"No! No no no no, this wasn't supposed to happen!" Twilight screamed over the noise. A cacophony of action and noise blurred together around her in a savage whirlwind, everything tilting and shaking. The unicorn shivered in her skin, her horn sparking and smoking, and she curled up into herself. "That was supposed to be it!"
Beside her, a tiny dragon clutched at her mane, desperately held onto her to keep from being swept up. Over the wind, Twilight barely heard him ask, "What do we do now?"
She shook her head. Below the two of them the ground shook; it was like the earth rippled in a brutal wave, with sparks of pure black magic that flashed at the edges of everything holding this spot together. There was a guttural noise: something far below grumbled and clicked as its eyes opened for the first time.
"I... I don't know, Spike! That was our last chance. I was hoping that the Elements would work even without five other bearers, but now..."
She stumbled with a whinny as everything smashed to the side, the only thing keeping her and her friend standing being the shoddy enchantment she placed a few minutes ago. It would break soon, and they didn't have much time! They had to think of something else!
"Maybe you just need somepony else. Anypony else!" Spike yelped. His claws dug into the flesh of her withers, digging trenches into her skin as he fought to hold on. "Could you teleport back to Ponyville?"
"I--" her voice broke. What could they do?! "I can't, Spike. We can't! Ponyville is probably gone by now, and none of those ponies seemed to fit the Element Bearers' description. Our only chance is if..." She gasped as Spike's claws came loose with a scream; with a spark of her horn she held onto him, crushed him to her front for as long as she could.
She looked into his eyes. He frowned back.
"Spike, maybe you could try it. You're the most loyal and generous dragon I know!" It was a last ditch effort, but it was all they had. Around them, dust and dirt kicked up into the air, never to fall back down. The sky turned black with soot. Her enchantment was falling apart. Now, the little protected space of land around them was crumbling in on itself.
Twilight flared her horn, picked up the Elements, levitated them towards Spike--
The beast beneath them rolled, the ground and sky boiling with its magical screams. The ground shattered into pieces, everything went deathly silent as all sounds turned into a singular unidentifiable roaring, fire and debris showered down from exploding spells above.
--Twilight Sparkle's enchantment failed.
She and Spike never even got the chance to notice.