Twilight stood under the cover of the cave mouth, glaring out at the rain. “I hate Discord.”

“Yah know, ah've seen some pretty sick things in mah time, but ah think this is the sickest ah've ever seen,” Applejack said with a shake of her mane as she gently held her Flowerbloom in her lap in a tight hug. “Ah mean, this is the sign of a truly deranged an' evil mind.”

“Applejack, ah'm fine, yah can let me go...” Flowerbloom mumbled.

“That's good. Ah ain't.”

“Definitely,” Gilda grumbled as she wiped her wings off. “I've never met a creature that sick. And I've known quite a few ponies who would gut their own parents for a few bits.”

“I wouldn't say it's that bad, but yeah, that's just evil,” Sweetie grumbled as she looked out over the lands.

It was raining lemon juice. It had been fine at first, until it started to get into their eyes. They'd found cover quickly after that and were now sitting huddled around a campfire and looking out over the strange world through the thick, yellow mist.

Rainbow sat near the back, besides Fluttershy. The caretaker was busy gently trying to get Angel to eat and keep warm by the fire. “Hey,” Rainbow said softly, her voice low enough that it could barely be heard over the crackle and pop of the fire.

“Huh?” the mare asked softly before looking up. “Yes?”

“When, errr, you get a chance and aren't busy, can we talk? Just for a bit?” Rainbow asked softly, turning towards the others nervously. They didn't seem to notice as they talked about the rain.

“Oh? We can talk now, I--”

“I mean in private,” Rainbow asked again.

Fluttershy blinked a few times before nodding. Then, realizing her foalishness she quickly spoke up. “O-oh, of course. Ummm...” She cleared her throat. “I'm going to take Rainbow back and change her bandages, we'll be back in a second!”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Stay safe,” Twilight said as she kept watching the rain. “Now, this kind of rain must be--”

Fluttershy took Rainbow's hoof and slowly led her back, a little deeper into their cave. “The others aren't far, but they shouldn't hear us from here. What's wrong? Is it your eyes?”

“No, though changing the bandages might be a good idea.” Rainbow muttered. The other mare reached up and began gently removing the linens. They were a little damp, but fortunately not soaked through.

Fluttershy looked into her friend's eyes, or at least what remained of them. They were still very cut up, but they were healing. Slowly. The infusion of healing bending was working at least. “I think they're coming along well. What is it you wished to talk about?”

Rainbow sighed and then tapped gently at the ground. “I'm... sorry. I know this might sound mean. Rude and... insensitive. But I just... I want to know, how, well...” She took a slow, deep breath. “How have you dealt with losing your bending?”

Fluttershy nearly lost the grip on her bandages. “W-what?”

“How have you dealt with it? I mean... it's gone. For good. Nothing you can do about it, right? So... how?”

“I... I don't understand what you mean.”

“It's like my sight, right? It has to hurt, knowing you had the ability to do something, but now no matter how hard you try, you'll never be able to do it again.”

Fluttershy paused before slowly giving her friend a hug. “I... I'm sorry. It's... just not the same. But... I'll try.” She slowly pulled back. “At... first it really hurt. I mean, I know I did the right thing. I couldn't let Twilight die. But... but...” She closed her eyes. “I can't help but think, from time to time, what ponies would still be alive if not for me losing them. If I still had them... perhaps there were... a few who died who would have lived.” She took another slow, soft breath. “But I knew I couldn't do it anymore. So when Zecora offered to teach me of other medical secrets, I jumped at them. Even though I've lost one skill, I don't feel like it's completely cut off from me. I just have to go about it a different way.” She put a hoof against her chest. “I... I'd be lying if I said it doesn't hurt. That I don't wish I still had my healing bending. But it's gone and there's nothing that can be done about it. It won't do me any good to focus on it and miss what I don't have, when there is still so much I can do.” She then put her hoof out and gently placed it on Rainbow's shoulder. “And... and I think the same is true for you. You can still do so much, to help us. Just like you always have. You've lost your sight, but that doesn't mean you've lost everything. You're the greatest air bender any of us have ever seen. I think you just need to find out what you want to do and how you're going to do it.” She then reached out and began applying new bandages.

