Meadow

By the next day, it was apparent that this wasn't a dream.

Despite her best efforts to diminish her gnawing anxiety, Fluttershy felt as though there was no way out from this meadow. Whereas the first day had felt so dreamlike, this day crawled on far more slowly and painfully. She began to sweat under the constant sun. The slight soreness in her muscles spread to her bones.

Still, she continued on. Strength may have left her body, but it did not leave her mind. The memories of those who needed her powered her onward through the meadow. Each step she took in the right direction, she knew, would bring her closer to the edge of this massive biome, no matter how little it felt like an edge existed.

At last, she saw something that broke the uniformity. It was a small, singular mound. That's interesting, she thought. It wouldn't have caught her attention back home, but the constant sameness of the meadow made even the smallest quirk stand out. Besides, as she looked on ahead, more and more of these mounds seemed to be cropping up. Suddenly, one began to quiver. Fluttershy gasped as a small brown gopher emerged from the mound.

"Halt, intruder!" he said, in a fast and high-pitched voice. "What is your reason for approaching the Gophrelands?"

Fluttershy was rather startled. She spoke many animal tongues herself, but had never met another species who knew pony. She decided to speak gopher to the small creature as a show of respect. "I- I'm sorry, gopher," she said. "I just got lost, a-and I'm looking for a way home."

"My name isn't Gopher, you ninny, it's Slickfur!" the gopher replied indignantly. "Although you can't be too much of a ninny if you speak gopher. I know many animal tongues myself, but I've never met a pony who bothered to learn something other than their own language."

Fluttershy giggled a bit, and Slickfur cracked a brief smile. "Well, Slickfur, I'm sorry to bother you, but I don't know how to get home. I've been walking in the same direction for nearly two days, a-and I haven't found anything u-until now!"

Slickfur tilted his head curiously to one side, then to the other. "Ok," he said quietly. "I see you're a pony in distress. I can give you a few pointers but then I have to get back to my post. Guard duty is very important!" Fluttershy nodded. "Listen up now. This, like I did mention, is the Gophrelands. That right there- where you came from- is the region of Alkudjuda. It's been abandoned for millenia, I'm pretty sure only our village elders know what used to be there. But, if you keep heading across-" he motioned over the meadow. "-you'll reach the equine establishment of Alkuääri. Got it?"

"Mhm!" said Fluttershy, nodding.

"Good, good. Well I wish you well, yellow one, but I must be getting back to work! Now good day!" And with that, Slickfur slipped back into the earth.

Fluttershy, feeling renewed, began to trot back in the opposite direction. It'll probably take me a week to get across, she thought to herself, but it won't be forever! Now that she was filled with hope, crossing the meadow felt more like a challenge than an impossibility. And with nothing here to hurt her, the path would not be dangerous. But by now, the day had grown quite long. So Fluttershy stretched, lay down on the soft grass, and fell asleep with the setting of the sun.

The next few days all went by more or less the same. Fluttershy could tell when she had reached her starting point, as something made the air different there. Perhaps that was why the first day had felt so dream-like. She felt some mild excitement upon passing that zone, knowing that she was closer to home than when she began. And the longer she spent here, the less sleep she noticed herself needing. She had gone from sleeping a full night to only a few hours. That meant she'd be there quite soon.

After roughly 6 days, the settlement Slickfur had mentioned was visible in the distance. A few four-legged figures about her height could be seen grazing, but as Fluttershy drew closer she saw that they were non ponies of any sort, but deer. One looked up at her, and the others followed.

"Um... hello," said Fluttershy once she had made it to the deer. She had to use pony, deer wasn't a language she knew. "I'm sorry, but a gopher told me to look for Alkuääri. Um, do you know where that is?"

"That is... right here!" a fawn said chipperly. "We do not get many visitors, no pegasi at all! I never saw pegasi. Ponies have not lived here since my great-great-great-great-great-"

A doe approached the fawn. She said something to him in deer, and then nuzzled him briefly before looking back up to Fluttershy. "It's a good thing someone from the Gophrelands pointed you in our direction. Things aren't so great for travelers who leave Alkudjuda without passing us."

"Why is that?" asked Fluttershy.

"Well, think about the passage of time here. How much less fatigued you get when you let the magic of this place flow through you. How many times have you eaten since you've arrived?"

Fluttershy thought she may have had some grass earlier in her journey, but she wasn't sure. The doe giggled. "Alkudjuda means the 'beginning miracle'. It is the birthplace of magic. Alkuääri is the 'beginning of the edge', because here the magic levels begin to drop off dramatically. Travel just outside of our settlement's borders after having not eaten or slept, and you could be in very critical condition."

Fluttershy's eyes widened. "Y-you mean I j-just got lucky? I could have d-d-d-died?"

"You could have," said the doe, "but you'll find that luck is very abundant here. And it favors those with pure hearts." This calmed down the pegasus. "Let me walk you back to the village." She looked over her shoulder and called to the fawn. "Tuike! Tule nyt!" The fawn, who Fluttershy guessed was named Tuike, began running over. The three of them began to walk back into the village. "Most of those who come here have some business with the council, or at least that's what they tell us. I have never run into anybody myself. Before you that is. Do you want me to take you to the council?"

"No thank you," she replied. "I don't think I have any business with them. I just want to get back home."

"Then you can stay with me for now. I speak more pony than many deer around here. Where is your home?"

"Um, it's called Equestria."

"Oh, that is far!" the doe chuckled. "You can get back there, but it will take a long time. We are very isolated from the outside world, so I do not know exactly where that is, but I recognize the name from some of our legends and history books."

Fluttershy nodded as they turned left. The streets were lined with houses utilizing architecture a bit different from the likes that she had seen before. "What are these houses made of?" she asked. "There aren't any trees, and the ground is so flat that it doesn't look like you used dirt."

"Oh, oh, Mama! Let me say! We just learned in school!" said Tuike. The doe nodded. "Magic here is so strong, some deer can train to make house from grass! That is how!"

"That is about it," she said. "They take the grass, build it up tall, and use magic to strengthen the grass so that the houses stay up. They do not do that in Equestria? You have alicorns."

"I suppose we could, but we have enough trees, and material for bricks. My friend Twilight Sparkle even lived in a tree. And we don't have many alicorns, but we do have a lot of unicorns."

"Not a lot of alicorns? You will have to tell me about that another time," the doe replied. "Okay, my house is right here. I will get dinner started for you and Tuike. I do not have to eat as much, and I had a good meal last week, so I will just sit with you." They entered the house, and the doe said something to Tuike before heading off to what seemed to be the kitchen.

"My mama said 'show the mare around, Tuike!'," the fawn said. "Then I think, 'I do not know her name!' What is it?"

"Fluttershy."

"That sounds pretty! And you know my name is Tuike, and my mama is named Aurinkoinenpäivä, but her friends say 'Auri'."

"Those are very nice names too!"

About half an hour later, after Fluttershy had seen the house and dinner was ready. It looked good- baked hay with fresh lettuce and flowers. "Deer do not eat a lot of hay," Auri explained. "but I do like this dish." They ate mainly in silence, and then put their dishes in the sink. "It is probably good for you to spend one more day here, eating and sleeping like normal, and then I can send you off with food."

"Okay, thank you so much!" said Fluttershy. Although she missed her friends, she was very glad to be here right now.

City

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The city of Chevalin was, as usual, alive.

Rhonda Hoofings had spent her entire life in the city outside of the meadow, the first pedestrian location after the magic of the western fields. Her parents were travelling merchants, one a pony and the other a donkey. They must have reached every part of the world east of them (not west, of course, very few equines had gone that but from what they could see it wasn't more than an abandoned meadow and no place to be), by her estimations. They were incredibly adventurous, after all. Charismatic, as well- it's how they made such a fine living. A charismatic donkey may have sounded a bit ridiculous to many, but that was only before they met Rhonda's father. Eventually though, they settled down and got married. Rhonda was an only child.

Unlike her parents, there was nothing particularly interesting about Rhonda, except her uncommon status as a mule. Still, that was only as remarkable as say, left-hoovedness. She spent her youth going on little adventures of her own- exploring the bustling streets, the ins and outs of each forum and market, and meeting new equines. This pleased her parents. But as she grew older, she felt no urge to go further. She got a job as a clerk at the bank in the southwestern sector of the city and resigned herself to life as a bachelorette.

In the southwestern sector of Chevalin, there were a few pubs, but the smallest of them all was Boissons avec Poisson, or Drinks with Fish, named for it's... interesting theme of fish-based cocktails. No one was sure exactly what the founder was thinking, but they served regular beer, so the location still had a small following.

"You heard about the toussle near Jean Briques's place?" one pony said to the pony next to him.

"Shit, no, update me."

"Stormhammer came down again from the northwest sector on some business, and I don't got any specifics, but they had some disagreement and next thing you know, people are crowding around watching them go at it!"

The second pony gave him a wide-eyed stare. "No way, who won?"

"Stormhammer, of course, have you seen that guy? Jean was fighting like- like a deer!"

The second pony looked at him quizzically. "like a deer" was probably a saying somewhere, he supposed, but not nearby, and deer were not only uncommon but practically unheard of. "A deer?" he said. "Do those even still exist?"

"I don't know, according to that yellow pegasus over there they do." He shrugged and pointed in the direction of Fluttershy. "She got them on my mind, I guess."

"She's going and telling random ponies her tale?"

"Pretty much."

"I'll tune in."

Fluttershy looked up. She had first entered to city earlier that day, after leaving Alkuääri, and found it to be much noisier and much less pleasant. There was nothing very straightforward about it at all, and she couldn't trust everyone the same way she could in the village. The day mostly consisted of bumping into equines and feeling rather small and alone. At last, she found a place with a low enough amount of equines in it to be considered bearable.

"So, my buddy says you've seen a deer?" asked the pony in front of her.

"Oh, Cloud Buster is your buddy? He seems nice," said Fluttershy.

The pony smirked. "Yeah, he's a good guy. I'm Fair Winds, by the way. And you?"

"Oh, I'm Fluttershy. Nice to meet you."

"Yeah, you too, so tell me about the deer?"

