Mr. Original in: Dragonshy

by Mister Original

Chapters

"Hope you like trains, one's coming for you right now!"
"...Did you get your ass kicked by a cinnamon roll?"
"Looking at the ground makes EVERYTHING short."
"Dominoes are meant for low altitude only."

"Hope you like trains, one's coming for you right now!"

Author's Note

Heads up, this first chapter is from our new character's point of view.
...Not revealing who he is just yet.

Also, the point of view will change a few times from third to first in the next chapter.

Character Tag(s):

The Guys

"Hope you like trains, one's coming for you right now!"

I lie on the floor patiently, waiting. I couldn't really see any windows from where I was, since I was backed up against the corner under one of the hard plastic seats-- the one right next to the door, as not to be seen by any passengers (I didn't pay for a ticket... not like I could anyway). But it was pretty sunny outside, so the lights in the car were off.

The trip from the last station to this one was to take a little over three hours. I know I checked the time before I left, and it was roughly a quarter to nine. On the wall cross from me, on the other side of the car, was a clock. I know because I noticed it when I snuck onto the train. Leaning forward but keeping out of sight, I craned my neck to look up at the clock. The hour hand was barely a centimeter (or something, I was too far away to be too specific) past the eleven.

I settled back into my initial position with a sigh. This was the part I didn't like about traveling without anyone. I had to keep a low profile because no one came with me when I decided to travel. Which meant I had to be completely still when going from place to place on public transportation. I couldn't do anything but wait.

This is going to be a long hour...

I blinked a few times. Huh. I didn't remember when my eyelids got so heavy. The sound of footsteps brought my attention to the many pairs of legs moving to the now-open door. I rubbed my eyes and stretched to escape the temptation of sleep.

Sleep...

My eyes opened all the way. In an instant I was wide awake, senses suddenly sharp. No. No no no no no! I didn't miss my stop, did I? I nervously waited until everyone walked out of the car before quickly moving forward from my hiding spot under the seat and looked at the clock. A few minutes past noon. I let out a deep sigh of relief. I had to get moving before the next crowd of people came in for their ride.

Going to exit, I walked out of the door casually as to draw little to no attention from anyone. And not a moment too soon; people were just in front of the door, already on their way in when I got out. I did get a couple glances, but that was all. Looking around I saw the way out. It was from photographic memory. I did get to go here often back then...

I briskly walked up the incline, purposely staying at the very side as not to get in anyone's way. But right when I got to the top, I froze. This was the hard part. The were a few security guards that were usually in the area. I had to be careful. I never had to sneak past them before, since I wasn't ever alone in the past. This was a first.

I looked to my side at all the passersby with various sizes of luggage. I rubbed my chin in thought for a minute with a low hum. I tried to ignore the few glances I was getting. Thankfully before I got a little too self-conscious, my gaze fell on what must've been a couple, on their way up the incline. More importantly, I noticed the particularly large suitcase the man was dragging along wheels. And then I got an idea.

Luck had to have been on my side that day, but the couple I decided to follow were walking very close to the side of the walk way. So I was against the wall, completely out of sight of almost everyone else walking along with them. Although whoever was walking behind them could see me...

I stole a quick glance behind me... yep, he was looking dead at me. I suppose it was a good thing he was a fair distance back.

Turning my head back to look in front of me, my gaze went to the corner of my eyes to the couple right beside me. They still hadn't noticed me walking right next to the guy's suitcase. They were animatedly talking about how excited they were about their vacation and discussing where they should go first. A small smile made its way onto my face. They looked so happy. It made me think of how happy I'd be when I got back home. I'd walk inside, he'd welcome me with an open arm. And then I'd run up to him, and then at the last second, he'd--

I snapped of my reverie when I realized how close to the door we were getting. I could feel my heart beating against my chest. This was it. Once I got out of here, I was literally home free. The exit was only a few yards or so away.

Just a little closer...

Much to my dismay, the man and his significant other made a sharp left turn at the last second. I paused and looked ahead of where they were headed, and deadpanned. The restroom. They were headed for the restroom. Great.

I didn't linger on the thought of my sudden turn on luck for long, and closed the small distance between myself and the door. I was bold enough to smirk at my small accomplishment before walking forward with a proud look on my face.

...I flinched back in surprise when my face bumped nose-first into the glass of the door. Almost immediately after, I fixed the door with an annoyed glare... although I'm sure my expression looked more confused than exasperated. The door was automatic, I knew that much. For a slight moment, I became a little conscious of how short I was. I mean, really. I couldn't simply activate a sensor by walking towards the door, let alone near it? Yeah, that was just the tiniest bit insulting...

I was so busy mentally scolding the stupid door, that I almost didn't notice someone walk inside, leaving the door open. Realizing my opportunity, I made my way through the door.

'Yes! Yes!' I silently celebrated. In my victory, I turned around to face the door and held my head high with a "Hmph." And I nearly jumped out of my skin when my gaze fell on the security guard that was next to the glass. He wasn't watching me, he was facing the opposite direction, looking around the giant bustling crowd of people. But he was so close to where I was, I couldn't help but wonder how in the world he didn't notice everything that just happened with me. Part of me was a little glad he didn't seem to be doing too well at his job.

Stiffly turning around, I left the train station.

As soon as I got to the street, I started running. Of course I didn't actually run on the street, but stayed behind the trees right next to it. After that, I just followed the scent in the air. My nose was good like that.

By car it would take about... an hour and a half? On foot while running nonstop, it took at least a little over twice as long. So by the time I finally made it to his house-- our house-- and I finally stopped running, my entire body had this burning sensation that you get when you exert yourself too much.

The tall house loomed over me as I stood in the yard. Well, tall from my perspective, considering my size. It was black and white, abstract-shaped, secluded, and had a beautiful view from the back yard. Heck, I could see pretty good just standing in the front yard (which also looked amazing)! I took in the familiar bliss of walking up on the porch, as well as everything else. There were a few chairs, some were wooden, some were really sturdy plastic ones. Those always came in handy for when he had company. And then there was the cushioned couch backed against the wall. I remember how I always used to lie there next to him and we'd silently enjoy the nature.

Part of me couldn't believe I was still here. Everything that happened earlier today seemed like a blur now. Or maybe I'm just too caught up in nostalgia. ...Probably the latter. Ah well!

I knocked on the door three times and sat back in excited anticipation. My smile faltered a little when a good fifteen seconds passed, and the door still wasn't answered. Usually, it'd take no more than five seconds for the door to be answered. Or at least checked. He'd probably swing the door open so fast if he saw me... or something. He wasn't a heavy sleeper. Not a light one, but not a heavy one either. So he would've heard me knocking.

Maybe he's cleaning himself? It's not likely, but it's possible. Okay then, fine. I had patience, I could wait.

I didn't move from my spot, I didn't even budge. I was pretty sure an hour or so had passed by. At this point, he would've gotten out of the bathroom a few minutes ago. I decided to try knocking again. At this point, he would definitely noticed someone was a the door. Unless something happened while I was gone, I was left with only one legit conclusion: he wasn't here.

I frowned and let out a heavy disappointed sigh. While I was contemplating waiting there until he got back, my keen ears picked up voices.

"You can't just take his vodka without his permission or knowledge," one of them spoke.

"But he doesn't even drink!" a seoncd voice protested.

"Obviously. He keeps it for company," the first voice replied.

"I'm the only one who drinks out of us, so it might as well be for me."

"Heheh, he's got his own personal alcoholic beverage cellar just for you," a third voice chuckled.

"He's so thoughtful," the second voice said coyly.

I already knew who they were. Turning around, I saw five men walking towards the house: Arthur, Blue Star, Red X, Atario, and Stario. From the voices and what was being said, I'm guessing Stario was intending to get a drink from the cellar inside, but Arthur wouldn't let him.

I found myself smiling as I closed the remaining small distance between me and them. If anyone could help me get up to date on what was going on, it was these guys.

"...Did you get your ass kicked by a cinnamon roll?"

[Theme Song]

James and Conscience were sitting on a bench in the middle of the town while everyone else bustled about, doing their own business. Which included some of their friends, such as Rainbow Dash, who was expertly bouncing a ball with her head.

"You can't bounce, bounce down and again, bounce up twice, down twice, and back up twice without getting caught up in the spur of the moment," James shook his head at the thought.

"That's what alarms are for," Conscience 'argued'. "Besides that, I beg to differ."

After a short pause James said, "We should ask Spike if he can use his tail as a makeshift cane."

"Probably not."

"But we don't even have to be subliminal about it!"

"No. But I'm not sure if that's in spite, or despite the fact that there are no innuendos involved," Conscience put up his index.

"The Cat in the Hat got away with it," James shrugged his shoulders.

"So?" Conscience looked at him skeptically.

"So, they wouldn't grow back!" James said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oh no, my arms are running away from me," Conscience intoned sarcastically with a deadpan.

"No, that's your imagination," James shot back as he put on his sunglasses.

"Imaginaaatiooon," Conscience said slowly, causing James to burst out laughing.

"So, this is where he's been all this time?" I asked. Arthur, Blue Star, Red X, Atario, Stario, and I were standing at the edge of a small town. I wasn't as surprised as I should have been when the guys all told me about this 'different universe' or whatever it was. Maybe I was used to very unusual things happening to us before I made a trip around the world. Yeah, that was probably it.

"Yeah, we didn't see it coming either," Arthur answered.

"That's what she said," Stario waggled his eyebrows, causing only Blue Star to crack up at the joke.

"Maybe you can ask him when you see him," Atario suggested.

"Meet the girls and all," Red X said in agreement.

They told me what he told them: how he stumbled upon a key, found this door, found this world, and made friends who they went on a cool adventure with (I never admitted, but I couldn't help but get a little jealous at that last part).

So they were girls? Well that... was... huh. I wasn't too sure what to make of that. I was looking forward to meeting them.

We starting moving toward the town, and that was when something above us caught my attention. I looked up, my expression turning confused when I saw a black winged pony flying about. They didn't say anything about pegasuses. That was kinda cool!

Apparently, Blue Star noticed and quipped, "And now, he has joined the dark side."

Everyone burst out laughing at that comment.

