I woke up to what may be a very busy day in Ponyville, but I had an inkling in my head as I thought back to when I saw a silhouette of something big flying over me last night, but I didn't think more of it as I may have been seeing things. I got myself ready for the day and left my house.

It was quite rare to see several ponies out in town today, I then looked above to see clouds of smoke approaching which was kinda odd since I didn't see any heavy rainfall along with it.

"No way, it can't be bonfire night, it's the daytime, unless a house is on fire..." I said to myself.

I walked along further into town to find Fluttershy in a state of worry.

"Help, help. Please?" Fluttershy yelled but in a quiet tone.

"Hi Fluttershy" I said to her, "What's wrong?"

"There's a horrible cloud of smoke."

"Oh, you mean the smoke I just saw?" I asked, pointing my hoof in the sky.

"Yes, it's heading this way and-" she squealed when Dash zoomed past before stopping, bouncing a ball on her head.

"Don't be such a scaredy pony. It's just me, future Equestria's ball bouncing record holder." Dash boasted.

I guess she completely forgot about what happened with yesterday's events.

"This calls for a celebration." Pinkie exclaimed.

"No Pinkie pie, this is no time for celebration." Fluttershy said, "This is a time for panic, for-"

"Oooh, I'm gonna need balloons." Pinkie interrupted. "One for everypony in Ponyville."

I was shaking my head since both Dash and Pinkie were oblivious to the smoke flying above them.

"LISTEN UP!" Twilight shouted who was standing on the bridge.

"Finally, about time somepony noticed." I spoke out loud, instead of thinking it which was met a few gazes.

"Smoke is spreading all over Equestria." she said.

Soon, the ponies began to notice.

"That's what Fluttershy's been trying to tell you." I exclaimed.

"But don't worry, I've just received a letter from Princess Celestia informing you that it's not coming from a fire."

"Oh thank goodness." Fluttershy sighed

"N'awww, I wanted to see a daylight bonfire." I said randomly which was met with confused looks at me again.

"It's coming from a dragon." Twilight stated.

The ponies gasped.

"A d-d-d-dragon?" Fluttershy spoke whilst shivering.

"Cool!" I yelled, "Always wanted to see a dragon, I wonder if I can take it on!"

"Ugh, this is no time to mess around." Twilight said to me, "Come on you three, we need to go to the Library."

I sighed and got back to being normal as we headed on to the library where Applejack and Rarity were waiting for us there. All seven of us headed on inside, whilst Twilight took out a book about dragons.

"What in the name of all of cinnamon sticks is a dragon doing here in Equestria?" Applejack asked.

"Sleeping" Twilight replied.

We were feeling a bit confused by then,

"According to Princess Celestia, he is taking a nap. His snoring is what's causing all the smoke."

"He should really see a doctor, that doesn't sound healthy at all." Pinkie said.

Hello new forum weapon, I said in my head and since when did Pinkie start having knowledge about health and safety.

"Well, at least he's not snoring fire." Rarity added. "What are we meant to do about it?"

"I know, how about I give him the old 1 2 3 and kick his backside out of here?" I asked happily.

But Twilight wasn't amused at my humour, "We need to encourage him to take a nap somewhere else." she said, "Princess Celestia has given us this mission and we must not fail. If we do, Equestria will be covered in smoke for the next 100 years."

"Talk about getting your beauty sleep." Rarity said.

"Alright everypony, I need you to gather supplies quickly. We've got a long journey ahead of us, let's meet back here in less than an hour." Twilight said.

I decided to take the stand, "Okay girls, you heard her, the fate of Equestria is in our hooves. Do we have what it takes?"

They all replied with determination and left the library...well almost everypony.

"Umm, actually..." Fluttershy said quietly.

"Lemme guess, you don't want to be involved because you're afraid of the dragon?" I asked her.

"Umm...no..."

"But you're part of the elements of harmony, remember? You know how to take care of animals, don't you?"

"I do, but I have never looked after a d-d-d-dragon." she began to shiver again.

