Two weeks have passed at the traveling group arrived at the Marsh together. They could easily walk through the Marsh making to the other side by dusk. The group traveled true North for the next three weeks, managing to avoid Commander Blaze and his goons thanks to the Emerald Dragon Gem, making an entire month go by before they reached the Bone Dry Desert, a vast desert area that has a reputation for being the harshest environment to survive in. Despite this reputation, many creatures managed to carve out a living in this environment.

Star, Eclipse, Dart, Pouncer, Ruffrunner and Aline were now walking through the desert when the sun was at its highest. Aline covered part of her face with her right wing, which was fully healed after the first week of leaving the Mountain. Dart, Pouncer and Ruffrunner stayed underneath their mother to escape the humidity and the sunlight.

Aline panted a little looking over the desert, seeing nothing but sand, sand and more sand. Not a single creature could b seen.

"Mommy, I'm hot,"

"Me too,"

"Me three," Dart, Pouncer and Ruffrunner whined from the heat, sapping their energy. Star and the others stopped walking and Star nuzzled her tired babies.

"Prehaps we should stop here and travel again when it turns to night," Aline suggested and the parents agreed. So Aline put up her tent for the day and everyone entered. Aline gave the Night Lights each a bowl filled with fresh cold water along with their parents. The babies drank the water and seemed to gain their lost strength back.

The group stayed inside of the tent for the day until the desert sun gave way to the desert night. At night, the desert was much cooler and more welcoming to travelers in its midst. Aline packed up her tent and she and the dragons headed out once more.

As they traveled through the night, Eclipse picked up on some faint hissing sounds nearby, "Everyone. Wait..." he whispered making everyone stop before Aline's Emerald Dragon Gem began blinking in its 'warning pattern' again.

"Is it Commander Blaze?" Dart whimpered.

"No....." Eclipse growled, turning to the groups right as a pack of seven dragons slowly appeared from the shadows.

All of the dragons were of the same species, all 28 ft. long in length and had long, sharp tusks protruding out from their lower jaws with a row of armored plates lining across their backs. Their body coloration is mainly red with black stripes merging with black spots and they had bright yellow eyes. Their tails were telescopic and they were each tipped with a venomous stinger, similar to the stingers found on scorpions. They also have jagged, razor-sharp pincers resembling those found on a praying mantis in place of their front legs and their back legs were shorter and thinner with only two claws at the foot front of each leg. These dragons were known to be part of the highly aggressive Strike Class dragon species known as Deathgrippers.

"Deathgrippers......" Eclipse narrowed his eyes.

These dragons had much scorpion like anatomy with their stingers being able to sedate a human or dragon when placed in high concentrations, making them very dangerous. They also fire acid that came easily catch fire when it hits the air, melting through rock, wood and metal very easily.

The leader of the Deathgrippers looked at Eclipse and Star......... before it smiled, "Well well well.... Didn't except to see you out here again, Eclipse."

Eclipse calmed down, "Twilight, you know you shouldn't sneak up on me like that." he gently scolded.

"Where's the fun in that?" Twilight smirked.

"You know them, Eclipse?" Aline asked.

"Yes, they're some of the friends our children mentioned. Aline, meet Twilight, Dawn, Kamaari, Raya, Striker, Viper and Stripes. Twilight's their leader and mother." Eclipse introduced.

"Didn't expect to see an alicorn out here with our friends. Thought you'd be in some fancy castle somewhere." Striker quipped.

"Well that's not the case when your mothers a power-hungry and blood thirsty ruler who wants to destroy you for being friends with dragons." Aline said dryly.

"Your mother wants to destroy you?" Twilight's daughters exclaimed in unison.

"Yep." Aline deadpanned. "We're going to Hidden World so they can't find me there, but she sent Commander Hothead and his goons to capture me and my dragons friends."

"Don't you mean, monsters?" a familiar voice came and Commander Blaze and his squadron came over the dunes and the pegasus circled the group from above while the Unicorn guards pointed their horns them, ready to blast them. "Through that avalanche would have gotten rid of me?"

"I thought it would." Aline growled.

"HA! You thought wrong! And now my boys and I are taking you and your dragons in; dead or alive if need be." Commander Blaze snarled.

Twilight and her daughters roared before the Earth Pony guards launched a flurry of arrows at them. Twilight and her daughters fired their acid with melted the arrows before Aline used her magic and created a shockwave of lightning that blasted the Unicorn guards away. "Seize them!" Commander Blaze called up to the pegasus guards.

They saluted to their Captain and charged Aline and the dragons, however, Twilight, Viper and Striker flew up to them and revealed their stingers that were kept hidden a four sided sheath and stung the guards easily, paralyzing them and making them fall onto the ground. Commander Blaze snarled, furious seeing his soldiers easily taken out by pathetic dragons.

