My Little Pony: King Under The Mountain

MY LITTLE PONY: KING UNDER THE MOUNTAIN

On A Bright Sunny Day...

It was early morning and in the wonderful and friendly town of Ponyville, many ponies here and there began their daily routines, such as running their respective shops, hanging out, or just socializing for the fun of it!

However, for someone like Fluttershy, today was the day to feed her precious animals at her cottage. There were various animal species such as chickens, bears, and even little rabbits. One in particular named Angel was giving dear Flutters a run for her money.

"Oh please won't you eat your carrot Angel?" Fluttershy cooed at the moody bunny.

"Please? Do it for mommy?" Fluttershy tried again. But to no avail.

Fluttershy turned around and gave a frustrating sigh, when she heard Angel trying to get her attention with a coughing sound.

"What is it Angel? Are you ready to eat?" She asked while Angel shook his head and coughed again.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

Giving up, Angel let out the biggest cough he could muster for his tiny size and pointed at the mountain where smoke was slowly billowing out!

Fluttershy finally noticed an let out an, "Oh dear..."

At Canterlot Castle...

The entire castle was calm and serene...truly it was a sight to behold. Inside, it was resided by their royal majesties and rulers of Sun and Moon respectively, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.

Ever since her banishment to the moon and the cleansing of her double Nightmare Moon, Luna has been doing her best to adjust to modern society. As for Celestia, she's just glad her sister is back.

Sadly, there was no time to dwell on the past. At the current moment, the castle's walls shook and trembled like they were nothing but mere decaying wood.

Although it was morning, being a Princess of the Night, had both it's ups and downs. Luna was jolted awake by the supposed "tremors" and immediately got prepared for the day since she couldn't possibly sleep till night with all the racket. She gave out a long and tired yawn and proceeded to go to her sister's throne room. Perhaps Celly could shed some light on things?

As she passed by the many guards under her service, they all bowed respectfully and kindly. She was glad that even though her return still frightened some, she was still deeply respected. She then finally found the entrance to her sister's throne room and with a polite knock with her hoof, the doors slowly opened to welcome her in.

There, upon her regal throne, was Celestia herself. At the moment, she was eating a donut with coffee and also reading the general news on the morning paper. She then glanced up at Luna with a kind smile and motioned her sister to sit beside her.

After a couple more minutes (finishing the tea and donut too), Celestia gave a concerned look toward Luna.

"My dear sister. What troubles you? Have you not slept well?" She asked.

"No Celly. It's just we were awoken to a loud tremor this morning. We weren't able to get anymore sleep, so we came to you to see if you had any insight towards any of this?" Luna responded back.

"I see... Well, from what I've learned so far, i am inclined to believe that a dragon is sleeping in that mountain while unknowingly snoring smoke close to Ponyville and within days, Canterlot. Now worry not Lulu. I've sent a note to my faithful student Twilight. She'll be able to get her and her friends to settle the issue with the beast. If not, I'll know and provide support." She explained calmly yet with a subtle nervousness to it.

"I'm not fully convinced Sister. What is truly troubling you?" Luna asked.

Celestia let out a sad sigh. Even after 1,000 years on the moon, Luna could still read her like a book!

"Alright sister. I believe I've been caught red-hoofed. The thing that is troubling me is that, not only is there a dragon in the mountain, but it's magical signature seems similar to that strange event from last night... Perhaps I was wrong to send Twilight?" She asked the last part with worry in her voice.

"If it truly does trouble you sister, we will gladly see to it that Twilight and the others will stay safe. We've nothing better to do anyway!" Luna finished with a bright smile on her face.

"Very well. Go then Lulu. And please keep them all safe." Celestia kindly requested.

"It shall be done!" Luna said with a salute.

Celestia merely shook her head in amusement at her sister's childishness.

At Ponyville...

Fluttershy quickly sped through town as fast as her little hooves could take her. She just had to find Twilight and tell her about the fire! At least, that's what she assumed it was. What else could it possibly be?

Many ponies scampered out of her way to avoid being run into. After at least 10 minutes of searching, Fluttershy could find hide nor hair of her dear egghead of a friend. Sighing, she began to head back to her animal cottage when she suddenly heard Twilight addressing a crowd.

"Attention everypony! I'm sure you've all noticed that there is smoke coming from near that mountain, that however, is no fire. It is a dragon!" Twilight explained.

At the word "dragon", Fluttershy felt her heart feel as if it was about to be crushed. She absolutely could not stand dragons! She was deathly afraid of them! Well, excluding Twilight's assistant Spike the baby dragon. Still, to her, there was a MAJOR difference between a baby dragon and an adult dragon. That was for certain.

Twilight continued to explain, "Due to this problem, Princess Celestia has assigned me and my friends to see if we can confront the dragon and convince it to leave. I'm sure that everything will turn out alright though. After all, we've got Fluttershy our animal expert on our side!"

Immediately, everypony's head turned towards Fluttershy, who immediately gave a frightened yelp and hid in the bushes to avoid the gazes of everypony.

Twilight then finished her little speech and let the other ponies speak with each other about this...development amongst themselves. She then saw a bush trembling? She went to investigate and found Fluttershy inside the bush trembling which was causing the bush to do the same. She sighed at this and immediately dragged her friend out.

