Rainbow Dash smiled at Twilight. "Thanks, Twi. I think Light would love that idea."
Twilight smiled. "Like I said, it's your choice. You're the one who likes her, not me."
Dash smiled at her. "I know, I know."
*BOOM!*
Twilight looked up in shock as some of her books shook on their shelves. "What was that?!"
The two of them ran outside, only to find the town in chaos. Everypony was running around, trying to avoid falling balls of flame raining down from the sky.
"Dragons!" Twilight said in shock. "But, why?" Dash shrugged and noticed a purple pony winging her way towards them haphazardly. She crashed to the ground a few feet in front of them. The two of them ran up. "Dark! What's happening?" Twilight asked. Dark looked up at her, desperately flapping her broken wing. "Dragons. Three of them. Attacking the town. Need...... to evacuate." Dark passed out with a groan. Dash gasped as she that there was a huge bruise on her side, slowly turning yellow. Twilight felt the spot carefully. "The bones are broken. Feels like three or four ribs." Dash looked at her.
"Twilight, stay with her!" Dash flew up into the sky, just in time to notice a fireball streaming in their general direction.
Just before it would have hit her, it shattered, harmlessly spraying her with small flecks of fire. She looked to the south of the town, and saw the three dragons, battling the odd flash here and there. She flew back down to Twilight. "She's right. Light is barely holding out against them, we need to evacuate now."
She nodded her understanding. "I'll get Dark out of here, you warn everyone else. We should meet in Everfree woods." Dash nodded and flew, shouting a warning to everypony that was still in town. Dash made sure she was the last one out of the town. Just as she left the town, there was a huge flash from the combat zone, followed by a dragon's roar of triumph. One last fireball went streaming over the town, missing it and going into the woods. Dash watched it, making sure it wasn't going to hit the stragglers. As it flew, something small and black fell down from it.
Dash thought it was just a large piece of ash until she noticed the shape of it. She flew after the little thing and managed to catch it in her hoof. It was a pair of glasses, with a shattered lens. Her eyes widened in shock.
"No, it can't be!"
She raced after the fireball. She watched it crash down in the forest and flew down to where it landed. The site was a collection of burnt shrubs and trees, and a huge, smoldering crater. In its center, instead of nothing, there was a pony. Dash flew over, because the ground was still very hot. She looked at the pony and gasped in shock.
It was Light.
Part of her left ear was missing, as well as a large portion of her hair. Her two back legs were twisted at unusual angles. One of her eyes was blackened and closed, though both her eyes were closed anyway. Dash landed and started to gently nudge her. "Light?"
No answer.
Dash nudged her face. "Light? You OK?"
Still no answer.
She sighed in exasperation. "Please wake up Light. I love you. You hear me?"
There was still no answer and Dash fought back the tears. "Guess not." She forced her nose under Light and Dash forced her up onto her back. She started walking to where she knew Twilight and the others from the town would be.
Each step was slow, because of the weight in her back. The sun shone down directly above her, so she figured it was probably around noon. She looked back at Light. She was still unconscious, but at least she was breathing better than she had before.
She sighed and stared walking again. The sun was starting to set when she heard a very welcoming sound.
"Rainbow Dash!"
Dash sighed gratefully. "Rarity, good to see you!"
Rarity smiled. "Likewise. We feared the worst when Fluttershy saw you chasing after that fireball."
Dash's smile vanished. "It wasn't a fireball. It was Light." Dash turned a bit, making sure Rarity could see that Light was on her back. "Oh dear! Poor girl."
Her horn glowed and Light was lifted off of Dash's back. Rarity looked at Dash. "C'mon, Celestia has arrived, and she wishes to speak with you." Dash nodded and smiled at Rarity. "I'm surprised you haven't started complaining that Light will need your help with her hair again."
Rarity returned her smile. "I'll complain after we get her up and on her hooves again." Dash smiled and walked into the makeshift camp. It didn't take long to find Celestia, with her sister sitting down beside her.
Celestia smiled as she walked up. "Hello Rainbow Dash. Glad you showed up." Dash returned the smile. "Sorry. Had to save a friend." She flashed Twilight a smile and she returned it.
"Good to hear, but back to business. The dragons are not just attacking Ponyville. I received calls for help from Canterlot, Appleloosa, from all over Equestria. The only town that we know of so far that held against the attack was Cloudsdale. The Pegasi there used their weather manipulation to drive them off, for now."
Twilight looked at her. "But, why? Why attack the whole of Equestria like this?"
Luna looked up. "If we knew that, we wouldn't be gathered here, huddled up in Everfree woods."
Celestia looked at her sister sharply before looking back at them. "All attempts for diplomacy failed. It seems to me, that the Spirits of Harmony won't be able to help out this time."
She looked at the six of them. "We need the three Spirits of Conflict. We are not going to war yet, but we should find them, just in case the need arises."
Pinkie looked up at Celestia in curiosity. "Who are the Elements of Conflict?"
Luna looked at Pinkie. "That is my question to answer Pinkie. One of them is an Earth pony known as Honor's Sting. She was last seen around Appleloosa."
Luna stopped and an explosion echoed from the direction of Ponyville.
Rainbow looked at her. "And the other two?"
Luna shuffled a bit awkwardly. "The second is known as Dark Wing, a Pegasus, and old student of mine, back when I was Nightmare Moon. Her symbol-"
"-is the sword." Twilight finished.
Luna looked at her in amazement. "You know her?" Twilight nodded. "I'm the one who half carried, half magiced her body out of Ponyville before it went up." Luna looked at Celestia, before Celestia looked at Twilight. "Where is she now?"
Twilight sighed. "Lying in her own tent, unconscious, waiting for her ribs to readjust, as well as one of her wings to get put back in place."
Celestia sighed deeply. "I must see her later. Luna, who's the last one again?"
Luna thought about it a second. "A unicorn. She's the Element of defense and her mark is the shield. Her names-"
"Red Lightning?" Dash finished, almost in tears.
Luna nodded. "Let me guess, also in Ponyville?" Dash nodded. "Rarity has her. She's still unconscious. She's trying to fix an ear with a piece missing, a black eye, two badly broken legs, and," she grinned slightly. "Trying to help her regrow some of her hair."
Celestia sighed. "So two of the Elements have been found, but are out of commission, and the other is still missing in action. Makes we wish Discord was here, he was easy to deal with…."