Flying High

by arglefumph

The Dragon's Smoke

I don't want to give you the wrong impression, when it comes to Discord. While it may seem like he is an evil genius bent on world domination, the truth is that he's more of a harmless prankster who occasionally overthrows the government and disrupts the normal progress of society.

So he didn't spend all his time spying on the Elements of Harmony and plotting their downfall. He took plenty of time off for, shall we say, more private affairs.

A few days after the Winter Wrap Up in Summer, Discord strolled into the nearest dragon's lair, wearing a fashionable green polka-dot suit. "Hello, Sweet Stuff!" Discord said. "No need for you to go to sleep anymore! The dragon of your dreams is here!"

"Arrru?" the dragon said.

Discord looked around. "Nice place you got here! Plenty of gold treasure, shiny jewels...ah, but you are the brightest gem of all, darling! What do you say I take you out for a night on the town?"

"I think you're in the wrong place," the dragon said.

"I—what? You're a male dragon?" Discord shrieked. "I—that's—they said a female dragon was living here!"

"Ha! If there was a potential mate within a hundred miles, you think I'd be here?" the dragon looked at Discord. "What are you, anyway? Some kind of half-dragon, half-pony?"

"Okay, I'm ending this here," Discord said. He snapped his fingers and the larger dragon instantly went to sleep.

Discord sighed. Sometimes being a mixed-up freak of nature could hurt your love life...

---

Cheerilee hesitantly stepped into the Carousel Boutique. "Hello? Rarity?" she asked.

Rarity emerged from one of the back rooms, covered in measuring tape. "Oh, Cheerilee! What brings you here? Shouldn't you be teaching school?"

"The children are on lunch break right now, but I need to get back soon," Cheerilee said. "I came here because I need to put in an order for a dress."

"Okay," Rarity said. "I have some catalogues that you can look over, and—"

"No, I need you to make me a dress," Cheerilee said.

Rarity gasped theatrically. "Do my ears deceive me? Cheerilee, the great catalogue buyer, actually wants me to make her a dress? "

"It's for the Grand Galloping Gala," Cheerilee said. "I was going to wear my store-bought dress, but I...I have a date."

Rarity clapped her hooves together in delight. "Oh, how wonderful! Tell me! Tell me!"

"It's not a date date, it's a...it's like this," Cheerilee said. "Big Macintosh came to pick up Applebloom after school yesterday, and I found out that he has a ticket for the Grand Galloping Gala. So I said the two of us should go together, and he agreed."

"And you need a fantastic dress to really knock his horeshoes off!" Rarity said. "He'll ask you to be his marefriend in no time!"

"No, it's not like that! We're just friends!"

"Pshaw, if he was just a friend, you wouldn't want a special dress for him," Rarity said. "Well, the gala is only two weeks away, but I can make a dress for you in time. The Grand Galloping Gala is so romantic...wouldn't it be wonderful if we both found coltfriends there?"

"I thought you like that one unicorn who protected us in the trip to the Everfree," Cheerilee said. "Shiny something?"

"Exactly! Shining Armor! He's going to be at the gala, too! At least, I think he is." Rarity sighed dreamily. "We'll go into the gala as friends and leave the gala in love."

"Sounds like it will be the best night ever," Cheerilee commented.

---

"This thing is heavier than I thought," Twilight Sparkle complained, as she carried a mechanical device in her saddlebag. Twilight's destination was an empty field on the far end of Ponyville. To Twilight's surprise, Fluttershy was there, looking at the sky.

"Yay," Fluttershy said softly. "Way to go."

"Hi, Fluttershy," Twilight said, dropping her saddlebag. "What are you doing here?"

"Hello, Twilight," Fluttershy said. "I'm cheering for Rainbow Dash."

Twilight looked up and saw Rainbow flying around. "What? But I booked the flying field for this afternoon!"

"You did?"

Rainbow Dash landed. "Hey, Twi. What's up?"

"Not much," Twilight said. "I came here to practice my flying. I filed a reservation form at City Hall and everything."

"There are forms you have to fill out to use this area? Huh. I didn't know that," Rainbow Dash said. "I just come and go whenever."

"Maybe the two of you could share," Fluttershy suggested.

"Sounds good to me," Rainbow Dash said. "Glad to see you're taking this contest seriously. It'd be boring if I was the only pony there."

"Are you going to be in the Young Fliers' Competition, Fluttershy?" Twilight asked politely.

"Oh, no, I couldn't handle being by myself in a big crowd like that. I'm just going to watch."

Twilight went to her saddlebag and pulled out some papers, along with her mechanical device. She balanced it on the ground.

"Um...Twilight, what's that?" Fluttershy asked.

