"Dragons."

"Dragons?"

Rarity nodded as she looked to Spike, who gulped at the sound. His last encounter with his people was not particularly pleasant...and in a world like this, it might be even less pleasant. "Are...are you sure?" Spike asked to confirm.

"I'm sure of it. Now, I don't exactly know where, but the image was stronger this time...it must be because we have two pieces of the Elements of Harmony." Rarity sighed.

"Interesting..." Twilight said to herself. That's something I should write to the princess.

Even Fluttershy was timid when she knew where the next piece would be. "Can't we go somewhere else first?" She peeped.

"I'm afraid not, darling." Rarity replied, placing a hoof on the pegasus's shoulder.

"In any rate," Rainbow Dash said. "We have to cross this desert to get there. Who knows how far away we are from the edge?"

"Which only means one thing," Applejack spouted. "We hav'ta get movin' now!"

The others nodded and proceeded to head east. The desert was just as unforgiving as it was before the Element of Laughter was found. Only this time, there were no clouds in sight for Rainbow Dash to make shade out of. The sun beamed down onto the earth and each pony was slowed by the intense heat. Their only solace was the night sky, which surprisingly did come after days of grey sky.

"I guess Celestia and Luna returned to raising the sun and moon..." Twilight said to the others. "And thankfully they are, too. Do you want to call it a night?"

Applejack and Rarity looked at their sisters, who were stumbling along behind the mares.

"I think it would be best." They both agreed.

*********

A camp was promptly set up. The cool night air breezed through the desert, calling for a fire to be made. Applejack was able to get stray pieces of wood together and start a fire, which the others quickly gathered around. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were leaning against their sisters, while Scootaloo did the same with Rainbow Dash.

"Are you sure you can handle a journey like this, Sweetie Belle?" Rarity asked her sister.

"Can you?" Was the response she got.

The unicorn paused for a moment before answering. "For the group, I must!" She said in a dramatic tone. Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes and laughed.

"Okay, how about I tell a joke?" Spike got up and addressed his audience. The others listened intently at what the dragon was going to say.

"Well...what do you get when--" Spike stopped and began to cough. "Spike, you okay?" Applejack asked as the dragon fell over and coughed again. Out came a letter, which was shot right into the fire.

"Oh, no! The letter!" Twilight screamed as she threw herself onto the small fire. She managed to get the letter and destroy the campfire in the process. "Twilight!" Applejack shouted. "You know how long it took me ta' get that fire started?"

Twilight ignored her and opened the letter.

Princess Twilight Sparkle,

Good luck on the rest of your journey, and always look out for each other,

Princess Celestia

"So...how's the princess!?" Pinkie Pie blurted as she hopped up and down next to the princess.

"Equestria's in pretty bad shape...we have to get the Elements as fast as we can!" Was all Twilight said. Her only thought was on Discord and how he broke his reformation. As soon as the world ends, he takes advantage of it.

"And knowing the dragons...they probably took the element and put it with their stash." Rainbow added. "This one will be a lot harder to get than the others."

A horn blew in the distance. The ponies' ears twitched as they heard the dissonant sound. It was coming from the north, meaning it wasn't the group of zebras they had encountered. Twilight looked to Rainbow Dash, and the two of them flew up and over to the sound.

It was easier to fly in the cool air than it was in the harsh sunlight. The two made it to the source of the noise within a few minutes to find a group of zebras charging through the desert. "More zebras?" Twilight asked before starting to fly towards them. As she did, she felt something sharp fly right by her muzzle, giving her a small cut. It was a spear! Twilight flew up to avoid a second one. The horn sounded again, this time much more dissonant than before. The two ponies turned right around and flew away.

"We can't lead them towards the others!" Rainbow Dash said before veering left. She wanted to get those zebras away from the others. Twilight nodded and followed.

The zebras were extremely fast. Even though they couldn't fly, they were able to keep up with the two fliers. The horn sounded a third time, and this time the sound pierced the eardrums of Twilight and Rainbow Dash. Dash began to fly even faster, to the point where she was about to do a sonic rainboom. "I have an idea!" She said before dropping to the ground, still flying.

The zebras kept their pursuit as Rainbow positioned herself right in front of the group. She dodged another spear before she did a sonic rainboom. A great booming sound emerged and a great rainbow appeared. The shockwave knocked all of the zebras back a great distance, leaving Rainbow and Twilight alone in the dark night.