"Oh, right! They're up in the meadow. It's a very nice place!"

"You mean the meadow to the west?"

"Yes, the meadow to the west."

"The empty one?"

"Well, it's not entirely empty. There's the deer, like I said, and a gopher nation on the other end."

Fair chuckled. "A whole nation of gophers! That's something."

"Does no one go into the meadow?" Fluttershy asked.

"No."

"Why?"

Fair paused. She raised a good point. Was there really no equine in all of Chevalin who had ever gone there? It just didn't interest anyone, he supposed. They were all city equines, and city equines were busy equines. "I guess no one wants to."

"Maybe it's the magic of the place."

That reminded him of something. Most ponies here didn't read about the ancient legends past what they had to read as foals for class. They all had that one about meadow being a former settlement of some sort, thousands of years ago, but there was no trace of such a thing and the stories piqued nobody's interests. Except for one otherwise dull equine. She had grown up around Cloud, so they had had a few conversations here and there. Talking to her was generally about as interesting as watching paint dry, so they didn't talk often. But if Cloud or Fair ever brought up the old legends, all of a sudden she'd have a lot to say. "Say, Fluttershy, maybe if you stick around a bit longer, Cloud's friend Rhonda might come in. She'd be able to help you out in the big city. She knows a lot about the meadow, I'm sure she'll take you in."

"That sounds like a good idea! Thank you, Fair!"

Sure enough, about an hour later, Rhonda came in. It was a long day at the office, but then again, every day was a long day. She pulled a chair up next to Cloud, and ordered herself something. Fair, who had been pretty content listening to Fluttershy talk about her life back at home (he was a fair bit smitten at this point, and would have offered to take her in himself if he thought he could handle the responsibility), went back to his seat at the bar. He exchanged a few words with Rhonda, who soon headed on over to the yellow pegasus with a grin on her face. "The meadow!" she cried. "Ohhhh my sun someone actually went there! And I hear you need a place to stay?"

Fluttershy felt mildly spooked by this jenny-mare's enthusiasm. "U-um, yes, I do."

"Ha! Well, I've got an apartment and no one to share it with, you're welcome to stay with me!"

"Oh, um, are you sure? I-I'd hate to impose!"

"Oh honey, it's no problem at all! I'd love to have you over."

Fluttershy grinned awkwardly. "Ok, um, thank you very much, Rhonda!" She was quickly whisked away to the apartment after that.

It wasn't as bad as Fluttershy thought. Rhonda was a very plain mule, and if her house decoration was any indication, her favorite colors were grey and brown. But, despite the drabness, it was quite cozy. Fluttershy shared her experiences in the meadow, and during their first meal together, Rhonda's eyes had lit up so spectacularly when she offered some food from Alkuääri that Fluttershy knew there was something special to this jenny-mare. She could sense a deep generosity in her that reminded her of Rarity, from the way she shared all she had, and so much of herself as well, even if many of the topics from her life centered around the inner workings of banks and how to file applications.

"When are you planning to leave, Fluttershy?" Rhonda asked after a few days.

"I hadn't thought about that, I was just getting used to being outside of the meadow. But I guess I should start preparing to go, shouldn't I?"

"Well, you can stay as long as you like, honey! But if you do want to get going, I can give you pointers."

"Oh, thank you very much! Then, do you know where I can get a map? And food to take with me? And supplies?"

Rhonda chuckled. "Of course! I've never needed anything of the sort for adventures, since I don't go on any, but I'm sure Cloud or Fair have something for you. They go out west every now and then, for camping."

"That's lovely!" said Fluttershy. "When can we see them?"

"Well of course they'll be at the bar on Saturday, but I can call them sooner, and have them bring you supplies. What do you need, darling?"

Fluttershy thought for a moment, and came up with a list. Rhonda called Cloud. "He says we should come over," she said, after a minute of talking, "just to make sure we get stuff the right size for you."

Fluttershy smiled. "Well, I am rather small."

Following a 20 minute walk down the streets of Chevalin, the two equines finally made it to the right apartment complex. Fluttershy wasn't sure how Rhonda could tell, since all of the buildings started looking the same to her after a couple of minutes, but she seemed confident enough to reassure Fluttershy. They went up to the 3rd level, made a left, and then arrived at 312, the home of Cloud Buster.

"Hello, ladies, come on in!" Cloud said, after opening the door. He had heard them coming up, and having had nothing else to do at the moment, he immediately came to the door. "I'll take you to the attic, Fluttershy, it's where I keep my supplies. Let me take a look at that list." Cloud looked it over. "Looks solid! I have pretty much all of this, I think. Tell me where you're heading again?"

"Equestria."

"That's where my momma's from!" piped up Rhonda.

"Oh, what town?"

"Ponyvale or something, I think!"

"Maybe Ponyville! That's where I live!"

Cloud yanked her up before she could get too distracted from the task at hand. "You bring out the best in Rhonda, Fluttershy. It'll be sad to see you go." He chuckled solemnly. "I keep adventure gear over to the left here. Here's a good bag for you. Now read out the list?"

"Sleeping bag."

"Check."

"Map."

"Check."

"Jug."

"Check."

"Bowl."

"Check."

"Matches."

"Check."

"Rope."

"Check."

"That's... that's everything."

"Good, we were running out of room." Cloud smiled. "I'll give you a fifty bits, too. Use them wisely."

"Thank you so much!"

"No problem, sweetheart."

Fluttershy and Rhonda headed over to Rhonda's place. It struck her upon entering and noting the lack of attic that an attic in an apartment was a rather unusual thing. Otherwise, however, the contrast between Rhonda's and Cloud's houses became more clear upon reentering. While Cloud's house had a variety of knick knacks that just avoided a pony's attention, Rhonda's lack of anything drew more curiosity than anything. She was a lovely sort of plain that Fluttershy could appreciate.

Rhonda showed Fluttershy (who was shocked and had never seen the following) how to open the couch into a bed, and where to put her things. And such commenced the few days of her stay and readjustment- green mornings with Rhonda (her favorite food was asparagus, which there was much of at meals), days on the town, or nights at the bar with Cloud and Fair. But at last, Fluttershy found her strength, and had to depart.

"The train will take you to the post office, but there's only open land for miles around around that. Our post is carried by bird. That's probably your best bet," said Fair.

Fluttershy noted that.

"Darling, you couldn't stay another day?"

"She has to leave eventually," Fair replied. Fluttershy nodded along. "Has been... very nice having you around though, darling." Fair grinned and winked.

"Dude, stop!" chuckled Cloud, jabbing his friend. "But, uh, yeah. You really will be going now, huh. It's only been a few days, but, knowing you has brought a lot of light into our week. We'll definitely remember this. It's been a nice change of pace. To Fluttershy!" Cloud raised his beer.

"To Fluttershy!" cheered the others. Fluttershy only blushed and laughed, unfamiliar with the custom but delighted by their apparent praise.

It was truly a tearful goodbye from Rhonda, and certainly a very solemn one from the others, on that following morning at the train station. "Promise you'll visit, Fluttershy?" Rhonda beseeched.

"I- I don't know if I can-" Fluttershy looked at how Rhonda's face fell at her words. "No, I promise!"

Rhonda smiled and whinnied. "I'll be very excited for your return! And- write if you can!"

"I will!"

And the train pulled up to the station.

Station

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It had only been a day.

Fluttershy wished she could have better appreciated her time with the deer of of Alkuääri and the ponies of Chevalin more while she was with them, but in all of the strangeness, the week and a half had passed in a whirl.

Now, after less than a day, she could not even see the city. There was only the rough grass and damp earth below her, and knowledge of the train station ahead. She knew she’d be there by the day’s end, that was not the problem, the problem was that she hadn’t taken the time to cherish them all. Auri. Tuike. Rhonda. Cloud. Fair. All of the equines who had helped her. And Sleekfur too, of course, how could she forget! Now she was bitterly alone, and it hit her how silly she had been. If the time before had not seemed so unimportant then… of course, hindsight is 20/20.

Fluttershy walked on in despair. Would she remember their faces? Their voices? Would she ever get a chance to write to Rhonda as she promised? What if something bad was going to happen to them? She could sense it, she could sense the impending doom, the certainty and tangibility that comes with the bitter end-

Fluttershy shook her head fiercely, recognizing the cold grip of anxiety. It had been hours. The station was a day away, and she had made half the journey. She would remember them. She would be fine. I should take a second to smooth my feathers again, she thought. The timid little pegasus sat down for a moment, unstrapped her pack, and made the time to calm down, circling her wings with her hooves with gentle motions and taking deep breaths. It did the trick. The undoubted knowledge of impending doom fell away, replaced with a calm and peaceful feeling.

Now the path ahead had shrunk, not in distance, but in intimidation. It was easier to cross and appreciate the fine weather. It was Spring when she had last been home, and judging by the gently floating butterflies and bees, it still was. Fluttershy continued to glide and trot along, occasionally stopping to drink some water and eat some hay, and in no time at all she saw the station on the horizon.

As she came closer, she noticed it was different from the ones back in Equestria. The architecture only slightly resembled Chevalin’s more than Equestria’s; it reminded her more of something she’d find in the Everfree, only fixed up. The entire thing was a mix of pastel-colored patterns and columns on a far more drab (though not off-putting) stone and wood base. Although it looked well-kempt, it seemed ancient. Perhaps the largest difference was the lack of train tracks.

Fluttershy walked up to the steps and opened the door. It was already nearly sunset by the time she had arrived, but there was a warm and inviting light from within. From the inside, it looked like a normal train station, only with more of the same flair from the outside of the building. It was all lit by candles. She walked up to a window. The pony behind it seemed young and tired, with a pale pink coat and a washed out yellow mane. “Hello ma’am,” said Fluttershy, “is this open? How are you?”

“It’s open, miss.” Her voice was brassy and had a slow drawl to it, and it was clearly not the voice of a filly, as her appearance would suggest. “Where are you headed today?”

“Oh, um, I was wondering how close I could get to Equestria here?” The pony tensed up, and at last Fluttershy noticed something on her sides. “I-is something wrong? Your wings… are you a flutter pony?”

