//------------------------------// // The Journey to the Dragon Lands // Story: My Little Pony: Collision Course // by Dinopony2580 //------------------------------// The Mane 10 arrived at the Canterlot train station and were awaiting the Friendship Express to take them to the Dragon Lands. Twilight looked up to the asteroid's light and it seemed a little bit bigger. "Guys!" a voice shouted. They looked and there, was Starlight, the CMCs, Discord, and Ra Ra. They slowed to a stop. "What is it?" Twilight asked them. Then, Starlight hugged Twilight. When she broke away, she smiled at Twilight. "Be safe and happy travels. The fate of Equestria rests in your hooves" Starlight said. Twilight's eyes started filling with tears and she smiled back. "I will" Twilight replied. She hugged Starlight one last time before Starlight stepped back. Discord popped in next to Fluttershy. "Oh, hi Discord!" Fluttershy said. "Well, I guess this is goodbye, for now" Discord said. "Oh no, Discord! We'll come back as soon as we can" Fluttershy assured. They engaged in a hug and he stepped back next to Starlight. The CMCs came up and hugged their sisters. "You be good now, you here?" Applejack said to them. "Don't go causing trouble" Rarity said. "Yeah, especially around a city like Canterlot" Rainbow said. "WE WON'T!" they said happily. They stepped back. Then, Ra Ra walked over to Applejack. They engaged in a hug. "You sure you'll be okay" Applejack asked Ra Ra. "Of course, AJ. What could possibly happen t me?" Ra Ra asked. "I...don't...know?" Applejack said thinking. They both giggled and engaged in one last hug. Then, the whistle of the Friendship Express was heard and it roared into the station. "C'mon guys. Let's go!" Sloth said. They all boarded the Friendship Express and sat next to the window. "All aboard" the conductor shouted before the Friendship Express roared away. They all waved back to the others and they did the same and the Friendship Express headed on its way. The Friendship Express roared across the tracks, speeding towards the Dragon Lands. Twilight was watching the asteroid, Fluttershy and Leviathan were sleeping, Sloth was pondering his plan, and the others were doing their own thing. Then, Stargazer walked over to Twilight. "You think we can stop it?" Stargazer asked Twilight. Twilight's concentration was broke. "I don't know? I hope so" Twilight replied. "Right" Stargazer said. Stargazer grew worried. Then, the train screeched to a stop. This immediately caught everypony's attention. Twilight flew up to check. Everyone else followed. "What's going on?" Rainbow asked. Applejack responded by just shrugging her shoulder's. Twilight flew to the conductor. "What's wrong, conductor?" Twilight asked. "We've reached the end of the line, Princess" the conductor replied, "Looks like you're gonna have to walk to the Dragon Lands from here." Twilight rolled her eyes. "Of course" she said. The others arrived. "What's the situation, Twilight?" Sloth asked. "We're gonna have to walk the rest of the way" Twilight replied. "Right! Come on guys!" Sloth said. He hopped off to find they were in the middle of a wastelandish desert. Sloth shrugged. The others peeked out. "Come on!" Sloth said. The Mane 7 agreed, along with Leviathan and Stargazer. They all hopped off. "Good luck!" the conductor said before the Friendship Express whistled and roared away. They all waved after it. "Alright, Rainbow. Fly up and see where we're at" Twilight said to her. "Yes" Rainbow said before she flew up high into the air. She could see for miles around. She saw the Dragon Lands, but it was a long distance away. She also Cloudsdale which was even farther away. She also saw Canterlot on it's high mountain peek. She then flew back down. "So, what's the situation" Twilight asked. "The Dragon Lands are that way" Rainbow said pointing a hoof South West. "Where are we at, by the way?" Rarity asked. "We seem to be in the Badlands" Rainbow repeated. "Alright, this way guys" Sloth said and they began walking to the Dragon Lands. A few miles into the Badlands, the beating sun is starting getting to them. Leviathan was the most exhausted. Since he was more adapted for water instead of land, he was struggling the most. Sloth was the only one not tired. His insulated fur kept him cool enough to withstand the heat. The ponies were getting weaker and weaker by the mile, but they kept trudging forward. Pinkie started growing insane like the last time they were here. Stargazer luckily used her wings as shade to keep her cool. Sloth got to the top of a sand dune and looked around. Then, he saw something that may be of assistance, a plateau like structure that had a canyon in it. "Hey guys. If we head to that canyon, we should have some shelter" Sloth said. This got their hopes up a little bit. Then, a crackling was heard. They looked up and more meteors came down. They watched as they hit all over Equestria. More came this time. But then, they saw some heading straight for them. "Guys, I think we should..." Sloth said. But then, he was interrupted. "RUN!" the Mane 6, Spike, and Stargazer said at the same time. Now, they were running for their lives instead of dying from the heat. Asteroids plummeted, exploding and shooting up sand where they landed, leaving craters everywhere. A tiny meteor scorched Leviathan's right shoulder. He roared in pain, but he kept on going. One almost incinerated Applejack and Pinkie. Rarity ran as quickly as she could, screaming as she ran. Fluttershy copied her. It was like avoiding artillery on a WWII battlefield. Sloth nearly got fried by an asteroid as well, jumping out of the way just in time. Sloth was the first to make it to the canyon, followed by Twilight, Stargazer, the Mane 5, Spike, and Leviathan. They made it just in time. The meteor shower stopped a few minutes after they made it to the canyon. "Everypony okay?" Twilight asked. "I think my head's on backwards" Rarity said panting. "We just nearly got our cupcakes handed to us by a bunch of meteors!" Pinkie said. "Look on the bright side! At least now we now have shelter and refuge" Sloth said. "That is true" Fluttershy said. Then, they were shaken by a groaning sound. They all looked and saw Leviathan's wound. "Oh, Leviathan! You're hurt!" Fluttershy said. "Are you okay, buddy?" Sloth asked. He nodded. Fluttershy grabbed some plants and used them as a band aid to cover his wound. When she was done, Leviathan thanked her with a lick on the side of her face. She then hugged him on the snout. Twilight looked up and saw it was getting dark. "We should set up camp" Twilight said. Everypony nodded in agreement and they began setting up camp. Sloth, Rainbow, and Applejack gathered some dead reeds, since there were no sticks. Twilight gathered some boulders for everypony to sit on. Leviathan found a small little cave for everypony to rest in. "Guys! Leviathan found a cave!" Fluttershy shouted to everypony else. They immediately took shelter in the cave. Sloth started setting up the fireplace, taking stones and laying them in a circle. Then, he took the reeds and laid them in the center of it. Twilight took the boulders and placed them around the fireplace. Stargazer sat on one. Rainbow and Applejack sat on the next one, Pinkie and Fluttershy sat on the next, Rarity and Spike sat on the next, Twilight claimed her own, and finally, Leviathan laid on the sand. When Sloth got the fire started, he sat on Leviathan. "Alright, everypony. We need to be careful. We don't know what's lurking in this canyon" Twilight said. "What could be lurking in here?" Fluttershy said nervously. "I haven't seen anything at all" Pinkie said. "Well, we don't know. So, just be on guard?" Applejack said. Twilight looked out and saw it was dark now. "We should probably get some shut eye" Rainbow said yawning. "Agreed, we have a big day tomorrow" Stargazer said. Everypony agreed and started getting cozy for a night's sleep. Leviathan was about to go to sleep, but then, he could of swore he saw some eyes. He ignored it and went to sleep. Though, he wasn't hallucinating. Something was watching them.