"Great thinking!" Twilight said as she approached her friend. "Let's get back to the others and get moving before they come back!"

*********

"Ah wonder what's goin' on in Equestria right now..." Apple Bloom said to her sister with a worried face. "...Babs! D'ya think she's okay!?"

Applejack placed a hoof around her sister. "Ah'm sure of it! Don't worry about it...once we get these elements everythin'll go back to normal."

"You sure?"

Those words hung around Applejack's ears. She wasn't sure at all, but she didn't want to fill her sister with any more worry than she already had.

Before she could respond, Twilight and Rainbow Dash returned. "Quickly, everypony! We have to keep moving!" Twilight panted.

"Darling, but we just settled down!" Rarity sighed, already trying to get some sleep. "Can't we move again in a few hours?"

"There's no time for that!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she picked up the sleeping pony and dropped her on her hooves. Rarity gave out a yelp before shaking herself and giving Rainbow a glare. Twilight beckoned for the others to follow her as they all disappeared into the night.

Fluttershy was in the back of the pack, yet again, as the ponies and spike traveled east towards the land of the dragons. She remembered what happened last time she fell behind and promptly picked her pace up, eventually beginning to fly alongside the others. A horn could be heard in the distance.

"That noise again..." She said in a scared tone.

"If we keep moving, they won't catch up!" Twilight said, although she didn't say it confidently.

Everypony was tired and confused, but they kept moving. Even Pinkie's bandaged leg began to buckle as she bounced along. They only knew that they couldn't stop moving. Twilight knew that those zebras were bad news and would attack them all. The princess looked up at the moon and was shocked at what she saw.

There were three zebras...flying above her...above the group! They looked down at her and immediately dropped. Two zebras tackled the two flying ponies while the third gave out a loud roar that shocked the others. Soon after, more zebras appeared. The six ponies, three fillies, and spike were surrounded by dozens of the weird flying zebras. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle hid behind their sisters as Rainbow Dash and Applejack stared menacingly at the threat.

"Who...what are you!?" Twilight shouted. The zebras laughed in response, and a puff of smoke engulfed each one. When the smoke dissipated, the group was surrounded by...themselves! Immediately, the ponies knew who they were dealing with.

"Changelings!" Rainbow shouted as the monsters cackled again and changed to their true forms. These changelings were very similar to the ones that had attacked Canterlot before, except they had a hungrier look in their eyes. The changelings pounced on the group without warning.

Applejack felt a slight rumble in the sand as she prepared to buck a charging changeling and knocked it right in the jaw. Rainbow had similar success, while the others ducked and covered. A large fight busted out between the pony group and the changelings. Each one gave out a screeching roar that pierced the eardrums of anypony near.

As evil as they seemed, they weren't any much stronger than the last time the mane six fought them. However, Twilight's lack of magic really handicapped her this time. The princess resorted to bucking as well in order to defend the fillies. Even Scootaloo managed to buck one in the face, to Rainbow Dash's approval.

After a while, the ponies corralled the changelings into one group. The monsters, although beat, did not seem to have any injuries. They smiled as they transformed into very large creatures...they each had eight legs and empty eyes. Their manes were black and their coat gray. For cutie marks, each had a weird symbol. This caught the ponies by surprise as the weird creatures began to attack.

Applejack felt the rumbling come back and immediately knew what it meant. "Back up, everypony!" She yelled. The others agreed and backed up as a giant sand worm emerged from right underneath the spot the changelings stood, engulfing them all. The worm towered over the ponies for a few moments before retreating back into the cold sand. The ponies took no time to comprehend what happened and continued fleeing.

The ponies reached a fairly large rock that sat on top of the sand like a cake on a plate. Everypony jumped on in order to stay away from any potential sand worms. They'd have to be mad to plow right through a rock.

"Rarity..." Sweetie Belle stuttered. "...Did those zebras...get eaten?"

"They weren't zebras...but yes." Rarity replied uneasily. She looked to Twilight, who was just as uncomfortable.

"No, not the changelings...the zebras..." Sweetie Belle said. Rarity thought about it: what if those vile creatures killed the zebras and took their appearance?