"I'm guessing Spike doesn't count?"

"He does, but he's not a big dragon."

"Well, I don't understand, why aren't you saying something about it to the others?"

"Because, they won't give me a chance."

I then thought of an idea that could help her, "I'll tell you what. Next time you wanna speak up, allow me to ask them to listen to you."

Fluttershy showed a bit of a smile, "Thank you, that would be kind of you."

So, nearly an hour later and we were all standing in a row as Twilight walked down the row like something out of the army. She may be good, but she's no Full Metal Jacket...I then realized I had a jelly doughnut in my pocket and I threw it away quickly.

"Alright you six, 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 noon." said Twilight.

"M-m-m-mountain?" Fluttershy shivered.

"The dragon is in that cave at the top.

"Looks pretty cold up there." Applejack said.

"You bet it is, the higher you go, the chiller it gets." Dash said.

"Good thing I brought my scarf," Rarity added as she put a scarf around her neck.

"Oooh, pretty." Pinkie complimented.

"Oh yeah, that'll keep you nice and cosy." Dash remarked.

Fluttershy gulped, I nudged a hoof as if to tell her that now is her chance to speak to Twilight, so she moved forwards to talk to Twilight as she pulled out a map.

"Um, excuse me Twilight." Fluttershy said to her, "I know you're busy right now."

"Uh-huh," Twilight replied who wasn't really paying attention to Fluttershy, "We could go this way."

"But if I could have just a second-"

"Uh-huh. No we wanna avoid that."

I rolled my eyes at Twilight not taking any notice of Fluttershy,

"So umm, I was thinking that umm...maybe, I should just stay here in Ponyville." Fluttershy said as she finally got to finish her sentence.

"Uh-huh." Twilight said.

"Oh, good. I'll stay here and..."

By now, Twilight finally noticed what Fluttershy was telling her, took her long enough.

"Wait, you have to come. Your way with wild animals will surely come in handy."

"I don't think I..."

"And don't worry about your animals and the meadow, Spike's got it all covered while you're gone." Twilight interrupted as Spike shows up with her small animals.

"You can count on me." he boasted before her put bunny stomps his head, causing the other animals to run away from Spike. "Hey, hey, wait!" he yelled, running after them which got me laughing on the inside.

"I don't think he is up to the task. Maybe...but...but...no." she squealed.

"Are you sure you want Fluttershy to come along? I mean that pony is afraid of her own shadow, she's just gonna slow us down." Dash said to Twilight quietly.

"Oh she's just a little nervous, once we get going, I'm sure she'll be fine."

We then heard another squeal as Fluttershy jumped into the hedges, trying to escape her shadow.

"I'll take Fluttershy myself, Twilight, you five go on ahead." I suggested.

"But we need her..."

I had to cut her off, "No buts Twilight, I understand we have an important mission to carry out, but Fluttershy needs sensitive support and you five haven't exactly been helping her get through her extreme nerves." I paused for a second, "Please, let me handle her nerves issue, trust me, she'll be better prepared when the time comes."

Twilight sighed, "Alright, do what you can to help Fluttershy, but don't take too long, we need her to drive the dragon away."

"It'll take time, but we'll be there. I promise you that." I said with confidence.

Twilight nodded, she then turned her attention to the others. "Alright girls, move out!"

Soon, they all galloped along the pathway out of town and on their way to the tall mountain. I looked at Fluttershy and helped her out of the hedges.

"Are you feeling any better, now that you're not going with them?" I asked her.

"Umm, I'm still scared but I feel a little better not to be facing that dragon."

Here, it was time for me to show a bit of understanding and explain to her, "Okay, I know how much this scares you and I understand completely that you don't want to go through with it."

Fluttershy nodded.

"But at the same time, this is an order from the Princess herself who has placed her trust in all seven of us to achieve, I'm sure the last thing you wanna do is let down the Princess because you weren't able to face your fears?"

"That's the other thing I'm afraid of, I don't wanna let the Princess down." Fluttershy said as she looked down at the ground.