Rainbow nodded. “I... thank you.” She scuffed the ground with her hoof. “I just... had to know, you know? About what you... thought.” She took a deep breath. “I have been practicing, you know. Seeing with air. I don't have it yet but... well, now that we have Applejack, who knows?”

Fluttershy smiled and gave her friend a quick hug. “I believe in you, Rainbow. If anypony can figure out how to see through your bending, you can. Just never give up.”

Rainbow nodded. “Heh, of course. Can you see if Applejack can come out here? I wanna see if I can get some practice in. She's the expert and all.”

“Of course,” Fluttershy said before releasing her friend. She trotted back towards the front of the cave.

Rainbow sighed and gently scuffed her hoof against the ground. It was hard, what she was going to try to do. But it wasn't impossible. It was silly of her to believe her friends would ever send her on some crazy wild goose chase. To think Applejack would have lied about that too. She had a lot of work to do and she was going to perfect it. Because she was Rainbow Dash, the greatest air bender of all time.

------

“Ah... ah still hate him, yah know,” Applejack mumbled as she stared ahead. “But... oh mah goodness that looks delicious.”

“That's... that's just not fair,” Twilight mumbled. “I'm just thankful Pinkie isn't with us. We'd never be able to leave.” She took another slow, deep breath before wiping some drool from her mouth.

“I can smell it from here. That is... that's amazing. Maybe we should camp here for a bit?” Rainbow asked, licking her lips.

“YES!” everypony said in unison, even Spike spouting up and raising a claw.

“Then let's go!” the pegasus said before galloping forward. It had been a few days, as far as they could tell, since they'd left Fillydelphia and they finally made it to the border. Unfortunately, they found the greatest trial they had yet to face.

The mountains were pure chocolate, complete with delicious frosting all around them. It wasn't the cheap chocolate they'd been experiencing up to this point, either. This was like a parfait. Cold and soft to the touch, melting in the mouth, the kind a pony could eat an entire cake of until they were bloated and yet never stop at just 'one more bite'. Saving the world or not, there was no way anypony could pass up such a delicious treat.

“Oh my goodness,” Fluttershy asked as she gently fed Angel a small ball of delicious chocolate. “You... you don't think all the mountains are that way, do you? We can't... Oh...” She shivered.

“We'll be the size of houses by the time we get out of here,” Rainbow said with a moan before tossing a small bit in her mouth. “Ehhh. We run a lot, it should be fine.”

“Maybe this is Discord's way of trying to stop us?” Sweetie offered.

“If it is, ah wouldn't mind him tryin' a bit more often,” Flowerbloom said as she licked a bit of whipped cream. “It sure beats havin' tah run from Nightmare Moon or...” She let the words trail off.

“Solar Flare,” Sweetie added, shaking her head. “We'll save them eventually, it's fine.”

“Of course,” Flowerbloom mumbled as she looked at the chocolate and shook her head. She then shrugged. “Eh, your right. Did it once, can do it again.” She took another bite.

“Hard to be upset with chocolate like this around,” Twilight said with a small chuckle. She then glanced down the road. “I'm thinking we should stop by the hideaway first, where all the baby dragons are. I want to make sure they haven't, well, changed anything while we were gone. I'm sure they... Spike?”

The dragon had stopped in mid bite, his claws slowly moving down to his lap. “It's nothing...”

“Are you su--”

“I said I'm fine,” the dragon snapped. “Can we just eat in peace?”

The alicorn sighed and gave a slow nod. “Fine.” She watched him though, the chocolate slowly becoming far less enjoyable as time went on. As the group finished their treats, a new treachery overtook them as they tried walking away from it.