"Changelings...they must have been the same changelings that attacked Canterlot. Why are they down here?" She asked. Nopony was able to answer, and she didn't expect them to. They were all exhausted and just wanted to go to bed. Twilight frowned.

"Let's call it a night. We'll keep moving in the morning."

*********

Fluttershy slowly opened her eyes, feeling refreshed. That was probably the best sleep the pegasus has gotten ever since this all started. She raised her head to see that the others were still sleeping. It was still pretty early, and because of how tired everypony was, they wouldn't be up for a while. In good spirit, Fluttershy decided to prepare a meal for her friends.

Checking the saddlebags, Fluttershy found that there was only enough for two ponies. Feeling disappointed, she decided to wander off and find some food. Fluttershy placed a saddlebag on her back. Before she jumped off the rock, however, she thought to herself:

Oh, but what if something else happens to me again?

"No, Fluttershy...you can do this!" The yellow pony said to herself. With that, she hopped off of the rock.

Moving east, Fluttershy quickly found a small river. On the other side of the river, a landscape of red rocks could be seen in the distance. The group was close to the edge of the desert and almost into dragon territory. Fluttershy gave a small gulp and flew quietly over the river. A small forest loomed over the river bank, which Fluttershy promptly went into.

The forest was just as damaged as the rest of the world was: trees were burned and broken, and there was little wildlife left. Fluttershy did manage to find a few squirrels running around. Clearing her throat, she decided to speak to them:

"Um, excuse me, squirrels..." She piped. "Could you please help me out? I am in need of some food...would you be able to find me some?"

The squirrels looked at each other, then ran off into the forest. Okay...maybe I can still communicate with them. The pegasus thought to herself. Before long, the squirrels came back, each with a few berries.

"Oh, thank you!" She said cheerfully as the squirrels placed the berries in the saddlebag. The animals then beckoned Fluttershy to follow them, and they led her to the source of the berries. In a small clearing, several bushes containing colorful berries cluttered the area. Fluttershy happily picked some up and placed them into her saddlebag.

"Thank you again, squirrels!" She said as she waved to the two animals. They waved back and wandered off into the forest.

When Fluttershy returned to the rock, the others were already awake.

"Fluttershy! We were worried about you!" Twliight called as the pegasus flew up onto the rock.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Twilight...I just went to find some food." Fluttershy said quietly as she placed the saddlebag gently on the rock. Twilight couldn't help but smile. "It's okay." She said.

After a quick meal, everypony was ready to get moving. Rainbow, Twilight, and Fluttershy all helped the fillies off of the rock, while Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie jumped off themselves. Pinkie's leg at this point was almost completely healed, however a scar remained that reminded them all of the dangers of this world now. "You can have your fabric back, Rarity!" Pinkie said as she held the blood-stained fabric to the unicorn's face.

"...Right...Pinkie, perhaps it's best if you keep it, darling. As a gift from me!" Rarity said behind a fake smile. Pinkie Pie nodded and tied it back around her leg.

Reaching the river in front of the forest, the ponies prepared to cross. Applejack managed to jump over with Apple Bloom on her back while Rarity did the same for Sweetie Belle. After Pinkie Pie and Spike crossed, Rainbow Dash looked to Scootaloo.

"You ready to cross?"

"Actually, I'd like to try to fly over..." Scootaloo said. Rainbow Dash grinned at this. "Great! Let's see what you got! And don't worry about falling, we're all here to help you!"

The orange filly prepared to fly. She fluttered her tiny wings with confidence, and lunged. She did her best to flap her wings. Scootaloo felt great - the wind in her face gave her adrenaline and made her wings go even faster. The pegasus was able to cross the river with ease!

When she landed, everypony applauded. "Great job, Scootaloo!" Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle both said to the blushing filly.

"Nice work, kid." Rainbow Dash assured. "You'll be a fast flier in no time!"

*********

In the daylight, the forest looked much less intimidating. The ponies all entered the forest slowly.

"Once we get through here, we should be in the dragon lands." Twilight said to the others. The forest itself was rather small, and the group took less than an hour to navigate it. Rarity did her best not to get her hooves dirty as she traversed through the broken trees and burnt wood.

"What forest is this again?" Applejack asked as they trotted through.

"It's not in Equestria, so I'm not really sure." Twilight responded.

"And you're sure it's this way?" Rainbow Dash looked at Rarity, who held her head up.

