What would you do if everything you know was hanging by a thread?
What would happen if your entire world came crashing around you? If everything you thought you knew about life was deastroyed, or turned into a lie? What if the dragons tried to destroy Equestria, and almost won? Rainbow Dash was forced to ask herself these questions as a war broke out, her friends were at the front lines, and the pony she loves is the first line of defense.
The sun rose over Equestria, like it always did, every morning. Rainbow Dash frowned as it shone right in her eye. She squinted against it before flying down to Ponyville. She smiled as she noticed that everyone was awake, and walking around the town, doing their daily business. She smiled and looked up into the sky, making sure the clouds were in check for the day.
"DASHIE!!!"
Rainbow knew the voice well, but she still couldn't move in time to avoid Pinkie ramming into her from behind. She still managed to hold her ground, only moving a few inches.
"Morning Pinkie."
"Guess what happens today?"
"I don't know Pinkie, what happens today?"
Pinkie grinned. "NO IDEA!!!"
Rainbow chuckled. "Of course you don't. Why don't you go over to the library? Say hi to Twilight? Go see your girlfriend?"
Pinkie smiled. "Already did! Fluttershy is sleeping in, she's still tired." Rainbow looked at her. "Go see Twilight then."
"OK!"
Rainbow sighed in relief as she cantered off, leaping up every second step. "Mornin Rainbow Dash." She turned at the voice and saw two ponies come up behind her. On the left was Dark Wing, a purple Pegasus with black hair, with green highlights.
On the other side was Red Lightning, also known as Light. The sunlight seemed to glare off the red highlights in her black hair, which contrasted to her dark green skin. She was a unicorn. The two of them wore their standard gear, which was a jacket with multiple pockets.
"Morning Dark, Light. Going on duty?"
Light smiled and looked at her through her glasses. "Yeah. You'd think guarding Ponyville would be interesting, but it's not. It's so interesting; I had to borrow one of Twilight's books, because I have so little time to read it."
Dark laughed. "She's lucky; I don't know how I'll be wasting my time today." Rainbow smiled. "If you guys want, I'll stop by."
"Sure, if you can manage it."
"C'mon Dark, we should have been to on duty twenty minutes ago." Dark nodded and the two of them walked away to the outskirts of the town. Rainbow smiled. "Now, what to do today???"
"Rainbow Dash!"
Rainbow moaned. "Looks like everything will be decided for me today, great." She muttered as Spike came running up to her. He gasped in exasperation at her. "What's up Spike?"
"Twilight said she wanted to see you, said she wanted to talk about what you guys talked about earlier."
Rainbow Dash smiled. "I'll go meet with her now then."
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…."
Rainbow Dash yawned as the sun shone through the tent flap into her eyes. She squinted against the sun and looked around the tent. She was in it with her five other friends.
She glanced over and noticed that Pinkie and Fluttershy were cuddled up close to each other.
A rustle by the opening in the tent caused her to look back. A white pony was standing there, a small white hat on her head. "Miss Rainbow Dash?"
Dash nodded her head. "Yes?"
The pony smiled. "That young pony your friend brought in. Red Lightning? Anyways, she's conscious now, and is asking for you specifically."
Rainbow nodded and stood up. She carefully stepped over Applejack and out of the tent.
She followed the pony as she led her to a half dozen white tents. The nurse opened one of the tent flaps with her hoof and motioned for Dash to go in. Dash walked into the room and the nurse closed the flap behind her. The tent was sparse. The only thing inside it was a bed. She walked up to the bed slowly. Lightning was lying on it, covered mostly by a blanket. Lightning was angled towards Dash, so she could see her damaged face. Her ear had been partially fixed, now there was just a jagged piece of it missing.
Dash gently nudged against her. "Lightning?"
Lightning shifted and opened her eyes, looking directly at Dash. "Hey.." she said weakly.
Dash smiled. "Good to see your OK Lightning." Lightning chuckled. "I'd be better if I knew I hadn't failed." Dash frowned. "You didn't fail! Ponyville no longer stands, true, but look at everyone we managed to get out! Six injuries from a full scale dragon attack! And two of them were you and Dark."
Lightning stopped and looked at Dash sharply. "Ponyville no longer stands?"
"No."