“Ah... ah think ah ate...” Flowerbloom was interrupted by a belch. “Pardons. Ah think ah ate too much.”

“My stomach feels like it's going to explode,” Sweetie groaned.

“I never want to see another piece of chocolate as long as I live,” Scootaloo said with a soft whine.

“Come on, after we walk a few hours, we'll forget all about this,” Rainbow mumbled. Bloated and stuffed, the ponies slowly made their way down the road.

------

“Okay, come on, that's just rude,” Twilight said with a shake of her head. “Evil or not, there should at least be some semblance of taste.”

“Ah don't know,” Applejack said with a shake of her mane. “At least it made it easier tah find. Not like it needs tah be secret anymore. Trixie doesn't seem quite as interested in dragon genocide now.”

“Yet,” Rainbow muttered.

Ahead of the group stood the entrance to the nest of the dragons. It had been very, very easy to find, despite having once been a hidden secret of the Fire Tribes. The reason for that was because of all the large glimmering signs, sparkling with gems and saying things like 'Come and see the birth place of the dragons!' and 'Feed a dragon with your own hooves, careful, they bite' and 'Discord is not responsible for any injuries or eaten property that may occur while visiting'.

“He's completely responsible for this,” Sweetie grumbled as they trotted into the caverns. At least the mountain was staying as an actual mountain, not chocolate. The others still were chocolate mousse ones though. “Twilight, will that be enough?” she asked, motioning towards the cloak that the alicorn had gotten from Fillydelphia.

“Hopefully,” the alicorn said with another sigh. She could hear yelling down the way. Annoyed yelling, not fearful. It made her a little wary. “What do you think Discord has done to this place?”

“Probably turned all the baby dragons into giant cucumbers or something,” Spike grumbled with annoyance.

“Of course he hasn't,” Twilight said with a shake of her head. “That would just be silly. Even for him.” She started walking faster none the less. The chamber soon opened into a wide, open cavern and her mouth fell open.

The place was a mess. A complete and utter mess. Candy, jewels, fruits, vegetables, rocks, pretty much everything imaginable was laid out on the ground. There were dozens of ponies running about and struggling to feed the baby dragons, though they were being very annoying about it, tossing things into the air and only occasionally eating what was offered. Still, it didn't seem so bad until she saw one of the dragons devour a big chunk of metal. Twilight was about to say something, but then she saw the pony's face who fed it.

The poor pony had massive bags under her eyes, her blue streaked hair was a mess and her coat was covered in spit up. She looked so happy to finally get the dragon to eat. She didn't look like she'd slept in days, her eyes almost completely red. All the other ponies looked almost the same as they ran about. Then Twilight gasped as she realized she knew that poor, abused pony. “Vinyl?” she called out.

The mare looked up. “A-avatar?” It was a sign of how exhausted the other ponies were that none of them even looked up with those words.

Twilight stepped forward, looking around. “What's happened here? What... happened to you?”

“Me? I-I'm fine! Awesome, amazing. Come, come. I have a break coming up,” she said as she trotted off. Twilight and the others followed behind, looking around at all the poor ponies working their horns off.

“Where's Octavia?”

“She's down below, tending to the newest born. I don't envy her that task,” Vinyl mumbled, shivering a bit. “It'll be my turn tomorrow, ugh.”

They were lead into a small room that quickly became crowded when all of them stuffed themselves inside. Vinyl collapsed on a chair that was set up in the room, letting out a sigh of relief. Twilight waited for the mare to speak, before realizing a few seconds later that the mare had actually fallen asleep.

“Hey! Vinyl!”

“Huh? Oh! Right, sorry!” the water bender said sheepishly before giving a grin. “It's been... a hectic couple of months. Ever since... Discord.” She gave a soft sigh.

“What's going on here? You look exhausted!”

“It's... the babies,” Vinyl said with a small shiver. “Discord did something to them. Now, their diets change almost hourly.”