"You mean to question me?" Rarity said back.

"Girls!" Twilight prevented a potential fight. "There's no time for squabbling now!"

Surprisingly, nothing unusual happened during the adventure through the woods. The ponies all made it to the other side without so much as dust on their hooves. What they saw was a remarkable sight:

Red rock. Red Rock, smoke, and the distant, yet scary roars of dragons. Twilight had been to the dragon lands before, but she had never seen this side of it. Even Spike stood in awe...in fact, everypony did....well, except for Fluttershy, who was busy cowering behind the fillies.

The way the light bounced off of the red rock created a red presence in the sky. The ground looked golden, as if the land were in perpetual twilight. For something known as the "badlands", it was actually a very beautiful scene. Fluttershy looked up for a second after the others expressed their amazement, gasping at the scenery herself.

Pinkie was the first to break the silence: "Let's get going!!!" She said as she bounced along. The others followed suit quickly. The land did not look like it had been touched by the apocalypse at all, save for a few craters scattered around the red rock. Even then, the craters blended in with the scenery so well that it looked natural for the holes to be there.

Of course, what this meant for the group was that the dragons were most likely surviving and well off, meaning that the element would be rather difficult to find.

The group came up to a divide: a wall of rocks divided the path into two distinct routes. Here, the gang came to a halt.

"Okay..." Twilight started. "We might need to split up here. We have to make sure both sides are checked."

"How are we gonna divide it up?" Rainbow asked. "I call right!"

"I don't think it matters who goes where." Rarity responded, glaring at the blue pegasus. Soon enough, all of the ponies began bickering about which side was better.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy stood behind the others, trying to get their attention. "Excuse me..." She said quietly to no avail.

"I say take half and half."

"Excuse me..."

"But what if it's a dead end?"

"Um...excuse me..."

"It doesn't matter! I'll just fly over if that's the case!"

"Excuse me..."

"What about the rest of us, dear?"

"EXCUSE ME!!!!!"

The others stopped when they heard the timid pegasus yell to the heavens.

"What's going on, Fluttershy?" Twilight asked.

Fluttershy simply pointed up. The others looked as well, and immediately gasped in shock. The ponies' argument caused a rock slide to build up. The group backed up as far as they could to get away from the falling earth.

BOOM. The rocks came crashing down, dividing the ponies between the two paths. A large cloud of smoke came up and engulfed the surrounding area.Twilight, Spike, Pinkie, Scootaloo, and Rainbow Dash were on one side, while Applejack, Apple Bloom, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Sweetie Belle were on the other.

"Are you all okay?" Twilight yelled to the other side before flying up to check. She was relieved to see nopony was hurt.

"Do you want us to help bring you girls over?" The princess asked.

"We might as well split up!" Applejack replied. "We can get more explorin' done that way. If these paths cross again, we'll meet there. And you can fly over to see where we are, just in case."

Twilight nodded and returned to her group. "Be careful, girls!" She called back.

The five ponies looked down the only way out. It was a fairly large canyon, filled with rocks and other debris. The air was still, and the skies looked just as gloomy as ever. Fluttershy gulped as she followed her friends down the path. In the distance, dragon roars pierced the silence. Every roar was met with a small yelp from the pegasus.

"It's okay, Fluttershy. They're not anywhere near us." Applejack reassured the frightened pegasus. "We need ta' keep moving, though."

The twilight settled over the land even more as the ponies kept going. Twilight had flown over once to check on the group and to tell them to stop for the night. Darkness crept over the land as a camp was set up.

Food. No food. Applejack was surprised to see that their food supply had run out.

"Ah guess we have to go hungry fer now..." She calmly said.

"Can't we go find some food?" Rarity stammered. "I do not know how much longer I...I mean our sisters can go without food!" She said as she grabbed Sweetie Belle. "I'm fine, Rarity!" the filly responded as she tried to push the white unicorn away.

Applejack was not moved. "Ah'm sorry, Rarity, but we have nothing right now...and do you see where we are?" She said as she looked to the cliffs that surrounded the group on two sides. "It's best if we get some sleep for now, then get away from these rocks in the morning."

"...Dumb rocks..." Rarity said to herself as she closed her eyes.

Before long, the ponies were all asleep...except for Fluttershy. The dragon roars did not die during the night, leaving the pegasus jumpy and scared throughout the entire night.

