As the day progressed, the herd was a good distance away from Tirek. The sky wasn't covered in clouds, but smoke from a nearby cascade volcano. Embers and ash soared from the sky as the larger members of the herd were now ankle deep in soot; Pip, and Zipporwhill as usual rode on their backs.
Apple Bloom had been wrong about Tirek, but the others followed her, for their only hope was to reach Canterlot Crater and they knew the way.
They were now halfway up an extinct volcano when they began to tire from the lack of available oxygen. Several members of the herd were almost to the point of fainting and lied down for a while, blocking the less tired members. The Crusaders, being ahead, looked down at their tired herd members.
"Come on, up'n at 'em fellas!" - Apple Bloom ordered - "We gotta keep moving up!"
Apple Bloom's side of the herd understood as they continued their walk, leaving only Diamond's side lying down.
"We're so tired..." Said Snails as he strained himself to get up to no avail.
"You can't give up, now!" - Apple Bloom rebuked - "Our survival could be just beyond these rocks!"
The rest of the herd struggled to get up as they continued their journey up the mountain.
Though they were sourced out and tired, Apple Bloom urged them on. She's never seen the Crater but her heart told her that they were close. Surely at the top, they behold it finally.
With a hard wind blowing ash and embers into their faces, the herd couldn't see where they were going. While walking along a plateau, they fell down a large hole, getting cuts and bruises on their body that the wind seeped through. The herd looked around to find various structures around them, raising their hopes up that they found the green wilderness. When the wind finally died down and Celestia shined once more, that hope died instantly. There are no signs of greenery, no water, just sand and more rocks.
Diamond Tiara couldn't take it anymore and stamped her foot in the sand, "THIS IS YOUR CANTERLOT CRATER!? YOUR CRAZY!!!"
Knowing that Celestia is beginning to set over the massive mound of bedrock, Apple Bloom began her climb up before she and the rest of the herd saw Diamond began walking the other way towards a dark canyon.
"Diamond, where are you going?" Asked Rumble
"I don't know about you guys but I am taking the easy way for once!"
"But you're goin' the wrong way!" - Apple Bloom rebuked - "We must keep following Celestia!"
Diamond turned her head around, "Who says?"
Getting irritated, Apple Bloom stepped down from the mound and rose to a stature of dominance.
"My Granny!" Apple Bloom answered.
The herd slowly backed away while Diamond Tiara continued her walk.
"Then she is stupid just like all those other Three Horns."
That tore a nerve from her; no one dares insult a Three Horn without getting said horns. Apple Bloom charged at the Crown Head and rammed her to a rock. The herd was stunned at how out of place Apple Bloom had become. With a snort, the young Chasmosaurus began to walk back to the mound.
"You!" - Apple Bloom turned to find Diamond Tiara charge at her. A head-to-body collision sent Apple Bloom flying towards one of the stone pillars. The young Styracosaurus ran up and rose on her hind limbs, ready to crush her ribs. Apple Bloom crawled forward and clamped her jaws onto one of Diamond's hind limbs - "Let go of my leg!"
Drawing a toothy grin, Apple Bloom pushed forward, sending Diamond rolling to a stone slab. Destroyed, Snips, Snails and Button Mash hid behind another rock. Sand scattered in the air as the two young ceratopsians pushed and shoved each other in feats of strength that they will do anyhow in their adult age. Sweetie Belle, in an unusual feat of strength and agility, bounded back behind another stone slab, taking Dinky and Scootaloo with her. Watching from behind Featherweight's wing, Pipsqueak winced at how painful each collision of their head felt.
Apple Bloom, now covered in large bruises, flung Diamond to the ground. The young Crown Head looks up in fear as Apple Bloom rose on her hind legs, ready to dish out some serious damage when a gray blur came out of hiding and rammed her by the side. The Three Horn looked up to see the young Domehead taking deep breaths, shaking at what she had done before walking to her closest friend and got her up to her feet. The rest of the herd watched as the two defectors walked away.
Diamond gave Apple Bloom one last look.
"Crazed Three Horn..." She hissed.