Walking along the path, we passed along a sign that I read out loud. "Welcome to Ponyville."

"Yep," Atario said. At this point we were passing by buildings, which were mostly cottages. Made sense he would stay here, he did favor a lot of things that were an old-school style.

I paused, but only for a slight second, when I noticed how many ponies were around. Unicorns, pegasuses, and... I guess regular ones... Wow. This was... something.

"I probably know what you're thinking," Arthur looked at me. I turned my head sideways and looked up at him. "All these ponies everywhere... doing stuff like we would in our world. Unusual, huh?"

"...Yeah," I nodded. That was exactly what I was thinking as we passed by ponies left and right. That and... they were so colorful. It was so ridiculous how many different color ponies there were.

"Yeah. What's more, the entire race here is composed of ponies. At least, as far as were concerned," Arthur continued.

I could only nod. I suddenly realized I was getting a lot of side glances from some of the residents. They were welcoming expressions though. I swear, a few had that look you'd give when you thought something was extremely adorable. I smirked inwardly at the thought. Even he gave me that look sometimes.

"Just wait until you meet his friends," Blue Star said excitedly.

Maybe Blue Star's enthusiasm was getting to me, but I was feeling a little more pumped about this. Better yet, I think I got over the shock of this whole situation. But as we continued on, a thought came to me.

"So... where are we going?" I asked.

"To Darth Vader's lair!" Blue Star answered, getting punched in the shoulder by Red X.

"We're gonna see if we can...," Arthur trailed off as he noticed something in the distance. "Nevermind, I already found him."

My expression lit up, and without another thought, I sped forward. I was hardly aware of some quip Stario made.

All of a sudden, a pink pony with a darker pink mane rushed up to me. "Ooh! I've never seen you in Ponyville before!" she bounced excitedly as she leaned very close to me. Honestly, although I was taken aback, I really didn't mind that much. What did bother me was how wide her eyes were, let alone her huge smile.

She continued. "And I know everyone here in Ponyville. So that must mean you're new, and if you're new, that means you haven't met anyone, and if you haven't met anyone, that must mean you must not have any friends--" That was were Arthur put his hand to her mouth before she could get anything else out. Grateful for the opportunity, I subtly took a couple steps back. I doubt he would stay here if someone did this to him.

"Actually, Pinkie," Arthur said, "He is new, but he does know someone here."

"Representin' that first stand on... what, twenty five? Or was it fifteen?" Conscience thought hard, but let it go. "Whatever, who was it?"

"Um... that kid who tried to skateboard but f***ed up really bad and landed on his hip and bust his lip and got a lisp for an entire week," James blurted out.

Conscience raised an eyebrow. "Um... no...?"

"Sh*t!" James hissed quietly as he slapped his knee in frustration. "I almost had it!"

"But now that you mention it... whose cruel idea was it to put an 's' in the word 'lisp'?"

James's expression lit up. "Oh my goodness... that is a good question."

"Beats the heck outta me," Conscience shook his head.

"Ooh! I've never seen you in Ponyville before!" they heard Pinkie say.

Conscience turned his head to see Pinkie standing a distance away from Arthur, Blue Star, Red X, Atario, and Stario. But her attention didn't seem to be directed at them. In fact, she was looking downward. "What the f***?" he muttered.

James followed his gaze over to the pink earth pony and the guys. "Who's she talking to...?" Almost in perfect sync, he and Conscience stood up from the bench (James's hands behind his back), and made their way to the crowd.

James resisted the urge to Facewhip when she started up again at a mile a minute, and without taking a single breather. "And I know everyone here in Ponyville. So that must mean you're new, and if you're new, that means you haven't met anyone, and if you haven't met anyone, that must mean you must not have any friends--" He let out a quiet sigh of exasperated relief when Arthur cut her off. Although he couldn't completely make out what he was saying, since he was speaking in a two-person-conversation voice.

"Hey, guys! What's up?" James and Conscience made it within earshot distance of the others. The guys gave an off chorus of "Hey, James."

Pinkie zoomed over to tell Rainbow Dash something (unintentionally causing her to lose her focus before she could beat the 'Equestrian ball-bouncing record'), allowing them to see who she was talking to the whole time. Standing in front of the guys was what looked like an cat, nearly a third of his height. Its fur was a pale orange. Pink inner ears, pink little nose. It was wearing what looked like black gloves on each of its paws. Its sky blue eyes appeared to be 'all iris'; there were no black centers like one would usually have. And they were staring at him.

Gradually, James's expression shifted from mild curiosity to well-suppressed shock. He didn't take much notice to the surrounding ponies staring at them as they stood and stared at each other in silence.

Rainbow almost voiced her impatience with the tension in the air, when James finally blinked. Then he took one of his arms and held it out. "Well, bring it in," he said as he motioned to himself.

He said those words, and my body started to move before I even realized it. Gradually I accelerated, my mentality once again in sync with my physical self. I couldn't help the smile that grew on my face even if I wanted to. It felt like an eternity before I got close enough to him, but when I did, I leapt into his waiting arm. He wrapped his arm around me, as I wrapped my forelegs around him.

It was the nicest thing in the world to me, feeling his touch again. His rough overalls, his smooth gloves and the like. All combined into a hug. This was the thing I lived for.

...Well, one of the things I lived for...

I heard a quiet and soft voice somewhere in the back of the crowd of ponies, sounding restless. But, honestly? I really didn't care, at least right then. At the moment, there was just me and him...

He was never the emotional type, most of the time. But he was still a hugger. So I wasn't surprised when he was still hugging me after about ten seconds. But it never bothered me, so I continued to return the embrace.

Eventually a few seconds later, he did actually losen his grip on me, so I knew he was letting go. I pulled back, but when I looked at him, he was looking behind me. And he looked peeved. I proceeded to turn my head to see what he was looking at.

...After I wiped away some of the happy tears that had leaked from my eyes.

A small ghost of a smile was on James's face as he enjoyed the embrace. He didn't realize until now how much he missed that familiar touch of fur. He was so soft and fluffy. It was then that he took notice of the crowd that had gathered around. And Rainbow doing a gagging gesture. He tried to ignore it, but even as she stopped on her own accord, it still ticked him off. And it wouldn't stop bothering him. His slowly furrowed, his irises gradually reddening.

Gently letting go of his friend, he glared at the pegasus, who had a guilty expression on her face for being caught. Closing his eyes, he exhaled exasperatedly out of his nose. He reopened his now-blue eyes.

"No one asked you to stick around to watch, RD," he deadpanned.

"Listen up!" a voice called out, turning everyone's attention to the bridge. There stood Twilight, with Spike on her back. A serious expression was on the unicorn's face as she continued. "Smoke is spreading over all of Equestria."

Everyone looked up, the ponies murmuring their dismay at the situation.

"Okay... that was not there a minute ago," Atario pointed at the dark cloud.

"Spike is full of himself," Blue Star quipped as he smirked at the little dragon, who had his arms crossed with this look on his face. Red X would've punched him in the shoulder, but he couldn't help but silently agree.

"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.

"So... someone sucks at cooking then?" Blue Star smiled hopefully. This time, Red X did punch him in the shoulder.

"It's coming from a dragon."

James looked confused. "You say that like it's a good thing," he muttered.

Blue Star scoffed. "It's not a big deal, it'll clear away eventu--"

POW!

Everyone jumped when James shot him in his shoulder. As fate would have it, it was the same one Red X punched.

[Later at the library...]

James, the guys, six other ponies, and I were standing in a tree house. There were books everywhere along the walls. Was this a library? I mean, I don't even see a desk anywhere. Maybe it was supposed to be that circular table thing with the pony head statue? ...Yeah, maybe that was it. Where is the librarian, anyway? That is, if this is a library...

"What in the name of all things cinnamon swirled is a full-grown dragon doing here in Equestria?" the orange pony with the stetson asked, interrupting my thoughts. Her accent had this nice twang to it.

"Sleeping," the purple unicorn replied as she... um... closed a book with her... I'm guessing her horn, since it was glowing the same color as the book was before it closed, and placed itself on top of a pile of more thick books.

"Huh?" the other ponies weren't expecting that answer, apparently.

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

"He should really see a doctor. That doesn't sound healthy at all," the pink pony frowned. (I don't think I've ever heard anyone's actual voice sound that high that wasn't a kid. Ever.)

"Well, at least he's not snoring fire. What are we meant to do about it?" the white unicorn asked in a lovely fancy accent.

"I'll tell you what we're meant to do," said the blue pegasus hovering in the air. What was her name again...? RD? "Give him the boot! Take that." She kicked the wooden pony head, but James Flashed over and straightened it. "And that!" she charged at the head again, but James pulled out his cape and swung, making her go in the opposite direction and crash into the wall.

"Goodness damn it," he sighed as he walked over to return the toppled books back to their proper place.

"We need to encourage him to take a nap somewhere else," the purple unicorn gave RD an annoyed look. "Princess Celestia has given us this mission, and we must not fail. If we do, Equestria will be covered in smoke for the next one hundred years." The pale yellow pegasus gasped.

James had finished replacing the books, and put up his forefinger. "I say we compromise on those two ideas. We should first try reasoning with him. If he doesn't cooperate...," he pointed, "then we beat the f*** out of 'im."

"I'm liking this idea." Silence followed. I didn't realize until everyone was looking at me did I realize I was the one who spoke.

"I'm sorry, but who are you?" the lavender pony asked with a quizzical frown.

"Whoa whoa whoa, seriously?" James stepped in front of me.

The unicorn flinched at her poor choice of words. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to come off as rude."

James sighed, his face flushing red. "It's alright. I myself, should apologize for not introducing him yet." He sidestepped to the corner of my vision and gestured at me. "Girls, this is Frag Cat. He's a puppycat."

"What's a puppycat?" RD asked bluntly.

Blue Star answered, "He's part cat, part dog."

"Arf arf!" I barked to further drive the point. I sounded like a chihuahua...

"We go way back," James smiled Cheerfully at me, before turning back to the girls with a serious expression. "Now Frag Cat, I'll introduce you to the girls."

"The final step in admission to the dark side," Stario waggled his eyebrows. Arthur facepalmed with a chuckle.