It's okay... she said to herself as another roar made her jump a little. Morning soon approached as Fluttershy finally had a chance to get some rest...however, she was woken up soon after by Applejack.

"Ah'm sorry to wake ya, but we need to get going." The orange pony said to her friend.

After a few hours of walking (and a lack of eating, to Rarity's disgust), the group finally made it into another forest. Rarity noted that it looked similar to the forest they had been in when trying to find Spike. She laughed as she reminisced about the good old days, before it all ended.

Fluttershy walked past a bush before stopping and taking a closer look at it. "Berries!" She said as the other gathered around. Rarity was the first to get a mouth-full of berries, before realizing how uncivil she was being. With a slight laugh, she stepped aside.

The fillies received berries first, followed by everypony else. After their meal, Applejack spoke up.

"Shouldn't the others be here too by now? Fluttershy, could you be a dear and fly up to see where the other path leads?"

Fluttershy nodded and gently floated above the trees. Looking towards the direction they had come from, she saw the other path change direction. It led right up to a mountain...a mountain with lots of smoke coming off the top of it...a volcano! After a few moments of staring at the smoke, there was a loud boom as lava blew right out of the top of the volcano. It slid down the sides of the rock for several minutes. The heatwave from the blast blew right by the pegasus.

The pegasus immediately squeaked and dropped to the ground. "V-v....volcano!" She stammered. Applejack gave a confident grin and rallied the others up.

"Let's get moving!"

Fluttershy's pink mane fell in front of her face as she trotted along with the other ponies. The other group was heading right to a volcano...an erupting volcano! As scared as she was, Fluttershy did not want her friends to get hurt...she did not want anypony else to get hurt. The pegasus's face still hurt from her last encounter, and a tear was shed.

Another dragon's roar could be heard again...except this time, it was much closer than the others! The ground began to rumble as a large shadow moved over the ponies. In the sky, a red dragon flew overhead. It was flying in the opposite direction of the volcano.

"This can't be good..." Applejack said as she continued along. The forest eventually emptied out into a vast valley. Patches of grass covered the entire valley as a light breeze blew. As peaceful as it was, the sight was far from beautiful. All of the ponies gasped in horror as they found the dragons.

Or rather...what used to be dragons. The valley was cluttered in dragon carcasses, both big and small. The area was covered in craters, suggesting that they were very affected by the meteor shower as well. Everypony was silent. To the east was a small cave. Another roar came from that direction; it sounded like the dragon was in pain. "Let's go check on it!" Applejack told the others.

"Wait, darling!" Rarity snapped back before turning to the fillies. "Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom should stay behind. I'll keep them safe."

Applejack nodded and looked at Fluttershy. "I guess it's you and me, then!" The pegasus squeaked at this as she reluctantly followed her friend to the cave.

The cave was very small; no adult dragon would have even thought of trying to enter. "Well, we know it can't be too big..." Applejack said with an uneasy chuckle. Inside, the cave was dark and dreary. The walls looked like obsidian, meaning that the cave was probably a result of an earlier eruption. The roars grew louder as the two ponies ventured inside.

They didn't move far to find the source of the noise: a medium-sized green dragon lay with its treasure. Its tail and right wing were caught under a cave-in and couldn't move. The expression on its face was one of fear. As the ponies entered the room, the dragon began to tense up.

"Stay away from my treasure!" The dragon roared, to the surprise of the pegasus.

Applejack stepped up. "We're not here for yer treasure." She said. "We're here to help you out!"

"Lies!" The dragon spat green flames and thrashed around. "Stay away from my treasure!"

Applejack frowned, before giving an angry expression. "A lot may have changed in the past few days, but Ah know one thing that remains the same: I would NEVER tell a lie!" She looked the dragon straight in the face as it began to calm down. Fluttershy nervously hid behind her truthful friend.

"Now, if you'll just let us help you...you can be free to do whatever you want with yer treasure." Applejack gave the dragon a smile and curtsied politely. The green flames died down as the dragon finally understood.

"...Okay." It said lightly. Applejack nodded. "Okay. Fluttershy, Ah'll need yer help with this."

"Really? I'm not sure if I'm strong enough to lift the rocks..."

"Don't worry, sugarcube! Ah don't need you to do any liftin'...go get Rarity and tell her to come here!"

