Fluttershy woke up the next morning and crawled out of her tent. The first thing she saw was the rock that had destroyed Pinkie's party cannon. Then she looked up and saw a pillar of black smoke towering over the treetops, coming from the same direction as the sounds they had heard the night before.
Snort!
A loud snort nearly made Fluttershy dive back into her tent, but then she saw where the sound had come from and calmed down. On the ground, laying next to a bed of ashes, Discord slept comfortably. Then Fluttershy looked back at the giant rock and noticed several scratches covering it. Fluttershy also noticed that the rock looked to be only part of a bigger rock. She stepped closer to look, only to bump into an invisible wall.
"Of course, Discord's spell would still be working." Fluttershy thought, turning towards the chaotic being, "He's the only one who can lower it."
Approaching him, Fluttershy gently placed a hoof on his shoulder and shook him.
"Discord, wake up." Fluttershy whispered, "There's a lot to do, today."
Discord just twitched slightly and yawned, refusing to wake up.
"Discord, please." Fluttershy pleaded, a little louder this time, "We've got to move quickly, because there's smoke in the forest and that might mean fire."
Discord remained in his slumber. Then Fluttershy had an idea and extended a wing out to him, just enough for one of her feathers to touch his nose. She began waving the feather across his nose, causing his face to scrunch up.
Aah... Aaaah... AAAHH-CHOOO!
Discord sneezed loudly, bringing him to a fully alert stance. Then he rubbed his eyes and saw Fluttershy. Shortly after, their friends stepped out of their tents.
"Bless you." Pinkie Pie said, seeming more awake than the others.
"Thank you." Discord replied, before turning to Fluttershy, "What's so important, that you had to wake me up like that, Fluttershy?"
Fluttershy blushed, feeling sorry for rudely waking him up in the way she did. But she had done so for a valid reason.
"We need to go and investigate that smoke." Fluttershy said, pointing to the black cloud rising above the trees.
Everyone looked up and saw the smoke trailing in the wind.
"But what about the dragon?" Twilight asked, feeling a little uneasy, "Maybe it caused that."
"Maybe it did, but that doesn't change the fact that whatever that smoke is coming from, could spread." Fluttershy argued, looking back at it and thinking of the animals that might live in that direction, "If we hurry, we might be able to prevent a forest fire."
The smoke remained the same size, but they all knew that there was a chance that it could spread and destroy some of the forest.
"Alright." Twilight said, understanding the danger that approached, "Let's get everything packed and ready to move."
It took several minutes to get everything to fit properly in their saddlebags. After they were fully packed, Discord and Twilight lowered their barriers and they all left their campsite. Fluttershy and Twilight lead the group, while Discord followed behind to make sure they weren't attacked.
"That smoke hasn't changed that much." Rainbow Dash commented, looking through the tree branches, "If anything, I'd say it was getting thinner."
Turning their attention to the black pillar, they saw that Rainbow Dash was right. The smoke had gotten thinner as they got closer, as if whatever started it was dying out. Getting closer, Fluttershy noticed bits of debris laying on the ground and hanging off of tree branches. The debris got bigger and the smell of smoke got stronger as they got closer.
"I'll bet it's right behind th-... Oh my sweet Celestia!" Twilight gasped, parting some bushes.
On the other side of the bushes, Twilight saw something that resembled a scorched battlefield. There were black burn marks covering several crushed rocks, uprooted trees, giant claw marks, small fires, and broken animal traps everywhere. At the center of it all, she saw four big creatures. Three of them lay still, while the fourth sat on it's hind legs and hung it's head.
"Red scaly skin, large claws, whip-like tail, a sharp-tipped crest, and no wings." Twilight whispered, blocking everyone's view, "Fluttershy, come here."
Fluttershy slowly approached her, unaware of what lay on the other side. Then Twilight closed the bushes and slowly turned to face her.
"I'm going to show you something," Twilight said, putting a hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder and frowning, "but it's going to be a bit of a shock."
Fluttershy nodded bravely, getting ready for what she might see. Twilight parted the bushes again and Fluttershy's body began to shake in horror.
"What happened here?" Fluttershy whispered, looking at the dragon, "And why are those creatures not moving?"
She stared at the dragon as it moved to it's side, revealing blood and gashes along it's body. Then Fluttershy saw the reason why the other creatures were motionless. The first two creatures were manticores, a male and a female, wrapped in large nets and covered in claw marks. The third was a green dragon, with wings and other features that didn't resemble the wingless dragon, laying on it's side with large teeth marks along it's neck and claw marks on it's wings.
"Th-They're..." Fluttershy stammered, putting a hoof over her mouth, "...dead."
Tears filled her eyes as she began to cry. One by one, everyone peered through and saw the damage. Fluttershy sat on a stump and held her face in her hooves, sobbing. Her friends surrounded her and tried to comfort her. Even Discord shed a few tears for the beasts.