Lightning started laughing in her bed. Dash looked at her in concern. "What's so funny?" she stopped laughing and looked at her. "I'll explain later. Go find Celestial would you? Tell her we are going back to Ponyville today."
"What!?"
Lightning smiled at her gently. "Trust me Dashie, we need to go back, you'll understand when we get there." She closed her eyes and her head fell back against the pillow. Dash sighed.
"She's been saying some odd things ever since she woke up."
Dash turned at the voice and saw Dark Star standing there, her wing bandaged up. Dash smiled. "Has she now?"
Dark looked at her in annoyance. "You don't have to pretend you still like me. I know Luna told you guys the truth. About me and Nightmare Moon."
Dash smiled. "I honestly couldn't care too much. You have no traces of her left, from what anyone can tell. Besides, you should be worried if Twilight still accepts you."
Dark sighed. "Twilight is still young. Her infatuation is just a phase. It will pass, like all phases of life do. Besides, No one even knows what will happen when all of the Elements are together; we may become some irrational war mongering creation."
Dash frowned. "Wait, you've never actually met Honor's Sting?" Dark shook her head. "I only met Lightning a couple years ago, after my soul had been freed from Nightmare Moon." Dash nodded. "That may be true, but those times are over Dark. You're no longer controlled by her, and there are people down here that love and care about you. Remember that."
Dark clenched her teeth. "Nightmare Moon is still there. She's just waiting for a chance to strike." She turned on her heel and left the tent.
Dash sighed as she watched her go and looked back at Lightning. "If you say we should go, then we go." She said, mostly to herself, and partially to Lightning. She left the tent and went looking for Princess Celestia.
She didn't find her, but she found Luna, sitting calmly in her tent. Rainbow Dash smiled and bowed to her before walking up. "Princess, I have an urgent matter to ask you about." Luna looked at her regally. "How can we help you today?" Luna smiled to herself and shook her head. "Sorry, how can I help you today?"
Rainbow chuckled a bit before looking serious again. "Red Lightning, the unicorn I brought in, she says we need to return to Ponyville immediately." Luna considered this a second. "What makes her think it is safe?"
Dash smiled. "She is the Element of Defense, so I guess that if she says it's safe, it must be." Luna nodded at the logic. "Well then, so shall it be said, so shall it be--" she sighed again. "I mean, let's go right after Celestia returns."
The very next day, the population of Ponyville was making its way back through Everfree, in the direction of their home. Some of the pegasi were flying above, keeping watch for dragons. At the head of the procession were Celestia and Luna. Following behind them, there were several stretchers. Two of them were normal everyday members of Ponyville; Red Lightning was on the other.
They were getting pretty close as it was, maybe only a couple minutes. The smoke of the burning town was clearly visible, as well as the flames, which seemed to still be burning.
Rainbow Dash trotted up beside Celestia and looked up at her in concern. "Should we really be going back? What if the dragons are still there?"
Celestia shook her head. "The dragons are gone, once I realized we needed to get back, the Royal Guard came in and forced them out of the town."
Twilight came up beside them. "Makes sense. Might as well let them do the damage; that is until we need to get in."
Celestia nodded. "I've used the technique before. Never failed yet."
Twilight looked at her. "You went to war before?"
"Yes, I did. Many, many years--"
They broke the cover of the forest and witnessed the chaos that was their home town. Every single one of the buildings was in ruins. They moved farther into the town, towards the town square. The entire place was in ruins, Twilights home toppled into the fountain. Applejack looked around. "Wow, now that's what I call destruction!"
Celestia smiled. "You'd think so, wouldn't you? Twilight, would you come up beside me a moment?"
Twilight obliged her, walking up beside her teacher. Celestia looked at her. "Can you sense it, my student?"
Twilight stopped, and quirked her head to one side. "Yes. It almost feels….like the town is saturated with magic." There was a chuckle from one of the stretchers. Red Lightning rolled off the stretcher and landed on her hoofs, though somewhat shakily. Rainbow Dash came up beside her and helped her stand. She straightened up and limp/walked up beside them. "There's a reason it feels that way. Mostly because it is."
Lightning's horn glowed red, before the energy surged into the town's fountain. The energy surged into fountain, causing the water to start flowing again.
