Heart of the Cards

by AspirantWriter

Episode 7 [Part 2] - No Courage without Fear

The ponies were continuing their trek up to the top of the mountain and towards the cave which the dragon sleeps. Despite all the delays, they were still making good progress since the sky is still bright.

The sky that has yet to be covered by the dragon’s smoke.

Despite her own anxiety, Fluttershy was finally walking on her own much to the relief of Dusk and Applejack. The two after all had to go through the trouble of dragging and pushing her up the mountain.

After all they been through, the ponies were hoping that the rest of the trek would be peaceful, but there is the old saying that if something can go wrong, it will go wrong.

“Let keep it down.” Twilight whispered to the others as she examined the cliffside to her right. “According to my map, we're entering an avalanche zone. The smallest peep could cause a huge rock slide.”

“Oh oh...”

Dusk muttered as he turned to Fluttershy, who begun to shake a little out of fear upon hearing Twilight’s warning.

“An... An ava... Ava...” She quietly said, but the unicorn quickly shushes her.

With that, everypony didn’t say a word as they continue up the mountain. Knowing that Fluttershy get scared easily, Dusk stayed close to her. While she would usually whimper on the ground if something scares her, there was also the equal chance she would scream at the top of her lungs.

Unfortunately for Dusk and the others, it was the latter for Dash brushed against a branch of a cliffside tree and a single leaf gently landed on Fluttershy’s back.

Her fear getting the better of her again, she quickly stood on her hind legs and screamed loudly as she frantically waved her front hooves.

“AVALA...!”

Dusk quickly covered her mouth as tightly as he could as the pegasus’s voice echoed across the mountain.

Anxiously scanning the cliffs to see if something was going to happen, everypony saw that everything appeared fine. Just as they made a sigh of relief, the mountain begun to rumble as they heard the sound of falling rocks.

They soon realized what was about to happen when they saw boulders descending upon them from the cliff and were growing in number.

“AVALANCHE!”

---

Immediately after screaming, the mares begun run all over the place while dodging all the rocks that were raining upon them. Dusk was about to do the same when once again, he covered by the golden aura and was shielded by Utopia’s Light Wing Shield.

While skeptic that Utopia could protect him from a barrage of rocks weighing tons, he was quickly proven wrong when a large boulder struck the Light Wing Shield. After creating a brief spark of light upon impact, the wings didn’t budge as the chunk of rock then rolled off the mountain.

“Woah!”

Dusk never imagined that the Utopia’s wings could be so strong as he watched as it repelled every chunk of rock that decended upon him. Despite the falling rocks and clouds of dust, Twilight quickly notice Dusk receiving Utopia’s protection and immediately shouted out to the other mares.

“Girls! Gather around Dusk! Hurry!”

The stallion saw the unicorn rushing as fast she could towards him just as he felt the aura around him getting stronger. He looked up to see that the Light Wing Shield getting larger as if Utopia was accommodating for Twilight.

Upon seeing Dusk and his protective wing-like barrier, the other too rushed towards Dusk and soon all the mares were hurdling around him. As for the wings, it expanded until it was large enough to shield all seven of them.

While Light Wing Shield is able to block all the earth raining upon everypony, it does nothing to the continuous build-up of dust around them. Even when the dust enveloped their vision and made breathing difficult, everypony stood their ground as the pounding of rocks started to stop.

In a few seconds, the avalanche finally ended and the ponies regained their visibility for the cloud of dust dispersed.

“Is... Everypony alright?” Dusk coughed out as he sat down on the ground in relief that it was now over. At the same time, the golden aura around him vanished along with Utopia’s wings.

“We are thanks to you.” Twilight then briefly nuzzled Dusk’s forehead, which the stallion couldn’t help but blush a little.

“Incredible...” Applejack said to the stallion in amazement. “Did you really do that?”

“I wish Applejack, but it apparently only happens when I am in danger.”

Dusk shook his head in response, but cracked a smile. “However, I can see that it also happens when my friends are in danger as well.”

The rest of the ponies were fine as well. Fluttershy was sighing in relief while Dash spread her wings to take flight once more. As Pinkie was bouncing in excitement despite what just happened, Rarity shook off all the dust that gathered on her coat.