Snap! Snap!
The sound of ropes being cut, broke the waterfall of tears and everyone looked back at the burned area. They watched as the dragon used it's big claws to cut the nets off of the manticore bodies. After it had pulled the nets off and thrown them to one side, the dragon turned away from the bodies and began clawing the ground.
Scratch! Scrape! Scratch!
"What's it doin'?" Applejack asked, wiping away a small tear that started rolling down her cheek.
The dragon stopped digging and turned back to the bodies, grabbing one with it's mouth. Then it turned back to the hole and gently lowered it. Almost immediately, Fluttershy caught onto what the dragon was doing.
"It dug a grave for the manticore." She whispered, awestruck by how a creature, such as a dragon, would bother to take the time to respectfully bury another creature.
The dragon placed the manticore in the hole and pushed the earth back over it, covering the once proud creature. Then it started digging next to where it's first grave was. But, as they watched, Fluttershy noticed the dragon wincing in pain every time it dragged it's claw back, pushing dirt out of the hole.
"I'm going to help it." Fluttershy said without hesitation.
Before her friends could object to such a strange and possibly suicidal idea, Fluttershy stepped into the newly formed clearing. She had taken almost a hundered steps before the dragon noticed her.
"What are you doing here?" It asked in a very deep and very male voice, "I thought I told you to go home."
He stopped digging and slowly approached her. Fluttershy stood her ground, frozen by a slight hint fear.
"Unless, you're one of the hunters responsible for this." The dragon hissed, pointing at the manticore body and baring it's teeth.
Fluttershy wanted to run back to her friends, but remained planted to the ground, instead. The dragon came closer and gazed at her with his glowing white eyes.
Rustle! Rustle!
The bushes behind Fluttershy parted again and Applejack ran out to them. The dragon's gaze switched from Fluttershy to Applejack and began to step around Fluttershy.
"Don't even think 'bout hurtin' her, wingless!" Applejack growled, before skidding to a stop.
She wasn't half way there, when Fluttershy held up a wing and slightly turned her head towards Applejack, stopping her from getting any closer. Then Fluttershy lowered her wing and looked back at the dragon, who had started walking slowly around her. He eyed Fluttershy carefully, before returning to face her and lowering his head to her level.
Sniff! Sniff!
Fluttershy felt the hot breath of the dragon as he took in her scent.
"I'm not sure why," the dragon said, slowly lifting his head, "but I'm getting all kinds of other scents from you. The strongest being a vampire fruit bat and a rabbit."
Fluttershy stared at the large beast, amazed that he could smell the other animals.
"If I had to guess," the dragon continued, "I'd say you're the one who lives near the edge of the forest, in that little cottage."
Fluttershy nodded hesitantly, intimidated by what he knew about her and his size. The dragon looked at her and began backing away towards the remaining manticore.
"W-Would you like any help?" Fluttershy asked, trying to build enough courage to actually be willing to help.
The dragon looked from the body to her, tilting his head slightly.
"It's not a task meant for you." The dragon said, resuming to dig again, "But if you think you can handle such a task, then you're welcome to help put these creatures to rest."
Fluttershy stepped forward and began to approach them, followed by Applejack. One by one, their friends emerged from the woods, cautiously walking toward the graves. Discord, however, remained hidden behind the bushes and watched. It didn't take very long for the second grave to be dug and the other manticore to be gently placed in it. Headstones were made for them and the dragon sat on his hind legs again.
"May you roam in the fields eternal," the dragon began to pray, "free from harm, guilt, fear, and strife. For it is you, who shall be rewarded in the next life. May you rest peacefully."
Then the dragon got back on all four limbs and began to walk away, without saying another word. Fluttershy turned toward him and raced after him.
"Wait!" Fluttershy called, stopping the dragon, "What about the other dragon?"
Looking at the body of the other dragon, the red dragon bared his teeth.
"That wasn't a dragon!" He hissed, "That was a bloodthirsty monster that deserved to die! Let him rot!"
Shocked by such a remark, Fluttershy stopped walking to the dragon as he turned to face her.
"I know it sounds cruel, but I've lived long enough to tell the difference between a monster and a creature trying to survive." The dragon continued, closing his eyes in remorse, "And that was a monster, clawing the parents to death and eating their cubs. That's not survival, that's murder."
Fluttershy saw a tear form in the dragon's eyes as he spoke.
"And when I find whoever left those traps!" He hissed again, opening his eyes as they started to slowly turn red, "They will pay for everything they've done!"
RRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!
The dragon roared loud and long, before jumping into the air and sailing through the sky, towards a mountain. Leaving Fluttershy and her friends, awestruck by how forceful and frightening the words he had spoken were.
"I hope that whoever did this," Twilight said, looking at the mountain the dragon had flown to, "doesn't meet him."