This was when my tough love support kicked in, "Neither do I, but if there's one thing I've learnt from you and the others when I first got here, is that you can't keep hiding away from something that scares you when everypony else in the same group has to do it." I paused for a second, "I mean for example, how would you feel if you placed your trust in a group of ponies and one of them let the whole group down because of extreme shyness?"

It seems that I hit the nail on the head as Fluttershy perked up, "Oh, if that was to happen, I would understand but I would be really disappointed."

"Exactly, the point is that there will be times where you have to come out of your shell and this is one of those times. No matter what happens, when all of us are together, we can do anything like asking that big dragon to leave." I said with confidence.

Fluttershy thought for a moment, thinking that her friends could run into trouble soon if we don't get there in time, "My friends, we have to help them."

"Then if you are ready, hop on my back and we'll fly on over." I said as I opened up my wings.

"Alright, I'm ready to go." Fluttershy replied as she got on my back.

"Hold on tight, we're going supersonic!" I spoke with confidence as I flew up with Fluttershy and zoomed out of Ponyville, flying straight to the mountain. It didn't take long and to our amazement, we spotted the five ponies almost reaching the top when we arrived. I flew down towards what looked like an entrance to the cave with the cloudy smoke coming out.

"We're here, Twilight." I said to her.

"Ahhh, there you are and right on time too, we're just nearing the top." Twilight said to us.

"Was it still a good idea to bring Fluttershy along?" Dash asked quietly.

"We're about to find out..." Twilight said as we came across the cave entrance, "...we're here."

I began to wonder what was next in the plan before Twilight explained it for me.

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

Dash nodded as she flew up into the smoke.

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

Pinkie then brought out a rubber chicken and shook it with her mouth, leaving Rarity and Twilight puzzled.

"Applejack, be ready with the apples in case he decides to attack."

Applejack replied by bucking two apples, sending them to the tree and splattering across the tree.

"But it shouldn't come to that, because Fluttershy will do what she needs to do to wake him up and between the two of us, we should be able to get him to understand why he needs to go."

I followed all that clearly, but I was left with a question, "Umm, what about me, Twilight? The only alicorn member of the group and all?"

"Oops I forgot, if all else fails, you'll use your Alicorn strength and magic as a last resort, okay?"

I wasn't sure about how strong my magic was but I nodded and hoped it wouldn't come to that.

"Is everypony ready?" Twilight asked.

We all replied that we were, except Fluttershy who didn't answer.

"Okay, we're going in." Twilight then went on inside, but Fluttershy didn't follow.

Twilight then came back out and was not pleased, "Come on, Fluttershy. We have to do this. Now!" she exclaimed.

Now I was beginning to feel irritated by how Twilight was once again, not letting Fluttershy speak up for herself. I decided to take the issue into my own hooves and go inside the cave first.

Twilight spotted me walking inside, "Bond, that's not part of the plan." she said.

I ignored her and went further into the cave, I was then at the centre and sure enough, it was indeed a red dragon sleeping and snoring out the cloud smoke, but he appeared to be laying on mountains of treasure, looks like I hit the jackpot first! I used my alicorn magic to sneakfully take a bag full of bits and place them in my suit pocket. However, the dragon began to awake as it opened up it's eyes and looked straight at me.

"Uh oh..." I whispered.

Suddenly, the dragon grew angry and let out a flames roar at me, I ducked just in time avoid getting burnt to a crisp by the flames as I speeded out of there, with the dragon following me.

"MAKE WAY! DRAGON RAMPAGE COMING THROUGH!" I shouted, exiting the cave before running into the tree, falling backwards and lying there in a daze.

The other ponies then shivered at the dragon showing out of the cave and roared, sending the other five into a rock that suddenly cracked. By then, I had regained my focus to see that Fluttershy was hiding inside the rock, but then noticed how hurt the six of us were.

"This is your chance, Fluttershy. Do it for us, do it for Equestria!" I yelled.