James walked over to the blue pegasus. "This here, is--"

"RD, right?" I finished.

James gave a laughing snort. "That's what I call her. Her actual name is Rainbow Dash. She is a very fast flyer, and is on the weather team."

"And don't you forget it!" Rainbow crossed her forelegs with a smirk.

"Ohhh," I nodded. "That makes sense." Her mane was a dead giveaway. Wait... "'Weather team?'"

"Yeah, pegasi control the weather here," James gave me a knowing look, in which I nodded blankly. Pegasi? Who came up with that?

Blue Star spoke, "Out of the six, she's the cool one." James didn't bother to turn and glare at him as he shot him in the head. He then went to the blonde-maned pony.

"This here, is Applejack. Maintains this kickass-sized apple farm with her brother.... You should meet their grandmother!" he added Cheerfully. He leaned closer to me and whispered, "I swear to goodness, you have to hear about when they had to harvest the whole thing."

"That's a nice hat you got there!" I smiled at the orange mare.

Applejack smiled. "Glad ya like it, sugarcube." I wagged my tail, my smile stretching slightly. Sugarcube. The way she said it sounded so warm and welcome.

His voice going back to normal, he went to the white unicorn. "Rarity. The clothing designer with an eye for creativity.... Even when you don't want it," he quipped, causing said pony to pout with a 'hmph'.

"Oh! Oh! Me Next, me next!" the pink pony bounced with excitement.

James pursed his lips and took a deep breath. "This," he said levelly as he gestured to the excited mare, "is Pinkie Pie. She works at this bakery called Sugarcube Corner."

"Did Applejack come up with the name?" I asked before I could catch myself.

James scoffed. "That's funny, I actually got a similar idea when I heard of the place."

"What?" Applejack and Pinkie asked in confusion.

James High Chortled at their reaction. "Anyway, moving on. This is Fluttershy," he gestured to the yellow pegasus hunched over, seeming nervous. "She's a very talented animal caretaker." 'Fluttershy' seemed to silently stare at the ground. I don't think she realized he was referring to her. Huh. I wonder what was on her mind...

"Careful, she's the one for the wild," Stario waggled his eyebrows, getting a punch in the shoulder each by Arthur and Red X. He only cackled response. James went moved to the purple unicorn.

"And finally, the one who brought us all together... against her own will at first... is the town librarian...," he Exploded for dramatic effect, I guess...? "Twilight Sparkle!"

"You're last name is 'Sparkle'?" all the guys, including me, asked incredulously. I don't know why I flinched when it happened, but James burst out laughing really hard. He laughed for a good twelve seconds. I could only watch, mildly shocked, as James calmed down (slowly for once), only to break into another laughing fit.

I put my paw to the side of my face and whispered to Arthur, "Has he ever laughed like this while I was away?"

"It happened only once recently. He was laughing so hard, he was screaming," Arthur whispered back with a smirk. If he ever laughed that hard back in the past, it was beyond my memory. Considering this is coming from me, someone who remembers the very day they came to exist, that's saying something. And I don't forget moments like this. Which means he never laughed like this around me.

...Okay, now I was really jealous. I was happy for him, but still.

James finally calmed down enough to speak. "I said the exact same thing when I met her. But get this. She is the personal student of Princess Celestia, who was actually the first one I met when I came here." Twilight blushed as he said that.

But when I looked at James, he was suddenly serious again. Oh well. It was nice while it lasted... "Now, Twilight, you were saying we have an important mission to handle...?"

Twilight blinked at the sudden subject change and then shook her head. "Right. I need you all to gather supplies quickly. We've got a long journey ahead of us. Let's meet back here in less than an hour," she magicked her backpack on. I'm guessing she was the leader or something. She had the determination for it...

Rainbow Dash shot into the air. "Okay, you heard her, the fate of Equestria is in our hooves."

"And hands...," Red X muttered with a shrug.

"Do we have what it takes?" Rainbow continued.

Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie rose to their hind legs with a cheer of affirmation before making their way out of the hollowed tree along with Rainbow Dash. It was kind of cute. I thought I heard what might've been Fluttershy's voice, but... maybe my ears were messing with me. (I hope not.)

The guys (besides James), who were talking with each other (including Blue Star, who had long since recovered from being shot... again), walked out of the door. "We're heading home for a bit. We'll be back," Arthur called before they left.

Rainbow Dash zoomed up to her cloud house. At the front were pools of liquid rainbow, in which she planted her hooves in. Pulling them out, she ran them across her face, leaving two rainbow streaks on her cheeks.

"Raah!" she lowered her stance like a predator.

After Applejack's family all helped her pack her saddlebags, Big Macintosh lifted it up and placed them on her back. He silently panted from the strain of its weight afterwards.

Applejack, oblivious to her brother's exhausted state, reared on her hind legs. "Yaah!"

Pinkie walked out of the door, but paused when her saddlebags suddenly sprouted confetti. She put a hoof to her muzzle and giggled, but caught herself. "I mean... grrr!" she stuck a pose, putting on her war face.

Rarity was adorning a camouflage military hat as she carried her saddlebags along... but backpedaled when she got a look at herself in her mirror. "Eww."

A few seconds later, she returned to her mirror, this time wearing a camouflage sunhat with a flower on the side. "Much better. Onward!" she exclaimed.

Fluttershy walked out of her cottage wearing various safe guards, such as a helmet. She cringed with a squeak when the door shut behind her.

Frag Cat sat on his haunches at full attention, as James stood in front of him with his hands behind his back. "Okay, let's get to it. You've returned to me, and we're already going on another adventure together!" he Cheerfully threw hands up in the air.

Frag Cat wagged his tail, and nodded with a smile.

James turned serious again. "I know that you'll be more than ready to assist me, more so, us, in our quest as best as you can. Just like old times."

"Arf arf!" the puppycat saluted.

"You're getting back into the swing of things." James leaned forward and winked. "And you know what that means."

"I get to carry your inventory!" Frag Cat cheered.

"Exactly! ...So, I'll be holding on to the stuff that I use often. You, get to keep on to anything else I might happen to need or be in the mood for."

"You can count on me!"

"That's what I like to hear! Alright...," James started naming the accumulated items (rather quickly) as he pulled them from behind his back and tossed them in a pile on the ground. "Here's... my shotgun, my sniper, my shovel, my pickax, my plunger, my tea cup, my baseball bat, my golf club, my scalpel, my other tea cup, my pocket knife, my butter knife, my cleaver, my schmall gavel..."

Frag Cat continued to add all the things named to a mental checklist as James finished the pretty-much-miscellaneous possessions, and started on another pile. He was on the hammers now. "...my brass hammer, my brick hammer, my drilling hammer, my Warrington hammer, my lath hammer, my framing hammer, my half-hatchet hammer, my bushing hammer, my jackhammer, my sledgehammer, my ball-peen hammer, my cross-peen hammer, my boiler-scaling hammer, my club hammer, my knife-edged hammer, my rounding hammer..."

Spike, who was walking by, froze in shock at the giant piles of different tools. Frag Cat heard his sharp intake of breath and turned his head to see him, and waved Cheerfully. Spike blankly returned the gesture before slowly treading into the kitchen, eyes seemingly glued a certain pile of hammers that was now three times James's height.

The puppycat turned his attention back to James, who started on a pile of pistols (James kept all of his other guns on him). This was his favorite part. "Here is! ...my 2-millimeter, my M15, my liliput pistol, my luger pistol, my MAG-95, my Makarov pistol, my modèle 1935, my MP-443, my MP-444, my musgrave pistol, my P9RC, my P-83, my P-64, my PSS, my P-96, my QSW-06, my 1911, my Remington XP-100, my ruby pistol, my MP9; my P226, 227, 228, and 229; the UZI, and finally the Z84. Oh, and the glock pistol. You can have that one for yourself."

Frag Cat beamed, and with a squeal of delight, he dove head-first into Mount Pistol. James smiled in amusement, but it faltered when he noticed the stray guns that 'splashed' along the wooden floor. Then he Facewhipped.

[Meanwile, in our universe...]

"Out of my way, jackass!" Blue Star rammed into a random man on the sidewalk, knocking him onto the (fortunately deserted) road as he ran up the street of his house.

Eventually arriving in the driveway, he pulled out a pocket-sized remote control. Pressing one of the buttons, the garage began to slowly but gradually open. When the door finally rose to its highest, Blue Star walked inside and turned to the right and flicked a switch, revealing his motorcycle-- Shooter (that was the price for hanging around James all the time). It was customized by him, but better yet, it was technologically improved by none other than him.

Mounting it, he pulled out a tape and put it into the music player (which was compatible with tapes, CDs, and even records!) Without missing a beat, he turned it to the last track of the tape.

Before he made to leave, he pulled out a camera and smirked while taking a selfie.

Arthur walked into his kitchen. "It's time to kick ass and chew bubblegum," he said with a smirk as he reached into one of the drawers. It had a false bottom in which he personally kept bubblegum for such occasions. He removed said false bottom... but recoiled in disbelief as it revealed that it was empty.

"...SH*coin*!" he stomped his foot, causing the entire house to shake.

Atario went into his basement. There were a couple gun powder barrels against the wall, along with some other things: a few lockers, a table with two mostly-rolled up pads to sit on, and six bunk beds that he and the guys used whenever he hosted a sleepover (almost never). He walked over to the locker at the very end of the room and opened it. Inside was his beloved two-dimensional chainsaw, which he named Demetra (Damn it, James!). Its blades were sharp, but oh-so-clean.

"Hello, beautiful," he said sweetly as he picked up the chainsaw. He pulled out a melon from PAC-MAN, and placed it on the table. Yanking on the string, Demetra roared to life. With a maniacal laugh, Atario lowered the chainsaw on the poor melon, cutting it in two. Afterward, he picked up a slice and bit into it, enjoying its juicy flesh.

Then he lifted his arm, and swiftly pumped it in a thumbs up with a wink.

In his dining room, Red X filled the two pet food bowls full of Skittles for his nyan cats; it was their favorite.