“Yes ma’am, and nothing’s wrong, I simply regret to inform you that our station cannot currently deploy trains to our Equestria station or surrounding areas.”

“What? Why?”

“It is due to a problem with the system.”

“B-b-but wait, you’re a flutter pony! I thought they had gone extinct! I see the ruins in the Everfree!”

The pony tensed again at the mention of the Everfree. “I am a train station employee,” she said calmly. “We have several other locations much closer to Equestria. There is a map on the wall and you may purchase one for two bits.”

“Where did the whole civilization go? How did you stay alive after all that happened?”

“What civilization? I am a train station employee.”

Fluttershy stared.

“I am a train station employee. Where would you like to purchase a ticket to?”

“I guess… when will the Equestrian station work again?”

“The problems with the system are indefinite. I’d recommend travelling a location nearer to Equestria.”

Fluttershy glanced at the map on the wall. An uneasy feeling came over her. She could recognize the names of the Dragon Lands and Saddle Arabia, so she asked the mare for a ticket to Saddle Arabia, not wishing to enter the Dragon Lands.

“I regret to inform you that we also cannot deploy trains to our Saddle Arabia station. This will remain the case indefinitely.”

“Oh...” Fluttershy trembled slightly at the thought of heading to the Dragon Lands. She took a deep breath. “Um, how about the Dragon Lands?”

“Certainly ma’am, that will be twelve bits.” Fluttershy took out the bits, her glance flitting nervously between her bag and the clearly uncomfortable mare. “Thank you ma’am, the train will be ready when you are.”

Fluttershy began to turn around, then quickly turned back. “I’m sorry, is everything alright?”

“Y-yes, ma’am, everything is fine, have a nice day.” A damp mood filled the room. Fluttershy felt like she had to do something.
But she was scared, and far from home, and she didn’t know where to start. Perhaps the mare was just having an off day. Perhaps the flutter ponies had just moved underground or something. Instead, she turned around again, and walked out the door.

Outside, the train was visible. It was glowing dimly against the night. The sky was no longer clear, and the sound of rain could be heard softly in the distance. She boarded the train with a few other ponies and about a dozen drakes, and away they went.

She’s not ready, not yet, said a voice somewhere.

No, she has to be brave.

Volcano I

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The Dragon Lands were strangely beautiful.

Despite the unusual appearance of the train, the ride went as normal, and by the next morning, Fluttershy had arrived. In pictures, the place had always looked too hot and too dry, but she found herself caught in awe as she looked around herself. The moss and amber grass that dotted the ground in patches. The intricate configurations of dried mud and stone. The vast valleys around her, and the mighty and distant volcanoes puffing away. The air was much damper than she had expected, making the heat stick to her fur and feathers. The ground was harder than she was used to. Yet, Fluttershy could relax. She began to trot into the nearest building, marked "Information Center", to learn where to go from here. And then, she looked up.

There were a few of these information centers. Besides her was one half the size of the one she was heading to. Several feet to the side, one twice its size, and after that, one that was unmeasurably larger. Rationally, she supposed this made sense. Creatures of all sizes must come this way, and the fact that they were accommodating enough to make something equine-sized was really quite thoughtful. But Fluttershy could only begin to shake upon remembering that half of the denizens of the Dragon Lands could easily stomp her flat. She stopped in her tracks and began shivering. The foot was right above her, five times the size of her tiny, breakable body. She sank to her knees under its slowly increasing pressure. This was it. This was the end. She would never find her way home. At last, she braced herself for it, and-

*poke*

Fluttershy screamed shrilly and darted up as fast as her wings would take her. The foot was gone. There was no foot. She was fine? Fluttershy drifted back to the ground and looked beside her. It was a drake who had poked her. He was about her size, save a few inches, and looked quite a lot like Spike, only his spines were longer and reddish, and his scales were paler and shimmered brilliantly. "Are you okay, miss pegasus?" he asked. "You were shaking quite a bit."

"Oh! um, I'm fine, sorry! I just get a little nervous sometimes. I've never been so far from home before," Fluttershy said skittishly.

"Huh, ok. Were you heading to the information center?"

"Yes! I was hoping they could help me."

The drake grimaced. "So you're one of those crazy tourists."

"What? No, I'm just passing by, trying to get home."

"Oh," said the drake, softening his expression. "you're just lost."

"Yes, I am."

"Well you can nab a map from the information center for a couple bits, but besides that it's all stuff for tourists. Almost no one comes by for any other reason, you could get some real help from in town."

Fluttershy smiled politely. "Thank you, mister drake." She turned and headed to the information center. It seemed important here that she kept her wits about her and not get caught up with the thought of how massive these dragons could get. They all must have accounted for this, after all, and there probably weren't too many places with such a mix of sizes in such close proximity. It was only that this was one train station for all who passed by.

She trotted into the information center. It looked fairy average in layout. What was striking was that it was built mostly with finely carved stone. Dragons clearly had an eye for design. There were several patterns depicting mostly dragons and eggs in the pillars and walls. The windows of the place also had some stained glass incorporated into the corners. If this was commonplace here, although it was not her particular aesthetic, Fluttershy had a new appreciation for draconic society.

She went up to an information desk. There was a basket of maps hanging off the desk. She took the map and lay it onto the desk. "How much is this?" she asked the dragon in attendance.

"Twelve bits," he replied.

"T-twelve?" Fluttershy gasped.

"That map will survive a blast of flame."

"Oh, I suppose that is useful."

"You can buy it over there," he said, pointing to the left. There were a few cashiers milling about. Fluttershy went to purchase the map.

In a few minutes, she was out again, feeling much better about her situation. As she turned to head to town, she noticed the drake from earlier leaning on a sign. "Oh, hello again mister drake!" she said. "I didn't expect to see you again."

The drake looked up, then to the side, as if he were thinking very hard. He smirked, turned his eyes to Fluttershy, and held out his hand. "I'm Nova. I... I think I'll be sticking around here for a while, I know my way around, so if you need anything just call me up, darling."

Fluttershy blushed and returned the hand/hoofshake. "I'm Fluttershy. Thank you, Nova."

"Nice to meet you, Fluttershy."

The rest of the day was spent with Nova showing Fluttershy around. Sometimes, he'd enthusiastically launch into a description of the place, and other times, he'd mumble the name and move on. By the end, Fluttershy knew a great deal about that part of town. There were food markets, restaurants and parks by the east, and utilities, general stores, and museums by the west. The housing district was in the next part of town, but there was a hostel to the west that she could stay at for free, so it was not of much importance to her. She made a note to visit the museum before she left. It looked rather spectacular.

"Do you live over there?" asked Fluttershy, pointing to the housing district.

"No," replied Nova, "I live further out." He glanced away.

"Um, should you start heading back then? It's getting late, I wouldn't want to keep you!"

"Don't worry, my parents know where I am, and we're nocturnal there anyways. I... don't feel like going back right now."

Fluttershy nodded. "Oh, alright, well thank you for today!"

Nova smiled. "You too, darling. Maybe I'll see you tomorrow."

The pegasus, now alone, began trotting back to the hostel. She had yet to look inside, but the façade was as coldly elegant as what she had seen at the information center. In the stone, roads and biomes were also carved, showing that some thought was put into this. As she stepped inside, she noticed how warmly lit it was. A colorful mural filled the wall in front of her, full of landscapes and creatures of all different kinds, and candles hung from the ceiling. She walked up to the front desk. The awe must have been apparent in her face, as the dragon at the desk smiled and said, "That's how the regulars wanted to dress it up. It's not that great inside, unfortunately."

"Oh..."

"I mean, you'll love it here! Beds are decent, breakfast is free if you make it yourself, and everyone's nice. How long do you plan on staying?"

Fluttershy looked at the dragon. He appeared to be grown, yet was still only a bit larger than Fluttershy. She didn't know how many sizes dragons came in until she got here. "A- a day or two, I think."

"Yeah, I think this is the perfect place for you! Are you planning on paying, or doing a share of the chores?"

"How much a night?"

"Twenty six bits."

Fluttershy decided that it was perhaps best to save her money. She exited the foyer, which led to the common room. It wasn't unreasonably loud, but there was a noticeable hustle and bustle as equines, dragons, and griffons milled about, drawing maps and playing cards. The receptionist was right, it was much plainer, but it still felt comfortable.

A griffon approached Fluttershy, who had just been musing by the entrance for the past few moments. "Hi! she said chipperly, leaning into Fluttershy. "I'm Gaelle! Nice to meet you!"

Having just been drifting off, Fluttershy was somewhat shocked and remained silent. This griffon was not much for personal space.

...

Gaelle took a step back.

"Oh, hello! I'm Fluttershy!" she said at last, upon regaining some wiggle room. Suddenly, Gaelle's eyes grew wide.

"The... the element... o-o-of... KINDNESS‽"

Fluttershy did not expect to be recognized. For national heroes, the Elements of Harmony got little recognition in their own country, so she certainly didn't expect a griffon to know who she was, down to her specific element. "Um... yes! How did you know, Gaelle?"

Gaelle was somewhere else for the next minute. She was flapping her wings and clucking her beak and zooming around as Fluttershy simply stood. Between the squeeing and the air punches, it became clear that Gaelle not only knew who Fluttershy was, but was probably a big fan. When she finally simmered down, she had an answer.

"Weeeeeell... when Gabby, she's a friend you probably heard of, came back, she told us all the stuff she learned about ponies! And the best part was the Elements of Harmony! Especially cause when she finally brought our friends all together, there were six of us! So we're all really big fans who may or may not call our own friend group the Elements of Harmony! And you... are... my... FAVORITE! I love how you're so good with animals and I really admire your quiet strength!"

Admire Fluttershy's quiet strength she might, but Gaelle didn't seem to try an emulate it. Still, now her motivations made a lot of sense- here was a friendly, outgoing griffon doing her best to show kindness to every newcomer. It was rather nice. "I'm glad you do your best to bring kindness wherever you go!" Fluttershy said with a smile.

Gaelle set the record for the world's widest grin. "Oh, that means so much coming from you! Anyways, would you like to sit down with me and my friends? I'm sure they'd all love to meet you too!"

