Flames billowed through the forest.
Birds and shrieking wildlife ran through the underbrush, away from the fire.
Several thick brambles shook. Seconds later, a griffon and a unicorn came bursting through.
Romulus hovered close to the ground. Sweating, he tilted his head back and squinted up at the gray sky. His eye traced after the many leathery bodies and their burning breaths.
Sunset Shimmer, meanwhile, galloped ahead. "Crazy... this is absolutely crazy!" She gulped, her mane a frazzled mess as she hollered through the remaining forest. "How can one single mare upset so many friggin' factions?"
"She knows what she wants," Romulus grumbled. "And she isn't afraid of the consequences."
"So how come she isn't dead yet?!?" Sunset sputtered.
Romulus frowned under his beak. "I do not know."
Trunks exploded and branches snapped. The cacophonous sounds popped closer and closer. The heat in the immediate air picked up.
"Oh Goddess!" Sunset whimpered. "The fire! It's coming closer!"
Romulus' feathers ruffled. "Then you know what to do."
"But... in all this craziness, I-I don't even know if I can concentrate—!"
WHUMP! Romulus' talon gripped tightly around the mare's neck. "You will teleport us out of here or I will rip your brain out through your nostrils!" He sneered in her face. "Then where will your concentration be?"
Sunset's eyes twitched. "I... I-I..." She gulped. "I-I could accidentally materialize us deep into a mountain or—"
A wall of flame billowed through the trees, rushing towards them.
"Would you prefer the alternative?!" Romulus shouted.
"Okay..." Sunset clenched her eyes shut as her horn pulsed a bright blue. "Here goes nothing!"
"Quickly! Quickly—" Romulus yelled.
And then he said nothing, for he and the unicorn had vanished. Seconds later, the fires consumed the forest clearing where they had been standing.
Up above, Blood Fire had stopped gliding altogether. He hovered above the scene, squinting at the smoldering ruins of the forest with scrutinous eyeslits. Smoke billowed upward from every patch of foliage. But there was no sign of the prey.
He snorted, flames shooting out from his scaly nostrils. With a flap of his wings, he turned about and faced the floating castle.
"A diversion... the pony wants us away from Big Boss' lair," the elder broodling thought aloud. "She desires the shards, so no doubt she'll attempt infiltrating the castle again for them."
He gnashed his teeth, his tail lashing behind him. At last, he roared into the air, sending deep vibrations issuing out through the atmosphere in every direction.
The younger dragons stopped circling. They all faced him from afar.
He motioned with his claws. "Back to the castle! Every set of wings! Guard the Flame Staff at all costs!" With heavy wing flaps, he tore back the direction he came, piercing through the rising plumes of smoke. "The castle must make it to the Morsel Lands!"
With obedient growls and roars, the rest of the broodlings followed suit, flocking with such a dense formation that their wings blotted out the sunlight.
Far below, a patch of shadow swam over a forest clearing where the flames had baked a bed of mud into solid plaster.
All was silent—save for the crackling of embers.
Then, a full minute later...
KAPOW!
Rainbow Dash burst out from beneath the mud bed. She gasped for breath, shook her body, and shredded layers and layers of crumbling plaster.
"Blblblblbbb..." She coughed and sputtered, spitting up flakes of mud. "Ughhhh..." She batted the left side of her skull, then her right—shaking sediment out of her ears. "How in the heck could Rarity find this sort of stuff rejuvenating?"
Lancie stuck his head out of her soiled saddlebag, wheezing. "Well, one thing's for sure. It's never saved her life." His granite brow furrowed. "How did this work, exactly, anyway?"
"I'd rather enjoy it then question it." Rainbow tilted her head to the sky. "Looks like the dragons have buzzed off."
"Don't tell me that you will be chasing after them this time..."
"I'm not that stupid."
"Hmmmm..."
"Shut up." Rainbow flapped her wings and flew west, away from the Castle. "Lemme find a place that isn't burning so I can catch my senses."
"Better have a big net for that, Sparky."