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,

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!