Adding more pain to her wound, Apple Bloom tears before sucking up and rose to her feet.
"Go on! Go the wrong way!" - Apple Bloom lashed out - "We never wanted you with us anyway!!"
Even Silver Spoon stopped and watched Apple Bloom began climbing up the hill. Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Dinky, Boysenberry, and Featherweight joined her while Cosgrove and Pipsqueak watched the other half of the herd standing still.
"Diamond's way is easier..." Said Snips sadly.
"I think so... too..." Added Snails.
Feeling betrayed, Pipsqueak sniffled before hopping onto Cosgrove's back and joining them up the mound climbing. As they climbed higher, they could hear them calling out for Diamond Tiara to wait. The herd was once again divided... This time for good.
Having climbed the mountain of gravel, the walk became much easier, but Apple Bloom's company lagged behind. They had a good reason to as Three Horns take some time to cool off. Apple Bloom looked up to find a rock her size and charged at it. She pushed and shoved it as hard as she could but couldn't even budge it. She looked as her herd stared at her from a distance. Tears streamed from her eyes as Apple Bloom took out her rage on the next rock, then the next one, braying in anger. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle walked up to her as she flopped to the floor and cried.
"It's okay, Apple Bloom," - Sweetie Belle comforted - "we'll be with our families before you know it."
"What family? They're gone!" - Apple Bloom lashed out - "We're probably dead to them..."
Dinky, Boysenberry, Featherweight, and Pipsqueak stepped forward. Cosgrove was about to join them when he heard a faint sound.
"How dare you?!" - Dinky scolded - "Wherever Canterlot Crater is, they would still think we are alive, they have to!"
"If they did, then why haven't they sent help?" Apple Bloom sniffled again.
Now realizing that fact, the children begin to doubt themselves. Never thinking that her mother would call her dead, Dinky also sat on the floor and began to cry. Scootaloo teared up as she kicked a rock.
"None of this would've happened if it wasn't for me!"
High above a ledge, Cosgrove watched his friends cry as he too teared up.
"Cosgrove..." - A voice whispered, prompting him to make one last step up the ledge - "...Cosgrove..."
"Mother!!" He called out.
The young Long Neck looked around, wondering where the sound is coming from. Just across from him, a rain cloud began to take shape into the form of a Duckbill.
"Cosgrove..."
Cosgrove looked at the cloud before sitting down.
"Mo-Mother..." - Cosgrove sniffled before stepping forward - "We tried to do what they told us... but it's just too hard... We'll never find Canterlot Crater..." - Cosgrove looked ahead to find the cloud floating away from him - "Mother. Mother?! DON"T GO MOTHER!! DON"T GO!!!"
Running down the ledge, Cosgrove caught his herd's attention as he followed the cloud up a large hill of gravel, through a tunnel and out to a steep hill. The cloud formed a heart shape before shining a ray of light on him. The hole in the cloud expanded, revealing a walkway along a great wall near a waterfall before finally revealing a massive green valley. Cosgrove's mouth was agape as he looked in splendor.
"APPLE BLOOM, SWEETIE BELLE ,SCOOTALOO, DINKY, GUYS OVER HERE!!!!"
Hearing the call, the herd followed the same path, Scootaloo doing a wall jump as they make the turn. Coming out the other side, the children skidded to a halt at their amazing first view of Canterlot Crater.
"Cosgrove, you found it!" Said Featherweight
"Good show!!" Pipsqueak added.
Cosgrove hopped down the path to the base of the Thundering Falls, laughing.
"No, we did it, together!" The Alamosaurus responded.
Apple Bloom's joy then became one of determination as she turned back to the tunnel.
"Where are you going?" Boysenberry asked
"There's still time to get the others!" Apple Bloom answered before racing out of the tunnel.
The others looked at each other before joining her. Sliding down the gravel that stopped them before, they followed the displaced sand caused by the other half of the herd into the dark canyon. Just behind a large shadow loomed over the dead zone.