Twilight blinked, confusion on her face. “Wait, hourly? What does that mean?”

The unicorn groaned. “He came in here a month ago. We were, for obvious reasons, concerned. He'd actually been leaving us... sort of alone. But then he started talking about how interesting a dragon's digestion was, how it devoured those gems. He said it would be fun to see what else they could eat. Then boom, none of the babies will eat gems anymore!” She shivered again. “It's been horrible. We manage to get one of them fed, then spend two to three hours trying to find a way to feed another. We get a few of them fed, then the first one is hungry again. It's been non-stop! No matter what we do, they're always hungry!” She grabbed the alicorn's whithers and shook her. “We can't feed them fast enough! We can't keep this up!” She then fell down onto the cushion and began to cry, her hooves covering her eyes.

Twilight just stared for a few moments before sitting down, hugging the mare. “There there, it's going to be okay. We're here. We'll defeat Discord soon and this will all go away, we promise. It's just a little longer.” She gently patted her on the back.

“P-please. I-it's horrible! I-I love these dragons but, but I just can't! T-the only good thing is, well, t-the soup. A-at least we d-don't have to g-go searching for food o-or buying it, s-so we just have to take care of the dragons. But that's all we do. Take care of dragons. DRAGONS! All day!”

Twilight blinked and cocked her head to the side. “Wait, what? Soup? What soup?”

Vinyl sighed and took her hoof. “C-come. I'll show you.” She stood up and walked away, leading them through the halls of the great cavern. They soon started going underground and came to the heart of the nest, the great assortment of eggs. The heat was tremendous and there were great boiling pools around the room.

“Wait, is that vegetable soup?” Twilight asked as she stared at it. “Isn't it... supposed to be lava?”

“Yup,” Vinyl said, a smile on her face. “We have it breakfast, lunch and dinner. If we had time to think about it, we'd probably hate it. But to be honest, at this point we're all just so happy to get a break, that anything would taste good.” The smile looked as if it might crack at any moment. “Octavia, hey!” She waved her hooves.

Twilight glanced up and saw a group of ponies dealing with the freshest born dragons. They were trying to get them to eat anything from brass to grass. Judging by the mess, they weren't having much luck. One of the ponies glanced up.

Octavia stared at them through bloodshot eyes, her dark gray mane just as messed up as Vinyl's. She looked just as much on the verge of a breakdown as the rest of the ponies. “What are you doing here? You're not here until tomorrow.” She paused, then shook her head. “Or, or was it today? I... I can't really remember. Have I gone to bed already?”

“No, no,” Vinyl said, shaking her head. “I brought a guest. The Avatar has come! She's free!”

The earth pony blinked blearily at the alicorn before shrugging. “So? Is she going to be tending to the dragons now?”

“Errr, no, she's going to try to fix them, though! And kick Discord in the face!”

Twilight nodded. “Something like that. We, errr, we're on our way to Manehatten. I, well, I was hoping you'd know... well, never mind. You all seem very busy, we should probably go.”

“W-what? You're leaving already? You must stick around! Look, we have soup! Don't you want some soup?” Vinyl asked, her eyes twitching just a little bit.

“Vinyl, when is the last time you had a full nights sleep?” Twilight asked nervously.

She was greeted by silence.

“When... is the last time any of you have had a full nights sleep?”

“The dragons... need to eat,” Vinyl mumbled softly.

“But they're always eating new things... so many of them...” Octavia said in a dreary, quiet tone.

Twilight nodded. “I... see. I think we'd best go now. Try to get some sleep, if you can. Please.” She started walking towards the exit. Vinyl didn't move to stop them. None of the ponies even looked at them as they went. The moment they were outside she turned to Gilda. “Okay, I know you don't like me, but--”

“What makes you think I don't like you?”

Twilight blinked a few times. “Well... you nearly killed me a few times? Captured me?”

“I also saved your flanks before. Besides, that was just business. Liking you or not has nothing to do with it.”