The fountains water turned a reddish hue as it became saturated with magic. Lightning's horn stopped glowing and she stopped feeding it with energy. She glanced at Celestia.
"Your majesty, if you would."
Celestia smiled at her and raised her hoof. She stamped it down hard against the ground. The energy in the fountain blasted outward, in a kind of shockwave. As the energy passed through each building, the damage just seemed to vanish. Holes in buildings vanished, caved in roofs repaired themselves, Twilights home straightened itself out of the fountain and stood tall and proud once again. Once the energy had covered the town, it all returned to the fountain. The water took on the reddish hue again before vanishing, leaving the clear water behind.
Twilight looked up at her in amazement. "Princess, what happened?"
Celestia smiled and looked back at Red Lightning. "Ask her, she's the one who created the spell, I only helped to dispel it." Twilight turned to Lightning. "So? What did out do?" Lightning grinned. "Simple illusion spell, just one that would surround the entire town when the need would arise. Took time to create, but still."
Celestia smiled knowingly. "Don't forget the part where you tricked the dragons into making them think the town was already in ruins." Lightning giggled. "Yeah, that too."
Twilight turned to her teacher again. "But how could one pony cast a spell of that power?" Celesta chuckled. "Isn't it obvious, my student? She is the Element of Defense itself. If her need to protect her friends and home is strong enough, she could move the entire town somewhere else."
Lightning chuckled. "Not that I would ever move the town, though." Celestia nodded. "Yes, I would be rather cross if you moved it!"
Everyone burst out laughing at this comment as they moved off into the town, leaving the princesses and the Elements alone in the square. Celestia's smile vanished as she regarded the group in front of her. "Sadly, what brought us to this is no laughing matter. As grateful as I am that another town is safe, we must consider what brought us here. The dragons attacked without provocation, destroying much of Equestria in the process. All that I know of that is left is Canterlot, Cloudsdale, and Ponyville of course."
Dark Wing nodded slowly. "Makes sense, though. Not why they did it, of course, but how they did it. Attack while your enemy is unaware, and destroy as much as possible before your unlikely defeat."
Celesta looked at her, brow raised. "Is it that important?"
Dark Wing nodded. "Yep. It means that they rely on their first strike, followed by brute strength and fire breathing. By that logic, if we get Lightning to keep the defenses strong to withstand their first, and strongest, attack, then we can fight back with a better chance of success. I know we're not at war yet, but it's good to think about these things."
Celestia nodded. "True, true. But we should still try diplomacy. I'll send some emissaries to speak with them, to organize peace talks. When that is done, we may be able to end this with no further bloodshed." She focused on Lightning and Dark Wing. "While we do that, you two are to go to the town, or what's left, of Appleloosa. Once there, try your best to figure out where Honor's Sting is."
Lightning nodded slowly but Dark Wing shook her head. "If it's all the same to you, princess, I would rather coordinate with the ponies up in Cloudsdale. Pegasi will need to be our first line of attack, I'd rather be safe than sorry."
Celestia nodded. "Fair enough. Once we're done here, I will teleport you there." Dark nodded and Luna looked at her carefully. Celestia ignored the look her sister gave Dark, and looked at Rainbow Dash and Lightning. "Looks like the two of you will be going alone."
"Oh no they ain't!"
Applejack trotted up beside them. "I'm not lettin' these two go roppin' off alone to my home without me!"
Rarity came up beside them. "I do believe that I will go as well. Sounds like a nice adventure, and besides," she reached up and ran her hoof through Lightning's black hair. "I promised that I would recolor Lightning's hair!"
Fluttershy moved up beside the group, her head down a bit. "I'm going too." She stated simply, though it was barely audible.
Pinkie Pie hopped towards the group enthusiastically. "Well, sounds like a party in the making! And I won't be left out of a party!"
The only one left was Twilight and she couldn't suppress and grin. "Well, I can't let you guys go off without me! After all, you might need some magic that isn't based off clothes or defending people!"
The group burst out laughing as Rarity blushed slightly. "I can use the magic however I want! It just... Seems better to use it for making beautiful cloths...."
The group chuckled once more and Spike came out of the tree house, seeming a little shell shocked.
"What just happened? Why were there dragons? WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON!?!?!?!