"There," he stood up and nodded. "Tim! John! Lunch time!" he called out. The familiar music was eventually heard, and gradually got closer until the two happy little Pop Tart cats came flying into the room, straight for the skittles. Smiling, he petted them both before he proceeded to the living room. Before he could get to the front door however, something caught his eye next to the television set.

"What the..." He leaned closer to further inspect the sight, and then a fruity scent hit his nose. Red X let out a long groan as he realized what it was: a strawberry Pop Tart. "Damn it John, not on the carpet!" Timothy knew better than to use it anywhere else besides the counter (better yet, a paper towel), so he knew it was Johnathan. He facepalmed as he scrutinized the '#2' soiling the floor.

Stario waggled his eyebrows (at the camera) as he walked out of James's house with a large bottle of Dos Equis. Locking the bottom lock of the door, he left. As he made his way down the street and turned onto another, he recalled the commercial with a smirk. He recited the man's words exactly, down to the accent. "'I don't always drink beer. But when I do... I prefer Dos Equis." He took out the cork and took a quick swig before replacing the cork. "'Stay thirsty, my frie'--"

He flinched as a loud and recurring noise assaulted his ears. Turning his head to the right, he saw a rottweiler about half his own height barking mercilessly at him from behind his owner's fence. Stario looked to his left, then his right; the coast was clear. Chuckling darkly, he put down his bottle. Then he walked over to the dog, turned his back to it, stooped over... and let out a loud waft of gas. He didn't even bother to turn around when he heard the sound of the dog whining once, followed by the thud of it collapsing on the grass, unconscious.

Picking up the bottle, Stario burst out laughing as he continued on his way down the street. Eventually, he saw Atario, and a disgruntled Arthur.

"Hey Arthur, you contemplating your love life?" Stario waggled his eyebrows.

"I'm all out of gum," Arthur grumbled. Upon hearing footsteps, they turned to see Red X approaching. He was idly nibbling on a Pop Tart. "Looks like the whole hitchhiking gang is all here," he sighed. "I'm not really one to ask of this sort of thing, but would it have killed you to bring a few more of those for us? I could've chewed on that. When did you find the time to get some Pop Tarts anyway?"

Red X looked at the ground and blushed as he said quietly, "...I really don't want to talk about it." Stario snorted a few times in laughter, but shortly after, it was drowned out by the sound of an approaching vehicle: a motorcycle.

"Hey, Blue Star, you try to pick up a chick before you got here?" the trippy-clothed man waggled his eyebrows.

"No," Blue Star said indignantly. "...I was on Facebook. Had to put my selfie online." Arthur, Atario, and even Stario facepalmed. Red X however, continued to silently finish his Pop Tart. "Now are you getting on or not?"

Stario rolled his eyes as he sat on the seat behind Blue Star, followed by Arthur, Atario and finally, Red X.

"Fasten your seat belts!" Blue Star exclaimed.

"Why would you get seatbelts for a motorcycle?" Atario raised an eyebrow.

"It was an expression," the driver waved his hand dismissively. The loud screeching of burning rubber sounded as Blue Star did a wheelie down the street, Stario and Atario cheering in excitement.

"Let's go!" Applejack exclaimed.

The guys exchanged a dead silent glance upon hearing the mare's voice in their head, and immediately knew they weren't imagining things. In perfect sync, they facepalmed and shouted the f-word, various censoring sounds echoing in the air afterwards.

[A while later in Equestria...]

James, Frag Cat, Atario, Stario, Arthur, Red X, Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, and a nervous Fluttershy stood in a line. Blue Star was still on his motorcycle, next to James.

Twilight spoke as she paced by them. "Alright, 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 stammered.

"The dragon is in that cave at the very top," Twilight pointed a hoof at the mountain in the distance. The giant black cloud gathered around the peak indicated that it was the source of the smoke.

"Looks pretty cold up there," Applejack noted.

"That's temperature logic for ya!" Frag Cat exclaimed Cheerfully.

"I don't think logic coexists with weather here, Frag Cat," Atario shook his head.

"Good thing I brought my scarf," Rarity pulled a scarf out of her saddlebags and wrapped it around her neck.

"Oooh, pretty!" Pinkie admired.

Rainbow snickered. "Oh yeah. That'll keep you nice and cozy," she said sarcastically.

Frag Cat looked at James, his expression shifted to confusion when he noticed what he was holding. "Haven't you had that since you were a kid?"

James looked at Frag Cat, then back at the bebe gun in his hand. "Yeah, I have," he chuckled. "But I keep it for when someone's being a nuisance. And then some." The puppycat silently nodded in understanding.

Fluttershy looked at the peak of the mountain and gulped. She walked over to Twilight, had a map levitated in front of her face.

"Um, excuse me. Twilight? I know you're busy, but--"

"Uh-huh," Twilight said, not completely paying attention to her friend. "Well, we could go this way."

"But if I could just have a second--"

"No, we want to avoid that," Twilight pointed at a spot on the map.

"So, um... I was thinking that, um... maybe, I should just stay here in Ponyville."

"Uh-huh."

Fluttershy's expression lit up. "Oh! Good," she walked away. Finally Twilight absorbed the conversation. "I'll stay here and--"

"Wait! You have to come!" the unicorn called after Fluttershy, who cringed at being caught. "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," Twilight assured, gesturing to the baby dragon standing next to the others.

"You can count on me!" Spike smiled as he looked at the critters surrounding him.

Angel, who was standing on his head, proceeded to stomp rapidly and scare all the critters away. James however, noticed the look on his face that indicated he was gonna do something. Thus, he popped him in his stomach with his bebe gun before could lower his foot, causing him to jump in surprise and tumble off of Spike's head.

He smirked at Frag Cat. "See? It always works...," he trailed off as the critters scurried away, much to the dismay of Spike, who vainly chased after them. Sighing in exasperation, he Facewhipped. "SH**!"

Fluttershy continued to protest, although Twilight was no longer paying attention as she telekinetically rolled up her map and put it away. "I don't really think he's up to the task. Maybe... but... but... no!" she squeaked.

Rainbow flew up to Twilight. "Are you sure you want Fluttershy to come along? I mean, that pony's afraid of her own shadow. She's just going to slow us down."

"Well sometimes, as scared as she may be," James walked up to Twilight and Rainbow, glaring at the latter, "she has a gift that we don't have. A little advantage that could turn the tables in your favor is worth a little extra burden."

Blue Star abruptly popped up in front of James. "You talk way too much," he shook his head. James had more than enough time to get inwardly riled up at the hypocrisy of his statement by the time he shot his brother in the head.

He sighed exasperatedly before continuing. "As I was saying, the others aren't as fast as you. Slowing you down is inevitable. So why fuss so much about it?"

Their attention was snagged toward someone yelping. Turning, they saw Fluttershy recoil at her shadow before leaping into a bush. Rainbow just gave James an annoyed glare before walking away.

James double-facepalmed as he joined the rest of the group. "I thought she was exaggerating..."

"Alright, move out!" Twilight galloped down the road, causing everyone to snap to attention.

Fluttershy still wanted to stay. "But... but..." Then she screamed when the girls stampeded, taking her with them.

"Well, damn," Arthur rose an eyebrow at the dust they kicked up.

"They're ready," Stario waggled his eyebrows as he and the rest of the guys followed the six ponies.

"Looking at the ground makes EVERYTHING short."

As the guys, and the girls stood at the base of the mountain, a loud guttural noise shook the ground, causing Fluttershy to cower behind Applejack.

"Whoa. What was that?" Rainbow asked.

"That, is what it sounds like when a dragon snores," Twilight answered.

"Damn, I'm surprised he can sleep at all snoring at that volume," James furrowed his eyebrows.

"It-- it's so... high!" Fluttershy said meekly.

"Well it is a mountain," Rainbow gave her an odd look. Then she turned around and made to fly higher, "I'm gonna fly up there and check it out!"

Applejack however, caught her by the tail and pulled her back. "Hold on, now. Ah think we should all go up together. Safety in numbers and all. All the other besides Fluttershy nodded in agreement. Except James, who glared (...in agreement).

"Oh, all right," Rainbow crossed her forelegs with an annoyed look.

James Facewhipped.

Rainbow still had the same look on her face as she and the others gradually climbed up the mountain. (Blue Star's wheels were specially customized to adapt to such occasions.)

"I hear the only thing that sparkles more than a dragon's scales are the jewels they use to build their nests," Rarity gossiped. "Ooh. If I play my cards right, I might be able to convince him to part with a few!"

Pinkie changed her voice to a low, scratchy pitch. "Welcome to my cave, Rarity! Care for a diamond?" And then she roared, causing Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow to laugh.

"Girls!" Twilight gave the mares a stern look. The guys (including Frag Cat) exchanged a glance and shrugged. "This is no laughing matter!" Everyone continued up the slope. "Fluttershy, you're the expert on wild creatures. What do you think the dragon will be like?" she turned her head, but the yellow pegasus was nowhere to be seen. "Fluttershy?"

Rainbow turned around. "Hey!" Shortly after, Fluttershy's head popped out of a bush at the bottom of the mountain. "What are you waiting for? An invitation?"

"Ooh! I think I have one in my bag!" Pinkie quickly pulled out a colorful piece of paper, which was accompanied by confetti shooting out. James Facewhipped. Admittedly, his forehead was starting to sting.

"I-it's so... so... steep," Fluttershy looked up.

"Well it is a cliff," Rainbow said in annoyance. "You could just, oh, I don't know, fly up here?"

"Come on, Fluttershy, you can do it. Flap those wings!" Pinkie tried to encouraged her.

"Oh... okay." Fluttershy shut her eyes and slowly lifted into the air. Gradually she made it to the other's level, but she froze when the another loud snore sounded from the peak of the mountain. One by one, her wings snapped back to her sides, and she plummeted back into the bush.

Rainbow groaned while James Grief Grimaced. He was admittedly considering letting Fluttershy stay at the base. Not because she was disrupting their time schedule, but he was worried that she might kill herself before they even made it to the top.

Blue Star raised an eyebrow as the pegasus fruitlessly attempted to unfurl her wings. He whispered to the guys, "Um... is she having a wingboner?" Immediately, they all burst out laughing. The girls looked at them in confusion.

