Sombra had gathered his minions in the throne room to discuss their latest plan to destroy the ponies. “So what’s the plan, your majesty?” Flame asked.

“My plan includes some very interesting dragons eggs. Behold.” In a puff of dark smoke, Sombra revealed three eggs.

The eggs are smooth and oval, and of a dark color with even darker. They looked as if encrusted in a translucent crystal. They have jagged edges and a dark swirl in its middle. “How are eggs going to help us destroy the ponies?” Frost questioned.

“Fool! These eggs hatch into one of the most deadliest dragons known. Even Starfleet won’t be able to deal with them.” Sombra explained.

The minions liked the sound of "deadliest."

"So what are they?" Flame asked.

"These are Whispering Death eggs. Very dangerous dragons. Starfleet will not even know these eggs are even there." He levitated one egg to each of the minions. “Put these in the caverns below New Canterlot. They will hatch soon and when they do... Starfleet will fall!” Sombra laughed maliciously and the minions all smiled maliciously at the eggs.

---

Meanwhile, in New Ponyville, Sapphire, Skystorm, Snowflake and Kyara we’re out flying over New Ponyville on their daily patrol. Skystorm was now a full adult Deadly Nadder now. Sapphire was riding on his back. They could clearly see ponies going about their business and no sign of attacks from Sombra or Blaze. “All seems good here. That’s good.”

Suddenly, Skystorm and Snowflake perked up. “What is it girls?” The two dragons suddenly dove into New Whitetail Woods. They all landed and the dragons began walking towards a bush. “Is something in there?” Sapphire dismounted Skystorm and carefully walked over to the bush. She began hearing little cries.

Carefully pulling apart the bush, Sapphire saw another dragon. “Woah, a Zippleback Dragon.”

The Zippleback is known to grow up to 60 feet long. The Zippleback’s two heads make combustion. One head releases flammable gas while the other head shoots out sparks. Combined, they create fire and explosions as well.

This dragon has two long, serpentine necks with spikes on it. These spikes can 'zip' together, in order to create the illusion of one neck. At the end of the necks, are two short heads.

It has a small horn on its nose, and two thinner horns on top of its head. It has yellow reptile-like eyes. The teeth in their lower jaw seem to be longer then the one's in the upper jaw, sticking out. It also had two tails, which can also 'zip' together. The end of the tail posses a fin-like structure on its tails.

Also having short legs and wings, the Zippleback is a slow walker and flier. While their legs are short, they are also strong with four sharp claws. This Zippleback is a gold with blue spots. The Zippleback came up to her. “It’s okay. I won’t hurt you, promise.” The Zippleback roared softly. Sapphire took a closer look at the Zippleback and saw something weird.

The dragon was holding it’s back right leg in the air for some reason. A closer looked revealed, “Aww poor thing, you’ve got a thorn in you leg.” Walking over to the leg, Sapphire slowly pulled out the thorn. The dragon let out a yelp. “Shhhh... it’s alright.”

Using her magic, she casted a spell, healing the wound. The Zippleback put more pressure on its leg and it didn’t hurt at all. The dragons roared happily.

“Your welcome.” The Zippleback licked Sapphire, “Hahaha. Okay boy, I have to get back to New Ponyville.”

Sapphire mounted Skystorm, “See ya.” and they all flew off. The Zippleback watched for a moment and started to take to the sky... following the Sapphire and her creatures.

Skystorm landed near the Cake’s café. Dismounting Skystorm, Sapphire entered the cafe and saw her friends at their table. “Hey you guys.” she greeted.

“Hey Sapphire. How’s patrol?” Lightning asked.

“Nothing out of the ordinary, Lightning. Well, other than a dragon I’ve encountered.”

“Another dragon?!” Rainbow said. “What was it?” Sapphire was about to answer when they heard ponies screaming.

The gang exited the café and saw what had the civilians so spooked. The Zippleback was walking through town as if it was looking for something. When it spotted Sapphire, it roared happily and ran towards her.

It got to her and nuzzled her. “Haha. What are you doing here?” Sapphire asked. The dragon roared softly. “You followed me?” The Zippleback nodded.