"It's an anemometer that I brought to measure my wing speed."

"No, I mean, what's that?" Fluttershy said, pointing at the sky. A large black cloud was appearing on the horizon.

"Looks like smoke," Twilight said. "A lot of smoke. Was there a fire today?"

"Well, whatever it is, it's pretty far off. I hope it's nothing bad," Rainbow Dash said.

The pegasi stayed in the flying field for about fifteen minutes. Things went rather well, until Twilight decided to attempt a loop-de-loop. She went into the swerve correctly, but her wings slowed her down as she went back upwards, and she landed back-first on the ground. "Ow!"

"Pfffff! Ha ha ha!" Rainbow Dash said. "That was hilarious!"

"Hey, I don't fly upside-down normally!"

"Ha ha ha ha!"

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. How are you doing with your book report?" Twilight asked.

Rainbow stopped laughing.

"Um...girls?" Fluttershy asked.

"What?" Rainbow and Twilight asked.

Fluttershy pointed to a scroll on the ground. "I think I just got a letter."

Fluttershy picked up the letter and read it, as her friends walked over. "It's from Trixie," Fluttershy said. "There's an emergency situation...the smoke is coming from a dragon?! Oh no!"

"Whoa!" Rainbow Dash said. "What are you talking about?"

Fluttershy held out the letter, and Rainbow Dash read it out loud. It turned out that the smoke was coming from a dragon, taking a nap on top of a mountain. Princess Celestia gave Trixie orders to move the dragon someplace else, and Trixie wrote to get Fluttershy's help.

"Why me?" Fluttershy asked. "The only dragon I know is Spike!"

"Trixie must be confident you can help somehow," Twilight said.

A similar-looking scroll materialized in the air in front of Rainbow Dash. She grabbed it and read it. "Looks like you're not the only one Trixie needs help from," Rainbow said. She smiled happily. "All right! Dragon fighting time! We'll be like the Wonderbolts!"

"Um...can I...stay home?" Fluttershy asked. "I don't like fighting monsters."

"You did fine with Nightmare Moon," Rainbow Dash said.

Fluttershy eeked softly, at Nightmare Moon's name. "I...the only reason I helped was because of Twilight," she said. "I don't think I can fight anything else."

"But it sounds like you don't have to fight the dragon," Twilight said. "You just need to convince it to move somewhere else. And your special talent is dealing with animals."

"Nice, safe animals! Not big scary dragons!"

"It's okay, Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash said, putting a comforting hoof on her friend's shoulder. "I'll be there to protect you in case anything goes wrong."

"I'll be there, too," Twilight said. "I—hey, wait a second! You and Rainbow Dash both got letters from Trixie about this. How come I didn't get anything?"

"Well, you're not one of the Elements of Harmony," Rainbow said.

"I'm still a valuable member of the team, and—"

Then, a scroll materialized in front of Twilight. "Finally!" she said, opening it.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

An emergency situation has just arisen outside of Ponyville. I need you to foal-sit Scootaloo this afternoon, while I go and take care of things. I've arranged to Spike to go home with his friends Snails today.

Thanks.

Trixie Lulamoon
Great and Powerful Magician
Leader of the Elements of Harmony
Princess Celestia's Personal Student
Winner of the Miss Neighbelline Pageant, 1998

Twilight wasn't sure what upset her more: Trixie's overblown signature, or the fact that Twilight had been demoted to the role of foal-sitter. Her ears flattened against her head as she frowned. "Never mind. It looks like I'll be sitting out this adventure."

"Aw, that's no fun," Rainbow Dash said.

"Can we switch places? Please?" Fluttershy asked.

---

After the bell rang, all the fillies left school. Scootaloo was the last pony to walk out of the building, and she looked gloomily at the ground as she did so. That was when she heard a voice up ahead, shouting her name.

"Come on!" Sweetie Belle said, waving. "Hurry up, Scootaloo!"

Scootaloo bounded forward happily, trotting up to Applebloom and Sweetie Belle. "Hey!" she said.

"Scootaloo?" Sweetie Belle asked. "What are you—?"

A dark orange pegasus filly with light purple hair joined the group. "I'm here!" she said. Scootaloo vaguely recognized her as one of the ponies who sometimes showed up to class.

"Who are you?" Scootaloo asked.

"I'm Scubaloo! I'm the newest member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders!" the filly said proudly.

"Scubaloo? What kind of name is that?"

"Mom says she came up with it, while scuba diving in Haywaii!" Scubaloo said.

"We're gonna go crusading for our cutie marks today!" Applebloom said. "We'd invite you to come along, but...you know..."