Fluttershy nodded and ran out of the cave again. She found the unicorn at the same spot she was left at earlier.

"Rarity...Applejack needs your help!" The pegasus said while out of breath.

"Now what could I possibly do for a dragon?" Rarity responded. Behind her, the fillies looked at each other and soon shouted:

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS DRAGON TAMERS YEAH!!!" The fillies then ran off towards the cave, followed by Rarity. "Darlings, do be careful!" Fluttershy decided to fly back in order to save her breath.

Within a few minutes, everypony was inside the cave. As soon as Rarity entered, her eyes spotted the pile of treasure. Her eyes lit up as she noticed rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and diamonds...and her mouth watered when she saw multiple objects made of pure gold.

"Rarity!"

Applejack's voice snapped the unicorn back to reality as she turned towards her friend.

"Ah need you to use some of your magic to help lift these rocks." Rarity was confused for a second before noticing the dragon's predicament. "Right away!" She said confidently.

Rarity's horn lit up as a magical aura formed around one of the rocks. It was extremely heavy, which was expected. However, Rarity noticed that her magical ability was very limited, due to the change in magical field that Twilight had talked about.

However, she was able to lift it enough for Applejack to buck it across the room. As her grip on the rock broke, Rarity fell down, extremely tired from that small bit of magic use.

"I don't know if I can keep doing this, darling..." Rarity said while fanning herself. Applejack agreed before stopping to think of what to do next.

Just then, Sweetie Belle stepped up next to her sister. "Can I try? I know my magic isn't that good yet, but you need all the help you can get!"

"Sweetie Belle, I don't know if-"

Before Rarity could finish, the filly's horn lit up as an aura formed around the rock on top of the dragon's wing. Applejack quickly bucked it as Sweetie Belle released it from her magical grip.

"Good job, Sweetie Belle!" Everypony said. Sweetie Belle smiled as she began to fire up her horn again. She was tired as well, but she did not want to disappoint anypony - especially her sister.

The dragon was free enough to assist in moving the rocks. "Allow me to help." The dragon said with a sly smile as it picked up another rock. Rarity and Sweetie Belle alternated using their magic as Applejack, and eventually Apple Bloom, bucked the rocks right off. Before long, the dragon was free.

"You were right." The dragon started as it moved in between the ponies and its treasure. "I apologize for not believing you...Applejack, was it? In return for saving me...I'll give you one piece of my treasure." The orange pony nodded and curtsied again.

"Ah told you - no matter what, Ah'll never lie to anypony!"

With that, a great light emerged from the middle of the dragon's treasure. It was an orange light and felt warm. The element of honesty emerged from the treasure pile and placed itself right around Applejack's neck.

"If you don't mind, Ah'll take this one." The farmer chuckled.

"My name is Durango, by the way." The dragon said. Durango bowed to the ponies as they all proceeded to exit the cave.
"I was trapped in this cave for a few days now. There was some commotion outside, and before I could go see what the problem was, the cave collapsed on me!"

Upon exiting the cave, Durango took his first look at the destruction. His ears dropped as he gave a slight frown. In the light, the ponies could see the dragon in greater detail. He had green scales with black stripes running vertically along his arms and back. The ends of these lines ended in swirls. The dragon's eyes were what stood out. Among the bright green and black, two cold pools of blue rounded out the dragon's appearance. Whenever Fluttershy would look into his eyes, she would always feel that they were popping out at her. . . that those eyes had lives of their own.

"Ah'm sorry..." Applejack said to the brooding dragon. Meanwhile, the volcano in the distance continued to erupt. "It's been years since that volcano last erupted." The dragon quietly said. This prompted the girls to remember their original objective.

"We have to find the others!" Rarity exclaimed, turning towards the red mountain.

"I'll fly you over there." Durango said confidently as he stretched his arms out. The wingless ponies jumped on; Durango was big enough to be able to carry four of the five easily. Flutershy flew right alongside the green dragon, trying her best to keep up.

More roars could be heard, and these were ones of war. "Sounds like your friends found the other dragons..." Durango said as he glided along. The stiff air slapped the ponies in the face. The volcano died down for a bit as Durango and Fluttershy reached their destination.