The small canyon led to a series of very active cascade volcanoes that erupted every three minutes. Billowing smoke, the sky was as black as night, hindering any chance of plant growth despite the volcanic soil being fertile. There are telltale signs that this place was once inhabited, but like the land surrounding it, changes have occurred, leaving only a few dead trees as evidence.
Diamond Tiara paid no attention to the dangers as she led her herd across volcano after billowing volcano. Her followers, even Silver Spoon, were getting scared. If the swamp was bad enough, then they walked barefoot into Hell.
"I-I-I w-wish Ap-pll-ple Bloom was here wi- with us now." Rumble shivered.
"Mu-mu-mu- Me too." Button Mash added with a sniffle.
"'Apple Bloom' this and 'Apple Bloom' that," - Diamond Tiara growled before turning around - "Apple Bloom and her stupid goons aren't here!!"
"Well, they would if you hadn't chased them off!" Zipporwhill rebuked
Diamond began stamping on the burned ground, almost shaking the Feathered Glider off her back, "No, no, NO!!! I didn't chase them off! Apple Bloom's just as stubborn like the rest of the Three Horns; did she even take one glance of you when she left? No! And now I am stuck with some bird thing, two of the most stupid Screw Horns, a Fast Runner, a Spike Tail who keeps moping about not getting enough playtime and a Domehead who keeps following me LIKE SOME STUPID PET!!!!"
In a soundscape that consisted of volcanic eruptions, embers falling and steam hissing, that scream echoed throughout the area. Snips and Snail looked at each other. Even Silver Spoon can felt that in her heart. Button Mash and Rumble gave each other looks before turning around and heading back the way they came.
"Anyone else?!" - She asked the remainders of her herd. An awkward silence had her continue on - "Good! 'Cuz from now on, there are no breaks!!!"
Even if insulted, Silver Spoon still followed Diamond Tiara. Snips began to step forward when he noticed Snails devouring a small plant that was growing in the ash for some time now.
"Snails, come on!" Snips pushed his taller friend.
"I can't, eh! I'm concentratin' or else I get cramps!"
Snips shuffled his stubby legs nervously as Snails pulled the plant. In a dangerous place such as this, nothing can be predicted.
Diamond Tiara, Zipporwhill, and Silver Spoon have come across a very dark part of the volcanic range. Following a blackened path, they came across a sight that made even Diamond Tiara scared stiff. In front of them was a tar pit, one of the many additions to the changing world. Dotting about were the bones of various large dinosaurs that have become bleached as the years passed by, and some still had pieced of rotting flesh attached to them. What caused this was unknown, but the presence of Sharpteeth skulls tells without a doubt that a few desperate carnivores tried to get a bit of free food and failed... miserably.
Diamond Tiara sucked up some courage before continuing to a bridge. When she applied weight to it, the midsection of the bridge collapsed, splashing sticky tar up in the air. Diamond looked down into the bubbling void. If she could not make the jump, she would be just like the poor, unfortunate souls that have tried. Diamond stepped back and began to crouch. A volcano nearby started to rumble, shaking the ground next to it. Silver Spoon noticed Zipporwhill shaken off Diamond's head and clung onto her leg.
"Diamond!" -Too late, Diamond Tiara successfully leaped across the gap, but Zipporwhill lost her grip and was flung in the air right above the pit. Silver Spoon ran to the Feather Glider, paying no attention to the gap and with no wind to glide from, Zipporwhill screamed as they both fell into the death trap. Diamond didn't even turn around as she continued her walk. Silver Spoon erupted from the tar pit and struggled to get out - "Diamond, help!!" Silver Spoon cried out, but to no avail."
Zipporwhill, sitting on Silver Spoon's head, looked back at the path they came, "Snips, Snails, HEEEEEELLLLLLPPPPP!!!!"
Apple Bloom's share of the herd just reconciled with Rumble and Button Mash when they heard the screams.
"Cosgrove, take the boys, find Silver Spoon and Zipporwhill!!" Apple Bloom ordered.
The nearly reformed herd split once more, this time for a purpose.
"Help, Diamond!!" Shouted Snips from a distance.