"...Right," Scootaloo said. "Maybe you should try scuba diving...Scubaloo. It fits your name."

"Hey, great idea!"

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS SCUBA DIVERS, YEAH!" all three fillies shouted at once.

Scootaloo walked off in one direction, while the other fillies went elsewhere. I guess Sweetie Belle didn't call my name... she thought. She was trying to get Scubaloo's attention, not mine.

"Scootaloo!" a voice called.

"Huh?" Scootaloo said, looking up. Twilight was standing there, smiling.

"You're coming home with me today!" Twilight said.

"Yay!" Scootaloo said. She hugged Twilight's leg tightly. "At least you want to spend time with me..." she muttered.

"What?" Twilight asked.

"Nothing!" Scootaloo said. "Let me get my scooter!"

Hmmm... Twilight thought.

---

"This is the mountain," Trixie said, pointing up at the smoke surrounding the mountain top. "It looks like the fastest way is up this path."

"M-maybe we should go around," Fluttershy said.

"What? But that'd take us longer to get to the top!" Applejack said.

"Yes, but the path is so...steep."

"She's scared of dragons," Rainbow Dash said to everypony else. "Look, if you don't like walking up hills, you can fly up!"

"Come on, Fluttershy, you can do it. Flap those wings!" Pinkie Pie said.

"Oh...okay." Fluttershy stretched out her wings a bit, but the dragon gave a loud snort. Fluttershy's wings clamped firmly to her side, and she hid behind Rarity, whinnying. "I-I can't do it!"

"But you got a five on Twilight's anemo-whatever an hour ago!"

"This looks like a job for the Great and Powerful Trixie!" Trixie said, stepping forward. Using her levitation magic, she picked up Fluttershy and floated her up the mountainside. Fluttershy let out exclamations of fear, and her wings flapped uselessly.

Riarty gasped. "You're scaring the poor dear half to death!"

"I'm sorry!" Trixie called up to Fluttershy. "But we're on a time limit! The fate of Equestria is in our hooves!"

"Then let's get to it!" Applejack said, running up the pathway.

---

Twilight wasn't fooled by the brave front Scootaloo put on. When the two of them reached the library, Twilight turned on the younger pegasus. "Okay, Scoots. Now that we're alone, I want to know what you meant by 'I'm the only pony who wants to spend time with you'."

Scootaloo frowned. "You heard that, huh? It's...it's not important."

"If I'm going to be your big sister, that gives me the right to be ridiculously overprotective. Is something wrong at school?"

"No, school's fine. Miss Cheerilee's nice."

"Are the other kids treating you differently, now that you're a princess?"

"...Yes," Scootaloo sighed.

"What's happening? Are they—?"

"My old friends don't want to spend time with me anymore!" Scootaloo said. "You're studying friendship for Princess Celestia, right? Why is that?"

"I—I'm not—I don't know," Twilight said. "Maybe...Maybe they're scared that you've changed. They liked the old you, and they don't know how to handle the new one."

"But I haven't changed that much!" Scootaloo said. "I just became a princess and got my cutie mark, and I have a family and...I guess that's a lot."

Twilight nodded. A lot had happened since she first moved to Ponyville, a month ago. "I'm sure your friends just need some time to adjust to what happened. If you try harder to show them that you're the same old Scootaloo, I'm sure they'll be your friends again in no time."

I just wish I knew if that was the case with my friends...

---

The five fearless ponies, and Fluttershy, made it to the top of the mountain without any major incidents, unless you could Pinkie Pie trying to sing Giggle at the Ghosties.

"Is this the dragon's cave?" Applejack asked, looking at the gaping entrance before them. "It's so big!"

"Okay, girls, let's put on our Elements of Harmony," Trixie ordered, pulling them out of her saddlebags. "Just like with Nightmare Moon, we'll attack on the count of three."

"Um...he's just sleeping..." Fluttershy said softly.

"What was that, dear?" Rarity asked.

"The-the dragon is sleeping," Fluttershy said. "I don't think I can hurt a sleeping animal..."

"But we have to get rid of the dragon!" Trixie said.

"Can't we...I dunno...talk to it first?" Fluttershy asked. "I'm sure if you explained the situation very politely, he'd be willing to sleep somewhere else."

"She's got a point," Applejack said. "Tain't fair to attack a sleeping opponent."

"Fine, we can try the diplomatic approach, but it's not going to do any good," Trixie sighed. She could still remember their attempt to reason with Evil Alicorn Twilight, which had ended with Trixie getting zapped with magic and knocked unconscious.

"Can I go first?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I bet I can talk some sense into that monster!"

"Are you crazy? We're not going in one-by-one!" Trixie said. "We all go together as a group! Friends stick together, right?"

