Fluttershy was in a hurry to finish her evening chores. It was suppose to rain all night and she wanted to make sure the animals had good enough shelter to keep them dry through the night. The breeze grew colder as Celestia's sun had started to fade on the horizon to make way for Luna's moon. It was late fall. The day of The Running of the Leaves had come and gone and the nights were already growing steadily longer. These nights of rain had almost become a regular thing.

The chill came on just as Fluttershy finished her last task before retreating to her cottage. Once inside she started up a small fire in her fireplace to heat her small home.

"Angel." She called for her favorite pet. The white bunny hopped up onto his bed next to the couch to keep his friend company.

"Don't you enjoy these nice cool nights next to a warm fire?" Fluttershy asked getting comfortable on the couch. Angel hopped onto the couch and cuddled up against Fluttershy. She laid her head down next to him and closed her eyes for a little nap.

"Fluttershy."

"Angel?" Fluttershy lifted her head and looked down at the sleeping rabbit. He didn't even stir. She looked around the small room and saw one of the windows was cracked.

"The wind?" She figured as she got up to secure the latch on the window. She watched the rain gently falling outside. It wasn't storming which made her feel more at ease. The sound of thunder was a very frightening thing for her. Fluttershy quite enjoyed these gentle down pours. If it was warmer outside it would be nice enough to even take a walk in. She grabbed up a blanket as she returned to the couch and laid down again to nap.

"Fluttershy." The voice was a little louder and clearer this time. It was a soft male voice calling her name. Fluttershy awoke a little freaked out. There were no more cracked windows in the whole house. She checked them all. Then she double checked before returning to the couch.

"Okay Fluttershy, calm down." She tried to steel her nerves. "Maybe it was just the crackling of the fire or wind coming down the chimney." Fluttershy took a deep breath and let it go slowly to rid herself of the uneasy feeling she had. She pulled the blanket over herself and laid her head back down.

"Fluttershy." The voice was again louder and sounded closer than it did last time.

Fluttershy pulled a blanket over her head and covered her ears with her hooves. It was harder to summon courage after hearing it for a third time.

"Fluttershy." The voice sounded like it was right next to her ear whispering softly as if to tell her a secret. The timid pegasus covered her head with a pillow that was on her couch and began to shiver in fear. A light passed over her as if it had come from outside her window and shone on her like the sun. Fluttershy lifted the blanket and pillow just a little and saw the light outside her window. The light seemed warm and gentle. She left the couch and slowly walked toward the window to get a better look at what was outside.

Fluttershy gasped in awe at the sight of what looked liked like the ghostly figure of a dragon that was about the same size as Princess Celestia. He was white with two horns on his head pointing backwards. Spikes lined his back going down to the tip of his tail where four spikes stuck out diagonally and upwards. He had a very warm and inviting light emitting from his transparent body. The only thing about him that gave Fluttershy the chills was his blank white eyes.

"Fluttershy, help me…it hurts…" The dragon spoke once it made eye contact with her. Fluttershy didn't know how to respond. Her kind nature made her wish to know just what was hurting this dragon and what she could do to help it. For a moment she even entertained the idea of being friends with it and having a helper like how Spike is to Twilight Sparkle. She knew for sure she wasn't scared of this dragon. It wasn't a "huge, gigantic, terrible, enormous, teeth-gnashing, sharp scale-having, horn-wearing, smoke-snoring, could-eat-a-pony-in-one-bite, totally-all-grown-up dragon" that she was very scared of. This dragon seemed young and looked lonely.

"Okay…" She said with a gentle smile. "Just give me a second." Fluttershy was about to go open the front door to meet this spirit, but after she finished her sentence the white innocent dragon before her turned into a black sinister looking dragon surrounded with orange and red flames.

"IT HURTS!" The dragon roared in pain and what felt like a hateful rage to Fluttershy. It scared her so bad she quickly closed the drapes hurried to lock her front door and every other window in her house before finally seeking to hide under her bed. Fluttershy's heart was racing with fear and panic to the point that she passed out.

