"Well, this officially sucks." This was Applejack, standing on a semi-underwater rock in the middle of a raging river. "Stupid water dragon couldn't bother with keeping these waves under control?"

"It is hard." Fluttershy whispered, teetering on the other side. "But I know you can make it!"

"She'd have to, or she'd lose to me!" Rainbow Dash laughed.

Applejack cleared the rest of the rocks in one jump, landing with her forehead pressed against Rainbows'. "And I did it without wings. This pony loses to no-one!"

"That's great, Applejack. Now could you please help us across?" Twilight called out, her hooves slipping. Rarity and Pinkie nodded agreement.

"I'm so sorry!" Fluttershy muttered, grabbing Twilight by the belly and straining to carry her. The Pegasus was trying so hard Twilight felt sorry for her, and sent a magical gust of wind to speed her wings. Rainbow was lugging Rarity, and Pinkie was bouncing across the rocks below now that there were no ponies in her way.

"Thanks, you guys!" Pinkie squealed. "I would have had to wait for these guys to make it and that would take so many forevers I would get bored of saying them, and forever is one of my favourite words!"

"Pinkie Pie, you are so random." Rainbow panted, her wings limp with the effort of lugging Rarity's deadweight.

"I know WATERMELONS right?"

Twilight Sparkle rolled her eyes and faced towards the Old Ruins. The very thought of it awakened terrible memories of fighting Nightmare Moon. Twilight shuddered. "Well, if I were a dragon, I'd like to be in the Ruins. It must be as close to a non-Ursa-Marjored cave as we have around here."

"And it was wounded!" Rainbow Dash added, trotting up behind. "When I fly, it would hurt my legs."

"All trivial stuff." Applejack interrupted, standing in front of the fillies. "How are we going to deal with this problem once we find it?"

"In time, in time."

Fluttershy's head jerked back at an awkward angle. "I thought I told you to leave!" Her tail whipped, and she stomped her hooves. "This is my den, and my forest! Get out!" The puppet-Fluttershy whipped her head around. "You're closer than I thought. I can't smell you, but I can hear myself talking."

Puppet-Fluttershy rolled her eyes. "As long as you're here, bring some food. Maybe I won't eat you then."

Rainbow Dash hovered above the trees, looking out for any lurking forms in the Old Ruins. Something twitched in the shadows, making her jump. Once she knew where it was, she could see all of it, sprawled in the shadows.

It was a massive dragon, at least four times her length and twice her height. Even folded, the wings were wide, awkwardly furled against the wall. The dragon was listening for something, the six points on the edge of its' head standing on end. Suddenly, the dragon looked up, focusing on Rainbow Dash with emerald eyes.

"I'm not really going to hurt you." The voice was in her head, less Pinkie-brain-distorted and move even. "Feel free to come down."

A feeling of saftey washed over Rainbow Dash, and she made a lazy spiral to the ground. The dragon watched intently, its tail twitching in imaginary flight. "Why are you here?"

"Why does it look like I'm here?!" The voice snarled. "My leg is broken. It hasn't improved my landings, either."

The dragon pulled itself on its front paws over to a small pond. It lapped up some of the water, the ripples distorting the reflections of both pony and dragon.

"I'm going to go get the others. I'll bring back some food."

"Good." The voice replied, even though the dragon didn't stop drinking.

Rainbow Dash flapped her wings once and shot out of sight.