Fluttershy nodded and trotted over to the griffon's table. As soon as she was close enough, Gabby took notice of the mare and her eyes widened. None of the others recognized her yet, but Gabby called out- "FLUTTERSHY?"

"Oh, hello Gabby!" They had only met briefly the last time Gabby went to Ponyville, but Fluttershy was somewhat fond of her. Suddenly, all of the other griffons looked up with smiles, whispers, and eventually cheers.

"See?" said Gaelle. "I told you they'd love to meet you!"

Fluttershy nodded. "It's more recognition than I'm used to back at home..."

Gaelle looked momentarily puzzled. "Really? I thought more ponies would know who you are! Anyways, these are my friends- Gabby, you know her, Gerda, Giselle, Gregor, and Greta! We also have Zareen here with us." A zebra sitting next to the griffons waved.

Fluttershy greeted everyone present and sat down. "So... all of you try and emulate an element of Harmony?" The griffons nodded.

"I'm Honesty," said Giselle,

"Loyalty," said Gregor,

"Laughter," said Gerda, rather demurely,

"Generosity," said Greta,

"and Magic!" said Gabby.

"And I'm a zebra," Zareen added.

"That's very nice!" said Fluttershy happily. "I'm so glad that there's creatures even beyond Equestria trying to spread friendship!"

"Thanks! That means so much from you!" Gabby replied. "But... what are you doing all the way over here? Doesn't it make more sense to travel with your friends? Not that just seeing you isn't already amazing!"

Fluttershy opened her mouth to respond, then paused as her face fell. "I... don't know, actually." Everyone gasped. "They- I- I just woke up in some magical field, and there were deer, and- I'm trying to get back home as fast as I can, I don't remember a thing."

"Maybe this has to do with the trouble coming from Equestria," Giselle murmured.

"T-trouble?"

"Nobody knows what's going on," Gabby explained, "since the government says nothing and the media won't report on it. But we know we've stopped trading with Equestria because there's no more goods coming from there, and there's been more military patrols lately. Do you know anything? You were close to the princesses, how was the economy doing?"

The color had drained from Fluttershy's face. "The economy was fine..." she said trailing off. A whiff of flashback floated through her mind, too intangible for her to remember, but enough for her to begin shaking. "I- I'm sorry, I need t-to go to b-bed. Um, thank you, a-all of you, for showing me around. It was n-n-n-nice to meet you." She got up and headed through the other door, assuming the corridor ahead led to the beds.

Fluttershy was proven correct, choosing a random empty-looking room to sleep in. The beds were decent, as the dragon up front had promised, but in her poor mood it felt as though she was resting atop stones. As much as she tossed and turned, she couldn't get comfortable. After a while, she fell limp and began staring into the darkness of the ceiling. In the background, the other creatures began to shuffle in. Time kept turning them in for the night, one by one, until Fluttershy was alone in her restlessness. And at last, as her eyes gave out-

It was bright, so bright, and so hot, and yet the sun was nowhere, and the light was everywhere. There was fire, and fire, and fire, without a whiff of smoke, instead the fire produced a single force that rose above with the strength of every tongue of flame. The force screamed, and screamed, and screamed, it begged like a king begs a rebel to cease, like a father begs a daughter to behave. It hardened, and around it began to form a new and mechanical beast, making Fluttershy think of Princess Celestia in the face of adversity, in all her terrifying splendor, yet devoid of love, devoid of care. There was no hate, no fear, it was full of nearly malevolent order, and then, just fire, and fire, and fire, and fire, and fire, melting over the walls, and a calling, please, come, there's only you, there only ever could be, brave the fire, and at last-

The sun.

Fluttershy awoke in a sweat. It was roughly midday. No one else was in the room anymore. She panted heavily until some sanity returned, then began to take deep, deliberate breaths. She got up and headed to the kitchen. Gaelle and Zareen were still in there. Seeing them grounded her, as they provided the calming validation there where she was now was real, for every creature around. Feeling much less lonely, she trotted over to them and sat down next to Gaelle.

"Good morning, Fluttershy," said Gaelle.

"Good morning," Zareen repeated.

"Good morning," she replied sweetly.

"You seem to be doing better! I'm sorry if we scared you last night, we're not sure what's going on, but it can't be too bad!" Gaelle explained. "You've overcome everything before!"

Fluttershy smiled. "You're... you're right! I can do this. I can get back home, and, figure everything out, and, it'll be okay!"

Gaelle grinned. "That's the spirit! Hey, we're all actually going to start heading back to Griffonstone in a few days. It would be really helpful if you came with us, I think."

Fluttershy nodded in agreement. "That sounds like a lovely idea, Gaelle. There's just one thing I have to take care of first."

"How long do you think it'll take?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe an hour, maybe a day, maybe even a few days." Fluttershy hadn't considered the time it would take yet. She wasn't even sure what she was supposed to do. All she knew was that she couldn't put it off.

"Oh! Well... good luck!"

Fluttershy trotted out of the hostel and back through the town. She racked her brain for what Nova had prattled on about the day prior, hoping she'd figure out where he was. Generally, anxiety about not being able to find him would set in at this point, but the task ahead loomed too gloomily for even Fluttershy to worry so much over this. She suddenly recalled how he made the museums seem so enticing, and cantered to them. The unusually driven pegasus went into the history museum and started looking around. At last, near the back, was Nova.

He was next to some sort of model of the large volcano in the distance. It was displayed in a cross-section, and inside seemed to be many winding paths and caverns. In the very bottom was a large, white crystalline egg. Fluttershy didn't say anything for a moment. Nova didn't turn around. "No one knows what's really there," he said flatly.

"What is it supposed to be?" inquired Fluttershy.

"The legends say the egg rests at the bottom of the monster-ridden volcano, full of crystal energy. One bite and a dragon would never go hungry again, but only the worthy may partake."

"Has anyone gone for it?"

Nova finally turned around. He seemed tired. "No point. It's just a legend."

Fluttershy came closer. "Nova, are you okay?"

Nova looked ahead for a second, then nodded. "Just tired. They aren't nocturnal in these touristy spots, at home I'd be asleep right now."

"Why don't you go home?"

He looked stunned for a moment, then shook his head. "I'd rather not talk about it." The familiar friendly smirk returned to his face. "What do you need, sweetheart?"

"Oh!" Fluttershy hadn't forgotten the task at hand, of course, but her concern had momentarily pushed it from the forefront. "I- I think I have to go into that volcano. I mean, I had this dream, and-"

Nova's smile dropped as his eyes widened. "WHAT?" he said too loudly for the museum. A few dragons shushed him. "Sorry, what? You had a dream too?"

"W-what was your dr-dream?"

"I was at the base of the volcano, and, it was like I saw through it, and, inside there was more heat than I had ever felt, even from that distance, and..."

"...And?"

Nova took notice of Fluttershy's flank. It seemed familiar before, but he couldn't really place it. "Butterflies, actually. Who are you?"

"I'm... I'm Fluttershy."

"Right, what else?"

"I'm an element of harmony."

"And you're lost, right? How is this gonna get you home?"

"I don't... know. I just have to." A tear came to Fluttershy's eye. "There's something wrong at home, and I don't know what, I just know that I have to do something, a-a-and maybe this is it, and I could die b-b-but I have to fix-" she lay down and kept crying softly. Nova looked at her with great concern as tears kept rolling off her face into a puddle around her.

"Okay, okay. I've felt a calling myself, to be frank. We should go there. But, but we need some kind of defense. I breathe magic fire, what do you do?"

"I... fly, a little." Fluttershy picked herself up as the tears slowed. "I have some bits, maybe I could buy something?"

"How many?"

"24."

Nova smirked. "Well you're not exactly rolling in cash, but I know where you can get weapons a pony should be able to use for cheap."

It was night, and the world was awake.

Nova had taken them to his side of town, praying silently that his parents wouldn't be right where he was. It was a big enough town that it wasn't likely for them to run into each other, but Nova worried anyways. He sensed that he and Fluttershy were kindred spirits in that way, something that drew him to her. Soon enough, the two turned into a familiar alleyway.

"What is this place?" Fluttershy asked.

"It's my brother's... magic shop."

"Oh, that sounds lovely!"

Nova smirked. Nothing his brother sold was nefarious, certainly. It was all stuff that should be legal anyways. But the government felt that certain types of magic should be regulated to reduce crime, so it had to be sold a little more covertly. Nothing wrong with that.

Nova turned left and knocked a few times on a door. The grill opened, and two piercing yellow eyes shone out. They went from side to side, like glowflies turning circles. "Who the hell is this, Nova?" said a gruff voice.

"She's some kind of damn refugee," he replied, in a voice lower and raspier than Fluttershy had probably heard. "Not the stupid cops, okay? Can you let us in?"

The door unlatched. Nova's change in demeanor had made Fluttershy grow more anxious. The two stepped in. The larger, crimson-scaled dragon looked her up, down and around. "Fucking hell, your cutie mark!"

"M-my cutie mark?"

"That's the same one as the moondamn element of kindness."

Nova stepped forward. "She is the element of kindness, Roho."

"H-how do you know that?" asked Fluttershy, looking as if she had seen a ghost.

Roho laughed. "The magic of friendship is powerful indeed, and more importantly, very hard to ban. It's the easiest to harvest and use to charge crystals. Since they make such a big deal of it in Equestria, we divide our raw friendship-based materials based on, well," he pointed up to a tall shelf where a variety of chests lay with different familiar symbols etched and painted onto them. "your cutie marks."

"What- but- doesn't that hurt ponies?"

Roho grinned. "Doesn't really fucking matter. They get compensated." Fluttershy felt a little ill.

"Look, there's a reason we're here, Roho. We need those magic staffs. Now Fluttershy only has 24 bits but I can pay you back eventually, okay? It's important. For your brother, please."

Roho began looking irritated. "I don't give a shit, runt. Even shitty staffs are 30 bits and I'm running a business. You didn't pay me the fuck back last time."

"I was frickin' five! Do you even remember what I owe you for?"

Roho exhaled.

"You wouldn't have to charge it much. I'm sure the embodiment of kindness could do it herself."