"Must I do everything myself!" Commander Blaze yelled before he tackled Aline to the ground, drawing his sword but the Emerald Dragon Gem, hidden in Aline's mane fired a blast at Blaze, knocking him off of its bearer. Commander Blaze stood up as his squad regrouped together. The Emerald Dragon Gem then floated out of Aline's mane and glowed very brightly before it unleashed a rainbow coloured blast at Commander Blaze and his squadron.

When the light dimmed down, Aline and the dragons gasped seeing Commander Blaze and his squad...... stone statues...!

"Holy! That thing can turn ponies to stone!" Viper gawked as the Gem floated back into Aline's hooves, "I-I had no idea.... It never did that before ever since Grandmother gave it to me."

"It appears that was a defense mechanism it used to protect you from great harm." Twilight deduced the gems' actions. "Your grandmothers' Gem appears to have become bonded to you."

"But..... why me...? Grandmother said that it was magical but... she never really went into detail why?"

"I believe the answer will be revealed once we get to the Hidden World."

"Yeah, and look on the bright side, we'll never have to worry about these goons again." Dart chirped happily.

Aline nodded and put her grandmothers' item back into her mane before the group continued on through the desert together with some new friends and a new mystery in tow.

Another two weeks have passed until the group finally reached the ocean. "Finally the ocean, we made it!" Dart cheered.

"We're almost home." Pouncer grinned as well.

Star and Eclipse nodded and Aline mounted Star before the group headed out over the ocean together in the final stretch
The group didn't think anything would get in their way........until a cyclone of fire blocked their way and a booming voice came from "YOU SHALL NOT ESCAPE WITHOUT PUNISHMENT YOU TRAITOR!"

Aline gasped in horror, knowing that voice as Queen Ember appeared from the cyclone with her mane flaming up with blue flames in complete and utter rage, "ITS' TIME I PUT YOU OUT OF YOUR MISERABLE LIFE, YOU TRAITOR!"

Queen Ember charged the group at full speed and they all scattered before Star and Eclipse fired their plasma blasts, striking her in the eyes while Twilight and her daughters bashed the enraged Queen in the sides, "Someone's got anger issues!" Viper yelped, feeling the heat from her mane and tail.

Queen Ember roared with such fury and breathed fire from her mouth just like a dragon would making everyone back off. "Yikes, we've gotta take her out!" Twilight growled.

"But how's she's very powerful!" Aline stated, knowing her mother was very powerful as an Alicorn Queen.

"Maybe we could help you," A voice came from nearby and the group turned and saw a flock of dragons heading their way.

At the head the of flock as a dragon who had long horns and spines snaking along its back with a bright blue, yellow, and orange color scheme to contrast them and was about 75 ft. long from nose to tail. The dragon was classified as a Death Song. His name was Singer.

The second, a female, was 72 ft. from nose to tail instead. It had similar features to the male Death Song but unlike the first dragon, its wings were much smaller and it had a different wing pattern. Its lower jaw on its face was a little wider and it had dark spots around its eyes. The most striking contrasts between them, however, came down to the female dragon's blue main body skin and scales as well as its black stripes and patterns, thinner legs, and larger and thicker back spines. The female dragon was a close relative to the Death Song known as a Slithersong named Echo.

The thirds was a male Deadly Nadder mate (who was larger than her) was named Flystorm. He was a mostly orange and pale green Deadly Nadder male who also light blue around his nose and legs. His nasal horn was smaller and less curved and he had a more complete underbite and a more robust jaw.

The fourth was a Titan Wing Monstrous Nightmare whose hide was mottled with rich blood red and a deep dark purple. His horns and claws are black, while his eyes are pale yellow and named Pheonix.

Nova was the female Titan Wing Singetail. She was blood-red with dark red to maroon muzzle, socks, and markings and as big as Camo and his mate.

A male Razorwhip dragon named Whiplash, who had red scale edges and his ocean blue eyes was the sixth dragon of the flock.

Rosethorn was the name seventh dragon of the flock who was a pale pink and white-winged and under-bellied Triple Stryke with golden-fire patterns atop her brown head appendages, golden spikes and claws, dark pink eyes, and three white, pink, and gold tails coupled with dark pink tail stingers.

The eighth dragon was about 66 feet long and had two heads and a split tail. This one was the strangest looking out of all of them that was a blue-green base color with darker splotches over its body and wings. It had a yellow nasal horn and blue leaf-like spines on its necks and back and it was larger compared to the other dragons. This dragon was called a Titan Wing Hideous Zippleback named Mist and Spark.

Finally, a male, dark blue, light blue, and turquoise-and-dark-striped winged Stormcutter simply named Reignstorm was the final one who completed the pack.

Star, Eclipse and their children all smiled at the flock, "Guys, you came to help."

"Of course, we're protectors forever." Singer smiled at his old friend. "Now let's get this hag out of here. Until the Hidden World's End,"

"DRAGON GUARD DEFEND!" All of the dragons went and they all attacked Queen Ember, bombarding her with poisonous spines, bites, fire damage and tail slices, leaving her with multiple scratches and injuries all over her body but her anger to get revenge on her daughter kept her going.

