She had never run so hard in her life. Her hooves clattered across the ground as she pushed herself faster than her pursuers to the point that her legs started to burn, complaining against the action in spite of the oncoming death approaching as if her wings would do better even if they weren't clamped against her body like a vice. The only thing giving her a chance is the thick forest surrounding the mountain side.
As Fluttershy wound tight corners around the trees to hinder her pursuers, she questioned why she was chosen. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were braver than she is, so why did Celestia say that she was the one to take on the mission. Destiny must not be this foolish. To send the only one of the Element Bearers who is afraid of dragons into the largest dragon nest in Equestria!
Her thoughts are interrupted as the tree branches above buckle and snap under the weight of a diving dragon. Not fully grown, but eager to prove himself as he barrels though the canopy towards the yellow pegasus, but a sharp turn around a tree puts a thick trunk between her and the attacker. A thick crack makes it clear that he will not be getting up soon. But that is just one of a hundred and it might not be long that the set the entire forest ablaze just to kill her.
Then, out of the corner of her eye, she catches a small glimpse. A hole, a cave in the mountain side that is just large enough for her. She dove into it without question, not knowing if it was just deep enough for her head or would trap her forever. Panic driving her to act without reason. And so she fell into the darkness, rolling head over hooves into the deep darkness.
When she finally came to a stop, she laid still. A mess of yellow fur, pink hair and dirt coating her, sticking on to the sweat of her body. Time passed without notice as she laid still, panting as she waited for the dragons to dive in after her. Waited for their sharp teeth and claws. Waited for the end.. that never came.
Finally, she pushed herself up and took notice of her surroundings. She had fallen a distance down the slope into a deep portion of the mountain. Though it was a cool fall night on the surface, the heat under it was almost like a summer's day. She looked around as her eyes adjusted until she noticed a faint glow into the distance.
Seeing no point in staying still, she slowly approached the glow that lead her deeper into the tunnel. The light becoming brighter until it lead her into a chamber. When her vision adjusted, she gasped softly at the sight. Dozens upon dozens of dragon eggs, all laid together in carefully built nests. Colors of all kinds in close grounds in the hot chamber. As she walked between the nests, she could feel the heat though her hooves. It was then she realized where she was.
"An incubator," she said in wonder. A natural incubator fed though the heat of the earth itself. She had an artificial one back at her cottage, but it was insignificant against one of this scale. She was so lost in the wonder at all the soon to emerge baby dragons that she almost didn't notice the very soft scratching in the air.
When Fluttershy caught it, she dived behind a nest and peeked out, looking towards the sound. At first, there was nothing but scratching until a pile of rocks started to shift. A clawed hand pushed itself out of the pile before pulling with it a reptilian head. Unlike the dragons still circling above the forest looking for the little pegasus, this one had a smoothed head and a long thin body, markings of a Slithian.
Fluttershy bit on her hooves to hold back a gasp as she watched the reptile look around the chamber for a few moments before it pulled a knife from it's side. It took it's time, walking though the nests and searching them. Fluttershy kept her movements small and quiet as she kept out of sight, but watchful of the reptile. For a moment, it seemed like he was just scouting out the nests until he emitted a hiss that sounded almost like a laugh.
The nest that he stopped before had a gold egg on it's peek. Pure in the color, it wasn't just a yellow but looked to almost be fashioned out of gold itself. The Slithian took in his reflection on the shell for a few moments until he rose his knife up, his intentions no longer a mystery. And Fluttershy without a choice.
"STOP," she shouted as loud as her little voice could. Her body coming out of hiding with speed that would impress even Rainbow Dash. Her cry stunned the assassin long enough for Fluttershy to barrel herself headfirst into his gut. He let out a silent cry of surprise as his knife drops from his grip and clatters harmlessly on the shells next to the golden egg. The would be killer rolled over several times as the hit packed enough force that Applejack would have thought to give the little pegasus a bit of time on her farm bucking trees.
But the attack wasn't enough to put him down for good. He was still surprised as he caught sight of a pegasus amongst the eggs but regained his composure. He flexed his claws to bring them to bare before hissing out a battle-cry. He charged at the pegasus with his body low like the snake he was, ready to rend her cuts open.
But Slithians were not dragons and Fluttershy opened her wings and took off into the air, making him catch just air. She was not afraid of them. Slithians were bullies, going after those weaker than them. Slithians might have sharp teeth and claws and scary eyes. But they were not dragons. And that gave the pegasus the will to protect the babies around her.
She didn't utter a word as she caught her eyes with her fierce Stare. His body froze in place as the pegasus' willpower won over his, leaving him vulnerable to her counter attack. She snapped her wings closed and brought her forehooves forward as she dived to him, driving them into his back to crash him to the ground, her legs followed up afterward, coming down hard onto his back and cracking the bones under them.