The older dragon's face softened. "Oh, that's true. Let me do some calculations-" he ran to his desk for a moment and seemed to write something down. The he came back. "Twelve bits for a shit one, eighteen for a decent one. That's the most you could afford."

Fluttershy smiled reservedly. "I'll take the... decent one!"

"Alright girl, that's a deal then. We got water, earth, air- I think healing would suit you. That one's fitted with a rose quartz."

"Oh, that's perfect!"

"Hell, pay twenty and I'll throw in another fully uncharged gem. Maybe you can get a little offensive energy out of it."

"I'll take it!"

Nova turned to Fluttershy. "Since we're going to the volcano, you should take aventurine, the water gem."

Roho shot Nova a look. "Hold up, the volcano? You trying to fucking kill her?"

Fluttershy looked up at Roho. "Actually, I had a dream that I should go there. I don't know if it's safe, but I definitely have to," she tried to explain.

Roho smirked. "And this dream has nothing to do with this runt's crazy ramblings about the volcano."

Nova looked down sheepishly. "I may dream about the volcano pretty often... but I never mentioned it to her! I was just showing her around town!"

"I believe that as an element of harmony, I have to go there. Equestria may be in danger," Fluttershy added.

"Oh that's cute," Roho said, to Nova. "You always bitch about how the Equestrians are bringing over their fucking cultural imperialism or whatever and you want them out, but now you wanna go on this official business and help save them."

Nova hung his head as Fluttershy shot him a sad look. "I don't really want them dead, or whatever. Can we leave? Fluttershy, give him the damn bits and leave."

Fluttershy, shaking, pulled the bits out of her pouch, and took the staff and aventurine with her. The two walked out and back into the street, moving in silence for a moment.

"I don't like myself in there," Nova said.

"You scared me a bit," Fluttershy admitted. They continued walking under the light of the cold moon.

"I was... adopted. You'd think that would mean my parents really wanted me, but they just needed the federal aid to afford the rest of their kids. We don't make a lot of money over the table, and the family business was slowing down back then.

They all act so tough, but, that's not me. I feel like I have to be not myself around them to get any respect, even if it's not much. I try and show a little more kindness, y'know? It's just hard around them. I'm sorry to have been so rough back there, I know you're not used to that kind of place."

"It's okay," said Fluttershy. "I'm just glad there's still times where you can be yourself. That's very important."

"Thanks," he replied. "I really feel like I can be myself around you. That's something I really love about you, Fluttershy."

They blushed, and kept walking.

"What did Roho mean about cultural imperialism?"

"Oh, that's... I won't downplay it. I trust you'll understand. We get so many tourists that a lot of towns are starting to get filled with Equestrian businesses, move to a diurnal system, all kinds of stuff that's bad for local dragons. Local businesses are failing, our language is starting to die off, and so much more, I could rant about it for hours. That's why I was so... apprehensive when I thought you were a tourist." A look of horror spread across Fluttershy's face. "No, did I say something wrong?" asked Nova. He didn't know why he was so apologetic about this, with this mare in front of him.

"All of that is wrong! I- I- when I get back to Equestria, I'm going to talk to the princess!"

Nova stopped and threw his arms around her. Just as suddenly, he withdrew. "I- I'm sorry, that was-"

"It was fine," said Fluttershy, returning the hug. He surprised her with his warmth.

"I'm just so happy thinking something might really get done! Thank you, Fluttershy!"

And then, with newfound warmth and kinder pace, they kept walking.

It was nearly sunrise when they made it back to the first town. Fluttershy had yawned her way through the past few minutes and into the concern on Nova, who suggested she go get some sleep before they left. Fluttershy conceded, and went back to the hostel.

"Fluttershy, you're back!" said Gaelle as she walked through the door. "You didn't come last night, we were worried! Are you done with what you needed to do?"

"No," she replied, "but I've made a lot of progress! And I'm so sorry for worrying you! Trust me, I'm fine."

"That's awesome!" said Gaelle, relieved. "We're gonna leave in two days, after today I mean, so try and get it done by then, but we'll definitely wait for you! Can I ask what's going-" Gaelle looked at Fluttershy again with fresh eyes as she considered her statement. "No, you look tired. You should get some sleep, Fluttershy!"

"Oh, definitely. That's why I'm here."

"Aaah, sorry to keep you waiting, girl! Sweet dreams!" The two hugged briefly before Gaelle went out the door and Fluttershy went back to her room.

It was midday when Fluttershy awoke. She grabbed her things and started trotting back to the museum, but after only about five minutes, she saw Nova out of the corner of her eye. He must have too, because they turned to each other in the same moment.

"I was taking a nap too," he said hurriedly. "You wouldn't have found me in the museum so I just came your way."

"Well I'm glad we ran into each other at the right time! Should we get started now?" asked Fluttershy.

"Of course," Nova replied. The two began walking towards the direction of the volcano.

"How far is the volcano?"

"A few days by foot..." Fluttershy gasped. "... but there's a portal on the other side of town that takes you to the visitation center right by it," Nova finished.

The pair went onward through the town, passing markets, parks, playgrounds, and the like, as the town went onward itself, full of life and creatures going about their daily routines. It was then for the first time Fluttershy saw things through Nova's eyes- before, she had thought that there were a lot of dragons, but in reality, there were a lot of ponies for what should be a dragon settlement, and many signs were written in pony, something that seemed normal to her before.

Eventually, they made it to the eastern border of the town. "It's right by Gurgu Park," Nova stated, pointing to the left. There was a rather nice-looking gated park where he was pointing, bustling with mostly dragons. They walked up to the ticket booth.

Fluttershy looked at the sign above the booth. "It's four bits for a ticket," she remarked. "That's all I have left."

"Don't worry about it," said Nova, pulling out eight bits from his satchel. "Save them. Use them wisely."

"Two tickets?" asked the dragon at the medium booth, looking down on the pair.

"Yes, sir." replied Nova. He tossed up the bits. After counting them, the booth dragon handed down two tickets.

"Go on and enjoy yourselves," he called to them as they passed the gates. The pair moved through the park. It was a beautiful park, with many gardens full of plants that Fluttershy had never seen before. The rough terrain of the Dragon Lands led to the survival of only the hardiest of plants, but softer and brighter things were more plentiful in the well-tended gardens. Magenta ferns, hard rose-like flowers growing on stalks, flowers with a single petal that circled around the center in a wave. They all looked quite lovely to Fluttershy. To top it off, little critters shifted and sprinted below the flora that she couldn't quite identify.

"Can you tell me about these plants and animals?" asked Fluttershy.

"Aren't we in a hurry?" replied Nova. "I'll tell you when we have the chance, I promise."

"Right! Sorry..."

The two finally made their way to the end of the park. As they approached the portal, they noticed the long line. "It's not the longest line I've ever seen," noted Nova. "We can take the time now to plan. We know the basic layout from the museum sculpture."

"I have to figure out how to use these staffs..."

Nova was startled. "That's right, you don't know how. How the hell did I miss that?"

"Well, how do you do it?" Fluttershy inquired.

"I guess... I just take all the magic I have in my throat, and- and I think about it, hold onto it, and... I feel it travel past my shoulders, and elbows, in- into my fingers, and then into the staff. Where do you keep your magic?"

Fluttershy turned inwards and simply felt for a moment. "In the base of my wings, I think."

"Try bringing it forward," Nova suggested. Fluttershy tensed her wings, trying to push the energy away. "No, you can't get tense," said Nova. "You have to relax and let it flow."

"It just flows into my wings."

"Let it move where it wants to go. It'll come around when it needs to."

"W-what if it comes around too late?" asked Fluttershy nervously.

"It won't. You're strong."

"I- I'm a very weak flier..."

"You're about to head into a dangerous volcano you know next to nothing about to maybe help your kingdom. You're strong somehow. We all are."

"Oh... thank you." Fluttershy smiled. She was just doing what had to be done, but she supposed she could turn back, if she really wanted. She could keep going, and maybe Equestria was fine, maybe they just enacted an isolationist policy while she was away and some magical experiment of Twilight's gone wrong had led her to Alkudjuda. But she didn't. Maybe things weren't fine, and maybe this was the answer. She felt relaxed. She felt confident, especially with Nova by her side. Her heart warmed. "Wait, Nova-"

"Is everything alright?"

"I feel it moving, to my heart."

"That's great, Fluttershy! Keep playing around with that, I don't think you can pull a staff out of your bag here in broad daylight, but keep going." Nova beamed proudly.

Time flew by for Fluttershy, and soon enough the two were past the portal. Having experienced Twilight's teleportation before, it wasn't too unusual for her. Nova certainly seemed unaffected.

"How do we get to the actual volcano?" Fluttershy wondered aloud.

"This is another touristy diurnal place," said Nova. "We wait for night, then sneak around. They don't expect anyone to be crazy enough to try and get in, so there shouldn't be too many guards."

The pair walked around the site, had some snacks, and finally took a nap in a secluded area as they waited for nightfall. "Wake up, Fluttershy." Nova shook her awake. The moon was high, meaning they successfully weren't caught. They sneaked around to the restricted section, heading closer, and closer, and closer to the volcano, until at last the soft glow of magma hit both of their eyes. There was an entrance only a short climb or glide up. The two made it up in their respective ways, and then at last, they entered.

Volcano II

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There was so much lava.

As soon as Fluttershy stepped in, it became apparent that walking would be very hard. Where there was rock, the dark igneous was almost scalding. Where there was not, there was simply pure lava, coursing in rivers. This was not a problem for Nova, whose scales were suited for such a terrain, but Fluttershy was not a strong enough flier to simply fly her way to the bottom. It wasn't impossible, though. The rock was still walkable, she could fly over lava if she had to, and if all else failed, Nova could carry her for a bit. The lava was far from the most dangerous thing here. Case in point, as Fluttershy and Nova turned the corner, a salamander perked its head up and looked in their direction.

"Fluttershy, stay back and get your wand out," Nova said hastily. Suddenly the salamander began sprinting towards them. It reached for Nova, who deftly pushed it back and let out a breath of flame. The creature kept lunging towards him, each time pushed away and hit with another blast of magic flame. Finally, it lunged once more, missing and falling over. Nova stomped its head and kicked it into the lava.