“Whoohoo! Let's do it again!” Dusk was rather stunned that Pinkie would find being in the middle of a rock slide to be fun.

“Uh! This is why a girl always packs extra accessories.” Rarity pulled a scarf out from one of her bags and wrapped around her neck.

“Oh, please tell me I brought the tiara that goes with this.”

“Uh, think we got bigger problems than making sure our hair bows match our horseshoes.”

Dash quickly pointed to the vast mound of dirt and rock that was now blocking the path up to the top of the mountain.

“Looks like we are going to be delayed again.” Dusk sighed as the mares were looking upon the obstacle with unhappy expressions.

“Sorry...” Fluttershy sadly apologized to her friends

“Aw, no big whoop, sugarcube.” Applejack said.

“Yeah, we'll just have to...” Twilight turned back to the mound before sighing. “Climb over.”

All the ponies then started climbing over the debris and while it wasn’t very steep, it was nevertheless both tiring and time-consuming. Climbing down was also a challenge since it was easy to slip on loose dirt.

It was apparently the case for Fluttershy just when Twilight, Dusk, Pinkie and Dash finally reached the other side. Halfway down, the pegasus lost her balance and skid down the mound, colliding with Rarity and Applejack in the process; the two becoming Fluttershy’s cushion when they reached the bottom.

Dusk watched as Dash groaned in annoyance as she flew towards the three ponies to help them. He couldn’t blame her since Fluttershy’s timidness has been problematic throughout the trek.

He could understand Twilight’s reasons for bringing Fluttershy due to her special gift for animals, but he believes that trying to get her convince a dragon to leave was pushing it.

“Wait a minute.”

Dusk first recalled the times that Fluttershy gotten anxious whenever the dragon snored and then to the time when he was duelling with Number 40.

He did remember hearing the pegasus screaming in fear the moment he summoned Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon for the first time.

“So that’s why Fluttershy didn’t want to go in the first place...”

Dusk kept what he learned in mind as he and others continue their way to the top of the mountain.

---

“Still think it was a good idea to bring Fluttershy along?”

Dash said to Twilight as the group were on the verge of reaching their objective.

“We're about to find out. We're here.”

All ponies were now in front of a cave and from the constant stream of smoke that was coming out, it was indeed the cave where the dragon was taking his nap.

It was then Twilight made a serious expression as she begun to give out instructions to her plan.

“Rainbow Dash, you'll use your wings to clear the smoke.”

“Mm-hmm.” Dash agreed as she flew up to the sky and through the black smoke.

“Rarity and Pinkie Pie, you'll create a diversion to distract the dragon if things get a little hairy in there.”

Pinkie suddenly left Rarity’s side and brought back a rubber chicken in her mouth. Both unicorns looked at her dumbfounded, but Twilight quickly regained her composure.

“Applejack, you're ready with the apples in case he decides to attack.”

With two apples in her mouth, Applejack tossed them into the air and kicked them at a tree.

“Dusk, you’ll have to bring out Utopia to protect us if all else fails.”

“Understood.” He nodded. “But I hope it doesn’t come that.”

"Don’t worry, I’m sure that wouldn’t happen, because Fluttershy will do what she needs to do to wake him up.”

Hearing that, Fluttershy became very nervous of the idea of waking up a dragon.

“Between the two of us, we should be able to get him to understand why he needs to go.” Twilight said with confidence. “Is everypony ready?”

All but Fluttershy acknowledged that they are ready for action.

“Okay then, we're going in.”

Twilight then entered the cave and was expecting that Fluttershy would be accompanying her. However, the pegasus instead was prone on the ground and sticking her face into the dirt.

“She is acting like an ostrich now.”

Dusk muttered to himself as he walked towards her and pulled her head out of the ground.

“Are scared what is within that cave Fluttershy?”

“Yes...” She quietly replied as she tried to plant her face into the ground again, but the stallion stopped her.

“I know how you are feeling, but you already gotten this far. You can’t just back out now.”

“But... I...”

“Oh, come on!”

Dusk and Fluttershy were interrupted by Twilight’s exasperation from the cave, realizing that the latter wasn’t with her.

