There is a legend the buffalo tell of a mystical clan of dragons that practice magic far out in the desert. These Dragon Magi, as they're called, are said to be very wise, and they are willing to help anyone in need of guidance. No one has actually seen these dragons, but the story makes for an interesting bit of folklore.
To a group of young ponies, however, it's more than just folklore. It's the answer to their biggest problem.
While staying with Braeburn in the frontier town of Appleloosa, the Cutie Mark Crusaders become privy to this tale thanks to a chance encounter with Chief Thunderhooves. Seeing this as a new opportunity to (hopefully) get their Cutie Marks, they pack up their wagon and go riding off into the desert in search of the Dragon Magi. Unfortunately, they forgot to tell Braeburn. Oops!
Wild with panic, Braeburn ropes Little Strongheart into his quest to rescue the fillies. However, chasing a pegasus-propelled wagon on hoof is usually ill-advised. Luckily, a pair of salesponies who just rolled into town are willing to offer a mode of transport for a, modest fee. But much like the Crusaders, these salesponies have no idea what they're getting into. For the desert is a dangerous place, and it's not just due to the threat of sunstroke (although that doesn't help).
Saddle up, y'all. It's gonna be a wild ride for all involved.
Part I of the Ballad of Needles.
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An adventure with dragons, deserts, and magic? Possibly... dungeons?
the-lost-and-the-damned.664610.n2.nabble.com/file/n5036968/dragonstrike%252B2.jpg
Feeling brave tonight?
2761684 Heh, at first I figured the title would be the only reference to that, but now I'm not so sure. We'll just have to wait and see.
Cool, curious, and interesting! Adding it to the top of my read list!
CMC Logic at its finest.
For those who are counting, that's twice they did the Pinkie Promise.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O9HVV-vPMM. They're going to get Pinkie'd!
-Applejack or Apple Bloom gonna kill him more when she finds out that Braeburn is teaming up with the ones who tried to run Sweet Apple Acres out of business.
-Also what going on with Braeburn and Lil Strongheart?
2781493 Well, to be fair, Braeburn's hooves are kinda tied. I think Applejack and Apple Bloom would understand.
As for what's going on between Little Strongheart and Braeburn, well, I wouldn't look too deeply into it. At least, that's not my intention.
They're just good friends; nothing more, nothing less.
They broke the Pinkie Promise!!!!! Do you know what will happened if the PP is broken?!!
If it's not official it certainly fits with what I'd expect out of MLP.
Times like this AJ should've brought Winona to watch the CMC.
How ironic that the Princess who raised the Sun would doomed the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
2885705 I wouldn't rope Celestia into this. After all, it's not really her fault that the CMC decided that running off into the desert chasing something that might not exist was a good idea.
Meanwhile back with the CMC.........
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That's, pretty much my only response to that comment. I dunno, it seems appropriate.
If there was a moment where something was interrupted now would be the time.
Shortest battle ever.
2947094 Yeah, Trigger's a pretty fun character to write. Fun fact: I actually kinda based him off of the actor Peter Lorre. Or at least his performance in the movie version of Arsenic and Old Lace. I get inspiration from the weirdest places sometimes.
2947240 Here's to Trigles, the new OC ship!
And a minor point I found: How can dragons have a "figure?" They are reptiles.
2947344 You, raise a good point. My best guess is that it's something only other dragons can see. Otherwise, it's really just meant to be a funny bit of banter.
2947631 Perhaps "figure" means something completely different... like the thinness of spines on their backs.
Needigles is awesome.
Let's just say we're going to need a new bleeper machine for this.
2952589 A new bleeper machine for what?
2952595 To block all the swearing when Applejack's going rant.
Hopefully, that'll be good. At least Pinkie could help get them out of there!
Why isn't this fic more popular!? Like seriously, it took me forever to find a multichapter Babs+CMC fic that A) wasn't poorly written, or B) had Babs+Apple Bloom romance in it. And this here, is great! A non-romantic adventure multichap. It may be 3:30AM, but my brain is telling me to read read read!
Aw man, I was hoping Babs would've earned a cutie mark in protecting her friends or something since she's been doing that this whole time!
Now this was a great story!
2993880 Thanks. I'm really glad you enjoyed it.
Mild west is canon. Braeburn mentions they have Wild West and Mild West dances in Appleoosa.
*Applauds* Bravo! This was terrific! Everyone felt really well characterized and Flim and Flam never stopped cracking me up
Really solid stuff, sorry it took me so long to finish it XD
3016631 Honestly, my biggest fear while writing this was running out of material for Flim and Flam. I'm glad I was able to keep their banter humorous throughout. And I'm glad that you enjoyed the tale as a whole.
So Needles doesn't get to meet Spike? Awwww. Entertaining from start to end, even if the ending was still a tad to open for my tastes. Just a tad though, and of course my tastes say nothing about your writing abilities.
Good story
Kind of a shame how the rescue mission didn't end up helping much, since all that happened was Braeburn threw a pie at Asterius, then the CMC went back on their own and the Bull's Eye Gang went off on their own. Their chapters didn't end up being entirely helpful to the overall plot, though they were humorous 
So far this is my favourite chapter
I love the characters of Flint and Steel and their interactions with both the crusaders and with each other. Good job on them.
Mind if I do a little correction?
It should be "those locos potros". In Spanish, when a name is in plural its adjective must be in plural too.
Or maybe you already knew this and you did it on purpose. If that's the case, I apologize
Sometimes I can be quite obsessed with grammar when it comes to my first language.
Must... resist... urge... to correct...
I'm sorry!
...
... Aaaagh! I can't!
Adjectives also have gender in Spanish (I know, it's a crazy language) so, since "idea" is a female noun in Spanish, it should be loca instead of loco.
Unless the word "idea" in that sentence is in English (it's written the same way in both languages, so it's hard to tell), in which case I guess it doesn't really matter.
3954151 Yeah, that wasn't on purpose. Thanks for the correction.
I'm not sure how Applejack will react, but I suspect Apple Bloom is going to be grounded for quite some time.
Anyway, I really liked this story!
It was fun to read and I found the original characters to be very entertaining. Good job. 
3954362 Yeah, the word "idea" is supposed to be English in that sentence, so it really doesn't matter. Still, I'm glad you care enough about my story to notice this kind of thing.
3954378 Thanks. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Sounds like something right out of the show. nice.
It's a nickname. Roll with it.
You have no idea.
*dies of laughter*
Uh Oh is right, now you've done it.
And yet, they did.
They weren't.
Oh boy, Braeburn is a nice guy, but when he gets mad, he gets mad.
This is going exactly where I think it's going isn't it? As in it's going Flim Flam.
Yep. I like how you show that even the energetic happy Braeburn is slowly losing what patience he has due to all this. I just hope nopony makes him snap, that'd be bad.