He let out a scream of pain as he thrashed under the pegasus for a few moments before coming to a stop, his eyes half closing as he passes out. Fluttershy, still on top of him waits for him to move again, ready to bring her hooves down on him once more. But when he doesn't, she finally relaxes, putting on a smile of victory.
She looked around at the eggs she protected, trying to find the gold one he was targeting, before she is interrupted by a large pair of eyes returning her gaze ten fold. The fighting and the Slithian's wail of pain had attracted the attention of the largest dragon that Fluttershy had ever thought existed. Golden scales seemed to fill the entire outside of the chamber as this dragon's body envelops it.
With a large bellow of wind from it's nostrils, she blows the Pegasus off of the Slithian, making her tumble against a nearby nest. Fluttershy, freshly cowering in fear, tries to get herself to run away but her hooves fail to comply. The dragon, so massive and powerful in appearance, kept her body frozen.
However, the dragon didn't focus its gaze on Fluttershy, instead looking at the creature that the pegasus had brought down. A golden claw slowly reached forth over the nests like a giant reaching across a crowd before delicately lifting the battered creature with the tips of it's claws.
"So, my predictions were correct." The sudden feminine voice coming from the large dragon snaps Fluttershy out of her panic as she looked at the dragon in a slightly different light. "I knew once word got out of my recent birth, an egg hunter would come out of the woodwork. I must thank you, little snake, for showing where the weaknesses in my nest are." The danging reptile let out a hiss that, even in the different language, carried the venom that made Fluttershy flinch.
The gold dragon ignored the creature as it dangled from her claws and looked down at the pegasus again. "So.. Did you perhaps hope to cut my line early, little pony? Did Celestia send you to do so," the dragon's growing anger was apparent to the pony she spoke to. Fluttershy couldn't bring herself to speak, her entire body curled up in a tight ball like it would help protect her from the dragon.
The gold dragon let out another hot breath towards Fluttershy as she pulled her head back to rest against her body, coiled around the nesting room. "I suppose though that your actions contradicts that. You did protect my nest when my guard slipped in the slightest. But still I question why? Why did one so clearly afraid of me, and by the smell very deeply afraid of me, protect an egg that would bring forth only more of my kind?"
The chamber is silent for several long moments. The dragon, patient after thousands of years of life, in no need to rush the pegasus to speak. When Fluttershy does calm her fears down enough to speak, it is with a shaking voice, "I-I-I am.. Afraid. But.. I don't h-h-hate dragons."
The dragoness almost looked shocked at the deceleration. She contemplated the words in silence for a moment before speaking again. "You cower in fear at the mere sight of us. You scream and panic even when we are just flying overhead. Had you allowed or even assisted in destroying these eggs with this snake, you would be free of several generations of dragons! Your actions lack any reason or ration!"
Fluttershy cowered as the dragon raised her voice, making the chamber shake gently but spoke up when it had quieted it down enough for her to be heard. "M-m-my fears are my own sin. But these little ones.." She gently set a hoof on the edge of the nest as she looked at the eggs inside, "they should not suffer because I am afraid." Looking at the eggs, feeling the life inside waiting to burst forth when it is time calmed Fluttershy's heart and stilled her fears.
The golden dragon moved her head so that she was looking into the next along with Fluttershy, her voice now soft with the tone of a mother, "Your words are touching, little pegasus. But still, I doubt." She looked at Fluttershy, suspicion and maybe a bit of hope in her eyes. "What makes you feel as such?"
Fluttershy shivered under the gaze but kept herself still and her voice steady. "Spike. Spike the baby dragon that is under my best friend's care and is a close friend of mine as well. He is how I know that dragons are not to be hated. For they are just like ponies, sometimes they just make mistakes."
The dragoness' eyes opened in surprise, her jaw dropping as she looked into the pegasus' eyes. She pulled herself back so that she was leaning her neck against the cavern wall. "Such kindness.. Such honest warmth to be directed to my kind. I had never thought I would see it even in my lifetime. And to come from a little form so full of fear." With a flick of her wrist, she sent the reptile she was still holding to crash against the far wall and out of her way before leaning her entire body down, keeping herself low as she looked at the little pony at eye level. "Tell Valaria, Queen of the Dragons, what she can do for you. And for Celestia?"
Fluttershy gasped as she smiled widely, looking at the dragon as she rose up onto still shaking and unsteady legs. "W-Well, you see. If it is ok.. We are in a need of a teeny tiny bit of help, if it's not too much trouble?"