Getting out of the cave, the unicorn approached the pegasus and tried to push her from behind.

“Come on! We have to do this!” Twilight exclaimed as she tried to shove FLutershy forward to the cave. “Now!”

However, the scared pegasus literally dug in her hooves as she refuses to budge even a single inch. Dash was there to help to push, but Fluttershy stood her ground despite the strength of two ponies pushing on her.

As much he was impressive with Fluttershy’s strength, Dusk knew that forcing her wasn’t going to help them in any way.

“Easy Twilight, she is...”

“Every second longer that dragon sleeps...” Twilight wasn’t listening as she kept on trying to push Fluttershy as Rarity and Applejack came by to help. “Is another acre of Equestria that is covered in smoke.”

Remarkably, Fluttershy still didn’t move from her spot even by the combined push of four ponies. It was only when Pinkie rammed into the mares that the pegasus finally moved, but by only an inch.

“I... I... I can't go in the cave.” Fluttershy told everypony, which the only response was the collective groan of all her friends except for Dusk.

“Oh, great. She's scared of caves now, too.” Dash complained.

“I'm not scared of caves.” Fluttershy stated. “I’m scared of...”

“Dragons.” Dusk finished what she was going to say as he faced her up close. “You are scared of dragons?”

“What?” The rest of the mares were surprised while the shy pegasus was silent for a few moments before finally answering loudly.

“Yes Dusk, I’m scared of dragons!”

Coincidentally, the dragon in the cave made another snore as the ponies were struck by his smoke, causing them to cough. Dusk felt something was touching him from behind and saw it was Fluttershy hiding behind.

“Dusk, how did you know?” Twilight asked the stallion on how he learned the pegasus’s fear.

“Well if you haven’t notice, she gets scared whenever she hears that dragon’s snores.” He explained. “Not only that, I remember hearing her screaming when I first summoned Galaxy-Eyes when I was dueling Number 40.”

“Galaxy-Eyes?”

Applejack was at first confused until she too remembered.

“Of course! Fluttershy even told us she was afraid of dragons at the time. How did we forget?”

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

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

“Oh come on! We've seen you walk right up to a horrible manticore like it was nothing!” Dash exclaimed, regarding the night they were chasing after Nightmare Moon.

“Yes, because he wasn't a dragon.”

“Spike is a dragon. You're not scared of him.” Pinkie quickly pointed out since the pegasus got along with the baby dragon well.

“Yes, because he's not a huge, gigantic, terrifying, enormous, teeth-gnashing, sharp-scale having, horn-wearing, smoke-snoring, could eat a pony in one bite, totally all grown-up dragon.”

‘That was rather descriptive...’

Dusk thought just as the dragon made another snore which caused Fluttershy to drop to the ground and whimpering in fear.

“But, if you're so afraid of dragons, why didn't you say something before we came all the way up here?” Twilight asked Fluttershy

“I was afraid to.” Dash only groaned at her fellow pegasus.

“All of us are scared of that dragon.” Applejack approached Fluttershy and got her up.

“I’m not.” Dash boldly proclaimed, which Dusk and Applejack gave her an unamused look before the latter rephrased her words.

“Almost all of us are scared of that dragon, but we've got a job to do. So, get in there with Twilight and show her what you're made of.”

“I... I...” Everypony looked at Fluttershy in anticipation as she tried to speak. “I just... can’t.”

Fluttershy lowered her head with a defeated expression as she turned around and walked away.

“Oh, Fluttershy...”

“Twilight, do what you can to convince the dragon to leave.” Dusk told her as he made his way to Fluttershy’s direction. “I’ll go check on her.”

---

The stallion was hoping that Fluttershy didn’t try to leave the mountain, but was relieved when he found her hiding behind a large rock that close to the cave.

“Fluttershy...”

“Oh Dusk.” She was a bit startled upon seeing him as he approached her. “I’m sorry, but I can’t face that dragon.”

“But you can’t be afraid of dragons forever Fluttershy. This is your chance to overcome your fear.”

Dusk tried to talk her into helping, but the pegasus shook her head in refusal.

“No, I can’t... I’m not like you...”

“What?”

