks, she was still reluctant to move on further. Applejack and Dusk had little choice but to push her forward as the everypony else was ahead of the,

It was then they came across a gap which separates them from their chosen path. Luckily, it was small enough that anypony could jump over it.

As the group one-by-one jumped to the other side successfully, Fluttershy gulped when Twilight told her it was her turn now.

“Your turn, Fluttershy.”

“But... It's so... Wide.” The pegasus shook as she clings to a large piece of rock near her.

‘Really...’ Dusk’s right eye twitched upon hearing that.

“Come on, Fluttershy, we should be much farther along by now.” Twilight said.

“You could just leap on over.” Applejack tried to convince the pegasus.

“I...”

Fluttershy looked down the gap before the dragon snored once more. It caused her to back off and was now shaking on the ground in fear.

“I don't know.”

Twilight and Applejack shook their heads while Dusk finally sighed at Fluttershy’s antics. Then again, he took note that she becomes fearful whenever the dragon snores.

“There's nothing to be afraid of. It's just a hop, skip and a jump!” Pinkie said as she jumped back to Fluttershy’s side. “See?”

While Pinkie was singing a song to motivate the scared pegasus, Twilight only groaned that they didn’t have time to waste.

“O-okay... Here I go...” Fluttershy muttered as she prepared herself while Twilight, Applejack and Rarity were cheering her on.

“A hop... Skip...” She then finally made her jump.

“Just don't look down.” Twilight said, which unfortunately caused Fluttershy to actually look and startling halfway though the jump.

Fortunately, the gap wasn’t wide to begin with and she manage to catch both edges with her front and back hooves.

“Ugh...” Dash groaned as she was starting to get annoyed of Fluttershy’s behaviour. Just as she went to the other side to help her fellow pegasus across, everypony heard something crack nearby.

“Not again.”

Dusk whispered as he and Twilight quickly scanned the cliffsides above him to see if there are any rocks that are going to fall on them. At the same time, Rarity and Pinkie helped get the scared pegasus across.

While they manage to get her across, Fluttershy ended up lying on top of Rainbow Dash, who made an annoyed expression.

It was a not moment too soon for after they helped Fluttershy get to the other side, a part of the cliff that she was on before suddenly collapsed.

“Woah...” Dusk said as he and others looked at the collapsed portion of the cliff. “If Fluttershy hesitated for a moment later...”

“Oh... My...” The shy pegasus was shocked to see she was a few seconds away from plunging down the mountain. Even though she had wings, she would most likely be too scared from the fall to use them properly.

“Don’t worry Fluttershy.” The stallion helped her back on her hooves before doing the same for Dash. “You’re safe and that all that matters.”

As everypony continue their task, Dusk had a nagging feeling that something isn’t right with the last two incidents with Fluttershy; the falling rocks and the collapsed cliff.

‘First those rocks and now this.’ He thought. ‘They cannot possibly be just coincidences.’

Dusk thought a Number could be involved, but he didn’t get even the tiniest feeling that it was nearby.

Nevertheless, he kept it in mind as he and the others continue their journey up the mountain. He could only hope Fluttershy wouldn’t get them into too much trouble.

Comments

[Windy0]

Oh boy, is the next update going to involve a duel?

[AspirantWriter]

8293863

Yes, the next update will involve a duel.

[Windy0]

8293889
How's the next update looking by now?

[AspirantWriter]

8308383

The next update is still in progress I'm afraid. I hit my right hand hard on a counter last week and it was bad enough that I couldn't move my fingers without feeling any pain. While I could still use with my left hand to type, it was tedious and I didn't make much progress on the next chapter since I was focused on letting my injured hand heal.

The good news that my right hand is feeling much now and I would be able to type at full efficiency. I'll try to get the finish the next chapter by July 26.

[Windy0]

8308732
How's the next chapter looking? Think you'll be able to have it up tomorrow?

[AspirantWriter]

I'll have it up by tomorrow.

[Windy0]

8323408
How much longer?