"C'mon Fluttershy. We gotta let every other pony know and get ready to convince that dragon to leave." Twilight said and continued dragging a uncooperative Fluttershy with her to her friends.

First up was Applejack. After explaining the problem, Applejack immediately grabbed her lasso and straightened out her Stetson hat to show she was prepared!

"Whoowee! Let's go Twi! Ah'm ready ta tussle!" She said with her trademark Southern accent.

Next was Rarity who could not miss this chance. Who knows? There could be gems!

"Oh my stars! This is a perfect opportunity- I mean grave problem. Give me a moment Twilight dear." She politely requested.

Third was Rainbow Dash who was currently practicing her aerial acrobatics for the Wonderbolts. Twilight explained the issue, and Rainbow, ever the opportunist, immediately agreed.

"Sounds like a job for yours truly! The one and only Rainbow Dash!" She said in pride.

Finally, there was Pinkie Pie. At first, they couldn't find her, but she immediately jumped out of a nearby bush with...spy gear? Nonetheless, she told Twilight that she was super duper ready!

"Heya Twilight! My Pinkie Sense told me you were coming to talk to me about a meanie weanie dragon! I'm ready to go! Yippee!" She happily, yet randomly said.

After everypony was assembled, they all headed toward the mountain, not knowing what awaited them...

The Mountain...

"O' Smaug... Awaken thy eyes. Your first chance at redemption is ever so slowly on it's way. When you encounter 6 little ponies, abandon your arrogance and make friends. It's the only way for you to learn the true meaning of the power of friendship..."

Smaug awoke with an annoyed grunt. It was that accursed Voice again. Blast it all! He hated that thing with a passion. If it ever showed itself, he'd show it exactly who it's messing with! Besides, what other friends did he need beside his treasured gold? He saw no need for something as meager as friendship. It was a waste of time. He was a beast of unfathomable power! If that wasn't enough of his strength, he could easily crush all who opposed him!

"That may be Smaug...but do not underestimate this power. It shall shine through your arrogance. After all, arrogance led you to your downfall..."

Being reminded of that particular moment angered him greatly! He had had enough of that damned Voice in his head! The Voice may have a silver tongue, but he had power. It's words were nothing! He'd let it try to convince him all it wanted to, but in the end, it'll fail utterly. Looking around, he took a long look at his newly acquired treasure hoard. It was a sight to behold. Filled to the brim with rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and diamonds, he'd never part with anything like this. Never! Still, he felt...incomplete. Should he get more? It just didn't seem like enough to him.

Before he could dwell further on this matter, he heard voices outside of the cave entrance. They were whispers yes, but loud enough for his highly trained senses to hear nonetheless. It appeared that the voices were examining the corpse of the previous dragon that used to occupy this cave. He even thought he heard an audible faint!

Minutes Earlier...

Managing to brave most of the mountain with little to no effort, Twilight and the others were slowly getting closer and closer to the mouth of the cave where the dragon slept.

"Hey Twi? Where's Fluttershy hidin' again?" Applejack asked with a little bit of an annoyed tone.

Twilight turned around and couldn't spy Fluttershy anywhere. Pinkie then decided to add her two cents.

"Ooh ooh! Are we playing hide and go seek? I love that game!" She squealed quite loudly.

Rainbow Dash quickly put a hoof in Pinkie's mouth to prevent her from unintentionally waking up the dragon. "Put a cork in it Pinks! We're on a mission remember?"

"Of course I do silly! By the way, I believe the correct term is "put a sock in it". Hee hee!" Pinkie responded back.

At this, Rainbow facehoofed and gave a frustrated groan. She was about to make a retort when she suddenly spotted Fluttershy running quickly towards them!

Fluttershy then proceeded to tremble behind Twilight. Twilight took a close look at her friend. Her mane was a paler pink than usual and her body was shaking rapidly!

"Oh my! Dear Fluttershy! What ever did you see that could frighten you so?" Rarity asked in concern.

Fluttershy whimpered and quietly said, "D-d-d..."

"Wha' in tarnation ya talkin' 'bout? Speak up there Fluttershy. Didja mean 'dragon'?" Applejack calmly asked while putting a hoof around the trembling mare's shoulder.

Fluttershy nodded and pointed in the direction she found the "dragon".

"Come on girls! There's no time to waste. The dragon might be awake!" Twilight said seriously. She and the others then headed toward the mouth of the cave before they were hit by a nasty smell.

"Dear Faust! What is that horrid smell?!" Rarity shouted while covering her nose with a hoof.

"Ah don't know Rars, but it reminds me o' Granny Smith when she don't take a bath after a week!" Applejack exclaimed.

"Uh...girls? Open your eyes and you'll see just what poor Fluttershy was so scared of..." Twilight managed to say.

At this, all ponies opened their eyes and saw a terribly gruesome sight! Right in front of them was a ripped apart dragon! It's wings were shredded and half of it's body was slowly decaying. At the sight, all gasped while Applejack vomited in a nearby bush and Rarity proceeded to faint dramatically.

TO BE CONTINUED!