There were about a dozen dragons, all large, surrounding smaller figures. Upon getting closer, Fluttershy could see that it was her friends: Twilight and Spike, Rainbow and Scootaloo, and Pinkie Pie. They all looked intimidated by the dragons, and the dragons looked like they were ready to have dinner.

"Hey, it's Durango!" One of the dragons shouted as the green dragon flew over. "And he brought more food!"

Durango immediately dropped to where the other ponies were, dropped his load, and turned to face the closest dragon. He snarled as a puff of green smoke left his nostrils.

"Leave them alone."

The dragons looked at each other for a second and started laughing. "Go figure! The coward Durango ends up befriending a bunch of...ponies!"

"You didn't help me when I was trapped in that cave!" Durango snapped back. "You didn't even know I was there! I couldn't have done anything to help out the others! It's not my fault they're all dead!"

The dragons quieted down for a second. One of the larger dragons stepped forward.

"In this world, only the strongest survive. If you were strong, you wouldn't have had a problem with that cave."

"I guess we have to eat you as well!" Another dragon snarled. Durango was filled with rage.

Meanwhile, the ponies were all huddled together. Spike was standing right behind Durango, immediately moved by the courage of this green beast.

Durango did his best to try to come up with an idea. He knew these dragons wouldn't give up and would have their prize...

prize...

"Wait." Durango said. "Why don't we make a game out of this?"

"What kind of game?" One of the dragons echoed back.

"Since you're so invested in this idea of survival of the fittest, why don't we do just that? Meaning the strongest dragon here can have the ponies all to himself." Some of the dragons murmured in agreement. The large dragon stepped closer to Durango.

"Are you trying to tell me that we fight to the death for these ponies? That only the strongest can have them?"

Durango gave a sly smile. "Yes." He said before breathing green fire right into the face of the other dragon. A split second later, Durango clawed upwards into the dragon's face. He fell quickly.

There was silence. The dragon was dead at Durango's feet. All of the dragons, as well as the ponies, were shocked. Before long, the other dragons began to fight each other. Flames blew in all directions and tails swiped through the air. The ponies used this distraction to get away from the center of this fight. Durango was busy fighting dragons himself. Soon enough he had time to reach the ponies.

"How did you know that would work?" Rainbow Dash asked him. "I could have taken a few of them on myself!" She continued proudly.

Durango rolled his livid eyes. "Dragons are greedy. And too strong for you to handle." he simply replied before fending off another dragon.

"But, doesn't it bother you that these dragons are killing themselves?" Rarity asked quickly.

"If you haven't noticed, the dragons you saw dead out there were killed by other dragons! When crisis comes, dragons will do anything to protect themselves and their treasure. This is a good time to have you all escape though!" The dragon hissed. The ponies took the hint.

"Thank you!" Twilight said as the ponies and spike all ran away from the volcano. Applejack was running along when a claw came right towards her. It grabbed the element around her neck and snapped it right off.

"Hey!" Applejack yelled. The dragon was about to reach for Applejack again when he was tackled by another dragon. The element flew in the air. A third dragon swooped down and reached for the ponies. He came up holding Fluttershy and caught the element in his mouth. He flew over the volcano where he was hit by a fourth. The two dragons, the element, and Fluttershy all fell into the volcano.

"Oh no!" Applejack exclaimed. "Fluttershy!!" Rainbow Dash immediately flew into the air towards the volcano immediately after. "Girls, let's keep moving!" Twilight ordered the others as they continued to run for safety.

It all happened so fast. Fluttershy didn't even register that she was in the volcano until a drop of lava singed part of her mane. She gave a yelp before floating above the pool of liquid heat. The dragons were entangled and couldn't separate in time; they plummeted into the lava. Fluttershy gave another yell as she thought the two dragons were dead. Instead, they both emerged, fighting as if they were both in a pool. The element was stuck on a ledge close to the lava. Fluttershy began to make her way to it when the dragons began to speak:

"Wait, where did the pony go?"

"Don't tell me you dropped her in the lava! You idiot!"

The dragons began looking around the lava for any signs of burnt pony. Fluttershy hid behind a rock sitting on a ledge as she looked on. When one dragon had his back turned, the other took it as a moment to strike. With one fell swoop, a dragon fell, his throat slit by sharp claws. He sank into the lava, which bubbled around the dead dragon.

"Fluttershy!"