The six ponies entered the cave, with Trixie in the front and Fluttershy hiding in the back. "Dragon! I am the Great and Powerful Trixie! I am—uhhhh...that's a really big dragon..."

"I wanna go home!" Fluttershy moaned.

Trixie gulped. "We have come...on behalf of Princess Celestia...to ask you to sleep somewhere else."

Our heroes held their breath, but there was no response.

"Please?"

Again, the dragon didn't respond.

"...I don't think it heard you," Applejack said.

"WAAAAAKE UPPPPPP!" Pinkie Pie shouted.

The dragon gave a huge snort as it opened its eyes and waved its head. It caught sight of the ponies, then hefted itself towards them.

"Heh heh, hello there?" Trixie said. "We've come to ask you to sleep somewhere else."

The dragon squinted its eyes and blew smoke directly in Trixie's face. She coughed loudly, but she bravely kept going. "The smoke from your snoring is...covering up the entire region...a little help here?"

"We'd be mighty thankful if you went somewhere else for a bit," Applejack said.

"You'd be doing the entire country a favor," Rarity said.

Fluttershy squeaked.

The dragon roared in their faces, then seemed impressed when the group huddled together, instead of running away.

"The Elements of Harmony, quickly!" Trixie said. "We—"

The dragon swatted the ponies with its tail, sending them flying through the air. "I'm not letting ponies tell me what to do!" it said. "Go away or I'll eat you!"

The ponies moaned in general pain and confusion. Fluttershy was the first to come to her senses. "How dare you..." she said softly. Then she stood up and shouted. "How dare you!"

"Huh?"

Fluttershy flew directly towards the dragon, her eyes nearly popping out of their sockets. "Listen here, Mister!" she shouted. "Just because you're big doesn't mean you get to be a bully! You may have huge teeth, and sharp scales, and snore smoke, and breathe fire. But you do not—I repeat—you do not! Hurt! My! Friends! You got that?"

The dragon whimpered in fear, as Fluttershy gave it The Stare and laid down the law. The giant scaled beast quickly apologized for any inconvenience it may have caused. As the dragon flew away, Fluttershy's friends all cheered and hugged her.

"You did it!" Applejack said.

"You were right about being able to talk to the dragon!" Trixie said.

"See? You're braver than you thought!" Rainbow Dash said.

"I'm...I'm not brave," Fluttershy said. "All I did was stand up for my friends."

"You did marvelously," Rarity said, taking some gems from the large pile of gold that the dragon left behind.

"This calls for a party!" Pinkie Pie cheered.

---

The entire incident did not escape Discord's notice. Fluttershy: Element of Kindness? As if! She doesn't seem so kind to me... he thought.

Comments

[Seether00]

Twilight is being snubbed. She should complain.

[nemryn]

3295849
Well, she already tried that once, and it didn't work out too well...

[Unknownlight]

I don't know why I find such amusement in this fic, but I really do. Excellent work!

[Alanith]

3295849

Naw, she just needs to bide her time and wait. Trixie is going to fuck up sooner or later and when she does, in comes Twilight to save the day.

[WanderingPony]

"I—I'm not—I don't know," Twilight said. "Maybe...Maybe they're scared that you've changed. They liked the old you, and they don't know how to handle the new one."

"But I haven't changed that much!" Scootaloo said. "I just became a princess and got my cutie mark, and I have a family and...I guess that's a lot."

Twilacorn in a nutshell (with a few serial numbers filed off and changed), ladies and gents.

[firebirdabirdoffire]

I find it interesting that you didn't create a new story to continue this. I mean it in a positive sense.

[terrycloth]

3296781 Probably because story-tagging blog posts is broken and you're not allowed to ping people with an update for a new story by changing the old story anymore.

[HopeFox]

Twilight and Scootaloo really do need to stick together. They're both feeling kind of neglected, and I feel sorry for them.

[firebirdabirdoffire]

3298632 I gotta keep that in mind.

[arglefumph]

3296069 Good insight! You know what would help Twilacorn's repuptation? Not having a nine month gap in between public appearances.

3296781 Yes, it's easier on the readers to simply continue the story than start a brand new one; otherwise half of them will probably never have any clue the story continued. That and I did the same thing, when I wrote a multi-part DragonBall Z story. That story was a bit more balanced, in that all three parts were the same length; I highly doubt that Part 2 of this story will be as long as Part 1. I'm already four or five chapters away from my projected ending for Part 2!

3280590 Heh heh. I figured that getting Twilight to enter a flying contest with Rainbow Dash could only drive a wedge between them. Dash can be too competitive for her own good.