“I’m not as brave as you.” Fluttershy looked down on the ground as she spoke. “The way you stood against those Numbers and stood tall even after what they thrown at you... You are very brave and I can’t hope to be like...”

“Fluttershy, listen to me.” Dusk stopped her with a tone that got her attention. “I was actually scared when I was dueling the Numbers. However, I knew they were a threat to anypony they come across and must be stopped. That is why I brought forth all the courage within me to protect those precious to me.”

“What do you mean?” She questioned despite feeling a rumble.

“I’m saying that when somepony you love dearly is danger, you would risk everything to protect him or her; regardless how much it frightens you.”

The Fluttershy didn’t say a word as she took in everything Dusk said. However, the two ponies were startled when they heard a mighty roar from the cave.

“Don’t tell me?!” Peeking from the rock, Dusk look in horror as a large red-scaled dragon emerge from the cave as the mares were running around in panic. Just as they all clung to each other in fear, the dragon then blew a stream of smoke at them.

The stream was powerful enough to blast the group to the rock that Dusk and Fluttershy were hiding behind, which resulted in half of it crumbling into pieces.

Fluttershy was very scared when she looked up and saw the dragon, who in turn was focused on the disoriented mares down on the ground. As for Dusk, he quickly rushes in front of them and firmly dig his hooves into the dirt. Despite the fact he was standing against an angry dragon, kept his fear in check and hope that Utopia would lend its full power in this situation.

Watching as the dragon begun to approach Dusk, Fluttershy recall what the stallion said about courage as she moves her gaze to her friends.

Closing her eyes, she finally mustered the courage within her.

“How dare you...” Fluttershy called out as the dragon then turned his attention to her. “How dare you!”

All the ponies look at Fluttershy in astonishment as she flew onto the dragon’s snout and went up close to his right eye.

“Listen here, mister. Just because you're big doesn't mean you get to be a bully! You may have huge teeth, and sharp scales, and snore smoke, and breathe fire.” The pegasus spoke in a loud and stern voice, which unlike her shy nature. “But you do not, I repeat, you do not! Hurt! My! Friends! You got that?”

Astonishingly, the dragon backed down from Fluttershy’s outburst and begun to whimper.

“Well?” She asked in demanding tone.

“But that rainbow one kicked me.” The dragon said as he pointed to Dash. Dusk looked at her in disappointment, especially when she nodded proudly of what she did.

“And I am very sorry about that.” Fluttershy’s tone was no longer stern as she apologizes for her friend’s action, which Dash finds a little awkward.” But you're bigger than she is, and you should know better. You should also know better than to take a nap where your snoring can become a health hazard to other creatures.”

“But I...” The dragon tried to speak, but the Fluttershy stopped him as she put her front hooves on her hips, which Dusk found eerie since it was human stance.

“Don't you 'but I' me, mister. Now what do you have to say for yourself?” The dragon was silent as she repeated the question. “I said, what do you have to say for yourself?”

The dragon made another whimper before he finally burst into tears.

“Wow... I never thought Fluttershy had it in her.” Dusk muttered as he was rather shock to see that the shy pegasus actually made a dragon cry.

“There, there. No need to cry.” She said to put the dragon at ease. “You're not a bad dragon, you just made a bad decision. Now go pack your things. You just need to find a new place to sleep. That's all.”

As she returned back to the ground, Fluttershy was quickly surrounded by her friends.

“You did it!” Twilight congratulated her. “I knew you could do it.”

At the same time, the dragon quickly pack up his stuff from the cave before long, he flew away to find another place to take his nap.

---

“Well then.” Dusk said to everypony as they watch the dragon leave. “Shall we go... Wait...”

“Dusk, what is wrong?” Twilight look at him in worry.

“I feel a...” Dusk closed his eyes tightly before he opened them up wide. “Number!”

Upon saying the word, a black tendril emerged from the cave and without warning, wrapped around Fluttershy’s mouth.

“MMMMM!!”

While unable to speak, she was able to get everypony’s attention. Turning to her, they were shocked to see more tendrils coming from the crack and grabbed her.

“Fluttershy!”

The ponies screamed out as the tendrils pulled the pegasus into the cave. Everypony rushed into the cave to give chase.