“Ahem.”

Sapphire and the Zippleback looked at Lightning who had his arms crossed and was tapping his foot. “Anything you wanna tell us, Sapphire?”

Sapphire laughed nervously. “Hehehe.”

---

Soon, they were all at the royal palace. Their majesties couldn’t stop staring at the Zippeback. “So you found him in New Whitetail Woods?” Grand Ruler asked.

“Yes.”

The Zippleback rubbed against Queen Celestia. “Well, he’s certainly friendly.” she noted. The Zippleback licked her face making her laugh.

“So can I keep him, please?” Sapphire pleaded. Their majesties nodded. “Besides you already have two dragons already. One more couldn’t hurt.”

Sapphire giggled. “So what are you going to name him?” Buddy asked.

“Hmmm... how about Smoke and Fire?” Sapphire suggested. The Zippleback roared in delight. “I think he likes it.” Starla said.

The gang shared a laugh together.

What the gang didn’t know was that the minions were in Thebes cavern beneath New Canterlot and were placing the eggs on the ground. “Good. Now we wait for the eggs to hatch and victory will end ours.” Breaker sneered.

They all snickered and teleported out of there. When they were gone the eggs began shaking and hopping a little underground.

---

After the meeting was over, the ponies prepared to go home when Sapphire’s ears perked up and she turned down the hall. “What is it, Sapphire?” Starla asked.

“You guys hear that?” Sapphire asked while twitching her ears. The others listened closely but didn’t hear anything. Sapphire, thanks to her multiple animal DNA, can detect vibrations made underground. Her senses are telling her, something wasn't right. “I don’t hear anything.” Applejack stated.

“Me either.” Spike added. “You must be hearing things.”

Sapphire dismissed that “No... something’s here. I know it. I can feel it.” The others looked at each other and shrugged. “I agree with Spike, you must be hearing things, newbie.” Rainbow replied.

“Yeah, if there was something in the palace, the already would have went off.” Lightning informed. Sapphire knew that would happen to but something was telling her otherwise.

“Now come on, let’s go home.” Buddy said. Sapphire reluctantly went with the another. The dragons came by her side. "I know something’s here. I just sense it.”

That afternoon, Sapphire was back at the palace with her three dragons. She told Kyara to stay home cause she didn’t want her to get hurt. She had her ear to the ground and was using it like a radar. She kept hearing cracking. Walking down the hall, keeping her ear to ground she felt like she was getting close when, “Well... that’s a strange way of walking, Sapphire.”

Sapphire jumped and saw their majesties looking down at her. “Hehe. Hi.”

“What are you doing, Sapphire?” Celesto asked.

“I sense something’s in the palace. My friends keep telling me, I’ve gone nuts and to, but I don’t think so.”

“Well... if there is something then, we’ll help you.” Celestia said.

“Really?” Their majesties nodded. So now, their majesties and the dragons all followed Sapphire as she continued listening to the ground. She came to a wall. “Is there something behind this?” she asked.

“This is the entrance to the caverns.” Their majesties opened the entrance and followed Sapphire. They soon found what looked at be egg shells on the floor. “Eggs shells? What are they doing here?” Celestia asked.

Sapphire took a closer look at the eggs and gasped in horror. “No, it can’t be.”

“What is it?” Grand Ruler questioned.

“These are Whispering Death eggs!”

“Whispering What?” Their majesties asked in unison.

“Whispering Death! They are deadly dragons that can burrow through solid rocks with their rotating teeth and can shoot spikes from any part of their bodies.” Smoke and Fire began roaring. “What is it, boy?”

The Zippleback looked up and so did the ponies. To their horror, they saw three large holes. “... they hatched!”

Their majesties immediately teleported everybody out of the caverns and sounded the alarms. And not a moment too soon. In the New Canterlot village... they appeared.

They were about 70 feet long and 5 feet tall. They were covered in spikes and had razor sharp teeth. The civilians screamed and rushed to safety as Grand Ruler put up the shields.