Everyone jumped with a start though when James loudly slapped himself across the face, his expression immediately serious again. "No. That's not funny," he sighed as he rubbed his cheek. "Alright. Twilight let me see that map."

"What for?" she said, still a little shaken as she levitated the paper over to him.

"I'm gonna go with Fluttershy around the mountain."

"Around the mountain?" Rainbow asked incredulously. "That's going to take them forever."

"Well it's a good thing I won't be around to hear you f***ing complain about it," James glared at her before jumping of the cliff and barely audibly landing next to Fluttershy, who stiffly fell on her back when another snore shook the ground. He looked up at Twilight. "Go on, we'll catch up eventually."

Blue Star spoke quietly. "I cannot believe he had the nerve to talk about Rainbow Dash complaining."

Frag Cat glared at him, but he didn't notice.

All the while as she and the others walked up the slope, Rainbow was impatient. And bored. It was bad enough being impatient, but bored at the same time? It was unbearable! She looked around restlessly, trying to find something, anything to keep herself occupied. Her gaze fell on Frag Cat. Well, it was worth a shot.

"So Frag Cat...," she started, getting his attention. "Tell us about yourself. James introduced us, but he never said much about you."

Frag Cat blinked. "Oh." He looked up thoughtfully. "Well, I like to chew on bones, play with yarn--"

"Yeah yeah, whatever," the pegasus interrupted. "Anything interesting?" Arthur, Red X, and Atario glared at her, but she didn't notice.

Frag Cat shrank back for a slight second. "Well... James and I always went on adventures together. In a sense, it found us, sometimes. Someone tried to mug us once!"

"Why, that's horrid!" Rarity gasped.

"Yeah. There was this one time when it was a nice day outside, and we were walking over to Blue Star's house. It was made better since no one else seemed to be outside. It was like a ghost town!" Rainbow was beginning to lose interest, but she continued to listen along with the other girls. "We were about a quarter of the way there when we happened upon this group of guys-- seven of them-- in matching jackets going the opposite direction. They were all at least slightly bigger than James. I remember the whole thing word-for-word."

"'Word for word'?" Pinkie Pie repeated inquisitively.

"When did this happen?" Applejack asked.

"Last year!" Frag Cat answered rather Cheerfully. "So anyway, one at the front-- I'm guessing he was the leader-- looks at the others and says, 'Well boys, what have we here?'" he said in his best impression of the man's voice. "'Looks like the city isn't deserted after all.' I could smell trouble coming from them, and I know James did too. But he gave a small polite smile and replied, 'Yeah, I know right? I enjoy days like this. In fact, we were headed to see some friends and family to watch a movie.'

"So James proceeded to walk past them, but they stepped in his way. 'Speaking o' which...,' another guy next to the first one said, 'We was gonna catch a flick ourselves. But our friend here's a little too short for tickets to get us all in. Think you could help us out?'"

"What did he say?" Rainbow asked, her attention recaptured.

Frag Cat rolled his eyes at the memory. "Neither of us believed him. 'Of course I could. But the thing is, we're gonna be doing other stuff too, like playing board games. We like to gamble here and there. They wouldn't like it if I turned up without any money. Maybe next time?' James smiled apologetically and tried to walk by, but they pushed him back, and that's when James's eyes turned red. But I don't think they paid that much mind.

"The first guy said, 'Well, we'd like to see it now.' At that point, I was a little tired of them pressing him, so I stepped in front of him and growled. Of course, I was trying to get a reaction out of them." At this point, the group made it to a flat surface and turned left.

"Why would you wanna do that?" Applejack rose an eyebrow.

"Because," Frag Cat answered with a smirk, "James doesn't like it when I get picked on. Only because it's irritating to him, nothing else. Hey, I've known him for my entire life. So anyway, when I did that, I got the type of reaction I was looking for. The leader in the front said, 'You stay outta this.' And then he kicked me." Twilight and Rarity probably would've gasped, if it weren't for the puppycat's nonchalant tone of voice.

"And then you beat them up, right?" Rainbow asked.

"Like I said, I did what I did to get a reaction of of them, to get a reaction out of James. You know, chain reaction?" Rainbow nodded. "Right, so the instant he kicked me, James had punched him in the face so hard that his grandparents must have felt it, knocking him out cold. You could hardly recognize him anymore! Then everyone except the second guy jumped at him. James muttered under his breath that he didn't 'have time for this.' The one closest to him I tripped with my tail, so he stumbled right into James's fist. After that, he Flashed around while dealng various punches and kicks to the others.

"What he didn't notice until then was that the second guy who didn't charge at him, was holding me in his arm with knife held to my neck." All the girls, even Rainbow, gasped. "And while inching the knife closer, he threatened him. 'Give us all your money, or the pussycat gets it.' And calling me that was a mistake on his part. James simply looked at me and said 'Do it.' So that's just what I did."

"What did you do?" Rainbow asked.

Frag Cat said nothing for a moment to build an air of suspense. Then he gave a nonchalant reply. "...I bit my tail."

It was priceless how the Rainbow's face slowly lost any sign of interest, and her expression turned into a deadpan. "...What."

And with that, the guys fell on the floor (while Blue Star toppled off of his motorcycle) in a laughing fit. Rainbow pouted in disappointment at the lame story ending. Everyone's attention was caught by James, who turned the corner. He effortlessly walked toward them (with one hand behind his back), dragging a still-petrified Fluttershy by her tail.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't think of a less inappropriate way to get her up here," he said with an apologetic look.

"So, Applejack, you and this brother of yours take care of a large farm. That's really hard work, isn't it? What do you do?" Frag Cat suddenly asked.

Applejack rose an eyebrow at the subject. "Uh, yeah, it is hard work. Mainly, we buck the trees to get the apples to fall down, then sell some and keep the rest for other products like cider and jam. Aside from the other usual stuff on the farm. Why d'ya ask?"

"Just curious," Frag Cat smiled innocently.

Twilight finished checking the map once more and returned it to her saddlebags in time to see a cliff. A short distance apart was another cliff, where they were to continue their trek. Rainbow took the initiative and galloped to the edge and leapt to the other side; Rarity, Pinkie, Twilight, and Applejack following after.

Red X, Arthur, Atario, and Stario cheered in excitement from Blue Star's motorcycle as he did a wheelie before jumping over the gap. Frag Cat whooped Cheerfully as James picked him up and tossed him over, afterward rolling like an armadillo and laughing joyfully as he ended upside down against the sloped mountainside. An ethereal flash of lightning later, James was standing right next to him. They turned around and noticed that Fluttershy was clinging to the opposite mountainside.

"Are you serious?" Blue Star deadpanned, in which James smacked him in the back of the head.

"Your turn, Fluttershy!" Twilight called out to the pegasus.

She looked at the gap. "But... it's so... wide."

"That's what she said," Stario murmured to the guys, all of them (besides James and Frag Cat) cracking up.

"Come on, Fluttershy, we should be much farther along by now," Twilight frowned.

"It's not that difficult, Fluttershy," James assured her. "A simple jump is more than enough. You can jump, can't you?"

Fluttershy looked over the edge. "I--" she was cut off by another loud snore from the mountain top. She shrank back from the cliff and trembled. "I don't know."

"There's nothing to be afraid of. It's just a hop, skip and a jump!" Pinkie chirped as she leapt back over the gap. "See?" Then she started singing.

♪It's not very far

Just move your little rump

You can make it if you try with a hop, skip and jump♪

As Pinkie leapt over the edge again and again, James looked at Frag Cat. "Get my pistol."

Frag Cat frowned, "Which one?" Pinkie kept jumping over faster and faster.

♪A hop, skip and jump,

Just move your little rump,

A hop, skip and jump,

A hop skip and jump,

A hop skip and jump!♪

"Surprise me," James answered.

"O-okay. Here I go," Fluttershy said as she shakily approached the cliff. Frag Cat pulled out James's PSS pistol, but James motioned for him to wait a second. "A hop..."

"Flu--tter--shy! Flu--tter--shy!" Red X chanted, the other guys besides James and Blue Star joining in, and eventually Pinkie following suit. "Flu--tter--shy! Flu--tter--shy!"

"Skip..." Fluttershy rose to her hind legs.

The guys' volume gradually rose, their chanting getting faster. "Flu-tter-shy!! Flu-tter-shy!! Flu-tter-shy!!"

"Just don't look--" James quickly put his hand over Twilight's muzzle before she could finish, and glared at her with a shake of his head. She returned the expression with a blend of annoyance.

"And... jump." The yellow pegasus clenched her eyes shut and leaped.

"She did it!" Frag Cat said Cheerfully, the other guys besides James cheering and applauding. Fluttershy opened her eyes to the cheering and saw that she had made it across the gap. A small smile came across her face at the realization. Twilight and the girls smiled as they congratulated her.

Everyone except Rainbow and Blue Star, who rolled their eyes at how the others were making a big deal out of the whole thing.

Twilight and the others looked around at the particularly jagged texture of the mountainside as they walked by. "Let's keep it down," the purple unicorn whispered. "According to my map, we're entering an avalanche zone. The smallest peep could cause a huge rock slide."

Fluttershy stammered. "An ava-... ava--"

"Shh," Twilight silenced her. She turned around and started walking, the others following suit. Blue Star had to turn his motorcycle off and pull it, as to keep from causing an avalanche.

Rainbow lightly brushed under a tree branch, causing a couple leaves to float down. Blue Star saw them, set Shooter on its kickstand, and quickly seized one and put it under his hat to draw later. James lightly blew the other one when it floated by its face. Slowly the leaf floated just over Fluttershy's back and in front of Frag Cat. The puppycat's nose scrunched up upon contact, but his eyes widened when it began to itch.

Everyone heard his quiet but sharp intakes of breath, and turned around with an alarmed look. Frag Cat was going to sneeze. In swift movement, James pulled out a megaphone and a red-crossed circle, and shoved them together. Frag Cat's inhales were getting deeper as he tried to hold it in. James then applied the combination with a mushroom. Quickly, he threw it at him.

Frag Cat sneezed with a cringe. But no sound came out. After a moment, he opened his eyes and blinked. He let out a completely silent sigh of relief before giving James a grateful nod, and everyone else visibly relaxed. James gave him an Un-silencing Mushroom, and they continued walking.