"You'll never defeat me!" Queen Ember yelled in rage.

However, the Emerald Dragon Gem glowed once more and floated out of Aline's mane and she knew what she had to do... for the future of Equestria and Dragonkind.

"For the peace you have denied us, Mother, you shall be turned to stone until I say that you are fit to be released back into society, so says Aline, the Dragon Guardian!" Aline announced as she used her grandmother's item and blasted her mother, turning her to stone, just like Commander Blaze and his squadron. Her statue fell into the ocean.... and sank to the bottom... never to be seen again.

All of the dragons cheered loudly and happily.

Finally, with the Queen gone, the war could now finally end in Equestria and dragons could be in peace once more, "Way'd a go!" Flystorm smiled.

"You sure showed her!" Phoenix smirked happily.

Aline panted as she smiled before her grandmothers' heirloom returned her the inside of her mane, "Now come on, let's go home!" Dart chirped and the dragons nodded and they flew out over the ocean, heading to their ancestral home.

After about another hour, Aline saw a large cloud of steam and the dragons flew over it, revealing a gigantic collapsed volcano caldera! Eclipse and the others dragons smiled seeing the caldera before they all dove right into the caldera. Inside the caldera were large stalagmites on the bottom with some small glows from volcanic lava. Water was pouring down from above giving the area a mysterious aura. Flystorm sniffed again, "This way," and he lead his friends through a tunnel that soon gained a blue glow to it.

When they came out, Aline was in awe, seeing a gigantic forest filled with many stalactites and stalagmites that are completely overgrown with various sorts of mushrooms and fungi.

“Wow….” she gasped. “It’s beautiful..” She was even more amazed as Star and the other dragons then started to glow in brightly colors. As the dragons flew over a forest and the young Alicorn saw many sections of rocks that held what looked to be developing dragons eggs. “Are those... dragon eggs?” Aline asked.

"Indeed they are. The Mushroom Forest is where dragon eggs are laid," Phoenix informed as they flew flew down and out of the mushroom forest and came into the what appeared to an entire world filled with dragons..! Many colors of coral are mixed with bioluminescent elements and Sarah could see they have grown from the floor of the cavern to the roof in tall columns. The coral was attached to gigantic, scintillating crystals that adorn the huge cavernous spaces and antechambers with water dripping down from the coral on the crystals, giving the entire area a majestic aura.

"Sweet Celestia..." Aline gasped, speechless at the pure beauty of the Hidden World before she saw a gigantic myriad of dragons as well! There were so many that she couldn’t even begin to count all of them! There had to be hundreds or even thousands of them!

The dragons flew down over the center of the Hidden World and Aline saw a humongous crystal that about as tall a small mountain surrounded by other crystals as well that were just as big, "What's that?"

"That's King and Queen Island. The throne of the Alpha Dragon," Eclipse replied as he and his friends all flew down joining a large flock of wild dragons as they flew around the large crystal and flew past a large section of the Hidden World which had many dragons on the coral around the giant crystal. All of the dragons roared in joy at the sight of Sarah as Winter flew up to the gigantic crystal and landed at the top and Aline dismounted her and gasped in awe at all of the dragons, who looked overjoyed to see her in their ancestral home.

"Why are they so happy to see me?" Aline questioned.

"Your grandmother used to secretly rule over the Hidden World and they can sense you are her granddaughter," Star explained as the group watched as all of the dragons, bowed to Aline in respect. “And now they made the you their new Alpha.”

“New Alpha…?” Aline questioned.

“Indeed. The rank of Alpha is one of the most powerful and deadly forces in the dragon world. It usually earned by defeating the previous Alpha or by earning the trust and loyalty of dragonkind by protecting, providing and keeping the peace among dragons The Alpha's natural duty is to protect all dragons and guarantee peace among them, thus it is a very important role for the survival of dragonkind."

"It means all of the dragons in the Hidden World and outside of the Hidden World will follow her command whether wild or tamed, are fiercely loyal and protective of her, following her wherever you go and come to her defense when they sense she's in danger and no dragon will harm her either because of her new rank either.” Eclipse started with a smile.

"My grandmother...... ruled over dragonkind...?" Aline gasped.

"Indeed she did and she was the greatest Alpha, us dragons have ever known." Whiplash smiled. "She was so wise and she always knew what to say and how to protect dragonkind from danger. And now.... that job belongs to you."

Aline was speechless but there was no denying it as her grandmothers heirloom to her glowed and floated out of her mane and into her hooves, "Thank you grandmother........I promise I'll make you proud...." Aline thought to herself and the Emerald Dragon Gem glowed as if it understood what she was thinking.

Author's Note

Sequel to Book 2:

https://www.fimfiction.net/story/493901/my-little-dragons-book-2-riders-of-berk