Upon entering main interior of the cave, they found their friend entangled by the tendrils and was effectively immobilized.

Just before the rest of the ponies could move, they saw a black aura materializing in front of Fluttershy, which soon took the shape of a humanoid figure. However, it was unique from the other Numbers for it was wearing a white mask.

“How can this be...?!” The Number turned towards the terrified Fluttershy. “It’s not possible?! You were the weakest link!”

“Hold it Number!” Dusk shouted as he approached the Number, but it quickly raised its right arm towards the top of the entrance. Waving its hand, everypony felt a light rumble beneath their feet.

“Unless you all want to be buried alive, you will not move until I say so!” Hearing the warning, Dusk was forced to stop lest he cause a cave-in.

“Now then, where were we? Ah yes... You!” The Number then held onto Fluttershy’s face with both hands. “How were you the one to save the day when you were nothing but a hindrance all this time?!”

“Hey! Don’t you dare talk to my friend like that!” Dash yelled at the Number.

“Oh, that is rich coming from you.”

Letting go of Fluttershy, it then turned its attention to Dash and the rest of the group. “I was watching you all the moment you begun your trek up the mountain. I could see that you and the others of were annoyed of your friend’s cowardice. Yet, all of you still went through the trouble to bring her along despite the fact you all knew she is the weakest link!”

“How dare you say that! She is our friend!” Rarity angrily said. “Besides, she was able to get that dragon to leave!”

“Oh really?” The Number stated. “What kind of pony gets scared of climbing an easy cliff? What kind of pony get scared of a tiny gap? What kind of pony gets scared by a single leaf on the back?”

The Number then pointed to Fluttershy. “That pony! She should have been down on the ground begging for her pathetic life when she saw the dragon! But what she just did... It was incomprehensible!”

“You clearly underestimated Fluttershy, and you’ll not let you ill of her!” Dusk shouted in anger. “Lets duel!”

“Oh, there will be a duel alright, Number Hunter.” The Number chuckled darkly as it raised both arms into the air. “However, you’ll have no part in it!”

More of the dark aura emerged from its hands, which moved towards the cave’s entrance and blocked it off. Dusk was soon surrounded by tendrils that burst from the ground. While it didn’t attack or entangled him, it ensured that he could leave his spot.

“Don’t you dare try to leave that spot. Those tendrils around you are linked to the integrity of the cave.” The Number said. “Leave your spot and I’ll collapse it completely, burying you and your friends under tons of rock.”

The ponies stood petrified at the thought of being buried alive. It also didn’t help that the Number’s threat also ensured that Dusk couldn’t interfere.

“You see, I could tell that you taught these ponies how to play Duel Monsters and among them is your best student.” It spoke to Dusk. “Conveniently, you are not only carrying her deck, but also a duel disk for her to use.”

“Wait.” Dusk soon realized what the Number was referring to. “You want to duel Twilight?”

“This is right.” The Number then pointed at the unicorn, who was startled of the notion.

“You, the pony that is called Twilight! I am Number 8 and you will be my opponent!”

Comments

[AspirantWriter]

8324484

Good news is that the chapter is now uploaded. The bad news is that the duel I was preparing took more time than I anticipated and wasn't able to finish in time. I've decided to move the duel to the another update that would be this weekend. Don't worry, a good Number will indeed make its appearance in the coming update.

Sorry if you were eager to see the duel, but things were not going my way this month.

[Windy0]

At least try to get the next chapter up soon. Also, I thought Fluttershy was going to be dueling a number-possessed Dragon?

[AspirantWriter]

8325127

I will try to get the duel uploaded as quickly as possible. I can understand that you were expecting something else, but that is usually what it is when waiting for new chapters. Sometimes, the chapter you were looking forward to may not be what you were expecting.

To be honest, the idea of a Number-possessed dragon never came mind. Also, I was using the idea you gave me a month ago regarding who among the Main Six would get the first Number.
8230856
(First Twilight, then Applejack, Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy and finally Pinkie)

[Windy0]

8325184
So, do you think you'll be able to finish the next chapter before next week?

[AspirantWriter]

8325616

I'll see what I can, but I can't guarantee it. I can try to get the duel up by either Saturday or Sunday.