Night of Change

What follows are the events of one summer evening several weeks after the end of Season 2. The faint of heart should turn away now. Those who want to know the short version of why Dashie is blind in my AU will find out next chapter of Midwife Crisis.

It was the day before the Summer Sun Celebration, and in Ponyville the day was passing with the minor preparations they made each year for the festival. None nearly so extravagant as they had prepared a couple years ago when Celestia herself was to present, but they were still holding a day of fun and games. It was their duty to take advantage of the longest day of the year with fun, friends, and family. Most of the village was out and about today as well, shopping for decorations or simply checking out the events ahead of time.

Fluttershy found herself in the market square, attempting to stay out of everypony's way. She really hated having to come in and shop on a day like today, but the animals needed supplies, and Angel bunny had been insistent that she get him some fresh carrots to have for the celebration tomorrow. She decided that she would simply treat herself to something small and sweet at Sugarcube Corner before returning home. The pegasus was just approaching Carrot Top's well-stocked stall when she noticed a familiar blue and rainbow blur flying overhead. The blur was making a beeline straight for the library near the center of town. The mare never admitted it, but she had something similar to Pinkie's infamous Pinkiesense, and the niggling feeling at the bottom of her gut told her something serious was up. She paid for the bundle of carrots she had absentmindedly picked up and headed off in the direction of the library.

On approach, she could hear two voices shouting through the thick wooden door. Her ears picked up the concise, educated cadence of Twilight's voice as well as the brash, almost masculine tone of Rainbow's. The now terrified mare approached and pushed the door open silently. Dash and Twilight were in the center of the library arguing as books came and went in the unicorn's magical field.

"I'm tellin' you, Twi! Those dragons are on their way here!"

"That's absurd, Rainbow. There's nothing in any of my books to suggest that dragons ever deviate from their normal migration pattern for any reason."

"Listen, I know you're supposed to be the expert on everything, but you gotta believe me on this. There are thirteen of them, and they are coming this way!"

"D-did you say... Dragons?" Fluttershy asked, shaking in the doorway.

The other two mares finally noticed her presence and turned to face her. Twilight looked apologetic and Dash still looked scared. To make the fearless prankster scared, it had to be serious. Finally, the lavender unicorn spoke up, "Dash is just concerned because she thought she may have seen some dragons heading in the general direction of Ponyville. It's really nothing to worry about, Fluttershy."

"Alright, that's it!" shouted the blue pegasus, grabbing Twilight under her chest and streaking out the open door. Shy barely had time to duck out of the way before they nearly took her mane off. The sounds of the unicorn's protests were quickly lost in the wind as the two flew off to the west.

Calming herself and flattening her wings, Fluttershy returned to the market to finish her errands, looking up at the sky constantly to see when Dashie and Twi would return. As she finished picking up some apples from AJ, who had her stand set up like usual for a good market day, she spotted two ponies flying toward the market. Dash set Twilight down, looking smug while the Unicorn cast a spell to boost the volume of her voice.

"Attention citizens of Ponyville. It is my duty to inform you that a hoard of dragons may be passing close enough to Ponyville to pose a problem. I will be sending word to the Princess in Manehatten, but I suggest everyone make ready to leave if necessary. As you're aware..."

Twilight's speech continued, largely unheard by the yellow mare who was now quivering with fear next to her friend Applejack. The earth pony put a hoof on her friend's back and smiled, "Easy now, sugarcube. They only might be comin' ahr way. No need ta fret."

"Oh, but, even so, I should make sure the animals are safe. Let the others know where I'll be, please, Applejack," Fluttershy said, galloping off in the direction of her cottage.

She was incredibly concerned for her little animal friends. Some of them, like Harry, could probably hold their own against the smaller dragons, but most of her friends would need to hide or go someplace else. Her hooves thudded against the ground as she ran, worry and fear gripping her heart.

Once the pegasus had reached her home, she quickly dumped her saddlebags by the door and flew into the backyard. Most of her friends were there, doing what they would usually do in the early afternoon. She quickly told them the situation and they all promptly vanished. Some went east to get as far away as they could, while others hunkered down in their burrows. She sighed, until she noticed a large group of raccoons heading to the west. Her eyes went wide as her concern for their safety fought against her fear of dragons. The mare had managed to stand up to one, but that was one, and not a large group of them.

Her duty and her fear continued to argue while rashness took the opportunity to nudge her off towards the woods. Logic threw up its hands in defeat and left the three to duke it out for control of their charge. Fluttershy dove headlong into the woods, clearing the distance between the relatively safety of the woods nearest her house and entering the Everfree Forest in record time. Tracks went off in every direction, but she decided to follow the largest concentration.

When that too split off into smaller sets, she stopped to catch her breath. All of a sudden she realized where she was: Somewhere deep in the Everfree Forest, possibly out of time, and definitely lost. The pegasus looked skyward through a gap in the thick growth of trees and saw the sky dimming as dusk approached. Given the small view she had however, she was unable to determine which direction she should run in to make it back to Ponyville.

She settled for picking a set of raccoon tracks at random and following it, hoping to get at least one animal back home safely. The light gradually faded until finally turning to full night. Muttering to herself the pegasus continued to wander in the woods, hoping that the dragons would pass her by, or her friends would find her.

Tired, she leaned against the trunk of a tree and sighed, looking through the woods. Slowly, Fluttershy became aware of a series of loud crashes heading her way. The crashes grew in volume until a full sized green dragon crashed through the trees. It looked around for a moment before flopping onto its side and sighing. Two baby greens came out of the woods behind their parent and began to roughhouse in the impromptu clearing. The pony stood absolutely still. She was unafraid of the babies; they were cute. It was their parent that caused her to imitate statuary.

Standing stock still and breathing with shallow, silent breaths, the mare stood there, watching the two play. Unfortunately for her, one of them got too close and bumped into her leg. It looked up, noticed the pony, and squeaked in surprise. The other one ran back to the lazing giant shouting for Momma. Their mother rose and glared at the little yellow interloper. Fluttershy promptly took off into the woods, encouraged in her flight by the loud roar of an angry dragon.

Failing to truly be able to see where she was going, and unable to convince her wings to function as anything more than dead weights attached to her sides, Fluttershy hit a tree root and began to fall. Bouncing down a hill was no fun even without tree roots, rocks, and sharp bits of fallen branches smacking into you the entire way down. At the bottom of the ravine, the poor mare tried to stand, but found herself too dizzy to do so. A quick inventory of her condition did little to help matters. One wing was laying limply along her flank, definitely broken, as were two or three ribs on the same side. Her rear leg was twisted and sprained, possibly broken as well. The pegasus definitely had a concussion, and blood was pooling in her vision from a gash just below her maneline. To make matters worse, it appeared that she had landed directly in front of a particularly grumpy looking red dragon. Before she lost conciousness, she saw it's maw open as it inhaled, bright light appearing at the back of its throat. She also thought she heard somepony calling her name, but that was lost to the coming blackness.