"Where are you, eh!?" Added Snails
Following their cries of help, Apple Bloom's herd found Snips and Snails on a single pillar surrounded by a river of lava. Snails looked up and spotted them up a ledge.
"Apple Bloom, Help!!!" Snails beckoned.
"Hang on, we're coming!!" Apple Bloom and her rescue team raced down the hill.
What Snips and Snails haven't noticed was that the rock they stood is sinking slowly to the molten earth. Sweetie Belle turned to a rock that's just the right height to become a bridge. Apple Bloom joined her as pushed the rock with all their might, tipping it over to the lava flow. Snips hopped onto his friend's back as lava splashed on his side of the sinking pillar.
Scootaloo jumped forward to the two Screw Horns, "Quick, this way!"
The three dinosaurs ran to safer ground as the river swallowed the rocks. Cosgrove's rescue team heard Silver Spoon's cries of help and followed them to the asphalt lake. Silver Spoon was now up to her neck.
"Silver Spoon, stop moving!" - Featherweight called out - "It'll only make you sink faster!"
"Everyone line up!" Cosgrove wrapped his tail around a pillar before holding Featherweight's right hand with his mouth.
The flier then grabbed Rumble's tail, and Rumble (carefully) grabbed Button's spiked tail. With a living bridge just reaching the two trapped Prisoners, Pipsqueak ran onto Button's head and grabbed Zipporwhill off the Domehead.
"Grab Silver Spoon!" Featherweight called out
Pipsqueak and Zipporwhill Held Button's nostrils with their toes and Silver's nostrils with their hands.
"Pull!!" Shouted Pipsqueak.
In an intense tug-of-war, the rescue teamed struggled with the asphalt as it pulled them back and forth. Button and Silver teared up as the forces of them being pulled was too much for their noses. Just when they were about to turn the tide, the pillar Cosgrove took hold gave. The rescue gradually slid down the ramp despite their efforts not to.
"Help!!" the group called out.
Just when they are about to meet their end, Apple Bloom bit down on Cosgrove's tail. With additional leverage from the rest of the herd away from the pit, they turned the tide once more.
A good distance away from both of them in an underground cave, Diamond Tiara had problems of her own.
"HEEEELLLPPPP!!!!"
Though Chrysalis was no longer among them, her pack still proved very effective against the lone Crown Head. Diamond ran one way, a Fast Biter blocked her path. She ran another way but was stopped by another Fast Biter. Noticing a column of light, Diamond made a mad dash towards the way she came. Suddenly, another Fast Biter jumped in front of her. With the other three Fast Biters cornering her into one spot, she was afraid.
"Help me, help me, Heeeelllppp!!!"
Diamond watched as one of the raptors drew it's toothed jaws towards her throat. Just as Diamond winced, the hunt was stopped by an unusual sound. The raptors looked and found a shocking discovery. The creature they saw was no dinosaur, let alone any kind of creature that ever existed. It was an elephant-like beast with wings jutting from behind it, its lower half appeared to be a six-legged, two-headed turtle with horns jutting out of its nose. The creature began creeping towards them as it echoed the caves with a sound like that of a mad man. Scared senseless the pack ran away to the dark caves. Diamond looked up and saw the creature approaching her before flopping back on the ground, covering her eyes. When the noise stopped, she lifted her hands. The monster was still there, towering three times her height.
"Get away! Get away from me!!" - The monster responded by lifting Diamond up with its trunk - "Let go of me!!" - The monster didn't do as she said as it raised her even higher - "Help! Help!! Silvie, Zipporwhill, Snips, Snails! Heeeelllppp!!!!!"
Diamond flailed her hands around as she waited to be devoured.
"Diamond, it's us!"
The Crown Head opened her eyes to find the Crusaders, Dinky, Pipsqueak, Rumble, Boysenberry, and Button Mash looking at her from below. Diamond slowly spun around to the monster; Snips and Snails formed the legs, Cosgrove operated the trunk with his tail while Featherweight stood on his shoulders, Silver Spoon stood on top with Zipporwhill using her arms to give the impression of ears. They were all just covered in tar and other debris. Dinky began to laugh before Boysenberry joined in.