But everyone froze when they heard a different noise. Almost immediately, the guys whirled around and glared at Stario, who smiled sheepishly. They couldn't dwell on the noise for too long though, because the sudden rumbling and shaking of the mountain drowned out the echo of Stario's passing of gas.

They all looked up at the cliff above them. Shortly after small rocks began to fall, and most of the ones that followed were gradually increasing in size.

"Avalanche!" the girls cried out before quickly running around to dodge the falling rubble, the guys following. Frag Cat attempted to run through before the path got covered, but had to turn around when some particularly large boulders blocked his way. Applejack bounced along some large boulders, but fortunately was just out of the trajectory of another one that suddenly fell, this one easily dwarfing her. Rainbow stayed in the air, nimbly dodging everything that came close to her. Twilight was having a little trouble, barely missing rolling rock. She cried out for help as a tremendously large boulder almost crushed her, but Applejack tackled her out of the way.

Shortly after did silence finally return. Everyone coughed as the dust cleared away. "Everyone okay?" the farm pony asked.

"Thanks to you I am," Twilight gave the farm pony a grateful nuzzle as Fluttershy poked her head out from behind the gathered pile of dust accumulated from the avalanche.

James looked around at everyone. Someone was missing... "Where's Frag Cat?" The others looked around, but the puppycat was nowhere to be seen. Just then, they heard shuffling sounds from behind them and turned around. Frag Cat's lower body was pinned tightly under a boulder.

Twilight gasped. "Oh no!" She ran over to him, the other girls following suit. "Are you okay?" she asked, her voice dripping with concern.

Frag Cat looked up. "Oh yeah, I'm fine," he waved dismissively.

"Don't worry, sugarcube, we'll get you out of there," Applejack assured.

"No no, it's fine, I got it. Really, I've been through worse conditions," Frag Cat said rather cheerful despite the current situation.

Twilight wanted to help. "But you--"

"Twilight," Frag Cat cut her off in a gentle but firm tone. "Calm down. I'll take care of it. Just please stand back for me."

"Stand back?" she turned around when she felt a hoof on her shoulder. No, not a hoof, a hand.

"Come on, girls," James said, "let's head over here for a second." Reluctantly, they walked back, past the pile of dust, almost all the way to the corner they turned on.

Twilight turned to James. "What are you doing? We can't just leave him there."

"We're not leaving him, we're taking cover," James answered.

"Cover?" said Fluttershy.

"Cover from what?" Rarity asked.

James didn't reply but looked at Frag Cat and called out, "It's safe, Frag Cat!"

Frag Cat nodded and snaked his tail through all the dust that was on top of him. Once it came into his vision, he grabbed it with his paw, put it his mouth and bit down on it.

Rainbow looked at the puppycat in confusion. "What's he doi--"

*BOOM!*

The girls shrieked in horror while when Frag Cat all but exploded. Several rocks and boulders that were near him were easily launched off the mountainside.

As the rumbling that resulted stopped. "Yeah, that should do it," he said as he waved away some of the resulting dust in the air.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Twilight looked at James incredulously. "How can you be so calm about this? Frag Cat just exploded! Aren't you upset?"

"Twilight?" James deadpanned. "Turn around." And she did, the rest of the girls following her gaze. Her breath got caught in her throat when she saw a small silhouette in the dust. It soon cleared up, revealing Frag Cat, looking completely unhurt.

"Whew! Glad that didn't cause another avalanche," Frag Cat shook like a dog to rid himself of most of the rubble that dirtied his coat. Seeing the others, he smiled and trotted over to them. "Told you it wasn't a problem." He frowned when he noticed the shocked expressions on the girls' faces. "Is... everything okay?"

"But... you exploded...," Twilight mumbled.

The puppycat raised an eyebrow. "Well, yeah. You saw me bite my tail, didn't you?"

Rainbow Dash absorbed what Frag Cat said. Her eyes widened when a thought came to her. "Wait... that story you told earlier, when you said bit your tail...," she trailed off as Frag Cat nodded in confirmation. "Oh, Celestia..."

"It's my specialty," Frag Cat explained briefly.

"So now you know," James nodded. He turned back to the enormous barricade of rocks. "So I'm guessing we have to climb over that?"

"...I supposed we do, don't we?" Applejack sighed.

It was fortunate that the explosion Frag Cat caused got rid of a decent fraction of the boulders that everyone had to climb over. However, it was still a bit of a chore for the girls. Except for Rainbow, who simply flew over. She rolled her eyes as Fluttershy almost slipped, as the yellow pegasus walked instead of flying.

Eventually, they made it over the incline and began to make their way down the other side. Arthur jumped from the very top, and used his hands to support his mildly-ground-shaking landing on the mountain's actual surface. Red X was seated behind Blue Star as he easily coasted down the decline. Stario and Atario simply sat down and slid to the bottom. James glided to the bottom with his cape. Twilight grimaced as she finally made it to the bottom.

Fluttershy nervously crawled slowly as she tried not to slip. Her focus was stolen however, when she saw Frag Cat laughing as he tumbled and bounced down the decline, somehow landing on his head every time. "Oh my..."

She squeaked in surprise when her hoof slipped, and she slid on her back, unable to stop. She passed Frag Cat as she bumped into Rarity, causing her to join in. And then Applejack. They all came to an ungraceful stop at the bottom of the slide. Rainbow flew over and helped up Rarity while James did the same with Applejack.

"My apologies," Rarity recovered from her daze.

"Not your fault," Rainbow glared at Fluttershy. Afterward, she hovered over to the front, where Twilight was. "Still think it was a good idea to bring Fluttershy along?"

"We're about to find out," Twilight looked ahead of her. Rainbow followed her gaze as the rest of the group caught up. Right in front of them was the cave they were looking for, smoke billowing out of it by the second. "We're here."

Author's Note

Frag Cat: And that's how I got my name!

"Dominoes are meant for low altitude only."

Twilight looked at the cave, before a determined look came to her face. She turned to her friends. "Rainbow Dash, you'll use your wings to clear the smoke." The pegasus gave a single nod and shot into the smoke above them. "Rarity and Pinkie Pie, you'll create a diversion to distract the dragon if things get a little hairy in there." She watched as Pinkie took a rubber chicken in her mouth, and shook it around. The two unicorns exchanged a questioning glance.

Eventually Twilight shook her head and turned to the other earth pony. "Applejack, you're ready with the apples in case he decides to attack." In response, the farm pony tossed two apples simultaneously into the air, and kicked them at the tree behind her, splattering them on impact.

"Alright then," James turned to the guys. "Arthur, Atario, you guys help RD with the smoke." Arthur spun like a top while Atario flipped vertically like a wheel, both rising into the air and disappearing into the dark cloud. "Blue Star, Red X, Stario, you help with the diversion." Red X and Stario nodded, while Blue Star pulled out a piece of paper and pencil with a flourish.

James pulled out his black hammer and Violently threw it in behind him. Its afterimages blurred as it flipped at an alarming rate, and slammed into the tree trunk, which nearly cracked in half upon impact. He smiled Cheerfully at Frag Cat. "Frag Cat and I will be Ajax's back up."

"Arf arf!" the puppycat saluted.

Twilight went from there as she walked by everyone. "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. Is everypony ready?"

Everyone gave their affirmations, be it vocal or through action. Except Fluttershy, who was cowering on the ground.

"Alright. We're going in," Twilight walked into the cave.

"So, what is the best way to wake up a sleeping dragon without upsetting him? Fluttershy?" she looked around, but the yellow pegasus was absent. "Oh, come on." She turned around and exited the cave, and walked up to Fluttershy, whose head was buried in the ground.

"Come on! We have to do this!" she grunted as she tried to butt Fluttershy forward, but to no avail. "Now! Every-- ngh!" Rainbow pushed Twilight from behind to help move Fluttershy, but she wouldn't budge. "second longer that dragon-- ngh!" Rarity got behind Rainbow and pushed forward. "sleeps is another-- ngh!" Applejack joined in.

All the while, the guys present: Stario, Red X, Blue Star (who was drawing the leaf he found earlier), and James stood there and awkwardly watched in silence. Stario looked at them. "Um... shouldn't we help them?" But the other guys only blushed and looked away while murmuring some excuse for not helping.

Fluttershy looked down. "I... I... I can't go in the cave." All the girls groaned while Blue Star collapsed on his head like an anime character.

"Oh, great. She's scared of caves now, too," Rainbow grumbled.

"I'm not scared of caves, I'm scared of dragons...," Fluttershy mumbled the last word.

"What's that, sugarcube?" Applejack asked.

"I'm scared of dragons...," the pegasus repeated.

Twilight walked up to her. "What?"

"I'mscaredofdragons!" Fluttershy blurted out, as said creature snored again.

Twilight ran around an looked at Fluttershy, who was now hiding behind Applejack. "But Fluttershy. You have a wonderful talent dealing with all kinds of animals," she protested.

"Yes, because their not dragons," Fluttershy replied.

"Oh come on! We've seen you walk right up to a horrible manticore like it was nothing!" Rainbow argued.

"Are you seriously comparing a manticore to something easily fifty times its size?" James deadpanned at Rainbow.

"Spike is a dragon. You're not scared of him," Pinkie said.

"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," Fluttershy replied.

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

The yellow pegasus looked down. "I was afraid to."

"Ugh," Rainbow facepalmed.

"Meh. I thought you were just ignoring her," James shrugged.

"James?" Twilight asked incredulously, "You knew?"

"No, I just sort of picked it up. That she was afraid of something in particular, that is. I mean, come on. It didn't occur to at least one of you that she was specifically scared of something? Not when she kept trying to avoid going with us in the first place?"

"Huh?"

"Be it the fact that we didn't know what to encounter in the Everfree Forest, or that she knew there wasn't a dragon in there, Fluttershy wasn't as hesitant about going on a perilous adventure when we had to find the Elements of Harmony," James shook his head.

"Look Fluttershy, you're not the only one afraid of dragons. At least, supposedly ginormous ones. We're all afraid."

"I'm not," Rainbow disagreed.

