//------------------------------//
// The Elements of ZAAAAAP 
// Story: Odrsjot 
// by Imploding Colon 
//------------------------------//

    Nevlamas’ massive body ricocheted off the mountainside, turning her plummet into a twirl.  Rainbow Dash toppled with her, bouncing against the perforated webbing of the Divine’s wings.  She spun, struggling against gravity to find a way to slip through the dragon’s flailing limbs.  Glimpses of whirring rock and faint starlight flickered in her peripheral vision.  At last, she summoned a burst of strength and kicked against the closest solid surface to her.

It turned out to be Nevlamas’ chest.  The dragon hissed as chunks of chaos crystal fragmented off her scales.  She saw Rainbow darting away from her and swung her talons to slice her to ribbons.

Rainbow spun sideways, evaded the comb of claws by mere inches, and spun past Nevlamas’ snapping jaws.  Before she could make a break for the open sky, several boulders that were falling with them overcame her.  She dodged one rock, spun past another, and flew over a heavily toppling chunk.

Just as she crested through the other side, the boulder split into a hundred pieces.  Nevlamas had shattered through it--snarling--and the resulting thunder knocked Rainbow off her balance.  With gnarled talons, the Divine gripped Rainbow Dash, squeezing the breath out of her lungs.

“Auuckkkt--hckkk!” Rainbow Dash hissed, her eyes tearing as she pushed in vain against the cedar-thick fingers encasing her.

Nevalams lowered her snout to bite Rainbow’s skull off, and it was then that she realized she was falling upside down… and about two seconds from slamming into the feet of the mountain.  Holding her heated breath, she spun her massive body around and spread her wings into a glide.  Her belly scraped the rocky floor, sending bits of earth spraying everywhere.

The near-impact jolted through Nevlamas’ body, loosening her grip of Rainbow Dash.  The pegasus kicked out of the Divine’s claws and whirled past her neck and snout.  Nevlamas tried snapping at the pony with her jaws, but the collapsing boulders made it impossible.  The debris landed violently all around the dragon’s speeding figure.

Rainbow Dash was small and nimble enough to slip through the collisions unscathed.  Dodging another of the dragon’s bites, she twirled up and ran into a spread of branches.  “Ooof!”  She found herself dangling from the crystalline antlers sticking out of the Divine’s skull.

Nevlamas inhaled heavily.  Her scales glowed aquamarine at the diseased seams.  In a matter of seconds, she would have roasted the entire air in front of her.

With a jerk, Rainbow Dash daringly dropped down until she braced her body between the bases of the twin antlers.  With one lower hoof against each mutant stem, she tilted her neck down and rubbed a forelimb over the Element of Loyalty.  Summoning a deep growl, her eyes matched the flicker of the ruby lightning bolt.  A steady stream of harmonic energy poured into Nevlamas’ skull, and the dragon’s scales roasted for it.

“Hraaa-aaaaauckkkt!”  Nevlamas wailed.  Her glide turned into a lurch, and soon her body slammed hard into the edge of a dried-up forest.  The dragon’s body shook from head to tail, each violent vibration threatening to toss Rainbow Dash loose.

Rainbow let loose a long, heroic shout, channeling all of her concentration into the light that her Element was giving off.  Steam rose from Nevlamas’ cranium, filling the air with the acrid stench of burning flesh.  All the while, the Divine’s body plowed into the wasteland, sending chunks of rocks and uprooted trees flying heavenward.  Soon, a long dragon-shaped trough had made its mark across the entire valley.  When at last Nevlamas came to a stop… her antlers didn’t.

With a monumental snap, both branches shattered free.

“Gaaah!”  Rainbow Dash backflipped, twirled, and dodged a veritable shrapnel storm of shattering branches.  She found her balance, flapped her wings, and hovered backwards from the dragon’s punished body.

As the dust settled, Nevlamas’ meaty figure could be seen blemishing the wasteland like a beached whale.  She stirred, her talons and wingtips scraping the ground.

“No… must… musssssst rebirth harmony…”  Her eyes clenched tight, smoldering at the leathery edges.  ”This… issss the only way, my Sisterssssnkkkt…”  Her neck curled against the earth as her trembles lessened to a palpitating shiver.  ”The only waaaaaay…”

Rainbow Dash hovered above the groaning creature, panting.  She spun and glanced northwest.  All she could make out was a faint, shimmering speck of manafire, and it was gliding beyond the vanishing point.

Wincing, Rainbow Dash turned and once again gazed down at the battered monster.  She took a deep breath, her Element dimming ever so slightly.

“Harmony ain’t what it used to be.  Deal with it.”  With a ruffle of her feathers, she dashed northwest after her target.  “I know I do.”

Nevlamas’ shoulders heaved once, but she deflated with a weathered exhale.  Her scales twitched a few more times… and then she lay still.