Quickly regaining herself, Diamond crossed her arms, "I knew it was you all along."
"Sure you did..." Scootaloo pointed to the ground, leading the young Styracosaurus' eye to a small puddle of urine just below her.
The children noticed Diamond blushing in embarrassment before they started laughing. In his hilarity, Cosgrove lost his grip, dropping Diamond onto the puddle. She watched as Snips and Snails leaned to the left, causing the dog pile to fall on the uncovered members. This made the children laugh even more. Diamond looked at Silver Spoon, who still looked angry.
"Silvie, how could you!? I thought we were friends?"
"Friends?" Silver Spoon stepped forward "Since when do friends leave their own?! You left me and Zipporwhill to die in this muck!! What friend are you anywho?! You are nothing more than just a fibber!"
That backlash echoed the cave as the herd remained silent. Diamond Tiara looked down in shame.
"Well?!" Silver Spoon added.
"Oh," Diamond Tiara shoves the tar covered herd "get out of my way!"
Diamond raised head and tail up just when she slipped on another puddle of tar. Pipsqueak chuckled when Diamond turned a glare. She stood up again and stuck her tongue out just when she walked to a stalactite. Giving them one last glare, Diamond abandoned her pompous posture as she trudged out of the cave.
"Apple Bloom..." Silver Spoon asked of the Three Horn "I'm sorry I tackled you back there. You see, when I lost my family after the Great Earthshake, I was all alone until Diamond showed up. At first, I considered it for safety's sake, but as time came..." Silver Spoon started to tear up when Apple Bloom comforted her.
"We're sorry we dragged you guys into this," Rumble apologized "we just wanted to find our home."
Featherweight and Dinky looked at Cosgrove.
"And in a way, you succeeded." Dinky broke the silence.
"What?"
"Have we not split up, we wouldn't have covered more ground." Cosgrove answered.
The other half started looking at each other before Zipporwhill's eyes widened.
"You mean...!?"
Apple Bloom and her herd answered with a nod. The other children cheered, splashing about the muck. After their cheering died down, the only other sound aside from the dripping of water was that of weeping. Following the sound, the herd found Diamond Tiara weeping near a waterfall. Hearing the slouching sounds of tar, she turned to see their concerned looks.
"Well," Diamond sniffled "go on! Laugh!! See what I care!"
"Diamond, when Ah first met you, you were one of the most boorish dinosaurs I have ever met." Apple Bloom walked towards Diamond "But now I am feeling you are not being honest with yourself."
After a silence, Diamond raised her head.
"I always wanted to play with others outside of my own kind, but Mom never let me. I tried to talk to my dad about it, but be would just say," Diamond rose to her full height and deepened her voice "Diamond, how would you call yourself a Crown Head if you don't prove your worth?"
The herd looked at each other as the information processed in their heads.
"As I grew older, I became cold, and bullied others outside my herd." Diamond started to tear up "But my parents still didn't care, they just ignored me, I would be lucky enough to even get a one-word answer."
"What would make you feel better?" Asked Sweetie Belle
"A tooth," Diamond answered "a Sharptooth's tooth. That should grab the attention I deserve."
"Even if you want to risk your life?" Asked Scootaloo
Diamond Tiara lowered her shoulders, "If I don't they wouldn't care, in fact, they would hate me for being with you guys."
Dinky stepped forward, "They wouldn't hate you. Because like us, they have something that you have."
"Like what?"
Dinky held Diamond's front leg and placed it on her chest. Diamond was confused until the Hollow Horn pressed her hand harder. Feeling the slow rhythm on her hand, Diamond calmed down.
"They have parents like we do, they have problems too. Even if they're louder, stronger, or even think they're tough, they're kids like us."
"See, Diamond," Said Cosgrove "in a world so full of life, you're only as alone as you choose to be."
Diamond Tiara looked at the herd as they curled a smile. Diamond hugged Apple Bloom.
"We'll get this solved, Sugarcube. We will."
Now feeling anew, Diamond rejoined the herd as they followed an underground river, ready to go home."