"Yeah yeah, whatever," James exasperatedly waved her off. "But we have to do this; not just for us, but for the whole of Equestria. You tamed a manticore, by yourself. We can't even do that! I bet if you just try, you can do it with a dragon too. Please?"

"I... I...," Fluttershy looked at the hopeful expressions on her friends' faces. Except Rainbow, who had her forelegs crossed with an annoyed look. "I just... can't." Her head hung as she sadly turned around and walked away, much to everyone's chagrin.

James sighed as he walked into the cave (he volunteered in case the dragon didn't react well to being disturbed). Of course he was afraid of the dragon, just not as much. Any other living creature a very small fraction of a dragon's size would be frightened out of their wits right now. When James thought of it that way, Fluttersh's reaction was all the more understandable. He really wasn't sure what made him pressure the pegasus to try such a thing in the first place. Maybe it was because he was sick of Rainbow complaining. Yeah, maybe that was--

He flinched in place suddenly when he realized he almost ran into a wall. Strange, this wall was red. Well, that was interesting. He stepped back a few feet and looked up.

"...Oh." The wall was not a wall. In fact, it was the maw of the very dragon that they were to confront. Two twin clouds of thick smoke trailed from its nostrils. And as expected, it was sleeping.... Welp, no time like the present!

"'Scuse me!" he called out. A moment passed as the dragon rolled onto his back (without moving anything above his neck). "Um..." James nearly jumped out of his skin as the dragon's eyes snapped open. He held his tongue before he snapped on the monumental reptilian creature for startling him. The thought almost made him break into a chuckling fit, but he caught himself. Instead, he feinted an exasperated deep breath. And he continued.

"Hello, sir," he nodded politely to the dragon. "I couldn't happen to notice you were napping here--" He was cut off as the dragon abruptly yawned in his face, a terrible smell hitting his nose. Well, that was f*cking rude! "Ugh. That's some really bad air...," he muttered as he held his hat over his face, save for his eyes.

"I'm not sure if you noticed this, but every time you snore, smoke tends to come from your nose. Considering that me and my friends here," James gestured to the girls, who were watching the whole ordeal (and Pinkie waving cheerfully), "live nearby, that is especially hazardous to us and those who live in the town not too far away from here. More so, the smoke travels fast, and if you keep this up, it will be everywhere. For a long, long, time. And well, we can't have that," he chuckled politely to play the last statement off as good-natured... instead of what he really meant.

"We'd really appreciate it if you could find another place to sleep. I think it would benefit both of us if you were to do so, don't ya think?" he smiled hopefully... but his eyes were red. Yeah, yawning in his face really had a toll on his patience...

The dragon stood up and stretched with another yawn, scratching his stomach again. James Signature Shrugged despite his temper. "Sorry for the inconvenience."

He was launched a couple feet in the air as the dragon collapsed back onto his stomach, his eyes closed. James gave him a look that was part-disbelieving, part-pissed off before the dragon exhaled out a quick breath of smoke. "F***, f***, F***!" he Flashed out of the cave.

"Why didn't I bring Metal Caps--?" he was interrupted again as another round of smoke burst from the entrance, engulfing him and the girls, sending the mares into a coughing fit. Although it did miss Frag Cat and the other guys, including Atario and Arthur, who came back down from the smoke cloud above. "What, in the f***ing f***!" he shouted.

"So much for persuading him," Rainbow said.

"Now what?" Applejack asked.

Rarity cleared her throat and bowed as if she was going to do a performance. "Obviously, this situation calls for a little, pony charm," she straightened her hair before walking into the cave. "Allow me, girls."

Meanwhile, James was as stiff as a statue, trembling in anger as he stared at the cave. This didn't go unnoticed by Frag Cat.

"Psst," Frag Cat whispered.

"Hmm?" Red X answered as he and the other guys listening looked at him.

"James isn't doing so well," the puppycat whispered and pointed at James.

This was nothing new to anyone. "So?" Stario asked.

"So, help me calm him down!" Frag Cat hissed.

"How are we even gonna do that?" Atario raised an eyebrow? "Trying to console him never works."

It was then that Frag Cat noticed Blue Star was absent. His expression turned thoughtful when he turned around and saw him, playing music and reciting the lyrics while dancing to it.

Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow, Pinkie, and a pissed off James were waiting in front of the cave when they heard music. The girls turned their heads to see what was going on. Twilight was visibly dumbfounded beyond words.

"What in tarnation?" Applejack narrowed her eyes in confusion. But James didn't notice and kept glaring inside the cave.

"Ooh! They're singing a song!" Pinkie chirped. But James still didn't hear. His hearing was impeded by the boiling blood rushing through his ears.

♪Tag Team, back again

Check it to wreck it, let's begin

Party on, party people, let me hear some noise

DC's in the house, jump jump rejoice

Says there's a party over here, a party over there

Wave your hands in the air, shake your derierre

These three words mean you're gettin' busy:

Whoomp, there it is, hit me♪

The guys were all dancing in a straight line, an oblivious Blue Star speaking in perfect sync with the actual song playing, completely unaware of his voice and the music's volume amplified by the miniature microphone that was attached to his overalls (courtesy of Atario). Rainbow bit her lip in mirth, as the others all joined in for the chorus.

♪Whoomp! there it is!

Whoomp! there it is!

Whoomp! there it is!♪

That did it. Rainbow couldn't stand it anymore. She burst out laughing as she helplessly floated down to the ground, rolled onto her back and clutched at her sides.

James looked down as Rainbow doubled over in laughter at his feet, finally snapped out of his violent trance. "What the f*** are you laughin' at?" he muttered and turned his head. Almost instantly his expression went blank, his scowling mouth now a thin line. After a moment, he facepalmed and shook his head. "What the hell, guys."

Frag Cat noticed his face relaxing, despite his hand being in his face. "It's working!" he said to the others.

James removed his hand from his face and looked up when Rarity scurried out of the cave. Apparently, her attempt was unsuccessful. Although it didn't piss him off as much as he'd expect it to.

The white unicorn slumped against a large rock and pouted. "I was this close to getting that diamond." Okay, now he was really pissed, much to the guys' chagrin.

"It's not working," Arthur said.

"Keep going, don't stop 'til we finish the song!" Frag Cat replied. The others begrudgingly continued to dance.

"You mean, getting rid of that dragon?" Twilight glared at Rarity.

Rarity blinked and looked away. "Oh. Y-yeah... sure."

Their attention was pulled to the sound of a party blower. They looked behind them to see Pinkie Pie. She was dressed as a wrapped up gift with numerous balloons tied to her tail, as well as long balloon ears on her head. James also looked past the two unicorns to see what that exasperating noise was. Frag Cat followed his gaze, and stood still at the bizarre sight. The other guys (besides Blue Star, obviously) followed Frag Cat's gaze, and they stopped too.

"Pinkie," Red X said slowly, "...what the ____ are those?" he gestured to the swimming accessories she was wearing on each of her hooves (while Arthur, Stario, and Atario chuckled at his choice of words).

"Their flippers, silly!" Pinkie chirped.

"Darling, you look ridiculous," Rarity walked up to her with a flat look. Even Rainbow, who recovered from her laughing fit, looked at her in bemusement.

"Exactly! Sharing a laugh is a sure-fire way to get someone on your side!" she waddled into the cave. "Hi!" they heard her voice say, followed by a cacophony of noises, such as popping and deflating balloons. A moment later, the pink pony more or less limped out of the cave (due to missing two of her flippers), her costume disheveled. "Apparently, he doesn't like laughing, heh. Or sharing."

"He was taking a nap!" James threw his arms up, his temper still flaring. "Why would he want to do any of that?"

"All right, that's it!" Rainbow snapped. "We tried persuasion, charm... whatever it is Pinkie Pie does. It's time to stop wasting time! I'm going in!" she sped into the cave.

"Rainbow, no!" Twilight called after her, but her protest fell on deaf ears.

The dragon looked up as the blue pegasus flew right in front of his face. "Get, out!" His face rattled from the kick she delivered afterward, and caused him to sneeze. And then he growled angrily at her.

She smiled nervously. "Heh. Sorry." She barely finished before the dragon roared in her face, sending her barreling out of the cave and bowling the girls over.

James, who was standing a small distance from them when they got knocked into a heap, was so pissed off by Rainbow's boldness, he almost didn't check if the girls were okay (first) before he angrily snapped at her (even though she was still dazed). The dragon slammed a fist right outside of the cave entrance. Everyone was instantly alerted when he stepped out and glared at the now huddling mares.

Blue Star, who finally turned around, noticed the dragon and shouted, "KILL IT WITH FIRE!" Arthur, Atario, Stario, and Red X facepalmed. "...What?" he shrugged in confusion. His mind caught up with his mouth, and he realized what he said. "...Oh."

Again the dragon let out a powerful roar, which brought forth another round of smoke. When the smoke dissipated, the girls were lying in a heap against a miniature mountain of rock. Nearly the entire thing suddenly crumbled to the ground, revealing a cowering Fluttershy.

Arthur looked around, and noticed Frag Cat backpedaling with a paw over his muzzle, as the smoke's fumes hit his exceptionally keen nose the hardest. But he didn't see where he was going, thus he didn't stop when he got close to the edge of the cliff.

"Whoa, hold on!" Arthur sprang forward.

"Hey!" Frag Cat protested as Arthur grabbed him under the base of his forelegs and hauled him over his head. He flew back and faceplanted as he slid right behind James. After a moment, the puppycat removed his face from the ground.

"Meh," he shrugged with a smile. Then he craned his neck around from his prone position almost a full half circle (which would look really painful to anyone watching) to see Arthur barely kept from falling off the edge, having lost most of his footing when he threw the puppycat behind him.

Arthur's voice wavered as he flailed his arms to maintain his remaining balance the best he could. "U-uh, guys...? A li-ittle help here?"

Blue Star turned his head, along with the others. "Dude, you've been on Super Smash Brothers, your balance isn't that bad." The other guys glared at him as Atario ran over to him. He proved a moment too late as Arthur fell over the edge, but that didn't stop him from diving forward. With much effort, fortunately, he managed to catch him by his feet. Unfortunately, Arthur's weight was winning over his own, and he was being gradually pulled over the edge with him.