"Fluttershy!" A knock came at the door. Celestia's sun poured its light through the tops and bottoms of Fluttershy's drapes dimly lighting her room.

"Darling!" Another knock. The voice belonged to Rarity. Fluttershy's closest and most trusted friend. "Are you home?" She continued to call. Fluttershy slowly opened her eyes at the sound of banging at her door. Fear enwrapped her again thinking the dragon from the night before was trying to force its way in.

"Fluttershy!" Rarity called again. The white unicorn grew very worried for her friend. She was supposed to have met Rarity earlier that day for their regular visit to the spa, but when Fluttershy didn't show Rarity knew something had to be up.

"Hey! What's with all the banging and yelling? You're distracting me from my routine." Rainbow Dash asked hovering behind Rarity.

"It's Fluttershy. She never showed up for our appointment and her house is all locked up and she isn't answering. I'm really worried about her." Rarity explained herself.

"She probably saw her shadow when she woke up." Rainbow Dash said sarcastically flying up to see if she could peer into Fluttershy's room. All the drapes in her house were closed and the windows locked tight. Rainbow Dash thought this odd even for Fluttershy. "Huh…I guess it was a really scary shadow…"

"HEY FLUTTERSHY!" Rainbow Dash called loudly outside her window.

Fluttershy knew that voice well and didn't doubt for a second it wasn't her friend, but she was still slow to answer.

"Y-yes?" She replied quietly in a voice almost too quiet for Rainbow Dash to hear.

"Will you come out here please? You've got us all worried when you lock yourself up in your house like that. I mean look at Rarity. She's worried sick out here." Rainbow explained in a more friendly tone.

"OH MY GOSH!" Fluttershy quickly ran downstairs and opened the front door. "I am so sorry I missed our appointment, but…" Fluttershy trailed off and seemed to be filled with fear again just recalling the events from the night before. "…something scary happened last night…" Her voice was almost inaudible but Rarity knew her long enough to be able to pick up on her soft speech.

"Scary! Well tell me all about this scary event." Rarity said in a comforting tone as she walked into Fluttershy's home. Rainbow Dash followed curious to know what happened herself. Fluttershy followed her friends and walked to the windows opening them to let Celestia's sun in. Rarity started to make their favorite tea as Fluttershy pulled up some sitting pillows next to her table for each of the girls. A few minutes later and the three were sitting together at the table with tea.

"Now Fluttershy please do tell us what has you in such a fright." Rarity's voice was filled with concern. Fluttershy took a deep breath and then a sip of tea. She remained silent for a moment staring down at the table before she told her two best friends all about what had happened the night before. About the ghostly dragon and his request for help and about how he turned into an evil sinister looking creature in the blink of an eye.

"Heavens dear! Such a sight would have any pony in a horrible fright." Rarity assured her friend.

"Not me!" Rainbow Dash declared with certainty and a sense of pride in her courage.

"Yes…well…you're a special case…" Rarity stated flatly. Rainbow smiled not really realizing Rarity made a small jab at her with her words. "More importantly Fluttershy, what do you plan on doing about this?"

"I-I was hoping that maybe I could stay with one of you guys for a while until I feel safe about being here again…if you don't mind." Fluttershy said quietly before taking a sip of tea.

"You're just gunna run away again?" Rainbow Dash seemed disappointed with Fluttershy. "I think we should spend the night here with you so we can see this ghost dragon ourselves and make sure it doesn't come back! Besides no one bullies our friend like that and gets away with it." The cyan pegasus declared.

"For once Rainbow Dash is right." Rarity agreed. "We'll spend the night with you and see this dragon for ourselves and drive it off if we must. Besides from your description it isn't too big of a dragon. I'm sure we can handle it."

Fluttershy shrunk back a bit not happy with the idea of spending another night in her cottage after seeing that, but she knew her friends were right and they were looking out for her best interests.

"Thanks guys. I really do appreciate this." Fluttershy managed a smile.