The rugged terrain of Yellowstone passed by under me as I flew through the air while tracking our progress on the map of the area.
It was held firmly in a bubble of my magic, which also helped to shield it from the never-ending rain of blood weighing me down as it seeped into my fur and in-between the individual feathers on my wings.
We were following US Route 89, or 191, or 287 up from the South into Yellowstone proper, with Mount Sheridan on our right and Lewis Lake coming up on the left.
In a short while we would be flying over the continental divide and I had yet to feel this mana well which was supposed to be near.
I was hoping we would find it near to Old Faithful, literally the only place I remembered Yellowstone for as I had lived nowhere near the area.
I glanced behind me at Rainbow Dash and Turkey, giving them a questioning gaze to see if they could keep flying or were getting tired after the long trek.
Rainbow just grinned and gave a nod my way; she had no problems whatsoever, while Turkey put up a brave face but was clearly struggling more.
I realised my privileged position as an Alicorn had not only given me more magic, but the bigger wings allowed me to get more lift with less motion.
I could even glide through the air for a few seconds in-between flaps if I wanted to, which definitely helped me keep my energy for longer flights.
Rainbow Dash was an experienced flyer from Equestria; born and raised as a Pegasus, and she had been instrumental in teaching Turkey and myself to fly.
Turkey was the weakest of us three; both inexperienced like myself but also with a smaller wingspan which kept her from gliding properly.
I looked forward again for a place up ahead where we could land if we needed to give her a place to rest.
With the tourism in the area there were a few places for us to land comfortably with our balloon in tow, but the question was whether these areas would have humans at them right now.
There was a flash up ahead in the air and my eyes focused on the spray of multicolored flares raining down in a patterned arc up ahead in the distance.
The sound of the fireworks exploding in mid-air reached our ears not a second later and I glanced back at the other two to notice their confused glances and turned-away ears.
I studied the map to try and pinpoint where the fireworks could have been shot up from.
The Grant Village Visitor Center was up ahead, just past the continental divide.
Maybe a group of humans was stuck there, shooting up flares in the hope of rescue?
Another flare shot up in the sky, this one a bright fountain of colors like the first.
These were proper fireworks like one would use for the Fourth of July or New Year's, not emergency flares.
They were also shot from a ways beyond the visitor center, nearer to the large body of water known as Yellowstone Lake.
I motioned to Rainbow and Turkey that we should head in its direction to at least figure out what was going on.
They followed my lead as I turned slightly to more clearly head in that direction while checking the map for where exactly we would be going.
I looked at the map to figure out where it could be that these fireworks were being sent up from.
A third explosion; a lovely flower of light in the dreary blood rain dead ahead of us.
If we kept flying at this altitude we would surely be hit by another such explosion.
I motioned my head down and started descending to a safer altitude, Rainbow instantly noticing what I was doing and following suit.
Turkey dropped down a little too fast once she realised what was going on, but then corrected her flight path.
I cast a smile back in her direction in an effort to boost her confidence. She was honestly doing well and needed to trust in her own abilities.
A fourth rocket shot up from an area near a body of water up ahead, a smaller lake than lake Yellowstone perhaps, but still sizeable.
I looked it up on the map; Delusion Lake.
The fireworks were being shot up from a strip of land between Delusion Lake and Yellowstone Lake, from a clearing between the trees growing there.
Another course correction had us flying directly at the area now, lowering even more so we would skim over the treeline between us.
If we had a better angle on our approach I would have skimmed even lower across the surface of the water to avoid the balloon getting hit with fireworks, but this would have to do.
As we approached the clearing I looked down at the source of the fireworks.
I couldn't believe what I was seeing at first; two pink Earthponies stood tail-to-tail beside one another on the ground, next to a comically large cannon.
They were both looking up in different directions, searching the sky above them, while slowly turning around as one to adjust their view.
A very familiar Draconequus was resting on a chaise lounge beach chair a few feet away from them, a pair of sunglasses on his face and a tanning mirror on his chest, ostensibly in the act of sunbathing in the pouring blood rain.
As we neared the clearing, the pink ones turned so that one of them was looking directly at us, and I could see their pupils grow to twice their original size.
The pink pony staring in our direction started to bounce up and down while loudly proclaiming "I see them! I see them!"
The other of these pink 'twins' turned in confusion to see what the hubbub was all about, but then noticed us as well and joined in the jumping and excited shouting.
The pair of them started to dance and jump around in their excitement, while Discord reached up with his bird-like claw and lowered his sunglasses to peer over them in mild amusement.
"Oh, so you're finally here," he remarked as we found ourselves a landing spot in the clearing.
I snorted in annoyance as my hooves hit the ground, folding my wings to give them some rest.
"Turkey, Rainbow, can you help Spritelight and April with the balloon please?" I asked of my fellow flyers, pulling the rope I pulled the thing along with off over my head as I did.
I turned to face the Draconequus as he moved to stand up from his chair, noticing the bouncing pair behind him, and cantered on over.
"Been waiting long, have you?" I asked, not hiding my annoyance in having to deal with Discord again.
"Oh, not at all! We had a lovely picnic with some fireworks," Discord suggested, magically apperating a plate on his upturned feline palm. "Want a sandwich?"
I looked at the offered sandwich, noticing a piece of fireworks stuck between two slices of whole wheat bread, the fuse already lit and shook my head at the Draconequus.
"No thanks, we ate before flying over," I suggested calmly.
"Suit yourself," Discord offered with a shrug before biting down on the sandwich himself, taking a good chunk out of the bread, the fireworks, and the plate all. "Waste not..."
