"What's he doing?!" Paradise exclaimed as Eclipse disappeared into the darkness of the cave. Sitting down Garfield, she shivered. "He's crazy! Going in there, with a huge dragon just waiting to tear any intruder apart!"
Garfield shrugged. "Can't blame the poor lizard. Those things must get hungry too. Speaking of which, where's the food around here?"
Frost gasped. "Look!" She pointed across the valley of lava. Swimming in the lava was a huge Midnight Ocean dragon- with Safari on its back.
Paradise grumbled. "I don't want that freak here!" Breeze nodded as she stepped next to the two pegasi. "Mmhmm!"
"Ponies, listen!," Safari smiled, "I am sorry!"
Breeze grunted. "Yeah, right." Facing Paradise she whispered, "Don't let him fool you! Not even I am interested in that stallion anymore."
Paradise smiled back. "Don't worry, I've learned my lesson about him."
"Please listen to me! You can't go in there!" Safari exclaimed as the dragon swam closer.
"Pffffft," Breeze smiled, "Heh."
Frost sighed. "I... Think we should listen to him."
Paradise nodded. "I agree."
Safari jumped off the dragon's back and onto the hard ground. "Don't go inside the cave! It's too dangerous- it's able to erupt at any time!" He trotted closer. "I know you ponies don't think the most high of me, but I seriously need your full attention!"
Tacitus smiled. "We just need to save our friend. According to the legend, there's a gemstone in this cave that we need and-"
"We know that! The real news here is that Eclipse already is inside the volcano cave getting the Thaumaturgy Gemstone." Breeze interrupted.
"He... What?!" Safari yelled. "Oh no... Oh no, oh no, oh no!!!" He ran up to the cave but stopped before entering. "Hello?!" He called into the darkness.
There was no reply.
"This... Is NOT good!" Safari began to panic.
"Actually, dearie, if I may interject, I want to propose my opinion on the fact that you are only stating the obvious. We can clearly see that this is not good, or if I may use better, un-overused words, we could say this is terrible, depressing, unwanted, sad, or even melancho-"
"Blah, blah blah- let's get Eclipse back!" Breeze flew towards the cave quickly.
Daffodil, whom was standing by the entrance, grabbed Breeze by her costume. "Nope. Safari said to not go in. It's too risky." The earth pony pulled the batmare to the ground.
"What are we supposed to do?" Shadow Wing asked. "Shouldn't you go inside, Safari? We need our friend back! We can't loose two tonight!"
Safari jumped. "WHAT?! No way, I can't go in there!"
"Then what are we gonna do about it?" Charming Thunder questioned.
"I-I am not sure..." Safari replied quietly. The stallion sat down. "I don't want to jeopardize any of you ponies, but I don't want to loose that other one that ran inside. This... This is all my fault. I'm so sorry..."
Tacitus sat down by him. "It's not your fault. We're the ones that got everypony else into this big mess."
"I suppose..." Safari sighed. "There's no use in searching for..." He looked up.
"Eclipse." Shadow Wing replied.
"Thank you. There's no use in searching for Eclipse because of how hot it is in there- he's probably dead by now. Even if the heat hasn't devoured him yet, the Guardian must've by now. Sad, but we must face it." He glanced up at the group of friends surrounding him. "I'm so sorry, but it's the truth."
Paradise was the next to sit down. "He... He was so brave," she sniffled, "To risk his own life for his marefriend..."
Charming Thunder sat down, and following him, so did Galaxy, then Daffodil, and then Garfield, Frost, Shadow, Quillton, and Breeze.
"He and Mocha were both taken tonight..." Charming sighed.
Galaxy sniffled. "She was like my sister... And he was like my almost-brother-in-law-to-be."
"Dearie, the proper name is-" Quillton began.
"I don't even know the two ponies and I'm tearing up!" Safari interjected. He had tears in his eyes, and not before long, the whole group was crying.
"Mocha made the best coffee!" Frost cried.
"Eclipse was my best friend in high school!" Shadow Wing whined.
"I'm hungry." Garfield said.
Daffodil shot him a look of anger. "How... How in all of Equestria... Could you be thinking... Of your own stomach... When you just ate an hour ago... Especially when two of our friends... Just... Died...?!" She was breathing heavy, tears running down her cheeks.