"Well that wasn't very hard," said Fluttershy gladly.

"I know how to handle myself," replied Nova cautiously, "but where there's one, there's more, and I don't know what else might be in here." They walked down the corridor for a bit longer before approaching another salamander. Nova fought it off with similar ease, but this time the salamander got a few scratches in. "Hit me with the magic."

Fluttershy grabbed the staff in her mouth, channeled the magic, and hit Nova with the staff. After initial confusion, he laughed. "That's not what I meant," he said. "You have to push your energy through the staff and the crystal. The wood is conductive."

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Fluttershy. She proceeded to aim the crystal towards his scratches and pushed her energy through. It did the trick, and before their eyes, the scratches healed.

Nova looked down with surprise. "Fluttershy, you're a natural! You healed everything and my magic feels repleted."

"Yay!" She beamed.

"But if you use up your reserves now, you might not have enough for the end. Be careful."

"Oh."

The pair walked on, facing similarly simple enemies from time to time, until they found a tunnel leading lower into the volcano. The ground was much the same, but they seemed to be in a more open room, and to their delight, there wasn't a monster in sight. There was, instead, a mental challenge- a door to the left and a door to the right.

"Which one should we try, Nova?" asked Fluttershy.

His eyes darted back and forth for a moment. "Left, I think, but let's peek in right. I'm not sure." The two headed towards the rightmost door and Nova turned the handle. It was only a smaller room, but in the center was a chest.

"Could there be treasure in there?" Fluttershy wondered.

"If there is, it belongs to whatever dragon used to live here, and is probably booby trapped."

"Oh, very well."

"That said, we're not exactly rolling in equipment. There could be something we need in there. Just stay back for now, keep the door open." Fluttershy nodded, and Nova began to walk up to the chest. As he got closer, something stirred in the shadows. Finally, he opened up the chest.

His jaw dropped. It was amazing. Incredibly useful, and even more incredibly valuable. He hadn't ever seen one this large and bright. It was like looking at a star-

"WUTCH UT!" yelled Fluttershy muffledly as she pointed and fired her staff directly at the shadowy specter that had, in the blink of an eye, come right behind Nova, ready to strike. The bony demon inside immediately dissipated in a flash of light, while the aged green cloaks and magic jewels it wore dropped to the ground, hitting Nova's tail as they fell.

Nova turned around, unentranced. "What the hell was that?"

"It was- it was- s-some kind of magic ghost!"

Nova picked up the cloth and furrowed his brow. "There must have been a mage protecting the crystal that died. It's not generally a good idea to hit enemies with a healing staff, but you picked the right time to do it for sure."

"A-are there any m-more?"

"No, in life this mage would have been enough to keep us away."

Fluttershy took a deep breath and smoothed her feathers. "Well, that's very good to hear. What sort of crystal did you find?"

Nova's face lit up. "Oh, it's amazing, come look, Fluttershy!" She trotted over. "It's just a charging crystal, but, see how big and bright it is? This thing could last a thousand full charges of the average gem."

"That's amazing! Do you think it could work on any of this jewelry that the mage left behind?"

Nova sifted through the gems. Finally, he picked one up. "The rest are too damaged, but, this garnet still works. It's good protection from heat and fire. You should take it." Nova picked up the charging crystal, brought it to the garnet, and took a deep breath. Softly, it began to glow. "You should let me charge the rest too."

Fluttershy took out her healing staff and loose aventurine, setting them down by Nova. He repeated the process two more times. "Where did you learn to do this?" she asked.

"Roho would have me charge his crystals back at the shop, it was practically my job as a kid."

"Oh, that's interesting."

"Here, let me put this around your leg." Nova held out the garnet armband, prompting Fluttershy to put out her leg. Then, he slipped it on.

Suddenly, the ground didn't feel so hard to walk on anymore. Fluttershy smiled.

"It works?"

"Mhm!"

They left the room and continued down the left door. Time stretched softly as they walked deeper into the volcano. It was strangely calm, and strangely barren. Nova figured that as there were no artifacts to defend, this place must have just been sectioned off as a hallway of sorts. They cherished the silence, with few words passing between them.

"W-w-what is that!?"

They had come to the end of the hall and scarcely touched the door before a deep rumble emanated from the other side of it. Nova shot Fluttershy an anxious look, but opened the door regardless. The pair was greeted with another roar before they could understand what lay in front of them.

It was massive, intimidating, with green bands up and down the length of it, and eyes full of black. Its mouth, a perfect circle, stretched wide enough to nearly swallow them whole, full of sharp, bright teeth that were ready to close over them.

Even Nova did not hesitate to bolt, though his and Fluttershy's efforts to retreat were to no avail. The monster simply snaked after them, nearly catching up in merely a few seconds, forcing them to the wall. They noticed then that it wasn't very bright. "I- I think we're safe on the sidelines," Fluttershy noted.

"Yeah," agreed Nova. "It has too much momentum and too little space to get us from here. We need a plan before it reaches the end of the room and turns around."

"Do you know what it is?"

"Some kind of volcanic worm, I think."

"So... m-my aventurine..."

"That would work. Give it to me, I can equip it faster." Nova took the staff and stone and switched out the gems. "Get it ready as soon as-" The worm had finally writhed its way into turning around. "Now!"

Fluttershy turned to face the charging worm, who had already set its sights back on them. As soon as it was in range, she fired into its gaping maw. The effect was immediate. It began writhing unnaturally and nauseatingly, still moving forward, and beginning to chomp down at the walls and on the ground. Their old plan wouldn't work again, and danger was much more imminent. As it slowly crashed its way down, the two couldn't keep from shaking as it seemed to break itself more trying to expel the damage.

"W-w-we have t-to s-stay calm," Fluttershy said.

"Yeah, but look at that thing! What are we gonna do? We have- we could fire again."

"W-we could f-f-f-fire again..."

"Let's do it together."

Fluttershy took the staff back into her mouth and stretched out her wings, cradling Nova on her left as he began to pour himself into her. The staff shared the urgency, growing from dull to blinding in the blink of an eye before surging ahead. And with a blast, the thing lay dead.

Nova was the first to move, walking ahead and laying a hand on it. "I- I think this was overkill. These worms are all bluster. We should save our energy next time."

"N-next time?"

He ran back to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Fluttershy, we're okay! And you were so brave! If we run into another one of these, we'll know what to do!"

Fluttershy took a breath, stretched her wings, and began to smile. "You're right. We did it. We can get to the end of this."

They continued into the room that had contained the volcanic worm, and noticed that the room was a dead end, much like the room of treasure before.

"Well, we got to the end of this!" Nova laughed. "That's all, let's go home."

"We must have missed something!"

"Right, of course. I was just kidding. Let's look around in here some more."

"Oh... heehee."

They patrolled the perimeter of the room for a little while before finally coming across a rather strange brick. The brick itself may have been completely normal- it seemed to be made of stone, like most bricks in the area, and was of average size. The only thing particularly strange about it, in fact, was that the walls were not made of brick. It was the only one.

"We should press it," said Fluttershy.

"Of course."

None of them pressed it.

"We should recharge first."

"Yeah, just in case." Nova took out the gems and recharged them. "Okay, now."

None of them pressed it.

"We should have a plan."

"What plan? We already have a few moves down from the salamander, dead thing and worm. I can't think of anything else."

"You're right..." Fluttershy finally reached a hoof out and grazed the surface of the brick before pressing down on it. With a satisfying click, nothing happened.

"No... no stones moving and opening up a room full of monsters?" asked Nova.

"Maybe we should look in the last room, or the room before that."

"Good thinking." They began to retrace their steps, noting little in the hallway before them, or in the entrance before that, though they went back and forth, at times feeling the walls or scrutinizing part of the ground. At last it occurred to them to check the room where the treasure lied, and there it was.

"The mage must have been really powerful before. There's no way it could be this easy to get down here so long ago," mused Fluttershy as they looked upon the spiraling pathways leading to the center of the volcano. Carved finely, yet dripping with lava in places, they made circles down to the base where the massive glittering egg lied.

"The mage might have just been there to turn away dragons that weren't supposed to be here. I think the real test is yet to come." They stared out at the pathways, noting holes in the walls with strange things slithering in and out. In the distance, another lava worm charged from one hole to another. "Let's be on guard. There's a lot ahead of us."

They had not been walking for long before confronted with a salamander. Nova swiped at it deftly, scaring it away from him with blasts of fire as needed. With little chance to charge, it gave up and retreated to lick its wounds. Another quickly took its place, charging at Fluttershy, but Nova simply knocked it to the side as it bounded towards her, causing it to fall down the cliffside. The next one was much smarter, skittering across the wall before jumping onto Nova, biting down on his shoulder and not letting go. Another began to charge from ahead as the pain distracted him. Fluttershy hastily equipped the aventurine-fitted staff and hit it with a blast of watery energy, causing it to keel over almost immediately. The one on Nova's shoulder continued to gnaw at him, too close to get a good angle with the staff. She had an idea. Switching to her rose quartz, she aimed the blast at Nova. The shot healed his shoulder, forcing the salamander loose and giving him a chance to kick it away, but by the time she had done so another salamander had come up behind her. In the nick of time, she spun around and whacked it with the staff, stunning it. Nova baited the other salamander to the ledge, then gave it a good kick and sent it plummeting. The stunned salamander began to regain its senses, swiping at Fluttershy, but she got a good whack in, stunning it again. Another salamander crawled into the scene from above, separating Fluttershy and Nova. Nova scratched the beast, urging it to lunge directly for his throat. Fluttershy turned to whack it, but missed. Nova let out a breath of magic fire at the right time, forcing it to stand down, and subsequently landing a critical hit on it. There was no time to rejoice- while Fluttershy was turned, the final salamander had regained its senses and leapt upon her, scratching her wing and drawing blood. Nova sprung over her, pinning the salamander down and pummeling it until it moved no more.

"These things are more powerful in packs. But look, we made it. Can you heal us up before we continue?" Fluttershy concentrated in on her magic, but the pain in her wing made her wince too much to concentrate. Her eyes widened as she dropped the staff.