Rainbow Dash's voice could be heard above. The remaining dragon noticed this and flew up to meet the pegasus. Rainbow took this as a sign to flee, and she did. The dragon opened his mouth and closed it right in the spot where Rainbow floated; he chased her away.

Alone in the volcano now, Fluttershy attempted to make her way down to the element. The pool of lava bubbled violently as it nearly caught the pony multiple times. She managed to make her way to the bottom and grab the element. Sweat poured down the pegasus's face as she baked in the extreme heat. Just as she was about to fly up, a claw shot up out of the lava. Fluttershy squeaked and backed up against the rock wall.

Apparently, the dragon did not die from its wound, although it was hurt very badly. Fluttershy was scared out of her wits as the dragon fully emerged from the volcano.

"...There you are..." He said gruffly, green blood pouring out of his neck. The poor pony was huddled, caught between a dragon and a hard place. She could hear the dragon open its mouth as his face drew closer to the frightened pegasus. Through pure instinct, Fluttershy turned and bucked the dragon right in the side of the face. She actually hit him right where his neck wound was. The dragon roared again as he fell to the ground. Fluttershy opened her eyes and turned around to see the dragon gasping for air. His wound was more open now and the blood was everywhere, including Fluttershy's hind legs. In a panic, Fluttershy flew up once again. The lava was bubbling much more violently at this point, and the pegasus thought it would erupt yet again. She did her best to try to fly to the top, and she made it just as the volcano erupted. The lava caught her left wing and the intense pain made the pegasus drop from the sky. As she fell, Fluttershy cried and knew her life would be over now...

"You don't deserve to live in this world, Fluttershy..." She said to herself with a sob.

Right then, a green flash crossed her eyes and she was picked right up. It was Durango, who flew the pony quickly away from the erupting volcano. In the distance, Rainbow Dash was still being chased by the other dragon. The lava rained right onto the dragon's wing and slowed his flight. Rainbow, in response, did a sonic rainboom to escape. The force knocked the dragon back as he fell into the hot rain.

The lava engulfed the dragon land; the eruption was much bigger than the previous ones and was much more deadly. Dragons have a high tolerance for heat due to their scales...however, many of them had cuts and scrapes. Lava seeps into these crevices and reach the vulnerable skin of the dragons. Many fell to the lava sea. Durango passed by the cave containing his treasure as he saw waves of lava smack into it.

"I'm...sorry about your treasure..." Fluttershy said to the dragon. He smiled.

"I don't think I'll be needing it."

*********

After passing over another mountain, Durango and Fluttershy caught up with the other ponies. They had escaped before the volcano erupted and were a safe distance away from the resulting flood. Rainbow Dash was with them as well.

"Fluttershy!" They all said as the green dragon landed and placed Fluttershy calmly on the ground. Her wing was badly burnt, but it was still functional.

"Oh, we're so glad you're okay!" Twilight said as she gave the pegasus a hug.

Fluttershy, however, did not feel happy at all. "I...I keep getting myself in danger..." Fluttershy said with a sob. "I'm keeping all of you behind." As she said this, the color in her mane and hide began to become dull. "I didn't deserve to be rescued..."

"That's nonsense, Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash retorted. "No matter WHAT happens, we're in this together. ALL of us!" The others nodded in agreement. This didn't help Fluttershy feel any better.

"Oh, I almost forgot." Fluttershy said before showing the recovered element to Applejack. "See, sugarcube! Ya did something real nice! Thank you!" She said as she placed the element around her neck once again.

"Now, where next?" Rarity asked. Twilight shook her head before she took a look to see where they were. They were all on a beach. The ocean waves calmly brushed up against the soft sand. It looked like a very peaceful sight.

"There was one element far to the east of Equestria..." Twilight said. "Perhaps we go there next?"

"East..." Rainbow Dash said. "...The griffon lands! It's got to be there!"

"That's where we go next!" Pinkie Pie shouted. "How do we get there?"

Not even Twilight could answer that one. "It is too far to fly over the ocean, even if we have Durango help us..."

"Hello?"

A strange voice came out of nowhere. The ponies were all in shock as they tried to see where this voice originated. Looking to the ocean, Twilight saw a strange figure emerge from the blue waves.

"Do you need help crossing the ocean?"

Author's Notes:

I combined this chapter and the chapter "In the Belly of the Dragon" to keep the adventures in the dragon lands together.