Garfield flattened his ears. "That's not true. I ate thirty four minutes ago, and also, death and sadness makes me hungry!"
"Well I think-" Daffodil was cut off by a low rumbling noise. Within seconds the whole ground was shaking, and the rumbling became louder and louder.
"Woah, you sure were hungry!" Breeze laughed, trying to stay positive.
"I-I don't think that was me!" Garfield jumped up, looking panicked.
Charming Thunder also stood up. "I agree! I think it was... That!" He pointed at the volcano that Dragon's Cave was built into.
"It's gonna erupt!" Safari shouted. Standing up as well, he added, "It's definitely not safe now! Quick, we have to get as far away from this beast of an explosion as possible!"
Without hesitation the herd stood up. Safari lead them back to the Midnight Ocean dragon, and as they climbed aboard, the ground got shakier and shakier.
"Eclipse is in there! We can't just leave him, he might not be completely gone yet!" Shadow exclaimed.
Nopony could barely hear him.
"It's too loud!" Galaxy yelled. "I'm not sure that the dragon will be calm enough to know what to do!" His shouting voice was barely audible over the rumbling, too.
As they took their seats, Paradise looked back at the cave. "Goodbye, Mocha... Goodbye, Eclipse..." She sniffled as tears formed in the cracks of her eyes once more.
Without warning, the Midnight Ocean flew at great speed, flying into the dark of the night. Behind the large dragon was a display of reds, oranges, and yellows covering the sky as the volcano above Dragon's Cave erupted. Black ash spread everywhere as the ponies and cat held onto the dragon for their life, more than half of them not being able to fly. The rumbling only grew louder as a terrifying scream came from the volcano.
"That didn't sound pony!" Galaxy shivered.
"Or cat!" Garfield added.
"It's probably the gases, you know, chemical reactions of some sort." Quillton suggested in his calm, British accent.
The large blue dragon landed in a nearby field, only a block away from the train station. Safari jumped off and looked back to see the lava spewing everywhere.
"This is just great! We go to our friend's party, she gets kidnapped. We come to get something to bargain with, and her coltfriend gets murdered in a volcano! Who's next?!" Charming Thunder exclaimed.
"Hey- you in the werewolf costume, please be quiet... We don't want company." Safari whispered.
Charming looked at him. "What?"
"Dragons don't like being awaked, especially by other creatures. It's best we stay quiet while we find a hotel for you to stay in."
"We don't need a hotel. We're either staying here, or we're going back home to remember Mocha and Eclipse." Shadow Wing interjected.
Daffodil smiled. "I'm with Shadow."
Paradise Oasis smiled as well. "Me, too."
Safari sighed again. "Fine. The train should be here in about ten minutes if you're heading home, so it's best if you get tickets now instead of wai-" The sandy colored stallion was cut off by another loud scream-like sound.
Above the group was a large layer of smoke from the volcano. Against the black sky, it was impossible to tell. However, the illuminating red and orange from the volcano made shadows on the fog, making the sky look like it was a piece of paper that was crumbled up, and then flattened out again, leaving ridges and bumps.
As the scream continued to sound, a large wind surrounded them, like a tornado. Manes whipped in the furious air as the terrifying screeching noise got louder and louder. Then, a large red scaly dragon's body emerged through the black smoke. Almost as big as the mighty Midnight Ocean, the dragon swooped down, its large wings expanded widely.
Safari's eyes widened. "It can't be..." He murmured.
The large red animal landed next to the Midnight Ocean, folding its wings. The blue dragon stepped back, as if it were afraid of the new creature. The group stared in awe at the large animal.
The red dragon looked at the Midnight Ocean with curiosity. Reaching over, the dragon sniffed the blue animal. Suddenly, the red creature snorted, and letting out a loud roar, flew back into the air. From above, the flying dragon opened its mouth and began to exhale fire.
"Everypony stay here!" Safari shouted, "I've seen this before... I need to stop it before they tear the place up!!" He leaped onto the Midnight Ocean's back, and at once, the large animal flew into the air after the fire breathing dragon.
"Cool! I wanna join!" Breeze exclaimed. She jumped up too, but Charming, whom was standing beside her, caught her in her magic. "No."
"Aww..."
~~~
All Safari could see was darkness. Air slammed into his face as the dragon flew higher and higher. From behind, a large amount of fire poured out from the red dragon's mouth.