Fluttershy then looked at the dragon and that's when it all changed.

"How dare you..." Fluttershy said angrily at the dragon, "HOW DARE YOU!"

She the flew up and walked along the dragons mouth and looked at him right in the eyes.

"Listen  here, mister! Just because you're big, doesn't mean you get to be a bully! You may have huge teeth, sharp scails, snore smoke and breathe fire, but you do not, I repeat YOU DO NOT HURT MY FRIENDS! You got that?!" she scolded at the dragon.

I was blown away by how brave she was being, the dragon then began to cower a little.

"Well?" Fluttershy asked the dragon.

"But that brown one stole my treasure." the dragon said.

"I sure did." I bragged.

"And I am very sorry about that." Fluttershy said.

Oh thanks for switching sides, Fluttershy, that's the last time I'm giving you advice, I thought to myself.

"But you're bigger than he is and you should know better. You should also know better than to take a nap where you're snoring can become a health hazard to other creatures."

"But I..." the dragon tired to say.

"Don't you but I, mister. Now what do you have to say for yourself?"

Suddenly the dragon began to cry, now I was back to being impressed with Fluttershy again.

"There there, 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." she then flew down to the ground as the dragon began to fly away.

We had all recovered by then, we ran over and gave Fluttershy a group hug.

"I knew you could do it." Twilight praised.

"Well, our work is done here and look, the smoke's gone too." I pointed out.

Twilight looked at me, "But we couldn't have done it without your help, Bond, you helped Fluttershy when she needed encouragement. This is gonna be one great letter to write to the Princess."

"Oh it's nothing really, just my amazing brain at work today."

"Come on ya'll, let's get back to Ponyville." Applejack said.

We all agreed as we walked downwards and to the bottom of the mountain and made the short walk back to town. By then, I could see the pegasuses all working and wiping the remains of the smoke away and some creating rainclouds.

"Spike, take a letter." Twilight said.

Spike sighed, dropping the bunny he was holding. "With pleasure."

"Dear Princess Celestia..." Twilight spoke. " I am happy to report that the dragon has departed our fair country, and that it was my good friend, Fluttershy, who convinced him to go. This adventure has taught me to never lose faith in your friends. They can be an amazing source of strength, and can help you overcome even your greatest fears. Always your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle."

"Twilight! You gotta come see this!" Applejack yelled. We ran outside to see Rainbow Dash bouncing a ball on her head. "She's just five away from a new pony record!"

"Three hundred forty-seven, three hundred forty-eight..." Rainbow Dash counted.

Some pony had roared, causing Rainbow Dash to drop the ball. "Dragon!" Rainbow Dash fell to the floor.

Every other pony began laughing.

"Why are you laughing? That awful dragon is back!" She stood back up.

Pinkie Pie had walked up to her and roared loudly again.

"Pinkie Pie, you scared me...I mean, uh, you... broke my concentration."

Fluttershy flew near her. "It's okay, Rainbow Dash. Not every pony can be as brave as me."

Rainbow Dash blew a leaf that was floating in the air. The leaf swerved over to Fluttershy and landed on her back. Fluttershy screamed and fell to the floor. We all laughed at that moment, before I picked her up.

"Oh and umm, thank for giving me support when I needed it." Fluttershy said.

"It's okay, best friends always help each other, no matter what it is." I said.

She gave me a friendly hug which I accepted, before she went to the Library to pick up her animals and take them home.

Dash and Pinkie decided to call it a day as they both went to their homes.

Applejack and Rarity though had work to do shortly for some reason, but I didn't offer as I thought they could handle it.

Making my way back to my home, I grabbed some food from the cupboards as I was feeling very hungry after taking on that dragon. I then took out my small bag of bits that I snuck out from the cave and placed them in my bits jar, I never knew when I would need them. After my dinner, I then took a quick nap and had a quick dream about me and Trixie, wondering on when will I see her again... Next Chapter: Look Before You Sleep Estimated time remaining: 28 Hours, 11 Minutes