"I- I can't!"

"You can."

"N-not anymore, it hurt my wing! I can't ch-channel it anymore, I can't heal us, it's all over-"

Nova nearly snapped, but in the nick of time he reconsidered. He took a deep breath. "Fluttershy, we've made it this far. I always see you smoothing your feathers when you need to calm down? Is that something you should do?" She nodded and began to do so on her unharmed wing. "I think you're just stressed because we had so many come at us at once. We're okay now, though. You just have to heal yourself, and I know you can."

Fluttershy took a breath, closed her eyes, and attempted to guide the magic through her as usual. It still wasn't working. Sure, there were alternate pathways, but she simply couldn't grasp them yet, worry still tossing and turning in her mind, mixing with inexperience. "Nova, I-I really can't, I'm sorry..."

He sighed and picked up the staff. "Fine, I'll do what I can this time. It's not gonna be as good, but whatever." Fluttershy lowered her head in shame. Focusing on the staff, he aimed a blast at her wing. The wound faded into just a scratch, though the wing was still rather sore. "How about now?" he asked, looking back at her. He noticed something off. "Wait, what's wrong?"

"I couldn't do it... I disappointed you."

Nova gave her a look of confusion. "What?" He thought back to his words. "Oh, Fluttershy, no, it's fine. I can't expect you to get everything perfect right away. You'll get it eventually. Here, try again, your wing is a bit better now."

Once again, she closed her eyes and felt the magic go through her. It was much easier to pull through the minor injuries now, though it took effort. She picked up the staff, stood next to Nova, and slowly pulled the healing power into herself and through him. In another thirty seconds, they felt good as new.

"See, you were able to do it with a little scratch, if it happens again you'll be able to do it with a bigger one. You're getting there."

Fluttershy beamed and the two continued walking. Not thirty paces later, a lava worm appeared ahead and throttled towards them. With the aventurine prepared, they switched the gems and aimed the staff into its mouth, firing together. It crashed and twitched before falling still. They heaved it off the ledge and continued. A distance later, another few salamanders came at them, easily dispatched. Eventually, they ran into something new. An ogre stood in front of them, tall and draconic in figure but with leathery and damp-looking skin, blocking the path with a club in hand. "WE BRING MORE!" he yelled in a language only Nova understood.

"I think he's saying there's more where he came from," said Nova. " They must have a camp in another part of the volcano. We better get him fast." The ogre lumbered closer and struck down with his club, nearly hitting Fluttershy who moved away in the nick of time. She aimed the staff at his feet, firing and tripping him. "Good one, Fluttershy!" Nova picked up the club and turned it against the ogre, hitting him until he fell off the ledge. "We're gonna run across a lot of bodies very soon," he remarked.

The two traversed down the pathway more hastily, fearing reinforcements. Nova took the club just in case. With only the occasional stop now for more of the same enemies as before, they made it down fairly quickly. At the end of the pathway was another ghoul, and knowing what to, Fluttershy quickly dispatched it.

"We should charge up before we approach that giant crystal egg," warned Fluttershy, as Nova was already stretching to approach it.

"I've been waiting so long..."

"Let's be responsible!"

"You're right." Nova took out the crystals and charged them again. "Okay, let's go!"

"Slowly, slowly! Who knows what's up ahead?"

"At worst, more ogres. We can take them. If there was still a dragon here defending this egg, we'd see it by now!"

"That's true... alright, let's just be careful."

"Of course." The pair continued ahead. Just in reach, the crystal egg shone luminously. The walls and ground around it shimmered and flickered with its brilliance. It was almost blinding as they drew closer. This was it. This was the moment Nova had dreamt of for all his life. Fluttershy too was excited, not just for her friend, but for the answers this would bring. Finally, Nova reached to touch it-

"Halt!!!"

A faint slither could be heard from the other side of the room, slowly increasing in volume as she came towards the pair. Beyond tall. Beyond intimidating. A thick, muscular tail marked with various shades of purple scales, tanned and leathery skin above that. "Who are you?" Six arms, with a sword in one, and a spell prepared in the other. "State your purpose."

Fluttershy went silent, but Nova spoke up. "We're here for the egg."

"Then prove you are worthy!"

Swiftly, she charged at the pair with her sword. It was clear she was merely warming up, the sword barely grazing Nova, but blood was immediately drawn. The sword, a strange cutlass of sorts, was deadly sharp, as quickly became apparent. A good hit could slice them in half. The being rose her sword again as Fluttershy switched out her gems once more. Nova took the moment to approach and scratch at her, but to no avail. Her scales were harder than his, and he was merely knocked back. Again, the sword fell upon them, but they were able to dodge as they had seen it ahead of time.

"That thing is going to get us eventually," said Nova.

"We have to do something!" replied Fluttershy.

The wheels began to turn in their minds, but not a moment later the being thrust the flames from her hand into the area where the pair planned away. Dodge they tried, but the radius of the blast was too far for them to avoid it effectively. Nova singed his scales; Fluttershy had been knocked over, with burns on her skin. He quickly ran to her, picked her up, and brought her close to the pathway. "Stay back. It's a good thing you had that garnet."

"Use it... to get closer to her... don't get hurt..."

"That's too risky! She could kill you with another hit like that!"

"Could I... cast it?"

It took a second for her words to click, but he quickly grabbed the staff and replaced the rose quartz with the garnet before casting a spell on himself. "This should buff me against her fire spells for a while. Now quickly, put it back on and heal yourself!" The being had already approached them, ready to strike again, so Nova jumped onto her and bit down on her softer flesh, causing her to wince and distracting her. She turned to him with intent to cut, distracting her from Fluttershy. He drew her out a few paces more before she did, but at last she brought the cutlass down again, and though he did his best to dodge, she stuck it deep into his shoulder before drawing it back out. Blood began pouring gratuitously from the wound. He had never been in this much searing pain. He looked to Fluttershy, who seemed good as new, but finally looked back at him with a horror-stricken expression. Staff in mouth, she rushed to him and hit him with a blast of the rose quartz. In her rush, it did little more slow the bleeding and ease the pain, but it was enough for Nova to get back up and stagger away for cover.

"We need to deal with that sword. I have an idea. Get out the aventurine."

Fluttershy switched out the gems once again, and in that time, the being hit them with another blast of fire. It had the effect of cauterizing Nova's wound, but once again, Fluttershy was brought to her knees. There was no time for her to heal herself. They had to do something before the sword came out again. "When she comes at us again, I'm going to hit the sword with fire, and you hit it with water." She nodded weakly. The being swung directly at Fluttershy. Before an impact was made, Nova let out a grand belch of flame, and Fluttershy followed it with a blast of water. The being, confused for a moment, erred in her strike and merely managed to cut the tip of Fluttershy's wing. She let out a scream. The pain was unbearable. She saw her own flesh on the ground next to her, her eyes welling up with tears. She couldn't keep going. All the times she had been worried before, all the times she thought she was in danger, it all paled in comparison to this. She could really die here. Her life could truly end. Why did she come here? Why was she such a fool to follow a dream to her doom? Was it time to give up?

"Don't give up! We have to move forward!" called Nova, heaving. Snapping back to her senses as best she could, she fought tears to hit the sword with another blast of water in the nick of time. She started to notice something. The sword had warped slightly. The being struck again in quick succession, hoping to catch them off guard, but Nova had another good belch in him, and Fluttershy found the strength to blast the sword again. The being roared. She saw what they were doing, and she was not happy. Hope began to fill Fluttershy's heart. Still, she sank to the ground. She had really given it her all. The being struck Nova's side. It was a hard blow that knocked him back, but the cut was very bearably deep. It was clear that the creature hadn't anticipated this. He ran to Fluttershy. "One more time! Please!"

"I have... to... heal..."

He quickly grabbed the staff, fumbled for the rose quartz, and aimed the staff at her. Having depleted most of his magic reserves with those great blasts of fire, and needing more very soon, he knew to aid her wings and shoulders first so that her magic would have better flow. Then he switched the gems back.

The sword came again, and with every ounce of his being, he let out such a great belch that had his brothers heard it, they would have been damn near impressed. Fluttershy mustered up the strength to hit it with another blast of water as it knocked her to the side. Such a shallow scratch. Moments earlier, she would have been cut in half, but the blade, though still effective, was now rather blunt.

"Now is a good time to heal!" said Nova. "We can get closer to that thing now!" Fluttershy healed herself to a much greater extent, scarring over her wing and lifting the major burns from her skin. She also devoted a blast to Nova. With most major damage undone, they were ready to go to her. They charged at the creature, deftly avoiding being knocked to the side, but not avoiding the subsequent blast of flame that scorched Nova's scales and forced a much more orange-looking Fluttershy down again. Weakened and distracted, the sword came again, making its mark and drawing every ounce of oxygen from their lungs. Fluttershy struggled to pick up her staff, realizing it was still equipped with the rose quartz and so could do no damage. Her magic reserves were nearly depleted anyways, and so were Nova's. Nova attempted to run back up to the being and bite her again like he did earlier. He managed to do a little damage to her abdomen, but he was to weak to keep it up. She knocked him back toward Fluttershy with her sword as he fell.

"W-w-we're going to die," Fluttershy mewled weakly.

"If I can reach to the egg and take a bite..."

"I- it's our only ch-ch-chance..."

Nova concentrated, then bolted towards the egg. The sword came at him again, and he deftly jumped over it, but fell as he landed. He quickly picked himself up and kept going, only to suffer a blast of flame slowing him down and finally seeping past his scales and into his soft flesh. He kept going. Fluttershy managed to recover the strength to heal herself just a little, and began trying to distract the creature, but to no success. She switched gears, rushing towards him. The room seemed to stretch the closer she got. In a seemingly last ditch effort, the being through her sword in front of him as he reached for the egg, crushing his hand.

