Night of Change

Twilight watched Rainbow Dash take off after Fluttershy and sighed. That yellow pegasus friend of hers could be far too easily worried about her animals. Surely she could find her way back to her cottage with the animals in tow before the dragons got too close.

The unicorn made her way back to the center of town at a brisk trot. Upon her return, she spotted her remaining friends assembled by the town hall. Trotting up, she explained the situation. "Rainbow Dash went after Fluttershy. She'd gone off into the woods to chase after some animals that must have panicked."

"Ah'm sure Dash'll find her and bring her back real quick," AJ said with a worried smile. The earth pony leaned against Rarity as the unicorn whimpered softly. "Easy, Rare. They'll be fine."

As soon as Applejack finished the sentence, Pinkie Pie started spazzing out, her body contorting and parts of her moving in ways that a normal pony probably shouldn't if they wanted to continue walking. "This is huge, everypony! I've n-never h-had one of these before!" the pink mare shouted before her tongue slurped out to lick an ear. The rest of the group watched with wide eyes. Twilight managed to suppress her urge to shout her doubts about the Pinkie sense.

"Pinkie Pie, darling? What is it?" Rarity asked nervously.

"Oh my gosh, this is terrible. This is the worst thing that Pinkie ever sensed with Pinkie sense! Twilight, someone has to go find Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy or somepony won't be at the 'Ponyville is safe from Dragons' party next week!" Pinkie said between twitches.

Twilight took a moment to process the statement before realizing the gravity of her friend's words, "I'll go. Girls, make sure if the town needs to be emptied, it gets done!"

The other three nodded as the Twilight turned and galloped towards Fluttershy’s cottage. As she neared it, Flitter flew up next to her. "Twilight! I can't find Dash."

"She's busy, what’s wrong?"

"Well, I'll tell you then. The dragons landed in the Everfree Forest just west of town. They seem to be settling down for the night."

"Go find Applejack and tell her, I have to find Rainbow and Fluttershy!"

"Right!" Flitter said, pulling up to the left and circling back toward town.

As Twilight reached the break in the treeline where her friends had entered, she called up a spell she'd learned when she was just a filly. It had helped her win most games of Hide and Seek, assuming the ponies remained grounded. Her horn glowed for a moment and the hoofprints of her friend began to glow with a soft purple light. The unicorn took off at top speed and followed the tracks deep into the forest. It quickly became obvious that the poor pegasus had gotten herself completely lost.

The tracks wound around trees and over limbs. As the unicorn ran she heard a roar in the distance. A dragon was definitely angry. The tracks seemed to be leading directly toward it as she galloped along. Reaching the edge of a ravine, she spotted Fluttershy lying at the bottom. A fair distance away, Rainbow Dash was taunting a huge red dragon. Twilight ran down the ravine wall, using her magic to keep herself from taking a tumble, to the yellow pegasus' side. A quick magical scan confirmed a vast list of injuries.

There was little she could do to help Fluttershy at the moment. She would need trained medical care back in Ponyville. As the unicorn was looking around for something to use as a stretcher to carry the other mare back to town, she heard the deafening boom of the sound barrier being shattered by Rainbow. Looking up, she saw the pegasus standing weakly in a copse of trees that had been flattened by the sonic boom. Her coat was singed and she was bleeding profusely from several gashes. Twilight looked down at Fluttershy, then started galloping towards Dash.

As she did, she watched the dragon sweep Rainbow aside with a claw, sending the pegasus into a tree. She stumbled to a halt as the dragon blew flame over the prone form of her friend. Every fiber of her being cried out to run away, take Fluttershy and teleport back to Ponyville. Every fiber save one. This fiber was locked away in the back of her mind, hidden by the analytical part of her personality. Rainbow Dash's loyalty had lead to her sacrifice to protect Fluttershy. Was her loyalty to her friends any less? The fiber holding the unicorn back snapped.

Magical power exploded around her, forming a sphere of purple energy that levitated her into the air. Light shone from her eyes as the being formerly known as Twilight Sparkle glared down at the red dragon beneath her. She regarded the creature beneath her with pure rage, the magic around her crackling. The unicorn became aware of every dragon in the area. They were all watching now. They would all see.

Reaching out with her thoughts, she formed the energy around her into two blades, sharpened to within a micron. She wondered, idly, if the beast knew what was about to happen to it. It had turned towards her and breathed more flame, which dissipated harmlessly against her magic shield. One of her blades sliced down, cutting easily through the creature's thick scales as if they were no more than tissue paper. It lodged itself perfectly, bisecting the creatures heart and flame-producing sacs. The other blade cleanly severed the dragon's head, which was grasped immediately in Twilight’s telekinetic grip.

The unicorn used more power to ascend higher above the tree tops, holding the head for the assembled hoard to see. Speaking clearly, the powerful sorceress uttered a single word, which could be heard as far as Ponyville. "Leave."

Not a single dragon disobeyed. They immediately took to the air and fled back toward the west. Twilight's form descended, landing next to the charred remains of Rainbow Dash. Once she touched down, the sphere of power vanished. Only the otherworldly glow of her eyes spoke of the true power latent inside. "Dash... I'm sorry... I wasn't fast enough... but I can fix it..." she whispered.

The horn atop her head glowed, wrapping herself and her friend in fields of magic. Arcane glyphs flowed over both ponies as Twilight channeled the spell. Beneath her, Rainbow's flesh began to heal. Bones knit themselves back together, muscle tissue healed and regained their strength. Feathers returned to the wings and her rainbow mane and tail grew back to their normal length. The caster was not entirely unaffected by the spell herself. Around the pink stripe in her mane, a shock of pure white took over the purple. The same appeared on her tail. Subtle lines of age appeared on her face. Finally, the spell finished, the pegasus breathing yet unconscious on the ground. The light dispersed in Twilight's eyes and she collapsed next to Dash. Breathing heavily, she smiled softly. "I did it, Dash... I saved you... I saved all of us..." she gasped out, before exhaustion took her into blackness.