Night of Change

These chapters all overlap at certain points, so I've skipped things that I feel can safely be dropped.

Dash watched Fluttershy run off towards her cottage while Twilight droned on about proper evacuation procedures and things to do in the event of attack by dragon. It was incredibly boring to listen to, but she wanted to know what Twi wanted her weather ponies to do. Turns out they were to help warn everypony and provide regular reports on the status and location of the dragons.

She took off to gather together her crew of pegasi and brought them all to a cloud bank where they could observe the movement of the hoard, "Flitter, Cloudchaser, if you two can keep those things under watch, I want to know the instant their course changes, or they set down. Every thirty minutes I want a report on how they close they are. Got that girls?"

The two pegasi nodded and stared out to the west at the approaching group of dragons as Dash turned to the other assembled ponies, "The rest of you, we've gotta tell everyone in town. Make sure that you warn Zecora, okay? She may live in the Everfree Forest but she's still a Ponyville Pony as far as I'm concerned, got that?"

The assembled ponies all nodded and started looking between each other. They were figuring out who would draw the short straw for heading into the forest, she knew. Sighing and looking at everypony, she nodded once and they all flew into action, except for the two watchponies, who took up positions on the cloud bank to keep an eye out. Rainbow Dash quickly returned to town, finding her assembled friends and landing next to Twilight. She smiled nervously at each one in turn. Rarity was clinging to Applejack, obviously petrified. The six of them had managed to handle one dragon, but it was Fluttershy who had really saved the day. Thinking about it, Dash had no idea where the sixth member of their little cadre was. She was about to speak up when AJ decided to ask first.

"Has anypony seen Fluttershy? She said she was going ta warn her animals, then ah figgered she'd be back."

"She's probably making sure that all of them are well hidden. I'll go check on her. You girls help everypony else with the evacuation preparations."

"No word from the Princesses then, darling?" Rarity asked.

Twilight shook her head, "Spike sent the letter, but I haven't gotten any response. Come on, Rainbow, let's go find Fluttershy," she said to the blue pegasus next to her.

Rainbow nodded and flew slowly alongside the unicorn. Her mind wandered off into things that could be preventing Fluttershy from returning. Angel bunny tying her down until she fed him. A flock of birds carrying her off to safety. There were plenty of options. Once they reached the cottage, having made the trip mostly in silence while watching ponies prepare to leave if they have to, Rainbow's concern grew. Her concern was given a giant growth spurt when she spotted the tracks of a pony and several small animals heading off to the west. The same direction the dragons were coming from, "Twi... she's gone into the woods."

Twilight looked over and spotted the tracks as well, "Oh sweet Celestia. Of course she'd go chasing off after some of the animals! She's going to get lost out there. Dash, see if you can find her, I'll head back to town to see if there's anything else I can do."

Dash nodded and took to the air, heading in the direction of the tracks. She weaved in and around trees, her keen eyes able to discern the tracks even as the sky slowly darkened. This was taking too long. If she didn't get back to town soon, the dragons would get there before she could warn anypony. Her loyalty to her friends kept her flying though, dodging tree limbs and trunks as she pursued the yellow pegasus into the woods. She paused at a small clearing where the tracks seemed to split off, looking at the packed dirt to try and see the path of her friend.

Her search was interrupted by the roar of an angry dragon. Dash immediately burst through the treetops and spotted a copse of trees moving particularly violently. She soared over and spotted something yellow in a ravine. Her eyes focused and she recognized the familiar figure and mane of her friend. She also spotted the red dragon getting ready to breath fire. It was a snap decision, but she was diving straight at it's mouth, smacking her front hooves into the to jaw of the beast, knocking it closed and pushing it away from her friend.

Pulling up, she hovered in the air and started making faces, "Yeah, c'mon, up here ugly!" she taunted. The dragon turned towards her and opened it's mouth. Her wings kicked in and she swerved, the fire missing her by inches and singeing her tail, "Hey! That's a national equestrian treasure!" she shouted as she flew around and angled a kick against the side of the brute's head. The impact resulted in a crack, and it took a split second before she realized it was her leg. Wincing in pain, the pegasus couldn't react as the dragon swung a clawed hand and caught her in the side. Its claws punching easily through her coat and gouging long gashes down her side. The force of the blow sent her flying into a tree, snapping a few ribs in the process.

Author's note: You may want to click here for this part

"Is... that... all you got... you... big ugly... brute?" Rainbow said, flying into the air above the treeline. Despite her injuries, she was absolutely determined to keep Fluttershy safe. Zooming skyward, she went as high as she could go before running out of air to keep her aloft. Despite the fact that she doubted the dragon could hear her this high up, she glared down at it as her speed built, "You think... you could hurt my friend? Burn her alive? I'll show you what we do to beasts like you around here. I'm Rainbow Dash! And this is the SONIC RAINBOOM!" she shouted, breaking that magical barrier between here and the world faster than sound. The dragon stared at her as she approached, the ring of rainbow power flying outward above the forest, the shockwave chasing her towards the ground. The trail of power behind her helping her push past the laws of physics as they were known to ponykind.

The dragon opened its mouth and inhaled as the brightly colored pony missile approached. It exhaled a great gout of blue flame just as Dash entered range. She flew straight through the blaze and past the dragon. In the split second the flame touched her, she had flinched and missed her target by a hairs breath. Trailing fire, she crashed into the trees on the other side, crashing through trunks as the flames ate away her fur and mane. She impacted the ground at top speed, carving a gash into the landspace and breaking most of her bones. Burning, in pain beyond measure, she turned towards the dragon as the shockwave of her Sonic Rainboom collapsed the trees around them and blew out the flames that were consuming her. It stood, looking disdainfully down at the broken and bleeding pegasus as it approached. The beast took a clawed appendage and swung, picking the pony up and flinging her into another tree, even as its claws punctured her lungs. She hit the ground and tried to stand again only to have her world filled with blue fire as the dragon struck her with its breath.

The pain lasted only a split second until her nerves had burned away. She risked opening her eyes as she collapsed to the ground to find the world in them bathed in purple light as ball of purple flame hovered behind the dragon. A smiled crossed her lips as they burned away and her last breath exited her lungs.