"I got ya!" Red X jumped forward. Unlike Atario did to Arthur, he was able to catch Atario while standing up, therefore being able to hold his ground better. But with Atario and Arthur's combined weight, it wasn't enough.

"Come on, come on, come on!" Red X grit his teeth as he pulled harder. Alas, his heels reached the edge and he too fell over the edge.

James looked over and noticed Stario watching Red X shaking slightly from effort of doing... what, exactly?

"We're all in this together!" Stario exclaimed dramatically before swan diving and catching Red X by his forearms.

"What the f*** are you guys doing?" James called out.

Stario then realized something very important: he didn't plant himself at the edge of the cliff before catching Red X.

"Aw, come on!" he deadpanned as he and the other three guys descended toward the ground far below.

James Flashed over to the site, too little, too late. He stared silently after his four friends (of of them his brother). "I... I don't even-- ah!" he yelped when his other brother pushed him off the cliff from behind. He flipped vertically and uncontrollably as he joined after the other four guys.

"And that, is for smacking me so many times," Blue Star smirked with a nod. He turned around to walk back over to the girls... only to get Violently drop kicked by Frag Cat, and knocked over the edge.

"Jerk," the puppycat glared over the edge. After a moment, he sighed. "Well... I guess it's up to me--"

"How dare you." Frag Cat's ears perked up at the barely audible voice, and he turned around. Almost no one else would've heard it, but he did. That voice... sort of sounded like...

"HOW DARE YOU!" Fluttershy gave the dragon the fiercest glare the puppycat had ever seen from a supposedly shy creature.

Arthur, Ataro, Stario, and Red X had finally hit the actual ground from a long, long drop. They silently lay there unmoving.

After a long pause, Stario quipped, "Maybe, we should remember to bring a bungee cord next time." The other three only groaned in response.

A high pitch whistling noise later-- CRACK!

"Oooh!" they all flinched when James faceplanted on the ground. Shortly after, Blue Star's fall was broken by his stomach, knocking the air out of his lungs.

"...Ow," he croaked.

"How the ____ did you guys fall over? You weren't even behind us," Red X winced as he looked at Blue Star.

Blue Star was still winded from the fall. "I *pant* pushed James *pant* and then Frag Cat *pant* drop kicked me."

The guys all looked at James who was still lying face-down on the ground. He hadn't moved yet.

"You really shouldn't've did that," Atario deadpanned.

"James?" Arthur called. "Come on, we should probably get back up to the top soon." There was no reply. Not a single movement that indicated that he had acknowledged his words. "...James?"

*BOOM!*

The guy flinched as James Violently clutched at the ground. He picked himself up only for his upper body to be suspended from the ground.

And he looked up and snapped open his flaming eyes, grit his teeth so hard that it could've made easy work of metal, and growled. It rose in volume, until he couldn't get any louder. And in a split second, he took off with an Explosive burst of speed to the swirling path up the mountain.

They watched his disappear around the first corner before Stario spoke. "I'd go after him, but I really would like to just stay here for a couple minutes." The other guys murmured in agreement. And with that, they continued to lie where they were.

"Listen here, mister." Frag cat and the girls, who recovered from their daze, looked in amazement as Fluttershy flew up to the tip of the dragon's nose and trotted closer to his face. "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?" she hovered from her spot slightly.

The dragon could only shrink back slightly as the pegasus glared daggers directly into his eyes.

James hadn't stopped running since he started. And he hadn't calmed down in the slightest, thus his eyes were still ablaze with raging flames that showed no sign of dissipating anytime soon. Without anyone to wait for, he was already about a third of the way to the top.

"You are F***ING DEAD!" he shouted.

"Well?" Fluttershy pressed for an answer.

"...But that rainbow one kicked me," the dragon timidly pointed at Rainbow, who nodded with a smile.

James was a little over a half way way up when he pulled out two black twin hammers, and his arms hung almost limply behind him. He didn't slow down. If anything, he ran faster. Just thinking of what he was going to do when he got back to the top made him angrier. So angry that he began Exploding every few paces.

"And I am very sorry about that," Fluttershy said to the dragon with a sympathetic look. "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--"

"Don't you 'but I' me, mister. Now what do you have to say for yourself?" she cut him off with a stern look, her hooves on her hips (...somehow). "I said, what do you have to say for yourself?"

Frag Cat stared incredulously as the dragon burst into tears, while the mares were smiling.

"There, there," Fluttershy consoled. "No need to cry. 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."

"I swear, I'm going to rip his f***ing heart out!" James shouted through his dangerously clenched teeth, his tone dark and venomous. "And then I'll f***ing cook it and share it with Frag Cat!!"

The guys eventually shifted to a sitting position, and were having a little snack, thanks to Atario.

"Orange?" Atario offered as he summoned said fruit into his hand.

"I'll have one," Arthur took the orange.

"Cherries?" Atario asked.

"I'll pop some," Stario waggled his eyebrows. Atario rolled his eyes and tossed him the fruit.

"Anyone want a strawberry?"

"No thanks," Red X said rather quickly.

Atario raised an eyebrow and conjured something else. "Um... okay...? How about a melon?"

"...Yeah, sure," Red X took the melon from his hand.

"Ice cream?"

"Mine," Blue Star snatched the cone out of his hand.

"And I'll have...," Atario trailed off as he summoned another snack he was eating earlier that day. "...Chocolate!"

Blue Star's eyes went wide as he came to a screeching halt, his mouth inches from the vanilla cone in his hand. The other guys looked up in confusion at the creaking noise his head made when he turned to Atario.

Red X already knew what was going to happen. "Atario... run." He barely finished before Blue Star lunged forward, the poor ice cream cone now-upside down on the grass.

The girls cheered and ran up to Fluttershy as she descended back to the mountain surface. Frag Cat soon followed as the dragon did a lap around the mountain peak (just out of James's sight) before flying away.

"You did it! I knew you could do it!" Twilight smiled.

"And it's not even close to nightfall!" Frag Cat chirped as he looked at the afternoon sun.

They all turned around when a still flame-eyed James literally stormed up to the top. He Flashed over to the cave and looked around. The dragon was nowhere to be seen.

He Violently whipped around to the others. "Where is he?" he asked, his breath ragged. "WHERE IS HE!?"

"He already left. Fluttershy took care of it," Frag Cat pointed to the shrinking silhouette in the sky.

James started to tremble again and he turned around. He reared his fist back and punched the cave wall, the girls recoiling when some of it crumbled to the ground. He took several deep breaths and after a minute he turned around with a sigh, his eyes blue again.

"Well, that's good then. Nice job, Fluttershy," he nodded.

After a rather long silence, Frag Cat spoke up. "So, Rainbow Dash. Seeing you flying really fast into that cave had me thinking..."

"What?" Rainbow asked.

"Have you ever crashed into anything?"

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. Where did that come from? "Well, yeah, it happens sometime when I'm practicing a new trick. Why?"

"Just curious," Frag Cat smirked.

James, Frag Cat, and the girls finally made it to the bottom of the mountain... and stared blankly at the strange sight in front of them. Red X and Arthur were holding a struggling Blue Star's arms down, while Stario had him in a leg lock (because Atario helped him do it correctly). Speaking of Atario, he was standing a distance away, finishing a chocolate bar.

With that, Arthur and the others let go of Blue Star, who stopped resisting. He dropped to his knees, and a single tear ran down his face. He raised his fists to the sky. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"

All the other guys just crossed their arms and rolled their eyes. Atario then noticed the rest of the gang, walked over to James, and summoned a carton of milk.

"Need a drink?"

"You read my mind," James smiled for once in a long time and took the carton and downing it in seconds.

Atario then turned to Frag Cat and the girls, and conjured up a can of pop. "Anyone thirsty? I got beverages."

[Later in Ponyville...]

While all the pegasi in the air used their wings to clear away the last of the smoke looming over the town, Spike was inside the library. And so was a certain white bunny.

"I said come back here!" Spike dived for Angel, but the bunny jumped to a higher shelf at the last second. Unfortunately, his size prevented him from reaching higher ground, thus the dragon grabbed his foot and pulled him down. "How does Fluttershy put up with you furry little things?"

"Spike?" The dragon looked down to see James, Frag Cat, and Twilight-- the one who spoke-- walking into the library. "Take a letter."

"With pleasure," Spike sighed in relief as he let go of the rabbit, pulling out a quill and parchment.

Dearest Princess Celestia,

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! " a voice with a southern accent called from outside. Twilight looked outside. James looked from behind. "She's just five away from a new pony record!" Applejack said. She as well as all the other girls watched as Rainbow bounced a ball along her head.

The pegasus counted on every bounce. "Three hundred forty-seven, three hundred forty-eight--

"Rrraaaaawwr!"

"DRAGON!" Rainbow shrieked and fell on her back. The girls all burst into a fit of laughter. "Why are you laughing? That awful dragon is back!" she exclaimed. Then roar sounded right next to her ear. She recoiled from... Pinkie. "Pinkie Pie, you scared me!" she paused. "I mean... uh... you... broke my concentration."

Fluttershy hovered behind her. "It's okay, Rainbow Dash. Not everypony can be as brave as me." She suddenly yelped and fell on her back when a leaf landed on her back. This only caused the girls to laugh again.

James, who had a flat look on his face, proceeded to ask for his PSS pistol. But when he turned around, Frag Cat was holding on his back, a tray with a glass of milk on it. The puppycat gave a hopeful smile. The sight was just plain adorable. After a short pause, James returned the smile.

"Thanks. I needed that," he picked up the glass as he petted Frag Cat, who wagged his tail.

[Meanwhile, in our universe...]

Red X, Stario, Atario, Blue Star, and Red X all trudged down the sidewalk, when a sudden thought hit Arthur.

"Wait... Blue Star, where's your motorcycle?"

Blue Star froze as he realized that he left Shooter on top of the mountain. "Aw, come on!" he groaned loudly.

[Ending Song]

Author's Note

And, we are done! No more new OCs to add to the series (at least for a LONG while). I'm sure that was off-putting for a lot of you-- and for that, I apologize.

If you have time, please let me know why you (dis)liked the story.

*shoots self in the head*