I grumbled to myself at his usual antics. "Why are you here, though?"
One of the pink earthponies walked over past Discord's left side and grinned up at me.
"Josey! I know you told me to stay behind because I would get in the way, but Pinkie and me found out that there's this amazing thing hidden here and I just had to, I mean, I just HAD TO come and help you out with it because, well, I mean, you can't expect me to let you go into this by yourself, can you? Jo and Rho forever, remember? Also, that's not necessarily true anymore since I'm now called Patty Cannon, but we can change it to Patty and Jo? Jo and Pat? We'll figure something out," the pink one rattled off.
I felt my left ear flick from the barrage of sound, then felt compelled to lift my right forehoof up to tousle through Rhonda's hair. "It's good to see you again Rhonda dear."
She puffed her cheeks up at me, but blushed at the headrub. "It's Patty Cannon, I just told you."
"And Pinkie Pie," I noticed, looking past her at Pinkie bouncing up to join in the conversation.
"Dashie told you we would be back," she decided with a bright smile which almost made me forget the situation we were in.
"Hmm," Discord mused, looking us all over. "Something's missing."
I peered back at him after giving Pinkie Pie a warm smile in return. "What are you on about now?"
"Look at us; two earth ponies, two pegasi, two unicorns, but only one alicorn and one of little old me," Discord listed, pointing at each grouping in turn.
I looked around and realised he was right; Pinkie Pie and Rhonda, excuse me Patty Cannon, made two earth ponies. Rainbow Dash and Turkey were the two pegasi in question. Spritelight and April were both unicorns.
This left Discord and myself in the awkward position of not having someone like us to call a partner.
"Where are you going with this?" I asked cautiously.
Discord ignored me and instead started feeling around his sides as if he was rifling through a coat or long jacket's inside pockets. "Now where did I put her, she can't have gone far?"
"Put who?" I asked, wondering at this goat-faced agent of chaos and his antics.
"Ah-ha!" Discord finally exclaimed, tugging at the shadow down his right side and pulling a pink horn out of mid-air. "There she is!"
I watched in amazement as he pulled princess Cadance out of thin air and unceremoniously plopped her down on the dirt beside him.
"Now we're a full group," Discord proclaimed, now suddenly wearing a long robe and holding a pipe to his mouth from which he started to blow smoke rings. "One could even call us a fellowship now."
I just stared at this new fascimile of a wizard before me, while Cadance was trying to figure out what had just happened.
She opened her mouth to speak, caught herself in a cough, and spat out a golden ring.
Discord instantly swiped it off the ground and twirled it around in his bird-like claw. "Fellowship's got such a nice ring to it, don't you think?"
Cadance recovered from her ordeal and glared at Discord. "I was just about to feed Flurry Heart, now where am I?"
"Oh, I'm sure your husband can do that for you, now what was his name again? Shining Lout, was it?" the Draconequus wafted the other alicorn's concern away. "It's not like he has anything better to do."
"Armor," I knew. "Shining Armor."
"My husband has been very hard at work to maintain the peace in the Crystal Empire, I'll have you know," Cadance threw back at Discord, then finally looked around herself properly.
Rainbow and Turkey were still pushing the balloon down onto the ground with Spritelight's magic to help them, while April somewhat stood idly by.
Knowing how April's magic had surprised us earlier in the day, I thought it was a wise decision of her to not attempt to help folding the balloon up so it would fit in its basket.
Cadance's eyes moved from the ponies gathered here to look up at the sky and her pupils shrunk while her ears pulled back and her wings lowered themselves.
"Yeah, welcome to the end of the world," I chuckled darkly. "Apparently Discord felt you were needed here."
Discord simply puffed a ring of smoke up in the air while Cadance collected her thoughts.
"I'm sure you already know Pinkie, Rhonda, Rainbow, me, and even Spritelight since we discussed her back in Canterlot. The other two are the pegasus Turkey and unicorn April. We were forced to take the latter with us after making a pit stop on her school's rooftop," I explained to the other princess.
"Turkey," Cadance considered.
"Spritelight supposedly named her," I revealed with a shrug.
The other alicorn folded her wings to her sides and made a face. "And we're gathered out here in the open, because?"
"Oh! OH! I can answer that!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed.
"No, let me!" Rhonda... No, Patty Cannon decided immediately after.
"Well, okay then, but only because I like you," Pinkie agreed.
"Aww, well, I like you too! You're my new B.M.F.F.A.W.F!" Patty Cannon offered back with a grin. "You can tell them if you really want to."
I raised an eyebrow. "B.M.F.F.A.W.F?"
"Best Mare Friend From Another World Forever!" both Pinkie Pie and Patty Cannon exclaimed together, then looked at one another and giggled.
"Will somepony just spill the tea already?" I grumbled, quickly getting a headache.
Discord scoffed and tapped out his pipe against the back of his free hand, tea pouring out of it. "Well, someone is getting impatient..."
"If you really want to know," the Draconequus continued, motioning with the wet pipe at the water of Delusion Lake. "Twilight Sparkle figured out that the mana well you're looking for is there, under the surface of the lake."
I looked in the direction he was pointing and the large body of water we had almost flown directly over during our approach.
"I can't sense any large source of mana?" I revealed, noticing Cadance peering in the same direction.
"Nor can I," she concurred. "How far under the surface?"
"Far enough that we couldn't just make a portal to it," Discord spoke surprisingly matter-of-factly. "There is supposed to be an entryway into the temple somewhere around here however."
"Oh, Patty Cannon and me already found it," Pinkie Pie decided with a grin. "We were just waiting for everypony to get here."