Safari pulled on the large beast, and soon the blue dragon was facing the red one. Roaring loudly, the blue scaled creature blew as much fire as the first one.
"He's so brave," Paradise Oasis sighed, looked upward. "To take on such a big dragon in a battle of flaming fire."
Breeze raised an eyebrow. "I thought you didn't like 'em."
"He's still heroic."
"I can be, too! Lemme get 'em!" Breeze fought against Charming's magic, but it was of no use.
Tacitus gasped. "Look!" He pointed at the battle- the two dragons exposing raging fire, Safari on the Midnight's back guiding the animal through it. But what was not seen until now was a third party.
"That's an awfully small dragon!" Galaxy exclaimed.
Frost nodded in agreement. "Too small to fight with them!"
A small, dark figure flew in and out of the smoke and fire. Volcanic ash still filled the sky as the lava continued to slowly creep from the volcano. Suddenly, the smaller dragon-like creature jumped onto the red dragon's back- and the gigantic dragon fell to the ground.
In the blackness of the night, all the group of friends could see was a large lump on the ground. A small red glowing light began to emerge from the opposite side.
"W-what's going on...?" Tacitus asked, a bit of worry in his voice.
Nopony replied.
The red light suddenly got brighter, and began to move upwards. Suddenly, the smaller figure that had been fly around the two dragons flew from behind the red dragon, with a red gemstone around his neck on a necklace.
He landed, and when his dragon-like wings folded, the group's eyes adjusted to the red light. Looking up, they were astonished.
"Eclipse?!" Shadow Wing exclaimed, surprised and scared at the same time.
Smiling, the stallion stepped forward. "Yep."
"What happened? Safari said the heat alone in the cave would kill you!" Frost exclaimed.
Eclipse chuckled.
"Why are you laughing?" Paradise Oasis asked.
"Heh, I'm part dragon, remember?! I can be around heat and lava and anything else extreme!" Eclipse smiled, "It helps being part dragon, bat, and pegasus!"
Shadow smiled. "Guess they were worried for no reason! I wasn't concerned at all- I knew all of that."
Galaxy looked at him. "What? No, you were freaking out because-"
Shadow Wing smiled sheepishly and put his hoof over the blue pony's mouth. "Heh, heh..."
The Midnight Ocean dragon flew down and out of the sky with Safari holding onto its back. The earth pony got off and looked up at Eclipse. "You.... Survived?"
The stallion smiled. "Part dragon."
Safari smiled back. "Nice. I could use that sometimes." He turned to face the red dragon. "What was this girl doing, getting out of her cave?"
Quillton tilted his head. "I thought the guardian was always a male..."
"The guardian died the last time the volcano erupted. His daughter was left to take his place. But... Why is she out? She usually runs ponies out of the cave and stays inside." Safari explained. "The only thing I can think of is if she really needed that gem! It must be very powerful."
"What's that?" Garfield asked, pointing at the glowing red gem that was attached to Eclipse's neck.
The hybrid stallion looked down, and smiled when he saw the necklace with the illuminating stone. "I'll explain, you all probably are curious anyways."
~~~
"I ran inside, I had to in order to save Mocha. It wasn't right that I had to stay outside; I had to go against the tour guide. Dragon's Cave is a dark place... Cold at the entrance. Being part bat I could see. Sparkling minerals filled the walls, and sharp rocks stuck out of the ground. Dragon's Cave is very tall... There was a large hole in the top, I assume that was the opening of the volcano.
"I needed the Thaumaturgy Gemstone, and I saw it. It was stuck in a rock, but being related to dragons, my DNA allowed me to have enough power to extract it from the boulder. I trusted my instincts on the gem... I didn't know what the gem was supposed to look like. I saw a vine, and wrapped it around my neck. Putting the gem on it securely, I began to leave the cave.
"When I was about to exit, the Guardian awoke. I became quiet, and stopped walking- perhaps she wouldn't have noticed me. I knew it wouldn't be of much help... Dragons have an amazing sense of smell. Angered, she huffed out smoky air. I told her that I wasn't going to be any trouble, and that I was leaving. She instead wanted a fight.
"In order to save the rest of you, I flew up. The Guardian followed me, growling furiously. She screamed and roared, but that wouldn't slow me down. She began to breathe fire- I had to hurry to save the stone. I flew out as the ashes passed by me in a flash; the fire started to consume me. I flew down and hid, but not for long. Her fire was so widely spread and hot it turned the rocks inside the volcano in lava!