The alicorn smiled. “Oh, so you do like me then?”

The griffon hummed for a moment and looked her over. Then she shook her head. “No, not particularly. You're kind of whiny and annoying. Not to mention bossy.”

Twilight glared at her. “Anyway. Moving on. I need you to do me a favor. This is... well, this is horrible.” She motioned inside. “Those ponies are suffering. They need help. Unfortunately, there is very little we can do.”

“How much of that do you think is Discord's influence?” Rainbow asked. “I've never heard Vinyl sound so... well...”

The alicorn sighed. “I couldn't say. I mean, she seemed kinda like herself, but more... it could be a mix of sleep deprivation and Discord's own magic. I wouldn't put it past him to change them just enough to make this entire ordeal all the worse for those poor ponies. They need help. Gilda, that's where you come in.”

The griffon froze before shaking her head. “Oh, not a chance in Tartarus. I am not staying here and there's not a thing you can say to change my mind. Not for all the bits in the world. I do not feed babies.”

Twilight shook her head. “No, one griffon wouldn't make that much of a difference. They're overworked and need a lot more than a few extra hooves or... claws in your case.”

“Talons.”

“Whatever. I want you to fly back to Fillydelphia and ask them for help. Tell them I sent you specifically and that the ponies here need relief and aid in raising the dragons.”

Gilda snorted. “Why would they help? How would they even know you sent me?”

Twilight sighed and shook her head. “I... don't know. They might remember you? But the emperor is a kind, generous pony. He'll help them if he can.”

“What if they've already been changed back to how they were?” Gilda asked with a cocked eye.

“Then do what you can. If they're changed... well, there's nothing we can do about it. But, if they are, please try going to Cloudsdale. They might be able to help and send relief as well.”

Gilda sighed and shook her head. “This is all a waste of time. Why send me, anyway?”

“Rainbow can't see and Fluttershy isn't a long distance flier. Besides, when we confront Discord, we'll need to be together.” Twilight took a slow, deep breath. “How about this. When we defeat him, we're bound to have some rewards. I solemnly swear that I will see to it that you get a hefty reward for your aid to the Fire Tribes. Deal?”

Gilda frowned and rubbed her chin. “I see. How hefty a reward are we talking?”

“As much as any one pony could want. I'll find a way to pay it myself, if necessary. Please.”

The griffon sighed before shaking her head. “Fine, Avatar. But you owe me.” She turned and spread her wings out before taking to the sky. Twilight watched her go and let out her own annoyed sigh.

“Well, at least these ponies will get the relief they need. Wish everything didn't always have to be so difficult, though,” she mumbled.

“What if she's not able to find us after this?” Rainbow asked softly.

“Then she'll be the lucky one,” Twilight muttered. “I don't imagine it'll be hard, though. The emperor might be able to delay Trixie for a while, but it won't be long before she realizes where we're going. It's not going to be possible to outrun them forever. Especially with their resources.”

Rainbow nodded before moving besides the alicorn and smiling. “Hey. It's not like we're completely outclassed here or anything. We've got something that Trixie will never have.”

“Oh? What's that?”

“Entire countries full of friends, who are going to stop that annoying little unicorn every step of the way. Sure, it's not fancy bending or the elements, but it has to count for something.”

Twilight gave a small smile. “You're right. Thousands, possibly millions of ponies all out there helping us as best they can. I can't imagine a more powerful force.” She glanced up at her friends. “Aside from maybe my friends. Come on, let's go.” She turned and started trotting away, her heart raised slightly. They were making their way, slowly but surely. They had friends and allies all across the world, even if it did sometimes feel as if they were all alone. Even if Discord kept changing some of them. They still were, and always would be, her friends.

That's what she could never forget, no matter how hard it was. They weren't alone. Soon they would be six strong, but outside them were a million other ponies, watching and supporting them from the sides. Together, they could and would defeat Discord. The world would be saved.