He couldn't continue. Burnt and broken, he had really reached the end. He though back to his brother's words. "You trying to fucking kill her?" He turned his head back, eyes blurred and welling up with tears. She didn't stand a chance. Even if he unpinned himself, which he very well could, it would be too late. He slumped over. He had to try, but his morale had suffered a blow rivaling his hand. She was flying shakily, avoiding more concentrated blasts of flame. The being turned back around after finally scathing her enough to send her plummeting gently, and picked Nova up and flung him towards the pathway. He couldn't resist, weakly trying to scratch her face while in her grasp with his unbroken hand. Fluttershy flew to him, picked up the staff to try and heal him just enough, but it wasn't enough. None of it was enough. She was bigger. Stronger. Enduring. Any hit they had managed to land did so little. At best, they had saved themselves from being sliced in half. But there was nothing left to do.

"You are not worthy," she yelled. "Not yet. It would be so easy to end you. In the past, the mages would have certainly killed you with ease had you tried too hard to resist them. Few have ever had to face ME, Karyth the Terrible!" She crept closer to them. "But you must be worthy of something, for where I lay in wait, bodies dropped from above one after the other, and you reached me unscathed! I have been waiting for you. You may not be worthy of partaking in the egg, but you deserve to be spared! I have no need to snuff you out."

A form of relief washed over Fluttershy and Nova, but Nova was still within an inch of his life, and Fluttershy was not faring much better. Karyth did not seem capable of healing. Fluttershy stood up, balanced uncertainly, and shaking, but perhaps from anger as well as pain.

"THEN WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO HIM? WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO ME? A PIECE OF MY WING IS OVER THERE! HIS HAND IS TOO BROKEN FOR ME TO FIX!" She fell down sobbing.

Karyth grinned. "I had to test your mettle," she replied. "I was following the instructions of a being hotter and crueler than I. It told me, if someone comes this way, to test their bravery, and so I did. Not that I would mind your blood on my hands... but I don't need it." She slithered towards Nova and lifted his chin with a finger. "The color is strange with this one. If you survive, dragon, you may be worthy of the egg." She backed away. "For now I have something else for you."She reached into a small satchel and took out two vials. One she opened immediately to shake the contents from. A small bit of ash poured out. "Take this dragon. You cannot taste the egg, but this was once a shaving of its mother's scale." She put her hand in front of his mouth and spread it on him. "Some power may be left inside." Then she took the second vial, handing it to Fluttershy. "That thing gave this to me, and told me to give it to... presumably, you. Do not take it yet. Wait until nightfall." Fluttershy reached for the vial and put it in her satchel. The thing Karyth referred to, she figured, must have been what she saw in her dream. She thought perhaps to thank the creature, but still felt too indignant to do so, however necessary their battle was.

She turned back to Nova. He was hardly moving. In fact, he didn't seem to be breathing. Fluttershy collapsed next to him, fearing the worst. She looked at his scorched scales, smelling faintly of charred flesh. She looked at his hand, ready to see the extent of the damage. It looked... fine. She was puzzled, and looked up at Karyth.

"He is in a deep sleep," she said, "But his bones are growing stronger. Such is the effect of a crystalline dragon's scale on him." She paused. "It may be a while. Now, go, before I get bored! I may have to pummel some ogres again to satiate my taste for blood once you've left." Fluttershy, still weakened, started nudging Nova up the path. It was going to take a long time.

The sun was out now, and a gentle breeze wafted through the shrubbery outside the base of the mountain. A sleepy eye finally cracked open for a moment before fluttering shut. A squeal could be heard in the distance... a nudging... wait, perhaps the squeal was nearby...

It all came into focus. Nova shot up, immediately bonking noses with Fluttershy, who let out an eep and recoiled backwards before a grin spread throughout her face. "Yay! You're awake!"

"How long was I out?" Nova rubbed his head and looked at his hand. Then at his other hand. "Wait, my hand was broken. Was that a dream?"

"Nope!" said Fluttershy chipperly.

"Wait... DID I EAT THE EGG?" yelled Nova.

Fluttershy shushed him. "Keep it down! We're near the tourist center, and there are people out now. We need to get out of this area. How are you feeling?"

"Did... did I eat the egg?"

"Well... no."

"Aw. What happened?"

"Do you remember the snake lady?"

"Uhhh... yeah?"

"She gave you something, part of a crystal scale I think. Your bones started healing up right away, but you passed out."

"Oh yeah, I think I remember her shoving something bitter in my face. I thought I was gonna die."

"Me too..." Fluttershy sat down and sighed.

"But, uh, look! I didn't! Did you heal us up?"

Fluttershy looked back up and beamed. "Yep! After you passed out, I pushed you to the entrance, and took a nap so I could heal myself enough to bring you down here. It was a little bumpy, but it was fine, and then I healed you a bit more too."

Nova gave her a look of adoration. "That must have been really hard... you've come a long way." Fluttershy beamed. "Well, let's start heading back, then?"

"Mhm!"

Nova stretched up, immediate wincing. He could walk, but his flesh was still tender. Fluttershy had done a lot, though, as was apparent. The cool breeze brought relief, however, as they walked back to the portal.

"Halt!"

The pair jumped, remembering the first words spoken to them by Karyth. It was merely a guard. "You're not supposed to be here. And you look like you've been in a tousle. What have-" The dragon stopped for a moment. "-never mind. Damn teenagers," he muttered under his breath. Fluttershy would have been offended, as she was 20, but understood how young she looked. She and Nova exchanged confused glances. "Hey I'm not judging!" clarified the guard. "If you want to experiment with other species, that's fine! My daughter was dating a gazelle while she lived in Equestria. Charming lad, I met him once. The distance was too hard on them, though, shame." They blushed in embarrassment, unable to bring themselves to protest. "Just stay out of the restricted area is all I'm saying."

There was no point in explaining what had actually happened. They could have gotten in more trouble then, anyways. So they simply walked back with the rather friendly guard while he prattled on here and there about his daughter and that charming gazelle, until at last they were back at the tourist center.

"Stay out of trouble," he said, before turning back to his post.

"We will!" they said.

The pair headed back to the portal. Nova opened his satchel and fumbled for his bits, realizing he only had two left. "I can only send you back," he said.

"What? But..."

"I can walk back. It's a few days, but it won't be too hard. I feel fairly refreshed."

"But..." she though back to Gabby and the other griffons. "I have to leave when I'm back. I wanted you to come with me... I mean, if you could. I don't think I could do this without you!"

Nova put a hand on Fluttershy's shoulder. "You can. It's not like we won't see each other again. Besides, I really can't just up and leave. I have family here. School is starting up again in a few weeks. I couldn't come either way. But look, let me give you my address. You can write to me when you're ready to meet again." He turned to the dragon selling tickets. "Can I borrow a pen and paper?"

The dragon chuckled. "Kids, just take the two tickets. I'm not going to make one of you walk back all that way. Fifty percent off, just for you." Nova grinned and handed him the bits.

"Thank you sir!"

"No problem! Now go on, get over there." The two headed to the portal, stepped in, and warped back.

They walked back through the garden. Fluttershy looked in awe at all of the beautiful plants that she had nearly forgotten about. Nova walked forward steadily, but began to notice how Fluttershy slowed down to look every now and then. "Oh, right," he said, "I promised I'd tell you about them."

"I think I need to hurry back now..." Fluttershy looked disappointed.

Nova stopped. "Okay, just pick one. Come on." Fluttershy stopped and smiled, then turned to glance keenly from fern to flower to shrub. She finally pointed and the one with a long stalk that seemed to have a hardened rose at the end. "The asparagus rose," he said. "They're very nutritious. One raw bite can work as a pretty effective painkiller, but if you cook it you can eat the whole thing. I think they're pretty tasty with some rubies crushed on top."

"That's- that sounds wonderful!"

"Yeah, it's pretty great." They kept walking. "And those magenta ferns are mostly decorative, but when there's a blue moon they glow pretty brightly. Oh, and these wave peonies, the blue one right there..."

Finally, they had made it back to the hostel. They went inside, and Nova was able to give Fluttershy an address. Fluttershy also mentioned that she had promised to keep correspondence with a certain mule from Chevalin, and wrote up a letter for him to send her way. He promised to send back the response as soon as he could. Fluttershy hugged him tightly, burying her muzzle into his shoulder. "I'm going to miss you..."

"Me too. I... never mind. I'm just going to miss you." And away he went.

"FLUTTERSHY! YOU'RE BACK! WE WERE JUST ABOUT TO LEAVE!" Gaelle called from across the room. She bolted towards her, then paused. "Wait, your wing- oh sun, are you okay? Do you need to rest?"

Fluttershy looked to the side. She had forgotten about her wing. It didn't hurt anymore, but it still made her a little sick to look at. "Oh, I'm fine. It's all better now."

"Are you sure? That's a pretty serious chunk missing! And how did it heal so fast?"

"I..."

Gaelle shook her head. "Sorry. If you want to share, you will. Feel free to lie down though, we can wait! Just be sure to pack up whenever you're ready!"

Fluttershy smiled. "Thank you, Gaelle. You're very kind." The effect of these words were immediate. The griffon grinned and squealed as she hopped away. Fluttershy simply headed back to her room.

Once on her bed, she opened her satchel and shook out the contents. She realized her staff still had a gem in it, and thanked Celestia that she wasn't caught. The cut of it made it obvious that it was intended as contraband. She disarmed the staff, then took off her garnet charm as well and placed the gems in the satchel. The staff would still be visible, but it was fine. No law was against sticks or branches. She looked through the rest of what she had. She still had the maps, the rope, the small jug and bowl, and the matches from one side, and the sleeping bag in the other. She also had... the vial. There wouldn't be a chance to take it tonight. She'd be sleeping on the train, and that simply didn't seem wise. She started packing everything back up. Perhaps tomorrow night would be the right time.

An hour later, Gaelle, Gabby, Gerda, Giselle, Gregor, Greta and Fluttershy were ready to go. "We're not heading straight to the capital," Gabby explained. "We wanted to hit a few museums and parks on the way, so we bought tickets to the town of Hawkvale. I hope that's alright with you! I don't know how important it is that you get to the capital right away."

"Oh, I don't mind a little vacation," said Fluttershy.

"Alright!"

And the wheels on the train started turning.

Gleam

by SlashopentheSky

Alku

Meadow

City

Station

Volcano I

Volcano II