"I knew she was looking for me. I had to stop her- she must've confused you guys for me! So when I saw she challenged the blue dragon, I had to stop it. I ran inside her cave, grabbed a ruby that looked similar to my gem, and flew in behind her. I offered it to her, and she immediately gave up."
~~~
The group looked at the stallion in awe.
"That's amazing!" Breeze exclaimed.
"I'm hungry," Garfield mumbled, "But it was still a cool story."
"Heh, thanks." Eclipse smiled.
Paradise looked at the two dragons. "Uhm... Safari?"
"Yes?" The stallion faced her, and then turned his attention to the dragons.
"D'aww!" Daffodil admired, "They like each other!"
The Midnight Ocean was nuzzling the Guardian, who seemed to be purring. The Guardian stood up, and the Midnight followed. He opened his wings and with the red scaled dragon by his side, they flew back into the night and towards Dragon's Cave.
~~~
The group waved goodbye to Safari. The train was slowly pulling out of the station. Garfield and Breeze had gone back to the food cart, with Quillton and his best friend Galaxy Nebula to supervise.
~~~
"Dearie, no. Do not mix ketchup and chocolate."
"It's delicious!" Garfield whined.
Quillton facehoofed. "No. Just... No."
"I'll even give you a bite!"
"Ew, no!"
Breeze giggled. "Do you think Paradise would like some cake?"
Quillton looked at her. "I don't know her."
"Oh... Well, I'm hungry. Imma eat it!"
Galaxy looked at his watch. "Oh man, my marefriend is going to kill me when we get back. I didn't tell her where I was. She gets worried, you see."
"Wait, you have a marefriend?!" Asked Breeze, her mouth full of yellow cake.
Galaxy blushed. Nodding, he said, "Yeah, her name is Crystal Harmony, a pegasus like me."
"I wish I had a special somepony..." Breeze sighed.
Galaxy sighed. "I don't think you'll need one... As adventurous as you are, the only stallion for you would be Safari!"
"I don't mean him!"
Galaxy sighed again. "Well, Quillton is taken, I'm taken..."
"I don't want somepony adventurous- I want somepony that likes yellow cake!"
Galaxy then slapped Breeze.
"Worth it..." The mare whispered.
~~~
"I'm so glad we're on our way home." Tacitus smiled.
"Yeah! And that we have the Thaumaturgy Gemstone too. I hope your instincts were right," Shadow said.
"I think so. Dragons are pretty keen, even if I'm just a hybrid." Eclipse replied.
Paradise smiled. "I think it'll all be alright. We'll get back, make a deal with that demon, and see what's going on."
A red furred stallion by the name of Redsopine stood up. He had green and blue spiked hair for his mane and tail, and had special eyes- a golden bat eye on his right, and a multi-hued eye on the left. He was on the other side of the train car, but was able to hear their conversation. "Did you say... Demon?"
"Um... Yes. But only to descri-"
Red held up his hoof. "I will make an offer with you. Give me that stone around his neck," he glanced at Eclipse, "And I will give you a twinblade diablo. Not just your average fighting weapon- but a tool to slay demonic forces." He grinned.
Frosted Shard looked uneasy. "Um... Well she didn't literally mean a demon..."
"See... It's kinda personal." Daffodil added. "She calls herself 'The Terror'. Do you know of her?"
Red stopped to think. "No... I've come across all sorts of demons, but none with that name."
"Oh... Then I don't think your sword will do much help." Paradise politely addressed.
"Eh, if you change your mind... I'll be getting off at Canterlot."
"Well, we're the next stop- Ponyville." Tacitus smiled.
Red smiled then walked back to his seat.
"Who was that?" Charming asked.
"I'm not exactly sure, but he looks like a member of an organization called 'Wolfpack'." Tacitus replied.
"So... A demon fighter?" Daffodil questioned.
"That's so cool!" Eclipse commented.
"We need Mocha back. Should we have gotten a sword?" Charming Thunder asked nervously.
"I don't think so. The Terror asked for the Thaumaturgy Gemstone- we'll stick to her wishes and hope she keeps her end of the deal." Tacitus replied.
The others agreed, and as they rode the train, Ponyville was getting closer to them... And so was The Terror.