That’s when Lightning and the team came onto the scene. “What are these things?!” Lightning asked. “I’ve never seen anything like them.”

“They’re Whispering Death dragons!” Sapphire said as she came onto the scene with Skystorm, Snowflake and Smoke and Fire. Sapphire was riding Snowflake. “I’ll explain later.”

“Now let’s get rid of them!” Pinkie cried. Lightning and the team dashed forth and launched their attacks. “Wait, don't!” Sapphire cried but it was too late.

”PAINT BOMB!”

“STAR SHOWER!”

“VINE WHIP!”

“DRILL QUILL!”

“BOOM-BOOM ROCKETS!”

“UNIFORCE!”

The attacks made their mark but the dragons didn’t even flinch! “No way!” Rainbow cried.

“Not even a scratch!” Buddy added. The Whispering Deaths launched their spikes at the gang and it punctured their energizers, powering them down and leaving the team in their casual uniforms. “No!” shouted Lightning. “Our engerizers are totaled!”

“Now what?” Pinkie whimpered. The Whispering Deaths dove towards the team. “INCOMING!” Rainbow hollered but when the Whispering Deaths were close. “Spikes!” Skystorm came in and shot her spikes at the dragons. They screeched and flew up into the air to avoid the poisonous spikes. “Sapphire!” the team cried.

“I’ll take care of these guys. You guys get to the palace.” Sapphire ordered.

“No, we’re not leaving you.” Lightning said.

“It’s too dangerous for you guys besides I know how to get rid of these things.”

“How could you know what to do, newbie?” Rainbow asked.

Sapphire narrowed her eyes. “Just because I’m a newbie, doesn’t mean I don’t know anything.” she retorted. “Now go!” The team was reluctant to leave her but Lightning saw they had no choice. “Let’s go.” The team all flew to the palace.

Meanwhile, Sapphire grabbed a metal trash can lid and using her magic she made a bright lit emit from the shield. The Whispering Deaths screeched and headed towards the ground as light was their only weakness.

Sapphire chuckled, “Works every time. Alright, dragons, Light ‘em up!” The dragons blasted the Whispering Deaths with their fire attacks. The dragons screeched burrowing underground. The burrowed far far away from the village and hopefully away for good.

---

At the palace, the team gave their energizers to Professor Brain for him to fix while they were in the throne room with their majesties. “How did those things get into the village?” Buddy asked.

“Sombra.” Sapphire answered.

"Sombra?!" they all exclamied. Their majesties explained to the team what happened and they were shocked. “Okay so let me get this straight.” Rainbow said. She turned to Sapphire. “Sombra has his minions place three Whispering Dragon eggs underneath the palace to destroy us and Sapphire was the only one who noticed! How?”

“For one. She trusted her instincts.” Grand Ruler replied.

“Indeed. Just because you don’t sense the same feeling she did, that doesn’t mean you should’ve doubted her instincts.” Celestia added. “Had it not been for her, ponies would have been severely injured.” The team felt bad and silly for not believing their newbie, who in the end, saved their lives and the ponies of New Canterlot Village.

“We are very proud of you Sapphire. You persisted in the face of doubt and your actions led to saving the lives of many ponies. Learning to trust your instincts is a valuable lesson to learn.” Grand Ruler added.

Celestia turned towards the team “Now I believed you all owe Sapphire an apology.”

One by one the team apologized to Sapphire saying they should have listened to her instead of doubting her instincts. Sapphire forgave them and they all shared a hug. For it was another job well done and having learned a mother friendship lesson.

Just because someone is new to the team doesn’t mean you should doubt them or their instincts. Trusting those instincts can mean the difference between life or death. You should always take your friends feelings into an account cause if you don’t you could come face to face with a deadly dragon and forcing the newbie to save the day.

As they were hugging, they were unaware Sombra was watching them from the monitors in the throne room. “Hug while you still can, ponies. That was just the beginning. I will get that human girl and I will rule United Equestria!” He laughed evilly in the throne room.

Next Chapter: Episode 6: Sapphire’s Confidence Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 31 Minutes